differentpeacenerd

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Black Characters and Blushing

entropyalarm said: When describing embarrassment, blushing is typically used as an indicator. I’m white, but I recognize that darker skin tones shouldn’t show blush the same way as lighter tones. My friend, with medium skin, told me it only shows in her nose and ears, felt more as intense heat radiating from her cheeks than a visible color change. What is your insight on handling blushing? I feel this is especially important for proper portrayal of PoCs in romantic situations.

Anonymous said: You’ve written some great advice for describing black characters, but I was wondering whether you have any advice for describing a black character blushing? I have face blindness, so I’m having a lot of trouble with this. (otherwise I could just look up pictures and describe those) So sorry to bother you!

I’m glad you’ve asked. It bothers me how often I’ve heard “Black people don’t blush” which only seems to be another way to dehumanize Black people (and defeminize Black women) for not possessing this base human reaction, even if it’s not always notably visible.

Everybody blushes. Or rather, can blush. It’s the physical act of blood rushing to the face, ears, and other areas of the body; how visible the output doesn’t dictate whether one blushes or not.

While fairness has its part, I think blushing and how visible it is has a lot to do with the individual (some folks have better blood flow) + the undertones within their skin.

I’m going to steal my undertones chart from the Skin Tone Guide here:

As shown above cool skin colors have undertones that mostly fall under red/pink shades.

I’ve seen dark cool-skinned people with naturally rosy cheeks. I can only imagine when they blush, those reddish undertones are emphasized or brightened.

On the other hand, warm skin is usually in the golden, orange spectrum. Not so much reds. Still that doesn’t mean red coloring doesn’t appear on dark warm skin tones.

I have warm medium skin with golden orange undertones, and I definitely get flushed from extrinsic factors, such as if I exercise hard (I turn a berry-red coloring), plus the winter cold pinkens my nose like Rudolph.

I’ve also had friends call me out on blushing, but I can’t tell you exactly how that looks for I’ve never checked a mirror at the time, though I imagine it’s like a slight tinting or an enrichment of the undertones in the skin, brightening them, paired with a “coral to dark red” reddening.

In general, though, it can be redundant to constantly refer to blushing to show shyness or embarrassment with characters of any skin tone. It seems blushing is one of those things that happen more often in stories than daily life. Kinda like green eyes.

For variety, also consider these indicators: 

~Pages from the Emotion Thesaurus, seriously every writer should buy this book 10/10 would recommend.~

To reiterate; dark (cool) skin with red/pink undertones might show blushing more notably than warm skin, as an enhancement of those reddish undertones. 

Dark (warm) skin without red undertones, more “richening” of the undertones with pink to dark reddish coloring as an influence, likely depending on how harshly they’re blushing.

In any case; if you’re describing the blushing from the character’s perspective, it makes more sense to focus on heat and sensation.

Followers, any personal experiences or thoughts?

~Mod Colette

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So pretty.

One of the many otherworldly trees from Fanal forest in Madeira! | joeweaver_photography

Location: Fanal Forest, Madeira, Portugal

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This one could be fun.

"Villain" who wants to be evil for the fun of being evil but every time an actual villain shows up they team up with the good guys to defeat them because they don't actually agree with any of that world domination/ revenge/greed nonsense. It's gotten to the point where the good guys don't take them seriously as a villain at all and greet them like a friend, which irritates them to no end.

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Beautiful!

When the sun comes up at the perfect place! | daniel_weissenhorn

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This is so cool.

Mars Helicopter: 6 Things to Know About Ingenuity

When our Perseverance Mars rover lands on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021, it will bring along the Ingenuity helicopter.

This small-but-mighty craft is a technology demonstration that will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. Its fuselage is about the size of a tissue box, and it weighs about 4 pounds (1.8 kg) on Earth. It started out six years ago as an implausible prospect and has now passed its Earthbound tests.

Here are six things to know about Ingenuity as it nears Mars:

1. Ingenuity is an experimental flight test.

This Mars helicopter is known as a technology demonstration, which is a project that aims to test a new capability for the first time with a limited scope. Previous technology demonstrations include Sojourner, the first Mars rover, and the Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeStats that flew by Mars.

Ingenuity does not carry any science instruments and is not part of Perseverance’s science mission. The only objective for this helicopter is an engineering one – to demonstrate rotorcraft flight in the thin and challenging Martian atmosphere.

2. Mars won’t make it easy for Ingenuity.

Mars’ atmosphere is around 1% the density of Earth’s. Because of that lack of density, Ingenuity has rotor blades that are much larger and spin faster than a helicopter of Ingenuity’s mass here on our planet. It also must be extremely light to travel to Mars.

The Red Planet also has incredibly cold temperatures, with nights reaching minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (-90 degrees Celsius) in Jezero Crater, where our rover and helicopter will land. Tests on Earth at the predicted temperatures indicate Ingenuity’s parts should work as designed, but the real test will be on Mars.

3. Ingenuity relies on Perseverance for safe passage to Mars and operations on the Martian surface.

Ingenuity is nestled sideways under Perseverance’s belly with a cover to protect the helicopter from debris during landing. The power system on the Mars 2020 spacecraft periodically charges Ingenuity’s batteries during the journey to the Red Planet.

In the first few months after landing, Perseverance will find a safe place for Ingenuity. Our rover will shed the landing cover, rotate the helicopter so its legs face the ground and gently drop it on the Martian surface.

4. Ingenuity is smart for a small robot.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will not be able to control the helicopter with a joystick due to delays communicating with spacecraft across interplanetary distances. That means Ingenuity will make some of its own decisions based on parameters set by its engineering team on Earth.

During flight, Ingenuity will analyze sensor data and images of the terrain to ensure it stays on a flight path designed by project engineers.

5. The Ingenuity team counts success one step at a time.

Ingenuity’s team has a long list of milestones the helicopter must pass before it can take off and land in the Martian atmosphere.

Surviving the journey to and landing on Mars

Safely deploying onto the Martian surface from Perseverance’s belly

Autonomously keeping warm through those intensely cold Martian nights

Autonomously charging itself with its solar panel

Successfully communicating to and from the helicopter via the Mars Helicopter Base Station on Perseverance

6. If Ingenuity succeeds, future Mars exploration could include an ambitious aerial dimension.

The Mars helicopter intends to demonstrate technologies and first-of-its-kind operations needed for flying on Mars. If successful, these technologies and flight experience on another planet could pave the way for other advanced robotic flying vehicles.

Possible uses of a future helicopter on Mars include:

A unique viewpoint not provided by current orbiters, rovers or landers

High-definition images and reconnaissance for robots or humans

Access to terrain that is difficult for rovers to reach

Could even carry light but vital payloads from one site to another

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

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And because I feel like posting it, here is some blackout poetry I made last year, courtesy of Marie Yovanovitch, and the Scranton Times-Tribune. My first attempt at it. Eventually I’ll try it again.

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Mom and I went to Washington in September to pay our respects to RBG, and this is one of my favorite photos of the day. I just thought it was fitting to post during Black History Month. The monument to Rev. King is gorgeous and has such a powerful feeling.

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This is what I was thinking of earlier today when it was snowing.

Marcin Minor (@marcin_minor)

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As someone who crochets, I like this. LOL