Zoe Kempf-Harris
@zozietropes.bsky.social
English PhD Candidate • Tethered Modernist, Transatlantic Nerd • Independent writer without a plan • Improviser with too many plans • DM with Schrödinger's plan
The Garden of Forking Pronunciations
November 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The Garden of Forking Pronunciations
Oh, I save my unreasonable zeal for my defense of British spellings! Occasionally, and for verbs more so than nouns… because while “color” is a noun, “colour” has that dynamism I’m looking for in my action words.
I didn’t mean to incense the internet to that degree RIGHT away, but here we are.
I didn’t mean to incense the internet to that degree RIGHT away, but here we are.
October 18, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Oh, I save my unreasonable zeal for my defense of British spellings! Occasionally, and for verbs more so than nouns… because while “color” is a noun, “colour” has that dynamism I’m looking for in my action words.
I didn’t mean to incense the internet to that degree RIGHT away, but here we are.
I didn’t mean to incense the internet to that degree RIGHT away, but here we are.
The real charm of this grammar codicil(?) is that it's subjective to the point of uselessness. It's to be written more than it's to be read. But for those in the know of your personal code, it opens up a whole new palette—even if that's just for yourself.
October 18, 2025 at 2:09 AM
The real charm of this grammar codicil(?) is that it's subjective to the point of uselessness. It's to be written more than it's to be read. But for those in the know of your personal code, it opens up a whole new palette—even if that's just for yourself.
Oh for sure! I read "okAY" as ellipses, a "to be continued," but I completely respect that there's a formality that can be read as finality there.
October 18, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Oh for sure! I read "okAY" as ellipses, a "to be continued," but I completely respect that there's a formality that can be read as finality there.
My Limpley Stoke nostalgia is acting up again, and so I’m liable to treat this as a recommendation…
October 16, 2025 at 3:30 AM
My Limpley Stoke nostalgia is acting up again, and so I’m liable to treat this as a recommendation…
- as the world falls away from her.” If I said "and the world falls away from me," I don't know that I'd buy it for being maudlin (nor would Merle!). But maybe 3rd-person interiority actually gives us access to her subconscious—the truth of what she's feeling in words she would not use consciously.
September 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM
- as the world falls away from her.” If I said "and the world falls away from me," I don't know that I'd buy it for being maudlin (nor would Merle!). But maybe 3rd-person interiority actually gives us access to her subconscious—the truth of what she's feeling in words she would not use consciously.
But capturing the emotional landscape? It seems a shame that 3rd-person could so easily leave interiority behind when it could create new gateways. Maybe I'd feel like I get to be more character-indulgent by not sounding self-indulgent. Not “I’m devastated,” but instead “Merle’s face goes slack -
September 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM
But capturing the emotional landscape? It seems a shame that 3rd-person could so easily leave interiority behind when it could create new gateways. Maybe I'd feel like I get to be more character-indulgent by not sounding self-indulgent. Not “I’m devastated,” but instead “Merle’s face goes slack -
so this might be my own technical bleed into how I imagine player experience to be. Your connection between 3rd-person and physical performance yields a lot for me too. I wonder too if invoking the character name during narration asserts them more strongly in space. "Isabel cleaves!"
September 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM
so this might be my own technical bleed into how I imagine player experience to be. Your connection between 3rd-person and physical performance yields a lot for me too. I wonder too if invoking the character name during narration asserts them more strongly in space. "Isabel cleaves!"
I suppose when I’m tempted to switch, it feels like readjusting my grip on the camera—either for that distance you mention, or for directorial reasons. Maybe POV changes could occur as naturally as paragraph breaks. Granted, my experience is almost all DMing -
September 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I suppose when I’m tempted to switch, it feels like readjusting my grip on the camera—either for that distance you mention, or for directorial reasons. Maybe POV changes could occur as naturally as paragraph breaks. Granted, my experience is almost all DMing -
(I love thinking about focalization and DnD both, and so I got a little carried away in the intersection… hope I didn’t over-explain, but am always happy to explore more!)
September 23, 2025 at 8:18 PM
(I love thinking about focalization and DnD both, and so I got a little carried away in the intersection… hope I didn’t over-explain, but am always happy to explore more!)
Your post just made me think of this kind of cool camerawork, and how one can slip automatically into free indirect discourse in DnD. I wonder too if players at the table would ever find occasion to also use the 2nd person you bring up!
September 23, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Your post just made me think of this kind of cool camerawork, and how one can slip automatically into free indirect discourse in DnD. I wonder too if players at the table would ever find occasion to also use the 2nd person you bring up!
“Isabel raises her axe over her head, her eyes taking the tumult of battle in and knowing she could end it—but how could she bring herself to land the final blow?” You get all the cadence of Isabel’s internality, but the player/narrator can zoom out and stage more of the scene from the outside.
September 23, 2025 at 8:18 PM
“Isabel raises her axe over her head, her eyes taking the tumult of battle in and knowing she could end it—but how could she bring herself to land the final blow?” You get all the cadence of Isabel’s internality, but the player/narrator can zoom out and stage more of the scene from the outside.
Free indirect discourse isn’t quoted speech, and it sounds like narration, but it’s done in the voice of the character and can deliver nearly all the same insights. It’s why a 2nd person question like “how do you want to do this?” could bypass 1st person altogether and be answered:
September 23, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Free indirect discourse isn’t quoted speech, and it sounds like narration, but it’s done in the voice of the character and can deliver nearly all the same insights. It’s why a 2nd person question like “how do you want to do this?” could bypass 1st person altogether and be answered:
Sure! In combat, when so much gets punchy and personal—“I attack,” “I run to where Osmond fell“—the big moments deserve some further scene-setting and players often seize the 3rd person reins on such occasions. With free indirect discourse, you don’t sacrifice any benefits of the internal monologue.
September 23, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Sure! In combat, when so much gets punchy and personal—“I attack,” “I run to where Osmond fell“—the big moments deserve some further scene-setting and players often seize the 3rd person reins on such occasions. With free indirect discourse, you don’t sacrifice any benefits of the internal monologue.
Conversely, you have those cinematic moments when first-person players opt into free indirect discourse for the chance to direct themselves. The full/intimate omniscience of having /just/ been in first person lingers, but you get a wider camera angle to play with, plus that narratorial gravitas.
September 22, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Conversely, you have those cinematic moments when first-person players opt into free indirect discourse for the chance to direct themselves. The full/intimate omniscience of having /just/ been in first person lingers, but you get a wider camera angle to play with, plus that narratorial gravitas.
In a moment of panicked silence, I landed on the traditional “film” symbol, except then you pick up the camera and smash it to the floor.* Thankfully, I had a ride-or-die charades partner who nodded—“And now we’re in the meta-text.”
*satisfying obliteration sound effects optional but recommended
*satisfying obliteration sound effects optional but recommended
September 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM
In a moment of panicked silence, I landed on the traditional “film” symbol, except then you pick up the camera and smash it to the floor.* Thankfully, I had a ride-or-die charades partner who nodded—“And now we’re in the meta-text.”
*satisfying obliteration sound effects optional but recommended
*satisfying obliteration sound effects optional but recommended
A decent alternative—except you have to be okay with the words it refuses to accept, including but not limited to "linguine."
spellsbee.com
spellsbee.com
Spelling Bee Game - Online and Free
Play Spelling Bee game online and free. Make as many words as possible using 7 letters and test your vocabulary. Find pangrams and become the genius Bee!
spellsbee.com
September 14, 2025 at 6:18 PM
A decent alternative—except you have to be okay with the words it refuses to accept, including but not limited to "linguine."
spellsbee.com
spellsbee.com
When I lived in a coach house in an English garden, this chicken used to come to my door and stand there for ages—expecting to be allowed entry, pecking at the glass.
My sister: "LET HER IN"
Me: "The problem isn't letting her in, it's getting her out again..."
My sister: "LET HER IN"
Me: "The problem isn't letting her in, it's getting her out again..."
May 27, 2025 at 8:12 PM
When I lived in a coach house in an English garden, this chicken used to come to my door and stand there for ages—expecting to be allowed entry, pecking at the glass.
My sister: "LET HER IN"
Me: "The problem isn't letting her in, it's getting her out again..."
My sister: "LET HER IN"
Me: "The problem isn't letting her in, it's getting her out again..."
If, when moving to pick up a fallen sock, I smacked my back on the dryer door, does this mean I'm entitled to workplace compensation?
May 26, 2025 at 6:32 PM
If, when moving to pick up a fallen sock, I smacked my back on the dryer door, does this mean I'm entitled to workplace compensation?
Travail de Foule? Ah, J'Espère Bien Que Oui
May 21, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Travail de Foule? Ah, J'Espère Bien Que Oui
I remember first learning in 2017 about how declines in political hegemony lead to rises in cultural hegemony and looking for small consolations there. Little did I know I had yet to see the true face of decline—but maybe that means the art is on its way.
It’s a hell of a time to study modernism.
It’s a hell of a time to study modernism.
April 9, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I remember first learning in 2017 about how declines in political hegemony lead to rises in cultural hegemony and looking for small consolations there. Little did I know I had yet to see the true face of decline—but maybe that means the art is on its way.
It’s a hell of a time to study modernism.
It’s a hell of a time to study modernism.