Pt.92

some of you really should be more embarrassed about bragging that you don't pay attention when you watch tv.

Loneliness is the absence of connection not company.

K. Tolnoe

“Grief she could not feel, for there had been too much bitterness between her mother and herself to leave in her heart any deep feeling of affection; and looking back on the girl she had been she knew that it was her mother who had made her what she was.”

— W. Somerset Maugham, excerpt from The Painted Veil

Relatives tend to share mannerisms and if you want a nice little detail for your stories, I recommend including that.

A father and son share the same restless or anxious movement like chewing on the inside of their lip or tapping their fingers. A mother and daughter both raise their eyebrows when they’re in deep thought. Two siblings both tilt their heads when something is intriguing. A younger brother copies his older brother’s posture. A grandchild copies the way their grandfather crosses his arms behind his back when he walks. A father throws his hat down when his sports team loses and his child grows up to do the same.

Adding niche similarities between my characters and their families is one of my favourite things to develop and one of my favourite ways to connect them despite whatever relationship and differences they may have.

They could hate their family and yet they tap their foot side to side when they’re standing in one spot like their father does, and they scrunch their nose when they close their eyes like their mother did. This can be used to portray your character’s struggle with their family, and amplify their fear over ending up like their family. It’s a subtle addition and yet it adds more depth to their turmoil.

Or on the flip side, it can help show how much your character admires their family by emulating them. It can help show how important their bond with their family is to them by showing those shared, unconscious similarities.

Shared mannerisms are a small detail but they will be noticed by somebody and appreciated.

"I'll teach the lot and treat them just the same."

HELGA HUFFLEPUFF was a Welsh witch and was one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While the other founders took students based on either ambition, bravery, or intelligence, Helga took the loyal, hard-working, patient, and tolerant and treated them all equally. She had a gift for food-related charms, and her recipes were still used as the basis for many Hogwarts feasts. She also arranged for the house-elf contingent to work in the kitchens, giving them somewhere safe to work, where they would not be mistreated or abused.

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐙 as 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍/𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍

from TVE's Isabel. Season 3, Episode 9.

these kids though (or, lily and james potter still crop up in my sketches and probably will forever)

Samantha Mathis and Christian Bale in LITTLE WOMEN (1994) dir. Gillian Armstrong

Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.

(Louisa May Alcott)

JARAH + sharing clothes