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 (``) do not count as paragraphs for this rule.

1. Write for peers, not beginners. Assume professional-level technical

context.

1. No corporate or marketing tone. No "leverage", "synergy", "empower",

"streamline", "harness", "unlock". Write like a human talking to another human.

1. Admit uncertainty. "I think", "I suspect", "I'm not sure" when genuinely

uncertain.

1. Show tradeoffs. Never present a solution without its costs.
2. 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):

  Is this how we end up losing the craft?

Multi-character exchange (wrap in ``):

  
    Wait, really?
  
  
    Yep!
  

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

• `` folds: Long code blocks in

Longer code block...

• Blockquote citations: External quotes in `` 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: ``

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 ` 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)
• `` 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

1. Choose a structure pattern and draft
2. Review: successive-paragraph rule, no corporate tone, voice matches examples
3. Show draft to user and iterate

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Xe
• Source: Xe/skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.