maximumelody

[maximumelody]

[maximumelody]

I’m gonna start making more of an effort to actually start posting art on here I swear.😅

Here are some semi recent pieces.

Also check out my webtoon.

#as u can maybe tell I’m quite fond of texture. #my art shit #my art blog #my original art #my own art #art blog #artistic #anime art #original art #my art #art #artist for commission #webtoon #webtoon creator #webtoon canvas

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I’m actually the same person who made this webtoon, I just wanted to reblog this here since it is technically an art blog.

So I’m i may have done a thing.

I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve always wanted to make a WEBTOON wellllll I finally did it.

Actually I’ve been working on it the entirety of this month hence my in activity, it’s a lot of work unsurprisingly.

I only hope you will give it a chance as I am in the midst of a learning curve with this thing.

But here it is...

It’s called foxglove and it is available on WEBTOONS as we speak all I ask is that you give it a look and maybe provide me with some feed back, there is a character that hasn’t been introduced yet whom I can’t wait to appear and some encouragement would be wonderful.

Foxglove is a lesbian fantasy romance with lots of magic, assassins, and drama.

Lastly I’m tagging everyone who interacted with my previous post:

@coldkryptonitecupcake @alltheastheticshit @hordefuzzball @notyourdeers @rainbowsnowflake @evangeline-cross @winterxwrites @almondboy @mystiqdreamer @astralastrid @overlord-meow @uselesslesbian6 @schattenfell @feyqueen91 @devoraks-dearest-love @booksandbobbins @ragingaces

#webtoon #webtoons #comic #lesbian webtoon #wlw comic #wlw characters #saphic #lesbian character #lesbian comic #webtoon canvas #webtoon creator

[maximumelody]

Color Synonyms

White

also: pale; blanched; sallow; pallid; waxen; spectral; translucent; albino; 

Grey

also: dust; stone; pepper;  

Black

also:  coal; slate; dusky; ebon; shadow; murky; 

Tan

also: flesh; khaki; cream; tawny; 

Brown

also:  henna; russet; sepia; chestnut; cocoa; drab; bronze; 

Red

also: terracotta ; rouge; carmine;  fire-engine; ruddy

Orange

also:  pumpkin ; rust ; 

Yellow

also: sunny; amber; saffron; hay; straw; platinum; 

Green

also: viridescent; grass; jade; forest; 

Blue

also: turquoise; cyan; ultramarine; royal; aqua; aquamarine;

Purple

also: berry;  amaranthine;

Pink

also: flushed; candy; cherry blossom; petal pink ; 

—– source: http://ingridsundberg.com/

—–additional synonyms added by me

[maximumelody]

Can’t wait to see where this is going.

about to make a lot of lotr fans very disappointed in me personally

[maximumelody]

How to Write Non-Fluent ESL English

@interneet​ asked:

Hey, I’m reading a story at the moment where immigrant characters speak in incredibly broken English. It’s really jarring. Is there a way to respectfully write characters speaking in broken/non-fluent English without it coming across unrealistic and racist or would you advise just leaving that out of your writing altogether?

This is going to turn into a bit of a guide…I’ll try not to get too carried away with linguistics stuff :)

A Note on Terminology

I’d definitely go with “non-fluent” over “broken,” as the term “broken” has quite a negative connotation that also tends to be used in describing stigmatized languages, language varieties, and dialects that are, in fact, used properly according to their own internal rules (AAVE and many Global Englishes, to name a few). 

Another term you should know for this guide is ESL and L1/L2. I’ll use L1 to refer to first language, L2 for second language, and so on—you can keep adding numbers. ESL is “English Second Language,” which is pretty self-explanatory, but there is a crucial distinction between that and dominant language. I myself am technically ESL, as I started learning English at around age 3. However, since I live in the US where English is the dominant language, I quickly gained in English proficiency and lost Japanese proficiency. While I still have around middle schooler proficiency in Japanese, English is my dominant language now. An immigrant character may be ESL but completely fluent in English.

Should You Write It?

It depends on whether or not the character’s English proficiency is plot relevant. Keep in mind that with writing non-fluent english, you don’t want to overload speech with mistakes, or make it incomprehensible. The most you should do is use it to establish character (say a character has just moved overseas, and in the story their English improves over time) or to further plot (maybe there is important info that needs to be communicated and there’s a barrier). If it’s not relevant, and it’s just in order to establish that they’re a foreigner, don’t do it. It’s Othering, and there are other ways to establish culture and culture shock. As I said before, not all immigrants have a poor command of their destination country’s dominant language. 

The How-To

There are two components that I’ll address: 

The types of errors to include, and

Writing accents (or not)

First, grammatical features are better to use than phonetic ones. We’ll get to why when we talk about accents, but for now, note that it’s more respectful to use for ESL errors than pronunciation. Here are some examples of grammatical features: 

Word order

Inflections (eg. the attachment of affixes like -s, -ed, etc. to indicate tense, person, number, etc. of a noun or verb)

The presence or absence of certain morphological constructs that appear in some languages but not others (eg. Japanese has topic markers like wa, and English doesn’t; English has definite/indefinite articles like the but Japanese doesn’t)

If you’re writing an ESL character, ask beta readers & mods on this blog who speak the character’s L1 to see if the grammatical features of your character’s ESL speech are consistent with typical English fluency errors. Here’s an ask I answered on Japanese, and Mod Rune gives a good example on Korean here: 

A Korean is more likely to try and put someone’s title behind their last name (e.g. Obama President rather than President Obama, Lestrade Inspector instead of Inspector Lestrade)

Second, we want to avoid in-dialogue portrayals of phonetic differences, which is also called “eye dialect.” Here are some examples from a piece of media many of us are probably familiar with, but I don’t think deserves a citation: 

“Will you please inform zis ‘Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?”

“Eh? No, don’ go! I’ve — I’ve never met another one before”

“Anuzzer what, precisely?”

“Another half-giant, o’ course.”

Both speakers have an accent that is shown within the writing through misspellings of the words they’re speaking (one is French, one is West Country English). This is a stereotypical (and often hard-to-read) portrayal of accents that Others the speaker and unfairly puts either their dialect differences or their perceived proficiency in English at the forefront of their dialogue. And this is with European characters! Imagine how this would look on people from other parts of the globe. 

Another major reason why we want to avoid eye dialect is because of the racist history of (pejoratively) writing accents in literature. In early American writing, Black characters were written according to minstrel stereotypes, and with it, a stereotypical way of speaking that was emphasized through eye dialect. Here’s a thesis that explains the history of eye dialect in American literature to supplement that idea, if you want to learn more. In addition, unless you’re a linguist or dialect coach who is trained in the phonetic inventory of the L1 & speaker tendencies, you tend to perpetuate media stereotypes that may not be reflective of actual speech. This can be very harmful. 

Here’s a link on how to describe accents instead, and here are some good perspectives on being a 1st generation immigrant and struggling with accents (how that affects them when they’re teased for it, and also strategies they have taken to overcome a knowledge gap). 

In Conclusion

Before writing an ESL speaker’s English in a different way from the rest of the cast, consider whether or not this is really needed in your story.

If you do decide to write their speech differently, look at the grammatical features of their L1 and talk to real speakers of that L1 to get a realistic idea.

AVOID EYE DIALECT! 

Thanks for stickin’ with me, folks. 

~Mod Rina

[maximumelody]

Is “Magical South Asian” a thing?

reeseestrellabooks said:

Hey! I’m here to ask about my Bangladeshi-coded character (with a detachment from earth culture) and his role in my WIP. He’s meant to help one of my MC’s who’s Afro-Panamanian (of the diasporia) throughout her new life in a magical world, and eventually take on the job that he has. He’s not the only South Asian character there, but I wanted but I wanted to know if he would negatively fall into a trope of some kind? (and I know if the Magical Negro trope wouldn’t hold up at all here)

The Specters of Eat, Pray, Love and Wellness Tourism

I think the main trope you are seeking to avoid is the portrayal of South Asians as literal magical/ spiritual healers (Think Eat, Pray, Love). It is not as egregious as the Magical Negro Trope, but nevertheless has similar themes of care-taking and subservience (Particularly within the context of wellness/ medical tourism). This trope is particularly harmful given global representation of South Asians that prioritize non-scheduled caste Hindus (South Asian spirituality is almost always presented from a Hindu perspective despite the plethora of South Asian religious traditions) over other castes and religions.

As always for South Asian characters, please consider your character’s background. You’ve mentioned nationality, but not religion and ethnicity, which are usually more important considerations in the coding context for S. Asia than nationality. Please consult our naming guide if you require a starting point. 

- Marika.

Possible Fixes

There is a simple solution to avoid the magical Asian – give them a subplot. SHow they are flawed and undergoing their own journey. The problem with the stereotype is that a Magical Minority character exists to serve others. That’s not how life works. Everyone has their own story. It’s up to you to find it.

- Jaya

[maximumelody]

disclaimer: I am east asian. if anyone who is not white sees anything wrong with my phrasing, inaccuracies, or insensitivity, or something I missed, please feel free to add on. I'm just one person with one perspective; none of what I say should be taken as The Singular way to draw an Asian character. if you havent done so already, please take the effort to expand your view of Asian culture outside this one tutorial.

if a white person reblogs this and adds something stupid I'm going to bite and kick you like a wild animal

[maximumelody]

Art Prompt 469: She was adorned with gold. 

 Let this prompt inspire you to draw. Who is the one being adorned? Is it a man or woman? A person or animal? Or maybe something else entirely?

ArtPrompts.org

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Art Prompt 472: Cute little witch. 

 Let this prompt inspire you to draw! Share your drawing with us. 

Visit ArtPrompts.org for more creative prompts meant for drawing and sketching.

[maximumelody]

May we pretty please get some headcanons about how Nadia reacts to an MC that absolutely loves her abs? (Kisses them, always touching, etc.)

I was debating whether I should answer this during the upcoming Nadia week… but since you asked so nicely

Nadia x Abs loving MC 

Nadia knows she’s beautiful, knows she’s attractive. Compliments are thrown left and right every time she enters a room. But there’s something about the way MC looks at her, something about how MC’s touches linger on her skin, that sends shivers down her spine. 

Nadia is poised and bold. But the moment MC looks at her like that, her cheeks flush and something electric blooms in her chest. She’ll pull MC into their private chambers and thinks she’s got the upper hand when she sinks her teeth into MC’s neck and has MC panting against the shell her ear.

But MC got a few tricks up their sleeve. Nadia has a thing for body worship, most of the time it feeds on her existing powerplay kink. She wants to worship and be worshipped. MC would happily get on their knees either way. 

MC loves, and I mean loves Nadia’s abs. It’s toned, defined and sculpted by the gods themselves. Nadia’s cheeks flush every time MC hugs her from behind and runs their fingers down her toned abs, always letting out an appreciative hum. 

Nadia finds amusement in how much MC covets this particular part of her body. She’ll probably wear something that exposes her tummy just to tease MC. Or something that can easily be shifted. 

MC can spend hours upon hours on leaving lazy trails of kisses on them. MC’s tongue darts out appreciatively as they move down Nadia’s quivering body. MC’s teeth scrape and bite against taut muscles before moving down to where Nadia needs MC the most. 

During their afterglow, MC likes to rest their head on Nadia’s hip, idly tracing patterns on her tummy. If Nadia will allow it, MC would probably spend an eternity lavishing those abs with undivided attention.  

[maximumelody]

I need someone who messages ‘too much’

I need someone who wants to try 'too much’

I need someone who wants to visit me and hold me 'too much’

I need someone who wants to meet for coffee several times a week just to see me and catch up

I need someone who is willing to give their all just like I do

I am that person who is 'too much’ and I just want a balanced love where I know where I stand and dont constantly feel like im the one whos more in love.

[maximumelody]

[maximumelody]

Muslim Character Questions Round-Up!

Here is a helpful list of all of our posts about Muslim characters (up to date as of April 14, 2015). 

Muslim Woman Apocalypse Wear: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/116312637875/what-would-be-acceptable-for-a-muslim-woman-to

Muslim Vampires: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/114694169750/so-i-wanted-to-ask-about-a-post-where-you-talked

Muslim Werewolf Boy & Jewish Girl Friendship: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/114521564100/i-want-to-write-a-friendship-between-a-werewolf

Muslim Character Wants to be Hafiza: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/113708866808/i-have-a-little-somali-american-muslim-girl-in

Non-Muslim Veils/Desert Dwellers: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/113358823313/im-writing-a-story-with-a-princess-woc-and-as-she

Magic-Using Middle Eastern Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/113004084556/hi-i-love-your-blog-and-it-has-made-me-open-my

Muslim Female Protag; Studying Abroad with Demons: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/112723493574/hi-so-in-my-novel-my-mc-is-a-muslim-girl-who-was

Muslim Smuggler Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/111987712278/muslim-smuggler-character

Saudi Arabian Djinn Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/110474368852/saudi-arabian-genie

99 Attributes of God: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/110466080472/the-99-attributes-of-god

Wearing Scarf to Honor Heritage: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/110286554183/set-in-canada-one-of-my-characters-in-my-book-is

BONUS! Follow-up Part I: Can My Muslim Character Speak For Me II (Muslims and Extra-Marital Sex): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109823853373/can-my-muslim-character-speak-for-me-take-two

BONUS! Follow-up Part II: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109924826212/to-kaye-your-response-regarding-making-a-muslim

Muslim Superheroes: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109503121737/muslim-superheroes

White/Pale Characters with Arabic/Jewish Names: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109426818420/pale-characters-with-arabic-or-jewish-name

Indian Muslim Names: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109316938702/i-have-an-indian-character-with-a-muslim

Muslim Djinn and Rewriting A Religion: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109238705204/muslim-genies-rewriting-a-religion

Malay Muslim Customs: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109229126357/hey-first-off-i-just-wanted-to-say-that-i-love

Yiddish, Mizrahi, Palestinian Names: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108463835614/how-to-find-yiddish-mizrahi-and-palestinian

Arab Women Characters, Tropes to Avoid: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109132959194/arab-women-characters-tropes-to-avoid

Reading Holy Books to Gain Perspective on a Character (from a Muslim and Jewish perspective): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108191176667/if-one-or-several-of-my-characters-especially

Muslim Magical Girls: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108200195494/is-a-muslim-magical-girl-offensive

Muslims in China: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/107909113346/on-one-hand-im-definitely-not-chinese-so-perhaps

BONUS! Follow-up (aka Don’t Speak Over Marginalized People): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108100437380/on-speaking-over-marginalized-people

Naming Muslim Woman After Hindu God: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/106922167611/hi-ive-been-recommended-to-come-speak-to-you-i

Racism in France (not an ask specifically about Muslims, but there is a discussion on Islamophobic sentiment and laws in France): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/106441489097/hello-first-of-all-i-wanted-to-thank-you-for-all

Muslim Woman and Non-Muslim Man Relationship: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/106012101432/google-only-gives-me-islamphobic-answers-when-i

Muslim Pakistani-American Woman and ESL: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/105626540245/pakistani-american-and-esl

Gay Muslim Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/105194780612/hi-there-so-my-main-character-is-muslim-and-gay

Headscarves With No Religious Significance: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/103329046487/headscarves-with-no-religious-significance

Speaking Arabic and English: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/102731441673/esl-speaking-arabic-and-english

Indicating Muslim or Jewish Characters (Advice on “coding” your religious characters): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/102650448564/indicating-muslim-and-or-jewish-characters

Arabia-Inspired Fantasy: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/101126591465/writing-an-arab-inspired-fantasy

Female Muslim Scientist Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100332593723/female-muslim-scientist-characters

How Does a Hijab Work?: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100258713669/the-workings-of-hijabs

BONUS! Follow-up Part I: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100248585186/muslim-characteristics-and-the-purpose-of-the

BONUS! Follow-up Part II: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100351197938/muslim-characteristics-and-the-hijab-commentary

Islam & Alcohol: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100193047899/islam-alcohol

BONUS! Follow-up: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100252265706/islam-alcohol

Remarriage in Islam: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100095329304/remarriage-in-islam

POC Profile: Muslim Pakistani London-er: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/98342412513/muslim-pakistani-london-er

Tokenized Muslim Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/97410784764/hey-so-youve-often-mentioned-that-if-a-character

Arab Stereotypes (The Myth of Arab = Muslim): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/95149270852/arabian-stereotypes

[maximumelody]

Sorry but I NEED the scorpion chair.

i love the internet i found a crab chair

[maximumelody]

Poem Bangkok pre-fall 2020 “Celestial Sin”

[maximumelody]

How to Draw Native People: a Tutorial/Reference Guide

As requested, here is a basic guide for how to draw Indigenous peoples (mostly focused on North America)! Also please note that this is not an exhaustive list of Native American phenotypes/features, and more like an intro on very common features that can be found in us, and even then, not altogether at once on a single person’s face. I highly encourage the use of references and care taken into research when drawing. I may do a part 2 that goes slightly more into depth, but for now, enjoy part one.

Resouces:

How to draw Native Skin tutorial (don’t draw us red!)

List of Native American Celebrities, which include their tribe(s) and home country, with 1,250 names, to use for your referencing pleasure

How to draw black people by Peachdeluxe, & Black hair in depth by misslaney for mixed black Natives

How to draw East Asian People, a guide by Chuwenjie, for mixed Asian Natives AND because it includes a lovely tutorial on monolid eyes, a shared feature of Native people

get drawin!!