Are diacritics allowed in stories published on Literotica?

[MediocreAuthor]

I want an eldritch creature to speak with crazy text like this:

W̸̞͋͗̊h̸͓̀a̷̤̍t̸̡̫͓̏ ̶͇̗̿̇͑m̵̲̬̈́̋o̴̧̨̘͗͌̀r̶̦͙̠̍̌ẗ̷̢̜̪̌́ą̷̌͐̒l̵̳̙̗̐͊ ̶̘̺̬̌ḑ̸̳̯́a̷̫̲͗̊͝r̸̫̜̭̿͛ẽ̴̘̰̗́̽s̷͔̹̽̉ ̷̳̙̏t̸̛̠̞̻ǒ̵̲̘̃ ̵͎̙̱̒d̷̩̃͝ḯ̷̩̥̆ş̸̳̿̈ṱ̶͙͓̆ų̴̯̃̄r̵̪̖̈b̸̟͚͌̿ ̸͈̏̕m̶͍͒͋̈́e̸̯̚?̵͕͆̎̈́

Is that allowed within the text of a Literotica story?
When I previewed the work, it looked fine, but I don't know how it'll look once it's published... (Or ironically how it'll look once I post this thread lol)

 

[jaF0]

Why would you want to make it hard for people to read?

 

[KeithD]

Diacritics are permitted, yes--but what I see in your post goes way beyond just diacritics. I doubt that will post. You could try it, though, and edit if it doesn't (or if it's kicked back).

 

[MediocreAuthor]

Why would you want to make it hard for people to read?

The words spoken by the Eldridge entity are he hard for the characters within the story to understand too. The idea is that her words are painful to hear.
It's a gimmick sure, but I kinda like it. It isn't THAT hard to read.

She doesn't speak much, so the amount of altered text will be minimal.

 

[GoldenCompulsion]

My only concern would be for those users who use a screen reader. Characters like these would be a fucking nightmare for the blind and partially sighted. It will not be read properly.

But if you don't care about that then well... then that's that.

But that's if it goes through review phase, anyway.

 

[KeithD]

The words spoken by the Eldridge entity are he hard for the characters within the story to understand too. The idea is that her words are painful to hear.
It's a gimmick sure, but I kinda like it. It isn't THAT hard to read.

She doesn't speak much, so the amount of altered text will be minimal.

The Literotica story file is a rolling single-document anthology. Uniformity and simplicity of presentation are the standards. Gimmicks aren't appreciated much and often are not clear to the readers.

 

[jaF0]

I don't know a diacritic from a diatribe from a Diehard, but I know I like simplicity and easy to read text. If I have to try and figure something out, I'm gone. I know they allow Italics and Bold and maybe a few other common/simple text tricks, but they don't allow color for example and I'm not sure about font face changes.

And yeah, there's that whole acecssibility thing.

 

[PastMaster]

Personally I think using such a text would detract from your story, if you don't want the reader to be able to read it there are other ways to achieve that and if you do want the reader to be able to read it why make it difficult? Such gimmicks would put me off reading your story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm with the others, I think it's a bad distraction. There are other ways to suggest different forms of speech, using plain text. I'd think into some other way of doing it that's less disruptive and all user friendly. Maybe some speech and a narrative clue that the voice is harsh and ugly?

 

[Bramblethorn]

I want an eldritch creature to speak with crazy text like this:

W̸̞͋͗̊h̸͓̀a̷̤̍t̸̡̫͓̏ ̶͇̗̿̇͑m̵̲̬̈́̋o̴̧̨̘͗͌̀r̶̦͙̠̍̌ẗ̷̢̜̪̌́ą̷̌͐̒l̵̳̙̗̐͊ ̶̘̺̬̌ḑ̸̳̯́a̷̫̲͗̊͝r̸̫̜̭̿͛ẽ̴̘̰̗́̽s̷͔̹̽̉ ̷̳̙̏t̸̛̠̞̻ǒ̵̲̘̃ ̵͎̙̱̒d̷̩̃͝ḯ̷̩̥̆ş̸̳̿̈ṱ̶͙͓̆ų̴̯̃̄r̵̪̖̈b̸̟͚͌̿ ̸͈̏̕m̶͍͒͋̈́e̸̯̚?̵̵̵̵̵̵̵̵̢̢̢̢̢̢̢̢͕̳͕̳͕̳͕̳͕̳͕̳͕̳͕̳͆̎̈́͆̎̈́͆̎̈́͆̎̈́͆̎̈́͆̎̈́͆̎̈́͆̎̈́

Is that allowed within the text of a Literotica story?
When I previewed the work, it looked fine, but I don't know how it'll look once it's published... (Or ironically how it'll look once I post this thread lol)

I've been on the internet too long, I can actually read that: "what mortal dares to disturb me".

I tried it in a couple of different text-to-speech options. It came out garbled in both of them, but not in a cool demonic sounding way, more just like a normal human voice fucking up an unfamiliar language e.g. "what moral ars tea to serve me". It probably won't make your story unreadable to TTS, or no more so than it is to visual readers, but it may not set the mood you intended if your monster sounds less "ancient unspeakable horror" and more "Karen's first Duolingo lesson".

I will note that diacritics exist for representing human, non-English languages. Using them to indicate eldritch horrors is kind of like a phonetic version of writing "the creature's language didn't sound human at all, more like a combination of Hungarian, Livonian and Vietnamese". Viewed that way, it feels a little sketchy.

 

[Britva415]

I found it to be clever and effective at rendering an eldritch horror‘s insanity-inducing speech or telepathic invasion or utter mindfuck or whatever it’s supposed to be.

I don’t have an answer to the question though, sorry.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

I found it to be clever and effective at rendering an eldritch horror‘s insanity-inducing speech or telepathic invasion or utter mindfuck or whatever it’s supposed to be.

I don’t have an answer to the question though, sorry.

Well at least I have one person on my side. Haha

The subject somehow became "Is using glitchy text a good idea for the story?"

That was never in question for me... Obviously, I appreciate everyone's input, but I am only concerned with "Will it work?"

I love this sort of gimmick every time I see it used to represent horrifying, other-worldly speech. So I will use it, if I possibly can. (I offer my most sincere apologies to the visually impaired. I'll probably leave a head-up in the forward, so that no one wastes their time).

So far, no one has presented a definitive answer, but I certainly appreciate the responses.

For the record, the speech becomes steadily easier to read as the Eldritch creature begins altering it's speech to become more intelligible.

Obviously, this is still a nightmare for TTS, but it is considerably easier to read. After only a few lines, the voice is more or less normal.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

In case anyone ever stumbles upon this thread, looking for the answer, the answer is YES!

EXAGGERATED DIACRITICS ARE ALLOWED!

You can see them here!

I'm so happy! I think they look fantastic!