the sky is falling but the stars look good on you.

My favorite thing in my WIP is all the badass female characters I have. I love writing about the bonds, friendships, relationships, and rivalries between them. It makes my little heart so happy! And, I will be the first person to admit that I hadn’t even thought of some of the things you guys suggested on our little instagram poll, but I cannot wait to add some of them to my story! Even though we’ve made so many leaps and bounds with the way female characters are portrayed, I still think we’ve got a long way to go, and if you guys include half of the stuff you suggested in your stories, then I think we’re gonna be okay. Once again, I didn’t change anything that you guys wrote, so there are gonna be some repeats on the list, but this time just because the list was getting so long, I did take out a few things if I saw that several other people had suggested it!

“Nerdy” or sporty girl who gets a love interest without a makeover or changing herself 

super girly femme characters shown as a complex person

making her own decisions, if good or bad

a strong female character without a tragic backstory 

gender non conformity!! 

Being openly children and not changing her mind about it

chubby and flaws and not having a crush with every cute boy they see 

girlie girls who are still really powerful 

self reliance but still having emotion, not being ice cold but not needing a a man 

lesbians who’s entire character arc isn’t about them being a lesbian 

having body insecurities eg wanting to be flat-chested

women in politics and women that have classic “man” as well as “woman” characteristics 

independence 

be less oblivious lol and more like real people who pick up hints 

not dead caring moms.

comic relief female characters

not minding about liking “girly” things/ having a bunch of friends who are boys but there is no romance between them 

being a mother doesn’t mean giving up ur dreams and settling for less,

having mcs that actually make smart decisions 

a bad ass character that loves kids and wants to have them in the future

not taking abuse cause they think it’s love 

ball gowns and pretty stuff for themselves and not for a mission or anything 

more bold female characters since many females are shown as shy 

having a big appetite 

female characters who can be cool without having to wield swords 

willingness to do domestic work with a cheerful heart 

women whose strength is their intelligence 

women who are not afraid to be feminine or strong 

strong mother figures 

girls that are the lead in their relationship over the boy 

more actual girly interests 

the women you least expect to sing the best 

strong women who like feminine stuff 

being happy without a romantic relationship 

black females being protected or vulnerable for once 

ending up single 

hanging out with male friends with no romantic subtext 

females who aren’t super pretty

ultra femininity (pink, dresses, glitter, makeup) that isn’t seen as bad/evil/weak 

allow them to look up to/admire male peers rather than feel inferior or as if they have something to prove 

traditional “femininity” isn’t regarded as weak! Can cook/sew/clean and it’s normal : )

Female characters who are funny and make quips 

soft, kind women, who are still powerful. I don’t like the mean strong girl stereotype : (

Not forced strong women. Just relatable and human ones. We all have strengths and weaknesses 

less insecurities. Yes, we all have those, but it’s becoming stereotypical, mostly in YA 

I want them to be strong without being upright bossy 

strong women who also embrace their feminine side 

a girl with menstruation

ego actions- I feel like only male characters can throw ego actions while fem characters are classified selfish 

nonbinary female characters 

has a twin 

sarcasm and general impoliteness without making them the bady guy 

them being warriors or soldiers and that’s normal, nobody questions it 

villains and manipulating 

autistic female characters 

being single throughout the story. Some people like being single, thank you very much 

not being the perfect pretty little thing. Having an interesting personality and thoughts, dreams outside of relationships and being a badass 

a morally grey female character like y r those only men 

girls and women in healthy relationships with personalities aside from their S/O

girls who can be strong and confident while still being emotionally vulnerable 

also, girls who own huge “aggressive” dog breeds

groups of girls doing really impulsive things together like all guy friend groups do 

strong, but not jerks about it and not looking down on things like sewing/cooking/etc 

shyness that doesn’t need to be “fixed” or overcome 

well written romances- straight and gay (ie not ones that objectify one partner or the other) 

“strong female characters” who are gentle and caring! Tough doesn’t mean heatless! 

women who care more about the plot than their inconvenient love life 

girls who empower other girls and don’t play into internalized misogyny 

i’d love to see women putting forward their ideas and having their voices heard more : )

Strong in their own way, not just hands on fighting stuff. Like mentally strong 

less who are arrogant and rude to the male protagonists who they fall in love with anyway 

More LGBTQ+ women! 

Oh and more female protagonists who stay single 

being average looking, not a hot model and being okay with it 

Not falling for “bad boys” 

saving herself or another character from a dangerous situation 

not wanting marriage or children and people being okay with it 

not obsessed with  looks 

being good at math and sciences 

not being sexualized constantly (or at all) 

being just friends with straight male characters 

being like other girls 

having a life outside of romance 

to not need a man, but also not to be a stereotypical “bad girl, I don’t need man” authors need to find a medium between the two 

drinking, swearing, anything deemed “masculine” 

confident women who embrace both their femininity and masculinity

empowering other women

somebody with variety of interests and skills that are shown to be important to her badass female characters who are genuinely kind/even loving 

strong women who don’t discredit the model of the ideal woman of the time in historical fiction 

older women protagonists! I’d love to read about middle aged female heroes

females that aren’t afraid to be themselves 

strength without being a “baddie” or at the expense of others 

emotional sensitivity that isn’t linked to mental illness, men, or a weakness in character 

a chaotic neutral female protagonist 

physically strong/skilled female characters that remain feminine and aren’t femme fatales 

Black girls who are allowed to embrace their hyperfemininity on their own terms WITHOUT being weak. 

Little Black girls who are allowed to be innocent and childlike and have fun. 

Black girls who are goofy and fun and bubbly. 

Black girls who are shown as strong, competent leaders WITHOUT being the Strong Black Woman stereotype. 

Black girls who are allowed to have a healthy sex life WITHOUT being adultified or hypersexualized as “fast” Jezebels. 

Black girls whose stories AREN’T wrapped up in abuse, sexual exploitation, drug use, trafficking, etc. 

Darkskin girls like my beautiful mum who are allowed to exist as anything and everything. 

Black girls who are royalty, princesses, duchesses, queens. 

Black girls who are hopeless romantics, who dream of having their happily ever after, and GET IT. 

Black girls who are smart and good at school, or flunk at school, or who aren’t book smart but are smart all the same. 

Black girls with natural hair, dreads, Afros, braids, cornrows. 

Black girls who aren’t turned into animals at all at any point in the story. 

Black girls who are beautiful and loved and are explicitly the prettiest and most feminine character in the story. 

Body

descriptors; ample, athletic, barrel-chested, beefy, blocky, bony, brawny, buff, burly, chubby, chiseled, coltish, curvy, fat, fit, herculean, hulking, lanky, lean, long, long-legged, lush, medium build, muscular, narrow, overweight, plump, pot-bellied, pudgy, round, skeletal, skinny, slender, slim, stocky, strong, stout, strong, taut, toned, wide.

Eyebrows

descriptors; bushy, dark, faint, furry, long, plucked, raised, seductive, shaved, short, sleek, sparse, thin, unruly.

shape; arched, diagonal, peaked, round, s-shaped, straight.

Ears

shape; attached lobe, broad lobe, narrow, pointed, round, square, sticking-out.

Eyes

colour; albino, blue (azure, baby blue, caribbean blue, cobalt, ice blue, light blue, midnight, ocean blue, sky blue, steel blue, storm blue,) brown (amber, dark brown, chestnut, chocolate, ebony, gold, hazel, honey, light brown, mocha, pale gold, sable, sepia, teakwood, topaz, whiskey,) gray (concrete gray, marble, misty gray, raincloud, satin gray, smoky, sterling, sugar gray), green (aquamarine, emerald, evergreen, forest green, jade green, leaf green, olive, moss green, sea green, teal, vale).

descriptors; bedroom, bright, cat-like, dull, glittering, red-rimmed, sharp, small, squinty, sunken, sparkling, teary.

positioning/shape; almond, close-set, cross, deep-set, downturned, heavy-lidded, hooded, monolid, round, slanted, upturned, wide-set.

Face

descriptors; angular, cat-like, hallow, sculpted, sharp, wolfish.

shape; chubby, diamond, heart-shaped, long, narrow, oblong, oval, rectangle, round, square, thin, triangle.

Facial Hair

beard; chin curtain, classic, circle, ducktail, dutch, french fork, garibaldi, goatee, hipster, neckbeard, old dutch, spade, stubble, verdi, winter.

clean-shaven

moustache; anchor, brush, english, fu manchu, handlebar, hooked, horseshoe, imperial, lampshade, mistletoe, pencil, toothbrush, walrus.

sideburns; chin strap, mutton chops.

Hair

colour; blonde (ash blonde, golden blonde, beige, honey, platinum blonde, reddish blonde, strawberry-blonde, sunflower blonde,) brown (amber, butterscotch, caramel, champagne, cool brown, golden brown, chocolate, cinnamon, mahogany,) red (apricot, auburn, copper, ginger, titain-haired,), black (expresso, inky-black, jet black, raven, soft black) grey (charcoal gray, salt-and-pepper, silver, steel gray,), white (bleached, snow-white).

descriptors; bedhead, dull, dry, fine, full, layered, limp, messy, neat, oily, shaggy, shinny, slick, smooth, spiky, tangled, thick, thin, thinning, tousled, wispy, wild, windblown.

length; ankle length, bald, buzzed, collar length, ear length, floor length, hip length, mid-back length, neck length, shaved, shoulder length, waist length.

type; beach waves, bushy, curly, frizzy, natural, permed, puffy, ringlets, spiral, straight, thick, thin, wavy.

Hands; calloused, clammy, delicate, elegant, large, plump, rough, small, smooth, square, sturdy, strong.

Fingernails; acrylic, bitten, chipped, curved, claw-like, dirty, fake, grimy, long, manicured, painted, peeling, pointed, ragged, short, uneven.

Fingers; arthritic, cold, elegant, fat, greasy, knobby, slender, stubby.

Lips/Mouth

colour (lipstick); brown (caramel, coffee, nude, nutmeg,) pink (deep rose, fuchsia, magenta, pale peach, raspberry, rose, ) purple (black cherry, plum, violet, wine,) red (deep red, ruby.)

descriptors; chapped, cracked, dry, full, glossy, lush, narrow, pierced, scabby, small, soft, split, swollen, thin, uneven, wide, wrinkled.

shape; bottom-heavy, bow-turned, cupid’s bow, downturned, oval, pouty, rosebud, sharp, top-heavy.

Nose

descriptors; broad, broken, crooked, dainty, droopy, hooked, long, narrow, pointed, raised, round, short, strong, stubby, thin, turned-up, wide.

shape; button, flared, grecian, hawk, roman.

Skin

descriptors; blemished, bruised, chalky, clear, dewy, dimpled, dirty, dry, flaky, flawless, freckled, glowing, hairy, itchy, lined, oily, pimply, rashy, rough, sagging, satiny, scarred, scratched, smooth, splotchy, spotted, tattooed, uneven, wrinkly.

absolutely nobody asked but here, have them anyway (all via the Islamic Fashion Institute):

** TO SHARE CHALLENGE - REBLOG THIS POST **

JOURNEY JUNE 2022 | #JourneyJune22 |

This challenge primarily takes place on Instagram under the account: @journeythrujune What is Journey June? Journey June is a visual storytelling challenge geared towards artists who want to get better at telling stories. It’s based on the classic formula of the Hero’s Journey but broken into daily chunks to finish a story over the course of a month. If you finish your story, you earn a FREE PUBLISHING CLASS that shows you how to take your story to the next step and make it into a book! The official tag for 2022 is: #journeyjune22 Your story tag to find your story later: #jj[story name here]

EXPANDED PROMPTS LEVELS 1 & 2

A mouth-watering fuck-ton of hand angle references.

also, Ramadan Mubarak! May Allah bless you

Don’t feel stupid for asking! Drawing is hard no matter what you’re drawing, so don’t be afraid to ask for help^^ But honestly even I feel like the best of my hijabis look a little egg-like, and that’s okay!

This tutorial is already taking so goddamn long, so I’m just gonna link my coloring and shading tutorial I did a month ago 😭😭

Gosh, I hope what I wrote made sense 😅 But thank you so much for the well wishes! Happy Ramadan (Eid Mubarak at this point WAHHH), and the same to you, may you and your loved ones have many blessings!!

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Winchester Meg's Hijab Drawing Tutorial

Souratgar's Hijab Drawing Tutorial

idk my dudes i started listening to the etern.als theme music and now i have these things. bon appetit!

“ i’d follow you to the ends of the universe, if you asked me to. ”

“ how bad is it this time? ”

“ we’re the only thing standing between this world and its destruction. ”

“ we could stop all of this… with just a thought/flick of my wrist. “

“ fair?! how is any of this fair?! “

“ do you truly believe that anything so little as a rule, or a law, might have stopped me from protecting you? “

“ we have to fight. ”

“ we’re not giving up. ”

“ you. i’ll always and endlessly fight for you. “

“ i can wait a thousand lifetimes for you. “

“ we’ve had a pretty good life. but maybe normalcy is a thing we’re meant to protect, rather than enjoy. ”

“ i don’t know if i can protect you any longer. “

“ we’ve seen what they’re capable of. now we need to retaliate. “

“ if only the world knew what we do for them… ”

“ i’m sick and tired of being the one who has to make the sacrifices! ”

“ haven’t we lost enough? ”

“ i’m tired. beyond tired… i am exhausted from the endless fighting. ”

“ things must be catastrophic if you’re calling me at this hour. ”

“ this is what we’ve been waiting for. ”

“ i’d follow you to the bitter end; as i always have. ”

“ the time has come. ”

“ this is what we’ve been waiting for. ”

“ i thought we had more time.  i regret to confess… it appears that i was wrong. ”

“ don’t let them control you, eh? ”

“ you’re better than this. ”

“ everything’s about to change… ”

“ do you truly think so little of me? ”

“ careful… you’ve never had to fight me before. ”

“ we need to leave. ”

“ we’re a good team, you know. “

“ look around you. do you still truly see no reason for us to fight? “

“ we’re family. we don’t turn our backs on each other. “

“ it’s too late! let’s go! ”

“ it wasn’t your fault… ”

“ why are you doing this?! ”

“ i’m sorry… “

“ perhaps i don’t say it enough, but… i’d like you to know that i’m always here, if you ever wanted to talk. ”

“ you/they will always be worth fighting for. ”

“ don’t pretend like you understand. “

“ tell me how i can fix this… ”

“ don’t say it. ”

“ they’re not worth saving. ”

“ i am a god. you… you’re nothing. “

you know the drill. when someone reblogs this, send them an oc and a number, or a few numbers if you can’t pick!

1. What’s your oc’s most irrational fear? Is there a specific reason this fear came about?

2. Is your oc picky about food? What kinds of foods do they like and dislike? What do they consider a comfort or “safe” food?

3. What does your oc’s voice sound like? (Or, if you have one, what’s their voiceclaim?) Can they sing, whistle, or roll their rs? Do they have any speech impediments or notable dialects/accents?

4. Is your oc good at keeping secrets?

5. What kind of clothes is your oc most comfortable wearing?

6. What kind of clothes is your oc least comfortable wearing?

7. What song reminds you of this oc? Does this match up with the type of music your oc likes to listen to?

8. What’s it like inside your oc’s mind? (Literally, or metaphorically.)

9. What are your oc’s goals for the future? Relationship-wise, career-wise, or other?

10. Who’s the first person your oc goes to to talk about something that made them happy? Sad? Angry?

11. Does your oc have any interests/hobbies that they hide from everyone? Why do they hide these interests?

12. How does your oc handle talking to somebody they can’t stand? What if it’s a situation where they’re forced to work with this person?

13. What’s your oc’s dream home like?

14. If your oc spent one day free from any consequences or recognition for their actions, how would they act?

15. What’s your oc’s morning routine like?

16. What’s your oc’s nighttime routine like?

17. If your oc had a social media page, what would it be like? What would they post about? How much personal information would they feel comfortable posting on it? How often would they update it?

18. How does your oc see themself? How does this compare to the way other ocs see them?

19. How would an enemy describe this oc?

20. What’s a superpower or magical ability that this oc would hate having?

21. What’s a fact you haven’t shared about this oc?

22. What’s your oc’s dream job? Is this similar to what they’re doing now? Do they believe they could ever achieve this dream?

23. Who would this oc consider their family? What is their relationship with these people?

24. What is one thing that, no matter who it’s coming from, would anger your oc?

25. How does your oc handle sadness?

26. How does your oc handle anger?

27. How does your oc handle fear?

28. What’s your favorite thing about this oc?

29. What’s your least favorite thing about this oc?

how to go from this:

to this:

i’m back with another coloring tutorial! i’m not very good at written tutorials so bare with me, my explanations aren’t the best. anyway this is relatively simple and should only take about 5-10 minutes to achieve. if i missed anything or didn’t explain it enough, feel free to ask questions.

what you’ll need for this:

basic photoshop knowledge

how to make a gif

i will be using photoshop cc 2018

“this wonderful 88-page piece has step by step breakdowns of how names work in different cultures! i needed to know how to name a Muslim character it has already helped me SO MUCH and i’ve known about it for all of 15 minutes!! i am thoroughly amazed and i just needed to share with you guy! Cultures include Yoruba, Sikh, Vietnamese, Polish, and dozens more!”

1) Names are a valuable source of information. They can indicate gender, marital status, birthplace, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and position within a family or even within a society. However, naming practices vary enormously across the globe. The aim of this guide is to identify the knowledge that can be gained from names about their holders and to help overcome difficulties that are commonly encountered with names of foreign origin. 

2.) The sections of the guide are governed by nationality and/or ethnicity, depending on the influencing factor upon the naming practice, such as religion, language or geography. 

Inevitably, this guide is not exhaustive and any feedback or suggestions for additional sections will be welcomed.