This began as a guide to describing Afro/curly hair but of course, I got carried away. From look and texture of hair, colors and various styles, this guide serves as a thesaurus of sorts for hair, as well as pointers for use in your writing.
Culturally Significant Hair Coverings:
Know the meaning behind head wear and why it’s worn, when and by whom, such as a Native Nation’s headdress, before bestowing a character with it.
Head Coverings Resources:
More on various head coverings.
See here for more Islamic Veils.
See here for more on the Nigerian gele.
See here on African American Headwraps.
View our hijab and headscarves tags for discussion on these topics.
Afro - Curly - Straightened
There are many varieties of braids, twists & Afro hair styles; have some more!
African/Black Hair: Natural, Braids and Locks
African Hair: Braiding Styles 10 African Types
Describing Black (Afro) hair:
Appropriative Hairstyles: Keep in mind that Afro styles should be kept to those in the African Diaspora, such as dreadlocks, cornrows + certain and many braided styles.
Tread carefully describing Afro hair as “wild” “unkempt” “untamed” or any words implying it’s unclean or requires controlling.
“Nappy” and “wooly” are generally words to stay away from, the first having heavy negative connotations for many and the latter, though used in the Holy Bible, is generally not acceptable anymore and comes off as dehumanizing due to Animal connotations.
There are mixed feelings on calling Black hair “kinky.” I’m personally not opposed to the word in itself and usage depends on the person’s race (I’m more comfortable with a Black person using it vs. a Non-Black person) as well as their tone and context (if it’s used in a neutral or positive tone vs. negatively/with disdain). Get feedback on your usage, or simply forgo it.
See our tags “Black Hair” and “Natural Hair” for more discussion on describing Black hair.
Texture - Look - Styles
Hair Colors and Style
Writing Tips & Things to Keep in Mind:
Combination Words: Try combining words to illustrate look of hair. A character with springy coils that dance across her shoulders with every movement, the man with thick silvery hair slicked back into a ponytail…
Mind Perspective: Depending on POV, a character might not know exactly what cornrows or a coiffure style is, at least in name, and it might make more sense if they described the hairdo instead. More defining terms might come from a more knowing source or the wearer themselves. One book I read described a girl’s afro puff as “thick hair pulled up into a cute, curly, poufy thing on top of her head and tied with a yellow ribbon.”
POC & Hair Colors: People of Color’s hair comes in all shades and textures. There are Black people with naturally blond and loosely-textured to straight hair, East Asian people with red hair, and so on. Keep that in mind when coding characters if you tend to rely on hair color alone to denote a character is white vs. a Person of Color.
Related Tropes: There are tropes and discussion related to People of Color, colored hair, and light-colored hair and features.
Check out these posts on the topic: The East Asian Women + Colored Hair Trope - Black Characters & “Wild” Hair Colors - POC w/ Supernatural Colorful Features. - ‘Uncommon’ Features & POC Characters
I've been trying to write for the past week but somehow my brain doesn't want to cooperate so right now I'm in some kind of a writing snag that I don't know how to get out from. My brother told me to just rest and not write for a couple days and I think I'm gonna do that before my head explodes
Todoroki Shouto is naturally soft-spoken just like his sister, something he makes an active effort to maintain because he knows exactly what it’s like to face a tone and volume that’s threatening and this makes him immensely popular with young children and the elderly because he knows exactly how to speak to them kindly and in a way that doesn’t overwhelm them send tweet
Other, More Considerate People: I like to keep my story as close to canon and ship-free as possible so everyone can enjoy it. :)
My Self-Indulgent Ass: ‘Sup, assholes, here’re all my implausible OTPs, their future children, a bunch of OCs that play prominent roles, and all my sexuality headcanons are in effect.
“To understand this fic you’ll need to refer to page 15, side A of my Extensive headcanon timeline of the entire history of this character and everyone he ever met, the contents of which are helpfully provided absolutely nowhere.”
“behold as I construct the precarious scaffolding of this story from discarded tumblr shitposts, my id, a dream I had once, poorly concealed psychological projection, the abstract concept of the way it feels to look out at the sea, and a bunch of dumb jokes I couldn’t stop cackling to myself about. oh, but it’s fanfiction.“
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Tododeku | 1.6k
TW: Angst, Major Character Death
There’s magic in the way Izuku’s scarred hands held his, gentle and careful like he was holding a treasure. Shouto loves to trace the veins and the scars, feeling each discoloration and bump. Izuku once said they were his badge of honor, and Shouto is inclined to agree. Those hands knew how to protect, how to love.
His heartbeat always trips whenever Izuku is so much as looking at him, feels the slight jolt of electricity across the skin whenever Izuku touches him. There’s also the rush in his veins when he kisses Izuku. It feels like riding the roller coaster—thrilling, scary, amazing. Izuku always kisses him back, softly then with more pressure. They part and grins into each other’s lips, before leaning in for more kiss.
I was in a sad mood and wrote this to vent a little. Now I feel better xD sorry for closing the year with something angsty
So because everyone’s making an art summary for 2018, I figured why not make one for my fics? XD (yeah I’m a dork don’t @ me)
2018 is a year of adventure for me. I set a goal to post 3 fics. It’s the year when I posted my first fic ever. It was for Haikyuu!! and then I got hooked on BNHA and Tododeku. From here, I joined the Church of Tododeku which gave me opportunities to meet amazing people like @meberon @awkwardmomfriend and @whenwordsflyoffthepage who support and spur me on, indulging my weird habits and only facepalm when I told them I got injured (a few times xD)
Okay now for the fics. To date, I have 17 works. 16 for BNHA. Unfortunately, I have two fics on hold because I sort of lost my muse for the two works
Here’s what I got so far
January
Burns Brighter Than The Sun. Iwaoi, Teen and Up. Oneshot, 2.4k, sort of an AU but I didn’t say what xD
April
Him & I, finished on May. Tododeku, Teen and Up. 67.6k of words, and this is the first of my many so Him & I has a secial place. It’s a modern billionaire AU
May
You & Me, Kacchako. I’m not sure if I would be continuing this, tho, I marked it as On Hiatus. It’s a side story for Him & I
June
How (Not) To Ask Your Sister About Your Crush. Tododeku. Screenshots from Discord. This one was a fun side project I made with @awkwardmomfriend lol
Dateline, part 1 of Off The Screen, Tododeku, 3.2k. This is the fic that cemented my belief that I am indeed more suited to write fluff and cheese xD In this fic Shouto is an actor and Izuku is a vet
July
Arms Open. Tododeku, 3.1k. I wrote this as part of the Tododeku Week 2018. It’s Canonverse
Wonders. Tododeku, 5.6k, also for Tododeku Week 2018, a college AU where Izuku is a biology student and Shouto is a photographer
Never Seen Anything (Quite Like You). Tododeku, 9.3k. This is a continuation of Him & I which is their wedding!!
Turbulence, part 2 of Off The Screen. Tododeku, 4k
August
Velocity, part 3 of Off The Screen. 4.1k
Upon The Blue Sky (I Heard an Angel Singing), currently on hiatus at 39.3k words. It’s an Angel!Shouto AU
September
Like a flower in full bloom, shining amidst the darkness. Part 3 of the Him & I series, 3k
October
This Feeling, part 1 of Bloodstream. 13.5k. AU where Izuku is a cop and Shouto is a doctor and Izuku’s filter doesn’t work well
Bonds, a Halloween fic! Both of them are vampires, 2.4k
Just You and I, a Youtuber AU that I and @whenwordsflyoffthepage co-write, and the main inspo is from @kingtodoroki ‘s Twitter AU. As of December 2018, we have 21.2k words!
December
Something Just Like This. Kacchako, 2.4k. It was part of the BNHA Fall Exchange but up until now I haven’t received my part of the exchange :| (on a side note, I’ll be careful not to join other exchanges unless I really do have time)
Cruising Altitude, Tododeku, 2.5k. Part 4 of Off The Screen! It’s just2.5k of Christmas fluff and Todo waxing poetic lol
All in all, I’m proud with what I have done this year. I have a lot lined up for next year, such as the Tododeku Big Bang 2019 I’m in. Also, I got accepted in a zine! It’s my first time in a zine and I plan to apply to more in the future :D
I’m so excited for 2019! Thank you for your support and for being with me in this amazing journey. I hope I can bring more contents for you to enjoy ^^ See you next year, everyone!
Hey y’all! I’m super excited to work with y’all and can’t wait to see all the awesome stuff you’re going to make! Go team! My username is @tzubakis and these are your names!
Writers on the left, artists on the right!
Your team is:
@eegghhh & @bokunoherokomikuko
@queencujoh & @noririna
@nby & @tsunamikaii
@cricketmilk & @amygdaloid07
@queenpigeon and @friendlyneighborhoodhawk & @marianttt
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Teen and Up Audience | Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto | 2528 words | Part 4 of Off The Screen Series
He’s so in love with this man that his heart is close to bursting with it, painful with sheer adoration and overwhelming affection he feels for Izuku.
He hopes he never stops feeling it.
A little Christmas gift for two of my favorite people, @awkwardmomfriend and @whenwordsflyoffthepage . They always support me, and I wouldn’t be this far into the whole writing business if it weren’t for them and their (sometimes tinged with exasperation) support. I know I’m a lot to handle sjdgshajkl Thank you very much for the amazing months we’ve spent together.
When you’re writing and you can clearly see in your mind the exact expression a character is wearing or hear the exact nonverbal sound they are making, but completely fail at coming up with a way to explain it.
theartofmadeline
gummygunk
baratheonpilled
germansingergirl
izzy806
