what-even-is-sleep

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The idea of Valerie finding out shit about Phantom and/or Cujo through Danny Fentons tiktoks is hilarious to me.

( @hannahmanderr @underforeversgrace see I don’t lie, he is the ghost king in shared cujostody au :) it took a while but it’s real :))

I also like to imagine that all the ghosts know not to fuck around when Danny is recording a tiktok.

Shared Cujostody AU

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Part 2: shape, style, and length with femme styles!

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horsethoughtbarn 5 name

if horses werent called horses what do you think they should be called

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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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finding out danny phantom fans are sick of dc/batman crossovers clogging THEIR tags is frying me idk why I never considered that. we are in the same damn boat omg

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woah there BUD!

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!!! I’m all for fans being fans—Don’t Like; Don’t Read and Ship and Let Ship are golden rules of fandom—but another great rule that upholds these is to tag properly!!!

If DPxDC fans are seeing this, understand that I and many other fans really respect the fandom golden rules—we all find joy from different things, and folks who are condemning subfandoms based on content are annoying asf. We’re all here to experiment and have fun!

So please spread the word that correct tagging upholds these fun spaces online!

finding out danny phantom fans are sick of dc/batman crossovers clogging THEIR tags is frying me idk why I never considered that. we are in the same damn boat omg

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DAY 521 - BOOKWORM (Click for better quality)

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Art by François Bourdin

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what are yall doing that we need this??

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heyhey !!! this was supposed to be for dannymay but I'm so slow at drawing 😭heres day 6 !!! (transformation)

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JSTOR for those of us who stupidly forgot to use your resources for personal research while enrolled in college classes, what can we do??? Google isn’t enough especially with the en 💩 ification of the 2020s

Here are a few options!

Check with your school's library to determine whether or not they offer alumni access.

Check with your local public library to see if they offer JSTOR access. Sometimes they offer on-site access, sometimes remote.

If you register for a personal account, you can read a limited number of articles per month for free!

We offer individual subscriptions under JPASS, with monthly or annual plans.

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Coco Jones attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images) if you want to support this blog consider donating to: ko-fi.com/fashionrunways

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Design graphics Geya Shvecova (Glass Substance) V.3 Archive_070325

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Design graphics Geya Shvecova (Glass Substance) V.2 Archive_281224