“Hey Princess.”

In writing, epithets ("the taller man"/"the blonde"/etc) are inherently dehumanizing, in that they remove a character's name and identity, and instead focus on this other quality.

Which can be an extremely effective device within narration!

They can work very well for characters whose names the narrator doesn't know yet (especially to differentiate between two or more). How specific the epithet is can signal to the reader how important the character is going to be later on, and whether they should dedicate bandwidth to remembering them for later ("the bearded man" is much less likely to show up again than "the man with the angel tattoo")

They can indicate when characters stop being as an individual and instead embody their Role, like a detective choosing to think of their lover simply as The Thief when arresting them, or a royal character being referred to as The Queen when she's acting on behalf of the state

They can reveal the narrator's biases by repeatedly drawing attention to a particular quality that singles them out in the narrator's mind

But these only work if the epithet used is how the narrator primarily identifies that character. Which is why it's so jarring to see a lot of common epithets in intimate moments-- because it conveys that the main character is primarily thinking of their lover/best friend/etc in terms of their height or age or hair color.

Ophelia by Friedrich Heyser

Corset Elfin Dress // Dress Art Mystery

strolling thru the streets of bali, may 2023

Concept art for Mulan (1998) by Sai Ping Lok

May Prompts

post-magic

around the corner

geometry

antlers

display

ginger

divine will

mitochondria

carapace

amazement

spouse

uprising

guard

taking control

local birds

a version of you

her

aftermath of the heartbreak

preacher

last fragments

bioluminescence

eastern

generational trauma

moss

squabble

oven

abandoned laboratory

young president

charlatan

softened memory

the other life

𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕴 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖌𝖔 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖓’𝖙 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖒𝖞 𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖊. 🌊

You are never getting that hat back, Shanks lol

Ariel’s grotto