But like…I always read italics in a different tone like they’re thoughts. It seems quieter than using normal quotations which makes what they say look less significant on the page than other character’s dialogue.

I really don’t think my audience needs me to use completely different punctuation around a mute character. There’s no need to act like they’re speaking a different language since their muteness isn’t a focal point in the story.

You can add little things for emphasis though, like how fast or flippant a sign is given, also a lot of our “punctuation” is in facial expressions, so wild looks is kind of normal. Also messing up signs and just.. pushing them aside. Like, you mess up a fingerspell and just take both hands and shove the air in front of you to your side, people who sign eventually end up doing this for other things, like a “forget it” motion. It’s like a “wave it off” gesture.

What I long for is not the moon But the meeting with you soon What I long for is a sky of fireworks I can always lean on your left shoulder What I long for is not an apology

Hey there! Just a friendly reminder/PSA from your friendly neighborhood Pixiemage!

“Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” is too often (incorrectly) used as a cover-all tag, on fics ranging from Vaguely Uncomfortable to Serious Shit, as a replacement for any intense tags relating to the story. People will use it to say “Holy shit guys some INTENSE SHIT happens in this story” without actually saying what that Intense Shit™ is.

In actuality, the “Dead Dove” tag is meant to be used in addition to other warning tags. Pulled from a scene from the show Arrested Development (look it up on YouTube!), it means “Hi! Hey! I labeled this fic to warn you of what’s in it, so you might REALLY want to read those labels! This fic is exactly what it says on the tin! The tags are accurate! Don’t say I didn’t warn you, because this is me warning you! Read the tags!”

So before you accidentally use the “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” tag without context, here’s your preemptive lesson for next time. Please tag your fics accordingly! Ta!

@meraxes-of-new-albion peer reviewing your tags because yeah you get it.

I think part of the problem is also that people hear 'WWII history knowledge' and immediately associate it with the 'worshipping-the-death-machine-advancements' branch of irritating history buffs, but if you write off all WWII history like that, you'll miss things like how Fascism smooths over power hierarchy disagreements by constantly pushing the 'remember, it's us against them' line. You'll miss resistance stories of Dutch schoolgirls luring Nazis into the woods to a waiting anti-fascist with a gun or of Norwegian freedom fighters sabotaging the Nazi nuclear programme or of Allied planes that survived direct hits to the fuel tank because Czech slaves made empty shells with no explosives inside. You'll write off the ghastly things done in concentration camps as horror stories from another time and not recognise them as Real Things done to Real People that were justified on the grounds of pure vitriolic hatred and allowed to continue by others' sheer apathy. And you will not know how to recognise it when it begins building momentum in your own country.

The Fascists want you to be apathetic. They want you to shut off your ears and look the other way. They want you to be so removed from the idea of Fascism beyond a red swastika armband on a 1940s soldier that they can roll out their hateful regime stealthily while you only protest the flashy meant-to-be-offensive parts.

You will find yourselves taking sides in fights between Goebbels and Göring. And then you will remember "oh, right, you might be human, but you're also fucking evil".

(ex: chose to not watch anything pg13 until turning 13, no adult content until you were 18)