#flight tips

[rockingtheorange]

Re ✈️ advice (my answer was too long for a direct reply lol)

Long haul flights will usually just give you water for free, most airports have fountains so bring an (empty) bottle.

Long haul flights are usually larger planes with 6 or sometimes 8 bathrooms. There will be a queue immediately before landing, after take off and about 30mins/1 hour after food.

Each country has its own restrictions regarding food but as long as it's clearly something you are going to eat yourself (i.e not a bag of steaks) you should be fine. I once crossed the land boarder from canada to the usa with a smoothie and a ham sandwich in my bag which I made at home.

My boyfriend has also just helpfully added if you don't have an eye mask you should get one. The plane may or may not provide this depending on the airline. Also ear plugs, even just the wee foam ones are a lifesaver. Airplanes are loud as heck and 8 hours of that can become grating, not even taking into account other people (especially children) making noise.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions 💕 (thanks to the boyfriend too 😆)

I'll keep everything in mind😊❤ and I'll be back online as soon as I can☺

If anything drops, @ me or scream very loud so I can hear mid-air ✌

Wish me luck for tomorrow 😉☺❤

[alphagodith]

tips for flying about the usa

what to wear

comfy shoes you can take off and put back on easily/quickly, such as flip flops or velcro shoes/zipper boots. if going somewhere requiring a different kind of shoe, you'll need to decide whether you want to get through security faster, or have more room in your suitcase.

light jacket with large, secure(can close/things won't fall out easily) pockets for storing phone, wallet, and any other especially important items, so you can simply remove the entire jacket without having to empty pockets during screening, and don't risk losing said items if a bag needs checked or is otherwise lost.

comfy pants that don't require a belt(which would need to be removed for screening), such as sweatpants, and if they have pockets, don't use them so you don't have to empty them for security.

a face mask is recommended due to the high volume and density of both airports and planes, as well as the higher risk of illness from foreign bugs you may be newly exposed to and thus have no natural immunity for. just be aware you will probably be asked to remove the mask briefly during the initial security check to compare your face to your id.

choosing tickets

from my personal experience, southwest airlines suck (the layover they gave us wound up too short and our next plane left before we could even disembark the first one, and they did not reimburse us for the hotel we had to get while waiting for the next available flight), and united is good.

also just from my personal experience, la quinta inns are just nastier, shoddily put together versions of the nicer holiday express inns. (like they had the same exact showers but the ones at la quinta were put together wrong so the shower curtain couldn't close at all and stuff like that)

try to book tickets several months in advance, and use private browsing/clear your cache often, to get lower prices

early morning flights are best as they are less crowded, the staff are nicer, and you are less likely to be tempted to try to squeeze in more activities before departing, thus risking missing your flight entirely

plan to get to the airport no less than 2 hours early in case of traffic, issues getting through security, or other unforeseen delays

if possible, try to avoid any layovers that are less than 1 1/2 hours long, as they often result in either rushing or just straight up missing your next flight. if you can afford it, it may be worth manually booking individual flights, or just staying overnight somewhere rather than risking a tight layover.

try to only fly 2 hours or less per day if possible so that you can feasibly drive the distance in a day instead in case you miss a flight.

luggage

pack light. wear clothes multiple times and only bring what you are HIGHLY likely to need. do not bring extra entertainment items. your destination and/or phone apps should be plenty.

if you must pack an extra pair of shoes, maximize space efficiency by putting small clothing items like socks and underwear into plastic bags and then into the extra shoes.

miniature bottles of toothpaste and meds should be stored in clear plastic bags but likely won't need to be removed from suitcase during security check. you may want to pack them so they are easily accessible just in case though.

electronics larger than a phone may or may not need to be pulled out so pack them in a way that makes them quick to pull out and put back.

no knives. ever. some airports allow small ones but some don't, so you may get them through initially and then not be able to take them back home.

don't bring neck pillows, there's typically not enough room to use them on the plane anyway.

try to leave some room in your main suitcase/carry-on if you can, and bring an additional purse or other smaller bag even if you don't need it, so you can fit potential souvenirs.

verify that all tags on luggage have up-to-date address and phone number, and make sure bag isn't too easy for others to mistake as theirs. (if you like plain black suitcases like i do, cover it in ribbons or keychains to make it easy to identify at a distance. i've had someone mistakenly take my bag and then turn it into security when they realized it wasn't theirs before)

other general tips

don't eat less than an hour before any flight, as you may become ill due to turbulence/gas fuel smell and the enclosed space of an airplane is pretty much the WORST place to be sick.

if you have time before a flight, go to the restroom even if you don't currently feel a need to. you REALLY don't want to have to go on the plane.

don't be afraid to ask to swap seats if your ticket doesn't get you where you want to be. people are generally nice about it, especially within the same row. (just be prepared to accept a no- they payed for that seat and aren't obligated to give it to you)

if you drive yourself to the airport, make note of exactly where you parked. the spots are usually numbered and lettered.

[loveat1stflight]

Love At First Fight?

How to turn conflicts and problems while traveling into opportunities.

I don’t condone violence — let’s be honest that we all run into conflicts and problems while traveling. Here are a few and how to deal:

You have a nasty argument or conflict with a person you’re traveling with or a person along your travels. The world is small — you never know who’s watching you or who you may run into again — be kind. A bully can be your barista. It’s also recommended to be aware that you could be “guilty by association” - any kind of interaction with a stranger at a airport, can lead to the assumption of having a personal connection to the person. Be careful who you communicate with and engage with. If you get into a physical or verbal fight, try to get a photo of the person and I would recommend walking away. You both will be easily identified, since cameras are everywhere at most airports.

You lose your luggage. The best thing is to take a photo or always have a photo of the bag or luggage that you’re traveling with. Also, keep track of everything you packed. I recommend to keep all valuables / personal items with you at all time (i.e. skincare products, jewelry, laptop, things that are not easy to replace, etc).

You get stranded on a trip with no money. This has happened to me several times - and there’s a preventative solution: never travel without a minimum amount of money, plan ahead, and have an emergency contact you can borrow cash from. It sucks when you’re basically homeless in a city you’ve never been to before - but, shit happens! It also tests your survival skills. The best solution of this does happen to you - make sure your basic needs are met (food, shelter, and water.)

Safe Travels!

[adventoursofwifesquared]

10 Airport Travel Tips To Follow Before Your Next Flight

Here are 10 Airport Travel Tips To Follow Before Your Next Flight. #traveltips #Tuesdaytips #blog #travelblog #airporttips #travel #femaleblogger

Traveling can be adventurous for some and downright stressful for others. No matter what, you want to get through the hassle as fast as you can and with no problems. Here are 10 airport travel tips on making your next trip, hassle free.  Freeze Your LiquidsBring a Hydroflask or a Empty WaterbottleHave Your Documents ReadySign Up For Global Entry, TSA Precheck, or ClearBring A Sweater or Travel…

[azeb-lifestyle]

Five-Star Hotels to stay in The Palm Jumeirah (Top 23)

Five-Star Hotels to stay in The Palm Jumeirah an archipelago of artificial islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on the Arabian Gulf. Disclosure: This article may contain links from our partners. We may receive a small commission when you decide to make a purchase through a link at no additional cost to you. Photo credit: Tripadvisor | Five-Star Hotels to stay in The Palm Jumeirah In this…

[travelingonanemptystomach]

How to Fly with a Baby

[coffee-stainedwriting]

Fight, flight, freeze, fawn

When someone has adrenaline, they react with one pf the following four responses. If you want to write realistic characters, consider which they would do and then include it in your writing, even if it's very minor, it makes a big difference.

Fight; In an attempt to overcome the complication, the person fights back. Whether this is physical, emotional or spoken, the aim is to best the problem and be on top.

Flight; In an attempt to overcome the complication, the person flees. This can be physical (running from a predator) or mental (stop thinking about the problem). This reaction aims to put distance between the person and the problem.

Freeze; In an attempt to overcome the complication, the person stops their previous action. This can be physical, to avoid being seen or mental, like their thoughts or words stop. The freeze reaction aims to conceal themselves from the complication.

Fawn; In an attempt to overcome the complication, the person attempts to appease. The fawn reaction aims to avoid conflict, physically (talking to complication) or mentally (passing things off)

Keep in mind; sometimes their reactions aren't successful.

Thanks for reading, have a good day!

[jragons-fr-hole]

I don't do traditional art almost ever, but I was testing out some inking pens I have with a sketch of one of my Bogs, Trrat! I liked it enough to color in digitally, and now they have art!

Trrat is also one out of a pair of g1 bogs I snagged to gene, because I could not resist the colors.

[radioactive-dragons]

How 2 win a fest skin contest on dragon neopets

Hi! So I've seen some discussion on fest skin contests, mostly about how some people just keep winning. I'm not here to discuss about whether anything should be done about that, or whether that's unfair. I'm here to share some tips for people who struggle to get any fest win or honorable mention in.

Some background info: I've won a decent amount of contests so far. I don't win nearly every single time I enter a contest, but I do at least manage to land an honorable mention most of the time at this point. So take this post with a grain of salt, I'm not perfect, nor the best, just here to share what I've noticed from my festival winners as well as others.

So here we go!

Tip 1: Stay in theme

A lot of entries I see don't quite fit the idea of the flight that staff is looking for. Stick with the flight's general theme. For light that tends to be the color yellow, orbs and ancient Greece inspired ruins.

Some flights have very broad themes. Like water ranging from deep sea horrors to sandy shores, or nature both having a feral, wild aesthetic as well as a tropical, flowery one. But other flights, like wind and light, have a more narrow theme.

I've talked with some other skin artists about specific contest entries in the past, that we really wished would win, but doubted they ever would. Not because the art wasn't interesting, but because they fell outside the general themes we see in that flight. Sometimes we're surprised, and they win anyways, though!

Tip 2: study the masters

We're in our 12th festival cycle, which means there's 11 previous years to look through. This is a really valuable resource. Go through the previous years, especially the more recent ones, and take a look at what the previous winning entries were. You'll probably spot some common themes for each flight, as well as specific elements that reoccur in each fest again and again.

Whenever I sit down to make a contest entry, I look at the previous few years. Both to gather inspiration but also to study them. I don't just look at these skins, I pick apart their art style, the composition, the themes that they've used. And then I go ahead and bring my own spin on it.

Tip 3: Make it yours

Okay, yes, I know I just spent a while talking about staying on theme and referencing existing winners, but hear me out. Most of the winning entries I see (as well as most of my own fest winners) manage to walk the tight line between staying on theme as well as adding their own creative twist to it.

This is the part where I'm going to share some of my own examples, since I think some of mine show what I mean pretty well.

Solarium (brightshine 2019) | Starwood Monarch (starfall 2022) | C.A.C.T.U.S. (thundercrack 2022)

These ones still stay relatively in theme, but they also incorporate some of my own twists in it. Solarium's idea was a window to the sky, surrounded by gilded sundial-esque elements. Starwood Monarch is a pink arcane crystal butterfly. And C.A.C.T.U.S. is... well, cybernetic cacti tied into the dragon with some thunder clouds.

None of these are a carbon copy of the flight's themes, but instead incorporate the flight's themes into another concept altogether. Sundial sky, arcane butterfly, robot cacti.

And you can go pretty wild with this in some scenarios.

Fast as the Wind (mistral 2022) | Sunlit Streams (brightshine 2024)

Both of these incorporate something you really wouldn't expect from its flight. Cheetahs and koi fish respectively. I'm actually really surprised Sunlit Streams won since I felt it strayed too far away from light's general theming.

Fun fact, for C.A.C.T.U.S. and fast as the wind I actually came up with the name first, then based a skin around that name. I don't always do it but it's nice to get a cohesive package.

Tip 4: Keep it readable

A common thing I see in festival winners are that it's really easy to tell what they depict at an immediate first glance. A lot of entries that otherwise would be really good candidates fall victim to one of the following pitfalls.

They don't tint the lines and shadows

They don't have any line art separating objects from the dragon

They use a very soft brush for things that should appear more solid

Number 3 I see a lot with artists who are rather novel at (digital) art in general. This isn't a bad thing, but it does make the overall picture blurred and difficult to read.

For number 2, the fix is mostly to add clearer separation between the dragon and the object. The dragon base is a gray, but lighter and darker dragons exist. Having no (or very unnoticeable) lineart will make any very light color blend in with lighter dragons!

As for number 1... please tint your lines and shadows. Often they can be a noticeable deal lighter than what the default PSD has them as. Set your lines to multiply also, to make life less hard on yourself.

This means your art doesn't have to be perfect to win. My first two festival winners make me die inside every time I look at them.

Twilight Oracle (brightshine 2016) | Cinderleaves (flameforgers 2016)

I could list a bunch of reasons as to why I think these aren't too great, the shading being just one of them. But hey, they still won. And that's likely because they still follow these four principles at their core.

Bonus tip: have fun!

It's real cliche to throw this one in, but I mean it. If you're solely making fest entries to win, then not making it into the selection feels incredibly awful. It's art after all, draw what you love to draw. This is just my two cents on how to improve your chances at winning a contest.

I hope this isn't an unreadable wall of text and that someone actually got something out of this, thanks for reading!

[midwestbramble]

Trance States for Spirit Flight

Trance states are used in a lot of witchcraft practices, but especially those for spirit flight. This post will look at how these states translate in brain waves and what we are trying to achieve in our brains to accomplish our goal of spirit flight. Once we have an understanding of the feeling we are looking for it will be easier to use our techniques to get ourselves there.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Content:

Brain Waves for Trance States

Tips for ADHD

Conclusion

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Brain Waves for Trance States

According to Introduction to EEG- and Speech-Based Emotion Recogintion, brain waves are "oscillating electrical voltages in the brain measuring just a few millionths of a volt." It goes on to say that the brain can give off more than one type of brain wave at a time and that each individual brain has different patterns that the five brain wave states could appear at. So one persons wave pattern for gamma would be different to another persons wave pattern for gamma.

The five brain wave states are:

Gamma (32 - 100 Hz)

The state in which concentration and problem-solving are achieved. It is associated with enlightenment as some Tibetan monks and Indian Yogi's are able to display it while meditating (Auryn, pg. 15). It happens during creative expression and our brain processes and recalls incredible amounts of information while in gamma (Orapello, Pg. 205-206).

Beta (16 - 31 Hz)

When we have a busy or active mind. This is the most common brain wave state, all others are considered trance states. This occurs when we are awake, alert, and concentrating (Auryn, pg. 15).

Alpha (8 - 15 Hz)

When our mind is at rest and reflective. This can happen when we are meditating, visualizing, or learning. It has access to the subconscious mind and is most associated with psychic ability as well as being linked to hypnosis (Auryn, pg. 15). Some believe this is the proper state for magic; and ritual, dancing, chanting, and grounding and centering happen to be perfect catalysts for inducing it. Alpha also improves our memory, which allows inspiration and clarity of thought (Orapello, pg. 61).

Theta (4 - 7 Hz)

When we are drowsy and close to sleep. It is also associated with light sleep, deep meditation, deep dreaming, vivid imagery, and high levels of inner awareness. We become completely unware of the external world while in this state (Auryn, pg. 15). In theta, we have one foot on either side of consciousness and are ripe for possession or aspecting (such as drawing down the goddess) (Orapello, pg. 204). This is the state we want to access for spirit flight.

Delta (0 - 3 Hz)

This occurs during deep dreamless sleep and the deepest states of meditation. During this time our bodies and minds do most of their healing and regeneration (Auryn, pg. 15). This occurs just before REM sleep.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Tips for ADHD

I myself have ADHD so these tips will come from my own experience, though I have some links that may be helpful in my references found below. Also keep in mind, I am currently unmedicated due to personal issues. Mileage may vary.

The main goal we are trying to achieve is extreme relaxation. So lucky for us, ADHDers is that we aren't looking to concentrate necessarily. Yes we have a goal we are trying to achieve, but the more we TRY the harder it will be to actually achieve. We need to practice mentally letting go.

Meditation

For me, a basic meditation practice has helped tremendously. This was suggested to me by a therapist I was seeing in college. This isn't guided though I've found using apps that have timed meditations helps me properly gauge timing without having to think about it, they have a nice little chime at the end too. A meditation that has you simply separate yourself from your thoughts, observe them, and then let them pass by can be difficult for those with ADHD... at first. I struggled with letting a thought pass by without going down several different paths of thought. But with practice, and being kind to myself when I would catch it, eventually exercised my brain muscle to the point it became easier and easier. I would do this for 10 minutes a day (life has been crazy, I should make time for this again I can tell the difference).

Movement and Music

For those of us that don't just have a hyper mind but also a hyper body, swaying gently and creating a sensation of being rocked by waves can help keep the jitters away. Doing some physical activity before hand such as running can keep away the bigger bursts or energy, or dancing is a great way to enter a relaxed and exhausted trance state if that's something you enjoy doing. In fact, lyric-less music can be a great way to keep your focus. I personally, find music with lyrics to be distracting. I end up getting taken away with the story of the song rather then paying attention to my goal. There are many instrumental playlists on Spotify and YouTube that can fit with a witchy aesthetic (which can help keep from getting distracted). Movements tend to stop once the spirit has left the body, though a light sway may continue.

Visual Distractions

If you're not using the dance method, keeping your eyes closed while using the techniques in posts to follow can help to avoid visual distractions. Our minds tend to be louder in the dark, so the meditation advice above could be useful as an exercise to help with that. Or if you have a therapist you can brainstorm other ways to quiet the mind with them as well. If you're into art or tarot/oracle cards, there are also some interesting techniques allowing you to travel through the cards imagery (I suggest the book "A Broom at Midnight" by Roger J. Horne for more details). Though this technique may only work for those who have these as a hyperfocus or have already trained their brain to quiet.

Stims

Stims tend to be more associated with autism (and thus these tips may work for them as well), though I find that ADHD can provide some as well. If you tend to vocal stim, try chanting or intoning. It doesn't have to be words if you find that too distracting. If you have a common vocal stim, you can add that into a rhythmic chant or tone. If there's something you do with your hands, try to make a rhythmic display with it by flicking it out at certain intervals or adding it to part of a swaying sensation. Whatever makes sense for your personal stim. Just as with the movement section above, this may stop once the spirit has left the body. If you find that you bring yourself back too soon once you have left the body due to a stim, be kind to yourself first. It's ok. Stims can happen due to stress and overstimulation (good or bad) and I consider it a way of my body continuing to protect me. Something happened (good or bad) that I should process. If you left in the middle of a conversation with a spirit, you can give an offering to that spirit if you feel it is appropriate.

If I missed anything you struggle with due to ADHD, feel free to reach out. I'm not an expert but I could also be missing something here that I've experienced as well. If I don't have an answer, I will try to help you find one.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Conclusion

Our brains are constantly cycling through trance stats every day. Learning to control which state we are in can help us with our magic and our spirit flight. But not all brains are the same. Hopefully these tips help those who are struggling, and understanding what we are trying to achieve helps those who don't know what to look for.

References:

Psychic Witch by Mat Auryn

Besom, Stang, and Sword by Christopher Orapello and Tara Love Maguire

Clinical Application of Mindfulness-Oriented Meditation: A Preliminary Study in Children with ADHD

How to Focus With ADHD

The Influence of Music on Concentration in individuals with ADHD

[rockingtheorange]

✈️ Advice! Some practical some rambling (sorry 🙈)

Do not drink alcohol, do drink plenty of water.

Take a change of at least underwear (but ideally more) in your hand luggage so you can change when you get off. This is also good incase your luggage goes missing (toothbrush also for this reason).

Dress for comfort above all else but also consider the weather where you will land when dressing/packing hand luggage.

Bring snacks - airplane food has gotten a lot better in recent years but is still not great.

Bring disinfectant wipes and clean down your arm rests, tray table, any touch points basically (you think those shits get cleaned between each flight? Nuh uh.) This is also good for wiping hands after eating or using the bathroom.

Unlike short haul you WILL have to use the bathroom so if that squicks you, get over it fast and mitigate by doing the above.

Feel free to take shoes off or whatever when in your seat but WEAR YOUR SHOES WHEN LEAVING YOUR SEAT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. The floors of planes are very gross. (Pls do not remove your socks 🤢)

This next one is hit and miss dependant on personalities.

I recommend you say a polite hello and make a little small talk with your seat mates. You are going to be inches away from each other for roughly 8 hours. I'm not saying you have to make friends but it's nice to be able to say "hey can you wake me up when the food comes" or, "excuse me I need to get out to the aisle" without feeling unsure of the reaction you will get. If you do the polite "where are you from? Where are you going, and why?" script. This opens the door for "if you are asleep is it okay for me to wake you go get up to pee?" (Very good to establish early), "btw I have *insert potentially off putting thing here* (for me I crack my right sholder as a stim. And it involves a lot of arm waving which can weird people out/cause concern because it sounds painful) please don't worry if I do *insert thing* apologies if it bothers you I will try to keep it to a minimum". IMO this creates an overall more relaxed and pleasant experience. I recommend this triple if you are travelling solo/don't have seats as a group.

Thank you so much for the tips!

Any recommendations for what to do about water in case of multiple stopovers?

What about plane toilets? How's the average? (About cleaning and availability during the long flights)

Do food cause problems when entering USA? Does it always needs to be declared? (I know about CBP's mobile passport control to get through controls quicker and answer the questions yourself in advance)

[helluvatimes]

The Flamboyant Spoonbill

A Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) takes flight at Crimson Wetlands on a hot afternoon. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken with a four-thirds camera and a slow lens giving good depth-of-field, therefore the spoonbill head and legs were both in focus. The bit of handshake was fixed in post with the ‘Auto Shake Reduction’ feature of the editing app.

[azurebolt-fr]

admittedly i am going to need a LOT of practice with drawing everlux. but i'm having fun

[degi-nest]

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God." – Anne Frank

[creatuesfromthedeep]

Here are some tips for making a character that is usable in a long-term narrative and/or roleplay, from someone who's been writing and roleplaying for over a decade

You shouldn't know everything about your character immediately. Those 50-question bios you see floating around? Disregard them for now. You don't need to know their favorite type of pie, or small details about their backstory. Free yourself from the assumption they need to be a fully articulated being before you write a single sentence of lore.

You'll need MOTIVE (what drives them?), FEAR (what are they scared of happening?), and ATTITUDE (are they calm? easily angered? hyper?); with these three things, you can easily create the illusion of depth.

Real depth comes later. Much later. 5000+ words of narrative storytelling later.

To break these three core elements down a bit:

Motive: Your character needs some kind of ambition or desire to guide them. Do they want to lead the clan someday? Do they want their cozy little farmstead to not get flattened by Luminax? Do they want to be a good father to their hatchlings? Do they want to escape their dark past?

Don't be afraid to pick a small motive at first, because motives will change and adapt to the circumstances of your plot. Luke Skywalker didn't start off his journey knowing he'd face Emperor Palpatine, and your character doesn't need to have the faintest idea of the places they'll go or the choices they'll be forced to make.

Fear: This is what you get when they can't achieve their motive, or essentially, the motive for the motive. Are they scared of not having control? Do large changes scare them? Are they worried about becoming their father? Are they terrified their dark past will catch up to them?

Thinking of fears is sometimes difficult, and sometimes too easy. I recommend starting off with one foundational BASE FEAR, aka the fear from which all other fears flow. A good tip is to ask "why is my character afraid of this?" and keep going until you hit a major part of their backstory. Ex:

I am scared of spiders (Why?) Because they have too many legs (Why is that scary?) Because it's gross (Why do gross things scare you?) Because it makes me feel unclean (Why does that scare you?) Because being dirty reminds me of the day my father died (Bingo!)

By digging back and finding that base fear, you've successfully a key component of your character and given yourself a useful tool to begin explaining your character's trauma. That's not to say that fears always tie back into extreme trauma, but it should be important to your character.

Attitude: This is how they react to social situations, or essentially, how their motive and fear translate into their personality. A character who wants to be in a leadership role and dislikes not being in control may have a big issue with authority, and authority-adjacent characters. If they're a farmer who wants to be left alone, they might be exasperated with all the hub-bub. A character who really wants to be a good father might have a fatherly aura even around other adults. A character on the run from something might be battle-hardened, or they might be neurotic and anxious! Potentially even both!

However, you need to remember, Attitude is not personality. Attitude is how a characters' motive, fear, and personality intersect with their ability to socialize. It informs their level of patience (and if that changes depending on the person!), their ability to joke and be silly, and what kinds of things will get on their nerves. Ex:

I am very short-tempered and impulsive. I am afraid of authority because my teacher used to hit me for using my left hand. I want nothing more than to be left alone. I'm not going to listen to anyone and I'm going to do the first thing that comes to mind, even if it's detrimental to myself or others. I will push people away and I will avoid emotional vulnerability.

Those five sentences already tells me how this character will interact with every other character. I can now slot that character into any scene I want to, and begin envisioning a larger character arc and character development.

Remember, not every character will get along, and no character is capable of charming every person on the planet. The most perfect, gentle, patient, leaderly, kind, hilarious character probably has one character with self-esteem issues who HATES their guts.

Quick checklist:

Name

Pronouns

1-3 distinct appearance traits (height, notable piece of clothing, and the color of hair/scales/fur/etc are the big 3)

2-4 personality traits (plenty of lists online, just grab a few one-word descriptors)

1 Motive

2-4 bullet points of backstory (Do not write a long backstory, and only do this AFTER you've done Motive; you are not writing a character for their backstory, you're writing them for their place in the present story)

1 (base) Fear

Attitude

Once you have all those things, you are fully capable of writing an interesting character within a long-term narrative or roleplay setting. Yes, that's it.

One thing to remember about narratives (and roleplays) is that the most interesting part should be DURING the narrative. Setting up a character who can have interesting reactions, has a solid basis for a variety of dynamics with other characters, and has some set desire has the highest likelihood of facilitating an interesting narrative.

The fun thing? Now that you've got all this set up, you can set your character loose on whatever world you've got, and expect that they'll get into trouble on their own without the narrative needing to drag them into it.

[singinprincess]

Finally watched 8.10 and god. Oh god. If I weren’t already madly in love with Maddie I sure would be now. What a woman. Fiercely protective mama and wife right there. Also love that she used her knowledge from her job to free herself - all those times instructing people how to get out in emergencies really paid off.