xeiaso.net
Proof of concept mechanical port of ircnet/ircd to Rust as part of a bit about C being insecure for network services
docs(create-blogpost): retire character asides and name the voice tells
Update the series skill to match the de-asided posts and the audit
findings.
- Replace the "character asides as blockquotes" convention with an
explicit no-asides rule; both technical tangents and reaction beats
go inline in one first-person voice.
- Drop the now-obsolete blockquote clause from the hard paragraph rule.
- Expand the sound-like-a-person step with the five recurring tells the
series-wide audit surfaced, each with its fix.
- Add reaching-for-asides and the five tells to the anti-patterns.
Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.8 via Claude Code
Signed-off-by: Xe Iaso <me@xeiaso.net>
author
Xe Iaso
date
(Jun 28, 2026, 12:21 PM -0400)
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.claude/skills/create-blogpost/SKILL.md
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.claude/skills/create-blogpost/SKILL.md
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description: Use when asked to "work on another blogpost" / "write the next post" for the docs/blog/ series narrating the ircd.rs C→Rust port. Covers picking a topic, the locked format conventions, grounding claims in real source, the hard paragraph rule, and the mandatory voice passes.
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---
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# Writing the next docs/blog/ post
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# Writing the next blog post
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## Overview
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`docs/blog/` is a numbered, public-facing series in **Xe Iaso's voice** narrating
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`docs/site/content/blog/` is a numbered, public-facing series in **Xe Iaso's voice** narrating
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the strangler-fig C→Rust port of IRCnet ircd 2.11. "Work on another blogpost"
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means write the next `00N-*.md`. One post = one topic, written for peers.
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This is a faithful-port project, so the posts are **technically load-bearing**:
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every claim must be grounded in the actual code, plan, or specs — never
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hand-waved. The whole series' throughline is *honesty over hype* (build the
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hand-waved. The whole series' throughline is _honesty over hype_ (build the
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oracle first; don't round 98% up to 100%). Match that.
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**Two skill invocations are mandatory** (do not skip either):
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1. `/xe-writing:xe-writing-style` — before drafting (calibrates voice).
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2. `/xe-writing:sound-like-a-person` — after drafting (six humanizing passes).
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···
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### 4. Gather real source material
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Ground the post in fact before drafting. Pull from:
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- `PLAN.md` (the phase plan, the keystone-hazard table, locked decisions).
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- `docs/superpowers/plans/` and `docs/superpowers/specs/` (the per-phase
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design docs — these have the precise "why we did X not Y" reasoning).
···
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### 5. Draft to the locked format
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Frontmatter — plain markdown, no JSX imports:
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```markdown
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---
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title: "..."
···
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```
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Conventions (match the existing posts exactly):
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- **Character asides as blockquotes**, not `<Conv>` JSX:
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`> **Cadey** (coffee): …` (emotional/reaction beats),
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`> **Mara** (hacker): …` (technical context/tangents).
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- **No character asides.** The old `> **Cadey** (coffee): …` /
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`> **Mara** (hacker): …` blockquote device is retired — the whole back-catalog
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was de-asided. Write everything inline in one first-person voice: technical
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tangents (what Mara used to carry) and emotional/reaction beats (Cadey's job)
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both go in normal prose paragraphs. No second speaker, no blockquote framing.
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- A **standing disclaimer** that this is an unsanctioned experiment on someone
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else's code — leave the IRCNet team out of it. (Top of 001; bottom coda on the
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others.)
···
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### 6. Enforce the hard paragraph rule
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**No two successive prose paragraphs may start with the same letter.** Blockquote
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asides, headers, and code blocks don't count as paragraphs. Audit the whole draft
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**No two successive prose paragraphs may start with the same letter.** Headers and
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code blocks don't count as paragraphs. Audit the whole draft
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explicitly — list each prose paragraph's opening letter in order and fix
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collisions (including pairs separated only by a header). This rule bites; check it
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every time, and re-check after the voice passes change openers.
···
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### 7. Invoke sound-like-a-person
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Call `/xe-writing:sound-like-a-person`. Run its six passes on the **weakest**
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sections — the spots that sound performed rather than lived-in. Typical offenders
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in these posts: balanced tricolons, em-dash reveals, wrap-up paragraphs that just
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restate the demo above them, and too-tidy quotable endings. Roughen pacing, cut
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twin clauses, prefer an imperfect ending over a bow. Then **re-run step 6** (the
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passes change paragraph openers) and read it aloud once.
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sections — the spots that sound performed rather than lived-in. A series-wide audit
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turned up five tells that recur in these posts; check for each by name:
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1. **Balanced "not X, it's Y" / "X, not Y" antitheses.** The single most common
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tell — fine once per post on the strongest beat, manufactured when stacked.
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Keep one or two, flatten the rest into plain declaratives that don't pivot on a
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negation.
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2. **Restate-the-point closers.** A section lands its point, then a tidy button
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re-states it to sound conclusive. Cut the button; let the prior sentence end it.
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3. **Rule-of-three tricolons**, especially one-fragment-per-section recap triads.
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Collapse to two uneven clauses so the cadence stops marching.
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4. **Honesty-signaling.** Narrating your own candor ("let me be honest…", "the kind
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of small honesty I'd rather log") instead of just stating the fact. State it and
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move on.
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5. **Meta-narration.** Pointing at the essay's own structure ("the part worth
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telling is…", "this post describes…", "sit with the shape of it"). Delete the
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framing, lead straight into the thing.
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Also watch the older offenders: em-dash reveals used as a repeated tic, and too-tidy
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quotable endings. Roughen pacing, cut twin clauses, prefer an imperfect ending over
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a bow. Then **re-run step 6** (the passes change paragraph openers) and read it
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aloud once.
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### 8. Commit + update series state
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···
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## Anti-patterns
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- Skipping either mandatory skill invocation (style before, person after).
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- Emitting `<Conv>`/MDX JSX instead of the blockquote asides.
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- Reaching for character asides — `> **Cadey**` / `> **Mara**` blockquotes (or
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`<Conv>`/MDX JSX). The aside device is gone; fold every beat into plain prose.
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- Leaning on the five recurring voice tells in step 7 (antithesis, restate-closer,
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tricolon, honesty-signaling, meta-narration).
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- Asserting technical claims without checking the source (this is a
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*verifiable-faithfulness* project — wrong claims undermine the whole point).
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_verifiable-faithfulness_ project — wrong claims undermine the whole point).
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- Forgetting the successive-paragraph-letter audit.
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- Rounding up: don't claim more is done/Rust/finished than actually is. The
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series' credibility is the product.