Here’s The Thing

Pirates of the Caribbean spoilers!!!!

I really think that Hector Barbosa is dead (even though I don’t like it). He’s death was so sad but at the same time meaningful it just made me cry. I also loved the fact that he was a father, only for some hours though. The main reason that I think he is dead is because of Jack’s line when he says “I have a reunion beyond the horizon” or something like that. I think he’s going to look for Hector just like everyone looked for him in the third movie

Reasons To Improve Your Lifestyle

At times, I find it extremely difficult to find the right motivation and inspiration to build and sustain healthy habits. I made a list for myself and altered it a bit in the hopes that maybe putting it out there could help you as well. 

There are millions of people who are starving right this second and they would kill to have access to such bountiful amounts of such healthy foods as you.

You have absolutely 0 excuse not to. Laziness is unacceptable. 

Discipline is an incredibly valuable skill and quality that will prove to be even more useful and beneficial in the future 

Don’t you want to look like a movie star/Victoria’s Secret model? 

Eating healthy makes your body smell, look, and.. taste.. better so DO IT

Good hygiene, eating habits, and exercise routines lead to a more attractive body and a longer life 

Exercise to live a longer life to spend with family, friends, spouses, and children  

Exercising and healthy diet makes you a good role model for your siblings and your future children 

It’s super attractive to most anyone when you take care of yourself by feeding yourself healthy food and doing things to keep yourself in shape 

Exercise and healthy eating has proven to lift your mood and promotes overall positivity 

You can use exercise as the alternative to medications and therapy for anxiety. depression, and many other mental illnesses.

Exercise and healthy diet can prevent and slow the effects of nearly any disease as an alternative or addition to prescription drugs and expensive medical treatments 

Exercise makes you stronger and more able bodied to complete daily tasks and defend yourself against predators, AKA it makes you more of a bad ass and more comfortable as a singular human being to protect yourself 

Exercise boosts your daily energy in order to promote creativity, motivation, and ability to be awake and alert longer. 

Exercise promotes memory storage in the brain making it easy for you to retain learned and studied information in school, benefiting your overall studying career 

Exercise promotes healthy habits and paves the way toward being able to do anything you set your mind to 

Exercise is a mindset that promotes individual empowerment and the willingness to love and take care of yourself, inevitably resulting in a longer and happier life

Request a prompt list/writing advice/playlist/study help post here

Character Development Questions: Hard Mode

Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?

Has your character ever fired a gun? If so, what was their first target?

Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?

In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

Is your character bothered by the sight of blood? If so, in what way?

Does your character remember names or faces easier?

Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

What does your character like in other people?

What does your character dislike in other people?

How quick is your character to trust someone else?

How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

How does your character behave around children?

How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

How does your character behave around people they like?

How does your character behave around people they dislike?

Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

How does your character treat people in service jobs?

Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

Travis Fimmel and other cast members from Warcraft answer google questions

I really love this motion he does with his arm because it almost looks like he’s bowing/gesturing after a performance or something.

Writing with Color: Description Guide - Words for Skin Tone

We discussed the issues describing People of Color by means of food in Part I of this guide, which brought rise to even more questions, mostly along the lines of “So, if food’s not an option, what can I use?” Well, I was just getting to that!

This final portion focuses on describing skin tone, with photo and passage examples provided throughout. I hope to cover everything from the use of straight-forward description to the more creatively-inclined, keeping in mind the questions we’ve received on this topic.

So let’s get to it.

S T A N D A R D  D E S C R I P T I O N

B a s i c  C o l o r s

Pictured above: Black, Brown, Beige, White, Pink.

“She had brown skin.”

This is a perfectly fine description that, while not providing the most detail, works well and will never become cliché.

Describing characters’ skin as simply brown or beige works on its own, though it’s not particularly telling just from the range in brown alone.

C o m p l e x  C o l o r s

These are more rarely used words that actually “mean” their color. Some of these have multiple meanings, so you’ll want to look into those to determine what other associations a word might have.

Pictured above: Umber, Sepia, Ochre, Russet, Terra-cotta, Gold, Tawny, Taupe, Khaki, Fawn.

Complex colors work well alone, though often pair well with a basic color in regards to narrowing down shade/tone.

For example: Golden brown, russet brown, tawny beige…

As some of these are on the “rare” side, sliding in a definition of the word within the sentence itself may help readers who are unfamiliar with the term visualize the color without seeking a dictionary.

“He was tall and slim, his skin a russet, reddish-brown.”

Comparisons to familiar colors or visuals are also helpful:

“His skin was an ochre color, much like the mellow-brown light that bathed the forest.”

M o d i f i e r s 

Modifiers, often adjectives, make partial changes to a word.The following words are descriptors in reference to skin tone.

D a r k - D e e p - R i c h - C o o l

W a r m - M e d i u m - T a n

F a i r - L i g h t - P a l e

Rich Black, Dark brown, Warm beige, Pale pink…

If you’re looking to get more specific than “brown,” modifiers narrow down shade further.

Keep in mind that these modifiers are not exactly colors.

As an already brown-skinned person, I get tan from a lot of sun and resultingly become a darker, deeper brown. I turn a pale, more yellow-brown in the winter.

While best used in combination with a color, I suppose words like “tan” “fair” and “light” do work alone; just note that tan is less likely to be taken for “naturally tan” and much more likely a tanned White person.

Calling someone “dark” as description on its own is offensive to some and also ambiguous. (See: Describing Skin as Dark)

U n d e r t o n e s

Undertones are the colors beneath the skin, seeing as skin isn’t just one even color but has more subdued tones within the dominating palette.

Mentioning the undertones within a character’s skin is an even more precise way to denote skin tone.

As shown, there’s a difference between say, brown skin with warm orange-red undertones (Kelly Rowland) and brown skin with cool, jewel undertones (Rutina Wesley).

“A dazzling smile revealed the bronze glow at her cheeks.”

“He always looked as if he’d ran a mile, a constant tinge of pink under his tawny skin.”

Standard Description Passage

“Farah’s skin, always fawn, had burned and freckled under the summer’s sun. Even at the cusp of autumn, an uneven tan clung to her skin like burrs. So unlike the smooth, red-brown ochre of her mother, which the sun had richened to a blessing.”

-From my story “Where Summer Ends” featured in Strange Little Girls

Here the state of skin also gives insight on character.

Note my use of “fawn” in regards to multiple meaning and association. While fawn is a color, it’s also a small, timid deer, which describes this very traumatized character of mine perfectly.

Though I use standard descriptions of skin tone more in my writing, at the same time I’m no stranger to creative descriptions, and do enjoy the occasional artsy detail of a character.

C R E A T I V E  D E S C R I P T I O N

Whether compared to night-cast rivers or day’s first light…I actually enjoy seeing Characters of Colors dressed in artful detail.

I’ve read loads of descriptions in my day of white characters and their “smooth rose-tinged ivory skin”, while the PoC, if there, are reduced to something from a candy bowl or a Starbucks drink, so to actually read of PoC described in lavish detail can be somewhat of a treat.

Still, be mindful when you get creative with your character descriptions. Too many frills can become purple-prose-like, so do what feels right for your writing when and where. Not every character or scene warrants a creative description, either. Especially if they’re not even a secondary character.

Using a combination of color descriptions from standard to creative is probably a better method than straight creative. But again, do what’s good for your tale.

N A T U R AL  S E T T I N G S - S K Y

Pictured above: Harvest Moon -Twilight, Fall/Autumn Leaves, Clay, Desert/Sahara, Sunlight - Sunrise - Sunset - Afterglow - Dawn- Day- Daybreak, Field - Prairie - Wheat, Mountain/Cliff, Beach/Sand/Straw/Hay.

Now before you run off to compare your heroine’s skin to the harvest moon or a cliff side, think about the associations to your words.

When I think cliff, I think of jagged, perilous, rough. I hear sand and picture grainy, yet smooth. Calm. mellow.

So consider your character and what you see fit to compare them to.

Also consider whose perspective you’re describing them from. Someone describing a person they revere or admire may have a more pleasant, loftier description than someone who can’t stand the person.

“Her face was like the fire-gold glow of dawn, lifting my gaze, drawing me in.”

“She had a sandy complexion, smooth and tawny.”

Even creative descriptions tend to draw help from your standard words.

F L O W E R S

Pictured above: Calla lilies, Western Coneflower, Hazel Fay, Hibiscus, Freesia, Rose

It was a bit difficult to find flowers to my liking that didn’t have a 20 character name or wasn’t called something like “chocolate silk” so these are the finalists. 

You’ll definitely want to avoid purple-prose here.

Also be aware of flowers that most might’ve never heard of. Roses are easy, as most know the look and coloring(s) of this plant. But Western coneflowers? Calla lilies? Maybe not so much.

“He entered the cottage in a huff, cheeks a blushing brown like the flowers Nana planted right under my window. Hazel Fay she called them, was it?”

A S S O R T E D  P L A N T S &  N A T U R E

Pictured above: Cattails, Seashell, Driftwood, Pinecone, Acorn, Amber

These ones are kinda odd. Perhaps because I’ve never seen these in comparison to skin tone, With the exception of amber.

At least they’re common enough that most may have an idea what you’re talking about at the mention of “pinecone.“ 

I suggest reading out your sentences aloud to get a better feel of how it’ll sounds.

“Auburn hair swept past pointed ears, set around a face like an acorn both in shape and shade.”

I pictured some tree-dwelling being or person from a fantasy world in this example, which makes the comparison more appropriate.

I don’t suggest using a comparison just “cuz you can” but actually being thoughtful about what you’re comparing your character to and how it applies to your character and/or setting.

W O O D

Pictured above: Mahogany, Walnut, Chestnut, Golden Oak, Ash

Wood can be an iffy description for skin tone. Not only due to several of them having “foody” terminology within their names, but again, associations.

Some people would prefer not to compare/be compared to wood at all, so get opinions, try it aloud, and make sure it’s appropriate to the character if you do use it.

“The old warlock’s skin was a deep shade of mahogany, his stare serious and firm as it held mine.”

M E T A L S

Pictured above: Platinum, Copper, Brass, Gold, Bronze

Copper skin, brass-colored skin, golden skin…

I’ve even heard variations of these used before by comparison to an object of the same properties/coloring, such as penny for copper.

These also work well with modifiers.

“The dress of fine white silks popped against the deep bronze of her skin.”

G E M S T O N E S - M I N E R A LS

Pictured above: Onyx, Obsidian, Sard, Topaz, Carnelian, Smoky Quartz, Rutile, Pyrite, Citrine, Gypsum

These are trickier to use. As with some complex colors, the writer will have to get us to understand what most of these look like.

If you use these, or any more rare description, consider if it actually “fits” the book or scene.

Even if you’re able to get us to picture what “rutile” looks like, why are you using this description as opposed to something else? Have that answer for yourself.

“His skin reminded her of the topaz ring her father wore at his finger, a gleaming stone of brown, mellow facades.” 

P H Y S I C A L  D E S C R I P T I ON

Physical character description can be more than skin tone.

Show us hair, eyes, noses, mouth, hands…body posture, body shape, skin texture… though not necessarily all of those nor at once.

Describing features also helps indicate race, especially if your character has some traits common within the race they are, such as afro hair to a Black character.

How comprehensive you decide to get is up to you. I wouldn’t overdo it and get specific to every mole and birthmark. Noting defining characteristics is good, though, like slightly spaced front teeth, curls that stay flopping in their face, hands freckled with sunspots…

G E N E R A L  T I P S

Indicate Race Early: I suggest indicators of race be made at the earliest convenience within the writing, with more hints threaded throughout here and there.

Get Creative On Your Own: Obviously, I couldn’t cover every proper color or comparison in which has been “approved” to use for your characters’ skin color, so it’s up to you to use discretion when seeking other ways and shades to describe skin tone.

Skin Color May Not Be Enough: Describing skin tone isn’t always enough to indicate someone’s ethnicity. As timeless cases with readers equating brown to “dark white” or something, more indicators of race may be needed.

Describe White characters and PoC Alike: You should describe the race and/or skin tone of your white characters just as you do your Characters of Color. If you don’t, you risk implying that White is the default human being and PoC are the “Other”).

PSA: Don’t use “Colored.” Based on some asks we’ve received using this word, I’d like to say that unless you or your character is a racist grandmama from the 1960s, do not call People of Color “colored” please. 

Not Sure Where to Start? You really can’t go wrong using basic colors for your skin descriptions. It’s actually what many people prefer and works best for most writing. Personally, I tend to describe my characters using a combo of basic colors + modifiers, with mentions of undertones at times. I do like to veer into more creative descriptions on occasion.

Want some alternatives to “skin” or “skin color”? Try: Appearance, blend, blush, cast, coloring, complexion, flush, glow, hue, overtone, palette, pigmentation, rinse, shade, sheen, spectrum, tinge, tint, tone, undertone, value, wash.

Skin Tone Resources

List of Color Names

The Color Thesaurus

Things that are Brown (blog)

Skin Undertone & Color Matching

Tips and Words on Describing Skin

Photos: Undertones Described (Modifiers included)

Online Thesaurus (try colors, such as “red” & “brown”)

Don’t Call me Pastries: Creative Skin Tones w/ pics 3 2 1

Writing & Description Guides

WWC Guide: Words to Describe Hair

Writing with Color: Description & Skin Color Tags

Describing Characters of Color (Passage Examples)

7 Offensive Mistakes Well-intentioned Writers Make

I tried to be as comprehensive as possible with this guide, but if you have a question regarding describing skin color that hasn’t been answered within part I or II of this guide, or have more questions after reading this post, feel free to ask!

~ Mod Colette

Honey Badger Don't Care

Found this little nugget:

“It is ironic how often Hufflepuff is underestimated, given that its mascot is one of the most dangerous animals in the world. The African honey badger is known for being impervious to bee stings (with African bees being among the most toxic on the planet), are known for being able to fend off and reduce snakes to shredded flesh, and a single African honey badger is able to kill three lions on its own.”

“They didn’t see the video before we actually filmed the scene. We don’t do that because they’re super method actors, but just because we wanted to be filming when they actually saw it for the first time, so they could actually live in their first response to seeing Bobby having his eye gouged out. Tommy Flanagan just broke down, and some of it is in the episode.”

The Writer’s Guide to Burns, Part 1: Depth and Percentage

First, I would like to start this post with a little bit of a disclaimer. Burns are absolutely horrific things. They can destroy our sense of self, of even being able to see ourselves as truly human. They inflict pain in such types and amounts as to be mind-boggling, perhaps even debilitating. This series comes with content warnings for burns, childhood burns, pain, critical illness, ICU stays, and comparisons of human flesh to that of animals. Ultimately, it’s what we are.

A quick image search will turn up horrendously graphic images of people whose lives have been completely changed–some might use the word “destroyed”–by burns. I’m endeavoring to keep the images to illustrations, rather than actual photographs. I may succeed, I may not. I strongly recommend you do NOT search for these images. They’re absofuckinglutely horrific.

For my own part, I’ve collected people out of fires, and not all of them have lived. I’ve done my best to keep them alive and deliver them safely to the burn unit. I’ve also spent a brief amount of time rotating through the burn unit at a major, world-known medical center and have been fortunate enough to get lectures from their staff on a  couple of occasions.

Being exposed to people who’ve been burned like that changes you.

It changes the way you’re willing to perceive human lives. We are no longer indestructible. We are knit of flesh, and we roast, just like any other. We are so very, very fragile.

In this series of posts I will do my best to keep these memories out, to stick to the medicine and not the experience. But it may creep in around the edges.

So this series is dedicated to burn victims, to their families, and to the godsdamned courageous Burn ICU nurses and doctors who care for the most-badly burned. Thank you for all that you do.

Burn Depth and Degree

There are multiple ways to classify burns. However, I’ll use the two most common ones, which classify burns based on depth.

Burns are typically classified into degrees, which talk about how far into the skin burns go. I’ll go into detail after this handy illustration, courtesy of Medscape (WARNING: That linked slideshow contains graphic images).

Courtesy of Medscape.

First-degree burns are the least serious. They damage only the top layer of skin (the epidermis), and tend to come from the coolest sources around. The skin may turn red, and be painful, but won’t be permanently damaged. Humans can develop first-degree burns from thermal (heat) sources, or from UV radiation, such as a sunburn.

Second-degree burns are more serious. As you can see above, the dermis, the underlayer of the skin (which contains things like sweat glands and certain nerve endings). Burns like this may blister – this is a relatively reliable indication of a second degree burn.

I cannot overstate this enough: second degree burns are extremely painful, especially across large areas of the body.

Third-degree burns are burns that have made their way through the entire layer of the dermis and into the subcutaneous tissue. These are the burns that destroy underlying blood vessels and cause them to coagulate, that destroy nerve endings.

The tissue itself may look waxy and white in color, or it may char over or turn brown. It may gain a leathery appearance.

Third-degree burns may also continue to burn deeper, causing damage to the underlying muscle and even bone. Burns, under the right circumstances, can cause amputations, though these are rare.

One other thing  worth noting about 3rd-degree burns: the center of them doesn’t hurt, because the underlying nerves have been burned away. However, no 3rd-degree burn is isolated. Because that tissue retains heat, it will always burn the area around it. A third degree burn will always have a circumferential a second degree burn around it, and that second degree burn will hurt all to hell.

4th-6th degree burns: You may sometimes see people referring to burns as “4th degree” burns, all the way up to 6th degree burns. This is an older nomenclature; these numbers indicate burns below the depth of the skin, into the muscle tissue and underlying organs. But this is, at least in my service area, outdated terminology. Burns this deep are still categorized as 3rd degree.

Partial- and Full-Thickness Burns

This is an easier way of classifying burn depth. Partial-thickness burns only involve the epidermis and potentially part of the dermis layer – 1st and 2nd degree – while anything worse involves all of the dermal layers (3rd degree). The burn unit I’ve worked most closely with actually prefers this nomenclature, but the other is so well known I had to include it as well.

Common Burn Sources

Burns can come from one of several sources. They may be because of direct heat, such as in a house fire, or from a hot liquid splashing on someone. Critical burns have come from coffee cups and frying pans, especially in small children, who love to grab at things without understanding why grabbing the pot handle on the stove may be a terrible idea.

This blog does not give real world advice. However, if there are small children near you, turn your godsdamned pot handles IN on the stovetop. Childhood burns are preventable. Prevent them.

Yes, I’m willing to break a very strict blog policy I’ve had since day one for this. It’s that important, and it’s that simple. Don’t give them anything to grab.

The Rule of 9s

Estimating burn size is an inexact science, but we’ve sure tried! The Rule of 9 gives a quick estimate of “percent” of the burn – specifically, the percentage of the patient’s Body Surface Area that’s burned (%BSA in medslang).

The chart looks like this:

Image courtesy of WebMD

As you can see, each aspect of the body accounts for 9% of total body surface area, except for the genitals, which account for 1% of BSA regardless of configuration or size. As my EMS instructors like to say, even Ron Jeremy’s 1% is still only 1%.

So a person with complete circumferential burns of one leg would have burns over 18% BSA (Anterior: 9, posterior: 9; 9+9=18%). Meanwhile, if the burns encompassed the abdomen and anterior right forearm, their %BSA would be 13.5 (9% + 4.5%). A burn over the entire lumbar area, half the upper back, and entire left arm would have (9% + 4.5% + 9% = ) 22.5% BSA burns.

For smaller areas, the area of the patient’s palm is equivalent to 1% of BSA.

For writing, %BSA is only important as a throwaway comment, but it’s worth the quick math to figure out how much the character is burned so a medical character can sound like a smartypants. (“Mister Rogerthorn has full-thickness burns over 36% of his body” sounds quite official!)

That’s It for Part 1!

This post is running long, so we’re going to stop here for now. Next time on this series we’ll talk about burn first aid and field care, along with co-morbidities we might see (including inhalation burns and carbon monoxide poisoning).

Thanks so much for your time, and for your attention, and I’ll see you in Part 2!

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

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