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Behold, the scrunkly.

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Thinking about what it would be like to see color for the first time. I always love stories with those kind of themes, ever since I read The Giver as a kid. The idea of growing up without color but suddenly seeing it for the first time always stuck with me.

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Things Read in October

Articles/Essays:

Has Self Awareness Gone Too Far in Fiction?

Heroines of Self Hate

This Guy Has Invented A Scarf That Can Make You Invisible in Photos

Dune: an accomplished escape into the realm of cinematic Arab appropriation

The White Savior Industrial Complex

Does Capitalism Drive Drug Addiction?

This Buddhist Monk is A Makeup Artist and An LGBTQ Activist

The Gods Show Up

The Troubling Rhetoric of Space Exploration

The Art of Nonfiction

The Dutch Village Where Everyone Has Dementia

The Beauty-Happiness Connection

Physics's Pangolin

How Americans Became Convinced Their Halloween Candy Was Poisoned

It's time to drop the curtain on Japan's colonial legacy

Retro photos reveal what it was like to be a flight attendant throughout the years

Why the books we read as children are the ones that shape our psyche

Still Not A British Subject: Race and UK Poetry

I am Hazara and I fear for my persecuted people

Jamie Lee Curtis says plastic surgery is 'wiping out generations of beauty'

Identity Fraud

First Malaria Vaccine Approved by W.H.O.

Black Children Were Jailed For A Crime That Doesn't Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.

Lush Rot

Pandora Papers: biggest ever leak of offshore data exposes financial secrets of rich and powerful

How mental health became a social media minefield

Don't Tell Me to Despair About the Climate: Hope is A Right We Must Protect

Before 'Get Out,' There Was 'Candyman'

Bring Back the Sabbath

The Psychology of Giant Princess Eyes

Black, gay, and graying gracefully in love

Bashō on Haiku: 17 Statements

Poetry:

October by Louise Glück

Cutting Odette's Fingernails by Bianca Stone

Miss you. Would like to take a walk with you. by Gabrielle Calvocoressi

A Myth of Devotion by Louise Glück

Poems From An Email Exchange by Hanif Abdurraqib

The Real Prayers Are Not the Words, But the Attention That Comes First by Mary Oliver

I Loved You Before I Was Born by Li-Young Lee

I Like My Body When It Is With Your Body by E. E. Cummings

Digging by Seamus Heaney

October by Robert Frost

Books:

A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Mr. Suicide by Nicole Cushing

Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly Devos

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire

The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey

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Plot Devices to Complicate Your Story

You're excited to write an upcoming story, but the plot seems pretty simple from start to finish.

How can you make it more complicated to deepen your themes, lengthen the story, or leave your readers with plot twists that make their jaws drop?

Try a few of these devices 👀

Add motivation to your instigating action

When the princess gets kidnapped at the start of your story, your hero will rescue her, but what's the antagonist's motivation for kidnapping her? If they're in love with the hero and take their jealousy to the extreme or secretly know that the princess asked them for an escape plan to avoid marrying your hero, the plot is much more compelling.

You could add this detail anywhere in your plot, even in the first chapter.

Layer a second motivation underneath an action

After the princess is kidnapped, the hero starts their journey to rescue her. The reader finds out in the second chapter that the hero is being blackmailed to retrieve the princess and return her to their kingdom's biggest rival to start a war.

Amplify the original problem

Your protagonist rescues the princess and brings her home, only to find out that she's had a twin brother all this time who has been taken hostage by the antagonist in retaliation for the princess' escape.

Introduce a second, more evil villain

The antagonist has kidnapped the princess for their own motivation, but the reader discovers in the middle of your story that they serve a more evil villain who holds a personal grudge against the princess' father and wants his whole kingdom to suffer as revenge.

Create conflict that brings your protagonist to their rock bottom

The protagonist rescues the princess, almost reaches their home kingdom, but she escapes. The king sends the protagonist to prison for their failure and sentences them to death in three days. The reader will feel the hopelessness along with your protagonist, which is where you can create something that injects new hope into your plot (like a dramatic jailbreak thanks to the protagonist's best friend).

Make a character betray another

The protagonist reaches the princess with the help of their best friend, but the princess stabs the protagonist in the back by trading their best friend for herself through an unbreakable vow

Reveal an unreliable narrator

Your protagonist agrees to rescue the princess for the sake of the kingdom, but the second or third chapter reveals that they are really on a mission to kill the princess for personal revenge against the king.

Reveal that the villain has known everything the whole time

Your protagonist and princess escape, but the villain factored that into their plan to start a war and have their forces waiting outside of her castle when they arrive home

Introduce sudden regret that changes a character's arc

The protagonist has to leave their best friend behind to ensure the princess' escape, but in leaving them, the protagonist realizes they've been in love with their best friend the entire time. Regret motivates them to head back for their best friend and risk their life twice as soon as the princess is home safe.

Temporarily kill a character

The princess kills the villain with some help from your protagonist, so they think they're safe. On their way back home, the villain sets a trap for them in the woods because they actually survived the attack.

Try using Chekov's gun

Before leaving for the princess, your protagonist gets a potion made by a family member. The directions? "Use it in your moment of greatest need." The protagonist uses it later when they're facing the villain or after hitting rock bottom, so the potion becomes a plot device that instigates your second or third act.

Accelerate the plot

Your reader thinks the plot is all about rescuing the princess, but she returns home in the first 100 pages. The real plot begins by choices or actions made during her rescue, which unravel into a much larger story/world event.

You likely won't be able to use all of these plot devices in a single story. You may not even have the first plot for more than one.

Consider what you're writing and what dynamics your characters/plot present to decide if any of these tricks could enhance your writing.

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Hey there!!! Today I felt inspired, and it's been a while since my last good quality post, so we're gonna make a fabric pin of a death moth! You can also follow the steps here to make your own patterns of another bug. If you make this, I'd *really, really* love to see it. Let's start!

You'll need: Dark fabric, a small piece of cardboard, a paper with the patterns (you can print or trace them, glue, a little of wire and bleach or white paint

1- First, you have to cut the patterns and pass them onto the fabric.

2- Cut the pieces off.

3- Now, in order for the fabric to not fall apart, we're gonna add a little of glue around the edges. If you have synthetic fabric you can melt the edges with a lighter, but be extremely careful with that.

4- Cut another B piece, of cardboard now, and glue it to the back of A

5- Glue four small wires to the wings of A and C making sure they overlap with the body a little. This is in order to make them stronger. You wont need them if you use fabric that doesn't bend easily.

6- Take another wire, fold it slightly in half and paint it black. This is to make the antennas. You can also use cardboard, or pipe cleaner to make them fuzzy.

7- Glue the pieces together in this order from back to front: A, B, C and D (unexpected, I know). Don't forget the antennas between C and D.

8- This is the fun part; paint the moth. Go wild. I went for the classic but you can make geometric shapes, eyes, spirals... I used bleach because I like the look, but be careful with that. You can use white paint too.

9- Glue a pin to the back. If you prefer it to be a necklace or anything else, glue whatever you want.

I hope you liked it!!!

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Fanfiction Tropes I’ll Never Get Tired of

lab partners (bonus if it’s a high school bio or chem assignment)

nerd and jock

detention

body switching

best friends since childhood

just pretending to hate each other

new college roommate

academic rivalry

sports rivalry

reincarnation

kissing to keep cover in a spy AU

enemies to friends to lovers

chapped lips

high school/college AUs

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Clock-a-Locke!

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art resource masterpost! (2019)

A list of links to all the art resources I’ve compiled since I was thirteen, from Tumblr/Twitter/googling around. They’re not all specifically drawing-related but I’ve personally found them helpful to my art + actively used or learned from each of them. Links marked with a star (★) are ones I use often, or find the most helpful!

compare heights of human figures

textures

hairstyle photos, search by colour/style/etc.

★ pinterest of tons of character design & anatomy ref boards

models.com: just modelling news/photography but nice for portrait reference + diverse faces

★ tons of tips on drawing: @grizandnorm​ and also @etheringtonbrothers​ (also on twitter and instagram)

tips for drawing backgrounds (layout & perspective) - thomas romain

selective colour tool in photoshop (helps balance out colours) - @genicecream

going from B&W to colour using photoshop curves - @genicecream

quickposes: pose library for figure & gesture drawing practice, timed drawing

wetcanvas: forum for object/still life photo references

tons of varied human poses, can sort by pose type/age/body type/etc. (warning for nudity)

★ lookbook.nu: fashion lookbook, can sort outfits by style, occasion, etc.

timed and randomized photo references for figure drawing (warning: nudity)

easy lineart in photoshop - @okolnir

guide for facial expressions - @lackadaisy

tons of pose photography, categorized by pose - senshistock (deviantart)

more timed photo references: figure drawing, animal drawing, hands and feet, faces

★ PDF of the animator’s survival kit by richard williams: comprehensive book on animation fundamentals

adobe kuler: adjustable colour wheel, creates cohesive 5-colour palettes

★ perspective grid in photoshop - @chuwenjie​

interactive 3d models: human models & wooden figurine

youtube playlist of various art tutorials/speedpaints/etc. - @erinye

integrating lineart into flat colours - @dinduarte

twitter thread of general art resources (technical/fundamental skills) - @jovaline​

tips on drawing backgrounds - @jovaline​

simple nighttime lighting - @japhers​

tips for drawing kissing - @mud-muffin

★ mapcrunch: randomized (or editable) google street view, great for environment photo reference

catalogue of theater costumes sorted by clothing item/time period, great for historical clothing reference

google’s we wear culture: information about & catalogue of fashion/design/art collections

one perfect shot database: film screencaps, can organize by shot 

typefilmgrab: more movie shots

stretches to stop artist back pain (more important than half this list)

dynamic clouds - @amiamihan​

avoiding empty/“dead” spaces in comic panels - @hammpix​ 

tips on simplifying drawings for clarity - @hammpix

guide on making webcomics - @velinxi

twitter thread of storyboard/comic art resources - @nilaffle​

creating depth and distance in backgrounds - @mathiaszamecki​

★ croquiscafe: youtube channel that simulates figure drawing sessions (warning: nudity)

★ large PDF of storyboarding tips - @jimmortensen

another colour picker for harmonious colours

★ google drive folder of art book PDFs (anatomy & figure drawing) - @jijidraws

designdoll (free program for download): adjustable 3d human figures, better quality than online sites

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Finally can post my full piece for @ukiyozine !!! Thank you for letting me contribute to this wonderful zine, I had so much fun! 🏐🌸

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oop i fell in love

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Plot Devices to Complicate Your Story

You're excited to write an upcoming story, but the plot seems pretty simple from start to finish.

How can you make it more complicated to deepen your themes, lengthen the story, or leave your readers with plot twists that make their jaws drop?

Try a few of these devices 👀

Add motivation to your instigating action

When the princess gets kidnapped at the start of your story, your hero will rescue her, but what's the antagonist's motivation for kidnapping her? If they're in love with the hero and take their jealousy to the extreme or secretly know that the princess asked them for an escape plan to avoid marrying your hero, the plot is much more compelling.

You could add this detail anywhere in your plot, even in the first chapter.

Layer a second motivation underneath an action

After the princess is kidnapped, the hero starts their journey to rescue her. The reader finds out in the second chapter that the hero is being blackmailed to retrieve the princess and return her to their kingdom's biggest rival to start a war.

Amplify the original problem

Your protagonist rescues the princess and brings her home, only to find out that she's had a twin brother all this time who has been taken hostage by the antagonist in retaliation for the princess' escape.

Introduce a second, more evil villain

The antagonist has kidnapped the princess for their own motivation, but the reader discovers in the middle of your story that they serve a more evil villain who holds a personal grudge against the princess' father and wants his whole kingdom to suffer as revenge.

Create conflict that brings your protagonist to their rock bottom

The protagonist rescues the princess, almost reaches their home kingdom, but she escapes. The king sends the protagonist to prison for their failure and sentences them to death in three days. The reader will feel the hopelessness along with your protagonist, which is where you can create something that injects new hope into your plot (like a dramatic jailbreak thanks to the protagonist's best friend).

Make a character betray another

The protagonist reaches the princess with the help of their best friend, but the princess stabs the protagonist in the back by trading their best friend for herself through an unbreakable vow

Reveal an unreliable narrator

Your protagonist agrees to rescue the princess for the sake of the kingdom, but the second or third chapter reveals that they are really on a mission to kill the princess for personal revenge against the king.

Reveal that the villain has known everything the whole time

Your protagonist and princess escape, but the villain factored that into their plan to start a war and have their forces waiting outside of her castle when they arrive home

Introduce sudden regret that changes a character's arc

The protagonist has to leave their best friend behind to ensure the princess' escape, but in leaving them, the protagonist realizes they've been in love with their best friend the entire time. Regret motivates them to head back for their best friend and risk their life twice as soon as the princess is home safe.

Temporarily kill a character

The princess kills the villain with some help from your protagonist, so they think they're safe. On their way back home, the villain sets a trap for them in the woods because they actually survived the attack.

Try using Chekov's gun

Before leaving for the princess, your protagonist gets a potion made by a family member. The directions? "Use it in your moment of greatest need." The protagonist uses it later when they're facing the villain or after hitting rock bottom, so the potion becomes a plot device that instigates your second or third act.

Accelerate the plot

Your reader thinks the plot is all about rescuing the princess, but she returns home in the first 100 pages. The real plot begins by choices or actions made during her rescue, which unravel into a much larger story/world event.

You likely won't be able to use all of these plot devices in a single story. You may not even have the first plot for more than one.

Consider what you're writing and what dynamics your characters/plot present to decide if any of these tricks could enhance your writing.

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Last sketch from the batch for winterbriar

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any tips on how to make a paragraph flow better? Mine always seem so choppy. Thanks for you blog!

I actually figured this out when writing essays for school. Instead of cramming info into my paragraphs like I was used to doing, I started crafting sentences so that one train of thought led into another. When reread, it sounded more like an informed individual giving a lesson than a kid’s disjointed rehashing of Wikipedia. By organizing my thoughts on the page in this way, I generally understood the subject better afterward too.

If you start seeing each sentence as a train car or link that can only connect up to other compatible “links,” your sentences will flow better. And if one link just doesn’t fit anywhere, you should a) delete it, b) change the structure/wording so that it flows, or c) put it in the next/previous paragraph.

Paragraph breaks are your friends! If the subject or focus changes slightly, it’s good to consider breaking up the paragraph. There’s no standard size that all your paragraphs must meet, but a minimum of three sentences is a paragraph (a lone sentence is still okay, but it isn’t a paragraph). Breaking up paragraphs is meant to make your writing easier and less daunting to read. However, when necessary or fun to write, a few LARGE paragraphs per book never hurt anyone.

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