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NASA
Monterey Bay Aquarium

ā

JBB: An Artblog!
Xuebing Du
Sweet Seals For You, Always
Cosmic Funnies
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
RMH
ojovivo
will byers stan first human second

izzy's playlists!

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@arithallows
Fics/WIP Pinned Post
Find me on AO3Ā <-- click!
(a note: There are some I haveĀ āin the worksā that I donāt want to post until theyāre more solid! I mostly write Drarry.)

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Have you seen the new show? It's on Tubu. It's literally on Heebee. It's on Poodee with ads. It's literally on Dippy. You can probably find it on Weeno. Dude it's on Gumpy. It's a Pheebo original. It's on Poob. You can watch it on Poob. You can go to Poob and watch it. Log onto Poob right now. Go to Poob. Dive into Poob. You can Poob it. It's on Poob. Poob has it for you. Poob has it for you.
Three moods when I see my favorite artists/writers
Me @ @unlimitedhearts
wait you're back?? does that mean tftsb is gonna.... update??
Yes. All good things come in time š

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āTake me to himā
Imagine this, Harry is in trouble and his patronus finds the person he desperately needs in that moment and it is Draco.
I had this thought and had to draw an illustration based on itš
heās doing what our government should be doing..Ā
his foundation
Ā D U D E!!!!!
This is FANTASTIC.Ā This is a NON-PROFIT.Ā I just donated $25.Ā Ā
PLEASE SUPPORT IF YOU CAN.Ā CLEAN WATER IS SO IMPORTANT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
WAD is a song made for Drarry lovers by Drarry lovers!
So excited to share the CMV with yāall! <3
Iām a bit obsessed with that one Pirates of the Caribbean marriage sceneā¦
They're letting sex image back into the site!!! Now you HAVE TO POST It šš³ļø
UH OH
HOLE'S BACK ON THE MENU, BOYS

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Your Draco looks classy, love messy Harry in the background. Draco's far too sparkly for him! Love how you draw them all, too!
Words for Skin Tone | How to Describe Skin Color
We discussed the issues describing People of Color by means of food in Part I of this guide, which brought rise to even more questions, mostly along the lines of āSo, if foodās not an option, what can I use?ā Well, I was just getting to that!
This final portion focuses on describing skin tone, with photo and passage examples provided throughout. I hope to cover everything from the use of straight-forward description to the more creatively-inclined, keeping in mind the questions weāve received on this topic.
Standard Description
Basic Colors
Pictured above: Black, Brown, Beige, White, Pink.
āShe had brown skin.ā
This is a perfectly fine description that, while not providing the most detail, works well and will never become clichƩ.
Describing charactersā skin as simply brown or beige works on its own, though itās not particularly telling just from the range in brown alone.
Complex Colors
These are more rarely used words that actually āmeanā their color. Some of these have multiple meanings, so youāll want to look into those to determine what other associations a word might have.
Pictured above: Umber, Sepia, Ochre, Russet, Terra-cotta, Gold, Tawny, Taupe, Khaki, Fawn.
Complex colors work well alone, though often pair well with a basic color in regards to narrowing down shade/tone.
For example: Golden brown,Ā russet brown,Ā tawny beigeā¦
As some of these are on the ārareā side, sliding in a definition of the word within the sentence itself may help readers who are unfamiliar with the term visualize the color without seeking a dictionary.
āHe was tall and slim, his skin a russet, reddish-brown.ā
Comparisons to familiar colors or visuals are also helpful:
āHis skin was an ochre color, much like the mellow-brown light that bathed the forest.ā
Modifiers
Modifiers, often adjectives, make partial changes to a word.The following words are descriptors in reference to skin tone.
Dark - Deep - Rich - Cool
Warm - Medium - Tan
Fair - Light - Pale
Rich Black, Dark brown, Warm beige, Pale pinkā¦
If youāre looking to get more specific than ābrown,ā modifiers narrow down shade further.
Keep in mind that these modifiers are not exactly colors.
As an already brown-skinned person, I get tan from a lot of sun and resultingly become a darker, deeper brown. I turn a pale, more yellow-brown in the winter.
While best used in combination with a color, I suppose words like ātanā āfairā and ālightā do work alone; just note that tan is less likely to be taken for ānaturally tanā and much more likely a tanned White person.
Calling someone ādarkā as description on its own is offensive to some and also ambiguous. (See: Describing Skin as Dark)
Undertones
Undertones are the colors beneath the skin, seeing as skin isnāt just one even color but has more subdued tones within the dominating palette.
pictured above: warm / earth undertones: yellow, golden, copper, olive, bronze, orange, orange-red, coral | cool / jewel undertones: pink, red, blue, blue-red, rose, magenta, sapphire, silver.Ā
Mentioning the undertones within a characterās skin is an even more precise way to denote skin tone.
As shown, thereās a difference between say, brown skin with warm orange-red undertones (Kelly Rowland) and brown skin with cool, jewel undertones (Rutina Wesley).
āA dazzling smile revealed the bronze glow at her cheeks.ā
āHe always looked as if heād ran a mile, a constant tinge of pink under his tawny skin.ā
Standard Description Passage
āFarahās skin, always fawn, had burned and freckled under the summerās sun. Even at the cusp of autumn, an uneven tan clung to her skin like burrs. So unlike the smooth, red-brown ochre of her mother, which the sun had richened to a blessing.ā
-From my story āWhere Summer Endsā featured in Strange Little Girls
Here the state of skin also gives insight on character.
Note my use of āfawnā in regards to multiple meaning and association. While fawn is a color, itās also a small, timid deer, which describes this very traumatized character of mine perfectly.
Though I use standard descriptions of skin tone more in my writing, at the same time Iām no stranger to creative descriptions, and do enjoy the occasional artsy detail of a character.
Creative Description
Whether compared to night-cast rivers or dayās first lightā¦I actually enjoy seeing Characters of Colors dressed in artful detail.
Iāve read loads of descriptions in my day of white characters and their āsmooth rose-tinged ivory skinā, while the PoC, if there, are reduced to something from a candy bowl or a Starbucks drink, so to actually read of PoC described in lavish detail can be somewhat of a treat.
Still, be mindful when you get creative with your character descriptions. Too many frills can become purple-prose-like, so do what feels right for your writing when and where. Not every character or scene warrants a creative description, either. Especially if theyāre not even a secondary character.
Using a combination of color descriptions from standard to creative is probably a better method than straight creative. But again, do whatās good for your tale.
Natural Settings - Sky
Pictured above: Harvest Moon -Twilight, Fall/Autumn Leaves, Clay, Desert/Sahara, Sunlight - Sunrise - Sunset - Afterglow - Dawn- Day- Daybreak, Field - Prairie - Wheat, Mountain/Cliff, Beach/Sand/Straw/Hay.
Now before you run off to compare your heroineās skin to the harvest moon or a cliff side, think about the associations to your words.
When I think cliff, I think of jagged, perilous, rough. I hear sand and picture grainy, yet smooth. Calm. mellow.
So consider your character and what you see fit to compare them to.
Also consider whose perspective youāre describing them from. Someone describing a person they revere or admire may have a more pleasant, loftier description than someone who canāt stand the person.
āHer face was like the fire-gold glow of dawn, lifting my gaze, drawing me in.ā
āShe had a sandyĀ complexion, smooth and tawny.ā
Even creative descriptions tend to draw help from your standard words.
Flowers
Pictured above: Calla lilies, Western Coneflower, Hazel Fay, Hibiscus, Freesia, Rose
It was a bit difficult to find flowers to my liking that didnāt have a 20 character name or wasnāt called something like āchocolate silkā so these are the finalists.Ā
Youāll definitely want to avoid purple-prose here.
Also be aware of flowers that most mightāve never heard of. Roses are easy, as most know the look and coloring(s) of this plant. But Western coneflowers? Calla lilies? Maybe not so much.
āHe entered the cottage in a huff, cheeks a blushing brown like the flowers Nana planted right under my window. Hazel Fay she called them, was it?ā
Assorted Plants & Nature
Pictured above: Cattails, Seashell, Driftwood, Pinecone, Acorn, Amber
These ones are kinda odd. Perhaps because Iāve never seen these in comparison to skin tone, With the exception of amber.
At least theyāre common enough that most may have an idea what youāre talking about at the mention of āpinecone."Ā
I suggest reading out your sentences aloud to get a better feel of how itāll sounds.
"Auburn hair swept past pointed ears, set around a face like an acorn both in shape and shade.ā
I pictured some tree-dwelling being or person from a fantasy world in this example, which makes the comparison more appropriate.
I donāt suggest using a comparison just ācuz you canā but actually being thoughtful about what youāre comparing your character to and how it applies to your character and/or setting.
Wood
Pictured above: Mahogany, Walnut, Chestnut, Golden Oak, Ash
Wood can be an iffy description for skin tone. Not only due to several of them having āfoodyā terminology within their names, but again, associations.
Some people would prefer not to compare/be compared to wood at all, so get opinions, try it aloud, and make sure itās appropriate to the character if you do use it.
āThe old warlockās skin was a deep shade of mahogany, his stare serious and firm as it held mine.ā
Metals
Pictured above: Platinum, Copper, Brass, Gold, Bronze
Copper skin, brass-colored skin, golden skinā¦
Iāve even heard variations of these used before by comparison to an object of the same properties/coloring, such as penny for copper.
These also work well with modifiers.
āThe dress of fine white silks popped against the deep bronze of her skin.ā
Gemstones - Minerals
Pictured above: Onyx, Obsidian, Sard, Topaz, Carnelian, Smoky Quartz, Rutile, Pyrite, Citrine, Gypsum
These are trickier to use. As with some complex colors, the writer will have to get us to understand what most of these look like.
If you use these, or any more rare description, consider if it actually āfitsā the book or scene.
Even if youāre able to get us to picture what ārutileā looks like, why are you using this description as opposed to something else? Have that answer for yourself.
āHis skin reminded her of the topaz ring her father wore at his finger, a gleaming stone of brown, mellow facades.āĀ
Physical Description
Physical character description can be more than skin tone.
Show us hair, eyes, noses, mouth, handsā¦body posture, body shape, skin texture⦠though not necessarily all of those nor at once.
Describing features also helps indicate race, especially if your character has some traits common within the race they are, such as afro hair to a Black character.
How comprehensive you decide to get is up to you. I wouldnāt overdo it and get specific to every mole and birthmark. Noting defining characteristics is good, though, like slightly spaced front teeth, curls that stay flopping in their face, hands freckled with sunspotsā¦
General Tips
Indicate Race Early: I suggest indicators of race be made at the earliest convenience within the writing, with more hints threaded throughout here and there.
Get Creative On Your Own:Ā Obviously, I couldnāt cover every proper color or comparison in which has been āapprovedā to use for your charactersā skin color, so itās up to you to use discretion when seeking other ways and shades to describe skin tone.
Skin Color May Not Be Enough: Describing skin tone isnāt always enough to indicate someoneās ethnicity. As timeless cases with readers equating brown to ādark whiteā or something, more indicators of race may be needed.
Describe White characters and PoC Alike: You should describe the race and/or skin tone of your white characters just as you do your Characters of Color. If you donāt, you risk implying that White is the default human being and PoC are the āOtherā).
PSA: Donāt use āColored.ā Based on some asks weāve received using this word, Iād like to say that unless you or your character is a racist grandmama from the 1960s, do not call People of Color ācoloredā please.Ā
Not Sure Where to Start? You really canāt go wrong using basic colors for your skin descriptions. Itās actually what many people prefer and works best for most writing. Personally, I tend to describe my characters using a combo of basic colors + modifiers, with mentions of undertones at times. I do like to veer into more creative descriptions on occasion.
Want some alternatives to āskinā or āskin colorā? Try: Appearance, blend, blush, cast, coloring, complexion, flush, glow, hue, overtone, palette, pigmentation, rinse, shade, sheen, spectrum, tinge, tint, tone, undertone, value, wash.
Skin Tone Resources
List of Color Names
The Color Thesaurus
Skin Undertone & Color Matching
Tips and Words on Describing Skin
Photos: Undertones Described (Modifiers included)
Online Thesaurus (try colors, such as āredā & ābrownā)
Donāt Call me Pastries: Creative Skin Tones w/ pics IĀ
Writing & Description Guides
WWCĀ Featured Description Posts
WWC Guide: Words to Describe Hair
Writing with Color: Description & Skin ColorĀ Tags
7 Offensive Mistakes Well-intentioned Writers Make
I tried to be as comprehensive as possible with this guide, but if you have a question regarding describing skin color that hasnāt been answered within part I or II of this guide, or have more questions after reading this post, feel free to ask!
~ Mod Colette
First Auror Potter I have ever painted was on his birthday, July 31st, in 2016, and itās the first of this collection. I think thatās why I started to think of him as an +20 yo auror. Somehow, itās like heās growing with me in real time. My vision of Harry Potter has matured over the years. Heās no longer a young boy in my mind as Iām no longer a child or teenager. What motivates me is to think heās got wiser and more serious and all shit heās been through since he was a kid made him even more sarcastic then he was. āNo need to call me sir, professorā would turn into something like āYou need to call me sirā.
For more bearded/auror Harry, see thisĀ tag :)
Draco Malfoy portrait - digital oil painting practice inspired by Rembrandt paintings
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this is the most unsettling episode of cutthroat kitchen i have ever seen
Season 4, Episode 2
I just put it on. Letās see how this goes.
Chef Mike (sick in the head guy) has been sabotaging his chefs @ work to prepare. Whether this was consensual is unknown. He called Chef Gerry a 40 year old virgin
Chef Gerry (Asian hillbilly) said ānice hairsprayā
Chef Mike didnāt like that.
Alton Brown has arrived. He is just as foreboding as ever.
Chef Mike says that sabotaging someone is doing them a favour, by making them tougher
I have begun to wonder what the employee retention rate is at his place of work.
Soup and Salad.
Chef Mike thinks itās elementary
Oh Chef Mike.
Chef Roman (military interrogator) has put loose fingerling potatoās in his grocery basket.
The potatoās keep falling out.
He does not do anything to fix this problem.
Heās blaming the basket. But heās gonna win
Because heās an interrogator.
You gonna interrogate someone out of their potatoās bud?
Military man spent 3k to make Gerry cook in some bread BC he ālooks like a slobā
Buddy heās a hillbilly, he knows how to cook food in bread.
Also like⦠Bread bowl, soup and salad? Come on dude.
Chef Roman also have chef Allison (pink headband) ladles to cook in. BC he doubts whether she could make a soup or salad normally.
Because WOMEN amirite?
I hope he loses in round one.
And I hope the judge says itās because he had no fingerling potatoās.
Chef Roman has spent 14k for the opportunity to make Chef Mike sift for their ingredients through dirt. He has 8k left.
Bruh if you interrogate like you panic, you didnāt get shit from the people you interrogated
THERE IS A DEVELOPMENT. THIS IS THE SPREADER BAR EPISODE.
THE SPREADER BAR THEY BOUGHT FROM THE ONLINE KINK SHOP.
DOM ALTON IS HERE FRIENDS.
Chef Mike has the spreader bar.
Heās given it to military man.
BYE BYE MILITARY MAN
Chef Mike asked Military Man how that spreader bar is working for him.
Military Man āI donāt want to hear it.ā
Mike āI love it when you talk to me like that.ā
Mike. Roman. You got something you wanna share with the class?
Also apparently Military Man has no green stuff for salad and only chicken stock for soup and 6 fingerling potatoās.
Chef Mike and military man have admitted their love to each other.
Military man wants to make a āāā"deconstructedāāāā potato salad
how do you deconstruct a salad
Never underestimate a hillbilly with bread and tinfoil.
Military Man everyone
Potato soup and deconstructed salad.
I donāt even care about the rest of the show, round one is it. If Military Man is booted, thatās a win.
Judge has said this is neither soup nor salad. Not looking good for him.
??????
????
????????????
SHE ELIMINATED MIKE. SICK IN THE HEAD GUY.
WHAT????????????? YOU SAID IT HAD TO REMIND YOU OF SOUP AND SALAD
MILITARY MAN DIDNāT EVEN MAKE SOUP????? OR SALAD??????
TELL ME IM BEING PUNKāD.
When I was a kid, maybe 14 or so (which is, you know, 20+ years ago), I belonged to a Yahoo! mailing list for an anime called Gundam Wing. It was mostly populated by other teens, of varying ages, as it was started by a teen and her friends. Eventually it migrated, when Yahoo! groups started as forums, and even branched off into non-GW related stuff in a second forum.
One of the things I remember the most clearly is the oldest person in the group. Her name was Steelsong. She was a 40-something Dom with a sub whose name we knew even though we knew nothing else. She ran her own fanfic archive because the web was still handmade HTML and navigated in webrings and Iām pretty sure Google didnāt exist or was only barely, barely launched and not well known. She was kind and patient and we loved her. She treated everyone on the group with the respect given any adult, even though most of the rest of the world was still treating us like we were children. Not teenagers even, but children. She never once condescended to any of us, never made our youth a barrier to her respect, never treated us like we were incapable of being full people or like we were less than her because we were young.
I remember that she hosted our fanfiction, as absolutely terrible as it was (and I still have some of it, I am WELL aware of how cringingly terrible it is, just absolute nonsense garbage), right there alongside of other fic that was soul-achingly beautiful. Not a separate section for her friends or for kids, just right there like we were good enough to feature alongside other authors. I never once received crit from her that I didnāt ask for, only support. Only love. I am still writing today partly because Steel was so kind about our fic, fanfic and original.
I remember that when I started doing clay sculpture, she commissioned a tiny pair of dragons from me, to support me doing artwork. She sent a check my mom cashed for me, and my mom helped me mail it when it was finished. It broke in transit, and Steel assured me that she mended it and that it was still beautiful. It was a small gold dragon curled up with a small silver dragon.
I remember that her patience knew no bounds. I remember that she was there for us, regardless of reason. When we wanted to know silly things like what to do with a single AA battery, she answered. When we had serious questions about sex, she answered.Ā When we had questions about writing, she taught us. When one of our group members, a young gay teen in Australia, ended up in the hospital and then stopped making posts, and we all knew what had happened, she let us talk to her about it because we couldnāt go to our own parents, even though we had just lost a friend.
She was not a replacement to my parents, but she was an extra parent, in some ways. A friend, certainly, but someone that had been through more life than we had and was willing to pass on knowledge if we asked for it. Someone older that we trusted with things that were too uncomfortable to go to our parents or teachers or whatever about, because we already knew she wasnāt going to judge us or something, and that we would get an honest answer.
I donāt know why Iām remembering this so hard tonight, and Iām not sure if thereās a point to sharing this, except that I know sheās gone now. She was ill the last time we spoke, and her site went down a long time ago, and I miss her. She was a huge influence on my life, then and now. She was hope, for me, that life as an adult didnāt have to be boring, it wouldnāt have to mean giving up the things I loved and Becoming Only Responsible With No Fun. Her presence meant I had hope I could still write and play with friends even when I wasnāt āa kidā anymore. And sheās gone, and I miss her, and I wanted to share her from the perspective of youth, and the perspective over twenty years later has provided me.
And I think of her, when people go off about older folks being in fandom with younger folks. Iām an older folks now, or at least middle aged folks because there are certainly folks older than me still, but I wasnāt always. Iāve been here since i was a younger folks, and I know how much Steelās presence and support meant to me, how much she helped not just me but everyone on that group. And I think of the people saying older folks donāt belong in fandom, and that they shouldnāt interact with younger folks at all, and I just think⦠I canāt agree. I needed that kind of solid presence in my life back then and even at the age I am now, I need the folks older than me to stay. I want them here.
So I guess, like, if youāre here and youāre 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 or 80 or whatever, I want you here in fandom with me, still. Your presence here is a comfort. It is hope. It is a reminder that life will continue to be fun, even as I get older, myself. And if youāre younger and you have this sort of elder in your groups, I hope that they are like Steel. I hope they are kind and patient and supportive, and that knowing them gives you hope for your own future. I hope in twenty years you look back and remember them fondly.