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Oh my gosh. I just found this website that walks you though creating a believable society. It breaks each facet down into individual questions and makes it so simple! It seems really helpful for worldbuilding!

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Zoom In, Don’t Glaze Over: How to Describe Appearance Without Losing the Plot

You’ve met her before. The girl with “flowing ebony hair,” “emerald eyes,” and “lips like rose petals.” Or him, with “chiseled jawlines,” “stormy gray eyes,” and “shoulders like a Greek statue.”

We don’t know them.

We’ve just met their tropes.

Describing physical appearance is one of the trickiest — and most overdone — parts of character writing. It’s tempting to reach for shorthand: hair color, eye color, maybe a quick body scan. But if we want a reader to see someone — to feel the charge in the air when they enter a room — we need to stop writing mannequins and start writing people.

So let’s get granular. Here’s how to write physical appearance in a way that’s textured, meaningful, and deeply character-driven.

1. Hair: It’s About Story, Texture, and Care

Hair says a lot — not just about genetics, but about choices. Does your character tame it? Let it run wild? Is it dyed, greying, braided, buzzed, or piled on top of her head in a hurry?

Good hair description considers:

Texture (fine, coiled, wiry, limp, soft)

Context (windblown, sweat-damp, scorched by bleach)

Emotion (does she twist it when nervous? Is he ashamed of losing it?)

Flat: “Her long brown hair framed her face.”

Better: “Her ponytail was too tight, the kind that whispered of control issues and caffeine-fueled 4 a.m. library shifts.”

You don’t need to romanticise it. You need to make it feel real.

2. Eyes: Less Color, More Connection

We get it: her eyes are violet. Cool. But that doesn’t tell us much.

Instead of focusing solely on eye color, think about:

What the eyes do (do they dart, linger, harden?)

What others feel under them (seen, judged, safe?)

The surrounding features (dark circles, crow’s feet, smudged mascara)

Flat: “His piercing blue eyes locked on hers.”

Better: “His gaze was the kind that looked through you — like it had already weighed your worth and moved on.”

You’re not describing a passport photo. You’re describing what it feels like to be seen by them.

3. Facial Features: Use Contrast and Texture

Faces are not symmetrical ovals with random features. They’re full of tension, softness, age, emotion, and life.

Things to look for:

Asymmetry and character (a crooked nose, a scar)

Expression patterns (smiling without the eyes, habitual frowns)

Evidence of lifestyle (laugh lines, sun spots, stress acne)

Flat: “She had a delicate face.”

Better: “There was something unfinished about her face — as if her cheekbones hadn’t quite agreed on where to settle, and her mouth always seemed on the verge of disagreement.”

Let the face be a map of experience.

4. Bodies: Movement > Measurement

Forget dress sizes and six packs. Think about how bodies occupy space. How do they move? What are they hiding or showing? How do they wear their clothes — or how do the clothes wear them?

Ask:

What do others notice first? (a presence, a posture, a sound?)

How does their body express emotion? (do they go rigid, fold inwards, puff up?)

Flat: “He was tall and muscular.”

Better: “He had the kind of height that made ceilings nervous — but he moved like he was trying not to take up too much space.”

Describing someone’s body isn’t about cataloguing. It’s about showing how they exist in the world.

5. Let Emotion Tint the Lens

Who’s doing the describing? A lover? An enemy? A tired narrator? The emotional lens will shape what’s noticed and how it’s described.

In love: The chipped tooth becomes charming.

In rivalry: The smirk becomes smug.

In mourning: The face becomes blurred with memory.

Same person. Different lens. Different description.

6. Specificity is Your Superpower

Generic description = generic character. One well-chosen detail creates intimacy. Let us feel the scratch of their scarf, the clink of her earrings, the smudge of ink on their fingertips.

Examples:

“He had a habit of adjusting his collar when he lied — always clockwise, always twice.”

“Her nail polish was always chipped, but never accidentally.”

Make the reader feel like they’re the only one close enough to notice.

Describing appearance isn’t just about what your character looks like. It’s about what their appearance says — about how they move through the world, how others see them, and how they see themselves.

Zoom in on the details that matter. Skip the clichés. Let each description carry weight, story, and emotion. Because you’re not building paper dolls. You’re building people.

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Unhealed Wounds Your Character Pretends Are Just “Personality Traits”

These are the things your character claims are just “how they are” but really, they’re bleeding all over everyone and calling it a vibe.

╰ They say they're "independent." Translation: They don’t trust anyone to stay. They learned early that needing people = disappointment. So now they call it “being self-sufficient” like it’s some shiny badge of honor. (Mostly to cover up how lonely they are.)

╰ They say they're "laid-back." Translation: They stopped believing their wants mattered. They'll eat anywhere. Do anything. Agree with everyone. Not because they're chill, but because the fight got beaten out of them a long time ago.

╰ They say they're "a perfectionist." Translation: They believe mistakes make them unlovable. Every typo. Every bad hair day. Every misstep feels like proof that they’re worthless. So they polish and polish and polish... until there’s nothing real left.

╰ They say they're "private." Translation: They’re terrified of being judged—or worse, pitied. Walls on walls on walls. They joke about being “mysterious” while desperately hoping no one gets close enough to see the mess behind the curtain.

╰ They say they're "ambitious." Translation: They think achieving enough will finally make the emptiness go away. If they can just get the promotion, the award, the validation—then maybe they’ll finally outrun the feeling that they’re fundamentally broken. (It never works.)

╰ They say they're "good at moving on." Translation: They’re world-class at repression. They’ll cut people out. Bury heartbreak. Pretend it never happened. And then wonder why they wake up at 3 a.m. feeling like they're suffocating.

╰ They say they're "logical." Translation: They’re terrified of their own feelings. Emotions? Messy. Dangerous. Uncontrollable. So they intellectualize everything to avoid feeling anything real. They call it rationality. (It's fear.)

╰ They say they're "loyal to a fault." Translation: They mistake abandonment for loyalty. They stay too long. Forgive too much. Invest in people who treat them like an afterthought, because they think walking away makes them "just as bad."

╰ They say they're "resilient." Translation: They don't know how to ask for help without feeling like a burden. They wear every bruise like a trophy. They survive things they should never have had to survive. And they call it strength. (But really? It's exhaustion wearing a cape.)

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the emotion i just experienced is kind of indescribable

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I did not acquire any of the bingos :(

ib: @shrewfern

i made a tag game, reblog if you want - i’m simply curious ♡

tagging: everyone. get perceived.

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Kill Team: Typhon - Ravener Brood

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Couldn't get this out of my head since listening to Our Martyred Lady

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I already know enough about the Heresy that jumping in at the middle doesn't scare me. Twice Dead and Elemental Council are Necrons and Tau respectively, right? I'm definitely interested in those factions!

Ok so recently I have read the following 40k books, please suggest where I should go from here!

- Fall of Cadia

- Rise of the Ynnari: Ghost Warrior

- Rise of the Ynnari: Wild Rider

- The Infinite and the Divine

- Our Martyred Lady

- Sons of the Hydra

- Shroud of Night

- Renegades: Harrowmaster

- Dark Imperium

- Plague Wars

- Godblight

I've also acquired copies of the Ciaphas Cain omnibus, Da Big Dakka, and I've been thinking about Brutal Kunning or Saints and Martyrs?

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Ok so recently I have read the following 40k books, please suggest where I should go from here!

- Fall of Cadia

- Rise of the Ynnari: Ghost Warrior

- Rise of the Ynnari: Wild Rider

- The Infinite and the Divine

- Our Martyred Lady

- Sons of the Hydra

- Shroud of Night

- Renegades: Harrowmaster

- Dark Imperium

- Plague Wars

- Godblight

I've also acquired copies of the Ciaphas Cain omnibus, Da Big Dakka, and I've been thinking about Brutal Kunning or Saints and Martyrs?

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Excellent tags, thank you. I care about Mortarion being there quite a bit, I like the stinky guy. I won't spoil plague wars for you but there's a scene with Mortarion near the end of that book that I really like and really gives some depth to his dynamic with Gman

Man, I'm reading the Dark Imperium trilogy rn and wow I gotta say it's really making me like Guilliman

Also specifically the part in Godblight where he discusses the nature of Gods with an Aeldari farseer and a Grey Knight is giving me a fun fic idea for a God AU in which Guilliman does become something more divine and then also because of warp time shenanigans is able to give visions to his past self (or maybe Lorgar's past self?) and therefore try to avoid the Heresy (or at least avoid the traitors outright falling to chaos). Especially since there's a section a little later where he's mournful of the fact his brothers fell to chaos even if they didn't get on well beforehand.

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Man, I'm reading the Dark Imperium trilogy rn and wow I gotta say it's really making me like Guilliman

Also specifically the part in Godblight where he discusses the nature of Gods with an Aeldari farseer and a Grey Knight is giving me a fun fic idea for a God AU in which Guilliman does become something more divine and then also because of warp time shenanigans is able to give visions to his past self (or maybe Lorgar's past self?) and therefore try to avoid the Heresy (or at least avoid the traitors outright falling to chaos). Especially since there's a section a little later where he's mournful of the fact his brothers fell to chaos even if they didn't get on well beforehand.

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Black cats are lucky. (via leahweissmuller)

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Get off dating apps. The love of your life is on Ao3.

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What makes you a nurgle fan, other than a great color scheme?

great great GREAT question. you've walked into the essay checkpoint.

basically, the concept of nurgle gives absolutely unique perspective on illness, which is radically devoid of antropocentrism. i'll try to explain it now.

if you know pagan cultures, in them illnesses are usually depicted as evil spirits tormenting the person, or the curse laid by the ill will. and usually shamans or other threshold figures, so to speak, negotiate with these spirits, figure out their intentions to cure the person.

now from that knowledge we will come forward in time, where we know that illnesses are usually caused by microorganisms who find your body very comfy to live in. nurglite mindset suggests - they are alive as well, they just want to live and multiply as every living creature does. nurgle offers the opportunity of dialogue, and eventual symbiosis.

every nurglite is an ecosystem, it is "we", because there is much more forces in action than a conscious human mind. you do not only connect with those around you, but within you. it is empathy without boundaries, compassion without exclusion, it equals human life with the life of any creature, no matter how small and insignificant. in this, nurglite philosophy is closely related to buddhism, but this is a topic i am not yet ready to explore, not enough expertise.

that calm comes from unity, from the lack of pain, because you stop being enemies with others and with yourself. you stop being judgemental, and everything stops being good and bad, from now on it just exists - and i cannot overstate how much better it makes you feel, because in the end the judgement only burdens your own heart.

yes it is that deep, nurgle is very underexplored and simplified to stereotypes, and that just saddens me, because there is so much to think on.

now to my personal reasons:

i got into 40k because i was invited to black crusade and wanted to play a nurglite here

nurgle corruption mostly flows through commonfolk - i love commonfolk

body horror!

buddhism may be the only big religion i have a little bit of respect for

much space to explore new concepts

greem :)

i came up with nurglite aesthetic that has me and my friends in an iron grip - the benevolent hand

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vaylin they could never make me hate you