r e w r i t ( t e n )

In writing, the expressions and body languages of our characters are very important; there are a few nifty tricks to convey meaning through facial expressions. Here’s a cheat sheet!

1) Discomfort

Rocking back on their heels because they want to escape the conversation, adjusting their weight on the seat because they’re uncomfortable, folding their arms tight across their chest; everyone expresses their disinterest or interest in different ways. Usually, out bodies pick up on the ‘this is wrong’ feeling, and try to settle so we feel comfortable. They chew on their bottom lip, their eyes flicking away before they’re forced to make eye-contact. They’re perched on the edge of their seat, ready to flee at a moments notice.

2) Sadness

Sadness is an emotion we tend to try and hide. It can lead to subsections of feelings, like embarrassment or guilt over whatever is causing us sadness. Your character’s eyes burn with the effort to hold back tears, and people see them visibly on edge; they’re shaking, they’re chewing on their lip in an effort to force the negative feelings away. Their brow is furrowed and they turn their body away from people like they’re trying to hide. When it gets too bad, their shoulders shake with the force of their tears, the heels of their palms pressing against their eyes in an attempt to push the tears back in. Their nose is runny and their face is splotchy, their eyes red-rimmed and the bags that lurk under concealer are exposed.

3) Anger

We all know anger. It’s where your cheeks flush and you feel hot and dizzy, all logical thought replaced with a burning need to get rid of whatever caused to feel this way in the first place. People see your character, their back straight and their shoulder square, barely keeping the adrenaline restrained to their body. Their eyes are narrowed, their fists are clenched, and the air around them seems to spark with electricity. They can’t keep still, or they’re too still; pacing or ramrod straight in their chair, their cheek twitching with a previously unnoticed tick.

4) Happiness

It’s a bit harder to pinpoint this when you feel it. Your character is floating on air, the air around them thrumming with glee at whatever has happened. Others see the smile that tugs their lips upward, the way the corners of their eyes crease and crinkle in a hidden grin. Their hands clasp together, and they press their fingers into the fat of their cheeks, bashful in how utterly content they feel. Their shoulders are relaxed as they dance around the kitchen, and the serene expression that coats their face is beautiful.

5) Guilt

The child that has their hands caught in the cookie jar, the accidental killer; guilt varies and expresses itself in different ways. Their eyes flick to the ceiling and their lips pull together tightly to avoid spilling the truth. They look down at their clasped hands, resting their head on the inside of their wrist so their hand covers their eyes. They’re self-conscious about what people can tell about them from their appearance, and they tug at their hair, pulling their shoulders tight together in a protective barrier.

6) Disgust

Disgust; at someone or something, a situation or place. Your character turns their nose up, and scrunches it at the putrid smells that hangs in the air. Their chin juts out arrogantly, the feelings of pride evident over this thing that is so clearly lesser. Their shoulders tense, and they step carefully to avoid anything they don’t want to touch. Their lips are a thin line, a barrage of insults dancing on the tip of their tongue. They squeeze their eyes closed for a quick moment, trying to regain their composure. They roll their eyes and cock their hip, ready to prove why exactly this thing is so horrible and disgusting.

7) Jealousy

Jealousy, over a person or thing. Material wealth or power. The tips of their ears burn red and their fists clench by their side, their lips pulling upward in the mockery of a snarl. Redness creeps down their neck, and they turn their nose up at whoever—or whatever—they are jealous of. They stare at a person, a shadow looming over their face as they furrow their brow and purse their lips to avoid ripping into them about why exactly their thing belongs to them.

8) Lust

They convey it with the intent to follow through, and they throw their all into letting the subject of their affection know. Their chest puffs out, their back straightens to show off height or how slender they are, and they stare at the subject from under heavy lashes. A light blushes dances over their cheeks and the bridge of their nose but they carry on, pointing their knees toward the subject and leaning into their personal space. They bite their lip, and they move to brush a lock of hair behind their ear, like they’re brushing away any nerves to do with the situation. Their lips part so they can breathe easier, and they set their brow in a firm line, the picture of confidence as they place their hand on the subject’s arms.

when someone you don’t know that well posts an ask game, and you wanna send them some questions to be nice but you don’t know anything about their WIPs/characters:

1. pick some numbers from the ask game 2. chuck ‘em in their inbox 3. add a comment like ‘for whichever character you prefer!’ or ‘for your favourite/most relevant character’ ‘for your MC/LI <3′ 4. congratulations, you are an amazing person and you’ve made someone’s day without stressing yourself out

Since 2013, Femslash February has been a month to celebrate wlw ships. It’s an open challenge every year for fan artists and writers, vidders and podficcers, manippers, mixers, and cosplayers to create two pieces of F/F content in the month of February. 

Tag your works with #femslash february so that others can see your creations. 

And since February is also Black History Month in the USA and Canada, consider including black women in your creations. You can tag these works with the additional tag #femslash february celebrates black women

(source)

Unsplash -  photography, illustration, and art

Pixabay - same as unsplash

Pexels - stock photos and videos

Stockvault.net - stock photos

freepngimg - icons, pictures and clipart

Veceezy - vectors and clipart

Kissclipart and kissPNG - more vectors and clipart (often transparent!)

Getdrawings - simplistic images and drawing tutorials

Gumroad - photoshop brushes (and more)

Canva - needs login but has lots of templates

Library of Congress - historical posters and photos

NASA - you guessed it

Creative Commons - all kinds of stuff, homie

Even Adobe has some free images

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without infringing copyright! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Something that has been coming into my conversations lately, is the idea that theme is like your story’s shadow. Or perhaps, more accurately, its shadow puppet.

Setting, characters, and plot are more concrete. They are (more or less) physical. But theme comes out of them when an outside intelligence (writer or reader) shines light on them. This casts a shadow to form a shape, or a puppet.

Learning about and writing theme can be difficult, in part, because you can’t hold and mold a shadow itself.

You have to shift what casts the shadow.

To create the right shadow puppet, you have to rearrange the hands–the story elements–the right way.

And if you cast an incoherent blob on the wall and claim it makes a cat, it’s not going to be effective.

This is the equivalent of a writer trying to slap on a thematic argument through “telling,” when the story itself doesn’t “show” or back up the argument. This usually manifests in a character being philosophical or preachy somewhere in the story–trying to force a meaningful discussion on a topic that is irrelevant enough to be un-meaningful.

On the other hand, a professional-level writer may understand how to arrange the characters and plot in a beautiful, coherent way, so that it casts an elaborate shadow–even if the writer never looks beyond the story.

This is why you can sometimes find powerful, thematic literature, written by someone who doesn’t know how theme works. Just this last week, I was listening to a hugely successful writer talk for hours about his approach to writing, without even addressing theme. Yet I’ve seen his work used by others when discussing theme.

He surely knows all about rearranging the hands appropriately, so when anyone intelligent comes to look, they shine the light on them to find the thematic shadow. It doesn’t matter so much that he doesn’t understand theme. He understands the underlying principles that make up the theme.

For the rest of us, we need some help. And understanding theme before we get to a professional level, will help us reach that level faster. Furthermore, I have sometimes wondered how much better a successful writer would be, if they did properly understand theme. I mean, imagine if their stories were even more impactful!

In order to cast a great thematic shadow, we need to understand its physical counterparts.

Here are the critical pieces:

1. Your protagonist’s dominating qualities, worldview, and/or lifestyle

Your protagonist has dominating qualities. She might be a survivalist like Katniss. Innocent like Frodo. Miserly like Scrooge. Overly protective and codependent like Marlin in Finding Nemo. Or something else. One, if not multiple, of these qualities tap into the theme.

2. Your protagonist’s arc

How your protagonist changes or remains the same because of the plot, regarding those qualities, conveys a value of those qualities. Scrooge gives up his miserly ways to live a better life. This implies that being miserly can hold one back from a better life.

What a character wants versus what a character needs can also play into this.

3. Antagonistic force’s qualities and worldview

Because the antagonist is opposing the protagonist, the antagonist is also challenging the protagonist’s dominating qualities. The antagonist either leads to the protagonist changing those qualities or at least tests the protagonist’s commitment to those qualities. At some point, in some way, the antagonist is usually thematically opposite of the protagonist.

4. How that antagonistic force is resolved

At the climax, the protagonist and antagonistic force go head to head. It’s what makes the climax, the climax.

Who wins and how, conveys a teaching about those qualities and worldviews. Katniss must defeat the antagonistic force by proving she will do more than simply save herself and survive (which is what they expect). She must be willing to risk dying to save Peeta and beat the Games.

To defeat death, Scrooge must be willing to let go of his miserly ways and realize real wealth comes from relationships and helping others.

In the denouement, those who gain something greater (and this may only be internal), are those who have the “correct” view, while those who are punished have the “wrong” view. The “correct” view is the theme.

Here are the supporting pieces:

1. Influence Character

I actually debate where to put this one, because I think it’s more important than the other supporting pieces, but not as important as the critical pieces.

The Influence Character is important because they influence or impact the protagonist. The Influence Character and protagonist are connected in some way, but they usually have different methods or views when it comes to dealing with life. These differences tap into the theme.

Most of the time, the Influence Character has a worldview that the protagonist comes to understand and adopt–a worldview that is “correct.” This embodies the theme. However, in some stories, this will be reversed. (And there can be variations.)

It’s essentially where a character, usually- but not always- the protagonist, is in a uniquely tempting situation. They have the opportunity to do something they want to do, something that’s selfish and usually, objectively wrong. They WANT to do it on some level, it’s a benefit, and there won’t be any negative consequences for them. And the cherry on top: Nobody who’s opinion they care about will ever know what they’ve done.

Sometimes, it’s something like not saving someone who was horrible to you. Sometimes it’s a little more active, like an alter ego they can use to express their desires. But it’s always, metaphorically speaking, “in the dark”. Nobody sees, or anyone that sees doesn’t know it’s them, or nobody they care about sees and knows it’s them.

What the character does in that situation tells the audience who that character really is. What they’re like under any facades or pleasantries they may put up. What you are in the dark defines you. You are at your most YOU when nobody is looking.

Usually, if the character is a hero, they’ll throw away this opportunity. They’ll face the little voice whispering, “No one will ever know,” and tell it, “I’LL know.” Because they know whatever they have the chance to do is wrong, and they know they’d be torn up about it. Even with no external restrictions, there’s a little guiding force telling them to do good, or at the very least, NOT do evil.

If the character takes the opportunity to do something bad when no one is looking, they’re not a good person.

girl scouts selling cookies

garbage disposals

regular school assemblies 

PSAs

cheerleaders

serious school sports teams

1. WEARING A SHAWL TO BATTLE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF HAVING GIRLS FIGHT IN STILLETTOS. 

Just so you know, this is what I’m talking about;

-Is it bad-ass? Abso-fucking-lutely. Is it Practical? Not a chance in hell. Especially not if it’s silk. If it’s cotton, you are skating on thin fucking ice. That bitch will NOT stay on. It barely stays on with me just walking down the street to Walmart. Wielding axes and rifles and swords and daggers? I PROMISE you it will not do the job it’s expected to-WHICH IS TO COVER THE HAIR. (Some muslim girls dont wear them-and that’s fine. But those who DO do it to completely cover the hair in public. Is it ~Aesthetic~ to see the flyaway hairs in battle? Sure, but those aren’t usually practical either. )Consider instead; 

sport shawls 

-For one thing, it’s actually DESIGNED to be worn to atheletic activities. Archers tuck hems into the collar of their shirts so they don’t get in the way, and track runners pins (ill get to this bit later) them down into the shirts to prevent flyaway bits and to stop them from getting slapped in the face. It’s breathable, stretchy, presentable without being attention seeking. 

Bawals 

In a pinch, bawals work just as well-as long as you specify that they are COTTON. Unlike the shawl, which are rectangular, bawals are SQUARE, and thus easier to manipulate, fold and pin down. If you wear it right, they carry an equal aesthetic value to shawls, and come in plenty of pretty patterns as well. 

2. I’m not sure about the USA, but the girls I know wear this underneath the headscarf;

Does it kinda look like a beanie? It sort of works like a beanie too. Hair is slippery. It tucks in any extra hair you might miss just by wearing the headscarf, its harder to pull down and on the event the shawl DOES fall down, your hair is still not exposed. It protects the ears-which is important even on a daily basis, because pins, headphones and any other headgear that might pinch them. It comes in plenty of designs, including ones that has open backs to allow long hair and ponytails. 

3.SPEAKING OF PINS; I’M TALKING ABOUT THESE BAD BOYS;

BROOCHES 

though , i suppose most of y’all are most familiar with safety pins, right?

what’s the difference? Well, if your oc/character is an athlete, it’s actually LEAST likely they’ll be wearing SAFETY PINS. They’re cheap and super easy to buy in bulk, true, but they also SUPER easy to wear out even with the smallest amount of strenuous activity. Between the three of ‘em, I’d put the brooches as the best option to wear in battle because 1) it has a large surface area, thus hurts less when pressed on with heavy items, which includes bag straps and weapons, (pins are sharp and can poke you painfully);  and 2) more secure-the latch is covered by the gaudy jewellery above, and theyre usually smaller and tighter. Stays on the stubbornnest, even when headscarf is pulled. very roughly. I’m saying that even the cheapest brooches will allow the shawl to be ripped apart before even letting it go. 

3. They probably ponytail their hair. Because Come On, guys.

The police have arrested more than 1000 people today including a 10 year old child. We have no one to rely on, no one to ask for help. Putin has been on the throne for about 20 years and now he has a possibility to continue ruling Russia due to constitutional amendments that were approved in 2020.

Also called wind towers and wind scoops, windcatchers have been used in North Africa and the Middle East for thousands of years to provide natural ventilation & passive cooling. They fell out of popularity after the introduction of HVAC systems, but are now experiencing a revival because they’re so practical and cost-effective. Here’s how they work:

Not only are they an engineering masterpiece–they’re gorgeous

The wooden rods protruding from the sides serve a variety of purposes. They stabilize and strengthen the structure, serve as scaffolding [1], and can be used to mount cloth and re-direct airflow [2].

Windcatchers vary greatly in design, and are tailored to individual building sites. The location’s airflow direction will determine the windcatcher’s shape, and the number and direction of its openings. (Windcatchers can be uni-directional, bi-directional, or multi-directional [3].)

The way the air flows through a wind tower is determined both by local conditions and by its cross-section design. Internal walls divide the tower in order to influence the way air passes through the building (see diagram) 

Windcatchers can be much smaller than the examples shown above! More modest structures like the one below can provide affordable ventilation to smaller buildings. 

Windcatchers can also be used to provide subterranean cooling, by ventilating underground structures, or evaporative cooling when used in conjunction with qanats (underground water chanels) or indoor bodies of water.

Due to the high cost and heavy CO2 emissions of electric air conditioning, windcatchers are receiving renewed interest. Specifically, architects are researching ways that windcatcher technology can be improved and adapted to modern times [4]. Long-standing issues with traditional wind towers include performance problems such as air short circuiting, and practical issues such as the ingress of dust, insects and small animals. New concept designs are emerging all the time, and some have already been built, and are being used in cities and universities throughout the Middle East.

In conclusion windcatchers are fascinating and can be used in both fantasy and cyberpunk world building!