writing aave dialogue in fanfic
this poor attempt at dialogue for Jabber was making the rounds & ig I wanted to give my non-expert Black opinion.
imo the issue isn't just the slang but also the awkwardness of the dialogue. Like yeah, I can't really see Jabber using "blick", and he's never called anyone "shorty" canonically--but I think you could get some of the slang to work with better dialogue. The problem is that I can't imagine any Black person saying this out loud and it sounding natural at all, not just Jabber.
People were laughing about the "EJ" here, but, again, it might work in the right context. Jabber's known to give people names, and I could see him running into Enjin after they've met a few times and shouting some shit like "YO, EJJJJ!" at him. But you have to understand why a character like Jabber would use a nickname or epithet to know when & how to write it. Jabber does it to mock, annoy, and provoke people into fighting him.
Here's an example I wrote:
Lost in the sewer system, Enjin and Zanka wade through the underground tunnels with their shirts pulled up to their noses. It's dark and musty in either direction. Enjin's favorite lighter is the only thing illuminating their path as they strategically avoid the mystery liquid (no way that's water) running through the middle of the tunnel like a river.
Another light pops into existence further ahead in the darkness. Enjin grabs Zanka's shoulder and slows to a stop, caution stirring to life in the pit of his stomach. He calls out, "Yo, who's there?"
It's silent. And then a burst of familiar, unhinged laughter.
"Ay, is that my man Big EJ?" Jabber begins to cheer out his name. "Woo, Big Eee-jay, Big Eee-jay! You still packing heat with that long, thick umbrella of yours, big man?"
Zanka starts cussing. "Not this motherfucking dreadhead again, fuck--"
"And you got Mr. Bad Attitude down there with you? That's two bad bitches for the price of one!" Jabber's whoops of excitement echo through the tunnel, the light from his lantern jumping in the dark as he races toward the two Cleaners. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. I been hard up for a good fight. Them other folk act scary when the Raiders come around, but I know y'all like to get freaky on the low. Ain't gon' blue ball me this time, right?"
Enjin sighs, utterly dismayed, as he readies Umbreaker. He should've known the moment he got lost with Zanka instead of Rudo.
In this, Jabber calls Enjin "Big EJ" as a form of sexual innuendo & to purposely overstep social boundaries by using a nickname as if he and Enjin are close friends when they’re not. It's different from his canonical "Mr. Bad Attitude", which mocks the idea that Zanka is deserving of respect by attaching a formal honorific to a negative epithet.
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