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[zorua-creates]

tips for writing a southern accent

contractions are everything. just smash some words together and i guarantee you, someone out there’s said it

y’all = you guys. functions as a plural you.

all’a y’all = all of you, makes sure people know you mean ALL of them

you can get wild from there with things like these:

y’all’re = you all are

y’all’d’ve = you all would have

how’d’ya = how did you/how do you (meaning is implied by context)

and of course, y’ain’t = you are not

ain’t is the same thing as isn’t

you can use ain’t like ‘ain’t it funny?’

but you don’t use isn’t it, it’s usually ‘innit funny?’

wasn’t branches off into weren’t and wudn’t cos we have a tendency to drop the ‘s’

weren’t is usually used with a double negative = “weren’t nothing we could do”

wudn’t is when there’s no double negative = “wudn’t much we could do”

doesn’t branches off into don’t and dudn’t but there’s no rule that i can see for what to use when

‘don’t seem like much of a problem’ is used as often as ‘dudn’t seem like much of a problem’

going back to innit, there’s a tendency to tack an ‘it’ onto the end of words that aren’t already southern slang, this gives you things like innit (isn’t it) and lookit/lookat (used like ‘lookit him over there’)

also you can just straight up drop words if you the meaning can be understood without it

s’okay = it’s okay

‘m = in place of i’m (don’t use this all the time)

s’not = it’s not/is not

dropping more letters! if you can drop the ‘g’ at the end of a verb, that’s good. also, you can drop the ‘d’ from and if you wan’t to use ‘an’ but don’t over saturate your work with it. you can also occasionally drop the ‘t’ from the end of just, ending up with ‘jus’

you can smush together anything that’s asking a question with either you or to

hafta = have to

howta = how to

don’tcha = don’t you

won’tcha = won’t you

or if you want to get REAL southern ‘ain’tcha’ (used like ‘ain’tcha got something else to do’ = isn’t there something else you can do)

also, we have a tendency to not use the word ‘really’ to describe something, instead we use ‘real’

i.e. real big, real mean, real cute as opposed to really big, really mean, really cute

another phrase you can throw in is ‘and all’

used like ‘ain’t safe cos’ of the floodin’ an’ all’

ALSO I FORGOT: you can change anything that ends with a ‘ve’ except for i’ve into an a

shoulda = should’ve

coulda = could’ve

woulda = would’ve

i’da = i would’ve/should’ve/could’ve depending on context

uhh that’s all i can think of for now. if anyone has something to add on, feel free to do it bc i want to help fanfic writers write real southern accents.

[zorua-creates]

Writing tool for your fight scenes.

[zorua-creates]

really helpful technique ^ once you know how to divide by halves and thirds it makes drawing evenly spaced things in perspective waaay easier:

[zorua-creates]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dragon Ball Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Son Gohan Sr. & Son Goku Characters: Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Son Gohan Sr. Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Drabble and a Half, Inspired by Art, Unbeta'd, Grandpa Gohan isn't technically in the fic but I'm tagging him anyway Summary:

Grandpa Gohan had changed into that orange orb of his.

Inspired by this art by @upgradewater

[zorua-creates]

They're done: the Forbidden Halftone Brush Pack of your dreams.

Nine free halftone brushes for Clip Studio Paint. I will not be making another set of these so grab 'em now or never. Upload instructions are included in the folder! Thanks for your support! 😭

Past Freebie Brushes | Subscriber Brushes | And My Brush Tag

[zorua-creates]

Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I'm a hobbyist blacksmith and I'm here to help!

Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don't realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here's a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!

Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.

You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they're not the only things that can be made. I've made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it's really amazing what can be done.

"Red-hot" is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)

Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.

As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like "okay, cool! I'm gonna make stuff, and I'm gonna end up in the hospital at some point!" Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I've been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don't even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you'll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)

A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that's relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there's a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you're writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it's like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you're working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you're welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.

Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn't invented to make small things.

If there's anything here I didn't mention, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[zorua-creates]

How to draw ears, by me.

tip me a ko-fi!

[zorua-creates]

How to draw: Not white characters

How to draw a Black person

How to colour Black people skin tones

How to draw dreadlocks

How to draw African hair

How to draw curly hair

How to draw braids

How to draw braids part 2

How to draw cornrows

How to draw Bantu knots

How to draw two strand twists

How to draw an Asian person

How to colour darker skin tones with alcohol markers

How to draw hijabs/traditional Muslim hair coverings

How to draw a hijabi girl

All links and art provided by @ itsajart on TikTok

Before you go “mY aRt sTyLe iS dIfFrEnT tHoUgH” you can moderate it and play around with your style to get it to fit.

[zorua-creates]

Got tips for drawing hands?

Break them up into their basic shapes!

Hands are tricky, especially when doing poses and stuff! But just like when it comes to anything in art, you can break them down into simple shapes. If you know how something is made up of these shapes, the easier it is to draw.

The palm is nothing more than a squishy trapezoid with a few more bendy sausages attached to it. Of course once you got the shapes down, you need to refine it. But that should give you a basic idea how it works.

What also helps is looking up pictures of hands doing specific poses! Plenty of mangakas and just artists in general even take pictures of their own hands in poses they want to draw!

[zorua-creates]

weirdest art trick i have is that sketching limbs is easier and neater if you slice em at the joints instead of using those little circles

[zorua-creates]

Tips for writing black characters

Day-to-day practical and minor stuff, specially regarding hair

If you have curly/afro hair then you are only going to need to wash it one or twice a week

But it can take a while. When I had long hair it used to take me 2h in the bathroom to properly wash it. That's why I only did it once a week. But it really will depend of the thickness and lenght of their hair.

It can be a little harder to find products for their hair, because straight/wavy hair products don't work on ours

If you wash curly hair many times a week it will eventually lose its nutrients, differently from straigh hair

If your character originally had curly hair but straightened it, it's probably going to look a little drier than naturally straight hair. it's a case-case scenario, though

If they have a skin care routine or want one they'll also need products made specifically for black skin

Your character is not immune to sunburns. It's harder to see if it gets red depending on how dark their skin is, but it's there. The more melanin they have, the more protected from the sun they are, but it's not gonna 100% prevent them from getting sunburnt.

Oh, and it can be pretty hard to dye it because first, if your hair is very dark, you have to decolor it, and depending on how black it is it can take a while and a few tries to get in a tone good for dying.

If they have long hair they're probably going to take a while combing it because you have to apply the hair cream lock by lock

They may have a haircare routine every month or so. Not everybody does it but if your character is disciplined and wants their hair to be extra healthy and neat they'll probably have one

If they care a lot about their appearence they'll probably have a lot of hair brushes of different types because depending on your brush you can comb it in a variety of ways, making your hair look fuller, making the curls look defined, etc.

[zorua-creates]

Some tips for using a few words to describe voices:

1. Tone Words: Use tone words to convey the emotional quality of a voice. For example, you can describe a voice as "melodic," "soothing," "sharp," "gentle," or "commanding" to give readers a sense of the tone.

2. Pitch and Range: Mention the pitch and range of the voice. Is it "deep," "high-pitched," "raspy," or "full-bodied"? This can provide insight into the character's age, gender, or emotional state.

3. Accent and Diction: Describe the character's accent or diction briefly to give a sense of their background or cultural influences. For instance, "British-accented," "Southern drawl," or "formal."

4. Volume: Mention the volume of the voice, whether it's "whispering," "booming," "murmuring," or "hushed."

5. Quality: Use terms like "velvet," "silken," "gravelly," "honeyed," or "crisp" to convey the texture or quality of the voice.

6. Rate of Speech: Describe how fast or slow the character speaks, using words like "rapid," "slurred," "measured," or "rambling."

7. Mood or Emotion: Indicate the mood or emotion carried by the voice. For example, a "quivering" voice may convey fear or anxiety, while a "warm" voice may express comfort and reassurance.

8. Resonance: Describe the resonance of the voice, such as "echoing," "nasal," "booming," or "tinny."

9. Timbre: Mention the timbre of the voice, using words like "rich," "thin," "clear," or "smoky."

10. Cadence: Highlight the rhythm or cadence of speech with descriptors like "staccato," "lilting," "rhythmic," or "halting."

11. Intonation: Convey the character's intonation by saying their voice is "sarcastic," "apologetic," "confident," or "questioning."

12. Vocal Characteristics: If applicable, mention unique vocal characteristics, like a "lisp," "stutter," "drawl," or "accented 'r'."

[zorua-creates]

hello my fellow artists and susato enjoyers ive made a csp brush for her kimono pattern so u dont have to suffer drawing it by hand ever again

[zorua-creates]

some mid to dark black skin swatches i made for twitter. again this isn’t a tutorial by all means, just a brief visualization and I still highly encourage everyone to do their own research 🫰 i included cool undertones as well since they’re left out often

[zorua-creates]

Well it being black history month is reminding me how I wanted to doodle something like this down for a while. Since it’s been a lil detail I always take notice of in drawings. These are very simple depictions but I hope it’s enough to give the general idea! Feel free to reblog

[zorua-creates]

okay hey real question: what are good ways to describe fat characters?

I see a lot of 'have more fat characters' and I'm Here For It but as someone who is skinny and in a world where most existing literature makes characters fat only as a joke or an indication of some variety of moral badness, I'm not really sure how to describe them in a way that's not objectifying or insulting. like, I've grown up on poetic descriptions of thin characters ('long slim fingers' and 'willow figure' etc etc) but I haven't read flattering descriptions of fat characters and I don't know where to start. I've seen a lot of 'how to describe poc' or 'how to describe disabled characters' or whatever and I've seen art ref posts for drawing fat characters, but no posts about how to write them well. so. open call for advice or for examples you've found and like??

[zorua-creates]

USEFUL WEBSITES FOR WRITERS

Writing With Color: Helps with writing about culture, ethnicity, and religion. Overall, it gives advice on how to write about diversity.

Name Generator: As the name says, it helps you build names for your characters. Very useful if you cannot think of names for your characters!

KathySteinemann: The 'archive.pdf' section helps you with synonyms in case you struggle to find the right word for your sentences (also to avoid using redundant words).

Spwickstrom: Similar to the previous one, this one provides grammar tips. Extremely helpful when finding phrases, verbs, conjunctions, adjectives, and so on.

Servicescape: The perfect website if you're experiencing writer's block. It provides writing prompts. It helps you spark creativity when it comes to writing.

reblog to help other writers !!