#tan's character insights

[thetantiger]

Character Insight #13: Cronia

Full Name: Cronia Dolores Wiltflower Gender: Female (she/her) Race: Forsaken Class: Druid Specialization: Death Orientation: Pansexual Relatives: No Known Relatives Age: 47 (26 at death) Height: 5'4 Voice reference: In-game female Forsaken player Theme: Angry Too - Lola Blanc

[BACKSTORY]

Cronia Wiltflower was born in Lordaeron four years before the opening of the Dark Portal. To those knowledgeable, they would understand that this is a very poor timeframe to be born into Azeroth. Cronia was exposed to the horrors of war very early into her life, as the orcs came charging through and clashed with those of her own kind. She was only ten when the Alliance Internment Act was passed, beginning to force orcs into internment camps in which they were abused, mistreated and starved. Cronia was always a rather empathetic soul and did not see the necessity in such acts, and as she grew into a teenager, her anger against these camps began to blossom. The orcish people were just that; a people. People, like her and everyone around her, though there was little she could do. As she grew into a young woman her spite against the Alliance only festered further, and she frequently left the city and her family to spend time in the woods instead, discovering a land her fellow Humans had grown unattached to. She planted flowers here and tended to nature to calm her nerves before returning to her city, where she'd spend any evening free time roaming the streets and spray-painting her disdain for the active internment camps on any surface she could get away with. She was disinterested in most of her society, only really becoming close with a friend that would be later known as the Ringmaster. Regardless, the first two and a half decades of Cronia's life were rather uneventful, except for the orcs escaping and creating a New Horde. She kept her sympathizing sentiments to herself, but truthfully, she was happy they had found a home for themselves outside of the internment camps.

Twenty-two years after the opening of the dark portal, however, is when Cronia's life--or unlife--changed forever. Arthas Menethil and his scourged forces attacked Lordaeron, plaguing the city and its citizens forever. Cronia's parents were not raised into undeath and remained dead under the rubble of the forgotten city. However, their daughter shared a different fate, and awoke as a Forsaken.

The Forsaken united under Dark Lady and former Ranger General Sylvanas Windrunner and took up their home in the sewers of their old city, now dubbed "Undercity." Their former Alliance brethren in neighboring kingdoms of Humans rejected them, calling them hideous monsters of the Scourge. So, they joined the Horde. Cronia admittedly quite liked the Horde much better than the Alliance--they were a collection of misfit races, brought together by their will to survive on this planet, and they were much less uptight, too. The other Forsaken, though.. Cronia still held disdain for from their time as Lordaeronians. So, again, she took to the woods to take breathers from her society, and, even in undeath, rediscovered her deep love for nature.

So, she studied. She studied and studied and worked and worked, and for ten years she sought to overcome her condition's separation from the natural order. What naysayers said was true. One overcome by such a plagued magic, in such a rotten state, could not make flowers bloom. She saw plants wilt before her and wither in her grasp. But she was determined.

And then she heard the news. That an old society deep in the lands of Kul Tiras named the Drust had been rediscovered. Their druidic ways focused on the end of the life cycle. Truly, death was just as essential to an ecosystem as life. So Cronia stopped trying to make flowers bloom. She stopped trying to grow the earth before her, and instead, she reoriented her vision, and surely enough the land responded to her touch. Trees cracked and groaned with age. Shrubs shriveled and died. She accomplished animalistic forms, however they were all decayed and rotting. Her rot would serve to feed the plants that would come after, and she mastered the art of death druidism.

[THOUGHTS]

Cronia is another one of those characters that actually has yet to be on-screen but I super love her concept! She's my rebellious death druid gal and I love her lmao. Hope it was a fun read! <3

[xxrat--punkxx]

Started doodling my hunter design and she absolutely was not supposed to look like this but now I’m horrifically attached

[f0point5]

(I’m) charming and endearing, and (un)comfortable

Written companion piece to the Lando x fakegirlfriend!reader social media au

Set after Part 6, at the dinner with Lando’s dad that is mentioned.

A/N: So, those of you who were here for the Max fix know that I do long form writing exercises to get more of a feel for the characters for the smau. I didn’t share the Max ones while the fic was ongoing because my writing is not my favourite, but I do like providing more of an insight into the real life stuff that isn’t covered in the smau and especially the reader’s thoughts. And I like this is kind of needed for this smau especially. So, I’m not going to tag anyone in these so that if you’d rather just read the smau you don’t get caught up with these, but you can read them if you want more of an insight into the reader’s character. If you hate it…just pretend it never happened 🫠🫣

“You look fine,” you tell your reflection, staring at it right in the eyes.

Your gaze flits down to your simple black satin slip dress. Black Amina Muadi heels peek out from the hem. Single, but elegant, you think.

You look fine.

“You look fine.” You tell your reflection one more time, and she looks like she believes you.

Of course you look fine. You wouldn’t have a career if you didn’t. People have paid obscene amounts of money for your face and your body. You know exactly how much Lando Norris has paid. You put together something that accentuates your shape a bit but not so much that his dad would think you’re trying.

You haven’t met a parent in a while. Once you’d started shooting womenswear at 15, parents were rarely around, though occasionally you would run into an overbearing mother. You can’t remember ever meeting anyone’s father.

Your alarm rings, so it’s too late to change now. Steeling yourself with one last deep breath, you go over to the interconnecting door and knock.

On the other side of the door, something bangs, and then someone grunts, and you’re about to just give up on this whole idea before the door wings open to reveal a panting Lando Norris.

He’s dressed in beige chinos and a black polo shirt, showing off a golden tan. Okay, you’d let Twitter win this one; he’s beautiful.

“I thought you were going to-“ he starts, but then stops himself. You suppose he assumed you’d knock on the external door. “Never mind,”

“So,” you gesture to the space between you.

“Oh, yeah, come in,” he says, stepping aside to let you into his suite.

It’s huge. You survey the large living room. Several pairs of chinos sit in dry cleaning plastic on the couch. The remains of a fruit platter sits on the dining table. Two sets of golf clubs rest precariously on a wall in the corner. He’s a bit of a slob.

“What?” He asks you. You turn to him, surprised to find his cheeks slightly flushed.

“Nothing,” you shake your head and shrug, but he doesn’t stop studying you. He’s making an effort not to be obvious, but he’s assessing you from head to toe. It makes you squirm. “It’s okay? The look?”

His eyes widen. “The look’s incredible,” he says quickly, probably embarrassed you caught him looking. His cheeks turn even more red. “You’re-“

“Okay, we can go?” You cut him off, smoothing you already sleek up-do. He should turn the damn air conditioning on.

Lando motions for you to go ahead of him to the door and he trails behind you until he hurries past you to get the door. You head to the lift in silence, hair on the back of your neck prickling every time you feel his eyes linger on you.

You look fine. He would have told you if you didn’t.

“Thanks again for doing this,” he says, when you’re in the lift. You glance at him, finding him already looking at you with a shy smile that would have any woman on her knees right there.

You shrug. “It’s not a problem.”

“Probably not your idea of a fun evening,” he continues, and you wonder if he’s trying to convince you to call it off and go back upstairs.

“I was going to eat from the restaurant anyway.” You say, watching as he yawns. “You’re tired?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “Two sessions today. And quali always take a lot out of me, you know,”

You hum in response.

“I, uh,” he stops himself, and then notices you’re looking at him, so he sighs before continuing. “I actually did pretty well. At quali. Better than I thought I would, anyway. It’s…” he trails off, scratching at the back of his neck.

He looks sort of embarrassed to have even mentioned it. You almost give in and tell him you watched the qualifying live while doing your post flight skincare, but you don’t. You’re not sure why exactly, it just feels like you’d be committing to something, and don’t want to do that.

“Congratulations,” is all you end up saying, and then it’s back to silence.

When you get downstairs, three separate groups of girls ask for pictures with him. You stand aside awkwardly, watching the way these strangers lean into him and eagerly put their arms around him and stand so close. It makes your skin crawl. Lando doesn’t react to it. But then, you never do, either.

He apologises for the interruption and you wave it off, embarrassed that he might have noticed your discomfort. It’s not your business.

Inside the restaurant, Lando gently directs you towards a table by the window where his dad is waiting. You’d googled him, so you knew what he liked like, but the photos didn’t do justice to the serenity that rolls off this man in waves.

He stands when he sees you, opening his arms to his son. Lando steps into his embrace with no hesitation, and you wonder if that’s why he’s not bothered so much by the closeness of strangers. Maybe you wouldn’t mind being touched if anyone had ever touched you like that.

When they part, you pull your lips into a smile and step forward.

“Good evening, Mr. Norris. I’m Y/N,”

Adam’s wide smile falters for a second. “Of course I know that,” he says with a chuckle, beckoning you over. You oblige, and he leans in to kiss you on both cheeks. “Who wouldn’t recognise his son’s girlfriend, eh? And please, call me Adam,”

“D’accord.” When both men raise an eyebrow, you explain, “it means okay,”

“Ah,” Adam says with a sage nod, sitting down.

You startle when Lando pulls your chair out for you, flashing him what you hope is a grateful look rather than a confused one.

“I learnt French all through school but I’ve forgotten it all, unfortunately,” Adam says.

“I got the duolingo for it, but it’s harder than you think,” Lando chips in.

“Surely Y/N could teach you,”

“I’m too strict for him,” you joke, forcing yourself not to react when you feel Lando rest his arm on the back of your chair.

“Is that so,” Adam says, catching your eye.

You know the looks he’s giving you. It’s the look a casting director gets when they meet you and you aren’t quite what they asked for. That look they get in their eyes as they decide if you’re a good enough compromise is the same one Adam Norris is giving you now.

He’s the worst kind of casting director - the type that will try to make small talk as if they don’t have your life in numbers printed out in front of them; the type to make you laugh so they can judge the shade and angle of your teeth. Not content with your time, they demand a performance.

So you perform.

You order pasta instead of salad because being thin is most appreciated when it’s effortless. You tease Lando endlessly because the brits like to make fun of each other. You pretend you’re duly nervous when Adam speaks to you and not nervous every time Lando does.

You’re not sure if Adam buys into it. He and Lando have an easy and intoxicating rapport that you’re powerless to replicate. Lando’s admiration of his dad is almost palpable, and Adam’s adoration is plain to see. He loves his son so much that you think it must be clear to him that you don’t.

But he’s clever, and funny, and more gracious than you deserve. He’s so guileless that you understand why Lando would want to shield him from the truth of your situation. You feel a little guilty, being part of the lie, and even more guilty for being part of the truth, but you push that all down, reminding yourself that these people have no more to do with you than a photographer or a designer on a shoot.

By the time dinner comes to an end, you’re exhausted. You can taste blood in your mouth from chewing the inside of your cheek, and you feel sick from the Chardonnay that Adam ordered that you had to pretend to like on an empty stomach.

The knot in your chest loosens with every step the three of you take towards the lifts. Lando and Adam joke about what they’re going to eat for dinner after the race and you almost burst into tears at the thought of doing this all again tomorrow.

“I’m so glad I finally got to meet you,” Adam says with what you’ve come to believe is a trademark wide smile. “Honestly I was starting to think he’d made it up, getting the most beautiful girl in the world to go out with him,”

Ha. Most beautiful. Maybe when you were six, all lithe and pouty and innocent. Maybe when you were seventeen, no curves or dark circles or opinions. Not now.

He’s teasing you, not laughing at you, but your body can’t tell the difference.

You think you feel the bile rising up your throat but thankfully Lando cuts in before you have to.

“Dad,” he chides through clenched teeth and a pained smile. When you turn to him the blush that has become quite familiar to you is back with a vengeance, and spreading all the way to his ears.

“What? It’s not bad to say your girlfriend is beautiful,” Adam teases, turning to you. “Is it, Y/N?”

“I would be worried if he didn’t. It’s how I stay employed, after all,” you say with a smile. Your response is effortless, well rehearsed, right down to the way you lift your hand to ghost over your collarbone.

“Must be a glamorous life, being a model,” Adam says thoughtfully. You may not have any experience meeting parents, but you know well enough what he’s getting at.

You lift one shoulder in a shrug. “No more glamorous than being a formula one driver. And I’m sure you know from Lando that glamour doesn’t mean comfort. Very often the opposite, if my shoes are any indication,”

He’s taken aback by your answer, doesn’t even bother to hide his raised eyebrows. “No, that’s-“ he lets out a sigh. “That’s very true. You’ve got a wise one here, mate,”

“Yeah, she’s keeping me out of trouble,” Lando jokes, nudging you, and though it doesn’t hurt you feel a sting where his skin touched yours.

“I don’t doubt it,” Adam says, opening his arms to hug you again. “Go easy on him though, eh?” These words are half whispered as he pulls you close, squeezing you just once before he lets you go.

“I will,” you promise. It’s one you’ll try to keep.

He hugs Lando next, a tight one, cradling the back of his son’s head with a gentle tap.

“Well,” he says to both of you, “it’s been lovely to meet you, Y/N. I’m just going to check the front desk has organised my taxi to the airport on Monday, so I’ll see you both tomorrow,”

“Night, Dad,”

“Love you.”

Adam heads off to the desk just as the lift arrives and you dart into it. You’re too tired to even press the button for your floor but Lando takes care of it.

He lets out a heavy breath, looking over at you as though thinking you might do the same. He doesn’t realise your night isn’t over until he’s gone, too.

“I think that went well,” he says. It’s a confident statement said in an uncertain tone, and you can’t help but feel bad. It’s not as though he was the one who had to make a good impression.

“I’m sorry if I’m not-“ you stop yourself. It’s not your fault. “If he didn’t like me. I hope it won’t cause problems for you,”

Lando looks completely nonplussed by your comment. “Of course he liked you,” he says with reassuring scoff and a smile, as if anything else is unimaginable. “And he’s not really that kind of dad. He just cares that I like you,”

God, that smile. You’d hate yourself for the things you’d do to keep him smiling at you like that.

“I think you faked that well,” you say, smiling back at him.

He shrugs and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Thanks for doing this,” he clears his throat. “Still don’t know why you did,”

He’s expecting an answer and you struggle for something to tell him. You don’t know what answer he’s looking for.

You can feel the pressure building as he waits for you to say something. You can hear the blood rushing in your ears. Your skin bursts into flames and your palms get clammy.

Why is he even asking? He didn’t think twice about asking you for a favour and now he’s changing the rules. It was dinner, not a kidney. Does he have so many vampires around him that he thinks you need a reason to be nice? Is he so used to paying for kindness that he thinks he needs to buy you, too? Didn’t he already try?

Thankfully, mercifully, the lift stops at your floor and you waste no time stepping out even though you’re beginning to feel unsteady on your feet.

The air conditioning hits you, and you realise you don’t owe Lando an explanation.

“You can just say thank you, you know,” you tell him, striding towards your rooms with him half a step behind. “You don’t have to think so much about it.”

“I did say thank you,” he argues. You glance at him as you pull out your keycard. He’s bewildered. You’re breaking your promise to Adam already, but it’s his sanity or yours.

“De rien.” You place your key card against the censor and open the door. “Goodnight.”

Once you slip inside, the door clicks shut with no trouble, and you wait to hear Lando’s door open and shut before you make your way further into the room. You kick off your shoes and shed your dress on the way to your suitcase.

You can hear him moving around in his suite, more attuned to it now you know the layout of the room. As you rummage around for your sweatpants and hoodie, half of you wants to send an apology text. The stupid half of you. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of you. You can’t afford for it to matter. The weight of his judgement will crush you, you know it.

As you pull on the brown Quadrant hoodie, you tell yourself it’s better he doesn’t think of you at all.

[kiisstuff]

The Bakshi Family

Summary:

"The Bakshi Family" is an interactive fiction inspired by the sitcom Full House. After the untimely death of their mother, Rakesh Bakshi finds himself navigating the challenges of parenting his four children— The twins Alisha & Asim, Bevis, and the youngest, Darsh. The family's dynamics are further complicated by the arrival of their 25-year-old aunt/uncle, the MC, who must balance their own life while helping the Bakshi family cope with their loss. Amidst the chaos, the MC encounters five potential romantic interests: Bo Wu, Rakesh's best friend; Rakesh himself; Grace Clarke, a celebrity; S Smith, the neighbor; and Charlie Andrew, the teacher. As the MC forms bonds and supports the Bakshi family, they discover that love and laughter can heal even the deepest wounds in this heartwarming and entertaining interactive narrative.

Aunt/Uncle MC: Play as the 25-year-old aunt/uncle, juggling personal life and responsibilities to support the Bakshi family in the aftermath of their mother's death. (decide to play male or female and create a personality and a appearance)

Diverse Romantic Interests: Choose from five distinct romantic interests, each with their own personalities and backgrounds. Will you pursue a relationship with Rakesh, the best friend Bo, the celebrity Grace, the neighbor S, or the teacher Charlie?

Coping Mechanisms: Witness how each family member copes with grief in their own way. Delve into the emotional nuances of the characters as they navigate the healing process.

Parenting Challenges: Assist Rakesh, the father, in overcoming his chaotic and embarrassing parenting style. Navigate the ups and downs of family life while trying to understand the needs and emotions of each child.

Slice-of-Life Situations: Experience everyday situations reminiscent of the Full House sitcom, including heartwarming family moments, humorous mishaps in the kitchen, and the joys and challenges of raising children.

Bo Wu:

Personality: Bo is a 28-year-old Asian-American with a flare for the dramatic. He exudes arrogance, flirts unabashedly, and considers himself the coolest person in the room. Despite his rude exterior, there's a mysterious charm that draws people in.

Appearance: Bo has fair skin, dark brown eyes, and shoulder-length black hair tied in a small ponytail. Standing at 6'0ft, he embraces a relaxed and effortlessly cool style.

Rakesh Bakshi:

Personality: At 36, Rakesh is the Indian father of the Bakshi family. Despite his embarrassing and chaotic parenting, he is genuinely nice and friendly. He enjoys baseball, snowboarding (though it always ends badly), and casual cooking sessions that often result in culinary mishaps.

Appearance: Rakesh has tan skin, messy brown hair, a casual stumble, and stands tall at 6'4ft, giving him a laid-back and approachable look.

Grace Clarke:

Personality: Grace, a 23-year-old British celebrity, is sweet, insightful, outgoing, and enthusiastic. She enjoys singing, acting, dressing up, surfing, yoga, and cooking. Grace brings a positive and vibrant energy to every situation.

Appearance: Grace boasts porcelain skin, mid-length wavy auburn hair, and ocean-blue eyes. Standing at 5'3ft, she carries herself with a sensual and graceful demeanor.

Scott/Skye Smith:

Personality: S a 29 American Person, is the athletic neighbour with a shy, spontaneous, logical, caring, and strategic personality. They have a love for various sports and photography, bringing a unique dynamic to the neighborhood.

Appearance: Scott, at 5'8ft, features blond, bald hair, a beard, sharp features, rosy skin and an athletic, sporty look, while Skye, standing at 5'6ft, has blond hair in a loose bun, sharp features, rosy skin and also an athletic, sporty look.

Charlie Andrew:

Personality: Charlie, the 28-year-old Native American teacher, is efficient, reliable, playful, and intellectual. They enjoy reading, hiking, and drawing.

Appearance: Charlie has shoulder-length aqua blue hair, brown eyes, golden brown skin, and a professional look, standing at 5'8ft. They radiate a calm and intellectual aura.

demo: tba probably April

forum: tba probably April

other: soulmate-if , TBFamily-If

[hayatheauthor]

How To Write POC Characters Without Seeming Racist

Writing about a community you don’t come from can be hard. A lack of research or basic knowledge can often lead authors to wrongly represent or describe characters who belong to that community. But this is a simple mistake that can be reversed with a little bit of guidance and an open mind. 

If you’re a non-POC writer looking to accurately describe your POC characters without coming off as racist, here are some tips for you! From a POC YA fantasy author. 

Would You Describe Your Character Similarly If They Were White?

This tip is honestly a very basic technique that is often overlooked when discussing ways to combat racist descriptions in literature. The tip is simple: if you wouldn’t describe your character that way if they were non-POC, then don’t use that description. 

Think of every time you described your POC character’s physical features. Did you ever feel like you ‘had to’ write a certain description because your character was POC? Are your descriptions of your non-POC characters drastically different from that of your POC ones? 

If your answer to these questions were yes, then it’s very likely that your POC descriptions will come off as racist to your readers. 

I would recommend crawling through your manuscript and comparing the way you describe your non-POC characters to the way you describe your POC ones. More specifically, compare how you described your characters the first time they were mentioned in the book. The goal is to compare the two descriptions and figure out any differences between them, why these differences are present, and whether they exist due to a racist eye.

Word Choice 

An author’s word choice when describing their POC character is often a direct reflection of their perception of that community. When writing a POC character, it is important to consider what your character really looks like. This goes beyond their hair type or skin colour. 

Take a look to analyse your character’s physical attributes and come up with a list of words you could use when describing them. This can be beneficial in the long run when you need a quick adjective to describe said character during a scene. 

How To Describe POC Features 

Non-POC authors often don’t realise how discriminatory or redundant their descriptions of POC characters can be. They tend to water down their character’s features to the colour or visual depiction of it rather than actually describing those features. 

Saying your character has tan skin is an effective way to describe your character’s appearance, but it can come off as a cop-out when compared to detailed descriptions of your non-POC character’s fair skin dotted with light freckles. An easy way to better your descriptions is by using creative descriptions. 

Here is an expert from my WIP, The Traitor’s Throne, that describes one of the many POC characters: 

Her grandmother’s briefings of the royal guards failed her when Amaya needed them most, for try as she might, Amaya couldn’t recall anything to help her recognise the green-eyed man with a face like an acorn, both in shape and shade. 

I could have easily said he was tan skinned and left it at that, but the acorn analogy seems more alluring and helps the reader gain insight on the character’s features instead of their skin tone. 

When using creative descriptions, consider using words and phrases that tie into your character’s personality. A scary antagonist would have long black hair dark as night that curtained their pale face, a cute child could have golden skin that glowed under the sunlight. 

Refrain From Using The Word Exotic! 

The word exotic is possibly the worst thing you could use when describing a POC character. 

The Oxford dictionary describes exotic as ‘from or in another country, especially a tropical one; seeming exciting and unusual because it is connected with foreign countries’. Thus, this adjective would make no sense if your book takes place in a POC setting or is written from another POC’s perspective. 

Exotic is also often overused by non-POC writers and is seen as a lazy copout by many. 

Rather than describing your character as exotic, consider actually describing their features. Ask yourself why you chose to use exotic in the first place. Maybe they have wild curls unlike anything your character has ever seen, or their fair skin is so different from the tan skin your character is used to. 

Narrow down the reasons and then take the time to redescribe your character. This will not only help you ensure you don’t come off as racist but will also paint a clear picture for your readers. 

Are you facing a hard time trying to pick the right words for your POC characters? Consider checking out this blog by writing with colour on Tumblr that details how to describe skin colour. Their tips can also be applied to other aspects of your character’s features.  

Avoid The Stereotypes 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sighed in annoyance every time I come across a tan-skinned South Indian character in literature who is kind and smart and has long dark brown hair.

Yes, there are many Indians who look like that. But India is a diverse country known for its various cultures and people, and it’s unfortunate to see authors completely overlook the rest of our country in an effort to pertain to their stereotypes. 

The same can be said for many other POCs, such as East Asians who are always described as thin and dainty with sharp features and minds, or Middle Easterns and Africans who are extroverted, excitable and often portrayed as violent. 

Non-POCs often find racial stereotypes amusing, but they are really just frustrating and show us how uninformed non-POCs are when it comes to our cultures and countries. 

The next time you draft up your POC character’s appearance and personality, take the time to consider why you chose to make them this way, and whether their personality is really a reflection of your limited insight into that character’s culture. 

Don’t Over Describe 

It’s important to paint a clear description of your characters, but it’s just as important to remember when your descriptions are redundant. Overdescribing POC characters is the biggest mistake you can make when writing a POC. As mentioned at the start of this blog, it’s important to consider whether or not you would describe your character that way if they were non-POC. 

For example, if I were writing a fight scene between the antagonist and an African character, I would likely use lines like ‘their dreadlocks slapped against the back of their neck as they raced away from the villain’ or ‘the blood staining their hands ran down their russet arms as they tightened their grip around the antagonist’s neck’. 

These are simple yet effective descriptions that help paint a clear image of the character without ruining the reader’s immersion. 

When writing POC characters, it’s important to remember that they are just like every other character you are writing. They are human. And their race or physical attributes shouldn’t change the way you describe your characters.

 I hope this blog on how to write POC characters without seeming racist will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and subscribe to my email list for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.  

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of my blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday. 

Want to learn more about me and my writing journey? Visit my social media pages under the handle @hayatheauthor where I post content about my WIP The Traitor’s Throne and life as a teenage author.

Copyright © 2022 Haya Sameer, you are not allowed to repost, translate, recreate or redistribute my blog posts or content without prior permission

[kooktrash]

just an insight on what writers have to deal with in regards to inclusivity for everyone:

I’ll start off by saying I’m obvi hiding their username for anonymity but I just wanna show yall what it’s like to be a writer these days on tumblr 💀

I’ve never explicitly said my writing is only for poc or only for white. I purposely try and leave that out of my writing bc I want everyone to feel included. the sugar daddy fic this user is referring to is I believe Lace & Luxury where I never once said it was a black character. does this mean I would never write a black/poc character? ofc not, it just means that I don’t specify race/ethnicity, etc or how will it be inclusive for all? and the immediate jumping to conclusions bc a character in my fic has y2k style or bc of a moodboard pic [of a white person with a heavy tan I found off pinterest] leads the idea that it’s poc is weeeiiiiirrrrrddddd bc even if it was, i don’t see how it would be such a problem to read the tags

if anything I feel like there should be MORE writing for poc

this person is talking about wanting “inclusivity” but they’re upset that a character might be a poc or overweight bc it doesn’t describe them?

finally this strange need to be a victim by saying “do you have a grudge against skinny people” literally BAFFLED ME, bc I went on their blog where they reblogged a post about how skinny people are ignored LIKE WHATTTTT

I’ve been reading fanfiction since I was 13 in 2014 and I could never read a story about a brown character but there were a billion carbon copy fics of a blonde/ginger, skinny main character. I would read them bc what other option did I have? that’s why this upsets me because one)

I don’t ever specify my character’s race/color/weight so for someone to make assumptions and then message me trying to ask me to change the way I write is weeeeeirrrrdddd. I’m not a professional, I write for fun and if there are blogs out there that only specifically write for poc or heavier set people, DONT READ THEM IF YOU DONT LIKE THEM

suddenly all these readers want to delegate how a writer creates a story when it used to be that we had readers BECAUSE they liked the way we wrote, not bc they want to change it

this is what poc people have gone through for yearrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssss:

and like I said, I try and be inclusive and never describe someone’s physical traits unless it’s in the most indirect way but I completely respect and acknowledge writers who do specifically make works for poc readers or readers with a certain type of body type [that was never written before in fanfics]

I also don’t care if people think I’m rude, I’m literally Mexican with tan skin and black hair and if I wanted to write works that’s “not inclusive to white/skinny people” I would’ve done that by now, but that’s not my goal so pls don’t try and paint my writing to be for one target audience

[telomeke]

✨2023: A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

I was tagged by:

@colourme-feral (here);

@lurkingshan (here);

@dribs-and-drabbles (here);

@ranchthoughts (here);

@chickenstrangers (here).

Thanks for tagging me, sweeties! 🥰 Hope the new year is treating you well. 😍

Apologies for being a bit late with this, but after I got back from my 2023 year-end break there was a ton of stuff to attend to, with deadlines suddenly looming much closer than they had seemed looking through eggnog goggles. 👀

But anyway I have a bit of time before the next deadline, so I'm going to use this window to try and summarize my 2023 on Tumblr. 😁 (Some of the posts referenced below may not fall into the definition of "edit/gifset/analysis" but that's just me being honest: my output on Tumblr is definitely a bit of a mixed bag! 🤣)

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✨JANUARY 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – A meme summarizing Greta Thunberg's epic takedown of toxic masculizard Andrew Tate, with the help of Jerry's Pizza boxes, Elon unbanning Andrew on Twitter, and the domino effect:

‌ (above) Post linked here

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FAVORITE POST – Of course it's something to do with Bad Buddy. 🤣 I posted about my experience viewing Bad Buddy's corner at the GMMTV Exhibition in Osaka, with photos and write‑ups about actual wardrobe and props that appeared in BBS (especially Baseball Mom and the Ep.12 memory board! 🤩):

‌ (above) Post linked here

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✨FEBRUARY 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – A write-up about Jim and Li Ming's confrontation in Moonlight Chicken. More than just a teen-versus-(surrogate)-parent argument, the scene was also an insight into elder/junior dynamics and the importance of self-control in Thai culture:

(above) Post linked here

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FAVORITE POST – Oh don't make me choose between my kids! It's a toss-up: the more popular one is a Bad Buddy post about the pause before PatPran's second kiss on the rooftop in BBS Ep.5 (yes, THE Kiss™):

(above) Post linked here

But also sharing the Feb 2023 favorite spot in my heart is a post about GMMTV producer/director cameos (in My School President and other series) and what they might mean beyond the show:

(above) Post linked here

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✨MARCH 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – This was written after Michelle Yeoh won a SAG Award for Best Actress and was nominated for an Oscar in the same category. I thought most of her newer fans wouldn't be aware of Tan Sri Dato' Seri Michelle's death-defying stuntwork (I'm really not exaggerating here) during her earlier years as an action hero in 80s and 90s Hong Kong moviedom, so I wrote a piece about it:

(above) Post linked here

If you've not watched the video linked therein yet, you should. And then carefully pick your jaw up off the floor (as I had to, the first time I watched this). Not to give too much away, but it involves Michelle riding a motorbike helmetless atop a rickety Malaysian train carriage with no safety measures at all. 👀

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FAVORITE POST – My favorite post for March 2023 is about the characters' names in Moonlight Chicken, and it's so long I had to break it into two parts. (Whenever it's an Aof show, you can usually expect the characters' names to carry some significance, as was the case with Last Twilight and Bad Buddy too.) So Part 1 of the Moonlight Chicken post is about the names in general, what they mean for their characters and any relevance they might have for the narrative:

(above) Post linked here

And Part 2 of my favorite post for March 2023 is about Wen's name, with a detour into political color symbolism in Moonlight Chicken:

(above) Post linked here

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✨APRIL 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST AND FAVORITE POST – It's the same post doing double duty, about the prevalence of the chue len Korn as a character name in Thai dramas:

(above) Post linked here

There aren't that many actors named Korn, so I found it quite befuddling that so many characters would have that name, but there you go. And "Korn Kob" Songsit Rungnopakunsi was ultimately crowned king of the Korn harvest: 😂

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✨MAY 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – Our Skyy 2 x My School President's red-hot comment on Thai politics, with Principal Ratchanee (Gun's mom) announcing a subversion of the election process:

(above) Post linked here

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FAVORITE POST – My favorite post in May 2023 was a look at linguistic wordplay on some t-shirts in Moonlight Chicken, touching on the themes of generational change, eggplants, etymology and cute little weiners:

(above) Post linked here

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✨JUNE 2023✨

Well! Our Skyy 2 dropped its Bad Buddy episodes beginning 31 May 2023, so June 2023 was dominated by BBS for me. 😍

MOST POPULAR POST – A (sort-of) review and analysis of the Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars episodes:

(above) Post linked here

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FAVORITE POST – Do I really have to choose? Top of my own list is the most popular post above, but I'm going to list another one that was just a Phupha-whisker away in second place, and it's the OS2 x BBS filming locations:

(above) Post linked here

I love research and analysis, and tracking down the Bad Buddy filming locations was especially fulfilling because it combined the opportunity for me to exercise my bloodhound instincts and also find out more about this show that I love so much. (The locations were not very well-credited in the original BBS, unlike later GMMTV offerings, so it was very satisfying hunting down mystery BBS locales based almost solely on visual clues.) I've got almost the whole list of BBS locations now, although I've yet to post the last few (which are minor locations only).

So I'm very proud of the work I've done on identifying the BBS filming locations – and also a little alarmed at how powerful Google plus a bit of logical deduction can be.

Stay safe on the Internet people! Don't ever reveal too much private information about yourself, because my time doing this and other location posts has shown me that online info can all be tracked down and consolidated to identify what might have seemed to be pretty well-hidden at the start. Which bodes ominously for privacy and safety, online or off. 👀

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✨JULY 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – A write-up about Bad Buddy's Nong Nao, Pat's beloved comfort object. But in the unraveling of Nong Nao's significance to BBS (and this was surprising to me too) we got further insight into Pat's character as well:

(above) Post linked here

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FAVORITE POST – OK, so the Nong Nao post above is quite my favorite for July 2023, but it also shares that spot atop my list of faves with this reply to a Bad Buddy Ask from @pandasmagorica about Pat and Pran's emotionally-laden verbal zingers on the Ep.5 rooftop, before they took that step forward beyond the point of no return and fell into The Kiss™:

(above) Post linked here

It's not just about how well the dialogue was written, or how well Ohm and Nanon brought the scene to life. Part of why this post is special to me is because the scene demonstrates how well-crafted BBS actually is, with an underlying logic and consistency that holds up no matter how hard you prod and poke at it (which, for the record, wasn't quite the case for OS2 x BBS). When you can analyze the characters, their actions and reactions in-depth as though they are real people with real motivations, and no inauthenticity shows through, you know there's been a whole lot of deep-rooted work sunk into it. I'm still in awe of what Khun Noppharnach has wrought. 👀

But there's another reason why this post is also one of my faves, and it's rather more personal.

It's because this Ask is the first one where @pandasmagorica lifted the Anon veil to use his own Tumblr name. And that was when I felt I'd made a new friend right here on Tumblr. 😍 I'm actually quite reticent in real-life, so I don't make friends easily – but I do treasure the friendships I have once made (even though I can be pretty bad at staying in touch; doesn't mean the feelings aren't there still – far from it). I'd learnt to recognize @pandasmagorica's voice even when his Asks were anonymous, and this particular Ask made my heart swell with happiness. So even though we haven't communicated directly in some time, dear @pandasmagorica, please know that you're still a treasured friend to me! 💖

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✨AUGUST 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – This was a bit of throwaway fluff, an assembling of images pointing out the visual similarity between a promotional poster for Only Friends (on the same day as the show's debut, which was 12 August 2023) and a poster for the iconic 1990s sitcom Friends:

(above) Post linked here

Image posts and zingy hot takes always garner likes and reblogs so much more easily than long, thought-driven essays on Tumblr, especially when they ride on a wave of hype (as this one did, on the absolute tsunami welling for Only Friends). Doesn't mean the post or the series are really anything of substance though! 😂

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FAVORITE POST – I have more than one in August 2023, and they were momentous for me. 🤩 The first is my analysis (loving, yet incontrovertibly loopy to the point of near-lunacy) explaining my finding why Director Aof put the incongruous Baseball Mom t-shirt on Pat in Bad Buddy Episode 5. If you've not read the explanation yet, the answer will surprise you:

(above) Post linked here

There's also a Part 2, because as usual I had so much to say, and this second part explains why PatPran's Ep.7 rooftop encounter is also a parallel with (and counterbalance for) the Epic Rooftop Kiss in Ep.5.

Anyway, my other favorite post for August 2023 is also dear to me because it points out some very clever visual rhetoric in Be My Favorite that was carefully woven into a particular scene, taking up the clarion call for marriage equality in Thailand:

(above) Post linked here

Screenwriter/director Waa Waasuthep Ketpetch really piled on the magic into this one scene. It was fun to pick it apart and look at all the different elements, within what was otherwise an only somewhat complex and not too challenging series (that still managed to be highly entertaining nonetheless). 😍

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✨SEPTEMBER 2023✨

My MOST POPULAR POST and my FAVORITE POST are one and the same, which was an apology to any legitimate Tumblr user I might have blocked (as were facing yet another onslaught of porn bots with believable names suddenly following our Tumblr blogs):

(above) Post linked here

I then got a few snarky comments (from people whose names I didn't recognize) letting me know that people whom I've blocked can't read the post. 😮

But that's not exactly true (this is Tumblr after all). 🤣

I've since found out that if you've been blocked, you can still view the blog that blocked you, as long as you read it in blog view but not dashboard view.

If you've been blocked, here are some salient points to know:

You can't search for that blog on Tumblr (but Tumblr's search function is pretty much rubbish anyway, and you can still find the blog with a Google search).

If you know the name of the blog, then typing the URL (in the address bar) using blog view format (as opposed to dashboard view format) will still bring you there. For the difference between blog view and dashboard view (using my own Tumblr as an example) – typing telomeke.tumblr.com into the address bar will take you to my Tumblr in blog view, while typing tumblr.com/telomeke into the address bar will open my blog in dashboard view. You can still view my Archive (if I haven't hidden it) and read my posts, even if I've blocked you.

This one should be obvious – you can't like, comment on or reblog any of a blog's posts if that blog has blocked you. You can't DM that blog either. You can send Asks, but they will not be received. And that's part of the delicious irony that Tumblr bestows if you block any hater troll from your blog – you can continue posting everything that set them off in the first place, and they will still be able to see it, but they can no longer send any negativity your way. (You can also troll them back with impunity, but why waste precious time and energy like that? You won't know if they've seen your trolling, just that they can. 🤷‍♂️)

Asking to be unblocked is a bit trickier if you've been mistaken for a bot and inadvertently blocked. You'll need to ask a friend with a Tumblr account to request the unblocking on your behalf, or you'll need to set up a new Tumblr account just to send in this new Ask/message.

Anyway, the point of my post above was to let newbies know how important it is to humanize your blog, so as not to be mistaken for a bot and blocked – it would be especially rueful if the blog that blocked you (thinking you were a bot) was one you followed because you liked the content in there!

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✨OCTOBER 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – This was a jokey review of/(slash)/reaction to the newly-released Red Peafowl trailer:

(above) Post linked here

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FAVORITE POST – @pandasmagorica sent me an Ask about PatPran's sex life in Bad Buddy, and this was a fun look at the physical side of their love (that they, and Director Aof, kept mostly hidden from view):

(above) Post linked here

Because BBS is extremely self-referential, part of me now thinks they kept so much of PatPran's sex life under wraps in order to squeak by the ratings – this is what the cookout scene with Junior in Ep.11 seems to be telling us, IMO.

And they succeeded in getting a 13+ age rating, allowing Bad Buddy's message about LGBTQ+ positivity and growing into your authentic queer self to reach exactly the audience demographic that needs it (and of course even beyond them too 😊).

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✨NOVEMBER 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – This was a look at the meanings of Mhok and Day's names in Last Twilight:

(above) Post linked here

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FAVORITE POST – I'm cackling with fairy godfather glee because I got to inflict the warm fuzzies on people in the Bad Buddy fandom, by helping them relive their first time watching The Epic Rooftop Kiss in BBS Ep.5 (on the two-year anniversary of that event).

YouTuber "Chib" had put together an absolutely genius montage of a myriad reaction videos to The Kiss™, and my post was simply a link to it. But the ensemble of gasps and outpouring of unbridled emotion onscreen had so vividly brought back memories of my own first time watching PatPran's rooftop moment that I just knew I had to share it. I think Bad Buddy fans who watch the video will absolutely see themselves in it:

(above) Post linked here

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✨DECEMBER 2023✨

MOST POPULAR POST – The Sign really happened in a big way when December 2023 came around, and my most popular post is testament to that. I wrote about the naga and garuda mythology underpinning the narrative (hat tip to @respectthepetty for getting the ball rolling 👍) and the subject seems to have resonated with a lot of viewers because the post is still getting notes a month later:

(above) Post linked here

But the post above really should be read in tandem with others that followed, because the series is really going all in with the naga and garuda, and there's lots to take away if you're a culture and linguistics fiend like I am. Additional info linked below: 🤩

Evil jellyfish (Tharn's pet name for Phaya, a mistranslation of the Thai แมงกะพรุนไฟ that actually means fire jellyfish, which is a nod at the flames of the garuda);

Nong Khai, naga fireballs and the dance of adversaries;

More naga and garuda references in Ep.4 (although the storytelling had become a bit muddled by then).

(above left) Post linked here; (above right, top) post linked here; (above right, bottom) post linked here

The props, lighting and wardrobe are also playing their part to add to the visual feast of naga and garuda references. I may post more about these if I can find the time. 🤩

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FAVORITE POST – All the above (Signposts? 😂) are dear to me. But tying with them for top spot on my favorites list at the end of 2023 is this one, a tongue-in-cheek look at QL objects of carnal affection:

(above) Post linked here

Not meant to be taken seriously (and maybe I shouldn't have been focusing on the actors themselves instead of the characters they play) but it's all in the name of good fun. 🤣

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And that's a wrap! 🥳

Dunno who to tag next because I'm so late with this, and I think everyone will have already played by now. So I'm just going to tag creators at random (excluding those already tagged above) – if you've already done your post, please send me a link because I'd love to read (and re-read) what you've done!

@waitmyturtles

@grapejuicegay

@neuroticbookworm

@airenyah

@absolutebl

@williamrikers

@wen-kexing-apologist

@respectthepetty

@pandasmagorica

@recentadultburnout

@visualtaehyun

@inventedfangirling

@dimplesandfierceeyes

@bengiyo

@befuddledcinnamonroll

@btwinlines

@twig-tea

@blmpff

@hereforlou

@solitaryandwandering

@brazilian-whalien52

@hughungrybear

@callipigio

@dudeyuri

@kattahj

@jemmo

@non-binarypal7

@lovelyghostv

@isaksbestpillow

@shortpplfedup

@rythyme

@squeakygeeky

@starryalpacasstuff

Apologies if I've missed anyone out – if I've ever liked and/or reblogged a post of yours, please know that you're special to me too and do feel free to play along. (And do tag me please, so I can read your post! 😍)

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P.S. This site (JetBlackCode) is super-helpful in searching for and filtering your posts: 👍

[chitsuu]

OC Kiss Week 2024: Lost

Doing this little challenge this week, with my FFXIV character and his husband (@kitshunette's son)!

I actually forgot that the paper of this watercolors sketchbook is not really forgiving when it comes to multiple layers, so that should help me not overthink the sketches

Also, I'm not much of a writer, but I decided to write a little something for each drawing, little windows in their story (which is also why I'm using the @ockissweek prompt list but not in order)

Jisul was walking fast, almost slightly running, as he did not want to be late to his meeting with the Viscount Jannequinard de Durendaire. Getting accepted in the Athenaeum Astrologicum had not been the easiest task, considering he was not from Ishgard in the first place, and Ishardians were still a bit wary of foreigners. But Jisul was highly motivated, and he really wanted to make sure they would not regret their choice. So getting to the school late was simply not an option.

In insight, what happened was totally predictable. Just as he was about to reach the entrance, there was a loud thump, a collision, and astrology cards went flying everywhere amidst the falling snow as both the Au Ra and an Elezen lost their balance.

“Are you alright?”

Hearing the voice, Jisul’s heart went strangely still and the world tilted.

***

The city was burning. Smoke rose everywhere, the sky was red, intermittently illuminated by flashes of light, and ashes were slowly falling like snowflakes. Jisul somehow remembered how the city looked before - large paved streets, city lights, the muted noises of long robes fluttering around. Now the only sounds left were the fires raging all around, and soft cries.

He felt an infinite amount of grief piercing his heart. Grief for what had been, what was happening and what was going to happen next.

Yet, in the midst of all the chaos, the only thing that felt right was the man standing in his arms. Jisul reached up to cup his lover’s face in his hands, and the grief he felt suddenly seemed tiny and laughable when faced with the clear eyes looking straight at him. The sense of loss brought by looking into those eyes was being deeply engraved into his very soul, as if willed into existence by creation magic itself, while the world crumbled around them.

“Let’s make a promise. No matter what, we will find each other again. In every live.”

His lover spoke in a low voice, unfaltering in his conviction, and yet the pain was lurking just below the surface, a pain mirroring Jisul’s.

“We will. I promise you. We will find each other again, no matter how long it takes. I will stand by your side again.”

“So will I.”

They both smiled, but the sadness contained within was overflowing. That vow was made on burning, empty grounds.

His smile is so beautiful, even now.

Jisul was unable to stop the thought from forming.

Without thinking, without a word, their lips found each other, as if to seal the promise. The kiss tasted like ashes. The feeling of losing a part of himself was overwhelming. The world was lit ablaze.

***

“Are you alright?”, the man repeated, a touch of worry in his voice.

As Jisul drew his gaze to the clear eyes looking straight at him, the world tilted back in place, and his heart started beating again, albeit a little faster than usual. The eyes belonged to an Elezen with tan skin and darker hair. The very image of the already disappearing memory he just experienced, except for the pointed ears. Then again, in that particular vision, Jisul had neither scales nor horns.

“Ah, uh, yes, I’m very sorry about this, I hope I didn’t hurt you…”

Jisul offered his hand to help the man stand, suddenly feeling shy.

What was that memory?

As they got back on their feet, the Elezen smiled, saying there was no harm done, but maybe they ought to pick up the cards before they could get damaged by the snow? Flustered, Jisul agreed and started collecting the stray cards, pondering on the already fading vision, just like a dream leaving in the morning.

Jisul would have doubted his brain entirely, if it was not for that quiet sense of a promise fulfilled swelling in his heart, filling the hole of having lost something he did not even realize he had before, along with a part of his soul contentedly humming, deep down.

Found you.

[comradekatara]

gaang + fire nation girls and their opinions on yellowjackets??

okay well i've talked before about how katara suki and ty lee watch yellowjackets together as well as assigning each character their yellowjacket counterpart, so check those posts out too, if you want!

aang: he knows katara loves it, but he can't watch it, he finds it too upsetting and creepy

sokka: he enjoys it but katara can't stand watching it with him because he's always shit like "well if they had just listened to ben they wouldn't be in this mess" or "they should be nicer to nat" and he's killing the vibe -_-

zuko: it gives him nightmares but the good kind so he keeps watching. he's a little bit obsessed with adult shauna and adult misty they are like camp icons to him

toph: appreciates the soundtrack and also sokka's very biased recaps wherein each episodes mostly details what fresh misery his best friends nat and ben (and occasionally simone) have had to endure this time

suki: she loves the aesthetics, the tone, the suspense, the humor, the music, and most of all, the hot babes. i think she is a vangirl and a lottiegirl first and foremost so s2 was a beautiful gift to her. also she'd be lying if she said she hasn't read a fanfic or two

mai: she likes it but she thinks shauna should have, at the very least, kissed jackie's corpse, if not outright fucked it. ear eating was a good start and all, but doing your dead bestie's makeup is honestly not even weirder than what the average mortician does on a daily basis, so kind of disappointing to be honest.

azula: doesn't watch it because any tv show that isn't on hbo is too pedestrian for her refined tastes, but if she did she would be so obsessed with taissa she would be the number one taigirl and she would ship taishauna like her life depended on it!!!!

ty lee: it is one of her favorite tv shows ever because it involves lesbians eating human flesh in a bacchic frenzy and what can be better than that. she's a shaunagirl because she thinks shauna is the most unhinged and therefore the sexiest. she's the type of fan who is constantly coming up with fakakta theories about lore and where the show is gonna go next. if suki can constantly spam the yj groupchat with taivan fucking nasty in the lake 5k words then ty lee is at least allowed to predict that antler queen is actually a literal spirit of the wilderness who is personified by their very faith in the supernatural, right?

katara: a show depicting various women struggling to deal with their trauma in unhealthy unappealing destructive ways, toxic teenage girljocks who take soccer way too seriously, exploring taboos in relation to the colonial assumptions of society vs the constructed bogeyman of "the wilderness" that exists in the white supremacist imagination, and nuances of patriarchy vs relational modes of knowing through both absence and presence is exactly the kind of narrative that katara would be compelled, nay, transfixed by, even if she does have some well-deserved critiques when it comes to the show's execution, especially some of its blindspots when it comes to the issue of racialization. hence why she is the biggest yj head in this house (which is why i saved her for last). like she has a whole side twitter just for yj posting. she loves all her milf children equally, except she might have a teensy bias towards taissa for the simple fact that she is the best at soccer. katara is one of those fans who studies the soccer game in the pilot as a way of gleaning insight regarding the characters, because actually she's a really big nerd when it comes to things like that. she didn't like nat at first because she'd show up drunk to practices and that pissed her off, but then nat shared that strategy with kevyn tan's son and she decided that she was okay. stuff like that. despite the fact that she and suki have gotten into screaming matches debating jackie's sexuality ("i don't understand how you can think she isn't a lesbian how else are you supposed to read her character" "maybe she just kind of ...sucks? ever think of that?????") and also nat's (katara being of the opinion that nat is straight is actually so bravely correct of her, in this instance, despite suki's totally sympathetic objections that if nat is straight then how are she and lottie gonna partake in the milffucking?? hm?????) and also ben's ("no straight man would be carrying all those condoms with him for a weekend work trip" "suki not everyone is gay you can't just assign homosexuality to everyone you think is hot" [...] "okay i stand corrected just this once"), she is extremely emotionally invested in every single one of these characters, and seeing any of them get hurt or die makes her feel physically ill (yes, even laura lee). aang's like "you know, if this show is getting bad for your mental health, you don't have to rewatch every episode five times to pick up on nuances and easter eggs and potential foreshadowing" and katara's like "but if i don't then how will i be able to properly characterize them for my greek mythology AU novel-length fanfic???????" because she is totally normal about the show and everyone can agree on that.

[indierpgnewsletter]

✨, 🌱, 💡?

✨ A game I wish more people were talking about

There aren't many indie games that are talked about enough as far as I concerned. So many great games have come out recently that deserve way more discussion and praise: Pasion de la Pasiones by Brandon Leon-Gambetta and Swords without Master by Epidiah Ravachol are at the top of my list.

Pasion de la Pasiones is a masterclass of PbtA design - in many ways, a true inheritor of Apocalypse World's inter-personal playstyle. A playbook like El Jefe (which I'm playing in a game right now) is such a beautiful piece of design. Another designer would have made that character the GM's responsibility, to be played as the villain. Like the hardholder in AW, Brandon Leon-Gambetta trusts the players to take on the roles required to play a cheesy, melodramatic telenovela. At the same time, it's not just up to the players - through excellent move design, it's easy to be an awesome player. Also by empowering players, Pasion de la Pasiones is designed to be fun for the GM as well. It serves up exactly what I cherish most - the ability for players to drive play. I know lots of folks might see the cover and think it's just not for them but I encourage them to give it a try and see the fun on offer.

Swords without Master is amazing for the same reasons. It's a game with a GM that completely trusts the players to make their own fun - to come up with fun questions and fun answers. For those who don't know, it's a sword and sorcery RPG that has a bunch of unique things - dice that decide tone, a motif mechanic, phases that feel like they swap between GMless and GM'd. It also represents that rare thing. Like PbtA, it's basically a whole new type of game, designed from the ground up. It hasn't been as influential but it could have been!

🌱 An unreleased/not-yet-crowdfunding game I’m looking forward to

Oh, man, okay, I've got a couple for this:

Bloodclotte by Nick Duff: This is a hard game to describe but here's my best shot: You play doctors in a steampunk hospital dealing with the weirdest, most bizarre patients that you can conceive. It's less medical drama and more war comedy, a genre that is so rare that the only good example I know is the iconic 70s show, M*A*S*H. It's really good and I'm writing a playbook for it based on Ayurveda. There's a quick start available and I played a super fun playtest campaign of it. Recommended!

Da Xia by Tan Shao Han: Tan Shao Han is a Singaporean designer who is also a writer on Bloodclotte, like me. This game of his (which I have only heard the most delicious whispers about) is a Forged in the Dark game where you play Chinese folk heroes in Singapore during WW2 when it was under Japaneese occupation. I love the concept - it sounds challenging and ambitious work for a designer as well as a unique experience for players. Super excited to get my hands on a playtest draft.

💡 A game that inspired my own design or creative practice

I'm working on a series of card-based games I'm calling the Cardsharp Sonata. The first one is out and it's a sci-fi horror game called This Ship Is No Mother. The entire series is based on the wonderful, insightful Forged in the Dark game Crash//Cart by Galen Pejeau. Crash//Cart is one of the first games I ever wrote about the newsletter after a smash-hit of a one shot. It's about EMTs going out to save people and take them to hospitals in a nightmarish cyberpunk world. It's fast, fun and Galen's sharp design logic really inspired me to make more games.

[burning-sol]

Currently circulating critical discussion of JRWI:

(all times are in AEDT) (i apologise in advance if there any errors in summation, quotation or image descriptions)

A FORMER POST THAT MAY BE RELEVANT ON POC IN RIPTIDE (JUNE 30TH 2022)

Captain Lizzie (Riptide)

@ / notferinweII on Twitter Feb 1st 8:07AM READ HERE

as a black lesbian this stinksss

“people will tell me, the creator of the character, that im wrong” the same guy who “never meant to imply Lizzie was POC” the same guy who compared her skin tone to kylie jenner AND rihanna (rihanna who is a black woman herself) , said she was a pale white pirate woman but also

has olive skin but also has tanned skin but also grew up pale blonde hair that darkened in the sun throughout her time on the black rose pirate ship . a very long and insightful thread about the lack of poc characters in jrwi was posted in JUNE with the singular black npc

being announced on november 13 2022 for episode EIGHTY SEVEN of riptide . on the same day , you wrote a post about wanting us the viewers feel comfortable , REPRESENTED , and respected . lizzie’s skin colour absolutely changes her character because she could be strong WOC rep .

now lesbian lizzie has been a very strong headcanon throughout the community for a very long time (i’m going to ignore pistolwhip’s influence for a second this is just about lizzie) due to the extreme lack of lesbian or even sapphic rep in jrwi as an entire podcast .

you yourself stated you want all to feel represented in your campaign . and yet whenever you’re asked about lizzie’s sexuality you brush it off and say “it doesn’t matter” maybe to You but it very much matters to lesbian jrwitwt who are often left grasping at crumbs and battling

intense lesbiphobia (not lesbophobia 😉🥂) from the community in general . a canonical lesbian would be big for lesbian fans !! we love and adore lizzie as a character and we would love to see really ANYTHING about her canonized but it’s always silence .

now back to pistolwhip . i can understand the resistance to making them canon as it could take away from the action of the story (im really trying to see the other side here i’m trying) however the way you constantly dismiss the ship

but still milking fans for fan service… what happened to "u guys dont want pistolwhip" when lizzie called jay sunshine. or when lizzie winked at jay and told her to "be safe"? the way you constantly insists that "you guys dont want this to happen" while simultaneously egging

fans on is tiring for all involved TLDR : canonize lizzie’s skin tone and stick to it . if she’s white , say it. the lack of canonization while being upset fans “take the character and say i’m wrong” is a weird thing to get angry about considering little about lizzie is canon

@willotstreet Feb 4th 3:57AM READ HERE

Quoted in full:

representation that is left up to interpretation is not representation. you are asking the viewer to imagine the representation is there, without actually committing to including it yourself. be better.

Disability

@jayferins Feb 4th 11:20AM READ HERE

An anon asks about what Grizzly had said about a disabled character in PD, also adding in their own notes about Drey's disability. To summise their notes: it's surprising Drey is the only disabled character in Riptide; his diability is primarily a punchline for jokes; Drey is treated as being unfit to fight due to his disability, which can easily be remedied in fantasy through use of mobility aids that can also be altered to make for cool magical weapons. I myself would like to note that Chip has a prosthetic finger, which makes this choice even more strange.

To summise the response: meeting a former villain who's now a wheelchair user, the characters ask what happened; Dakota (played by Grizzly) reacted extremely poorly and said to their face they, "deserved it," and that, "you had it coming, karmas a bitch," in reference to being disabled; being disabled is not a punishment or a sin, it's just something that occurs, and this mindset is a bad one to have; Grizzly defended the decision to play the character this way when he recieved criticism about it.

Neurodivergency

@jayferins Feb 4th 5:21AM READ HERE

An anon comments, to summise: the amount of jokes made about schizophrenia and the psychotic comments aren't it; the way they treated Vyncent's character with the Greats wasn't that great; the jokes are treated like nothing which is frustrating knowing the amount of harm perpetuated stigmas cause.

@colestyle Feb 4th 5:30AM READ HERE

To summise: there's good moments with the plurality in PD but others that aren't to point of op skipping them; Dakota (played by Grizzly) made jokes that were especially bad; despite the plot relevance it's still irking, and it's upsetting how it just goes away by the end of S1.

@herethereverywhere Feb 4th 5:52 AM READ HERE

To summise: op watched PD aware of Vyncent being plural and anticipating it, only to be upset by stereotypes of people with dissociative disorders being reinforced, and psychotic disorders being casually demonized; expectations weren't high but still not met; op reasonably states, "i cant say that i trust this show with these topics going forward unless the boys demonstrate an sensitivity that i have thus far not been privy to".

General Comments

@swordswaltz Feb 4th 2:28AM READ HERE

Insight that I feel should be quoted in full based on my own agreement and consensus amongst other users too:

i might have missed something but i'm just so unsurprised by jrwi's (mainly grizz's) lack of response to the lizzie thing. charlie and bizly have both made apologies for things that i think were considerate and they actually changed, but i feel like grizz and condi just kind of don't learn. grizzly's conveniently timed deleting of his questions page just adds to the feeling like, to him, it's not about actually growing and more about avoiding "being cancelled" i could be wrong (i hope i'm wrong) but past actions and words are usually indicative of future actions and words. i've had this small, growing frustration with jrwi the past maybe four months which sucks because i love this show. i do. i just want them to Improve. i feel like there's a lot of talk of improving and not a lot of progress.

I have already gotten worn out so sorry I haven't included more, but if you have any other comments or relevant posts feel free to add on.

[thetantiger]

Character Insight #8: Galactagosa

Full Name: Galactagosa Gender: Trans Female (she/her) Race: Blue Dragon (visage: Night Elf/Kaldorei) Class: Mage Specialization: Arcane Orientation: Lesbian Relatives: No Known Relatives Age: ~3,000 Height: 7'11 Voice reference: Six Eyes - Beastars Theme: The Nexus - Amaranthe

[BACKSTORY]

Galactagosa was born in the Nexus in Coldarra, Borean Tundra on the continent of Northrend. Born a considerable time after the War of the Ancients, Galacta was not raised on the concerns of mortals possessing magic like so many of her Flight were. Instead, the mortals interested her, and she believed every living creature had the right to defend themselves by magical means if necessary. However, the rest of the Blue Dragons did not, as the Aspect of Magic at the time, Malygos, believed mortals to be irresponsible with magic.

For the most part, Galacta kept her opinions to herself. Her life as a Dragon for a long time was stagnant. Her visage ceremony didn't go particularly as planned, though. As a Dragon that was born male, Galactagosa (who, at the time, was referred to as Galactagos) was expected to take on a matching male visage. However, she had found herself feeling more comfortable when experimenting with female pronouns, and instead chose the form of a female Kaldorei as a visage.

That was not the problem that Galactagosa raised for her Dragonflight, however. The problem was that, when Malygos declared war against the mortal magic-users and his fellow Dragonkin, Galacta did not follow him. Instead, she rebelled, using her arcane masteries to assist the Kirin Tor during the Nexus War. Mortals always intrigued her, and she made many friends in the Kirin Tor, including real Night Elf mages that had been ostracized from their main society for their affinity for magic. Thus, she took extra pride in her visage, and oriented herself as an ally to the rights of mortals.

Since the end of the Nexus War, Galactagosa has felt misplaced. The Blue Flight became scattered, with very little of them left on Azeroth. But when the Dragon Isles awakened and called the Dragonflights home, the Blues reorganized again, and Galacta was happy to return to her kin since the crazed Malygos was long dead. Now, Galacta seeks to research more about magic and its affects on the world of Azeroth, and is happy she can coexist with her Flight and keep her morals in the process.

[THOUGHTS]

This is also a character that hasn't been on-screen yet but I think she'll be a fun gal to give a role to in upcoming arcs! A quick post, but it took me a while 'cause.. well I honestly wasn't entirely motivated lol, but here it is!

[ferrymann]

i did end up finishing the bullet train novel!! some thoughts (with spoilers guys!!!):

— i have never wanted to punch a 14 year old boy more than the prince in this novel.

— nanao describing tangerine as cute and handsome.

— nearly everything with lemon and tangerine actually i think i dog eared almost every page

— lemons parents!!! i loved that little insight into him

— “tangerines world goes silent”

— when the prince says tan knows a lot about thomas and he smiles to himself a bit

— the way nanao is described as going off the scale when he gets cornered

— yuichi’s parents lmfao i loved them

overall i enjoyed it so much, i enjoyed the certain insights you got into characters and their little differences. i thought the casting of tan and lemon as english was actually very fitting based off the book, i’m not sure why but i definitely was able to get that feeling. nanao was genuinely such an interesting character to follow too he was so so so so so pathetic

i’m not sure i have anything else but wow lmfao i’m glad i took a break from anna karenina to read something more digestible

[deducter]

What can a wedding ring say?

Here is the post you all wanted me to write (post) sooner, based on the final result of the poll:

Today, I’m going to share the project I’ve been working on for a while. I’ve been observing wedding rings for a long time, and now it’s time to share every single detail I observed; from their presence to their absence, and even the tiniest scratches and tan lines they leave behind.

Let’s begin with the material: The chosen material and design reflect one's character, while the inclusion of specific gemstones may indicate sentimentality or a desire for luxury. In certain cases, the material itself may even hint at one's financial standing.

Look for a date/name: Another noteworthy aspect to observe is the engravings adorning the rings. They offer a glimpse into the emotional connection shared between partners. They often show a date or a name (The date on the ring is often the wedding date, obviously).

Tiny scratches or well-maintained ?: A meticulously kept ring signifies attention to detail, while signs of wear and scratches may suggest a more adventurous, hands-on existence. Such marks can be a sign of a person’s occupation as well.

There is a peculiar observation I must share: I have noticed that widows often choose to wear their husband's wedding rings as necklaces—a sentiment-filled gesture. The ring, too large to fit on their finger, serves as a cherished memento of their late husbands, transformed into a necklace to keep their memory close. Additionally, recently widowed women are also likely to wear their own engagement rings due to their sentiments.

Culture: Now, let’s talk about the placement of these rings. There are some countries, where people wear their wedding rings on their right hand. So the ring placement can tell a lot about where someone is coming from. 

These are the countries where people wear their rings on their right hand: Germany, Chile, Colombia, Austria, Russia, Denmark, Georgia, Greece, Norway, Poland, Spain and Venezuela.

Conversely, nations like Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Iran, Mexico, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Slovenia favour the left hand. Intriguing, isn't it?

You can read more about this part here. 

Ah, and now we come to my favourite part—the absence of a ring. Its meaning can vary greatly, encompassing personal choice and even professions that discourage its wear. Allow me to elaborate further:

Personal choice plays a significant role, as some individuals opt not to wear their wedding rings, defying tradition. So yes, you may encounter married individuals who forgo the wearing of engagement rings altogether—a matter of personal preference.

Consider also the implications regarding marital status. Not everyone is married, and the absence of a ring can indicate being single or even divorced. However, I must caution against hastily jumping to conclusions based solely on the absence of a ring. There may be more to the story than meets the eye.

 Tan lines: And let us not forget the telltale tan lines left behind by these rings. Though sometimes challenging to discern in poor lighting or other unfavourable conditions, they can provide valuable insights. Tan lines may indicate consistent wear, an occupation or engagement in outdoor activities, or even a sun-soaked holiday. 

Allergies, skin sensitivities, or medical conditions can render wearing a wedding ring uncomfortable or impractical, leading some individuals to forgo its presence due to these constraints. I’ve met many people that are married but don’t wear a ring due to skin sensitivities. 

As I always say, you have to observe the person completely. You have to gather all the pieces of the puzzle, you cannot complete if you only stare at one single piece! 

These are all the different aspects that I’ve observed till now, and are based on deductive reasoning. So if you met someone who has a ring tan line, don’t jump to the conclusion that they’ve been travelling. Look for other clues. Observe the whole thing. 

-ND

[lnkedmyheart]

so i mightve found your blog and uh. enjoyed it a normal amount fjdhg

but i have a question. i havent had the time to read the manga or the light novels (yet) but its been bugging me. why DID the anime change chuuyas eyes to blue??? it always felt kinda weird to me

i do like the idea of chuuya having some kind of french heritage, given that the real-life chuuya took inspiration from french poetry in his work.

but giving him blue eyes always felt.. not quite right? bc hes a japanese person and YES he has red hair, which isnt typical, but the red hair blue eyes combination doesnt sit quite right with me

and i KNOW that its an anime with non-natural hair and eye colours but idk. maybe u have some insight on this?

(honestly this is just making me hc that chuuya has partial heterochromia and who am i to deny myself the pleasure jrndnt)

Lmao glad you had fun on my blog.

Imo Dazai was such a scene stealing character in the anime and had such a massive presence that they needed to ensure Chuuya wouldn't fall flat. Harukawa's style is very understated with more subdued colouring. Chuuya automatically stands out in the manga because there we already knew Chuuya was an important figure cause of Dazai's profile bringing him up but also because the manga doesnt really use colours so Chuuya isn't gonna end up looking like random tree no. 5. In the anime, the colours are a lot brighter and more vibrant. Dazai himself goes from an average attractiveness on a very charismatic man in the manga to ridiculously baby girl hot. Chuuya being a minor character with very little screentime needed to share scenes with him and his canon colour palate would have made him get overshadowed. He needed to make an impact and really stand out. Kunikida's colour palate in the anime for instance sort of falls flat because they kept it almost the same as the manga but he is just tan and blonde which works in Harukawa's style and the black and white manga but kinda fades away next to the stronger more eye catching colours of the rest of ADA.

That being said Chuuya has japanese parents as seen in sb and natural ginger hair while rare does exist amongst japanese people, they however dont have blue eyes. The red hair and blue eyes were probably elements added to make him more striking.

Also Ranpo has green eyes and Oda has blue in the anime. They all have brown eyes in the manga.

The partial heterochromia chuuya is a very fun hc. I however tend to prefer it with both colours in the same eyes as opposed one in each. That reminds me of a friend.

[silvermoon424]

Colored pencil shades I use for each character I color!

I color manga traditionally with colored pencils, and sometimes people want to know what I use. It's a mix of Crayola and Prismacolor pencils! But I thought I'd also offer some insight into what shades I use to color each character's base design (namely eyes, hair, and skin). I'll be covering the main characters I cover in Sailor Moon and PMMM.

Sailor Moon

Usagi/Sailor Moon

Hair: Yellow (Crayola) for main color, Yellow Ochre (Prismacolor) for shading, Neon Yellow and Lemon Yellow (Prismacolor) for highlights

Eyes: Ultramarine (Prismacolor Verithins)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Ami/Sailor Mercury

Hair: Blue (Crayola) for main part, Sky Blue (Crayola) for highlights

Eyes: Ultramarine (Prismacolor Verithins)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Rei/Sailor Mars

Hair: Black (either Crayola or Prismacolor, usually Prismacolor) for main part, Royal Purple (Crayola) for highlights

Eyes: Royal Purple (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Makoto/Sailor Jupiter

Hair: Light Brown (Crayola) for main color, Brown (Crayola) for shading

Eyes: Green (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Minako/Sailor Venus

Hair: Yellow (Crayola) for main color, Yellow Ochre (Prismacolor) for shading, Neon Yellow and Lemon Yellow (Prismacolor) for highlights

Eyes: Sky Blue (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Chibiusa/Sailor Chibi Moon

Hair: Pink (Crayola) for main color, Process Red (Prismacolor Verithins) for shading, and Deco Pink (Prismacolor) for highlights

Eyes: Crimson Red (Prismacolor Verithins)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Haruka/Sailor Uranus

Hair: Golden Yellow (Crayola) for main part, Bronze (Prismacolor) for shading and to give main color depth

Eyes: Peacock Blue (Prismacolor Verithins)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Michiru/Sailor Neptune

Hair: Aqua Green (Crayola) for main part, Aquamarine (Prismacolor Verithins) for shading underneath Aqua Green to give it depth, and Teal (Crayola) for regular shading

Eyes: Ultramarine (Prismacolor Verithins)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Setsuna/Sailor Pluto

Hair: Green (Crayola) for shading when when black is present; when shading from scratch, I use either Green or Forest Green (Crayola) for the main part and a mix of Lime Green and Yellow Green (Crayola) for highlights.

Eyes: Crimson Red (Prismacolor Verithins)

Skin: Tan (Crayola) for main color, Light Brown (Crayola) for shading

Hotaru/Sailor Saturn

Hair: Black (either Crayola or Prismacolor, usually Prismacolor) for main part, Royal Purple (Crayola) for highlights

Eyes: Royal Purple (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Chibi Chibi/Sailor Chibi Chibi

Hair: Process Red (Prismacolor) or Magenta (Crayola) for main part, Raspberry (Cayola) for shading, and Pink (Crayola) shaded with Magenta or Process Red for highlights

Eyes: Sky Blue (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Madoka Kaname

Hair: Pink (Crayola) for main color, Process Red (Prismacolor Verithins) for shading, and Deco Pink (Prismacolor) for highlights

Eyes: Pink (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Homura Akemi

Hair: Royal Purple (Crayola) for main color, Lilac and Parma Violet (Prismacolor) for highlights

Eyes: Royal Purple (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Mami Tomoe

Hair: Golden Yellow (Crayola) for main part, Yellow Ochre (Prismacolor) for shading, Neon Yellow and Lemon Yellow (Prismacolor) for highlights

Eyes: Golden Yellow (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Sayaka Miki

Hair: Sky Blue (Crayola) for main color, Blue (Crayola) for shading, Cloud Blue (Prismacolor) shaded with Sky Blue (Crayola) for highlights

Eyes: Sky Blue (Crayola)

Skin: Light Peach (Prismacolor) for main color, Tan (Crayola) for shading

Kyoko Sakura- Have not colored yet, will update when I do