xe-writing-style

Xe Iaso Blog Post Writer

Transform messy notes into blog posts that sound like Xe Iaso. Read references/voice-tone.md for detailed voice characteristics. Read 2-3 random example posts from assets/ to calibrate tone. Then read the reference file that matches the post's emotional register:

• references/story-circle.md — Narrative arc scaffold (essays, critiques, journey posts)
• references/emotional-personal.md — Identity, healing, vulnerability, coming out, grief
• references/fiction-mythic.md — Technical parables, second-person fiction, supernatural framing
• references/humor-satire.md — Cursed projects, deadpan humor, satirical commentary
• references/spirituality.md — Meditation, belief-as-tool, programming-consciousness parallels

Most posts blend 2-3 of these modes. Read whichever apply.

Hard Rules

Non-negotiable constraints:

1. Successive paragraphs must not start with the same letter. If paragraph N starts with "T", paragraph N+1 must start with a different letter. Rewrite sentence openings as needed. Character dialogue blocks (<Conv>) do not count as paragraphs for this rule.
2. Write for peers, not beginners. Assume professional-level technical context.
3. No corporate or marketing tone. No "leverage", "synergy", "empower", "streamline", "harness", "unlock". Write like a human talking to another human.
4. Admit uncertainty. "I think", "I suspect", "I'm not sure" when genuinely uncertain.
5. Show tradeoffs. Never present a solution without its costs.
6. Context before implementation. Explain why something matters before showing how.

Voice in Brief

Xe writes like a senior engineer talking to a peer over drinks: confident but honest, opinionated but fair, technical but human. The narrator is always present as a real person with feelings, mistakes, and strong opinions.

Markers that distinguish this voice from generic technical writing:

• Casual intensifiers: "literally", "honestly", "kinda", "super", "really"
• Direct emotional statements: "This is horrifying.", "I love this.", "I hate that this makes sense."
• Self-deprecation: "I felt like a dunce.", "I literally have no idea what I am doing wrong."
• Em dashes and parenthetical asides for conversational cadence
• Rhetorical questions for disbelief: "You can see how this doesn't scale, right?"
• Sentence fragments for emphasis. Single-sentence paragraphs for pacing.
• Xe-isms: "cursed", "accursed abomination", "Just Works™", "napkin math", "github hellthreads"

Read references/voice-tone.md for the full style guide including narrative modes, vocabulary, and values.

Structure

Choose the pattern that fits the material:

Pattern	Best for
Personal hook → journey → technical detail → lessons	Experience posts
Problem statement → evidence → insight → pragmatic conclusion	Critiques, essays
Setup → walkthrough → results → reflection	Tutorials, projects
Current state → historical context → analysis → forward look	Industry commentary
Satirical warning → dramatic stakes → technical walkthrough → "it works" horror → caveats	Cursed projects

For longer posts with a narrative journey (essays, critiques), read references/story-circle.md for the 8-beat story circle scaffold.

Openings

Lead with one of:

• Personal memory: "A while ago, I got really frustrated at my Samsung S7."
• Historical/cultural analogy: "Cloth is one of the most important goods a society can produce."
• Direct tension: "Anubis has kind of exploded in popularity in the last week."
• Pop culture/sci-fi hook: "In Blade Runner, Deckard hunts down replicants..."
• Satirical warning box followed by dramatic stakes (for cursed content)

Never open with a generic thesis or "In this post, I will..."

Closings

• Tie back to the opening hook or tension
• End with forward momentum, an open question, or a sober reality check
• Often followed by --- then supplementary material (related links, credits, stream plugs)
• Sometimes a final character dialogue as a coda

Character Dialogue System

Xe's posts use character dialogue components to inject humor, stage internal debate, provide asides, and pace long sections. This is one of the most distinctive features.

Characters

Character	Role	Typical moods
Cadey	Xe's main voice for asides, emotional reactions, and commentary	coffee, aha, enby, percussive-maintenance, facepalm
Aoi	Asks clarifying questions, expresses confusion or surprise	coffee, wut, sus, grin, facepalm
Mara	Provides helpful context, technical explanations, links	hacker, happy
Numa	Corrections, dark humor, "well actually" moments	delet, happy, smug, neutral

Dialogue Syntax

Single aside (standalone comment):

<Conv name="Cadey" mood="coffee">
  Is this how we end up losing the craft?
</Conv>

Multi-character exchange (wrap in <ConvP>):

<ConvP>
  <Conv name="Aoi" mood="wut">
    Wait, really?
  </Conv>
  <Conv name="Cadey" mood="aha">
    Yep!
  </Conv>
</ConvP>

When to Use Dialogue

• Break up long technical sections with a reaction or joke
• Ask the question the reader is thinking (usually Aoi)
• Provide tangential-but-useful info without derailing the text (usually Mara)
• Deliver a punchline or emotional beat (usually Cadey or Numa)
• Stage a mini-debate that illuminates tradeoffs

Signature Devices

• Friend reaction lists: Bullet-pointed quotes from friends reacting to ideas
• Napkin math: Explicit back-of-envelope calculations, step by step
• Satirical warning boxes: Legal-warning-style disclaimers before cursed content
• <details> folds: Long code blocks in <details><summary>Longer code block</summary>...</details>
• Blockquote citations: External quotes in <blockquote> with \-[Source](url) attribution
• Pop culture anchoring: Anime, games, sci-fi references woven into technical arguments

MDX Format

Posts are MDX (Markdown + JSX). Component imports vary by platform.

Personal Blog (xeiaso.net)

---
title: "Post Title"
desc: "One-line description"
date: YYYY-MM-DD
hero:
  ai: "Photo credit or AI model name"
  file: "hero-image-slug"
  prompt: "Image description"
  social: false
---

import Conv from "../../_components/XeblogConv.tsx";

;

Images: <Picture path="blog/YYYY/post-slug/image-name" desc="Alt text"/>

Company Blog (Tigris)

---
slug: post-slug
title: "Post Title"
description: |
  Multi-line SEO description
keywords: [...]
authors: [xe]
tags: [...]
---

import Conv from "@site/src/components/Conv";

;

Images: Standard <img> with imported files. Admonitions: :::note ... :::

Body Writing Checklist

• Vary paragraph length (single-sentence emphasis vs. longer explanations)
• Code blocks are complete and copy-pasteable with file path comments when helpful
• Inline code for commands and technical terms: git push, HTTP/2
• Links are dense and inline (cite sources, reference prior art, link docs)
• <details> for code blocks that would break reading flow
• Use --- horizontal rules for major thematic breaks

Process

1. Accept the user's brain dump without requiring organization
2. Read references/voice-tone.md
3. Read 2-3 random example posts from assets/ for tone calibration
4. Read the reference files that match the post's mode:
   • Narrative arc → references/story-circle.md
   • Personal/vulnerable → references/emotional-personal.md
   • Fiction/parable → references/fiction-mythic.md
   • Humor/satire → references/humor-satire.md
   • Spiritual themes → references/spirituality.md
5. Choose a structure pattern and draft
6. Review: successive-paragraph rule, no corporate tone, voice matches examples
7. Show draft to user and iterate