#like he forgot the apostrophe in this SAME letter | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-what-but-not-the-when · 4 years

Text

A TUC Soulmate AU because why not

The day the words appeared, Luxa rubbed her arm raw trying to wash them off. Her mother found her with tears in her eyes and the black letters delicately set into red skin. Her mother's soothing words did nothing to calm Luxa. She did not want a soulmate. Did not want the gossip that came with a Mark.

Most Regalians never met their soulmate if they were Marked. Too many died at war. The stories of them never finding love were all too common. Some never looked elsewhere, most were rejected in fear their soulmate would turn up later in life. It was a curse.

She sat silent while her family discussed the words. They were not written as if from Regalia and the talk of potential outsiders made her sick. She covered the words with her hand, seeing the oddly placed apostrophe in her mind. She did not want to think about it, but she could not help but wonder who would speak them to her. They were rude words, not fitting for anyone speaking to royalty.

Luxa stormed out of the room as tears spilled down her face. She ran to her room where she wrapped her arm in cloth. No one else would see it. She would not let four little words she had not asked for change her life.

She wrapped her forearm everyday. Special wraps were made to match her clothes. All of her formal attire was made with long sleeves. Any gossip she heard was silenced with a glare. Luxa bathed with her eyes closed so she would not accidentally see the words already burned into her brain.

The rumors only got worse as she got older and closer to courting age. Henry had earned many bruises with his sharp tongue. Luxa's arm stayed wrapped.

The night after her parents died Luxa stared at the jewelry adorned cloth covering her forearm. If there was magic in this world, it was being used for the incorrect reason.

The words no longer had a place in Luxa's mind. She was not afraid of death, she did not cry, and she did not have a soulmate.

Gregor began taking off his clothes as his mother watched, her hands on her hips. He sloughed off his wet shirt and muddy pants, being careful to stay on the rug by the door. She handed him a towel and she saw it when he bent over to dry off his hair.

Three words in silver lettering across his shoulder. She was so excited she forgot to be mad at him for playing in the mud.

The whole building knew within the week, the gossip mill ran overtime. Little Gregor has a soulmate, yea, words on his shoulder, a real pretty silvery color, my cousin Kate has a gorgeous watercolor heart and all I end up with is a weird birthmark.

Gregor looked over his shoulder in the mirror to see it, the lines almost looking like scars. He wondered when they would meet, what they would look like, if they would stay together.

Marks were common in New York. In such a big city, meeting your soulmate was pretty much set in stone. But it wasn't uncommon for soulmates to choose not to be together. Gregor's neighbor was already married when he met his soulmate and chose to stay with his current wife. A soulmate couple use to live two floors down and the building practically threw a party when they finally broke up. Gregor could hear their fights from his bed some nights.

No one knew why soulmates were Marked when they weren't meant to be together forever. Gregor's parents always reminded him that relationships were not judged based on length. People changed and so did relationships.

Gregor wondered if maybe the magic wasn't adapting well to the modern world.

When his father disappeared, the rumors that he had run off with his soulmate were the most popular. Gregor knew his parents weren't Marked, or at least, they hadn't told him they were. His family knew something was wrong, but the police tossed their concerns aside.

Their tiny apartment seemed a lot bigger.

Gregor never gave much thought to the three words stenciled onto his back. Boots loved to run her fingers over the shiny letters. Lizzie made up stories about how he and his soulmate would meet. Gregor's grandmother knew his soulmate would have a real attitude.

It was just another part of Gregor that was pushed way into the back of his mind as he followed Boots through the grate. A part that was pushed even farther away as he ran next to a giant cockroach through the tunnels.

Soulmates didn't exist as he watch Boots struggle for the ball in the pale girl's hand. Pride and amusement filled him when Boots poked the girl in the eye and got the ball.

He smirked, “I guess she's smarter.” He didn't mind being a little mean.

The girl's answering glare was full of steel, her hands in fists, “But not you. Or you would not say such things to a queen.”

Her words hit him so hard he barely heard the rest of her sentence. Royalty. His soulmate. She still stared at him with fire in her eyes. His grandmother's voice filled his mind, “I bet you she's full of sass.”

He shrugged, “No, if I'd known you were a queen, I'd probably have said something a lot cooler.”

“Cool-er?” She raised her eyebrows.

They stared at each other and Gregor noted his Mark was almost the exact same color as her hair. She seemed to only get angrier as she looked at him.

On that day, he had thought his Mark to be a fluke. Luxa's hate of him only faded slightly.

Though on a quiet night, after prophecies and war and loss, she unwrapped her arm and showed it to him. He had never seen her Mark. He had never been sure she had one. He traced over his words as she explained what they meant to her.

He laughed. After all they had went through, love was what she was most afraid of. His laughter earned him a bruise on the arm, but she cracked a smile. She covered her Mark again before they left.

It didn't surprise anyone when Gregor moved into Regalia full time.

It surprised everyone when Luxa walked down the aisle with the words on her arm uncovered.

#Somebody order a #TUC #Soulmate AU #No?#oh well. . .#tucfic #Gluxa #gregor #luxa #the underland chronicles #I can finally type again!#Nerve injuries are The Worst #To all my uterus owners #DONT GET NEXPLANON #trust me

26 notes · View notes

sandian-sherwood-uhle-blog · 5 years

Text

DELTARUNE

So, there are plenty of allusions/paralles to Undertale in Deltarune and some easter eggs. I’ve made a list of the ones that I managed to find/catch. I’m pretty sure there are more of them.

1. There is an easter egg with naming your vessel and yourself. Like in Undertale using names of characters from the game will trigger a special dialogue (and like in Undertale naming your vessel or yourself “Gaster” will close the game).

2. When you look through the window in your room there is reference to Sans’ genocide fight.

3. A reference to Tsundere Cactus from Undertale, but in Deltarune it’s just an average cactus.

4. Recognizing yourself in the mirror.

5. Toriel hugs Kris almost the same way she hugs Frisk.

6. Alphys is still a weeaboo obsessed with Mew Mew ^^

7. Temmie still has the EG, but this time she is a partner not a proud parent.

8. If you try using your phone in the Dark World it will start making “Gaster noises”.

9. Ralsei’s cloak resembels the one that River Person wears (could River Person be a Darkner?)

10. Lancer’s bike might be a reference to Sans’ bike from the True Pacifist credit scene.

11. How Ralsei introduces us to the game mechanics is like a combination of both Flowey’s and Toriel’s tutorials. Telling what a soul is and how the fighting works is “Flowey’s part” and usage of Dummy and sparing being a preferable option is “Toriel’s part”.

12. Possibly a parallel to comforting a goatbro (Ralsei is a Goat/Boss Monster and a prince just like Asriel).

13. The shopkeepr hints a secret battle with Jevil in the early stage of the game.

15. The plush that Seam has on a shelf has is a reference to one of the Temmie Chang’s (she helped Toby create Undertale) characters, but I couldn’t find a picture of it.

16. Seam also gives us hints that Jevil knows Gaster. Here’s a video with a full dialogue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PukI_JTyVg

17. The crown that K. Round wears might be reference to Super Crown, but the way it works is a ref to the big shroom power up. The sound that K. Round makes while growing up and shrinking is very similar to the sound from Mario games.

18. It is surely a reference to Sans’ room door (the weird glow), but it may also have something to do with Gaster’s grey door.

19. The sequence that Lancer and Susie perform is possibly a reference to Team R’s sequence from Pokemon series.

20. Possibly an Undertale Yellow easter egg? (the main charater is named Clover in UT:Y)

21. Even if you got rid of that tree you can still interact with it and get the dialogie box.

22. Lancer misses his attacks on Susie the same way Toriel does that when Frisk has low HP.

23. The theme that plays on floor ?????? inside the Card Castle uses the leitmotif of Gaster’s Theme. (can’t find a link with the theme)

24. A reference to Patrick from cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZSXnrbs_k

25. Another Pokemon’s reference.

26. You can interact with these pictures, when you interact with all 3 of them they’ll make a splat noise. I’m not sure if it does anything else.

27. Lancer has the same weird pics in his room, you can interact with them too, but they won’t make splat noise. But on the other hand there are CDs with recorded splat noises (the same that 3 previous pics make).

28. She talks about the cake that Susie ate ealier.

29. A missing pixel lmao

30. The cards and chess are references to the enemies from Dark World. There’s also a plushie of Shopkeer Seam under the board.

31. Kris looks similar to unused Frisk sprite.

32. The word “library” is still misspelled.

33. Temmie still wants to go to colleg. That’s the spirit!

34. Apparently Alphys prefers Mew Mew 2 now.

35. Heats Flamesman reference.

36. Just Toby at work.

37. He’s slacking off however.

38. We finally know after which monster Gaster Follower 3 was modeled.

39. Deltarune is definitely a different universe/timeline, cause Undyne doesn’t know Alphys and she still has both eyes. Also Bratty and Catty not only barely know each other, but they hate each other as well (in Undertale they are best friends).

40. On the left - dude who bought Muffet’s donut and regreted that later on, on the right - that weirdo from Napstablook’s snail farm.

41. Police station and Undyne’s house share the same doormat.

42. The big mouth monster that was spending time at Grillby’s, also a possible reference to nurse Joy from Pokemon series.

43. A reference to the absurdly tall sink from skelebros’ house. (also that blue bear might be inspired by 5.0.5 from Villainous)

44. Gerson is dead in Deltarune, also his last name is Boom. The hammer on his tombstone refers to his “nickname from war times” from Undertale - Hammer of Justice.

45. The tombstones of monster who were amalgamates in original Undertale, but since in Deltarune Alphys was never a Royal Scientist, all of this monsters just died. From left to right - Snowdrake’s Mother, the dog (Endogeny), Shyren sister (Lemon Bread).

46. Hand Receptionist from MTT Resort and politics bear from Snowdin.

47. That weird cube-dog-like monster from Sans’ crossword.

48. A reference to Purple Guy from game series FNAF (in Deltarune Burgerpants works at Pizzeria after all, hello?! it must be it xD).

49. A bunny shopkeepr from Snowdin, the guy who works in Core, the Ice Wolf (and he finally has pants as he wanted), Fuku Fire and Skateboard girl (but they already graduated), the lion monster who is a fan of Mettaton and gets a dress from him after his musical, and the dragon dude who couldn’t return to his family cause the elevator at MTT Resort was turned off.

50. Sans’ store is literally Grillby’s bar, but the name “Grillby” was removed and Sans added “ans” to the letter “S”. But he didn’t remove apostrophe. Well done Sans, well done.

51. A reference to Spider-Man, “I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”. Sans even calls Kris “tiger” which is how MJ calls Peter (I forgot to make a screenshot of it tho).

52. F#ck you Sans xD

53. “trousle of bones” - it obviously refers to Papyrus’ theme Bonetrousle.

54. Little bunny in the window is a child of that bunny monster who runs Snowdin Inn.

55. A monster from Snowdin who loves knocks lives there. And apparently Kris is not as good at knocking as Frisk is.

56. In the alley where you meet Alphys again there is a painting of Everyman (attack of Reaper Bird - one of the amalgamates). You can’t escape from your sins Alphys, even in another universe/timeline.

57. Asgore’s introduction dialogue in Deltarune is literally the same as in Undertale.

58. These flowers are an obvious allusion/parallel to the souls containers. The golden flower in the middle might be representing the empty container for Frisk’s determination soul. If you remember, in Undertale Alphys used a golden flower as a empty vessel to inject determination and that flower became Flowey later on.

59. RG01 and RG02 are still together, and for some reason they are still wearing helmets even tho the Royal Guard is most likely not a thing in Deltarune xD

60. If you wait long enough by the lake Onionsan will appear. He will ask what’s our name and will want to become friends. He also doesn’t remember his own name due to being alone for too long, so we have an option to gave him one.

61. He also might have a dark secret hehe

62. So there is most likely Mettaton, but we have no idea what’s up with Blooky. I’m hoping that in chapter 2 we will find out Mettaton’s canon ghost form and maybe his real name. Also I doubt that in Deltarune Mettaton has machine body, since Alphys never was a Royal Scientist in this universe/timeline.

63. Chara possession much? also a hint to the ending of Deltarune chapter 1

64. After Kris locks his soul in the cage you can still move it, but you can’t escape.

65. The glowing red eyes, Post Genocide Pacifist vibes are strong in this one.

These are all the allusions/parallel and easter eggs I was able to find. I’m sure there are more. Also there are some that I forgot to screenshot such as “characters titles” in party menu change: - Kris has a title of Leader, but if you check all 4 beds in Card Castle he has a title of Bed Inspector - Ralsei title changes after giving him different scarf There’s also at least one Annoying Dog easter egg in the party menu. Not to mention the anagrams: Deltarune - Undertale Ralsei - Asriel So yeah, that’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed, bye!

#deltarune #undertale #tobyfox #kris #ralsei #susie #gaster #allusions #parallels #eastereggs

4K notes · View notes

leina-reads-homestuck · 5 years

Text

Deltarune, the end (pt.2)

There’s Sans in front of a store... that he owns ? It’s called ‘Sans. Apostrophe-sans.

I pick “great to see you again” and for a second I think he actually remembers me, but...

He winked....

EXCUSE ME ?

What did you ...? Never mind, I’d rather not know.

He asks me if I would help him with something, as in, befriending his little brother, who feels a bit lonely. He gives me his phone number.

I guess that the house next door belongs to Papyrus ?

Knoc, knoc.

BONETROUSLE.

I know why Toby insisted that people should finish Undertale before playing Deltarune. So many easter eggs and references that would have been missed if I had done it the opposite way...

I keep walking in the neighborhood and knocking at all the doors I see. I almost didn’t see Cinnamon Bun by the window !

She asks me if “it hurts to be made of blood”. Wait, don’t monsters have blood ?

This kid didn’t faceplant a single time in the game, so I’m gonna call them Yo Kid instead of Faceplanting. We talk about Susie. Basically everyone is relieved that she didn’t kill me before tossing my body in a ditch. Nobody asks where she is and what happened to her. I mean, I could have done something to her... and nobody would ever guess... mwehehe...

Cough.

Yo Kid talks about that time we’ve been punished because she broke a window with our ball after trying to kick it back in our direction, or something (Undyne came in “cracking her knuckles”).

Susie watched us, not Undyne. Though Undyne is good at that.

She just wanted to make friends all this time, didn’t she...

No ! She does not ! D:

I knock loudly on the door and accidentally causes Snowy’s dad to scold him

Probably “don’t”

Pfpf

I meet Alphys in a dark alley, doing some shady business. Actually no, she pours milk in a saucer for an invisible cat that comes drink it, and takes care of the flowers that my dad sends her.

Wait WHAT ?

She says Asgore reminds her of a superhero...

Oh god, sounds like my teacher is gonna be my stepmother soon.

Let’s see how Catty is doing !

“Mwah ! Mwah ! Mwah !”

Turns out that her and Bratty hate each other in this world. Or they seem to. Each one thinks that the other is copying her. Maybe it’s just all a big misunderstanding ??

Oh, and Catti is her sister, not her daughter.

She reminds me of that time she got wasted during a party...

What are you all doing ? Leave my goat mom alone !

What the hell is staring at me behind Bratty’s windows ? I hope she doesn’t held cats prisoners...

She also complains that Catty seems to be copying her and goes everywhere she goes on purpose, and also speaks ill of her family, especially Catti who served her a coffee full of cat hair :

(snicker)

Apparently there’s something going on between Asriel and her ?? Bluh... Not sure if I want a copygator as a stepsister...

(there are scales on her roof...)

Oh, hey, nice ! Napstablook’s home is just here !

“Darling” ? Wait, Mettaton, is that you ?

There’s a flower shop right there... Probably belonging to Asgore.

The dialogue and actions when I meet him are exactly the SAME as when Frisk encounters him in Undertale. Except that instead of making a :< face after seeing them, he...

...hugsqueezes the hell outta me.

Wow, the guy is not in a good pass. He and Toriel are separated, his bedroom door is locked, it’s dark inside, there’s a pile of letters about overdue rents scattered around, an air mattress on the floor and a jar containing a single pickle in the fridge.

Those flowers are the ones Toriel had at her wedding, and that he cared for since. He also gives me a bouquet for her.

I want to yell “There’s fkin Flowey in the middle” but of course, I can’t.

I get out...

Oh, hey, you two ! Still having your Royal Guard helmets, as I see. Unless these are actually their heads ??

The game also suggests me to put my fingers in the table’s holes (we all did that as kids, didn’t we).

As I stand melancholically by the lake, something emerges out of the (very nicely animated) water.

Onion-San ! O:

Actually, no. They forgot their name. They ask me if I wanna be their friend.

I just can’t be a jerk to any of these characters ( ;<;)

Ok, except when I answer that my name is “Hippopotamus”.

How will I name them ?

It was “beauty” (;-;) Yeah I just felt like picking the name that would flatter them the most, but I wonder if they understand the sense of the words, maybe they would have liked it as well if I named them “Disgusting” ?

See ?

They ask me if I can come back the day after. They have something to tell me. Something they can only tell a friend...

Then I meet Noelle again ! She’s stuck in front of her house because she forgot her key. I ask her why she doesn’t ask her mom to open her...?

Wowza... You mean she’d rather have you stuck outside instead ? I have the feeling that the relationship between Noelle and her mother isn’t stellar...

Let’s talk about something else...

Oh, yeah ?

Oh, really ?

Noelle 👏has👏a crush👏on👏Susie👏

She EATS CHALK

That’s a good question, actually. As I kid, I was surprised to discover that there are two sizes of chalk sticks.

No no ! Make her a box full of thicc chalk. She’ll LOVE IT.

There are churches in this universe. What kind of god do monsters worship ?

The priest tells me that it would be good if I came to the church to participate and not drink all the Fruit Juice...

There’s also a cemetary !

Snowy’s mother lies there, as well as... Gerson.

But then something happens. As I try to head south, my game crashes. Probably I had too many programs open at the same time.

I hope that it won’t bring me back before the battle with the King...

But it’s exactly what happens. (;____;)

Toby, please, put a save point once we’re done fighting the King... Because I had to redo the battle...and get killed... FOUR OR FIVE TIMES... and then meet most of the characters again to be sure I wouldn’t miss something, like Sans’s phone or Asgore’s bouquet for Toriel.

Ok, it doesn’t have only bad sides, since it allows me to check some stuff I’ve missed, like this tape near the police station :

I also could have tried Sans’s number.

Which is actually not his number.

He tricked me !! D:<

And if I try to call again, the phone rings endlessly in the void.

Grr.

At least, I can learn more about what Noelle thinks of Susie.

She asks me if I’m not messing with her :

I did what ? oO

Agreed. (°<°)

So, that path ?

It leads to nothing. Just what seems to be a garage door, locked. I was hoping to find Susie’s house and chat with her again...

There’s some creepy sound that plays in this zone specifically, but I have to turn on the volume to hear it well.

Ok so... I’ve searched info about this door, in case I would need an item to open it. Turns out that the song we hear at this part of the game is linked to a certain “Gaster”. It’s the “entry #17” sound file from Undertale, an entry made by Gaster, but slowed down”.

Now I don’t recall anything about meeting “Gaster” in Undertale or his “followers”. I only found info about them when searching for solutions. It’s some sort of secret character or something ? He created the Core then disappeared, if I remember well.

Here’s the thing : other players saw their game crash right when they tried to enter the place with the locked door, like me.

And apparently, if you try to name your character “Gaster” either in Undertale or Deltarune, the game crashes.

....If the bug that affected the other players and me wasn’t a random bug, that would make two Gaster-related crashes in the games. (o O)

Anyways, I saw everything, so I guess it’s time to head back home.

Toriel made a pie and she tells me about my childhood, like that time I asked her when my horns would start growing :

....So my own goatmom made me a Homestuck cosplayer ??

I also give her the flowers. She’s not pleased.

She says she will find them a nice place, though. I’m relieved, until I remember that the bin “smells pleasantly of flowers”.

Either Toriel uses trash bin deodorant, or...

Oh no, Toriel, you can’t just trash the flowers your ex-husband took so much care of, that’s not cool :c

She could... bluh, put them out of her sight or give them to someone ? Put them to the cemetary ? I don’t know. Poor flowers.

I will brush my teeth before going to bed, like a good child, that I’m not. It seems that I’ve played a lot of pranks on people... (°<°);

Ha ! Now I see where this comes from...

I’ve read that something happens if you flush the toilet many times, so how about I try that ? I flush it one, two, three times.

Yeah yeah, don’t worry...

Three more times.

(o < O)

🚽 o( ° - °) Uh....

Alright, three more times !

(è<è)

I flush it again, but Toriel, probably resigned to have a water bill the size of the Seattle tower, won’t react anymore.

There’s nothing else to do, so I go to bed.

I see Kris waking up in the middle of the night. Their body is violently agitated. I think they’re having a nightmare, but it seems different... As if they’re struggling against something. Then they’re positively kicked out of bed and start walking weirdly.

We hear the same step sounds as when Kris enters the dark world. Jegus frick, Kris is having serious nightwalking issues !

Then they uh... reach for the middle of their chest and... tear their soul off it...

...soul that they slam dunk it into the birdcage where they trap it...

... they pull out a knife. Their eyes are glowing...

The game closes itself.

#deltarune #deltarune spoilers #what the hec #I hope it's not what I think it is #toriel do something about that please

4 notes · View notes

amynchan · 5 years

Text

floweryotter replied to your post “Dear future me... ��”

Omg I forgot about this! :O How was your 2018 anyway?

lol, @floweryotter I never completely forgot about it, but I certainly didn’t expect some of the things I did end up writing... My goodness, I should have written one for this upcoming year. XD *^_^* tbh, a few days ago, I was wondering if I should have sneaked a peek at this to check for anything embarrassing. Kinda glad I didn’t. XD

Well... in 2018, I think the changes I was going through in 2017 were for the better. I grew into myself a bit, stepped on a couple of toes (oops), and learned that I never really stop learning. And I never stop this cycle of progressing versus regressing. I’ll always make mistakes, but here’s hoping those mistakes will always lead to something somewhat better than where I started.

I did end up getting a job for the 2018 year. I worked as an English tutor and learned just how bad my writing was. XD There were so many grammar errors. But that knowledge only came from look at those same errors time after time after time and realizing just how common such errors were. English isn’t taught as well as I thought it was and that was kind of a weird realization. So weird I eventually streamlined my own teaching methods for the really common errors. Stuff like commas, apostrophes, how to cite, how to organize a paper, how to write a thesis statement, semi-colons, sentence structures, colons, how to support evidence, etc. I didn’t know that I didn’t know so much. XD So, that job taught me that, at least. It also gave me so many coworkers who all helped me in other aspects of my life. How to compromise, how to be flexible, how to recognize and act when someone actually needs help on an emotional level, etc. I learned more at this job in that area than most of my schooling. XD (rip me)

My brother went through...a turbulent year. That’s all I can say there. But he’s going to come home, so that’s amazing. Can’t wait to have him back. *^_^*

aaaand I never did take that class. ^^; and still in that slump. rip me

Still single and that works for me. Though what I wrote--”we don’t have a choice but to deal with our own antics”--made me seriously laugh. X’D

I did go on the London Trip, which is what I was referencing in the first letter. I had so much fun there. I learned so much, explored so much, got lost, found a couple cute restaurants, actually had tea, and visited the Warner Brother’s Studio, which was worth every penny. It’s something I think I’ll remember for the rest of my life. *^_^* I also did what my past self said I would, which is the family reunion, Christmas, and earned my Bachelor’s degree.

I know that the entire world was a dumpster truck on fire and rolling down a hill into the eventual pit that is called hell, but it was really a good year for me personally.

tl;dr: 2018 was actually a pretty positive year for me and I’m glad I went through everything I did. *^_^*

#floweryotter #2018 reflection #2018

3 notes · View notes

heller-obama · 5 years

Text

(Not So) Smol Guide to English

I know English is a general shitshow so here’s a guide to some basics (bitch please nothing about English is basic) of the more common errors I see in like fics and stuff

Their/there/they’re

okay so basically their is the possessive asshole. like their book or their problem or anything that someone owns

there is a place. like there is the ultimate fuckboy or everyone there is high off their shit

and finally they’re. they’re is a contraction, so it’s the lazy (not really) version of they are. most times I use they’re unless I'm writing a character that has a thing against contractions (like Captain Holt) or sometimes when I’m writing a character that doesn’t speak English fluently/speaks English really formally

it’s vs. its (honestly this is the most English-can-die-in-a-hole pair)

so it’s. it’s (haha) another contraction so it literally just means it is. like it’s hot out or it’s time to yeet you out a window

its sounds similar but nope. its is like the it version of a possessive, meaning it belongs to it. like that’s its natural habitat or that’s its resting bitch face

your vs. you’re

your is another possessive asshole, which means it’s used when something belongs to or it is someone’s. so your dog or your sister or your croissant

you’re is a contraction, which means English took two words and shmushed them together, which for you're is you are. if you want to use a contraction but aren't really sure, just think of the unshortened version word. like that is you are dog wouldn't make sense, but that is your dog makes sense

then vs. than

then is a transitional word. so like you could say they flipped him the bird and then continued to eat their popcorn. yeah not much about then.

than is a comparison word. while then is used to go from one action to another, than is used to compare two things. like you'd say normal brownies are much better than weed brownies but you wouldn't say normal brownies are much better then weed brownies because you're not transition form normal brownies to weed brownies in a singular sentence, you're comparing the two

lose vs. loose

so simple shit again but lose means you lost something like oh I lose every chess match I play against you. and loose is like the dogs are loose or your tie is loose or I've never had a pair of truly loose jeans made for girls and yeah

paragraphs (if you get one thing out of this let it be this)

you start a new paragraph when: you change topics (like trying to subtly deflect shit off you), when the speaker changes dammit, new ideas (like if your character is thinking about puppies and then switches to say that embarrassing story about that one friend), when the time or location changes (like from the kitchen to the front door or from breakfast to late afternoon), or (this is more artistic than proper) for dramatic effect like

She was falling

Falling

If only she hadn’t gotten defenestrated.

multiple paragraphs in a piece of dialogue (if you don’t really get this just avoid it it took me til someone just explained it like this)

okay so paragraphs in dialogue. basically the shit above, but in dialogue, which would look something like this

“*evil villain rant idea one*

“*evil villain rant idea two*

“*evil villain rant conclusion*”

so basically when you start a new dialogue paragraph you keep putting quotation marks in the beginning and don't put one on the end until the very end of your evil villain rant or whatever

punctuation in dialogue

so punctuation always goes in front of quotation marks and before the last quotation mark. so that’d look like she turned to her friend behind her. “If you want to sneak up on me, then you probably shouldn’t wear your metal soled boots, dumbass,” she said.

don't know whether to use a comma or a period in dialogue? so if there’s an action describing how the character spoke like he bitched or she ranted or they whined like babies. if an action that didn't describe how the character said something comes after dialogue it’d be a period like “you’re an asshole.” she swept his legs out from under him or “haha, you're so funny.” he nudged her with his shoulder as she said that

using shit like “?” or “!”? they stand alone. no shit like “you what?,” she said or “I tried!.” nope. if there’s a question, you always use a question mark. no “so where’d you go today.” if you want to show tone, then use something like “so, where'd you go today?” he asked nonchalantly. and if it’s an exclamation, use an exclamation mark. like “I tried!” or “I almost dropped my croissant!”. and finally, using “?!” or “!?”. when I'm writing fics, I usually avoid these because you can get the same effect using italics. it’s pretty much the difference between

“you got a kangaroo as a pet?!”

and

“you got a kangaroo as a pet?”

you don't have to do this this is just my preference about the whole thing

using parentheses vs using en dashes (not to be confused with hyphens). you mostly just don't use parentheses in dialogue. ever. it’s like an unspoken rule of dialogue. an en dash is longer than a hyphen, so it’s used like “so this is the second time you've come to me to stitch up your face after you get into a fight with a kangaroo--not counting the time you broke your arm running away,” she said. so, basically with interjections. if the sentence continues after the interjection, you just add the en dash after the interjection and keep going, like “I have some work to do--just have to beat up my brother and write an essay for English--but otherwise I can come over at 10:00.”

interjections can also be in the form of commas. like you could say “that’s Carol, my sister, and she hates you, by the way.”

and finally, using an interjection in between dialogue. please, please, don't use “I'm fine *cough* I swear.” it’s just...don't. the proper way is to format it is “I’m fine--” he broke into a coughing fit--“I swear.” put the first en dash before you cut off dialogue and the second one right before the quotation marks before you start dialogue again

plurals (I had so much to say about punctuation wow)

okay so friends. if there's a plural (more than one of something) you don't use an apostrophe (’). you add “es” or “s” (unless it’s one of tricky shits like moose/moose, goose/geese, mouse/mice, fish/fish, etc.). it’s not cockroach’s unless something belongs to the cockroach, it’s cockroaches. it’s not the Johnson’s unless you're talking about something that belongs to that family, it’s the Johnsons

I feel like I should talk about possessives now

okay so possessives. if someone owns something or it’s theirs, then you use an apostrophe before the s. like Marco’s dog or Nadja’s girlfriend. pretty simple.

but if it belongs to multiple people, then you put the apostrophe after the s. for example, the students’ lunch or the girls’ lockers

contractions

so contractions are simple when you learn their secrets. contractions are any two words that are shortened to one. like y'all(you all), aren’t(are not), you're(you are), they're(they are), can't(cannot), ain’t(I actually don't know what the unshortened version of this is), etc. contractions have the apostrophe where the extra letters were erased like you all --> you’all or are not--> areno’t

capitalizations

Y’all gotta capitalize the proper nouns. proper nouns are the name of something. nO, don't capitalize cabbage in favour of France. proper nouns are names of people or places or companies or titles or shit like that. so like Amar, France, Jupiter, Tumblr. NOT Cabbage, or Sister, or Girl, or stuff like that.

also names like mom or dad or pet/nicknames are capitalized

for mom/dad or stuff like that, you capitalize that shit when you can replace it with a name. like if you said “hey Mom can I eat a Tide Pod?” you capitalize mom (and Tide but that’s not the point here) because you could replace “mom” with something like “Elyse” or “Javier” or something. you don’t capitalize mom/dad/etc when you say shit like “my mom said I can eat a Tide Pod” because if you replaced the mom with a name like Elyse you would get “my Elyse said I can eat a Tide Pod”, which doesn't make much sense

pet names/nicknames. ooh boy. okay, so when it comes this crap, it depends on what you call the person. pet names generally (but not always) don't get capitalized because if it’s something like baby, darling, or kid, then it’s more of a general pet name. basically if it’s not something “original” then you wouldn't capitalize it because (I think) it’s like you're calling them sister or friend or something like that. but if it’s a nickname then (most times, few exceptions with pet names) you capitalize it because it’s like you're calling them a name that’s not their real name. this shit’s confusing I know

just think of it as the difference between “I’m with you, kid” and “lead the way, Princess”. (the Princess one makes a bit more sense if you know the 100) while kid is the general just you're a kid and I’m pointing that out right now and Princess is a nickname that fits Clarke because that name is unique to her

also capitalize at the start of a sentence, if that wasn't clear

direct addresses

so basically you just put a comma before you address someone. like “Mom, can I go to the Fortnite tournament tonight?” or “that’s enough, kid.” it doesn't matter if the name you're addressing the person by is capitalized, just as long as you're addressing a person, you need that comma before/after that address

(whoops almost forgot) quotation marks

so quotation marks. so when someone’s speaking, you surround the dialogue with double quotation marks like “Yeet,”. but when someone’s quoting someone else or just any situation when you'd usually use double quotations while speaking you use single quotation marks inside double quotation marks like “And she was all like ‘yeet those assholes before you come to my party’ and I was like ‘wow bossy much’ and she had the nerve to flip me off!”

holy shit am I done did I finally finish this monstrosity??

this isn't everything by any small miracle but these are the typical mistakes I’ll see in fics and stuff but feel free to add your own shit

#just me screeching about English and writing #this took me way too long to make #at least like 3.5 to 4.5 h o u r s split over time #I was really trying to be sarcastic here because thats just my personality #but after like the first hour I started to lose inspiration and it got h a r d to be sarcastic for once in my life #I got bored in class once (maybe twice or thrice) and I made a list of shit to include inhere #*in here #haha I put some the 100 references in here too #also one (1) Brooklyn nine nine one #and a vague reference to the croissant vine #also references to shit I've seen in fics #*cough cough*#lookin at you Cabbage person #anyways on to actual tags #writing #fanfic writing #english #english is stupid #and also #english is hard #ooh and #English is a bitch #writeblr #write better #fanfic #fan fiction #fan fic #fanfiction #long post #like r e a l l y long post

0 notes

ber39james · 7 years

Text

Why Grammar Matters in Your Content Marketing

If you’re trying to market your brand or sell a product, a grammatical mistake or typo can hold you back from success. Find out how it can hinder you (with funny pictures for proof), why it matters, and what you can do to ensure clean copy.

What do typos do to your messaging?

A few spelling and grammatical errors won’t necessarily prevent people from buying your product. But a writing mistake, even a forgotten letter, can contradict what you’re trying to prove to your customers.

Sometimes, an error can be downright scandalous.

And, to be fair, it can also be pretty hilarious.

We’re not saying a single typo is going to destroy your business. But if you’re a content marketer, advertiser, brand-specific blogger, social media specialist, or other kind of marketing professional, keeping your content crisp and clean can help you maintain your clients’ trust.

Why care about grammar in marketing?

Typos can decrease potential customers’ trust in you and in your product. If you’re not careful in your writing, clients, competitors, and investors might worry (consciously or subconsciously) that you do sloppy work. After all, if you didn’t bother to check for grammar and spelling errors, how can anyone be sure you’ll deliver on other elements of your company’s promise?

That goes whether you’re writing blog posts, tweets, snaps, Facebook updates, or something as antique as a sign or billboard: you’ll have credibility with customers and critics alike if you keep your copy as pristine as whatever you’re selling. Sure, you’re likely to sound more informal in a tweet than in a blog post, for instance, but even if you’re using colloquial turns of phrase to appeal to social media–minded readers, you can still run spell-check and keep your eye out for errors.

In the end, it doesn’t matter whether a mistake is picked up by a few avid grammar spotters or whether it’s risqué enough to make it into a list of worst offenders; if you can avoid making the error, then avoid it.

Case in point: if a politician’s publicity team can’t spell “America,” chances are, voters won’t want him to run it. That’s the power of careful communications.

Where’s the proof?

With the aim of shedding more light on the importance of clear and correct content marketing, the Grammarly team decided to do a little test. We looked at official posts on several companies’ LinkedIn profiles to see which companies paid most attention to accuracy in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. For added fun, we focused on big brand battles. Here’s one example:

In the worldwide cola competition, Coke beats Pepsi with 0.9 mistakes per 100 words, vs. Pepsi’s 3.6 mistakes per 100 words. Fun fact: Coke also beats Pepsi’s market share by a margin of 42% to 31%.

Is that all because of grammar? Not necessarily. (And to be fair, Pepsi has Coke beat on income because of its wider range of products.) With big-name brands like these, the source of success can’t be boiled down to one issue—even an issue as salient as grammar. But brands project professionalism and gain credibility based on how they communicate, and communicating properly can lead to great gains—especially if you’re not already raking in the billions like both Pepsi and Coke. To learn about the typo count for Facebook vs. Google and Ford vs. GM, check out Grammarly’s full article and infographic about the battle of the brands.

How can you avoid the typo trap?

The million-dollar question: how can you succeed where others have failed? Short of becoming a superhuman grammar guru and spelling savant whose fingers never strike a wrong key, you can do these things:

Be aware of your habits and tics, and avoid them. We know: easier said than done. But if you know you have trouble with who’s vs. whose or affect vs. effect (for example), pay extra attention to those problems with a post-it, digital reminder, or remote control to give you an electric shock when you make that mistake. Er, maybe not that last one. But still, watch out for your tics.

Re-read what you wrote. Seriously. It sounds simple, but if you take a few minutes to go through your draft—without zoning out—you might be surprised at the little things you catch.

Get someone else to give it the once-over. It can be a colleague, friend, partner, cat—well, anyone who can read. Even if you read and re-read your own writing, there’s a reason for the phrase “fresh pair of eyes.” Use a proofreading tool. Grammarly, for example.

Hire a proofreader or an editor. If all else fails, put your money where your typos are.

Paying attention and enlisting others to pay attention for you—no matter whether they’re human or machine—can work wonders. And if you’re extra concerned, or if you aren’t quite sure what your own tics are, take a look at other common ones and internalize those, too.

Which common mistakes should you pay extra attention to?

Some errors are more errant than others. Here are a few of the ones that pop up most frequently in advertising, online content, and other areas where you want to put your best word forward.

Switching letters, dropping letters, or adding letters

These errors are pretty easy to spot for a casual observer. Unfortunately, making the find was a bit harder for the marketers who made these mistakes and forgot to proofread.

In words with just a letter or two off like these ones, you can bet the writer would have found the error if he or she hadn’t been working on autopilot.

Using quotation marks for emphasis

This one is more frequent on store signs than in content marketing, but that’s all the more reason not to fall into the trap in your own writing. In fact, when quotation marks are used and there’s not an actual quotation involved, they express irony or sarcasm. Make this mistake, and you imply the opposite of what’s actually being stated, or you sound like you’re making fun of what you’re saying.

So rather than being real (note the italics for emphasis), “real” ice cream might be made from dairy-free milk, a lot of chemicals, or maybe something you would never want to eat at all.

Same story with this dose of irony:

Putting “don’t” in quotation marks is essentially equivalent to saying “do.” And if fire is involved, that could be “dangerous.”

Making mistakes with commas

You’ve got comma splices, serial commas, commas after and between certain types of clauses, commas with dates, conjunctions, quotations, and more. Get your fill of common comma misconceptions in this list of ways to never use your commas incorrectly. And then, imagine the unusual demographic this sign brings into being because it skips commas.

Using the wrong word

Whether this error stems from not knowing the vocab, getting similar-sounding words mixed up, or writing while your head is wandering off somewhere else, it can lead to some humorous outcomes. It can also be bad news for your company.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes create possessives and contractions (get up to speed on all the apostrophe rules). If you’re writing the plural form of a word, keep apostrophes out of the picture. Otherwise, your signs will look less than professional.

Then there’s the its vs. it’s dilemma: it’s another big problem for marketers and writers. The gist: “it’s” means “it is” or “it has,” and “its” is the possessive form of “it.” Brush up here to avoid imperfections in your content.

It’s true, after all: perfection does have its price. This brand may have paid the price of poor marketing, but you don’t have to if you stay aware of what you’re writing and avoid the pitfalls of poor spelling, grammar, and punctuation usage.

The bottom line: reread what you write, and don’t be afraid to enlist help. Keeping your content clean and error-free will keep you credible and your customers committed. And if you need a little extra help, Grammarly has your back!

The post Why Grammar Matters in Your Content Marketing appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/why-grammar-matters-in-content-marketing/

0 notes

arthur36domingo · 7 years

Text

Why Grammar Matters in Your Content Marketing

What do typos do to your messaging?

Sometimes, an error can be downright scandalous.

And, to be fair, it can also be pretty hilarious.

Why care about grammar in marketing?

Case in point: if a politician’s publicity team can’t spell “America,” chances are, voters won’t want him to run it. That’s the power of careful communications.

Where’s the proof?

How can you avoid the typo trap?

Re-read what you wrote. Seriously. It sounds simple, but if you take a few minutes to go through your draft—without zoning out—you might be surprised at the little things you catch.

Hire a proofreader or an editor. If all else fails, put your money where your typos are.

Which common mistakes should you pay extra attention to?

Some errors are more errant than others. Here are a few of the ones that pop up most frequently in advertising, online content, and other areas where you want to put your best word forward.

Switching letters, dropping letters, or adding letters

These errors are pretty easy to spot for a casual observer. Unfortunately, making the find was a bit harder for the marketers who made these mistakes and forgot to proofread.

In words with just a letter or two off like these ones, you can bet the writer would have found the error if he or she hadn’t been working on autopilot.

Using quotation marks for emphasis

So rather than being real (note the italics for emphasis), “real” ice cream might be made from dairy-free milk, a lot of chemicals, or maybe something you would never want to eat at all.

Same story with this dose of irony:

Putting “don’t” in quotation marks is essentially equivalent to saying “do.” And if fire is involved, that could be “dangerous.”

Making mistakes with commas

Using the wrong word

Apostrophes

The post Why Grammar Matters in Your Content Marketing appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/why-grammar-matters-in-content-marketing/

0 notes