How to write for MetamorPOV

MetamorPOV uses the same grammatical rules as English, so you will find that you have an instinct for when to use each marker. This instinct is the same as the one that tells us "her likes apricots" is wrong. It feels wrong, even if we can't immediately put a finger on where it went wrong. When you can identify what role a word should play in a sentence so that it feels right, you can write in MetamorPOV.

In the example of "her likes apricots," "her" is an objective pronoun. Objective pronouns are used to refer to what a verb is acting on. This pronoun doesn't make sense for that phrase because the object here is "apricots." "Her" should instead be replaced by the subjective pronoun "she." The right phrase would be "she likes apricots."

Pronoun scopes

MetamorPOV defines three scopes for different uses: pov/ scope, plv/ scope, and prn/ scope. Each scope implements five standard pronoun forms, two of which we've already reviewed!

pov/s is for subjective pronouns (I, you, and he)
pov/o is for objective pronouns (me, you, and him)
pov/p is for possessive pronouns (my, your, and his)
pov/a is for possessive adjectives (mine, yours, and his)
pov/r is for reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, and himself)

The first scope, pov/ is used for narration. In third-person, pov/ and prn/ are identical, but not in other points of view!

pov/s likes peaches will become "he likes peaches" if the reader is using he/him pronouns or "she likes peaches" if they're using she/her pronouns.

plv/ scope is for plural point-of-view. Use this scope instead of pov/ if your narrator is acting as part of a group. "We" and "us" are examples of what to expect from this scope.

prn/ scope is for personal pronouns. Use this scope instead of pov/ when a character other than the reader-insert is referring to them. These markers will always be in third-person! IIn addition to the five standard pronoun forms, this scope includes some exclusive gendered nouns that can be configured by the reader.

prn/H is for honorific abbreviations (Mr., Ms., Mx.)
prn/h is for honorifics (mister, miss, mix)
prn/N is for adult nouns (man, woman, and person)
prn/n is for youth nouns (boy, girl, and kid)
prn/F is for parent nouns (father, mother, parent) and can be remembered as "adult family"
prn/f is for child nouns (son, daughter, child) and can be remembered as "youth family"
prn/k is for sibling nouns (brother, sister, sibling) and can be remembered as "kin"
prn/m is for married partner nouns (husband, wife, and spouse)
prn/d is for dating partner nouns (boyfriend, girlfriend, and partner)
Y/n is for the reader-insert's name

Capitalize the first letter of any pov/, plv/, or prn/ marker to capitalize the word that it becomes. As an example, Pov/s will become You in second-person.

Replacing verbs

vrb/ can be used to conjugate verbs into the reader's POV. This isn't always necessary, but often is.

pov/s likes apples will incorrectly become "I likes apples" in first-person, although "he likes apples" in third-person singular is correct
pov/s vrb/present/like/ apples will correctly become "I like apples" in first-person and "he likes apples" in third-person singular
vrb/like/ will become "I liked apples" in first-person because past-tense is assumed when tense is not provided

Use vrn/ instead of vrb/ when referring to a prn/ subject!

As with pronoun markers, capitalize the first letter to capitalize the word that it becomes.

Adapting by point-of-view

There are two ways to accommodate for readers using a specific point-of-view. The first is a shorthand specific to third-person POV and the second offers more control.

At any point in the where using the reader's name is preferable to using their pronouns for third-person POV, replace the letter following pov/ with its capital version. Then change any connected vrb/ markers to vrB/ instead.

alt/ can be used to indicate text specific to one or more viewpoints.

alt/first/a/ will become "a" in first-person and disappear in second or third-person POV
alt/second or third/b/c/ will disappear in first-person, become "b" in second-person, and become "c" in third-person
alt/first and second or third/ab/c/ will become "ab" in first and second-person, but "c" in third-person
alt/a/b/c/ will become "a" in first-person, "b" in second-person, and "c" in third-person

Additional features

if/ can be used to compare with markers.

a boy, if/prn/n is boy/like me/ will become "a boy, like me" if the reader uses "boy" as their youth noun
a boy, ife/prn/n is boy/like me/but I'm not/ will become "a boy, like me" if the reader uses "boy" as their youth noun and "a boy, but I'm not" otherwise

cut/ can be used to remove letters. There will always be at least one letter remaining after a cut and, if possible, at least one letter removed.

cut/pears/only first 3/ will become "pea"
cut/pears/off last 1/ will become "pear"
cut/cut/pears/off first 2//off last 3/ will first become "ars" and then become "a"

cap/ can be used to change how markers are capitalized. Please note that all caps can be disruptive for screen reader users. If you are able, consider using the CSS text-transform property instead. AO3 allows this with work skins.

cap/Lemon/ will become "lemon"
Cap/lime/ will become "Lime"
CAP/orange/ will become "ORANGE"

mrr/ will reverse the order of letters, as if mirrored.

mrr/kumquat/ will become "tauqmuk"

a/an will become either "a" or "an" depending on whether the following word starts with a vowel sound.

Readers can add their own replacements! If you want to write with a custom marker not provided by MetamorPOV, you have the option of suggesting that your readers add it to their configuration. Examples of replacements that may be useful but are not provided by MetamorPOV include the reader's last name, nicknames, and nobility titles.