Apparently A Lot Of People Get Dialogue Punctuation Wrong Despite Having An Otherwise Solid Grasp Of

writing tips - fevers

guys so the injury post absolutely fucking exploded (500 notes in 24 hours is a lot for me) and the fever part really threw yall for a loop.

I didn't go into it but I can! just to clear up questions.

Fevers are funky asf

like, there are so many factors that indicate when a fever is like a big deal and when it's not. part of it has to do with the age of the patient, how long the fever lasts, any causes or prexisting conditions....

Like this:

If person is feverish due to an infection, their symptoms are gonna be slightly different than someone who is fighting the flu. this is because the antibodies are attacking different parts of the nervous system with different kinds of chemicals blah de blah blah blah.

The younger the patient, the more susceptible they are. if the character is a child, a fever of 102 F is way worse than a 30 year old man experiencing that. It'll take a larger toll on the baby's body.

Some people have naturally higher body temps. There is a standard deviation away from the target temp that is still ok. Some people simply exist at 99.2 F, even though for some that's febrile.

idk man it's weird people are weird don't @ me about it.

obviously it's bio science which means not everything has exactly a clear answer. there are so mnay variables at play that it's easier just to blanket statement the whole thing.

because this isn't a blog for medical advice.

please don't use this blog for medical advice.

100% of death.

thanks guys love the effort

xox

Hi pigs "whale yuri Wednesday" with wings!!! I think the colors in your art are very cute nd i was wondering if you have a method with picking them? I struggle a lot with color picking when i dont have smth to work off of!

Also not an ask but you should post more about your original art/reblog it!! ocs too!! :]

well!! i don't have a specific method most of the time I'm eyeballing all of that!! but i can give some general tips on how i personally pick colours...

also: thank you 🫶🫶 ... i do not make art very often so most of the time i feel like there is nothing to post about!! but i will try to reblog my own art more often!! i have been working a lot on one oc of mine so perhaps you will see more of it :]

- i tend to first put all the colours side by side to get a sense of how they'll all look together!!

- usually i start with a very light or very dark colour that i like, and build off of that.

- after i choose a color to work off of, i tend to pick another colour that's similar to the first colour. (black and white can go well with basically every colour if you're stuck!)

i personally try to keep the colours distinct enough that you can tell it's another colour. this isn't totally necessary, it's mostly because i use a lineless style and my shapes won't be distinguishable if i don't make it clear which colour is which. for example with fhese two images - it's easier to tell between the colours on the right than the colours on the left.

specific processes here:

in the top left corner here, i chose the black, then the dark blue/dark purple, then the purple, then the light purple. they're all in the same area of the colour wheel but each one gradually progresses in brightness and moves into another area of the colour wheel.

same with the top right corner - i started with the white and chose a shade of orange that was easy to see against it. then a similar shade of yellow to pair with the orange, and then i wanted a highlight colour to stand out. since the general pattern of this colour set is bright/warm colours, we can choose another bright or warm colour that's different in brightness or shade - in this case i chose a bright green, but a bright red would have also gone nicely with this.

the bottom left and right is mostly the same as above, but finding a colour palette like the bottom right can be trickier. i started with a combination of white, cyan, and purple but thought that it looked a bit boring. so i picked a colour that wasn't blue or purple but a bright(er) red so that it stood out. could have also used bright orange/yellow/pink instead, but i think the red gives it an interesting contrast. i like to think that it's all about contrast

i tend to make colour palettes at random just for fun, so i think that practice or just putting colours together to see what looks good can also help!! some more examples below of just. colour palettes or colours that work well together

and yeah! to be honest i don't really know what i am doing but i like messing around with groups of colours. do what you want, lay down some colours that you like and most importantly have fun 👍👍👍

i love your art so much!! would you be alright sharing some info about your process for art? i'm in love with all of it especially your more recent painterly stuff :D if i could eat your art to gain its power i would

Thank you so much!!! :DDD and ofc! I'll try and articulate whatever I do (I truly just See What Looks Good tbh) below the cut :]

I'll use my most recent work as an example :]

So I start off with the sketch of course, for this I'll usually have the general idea of what I'm doing planned out in my mind, but if I can't figure out the pose/layout or whatever I'll usually scour pinterest for references/inspiration

Then COLOUR SHIT. Ok, I couldn't get a version of this without shading bcus I sadly merged the layers already </3 but basically once I have the base colour(s) down I'll mess with the layer's colour settings until it works with the lighting I'm doing and then I'll start shading. I'd say there's a more refined process but tbh I kinda just pick a section (skin, hair, clothes, etc...) and go ham.

After that, rendering! (And small details [the first pic]) tbh I have no idea what rendering is/how to do it? But my definition is 20 layers of airbrushing at low opacity until it looks good 👍 (for this piece that was alot of dark blues, reds and purples. In general I try to use the dreaded Colour Theory to make things look nice and cohesive [complimentary colours and the like]) this section is very much trial and error, I'll also mess with the settings and colours for everything I've done so far ALOT, as well as go back and fix little things I did forever ago

Then the background/any final details! (Usually if I'm doing a more complicated background I'll work on that at the same pace as every thing else [sketch, colour, render] but for pieces like this where it's simple, I'll do that whenever)

But yeah! Hopefully that's helpful (?) In some way. My process is all over the place and I usually break my own order of doing things and start like rendering half way through colouring half the time?? Anyway thank you!!! It feels very awesome to know people like my art and wanna see how I do stuff :DDD

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!

When your Character...

Gets into: A Fight ⚜ ...Another Fight ⚜ ...Yet Another Fight

Hates Someone ⚜ Kisses Someone ⚜ Falls in Love

Calls Someone they Love ⚜ Dies / Cheats Death ⚜ Drowns

is...

A Child ⚜ Interacting with a Baby/Child ⚜ A Genius ⚜ A Lawyer

Beautiful ⚜ Dangerous ⚜ Drunk ⚜ Injured ⚜ Shy

needs...

A Magical Item ⚜ An Aphrodisiac ⚜ A Fictional Poison

To be Killed Off ⚜ To Become Likable ⚜ To Clean a Wound

To Find the Right Word, but Can't ⚜ To Say No ⚜ A Drink

loves...

Astronomy ⚜ Baking ⚜ Cooking ⚜ Cocktails ⚜ Food ⚜ Oils

Dancing ⚜ Fashion ⚜ Gems ⚜ Mythology ⚜ Numbers

Roses ⚜ Sweets ⚜ To Fight ⚜ Wine ⚜ Wine-Tasting ⚜ Yoga

has/experiences...

Allergies ⚜ Amnesia ⚜ Bereavement ⚜ Bites & Stings ⚜ Bruises

Caffeine ⚜ CO Poisoning ⚜ Color Blindness ⚜ Food Poisoning

Injuries ⚜ Jet Lag ⚜ Mutism ⚜ Pain ⚜ Poisoning

More Pain & Violence ⚜ Viruses ⚜ Wounds

[these are just quick references. more research may be needed to write your story...]

HOW TO WRITE A CHARACTER WHO IS IN PAIN

first thing you might want to consider: is the pain mental or physical?

if it’s physical, what type of pain is it causing? — sharp pain, white-hot pain, acute pain, dull ache, throbbing pain, chronic pain, neuropathic pain (typically caused by nerve damage), etc

if it’s mental, what is the reason your character is in pain? — grief, heartbreak, betrayal, anger, hopelessness, fear and anxiety, etc

because your character will react differently to different types of pain

PHYSICAL PAIN

sharp and white-hot pain may cause a character to grit their teeth, scream, moan, twist their body. their skin may appear pale, eyes red-rimmed and sunken with layers of sweat covering their forehead. they may have tears in their eyes (and the tears may feel hot), but they don’t necessarily have to always be crying.

acute pain may be similar to sharp and white-hot pain; acute pain is sudden and urgent and often comes without a warning, so your character may experience a hitched breathing where they suddenly stop what they’re doing and clench their hand at the spot where it hurts with widened eyes and open mouth (like they’re gasping for air).

dull ache and throbbing pain can result in your character wanting to lay down and close their eyes. if it’s a headache, they may ask for the lights to be turned off and they may be less responsive, in the sense that they’d rather not engage in any activity or conversation and they’d rather be left alone. they may make a soft whimper from their throat from time to time, depends on their personality (if they don’t mind others seeing their discomfort, they may whimper. but if your character doesn’t like anyone seeing them in a not-so-strong state, chances are they won’t make any sound, they might even pretend like they’re fine by continuing with their normal routine, and they may or may not end up throwing up or fainting).

if your character experience chronic pain, their pain will not go away (unlike any other illnesses or injuries where the pain stops after the person is healed) so they can feel all these types of sharp pain shooting through their body. there can also be soreness and stiffness around some specific spots, and it will affect their life. so your character will be lucky if they have caretakers in their life. but are they stubborn? do they accept help from others or do they like to pretend like they’re fine in front of everybody until their body can’t take it anymore and so they can no longer pretend?

neuropathic pain or nerve pain will have your character feeling these senses of burning, shooting and stabbing sensation, and the pain can come very suddenly and without any warning — think of it as an electric shock that causes through your character’s body all of a sudden. your character may yelp or gasp in shock, how they react may vary depends on the severity of the pain and how long it lasts.

EMOTIONAL PAIN

grief can make your character shut themself off from their friends and the world in general. or they can also lash out at anyone who tries to comfort them. (five states of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and eventual acceptance.)

heartbreak — your character might want to lock themself in a room, anywhere where they are unseen. or they may want to pretend that everything’s fine, that they’re not hurt. until they break down.

betrayal can leave a character with confusion, the feelings of ‘what went wrong?’, so it’s understandable if your character blames themself at first, that maybe it’s their fault because they’ve somehow done something wrong somewhere that caused the other character to betray them. what comes after confusion may be anger. your character can be angry at the person who betrayed them and at themself, after they think they’ve done something wrong that resulted in them being betrayed, they may also be angry at themself next for ‘falling’ for the lies and for ‘being fooled’. so yes, betrayal can leave your character with the hatred that’s directed towards the character who betrayed them and themself. whether or not your character can ‘move on and forgive’ is up to you.

there are several ways a character can react to anger; they can simply lash out, break things, scream and yell, or they can also go complete silent. no shouting, no thrashing the place. they can sit alone in silence and they may cry. anger does make people cry. it mostly won’t be anything like ‘ugly sobbing’ but your character’s eyes can be bloodshot, red-rimmed and there will be tears, only that there won’t be any sobbing in most cases.

hopelessness can be a very valid reason for it, if you want your character to do something reckless or stupid. most people will do anything if they’re desperate enough. so if you want your character to run into a burning building, jump in front of a bullet, or confess their love to their archenemy in front of all their friends, hopelessness is always a valid reason. there’s no ‘out of character’ if they are hopeless and are desperate enough.

fear and anxiety. your character may be trembling, their hands may be shaky. they may lose their appetite. they may be sweaty and/or bouncing their feet. they may have a panic attack if it’s severe enough.

and I think that’s it for now! feel free to add anything I may have forgotten to mention here!

Do you have any tips to give when it comes to designing characters? Especially regarding clothing?

oh my goodness okay so… first of all, keep in mind your character’s setting, personality, their culture, et cetera.

Is the area they live in warm or cold? Do they prefer to be warm or cold? Are they insecure about their body or do they just prefer to dress more modestly? Are they willing to show off some skin?

do they like tight, thick clothing or do they hate feeling restricted? Do they want stiffness or do they want to feel the wind blow through their sleeves and pants? Keep in mind your characters abilities/hobbies/job, et cetera! If they do a lot of things that require agility and mobility, make sure they don’t wear anything that could restrict their movements. They need to be able to move quick and freely.

finally, shape language! Do you want your character to feel stiff or loose? Soft or rigid? Somewhere in the middle? Do you want your character to feel strong? Shy? Gloomy? Approachable?

For stronger, firm characters, I recommend angular, boxy clothing. Padded shoulders and straight slacks and skirts are good for portraying this! For approachable, kind characters, loose fabric that is light and flows with the breeze is good, and long, heavier fabrics are good for shy or gloomy characters. Here’s cosmic as an example and then a few other characters!

Note how Saturn’s coat takes up a lot of space, makes their shoulders seem squared as if they’re holding their head higher than the others. It makes them seem firm and bold, and confident! They also stand out more because of the contrast of the cooler blue hues in their arms(legs?) against the warmer, beige tones in their coat and the warm brown in their hair.

Seraph’s clothes are loose and lighter, don’t take up as much space as Saturn’s—however some parts still do! His wings, halos and his sleeves, for example, are extremely long! This is because while he is not as bold and loud, as strong and confident as Saturn, he still carries himself with a lot of comfortability and pride. His design also is more eye-catching because of the stark contrast between the dark purple of his belt, the white in his toga and the browns in his skin and hair!

Aster, meanwhile, is generally much smaller than the other 2 and gets drowned out a little bit by the weight of her hair and clothes. Her skirt also pools around her feet, tethering her to the ground almost! Shes got much softer edges than the others 2 and takes up as little space as possible—her clothes are also much darker and muted compared to the others 2—also, all her clothes are much heavier and weighed down, they’re very droopy which portrays a much more gloomy vibe.

*edit, playing into the temperature thing; Tycho is super cold! It’s always snowing there. Saturn is cold-blooded so they have to dress warmer, whilst Seraph is somewhat of a walking space heater. Aster might not look too dressed for winter but her skirt is removable and doubles as a cloak! She has pants underneath. :]

other examples include!!

Misery from Ruby Gloom! Misery is a very anxious and melancholy character, and she’s very hesitant to do anything out of fear of causing problems. Her clothing design reflects this! She’s much darker compared to the rest of the cast and almost all of herself save for her face is hidden. Her colours are also much more muted and dull, and there isn’t as much contrast between them as there is with characters like Ruby or Frank and Len. All of her clothes are long and hang down and, much like Aster, tether her to the ground. She also takes up a little less space than almost the entire rest of the cast.

Another example is Hobie Brown/Spiderpunk! His clothing is all very angular and dramatic, with a lot of rigid lines and sharp edges, as well as stiff, heavy fabrics like leather and denim. Hobie is a very unapologetically confident character! I won’t go into too much detail because I’m quite sure everybody knows who he is, but he’s extremely nonconformist and a complete anarchist, and is quite proud about it. Even though most of his clothes are in darker, muted hues, his design is very loud and hard to ignore. Also the classic blue and red of almost every Spider-Man design is just as smart, as they’re (almost) completely contrasting colours, so they still catch your eye.

Lastly is Darryl from TGaMM! While he’s a little shit sometimes, he’s ultimately still a good friend and brother to Molly, and is generally just having fun without any malice in mind. He’s very laid back and approachable, but not as excitable as Molly! (Important; Molly's design is much more rigid and high-contrast compared to Darryl’s! Darryl’s colour palette is more muted and harmonious while Molly’s is a little more all over the place, though it’s still not an eyesore. You feel me?)

I hope this helped! If you have any more questions that I didn’t answer or if you need me to elaborate on something feel completely free to let me know!!

Dear downydig,

Any secret knowledge on how to do fluid and dynamic poses? (Btw, I love ur art!! So comfy and cozy!!!)

Sincerely, Paper-Starz

Hello hello! I have some advice! I did a thing on lines of action and the benefits of tracing in learning models a LONG time ago… the advice still holds up! Use shapes like ‘s’ curves, ‘c’ curves, and even sharper ‘U’s to give a fun fluid motion! Limbs and spine are the main help here, but the head sometimes comes into play ✌️

I have a little more to add, however! One of these pictures is my oc and the other is a king fu panda character but it’s still useful! When creating a pose, you can also use silhouette! Bonus points if the shape of the silhouette is different than the shapes that compose the character (in a way that matches the personality of course!)

Devotion [Part 1/2] [Please don't tag as ship :)]

10 Non-Lethal Injuries to Add Pain to Your Writing

If you need a simple way to make your characters feel pain, here are some ideas: 

1. Sprained Ankle

A common injury that can severely limit mobility. This is useful because your characters will have to experience a mild struggle and adapt their plans to their new lack of mobiliy. Perfect to add tension to a chase scene.

2. Rib Contusion

A painful bruise on the ribs can make breathing difficult, helping you sneak in those ragged wheezes during a fight scene. Could also be used for something sport-related! It's impactful enough to leave a lingering pain but not enough to hinder their overall movement.

3. Concussions

This common brain injury can lead to confusion, dizziness, and mood swings, affecting a character’s judgment heavily. It can also cause mild amnesia.

I enjoy using concussions when you need another character to subtly take over the fight/scene, it's an easy way to switch POVs. You could also use it if you need a 'cute' recovery moment with A and B.

4. Fractured Finger

A broken finger can complicate tasks that require fine motor skills. This would be perfect for characters like artists, writers, etc. Or, a fighter who brushes it off as nothing till they try to throw a punch and are hit with pain.

5. Road Rash

Road rash is an abrasion caused by friction. Aka scraping skin. The raw, painful sting resulting from a fall can be a quick but effective way to add pain to your writing. Tip: it's great if you need a mild injury for a child.

6. Shoulder Dislocation

This injury can be excruciating and often leads to an inability to use one arm, forcing characters to confront their limitations while adding urgency to their situation. Good for torture scenes.

7. Deep Laceration

A deep laceration is a cut that requires stitches. As someone who got stitches as a kid, they really aren't that bad! A 2-3 inch wound (in length) provides just enough pain and blood to add that dramatic flair to your writing while not severely deterring your character.

This is also a great wound to look back on since it often scars. Note: the deeper and wider the cut the worse your character's condition. Don't give them a 5 inch deep gash and call that mild.

8. Burns

Whether from fire, chemicals, or hot surfaces, burns can cause intense suffering and lingering trauma. Like the previous injury, the lasting physical and emotional trauma of a burn is a great wound for characters to look back on.

If you want to explore writing burns, read here.

9. Pulled Muscle

This can create ongoing pain and restrict movement, offering a window to force your character to lean on another. Note: I personally use muscle related injuries when I want to focus more on the pain and sprains to focus on a lack of mobility.

10. Tendonitis

Inflammation of a tendon can cause chronic pain and limit a character's ability to perform tasks they usually take for granted. When exploring tendonitis make sure you research well as this can easily turn into a more severe injury.

This is a quick, brief list of ideas to provide writers inspiration. Since it is a shorter blog, I have not covered the injuries in detail. This is inspiration, not a thorough guide. Happy writing! :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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