s-harpermarcel - Tumblr blog

s-harpermarcel · 2 months

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Need help with groceries and medical supplies if we could get 100 dollars we would be set! Please share if you can

V3nm0- Transmascmoss

P@yp@l- Alexc94

C@sh@pp- Transmascmoss

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s-harpermarcel · 2 months

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it's always so fascinating and heartbreaking when a character in a story is simultaneously idolized and abused. a chosen prophet destined for martyrdom. a child prodigy forced to grow up too fast. a powerful warrior raised as nothing but a weapon. there's just something so uniquely messed up about singing someone's praises whilst destroying them.

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s-harpermarcel · 3 months

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more stuff about becoming a god being inherently dehumanizing pls

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s-harpermarcel · 5 months

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#cait corrain #writblr #bookblr #remember to support the authos affected #xiran has a list somewhere on their twt

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s-harpermarcel · 5 months

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Naming International POC Characters: Do Your Research.

This post is part of a double feature for the same ask. First check out Mod Colette's answer to OP's original question at: A Careful Balance: Portraying a Black Character's Relationship with their Hair. Below are notes on character naming from Mod Rina.

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@writingraccoon said:

My character is black in a dungeons and dragons-like fantasy world. His name is Kazuki Haile (pronounced hay-lee), and his mother is this world's equivalent of Japanese, which is where his first name is from, while his father is this world's equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. He looks much more like his father, and has hair type 4a. [...]

Hold on a sec.

Haile (pronounced hay-lee), [...] [H]is father is this world’s equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from.

OP, where did you get this name? Behindthename.com, perhaps?

Note how it says, “Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Check marks indicate the level to which a name has been verified.” Do you see any check marks, OP?

What language is this, by the way? If we only count official languages, Ethiopia has 5: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya. If we count everything native to that region? Over 90 languages. And I haven't even mentioned the dormant/extinct ones. Do you know which language this name comes from? Have you determined Kazuki’s father’s ethnic group, religion, and language(s)? Do you know just how ethnically diverse Ethiopia is?

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To All Looking for Character Names on the Internet:

Skip the name aggregators and baby name lists. They often do not cite their sources, even if they’re pulling from credible ones, and often copy each other.

If you still wish to use a name website, find a second source that isn’t a name website.

Find at least one real life individual, living or dead, who has this given name or surname. Try Wikipedia’s lists of notable individuals under "List of [ethnicity] people." You can even try searching Facebook! Pay attention to when these people were born for chronological accuracy/believability.

Make sure you know the language the name comes from, and the ethnicity/culture/religion it’s associated with.

Make sure you understand the naming practices of that culture—how many names, where they come from, name order, and other conventions.

Make sure you have the correct pronunciation of the name. Don’t always trust Wikipedia or American pronunciation guides on Youtube. Try to find a native speaker or language lesson source, or review the phonology & orthography and parse out the string one phoneme at a time.

Suggestions for web sources:

Wikipedia! Look for: “List of [language] [masculine/feminine] given names,” “List of most common [language] family names,” “List of most common surnames in [continent],” and "List of [ethnicity] people."

Census data! Harder to find due to language barriers & what governments make public, but these can really nail period accuracy. This may sound obvious, but look at the year of the character's birth, not the year your story takes place.

Forums and Reddit. No really. Multicultural couples and expats will often ask around for what to name their children. There’s also r/namenerds, where so many folks have shared names in their language that they now have “International Name Threads.” These are all great first-hand sources for name connotations—what’s trendy vs. old-fashioned, preppy vs. nerdy, or classic vs. overused vs. obscure.

~ ~ ~

Luckily for OP, I got very curious and did some research. More on Ethiopian & Eritrean naming, plus mixed/intercultural naming and my recommendations for this character, under the cut. It's really interesting, I promise!

Ethiopian and Eritrean Naming Practices

Haile (IPA: /həjlə/ roughly “hy-luh.” Both a & e are /ə/, a central “uh” sound) is a phrase meaning “power of” in Ge’ez, sometimes known as Classical Ethiopic, which is an extinct/dormant Semitic language that is now used as a liturgical language in Ethiopian churches (think of how Latin & Sanskrit are used today). So it's a religious name, and was likely popularized by the regnal name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (“Power of the Trinity”). Ironically, for these reasons it is about as nationalistically “Ethiopian” as a name can get.

Haile is one of the most common “surnames” ever in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Why was that in quotes? Because Ethiopians and Eritreans don’t have surnames. Historically, when they needed to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name, they affixed their father’s given name, and then sometimes their grandfather’s. In modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, their given name is followed by a parent’s (usually father’s) name. First-generation diaspora abroad may solidify this name into a legal “surname” which is then consistently passed down to subsequent generations.

Intercultural Marriages and Naming

This means that Kazuki’s parents will have to figure out if there will be a “surname” going forward, and who it applies to. Your easiest and most likely option is that Kazuki’s dad would have chosen to make his second name (Kazuki’s grandpa’s name) the legal “surname.” The mom would have taken this name upon marriage, and Kazuki would inherit it also. Either moving abroad or the circumstances of the intercultural marriage would have motivated this. Thus “Haile” would be grandpa’s name, and Kazuki wouldn’t be taking his “surname” from his dad. This prevents the mom & Kazuki from having different “surnames.” But you will have to understand and explain where the names came from and the decisions dad made to get there. Otherwise, this will ring culturally hollow and indicate a lack of research.

Typically intercultural parents try to

come up with a first name that is pronounceable in both languages,

go with a name that is the dominant language of where they live, or

compromise and pick one parent’s language, depending on the circumstances.

Option 1 and possibly 3 requires figuring out which language is the father’s first language. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned national ubiquity of Haile, you will have to start from scratch here and figure out his ethnic group, religion (most are Ethiopian Orthodox and some Sunni Muslim), and language(s).

But then again, writing these characters knowledgeably and respectfully also requires figuring out that information anyway.

~ ~ ~

Names and naming practices are so, so diverse. Do research into the culture and language before picking a name, and never go with only one source.

~ Mod Rina

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s-harpermarcel · 5 months

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‘A good tragedy is always both preventable and inevitable’ is one of my main hills to die on. It’s literally so important to me. I’m fucking correct

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s-harpermarcel · 6 months

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HI I’M SHORT $500 ON RENT AND UTILITIES COME GET SOME FUNKY FRESH CHARACTER ART

My rent is due on Nov 1 and as a disabled full time college senior this is unfortunately my only source of income at the moment so please consider commissioning or donating if you can, every little bit counts

#art #commissions open #art commissions #commision info #comm info #disabled artist #trans artist #queer artist #community support

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s-harpermarcel · 8 months

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it makes me so sad when characters are like "I'm a wanderer by nature. I can't stay with you" and there's a dramatic scene of them walking in opposite directions and the person they're leaving is tearful but brave. I just think you could stay for a while

#yaara morgenstern

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s-harpermarcel · 8 months

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I have incurable Woman In The Margins Of The Story disorder.

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s-harpermarcel · 9 months

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magical girl transformation but theres no pretty lights or sparkles just grotesque and blood curling body mutation layered by the sounds of joints cracking bones snapping and muscles twisting unnaturally and she looks like a normal magical girl at the end

#the nephilim #leviathan child #angel static

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s-harpermarcel · 9 months

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The basics of swordfighting for writers

#1. Types of swords

Cavalry swords, two-handed swords, and cutlasses - these swords are used commonly for hacking and slashing - so they are swung in arcs or from side to side, not thrust forward.

Rapiers and small swords are one-handed weapons that are thin and light, but often quite long. They are used for thrusting and slicing, but as you can imagine they aren't much use in actual battle, but commonly used for sparring.

The third type is a mixture of the two - but less commonly found.

#2. Terminology

Fainting/Feinting - A false attack intended to create an opening for the real attack.

Parrying - When a swordsman uses his blade to deflect his opponent’s blade when he is being attacked.

Advance - A short forward movement

Fuller - A groove down the side of the sword to release suction when stabbed into a person's body.

Hilt - The base of the sword near your hands that isn't the blade

Pivot - Turning 180 degrees while keeping a foot planted

False edge - the "back" of the sword that isn't sharp and what you don't usually fight with.

#3. Common myths

A secret move that leads to victory - There is rarely such a "secret" move. Like chess, swordfighting is won through strategy and careful thinking, as well as physical prowess, not sEcRetT mOveS.

The Dramatic PauseTM - Nope, doesn't happen in real life. No one actually glares at each other in the middle of a swordfighting match when their priority should be, yknow, surviving.

#4. The Learning Curve of swordfighting

Unlike an ordinary learning curve where you slowly get better at something, in swordfighting, an untrained novice is much better than someone practising for a few months. This is because their actions are almost always wild and unpredictable. When a student receives training, their skill will actually decline over the next few months, because they will be trying to fight by the rules and are naturally not good at it. It takes at least two years to become a good swordsperson.

#5. The actual swordfighting itself

Footwork - Forward and back, in a line, in a semi-circle, a pivot. The basic goal of footwork is to give you a balanced center from which you can lunge, advance, retreat, attack, and parry. It also helps maintain the appropriate distance from your opponent and percieve.

Timing - How fast/slow is your opponent? How fast is your reaction time?

Every fighter has a different style. Some may naturally be inclined to use a certain move over and over, and have weakpoints in say, their reaction time. It is important that your character has a proper swordfighting style.

Predictability - How good are your characters/opponents at anticipating and learn each others fighting style? That determines the outcome of the fight!

Sources I used: https://kingdompen.org/writing-realistic-sword-fights/ // https://mythicscribes.com/miscellaneous/swordplay-for-fantasy-writers/ // https://lisashea.com/lisabase/writing/medieval/swords/glossary.html

#writing reference

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s-harpermarcel · 10 months

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“undeath as a metaphor for trauma” is my favorite trope honestly? characters being corrupted into something they weren’t before, characters whos existences were never supposed to happen vampires, ghosts, consciousness preserved forever as machine, ect, it doesnt matter

i just love any character brought back from the dead and now they have to deal with the confusion and rage and grief and shame and guilt of an existence they never asked for, being stuck with something they never chose

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s-harpermarcel · 10 months

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i am a firm believer in the sicko4sicko relationship. characters who are obsessed with one another not in spite of, but because of, whatever bizzare or offputting or unusual things they've got going on. guys who look at each other and go "you're the only motherfucker in this city that can handle me" and they're probably right too. rivalries romances obsessions built on mutual hate undefined Close Companions. any sort of Thing. sicko4sicko.

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s-harpermarcel · 10 months

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something about foreshadowing being more prominent the second time around reading a story but in a way that the meaning is changed forever and you can never view a story the same as you once did before. do you know what i mean.

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s-harpermarcel · 10 months

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this is mostly for art friends who want to follow artblogs or follow people for art but dont want it to be crowded by shitposts

blog subs are going to be the last one here

this will then redirect you to tumblr labs

where you will need to enable tumblr labs and then toggle blog subscriptions

now you can go to whatever artblog or whatever and go to get notifications to get a feed that is exclusively those people

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s-harpermarcel · 10 months

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I learnt my post has too much information that can trigger abuse survivors. I've decided to make a new post with less information about my abuse but with the hope to get all the support i can get!

incase you're just seeing, my name is Mariam, a 24y/o lesbian, abused by her grandma and dad just after they found out I'm gay. I'm looking to move out, as I still live with my abusers.

if you can, please click here to read my detailed post (as said in the first paragraph, the post is sensitive and triggering). if you can't read, please understand I'm being tormented and need to move out as quick as possible and i need your help to do that. please buy me a coffee using the link below. also, you can get a drawing in return(on request). i also hope you won't read and ignore this as a boost/reblog from you will go a long way in reaching people/person(s) who might help. thank you for reading! HAPPY PRIDE!

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s-harpermarcel · 10 months

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let your imagery be a little violent let your imagery be a little weird let your imagery be a little sexual and by god let it be sacrilegious. at this point if someone looks at it weird im just going to assume theyve got the art-consuming palette of a four year old. stop making artistic chicken nuggets when you could be cooking an actual meal just because some people cant handle the flavor doesnt mean it shouldnt exist. damn

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