Ilya gets sick (literally just a cold) and starts acting as though he’s dying. Shane is fighting with every ounce of his body and soul NOT to give into Ilya begging for hugs and kisses because “no Ilyusha then we’ll both get sick, who’s going to take care of you then?” Ilya pouts about it and complains that “one little kiss won’t make you sick! You just like to watch me suffer, you sit there and watch me as I’m dying how cruel, I’m taking you out of my will” and Shane rolls his eyes every time Ilya says something like that (several times a day) and sleeps on the couch (with his phone under his pillow so Ilya can call if he needs something) and does his best to take care of him. And then he breaks, Ilya is asleep so he can’t even blame it on Ilya convincing him to kiss him. But he does. He plants a gentle kiss on his forehead. It’s been a few days and he misses Ilya. And he’s tired. And he slowly starts crawling into bed beside Ilya. Leaving more sweet, light kisses on his face. Another on his temple, two on his cheekbone, on the side of his nose, at the corner of his parted lips. His temperature wasn’t as high last time they checked it, so Shane reasons that it’s okay, that he probably won’t get sick. And so he falls asleep next to Ilya who wakes up to feel his Shane curled around him and is SO smug about it.
Except when he wakes up, Shane’s nose is running, and he feels a little warm to the touch. And he freaks out about how “I told you I would get sick, my immune system is shit!” And Ilya just laughs and holds him saying “It’s okay, you’ll live, don’t be such a baby about it Shane” and Shane is mad at Ilya (and himself) for being such a hypocrite. But ultimately gives in and lets himself be held. And he thinks to himself that maybe being sick with Ilya isn’t the worst thing in the world.
i’ve been wanting to draw her for the longest timeeee! 🤩
it was so fun to do the shading for her, as well! you can see some rough sketch lines still in there because it was originally meant to be just a sketch, but i rlly wanted to add color! 🤪
anywayysssss, i’m thinking about doing the evil big tops next…what do y’all think???
Let your character be affected by their problems, don't use them as character traits.
This isn't targeted, meant to be mean, or meant to change your writing by force, just pet peeves of mine. I've got a few things I'll talk about because they feel so common.
No matter how much caffeine they consume, your character still needs to be affected by their sleeping struggles. And caffeine consumption. Don't give them sleep issues for the eye bags! Especially if the eye bags are supposed to indicate poor health! There are other ways to do that! Don't say that they were up all night with nightmares and then fix the exhaustion with caffeine, because it doesn't work like that. They'll end up crashing eventually, and even if they drink it until they crash for bed, there's gonna be health problems that come with doing that. They're gonna have severe exhaustion issues, and never be fully satisfied with rest.
And saying that they need caffeine to function and meaning it literally? Incapable without it? Sounds like an addiction and neglected health. Give them the shakes and irritation without it. Headaches both ways. Make other characters notice and concerned. If they drink too much of it, make them tremble, or a little hyper, or wired and twitchy. Mention a caffeine crash. It's not a perfect fix all solution to being tired. It just lies to your brain and tells you you have energy when you don't.
Please, if you're going to add a detail like that, don't make it a throwaway. Make it mean something and tie it in to your story, even if it's mentioning the headaches or constant underlying exhaustion. Give them a moment to collapse, because if you don't choose when to rest, your body will. Give them a good night or two where they aren't woken by bad dreams(because everybody will have good nights sometimes).
Long post below the cut. (Elaboration on my point and ideas of how to make them affected.)
Bad sleep. A lot of people make their characters get terrible sleep and never go beyond 'just being tired' (then fixing that with caffeine) or giving them eyebags (and sometimes you can tell its for an aesthetic/character design reason) instead of making at a truly relevant trait. But not sleeping well can cause way more problems than that!(+ caffeine can make the problems worse). And sometimes not sleeping well isn't 'not getting enough sleep', it's 'not sleeping at the right times'.
Ex. I started staying up late and getting up later. (1am/2am-9am/10am). Technically, I was getting enough sleep. In reality? I was tired, not eating consistently, getting headaches and migraines, and got more irritated.
If you want your character to not sleep well, try a combo of Reasons they don't (ex. Scared of nightmares, poorly timed schedule, waking up without reason during sleep, migraines stopping them, over working, scared of being vulnerable, can't get comfortable, and the classic- woken by nightmares) and a combo of Symptoms from it (ex. Poor attention span, irritated when awake, sluggish when awake, poor short term memory, headaches and migraines, hungry more often/at weird times, and the classic- more tired than usual). Reasons may differ more often, but symptoms tend to stay consistent.
A character will also act differently because of these symptoms. At first they might try to fix being tired with caffeine, but that will make problems like headaches and migraines worse later on. Caffeine doesn't give you energy, it hides your real energy level from your brain, so long term it will make them more and more tired(read: more and more reliant on) the more they drink it to stay awake. (So yes, you can keep them on the caffeine, just be aware that it also affects them beyond keeping them awake!)
Just spice it up a little! Combine a reason or two! They get a lot of nightmares? Over working to avoid sleeping because they're scared of what they'll see in their sleep.(which can lead into fear of being vulnerable in their sleep or making a poorly times sleep schedule) They have migraines from stress? Well, now they can't sleep because they aren't comfortable and getting more migraines from lack of sleep.(And maybe being uncomfortable even when they fall asleep from exhaustion makes them wake up in the middle of the night).
Make their symptoms show! They can't remember when exactly that event is supposed to happen. Zoned out more because it's less energy than paying attention. Trying to drink more water to make their headache go away. Not reacting fast enough and struggling to hold a conversation. Covering their eyes or using a hand to block out the sun. Wincing at loud sounds. Acting like a zombie when they aren't trying to hide their exhaustion.
You can do so much for a character by changing a few small things about their sleeping habits without changing the fact that they don't sleep well. Adding this also gives weight to the story and any other details that come up later, especially when they're plot relevant.
(Notice how migraines come from the problem and make it worse? It's a brutal cycle, and you can Absolutely make that the biggest problem! I plan to write a post about migraines that I will link here for more info)
Injuries. Something else that bothers me is when they get wounds which are then treated like minor details for the story and not Constant Problems. Take stab wounds for example. A lot of people use these as a source of drama, or to up the stakes. Then they 1. ignore them during a fight (until it's convenient to acknowledge) 2. don't treat it properly (It gets bandaged once and never again) 3. It goes away after a week or two (and is never really acknowledged during that time) and 4. It never affects them again (unless its for an angst callback or Dramatic Scar Reveal).
1st of all, if you have a stab wound(read: HOLE IN YOUR BODY) then You Will Be Affected. If it damaged muscle you immediately lose some function, because Your Muscle Has A Hole In It(Which impedes your ability to use it, if that's not clear). Even if it doesn't damage muscle, moving it will hurt, your body will naturally flinch from the pain, and you will be forced to work around the new injury, especially if the knife is still in the wound (LEAVE IT THERE ITS WORKING LIKE A CORK TO KEEP YOUR BLOOD IN). Unless your character has been under intense training to function with said injuries(which probably takes Years and Resources they may not have) they Will be struggling. If your character is new to this sort of injury, they are probably gonna go into shock. Also, pain is distracting.
2nd of all, it is an absolute MUST that you clean the wound and regularly change the bandages. Infection is far more serious than a common cold, and if it is left untreated you're probably going to die. Not regularly treating the wound also means that it is more likely to heal incorrectly and cause problems later. You shouldn't get the wound wet in a shower either, so it needs to be dry wrapped while you're showering or sponge bath. Also, rest the wound. Trying to ignore it and go on about your daily life(even if it's not a high energy lifestyle) means it's taking longer to heal and risks making it worse.
3rd of all, injuries take time to heal. As previously mentioned, not taking time to rest and recover extends healing time. Movement and simple things are good for recovery, fighting or carrying heavy things are bad. Even with perfect healing conditions, it will take longer than a few weeks. 6-8 is the average healing time for stab wounds. During this time(and after, probably) bumping it will hurt, moving it will hurt, sleeping on it will hurt, doing pretty much anything to it is gonna hurt unless you're on a lotta painkillers(which also impair your brain/judgement).
4th of all, even after it heals it will have an affect on you! Big or deep scars will make skin tighter, and scars get itchy and dry sometimes. If it didn't heal properly because it wasn't cared for properly then it will hurt from time to time or just generally be uncomfortable. Trauma from the event will also affect them! If getting stabbed is new to them they may be very defensive of the area, even without realizing it. They might think about it often, their mood might change because of it. If getting stabbed isn't new, they have plenty of other experiences that this adds on to, piling the new trauma onto the old.
That's my main injury rant, and a lot of this applies to burns too. 3rd degree burns are the worst but hurt less because of nerve damage. They're a little easier to ignore than a stab wounds(shock aside) if they aren't super severe(1st degree), but you still need to take care of them. A burn needs to be cleaned, (preferably)treated with burn cream, and wrapped. If it's bad enough, it will come with muscle damage. If it isn't, burn scars tend to warp and tighten the skin, so mobility will be reduced. They also need time and rest to heal before major use.
On the other hand, I have had plenty of muscle/joint injuries(strains and distresses mostly) from gymnastics. You want an injury that can be largely ignored in favor of fighting or movement when necessary? Strain their muscles/joints (Happens over time, usually comes with intense use with little care and few breaks). Jumping, landing, running on hard surfaces too much(which cause shin splints, a totally different type of injury that sucks so, so bad in gymnastics), carrying heavy weights, or anything with impacts(like fighting) can bring this problem around eventually. You can still move it and use it up until it gives out on you(depending on the severity of the injury) and generally you can ignore the pain or push through it. But boy, does it SUCK. (Especially long term. After repeated injuries, you need to keep the joint/muscle strong to avoid pain in day to day life.) It will stick around for a while, too.
Pulled muscles actually reduce movement more than strained muscles or bruised joints and lead to more flinching and limping. Rest and ice/heat cycling helps them heal (these are a good way to force your characters to rest, too).
Awkward cut sorry
Romance/Love. A romantic relationship is another type of friendship! If you characters are in love but aren't friends, or don't even like each other, why are they in love? How are they in love? A crush can be somewhat unfounded, but if they're in love they need reasons.
If they're in a relationship but don't like each other, it could be from social pressure or expectations, but if there's no outside pressure, why be in a relationship? Why say you love each other then not like each other...at all?
Other types of love. Your characters(and people in real life) can have deep and meaningful platonic relationships! No romance needed! You can love your friends, and your pets, and your hobbies, and it isn't inherently romantic. They don't have to become romantic either. If anything, sometimes the most compelling relationships are the ones that aren't romantic, but deeply platonic.
I can't remember them off the top of my head, but the Greeks had like six or eight words for love, and they all meant different things, but they were also all love. It's beautiful
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This draft is from like a year ago now and I don't plan to finish it, but I did reread it and I think I made some really good points and articulated them really well, as well as giving good examples. (I didn't finish it because I thought it was poorly made and hypocritical at the time, but honestly, nobody is never hypocritical, and these are good points either way) It's better written than I remember.
been working on spreading the aromantic agenda lately, telling my housemates about relationship anarchy and amatonormativity, and like, they get it!!!!!!! it's been so awesome!!!
it is so refreshing to talk to people who understand that the prioritization of romance in our culture is fucked up and who want to work on prioritizing other relationships in their lives more!
