Blue’s Tail Feathers Compendium: Tail Feathers for Flight

Wings Part 1 [Standard ]| Wings Part 2 [Atypical] | Feather Markings | Tail Feathers [Part 1] | Tail Feathers [Part2]

I didn’t forget the tail feathers! I was just caught between getting mad at the lack of extensive research into all tail feather types beyond swallow-tails and many anxiety attack :D 

I get asked quite a lot: Are tail feathers important.

Yes! Yes they are! Very important!

There is outrageously not a lot of research on tail feathers and how it impacts flight, lift, drag, or anything else so I had to make my own paper models and use a hair dryer for a wind tunnel to test lift. :D I have so many papercuts now.

I had to split the tail feathers up and make my own chart because there is no official determination or umbrella grouping of different tail feathers. Accessory tail feathers like you see on peacocks and such will be in the second part.

Creating a Portfolio...

Personally, I have nothing against fanfiction and I think it’s a great way to practice writing. However, fanfiction is generally frowned upon in the professional publishing world (as far as I am aware of) and therefore, it may not be a great idea to include this in your portfolio. If I were in your position, I would consider writing some shorter works of creative fiction (like short stories or flash fiction) with the specific purpose of showcasing your ability and the diversity of your writing. 

When I’ve put together portfolios in the past, I’ve specifically focused on demonstrating that I can write many things and I can write them all well. I usually organized it by genre, then by format (short stories, then essays, then chapters of longer projects, etc.), and in the forefront of the portfolio I included kind of a personal statement that created an overview of what I am confident in providing, and then referencing specific examples they can evaluate for themselves. This is not professional advice, by the way, this is simply from my personal experience surrounding various opportunities I’ve had over the years. 

In terms of including fanfiction, I would air on the cautious side and avoid doing so. Best case scenario, they’re totally cool with it. Worst case scenario, you lose an opportunity because of bias against the format. I wouldn’t take that chance. If you want an exemplary portfolio, I would invest time into creating pieces that specifically highlight your command of the various story telling and story crafting elements. 

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

Hello, darling. My day has been looking up. I hope you're doing well!

@ariaadagio honestly answered this better than I could, but I can tell you with my own experience that a lot of it relies on networking. My advice is, truly, make friends. Send asks, play ask games, hop on some discords.

I made my following largely on tumblr and drummed up interest in my work by filling ask prompts and from there people read my stuff over on ao3. You know how many notes my first ask game prompt fill got? 5. Now, one of my more infamous prompt fills has over 1k notes. (but we do not speak of electrician!Lucifer). Leaning into popular tropes is never a bad thing. they’re wanted for a reason and there will always be someone interested!

The bad thing about posting on busy ao3 days is that your work can get lost amongst everyone else's so PROMO THE HELL OUT OF IT. Send your stories to blogs who are open to promoting fic, like @luciferprompts and @deckerstardaily. (heck, send it to me, i'm happy to signal boost!). Post about it here, on twitter, and so on. there is NO SHAME. we are shameless, okay? slather that url everywhere you can.

Alright, So I kinda feel this situation. I’ve got a sort of complicated family. I’ve been in a situation sort of similar to this. So let me give you some tips. 

1. Make sure your characters are well aware of the life of the other, and yet painfully unaware. There is something deeply tragic about having a natural tie and connection to someone but knowing nothing about them. Knowing a person without knowing them is a weird feeling. It’s hard to describe, but there is something about your life being intertwined with someone, while living totally separate lives. 

2. The harder your characters try, the more it hurts when they fail. Have your character do his best to reach out, and find a way to connect with his sister. Let him try to find some sort of middle ground, something they can connect on. Each time he is let down, the audience will also be let down. Let the reader feel the narrators emotions. Let them feel the exam same awkwardness he feels, let them feel his emotions. 

3. Sometimes, the details dont actually help the scene. Sometimes knowing every bit of body language and sense actually drowns out the scene. I find more emotional, awkward scenes tend to read better if they are dialogue based. What they say to each other, their wording, and the way they say things, sometimes that has a lot more impact, and reads clearer then the descriptions of the emotions. 

I suggest as a sort of exercise, take out most of the detail. Write the hole seen just using the dialogue. What does that feel like? Just start with the dialogue, use that as a base, and then slowly add a bit of detail. But just look at what they say to each other, and the words they choose. What does that make you feel? How does that read?  Words are powerful. Actions don’t always speak louder. 

(I describe a {not really bloody but still death-y} death in a decent amount of detail- skip to below the separator line to skip the story thing)

Imagine this: Two of our good lawyer friends (I picked Apollo and Phoenix while imagining this; it doesn’t matter too much who you chose) have been preparing for a trial all morning. They went out for some coffee/tea, worked on some final investigating/paperwork, and now they’re in the courtroom lobby. Everything seems all fine and well... but really, it’s starting to get worse.

One of the two (I picked Apollo) isn’t feeling so great. They might feel nauseous or fatigued, or maybe they’re shaky, having a slightly hard time breathing, or hurting all over. The main thing that matters here is that they know something’s wrong. Even though they do, guess what? They’re going to try and push through the trial. Are they going to inform anyone? Nope. Not even the other lawyer friend.

So, the trial starts. The case’s detective reports their findings, the prosecutor states their case, and our two layer freinds start doin’ their thing. Sick lawyer friend starts off being able to hide their mystery ailment, but as the trial wears on, it starts to become obvious. They’re pale, sweating buckets, breathing heavily, and having a hard time not toppling over. Not-sick lawyer friend expresses great concern, with most of the courtroom joining in not soon afterwards. Even the prosecutor softens up, and they offer to drive sick lawyer friend to the hospital! How nice of them.

Sick lawyer friend now decides that going to the hospital is probably a good idea. Too bad that they decided that a bit too late.

Sick lawyer friend realizes that they’re having a really hard time breathing. It almost feels like someone is choking them, but, well... no one is. They make this known to not-sick lawyer friend, who then tells them to try and call down while they call 911. Maybe there’s an off duty doctor in the gallery who comes down to try and help. I don’t know.

Anyways, sick lawyer friend’s condition is starting to get much, much worse. They can barely get a word or a breath out, and they’ve crumpled to the ground. Their face has a look of pure terror, while they grip their throat feebly in an attempt to let more air in. Not-sick lawyer friend is panicking and trying to help, but nothing they can do will do so.

They watch as a breath goes in... and doesn’t come back out. Sick lawyer friend begins to grip at their throat more furiously than before while they start to kick and squirm on the ground. Not-sick lawyer friend knows there’s nothing they can do, and forces themselves to step back and look away. Paramedics rush in just as sick lawyer friend’s eyes shut... for the last time.

The results come back from the morgue a day later. They found a lethal amount of poison in the poor lawyer’s body.

Yeah, that’s right. Poison. It’s been used against multiple witnesses and a prosecutor, so why not a lawyer? Poison is one of the best weapons out there- it can take hours to actually kill someone (like one of the poisons I based the fictional poison in the story off of), can make deaths look accidental, and can be administered to the intended victim with ease (for the most part). For example, the big bad guy could intentionally get a job at a cafe that the victim frequently visits, and slip in something not-so-nice when they come to order their daily dose of caffeine. Boom! Dead! Pair that with a relatively-unknown or custom made slow-working poison, and the villain will probably be very happy with the results.

For the sake of our beloved lawyers, you could say that the victim got to the hospital in time, and they surprisingly have an antidote available. The victim may have to stay in the hospital for a while, but we won’t lose a major character. This isn’t Westeros (or any other associated land mass, really)! We don’t need that to happen!

Georges Polti was a 19th century French writer described 36 situations that may be found in many stories, based on the list identified by Goethe who said it was originated by Italian Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806). Perhaps some of the themes and examples do betray a bias towards the stories of the day, yet they are still very useful stimuli and provide interesting examples of enduring and real human dilemmas.

( not mine, but for my refrence, please do not reblog)

Day 1: Basics and cosmetic:

Age?

Date of Birth?

Hair color?

Eye color?

Skin color/nationality?

Accent (if any)?

Height?

Weight?

Tattoos?

Piercings?

Birthmarks?

Disfigurements?

Scars?

Do they have any nicknames? Where did they come from?

Day 2:

How do they usually dress? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear jewelry?

Is there anything about their appearance they wish they could change?

How would they look as the opposite sex?

What do they smell like? Why (do they wear the scent or does it occur naturally)?

Do they have an accurate mental picture of their appearance (how they see themselves versus how the world sees them)?

Day 3: Choose a different time period and describe what your character would have been like in that time period.

Day 4: Favorites and habits:

What are some of your character’s hobbies? What do they do with their time?

Favorite color?

Favorite music artists? Movies or TV shows? Books or authors? Actors?

Political stance? Are they active in politics or do they not care?

What are some of their pet peeves?

What sort of gifts do they like?

What is their favorite time of day? Favorite weather? Season?

Where do they like to spend their time?

Favorite food? Favorite drink? Hot drinks, soft drinks, or alcohol?

Favorite animal?

Do they have any pets? Do they want any?

What relaxes them?

Do they have any bad habits?

Day 5: Resources and abilities:

Where did they learn their abilities?

If they have an income, where does it come from?

Do they have a job? Do they like it? How do they feel about their co-workers?

Day 6:

Why do they have their resources? How long have they had them, and how have they served the character over time? (Ex. Contacts, money, political power, fame, etc.)

Day 7:

Where does your character live? Why did they choose it, and how did they acquire it? How do they handle intruders (graciously? violently?)? Describe the space.

Day 8:

What are some of your character’s more notable merits and flaws (including physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc.)? How did they develop? How has this helped or hindered them in the past?

Day 9:

How are they with technology?

Are they specially qualified in any particular field? Would they be considered at the top of the field?

Have they ever been publically acknowledged for anything? (Ex. Nobel Prize)

Is there anything they’ve deliberately sought to improve at?

Do they speak more than one language?

Day 10: Relationships and history:

What is their family history like? How does it affect them? How do they feel about their family? How does their family feel about them?

Day 11:

What were they like as a child? What was their favorite toy? Favorite game? Playmates?

What did they want to be when they grew up?

Day 12:

Describe their best and worst memories from childhood.

Day 13:

Where (and when) did they grow up? How did they view it as a child, and did that change as they matured? How do they feel about the place now?

Day 14:

Do they, or have they in the past, had a mentor? What was their relationship with this person, and how has it changed since then?

What sort of education have they had? Do they want more?

Who was their idol growing up? Who was the first person they fantasized about?

Day 15:

Who is their closest friend, and why? What do they like to do with this person?

Do they have any rivals? Who and why?

Have they ever been betrayed? By who, and how did it affect them?

Day 16: Sex and Romance:

What is their sexual orientation? Do they ever question it?

When did they lose their virginity? Who to? Where? What was it like?

What is their favorite sexual fantasy?

Day 17:

Do they have any particular fetishes or kinks?

What’s the strangest thing they’ve ever done in bed?

Is there anything in particular that they won’t do?

What are they attracted to in a partner?

Day 18:

If applicable: who is their current partner, and what attracted the character to them? How did they meet? How long have they been together? What kind of a relationship is it? Do they have any plans for the future?

What would be their perfect date?

Describe one of the character’s past relationships and what was significant about it.

Have they ever hurt someone they loved?

Do they fall in love easily?

Day 19: Future:

What are their dreams? What do they want to do someday?

Are there places they want to go? Where and why?

Day 20:

If these don’t apply already: do they want to get married? Have kids?

Would they ever consider adopting a child? Why or why not?

Do they have any prominent sensory associations? (Ex. the smell of their mother’s perfume, the sound of ice cracking under their feet as a child, etc.)

Day 21:

Who do they want to meet?

What about them is heroic?

What would the character be like in their old age?

Day 22: Describe one (or more) plots you would like to do.

Day 23:

Stuck in a waiting room. Which magazine do they pick up?

Morality: What is one thing in their past they’re ashamed of? One thing they’re proud of?

Day 24: Describe one fight they’ve had in the past (physical or otherwise).

Day 25:

What is one thing they feel strongly about?

One trait they admire?

What disturbs them?

Day 26:

Do the ends justify the means in their eyes?

Are they a leader or a follower? Why?

What do they feel responsible for? (Ex. I owe it to the world to do this.)

Day 27:

Do they believe that a person can redeem themselves from mistakes of the past?

What scares them?

How do they feel about death? Have they been significantly affected by it?

Day 28:

Do they value faith over reason or vice versa?

Do they believe in an afterlife?

Do they have any habits that reflect their beliefs? (Ex. regular prayer, vegetarianism, etc.)

Do they respect the beliefs of others?

Day 29:

Would they be more likely to act for the good of one or the good of many?

Are they manipulative?

Choose a holiday and come up with a potential scenario involving your character and that holiday.

Day 30:

Is the character religious? What are their views, and why or why not?

How would they like to die?