hey all, iâve created a new blog at the same url, @lasbrumas. this one will become an archive as of january 1. i still have some posts queued, but once theyâre done, i wonât be posting here anymore.
on earth weâre briefly gorgeous - ocean vuong | sheâs got you - patsy cline | for all the dogs who barked at me on the sidewalks in connecticut - hanif abdurraqib |Â the glass essay - anne carson |Â a memory like a knife - julien pacuad | arzum uzun | you are happy - margaret atwood | this is what i have of you - fun home
The Art of Africa is a casualty
of colonial exploitation, surviving
principally in the museums of
other countries. ~Â Nadine Gordimer
âMy objective in this work is to document an extraordinary art form - vernacular art and architecture in West Africa - that is not transportable and therefore not seen in museums around the world. It is an attempt to capture the unseen Africa, a glimpse into the homes and into the spirit of very proud and dignified peoples. In much the same way as I photographed the art of Ndebele women, I have drawn on my personal affinity for the art itself, for methods, design and form, rather than the socio-anthropological or political realities of a people or continent in dilemma. These images portray a unique tradition of Africa, a celebration of an indigenous rural culture in which the women are the artists and the home her canvas.â
KangHee Kim aka Kang Hee Kim aka êč ê°íŹ aka Tiny Cactus (Korean, b. 1991, Seoul, South Korea, based Brooklyn, NY, USA) - From her series Street Errands and Golden Hour, Photo Collages
There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.
hanya yanagihara, a little life // moi, un noir (jean rouch, 1958) // stephen king, it // jane austen, northanger abbey // the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us (sufjan stevens) // yumi sakugawa, i think i am in friend-love with you // itâs nice to have a friend (taylor swift) // right here (maxwell young)
so when i first started learning about astrology, i found it super difficult to keep track of what each of the houses means. understanding the house system is a huge aspect of understanding your natal chart, so letâs discuss.
angular houses:Â
ruled by the cardinal signs, these houses indicate the action you take in life - the first foot you put forward.
âYou know, they straightened out the Mississippi river in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. âFloodsâ is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding: it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.â
I have gotten some requests for advice on how to write specific characters, but the underlying principles to keeping characterizations canon-compliant can apply to writing anyone in any series. Better yet, this advice may help you come up with character interpretations that feel both canonical yet original (and distinct from mine!).
You can reduce characterization to three basic principles:
1) Habits and speech patterns
Habits and speech patterns serve as âshortcutsâ that immediately connect the character to the canon. The audience recognizes these cues and will associate them to the actual character.
Speech patterns are particularly important to keeping a character recognizable. As soon as the speech pattern of a person deviates from canon with no explanation, the suspension of disbelief will break for an audience. A common issue I see in shipping fics is that people will make a character give the love interest a pet name that just would never leave their mouth in canon-compliant situations.
Habits can be verbal tics (e.g. they say âbabeâ a lot), bodily motions (e.g. touching their hair or pushing up their glasses), behavioural trends (e.g. eating a lot), or even phrases that come up often. The latter I find is underused but very effective. Hereâs the thing about people in real life: they will repeat phrases and stories, sometimes even verbatim, to different people! If you lift a line out of the show or book and re-contextualize it, itâll immediately feel like the canon.
Habits come with two caveats:
Do not overuse the tics. It can be annoying and intrusive, especially when used more frequently than in canon!Â
Do not rely too much on these habits for characterization. Your character may come off as a shallow imitation of canon without âsubstanceâ if so.Â
The next two tips will help give your characterization substance and originality.
2) Drivers in decision-making and thought patterns
People in real life often have patterns in the decisions they make or the thoughts they have because of some kind of underlying motivation, whether or not they are cognizant of it. The same will apply to well-written characters in fiction. Try to think about any significant decisions the character makes in canon and why they might exist. (Hot tip:Â If these motivations are not explicitly stated in the canon material, this is where you can come up with some extremely juicy headcanons!)
Understanding the fundamental drivers behind the characterâs actions will allow you to extrapolate and write what theyâd do in the situations in your fanfic. These non-canon situations can include relationships! Itâs a common issue for romantic relationships in fanfic to feel OOC because the characters act inconsistently with their canon decision-making and thought patterns solely for their love interest.
Examples of common drivers in fiction:
Abstract values such as freedom, revenge, survival, self-preservation. (If youâre writing anything political, try to figure out how they value conservatism vs liberalism, anarchy vs authoritarianism, etc).
Baggage and trauma relating to familial issues or past relationships, which can often result in maladaptive trends in behaviour or hard-lined moral codes and ideals.
Significant relationships that affect their needs, goals, etc. Pay attention to platonic, familial, or romantic bonds that are strongly featured in the canon.
All these examples are interrelated. Often our abstract values will arise from baggage, which then influence relationships, which in turn influence our values. Try to think about how each of these types of drivers may relate to one another for your characters.
Stories tend to have the most layered characterizations when the author has identified two drivers that are in conflict with one another, or one that leads to opposing behaviours. This can also be the starting point for character growth, whether itâs a heroâs journey or descent into a villain role.
3) Cultural context
Cultural context is a subcategory of drivers that I often find is overlooked.Â
The culture in which someone was raised will often influence their decision-making habits, whether they conform to it or outright reject it. Recognizing the cultural context for a character can be very useful for figuring out cool little headcanons or extrapolating behaviour/opinions in the absence of canon material.
Some examples of how culture contributes to behaviour:
The kind of art and hobbies they enjoy, or at least are on their radar.Â
Knowledge they would have about certain topicsâeven mundane things like musical instruments, certain skill sets, etc.
Their judgments on themselves and other characters, as well as the values theyâd project onto their relationships.
The actions they would take when trying to conform to social norms of the time periodâor even the set of actions that might occur to them!
Itâs a pet peeve of mine when characters behave in a way that ignores their cultural context, simply because it wonât feel realistic! Since Iâve been relating this to shipping, I will make this point: what time period and country (or coded culture) is this character in? What are courtship norms like? And, if weâre going to go the nsfw route, what âinterestsâ (haha) would exist?
Here are some quick examples of this analysis applied to two different characters: Hakuryuu Ren (Magi), Daryl Dixon (TWD). These are characters Iâve gotten requests forâlet me know if anyone is interested in others!