A friend of mine was the source of this very pertinent question. So I decided to write a blog entry about it. Because how do you introduce your character without sounding fake ?
Remember that, in real life situation, no one calls you by your name. Have you noticed that none of your friends is adressing you by your name, unless they're trying to get your attention or that something serious is happening ? That should be the same in your story : find a situation where it is relevant to use names. Or stick to nicknames, which is a more common way to address your friends.
Use another character. If you can’t come up with a situation, you can always rely on a side character to introduce your MC. It’s also the perfect way to describe your character rather than simply using mirror, which is convenient yet very cliché. But the fun thing to do is to make several characters talk about your MC : their opinion might go in different directions due to their relationships, their own sensibility and attention to details. It’s also a good way to breath life into your side characters so please consider that option seriously.
The reader doesn’t need to know everything, especially on the very first page. Unless the info is relevant to the plot, there is no need for the reader to know MC’s favourite food or eye’s color. If you’re on character-sheet-side (which I’m not btw), you should be careful about wether the reader the story will progress or not. Try to be balanced !
What I really want to stress in this article is the importance of action when introducing your character. You want the reader to know your character is courageous ? Put them directly into a situation where they can show courage. You want to describe their hair color ? What about that moment when the light is flickering in a way that gives their hair a peculiar effect that catches the eye of another character ?
Don’t worry, your creativity will always find a way ~
thinking about the sirens in suits/suit adjacent clothes plus a little genderswap moment... ;-; just for me
Wingman & Redbird
I know the Stranger Things fandom has collectively decided that Steve's parents are The Worst, but I also like reading stories where they aren't or where they are, but that perspective is complicated. Here are some recs (finished and unfinished fics and please check the tags yourself):
Aftermath by help_me_no
Interesting depiction of Steve's parents, especially him mom, as an absent parent who still loves Steve and has an impact on his life.
and they were SPOUSES (oh my god they were spouses) by narceus
Chapter 4 is from the perspective of Steve's mother. Steve's parents go to dinner with him and Robin after finding out they've been married for several years. This is one of my favorite depictions of Steve's parents which doesn't make them less absent but shows their behavior from their perspective and is absolutely wonderful
I was born when they took my name by WingedQuill
Steve is Seven and his parents are scientists who stole him from the lab and protected him all these years. They're good parents who love him and who worry about his safety.
count to thirty. breathe twice. repeat. by WingedQuill
Steve's parents are still absent, but with a twist. SPOILERS. They are both queer and have partners outside Hawkins. Steve doesn't know this, because they wanted him to have a normal life and not be affected by homophobia in Hawkins.
Jackrabbit Underneath by Grey_Lark
Steve is Seven and his parents are still not great people, but they are present through his early life (which is depicted in the story) and influence what goes on later. The impact of their family dynamic on Steve is really shown. His mother suffers from strange headaches.
you carved the space for my sadness to be seen for once (hold on to me) by ohstars
Steve's mom is a central character in this fic. When Steve becomes a teen parent, she steps up and divorces his father. Steve and his mom have to navigate their estrangement as well as the mother-son relationship between them and the father-daughter relationship between Steve and his daughter
Car Hangs by maiamaryse
Steve's parents are still not great parents in this, but they appear as characters who feel real and fully-fleshed, especially Steve's father.
Verses Out of Rhythm by thankyouplease
I don't usually read or post Harringrove fics, so here's your warning that Steve and Billy have a past, toxic relationship in this one (no Billy redemption). Endgame is Steddie. Steve's parents are a distant presence until the end of the fic, but they are still nuanced characters and decent people, even if they aren't great parents.
accept: to receive except: with the exclusion of
advice: recommendation (noun) advise: to recommend (verb)
adverse: unfavorable averse: opposed to
affect: to influence (verb); emotional response (noun) effect: result (noun); to cause (verb)
aisle: space between rows isle: island
allude: to make indirect reference to elude: to avoid
allusion: indirect reference illusion: false idea, misleading appearance
already: by this time all ready: fully prepared
altar: sacred platform or place alter: to change
altogether: thoroughly all together: everyone/everything in one place
a lot: a quantity; many of something allot: to divide or portion out
angel: supernatural being, good person angle: shape made by joining two straight lines
are: plural form of "to be" our: plural form of "my"
accent: pronunciation common to a region ascent: the act of rising or climbing assent: consent, agreement
assistance: help assistants: helpers
bare: nude, unadorned bear: to carry; an animal
beside: close to; next to besides: except for; in addition
boar: a wild male pig bore: to drill a hole through
board: piece of wood bored: uninterested
born: brought into life borne: past participle of "to bear" (carry)
breath: air taken in (noun) breathe: to take in air (verb)
brake: device for stopping break: destroy; make into pieces
buy: to purchase by: next to; through the agency of
canvas: heavy cloth canvass: to take a survey; a survey
capital: major city capitol: government building
choose: to pick chose: past tense of "to choose"
clothes: garments close: to shut; near cloths: pieces of fabric
coarse: rough course: path; series of lectures
complement: something that completes compliment: praise, flattery
conscience: sense of morality conscious: awake, aware
corps: regulated group corpse: dead body
council: governing body counsel: advice; to give advice
dairy: place where milk products are processed diary: personal journal
descent: downward movement dissent: disagreement
dessert: final, sweet course in a meal desert: to abandon; dry, sandy area
device: a plan; a tool or utensil devise: to create
discreet: modest, prudent behavior discrete: a separate thing, distinct
do: a verb indicating performance or execution of a task dew: water droplets condensed from air due: as a result of
dominant: commanding, controlling dominate: to control
die: to lose life; one of a pair of dice dye: to change or add color
dyeing: changing or adding color dying: losing life
elicit: to draw out illicit: illegal, forbidden
eminent: prominent imminent: about to happen
envelop: to surround (verb) envelope: container for a letter (noun)
everyday: routine, commonplace, ordinary (adj.) every day: each day, succession (adj. + noun)
fair: just, honest; a carnival; light skinned fare: money for transportation; food
farther: at a greater (measurable) distance further: in greater (non-measurable) depth
formally: conventionally, with ceremony formerly: previously
forth: forward fourth: number four in a list
gorilla: animal in ape family guerrilla: soldier specializing in surprise attacks
hear: to sense sound by ear here: in this place
heard: past tense of "to hear" herd: group of animals
hoard: a hidden fund or supply, a cache horde: a large group or crowd, swarm
hole: opening whole: complete; an entire thing
human: relating to the species homo sapiens humane: compassionate
its: possessive form of "it" it's: contraction for "it is"
knew: past tense of "know" new: fresh, not yet old
know: to comprehend no: negative
later: after a time latter: second one of two things
lead: heavy metal substance; to guide led: past tense of "to lead"
lessen: to decrease lesson: something learned and/or taught
lightning: storm-related electricity lightening: making lighter
loose: unbound, not tightly fastened lose: to misplace
maybe: perhaps (adv.) may be: might be (verb)
meat: animal flesh meet: to encounter mete: to measure; to distribute
medal: a flat disk stamped with a design meddle: to interfere, intrude metal: a hard organic substance mettle: courage, spirit, energy
miner: a worker in a mine minor: underage person (noun); less important (adj.)
moral: distinguishing right from wrong; lesson of a fable or story morale: attitude or outlook usually of a group
passed: past tense of "to pass" past: at a previous time
patience: putting up with annoyances patients: people under medical care
peace: absence of war piece: part of a whole; musical arrangement
peak: point, pinnacle, maximum peek: to peer through or look furtively pique: fit of resentment, feeling of wounded vanity
pedal: the foot lever of a bicycle or car petal: a flower segment peddle: to sell
personal: intimate; owned by a person personnel: employees
plain: simple, unadorned plane: to shave wood; aircraft (noun)
precede: to come before proceed: to continue
presence: attendance; being at hand presents: gifts
principal: foremost (adj.); administrator of a school (noun) principle: moral conviction, basic truth
quiet: silent, calm quite: very
rain: water drops falling; to fall like rain reign: to rule rein: strap to control an animal (noun); to guide or control (verb)
raise: to lift up raze: to tear down
rational: having reason or understanding rationale: principles of opinion, beliefs
respectfully: with respect respectively: in that order
reverend: title given to clergy; deserving respect reverent: worshipful
right: correct; opposite of left rite: ritual or ceremony write: to put words on paper
road: path rode: past tense of "to ride"
scene: place of an action; segment of a play seen: viewed; past participle of "to see"
sense: perception, understanding since: measurement of past time; because
sight: scene, view, picture site: place, location cite: to document or quote (verb)
stationary: standing still stationery: writing paper
straight: unbending strait: narrow or confining; a waterway
taught: past tense of "to teach" taut: tight
than: used to introduce second element; compared to then: at that time; next
their: possessive form of "they" there: in that place they’re: contraction for "they are"
through: finished; into and out of threw: past tense of "to throw" thorough: complete
to: toward too: also; very (used to show emphasis) two: number following one
track: course, road tract: pamphlet; plot of ground
waist: midsection of the body waste: discarded material; to squander
waive: forgo, renounce wave: flutter, move back and forth
weak: not strong week: seven days
weather: climatic condition whether: if wether: a neutered male sheep
where: in which place were: past tense of "to be"
which: one of a group witch: female sorcerer
whose: possessive for "of who" who’s: contraction for "who is"
your: possessive for "of you" you’re: contraction for "you are" yore: time long past
commonly confused words part 2
Drawing bases & pose references pt 74 🫶
3 extra drawings for patrons!
Silly imagine ( mirror ) :
Red Velvet : uhhm Dark Choco I know you don't care much about appearance, but at least take care of it a little bit.
Dark Choco : What wrong with my appearance ?
Red Velvet : You hair is...
Licorice : Horrible
Dark Choco who cuts his own hair with a sword and doesn't look while doing it : Ohh that will be hard to fix.
Red Velvet + Licorice : Why ??
Dark Choco : My reflection and i have different hair lengths, while his is still past his waist mine is just shoulder length.
Red Velvet suprise Pikachu face meme.
Licorice scared kid holding cross meme.
In the end Red Velvet helps Dark Choco fix his hair and Licorice suffered from Eisoptrophobia ( fear of mirrors ) for a while.
Fingers tapping rhythmically on a surface.
Shifting weight from one foot to the other.
Checking the time frequently.
Eyes darting to the door or window expectantly.
Taking deep, excited breaths.
Biting the lower lip in nervous excitement.
Rubbing hands together eagerly.
Whispering, “I can’t wait” to themselves or others.
Fidgeting with objects, like twisting a ring or playing with a pen.
Heart pounding with eagerness.
Perking up at any noise that might signal the anticipated event.
Smiling slightly, as if imagining the future moment.
Knees bouncing up and down while seated.
Glancing at their phone or watch repeatedly.
Clutching a piece of clothing or accessory tightly.
Standing on tiptoe to get a better view.
Ears straining to catch any sound.
Swallowing nervously, throat dry with excitement.
Humming or softly singing to pass the time.
Practicing a speech or action they are looking forward to.
I was asked by a friend yesterday if I could offer basic tips about comic paneling. As it turns out, I have a lot to say on the matter! I tried breaking down the art of paneling using the principles of art and design, and I hope it helps you out!
Cosas de chinos
My imagine ( mirror ) :
Since he was little, Dark Choco often sleepwalked but no one knew because he often locked his bedroom door.
After Dark Cacao found out about Dark Choco talking to his reflection, Dark Cacao forced Dark Choco to sleep in his bedroom so he could keep an eye on his son from "that thing", Dark Choco tried to explain to his father that his reflection was harmless but his father wouldn't listen, helpless and tired it was already late at night he decided to follow his father's words to get some peace and continue explaining everything tomorrow, that didn't make things better.
Although Dark Cacao had planned to stay up all night to watch over his son, perhaps due to the hard work of dealing with the aftermath of Affogato + Cookies of Darkness and other problems of the kingdom, he had fallen asleep, but was suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by Dark Choco's noise.
When he woke up the first thing he witnessed was his son's strange behavior, Dark Choco instead of going to sleep was moving aimlessly around his room, while singing nonsense rhymes, when he tried to move to look at his son he found he couldn't ( he was having sleep paralysis ), he was immediately filled with panic and thought this was caused by the entity in the mirror ( he knew what sleep paralysis was, this wasn't the first time he had sleep paralysis but due to recent events he was overthinking ).
And as if that wasn't enough, another nail in the coffin in this situation, Dark Choco slowly approached the balcony in Dark Cacao's room, if his son's lifeless face and empty eyes weren't enough to scare him, then the fact that his precious child started to step onto the balcony's railing definitely terrified him to the bone, luckily at this moment he escaped the sleep paralysis and rushed in just in time to prevent his son from falling to his death.
Needless to say, things got worse after that, Dark Cacao and Dark Choco both fell on the ground after Dark Cacao forcefully pulled Dark Choco off the railing.
Dark Choco : What just happen ???
Dark Cacao : I SHOULD BE THE ONE ASKING THAT QUESTION, WHY DO YOU DO THOSE THINGS ???
Dark Choco : I do what ??? Father I've been sleeping all this time.
Dark Cacao : Your...don't remember anything ??? You told me you move and open your eyes and sing when you sleep ???
Dark Choco : I don't know about opening my eyes and singing but isn't it normal to move around in my sleep ? I mean i've been like that since i was a kid.
Dark Cacao :....
After that incident, he was not allowed to sleep alone anymore. There was always someone watching over him while he slept. That made Dark Choco lose his sense of privacy and was very stressed and uncomfortable.
Which also caused information and rumors to spread about Dark Choco's condition, the soldiers guarding Dark Choco were terrified of him sleepwalking, they said that when he sleepwalked he was like a walking corpse, the lifelessness in his expression, the way he sang and moved in his sleep terrified the soldiers not helping any as he even practiced swordplay in his sleep at one point, god bless the heart of the warrior guarding him back then.
People told each other that the entity in the mirror possessed his body at night while he slept, they pitied the prince even saying that all the sins the prince had committed before were caused by that entity even though Dark Choco and Dark Cacao told the truth that it was because of the cursed sword before.
Welcome to my page! This is were I keep the cats, books, and dimension-traveling characters!
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