#I get a lot of joy in seeing the diversity in bodies

[fairmerthefarmer]

Dryads

[dunmeshistash]

in regards to skin tone variation in DM, i do think a lot of it is colorism/racism too. theres a few characters of color, but not many (just like how theres some fatter characters, but none of them are main characters (even senshi & other dwarves arent really depicted as fat)).

ryoko kui has surface representation for these people, but it lacks much substance, and the brown characters she does draw arent given brown facial features, and are almost always colored with very ashy skin. a lot of them just look like a recolored white person (especially cithis, kaka, & kiki). her random portraits of characters who dont actually appear in the series otherwise tend to be much better about this, but the actual characters that show up and play a part all seem to suffer from this issue.

im not saying kui is like, super-duper racist and we all need to stop reading DM etc etc, but i think its important to recognize and point out everyday/usually-overlooked colorism & racism when we see it, and i know im not the first or only person to point this out about her character designs. if she can draw fat people and actual brown people as part of the portraits, why cant she or wont she do the same for any of the featured characters in the series?

(i know the orcs are fat, but its not a good thing the only consistently fat people are the ones who are a fantasy race based off of violent racial stereotypes, who are also pig people, while none of the main cast of "real" humans are fat except *maybe* the dwarves, who still have small waists and flat stomachs, and the lord of the island, who is depicted as corrupt & decadent)

Well yeah.

I'm just a lore blog so I don't like to get too into real life issues or make assumptions about how the author feels about these subjects. What I talked about on the skin tone post was assumptions as to why she thought it would be important to show skin tone variations on certain races as a character design choice. (In the sense that her character design is very purposeful)

I realize some people over praise Kui's designs when most of it is pretty safe for what it is, but even if it's just a step closer to better representation it's something that's rare to see in anime. So I understand why some people get so excited about it.

It is important to realize this isn't the ideal either (Dark skinned characters with the same features as the others, mostly well build characters on the thinner side) but I personally don't like to criticize these type of stories on what it "could/should have been".

As someone who is fat and not white, I'm happy we get some diversity in dungeon meshi. I hope this opens up the possibility of better character design in the future even if what we got now wasn't perfect.

It shouldn't be the case that this piece of art filled me with so much joy I teared up cause I had never seen someone with a similar body to mine drawn with so much respect and objectivity. But unfortunately that's the world we live in and I don't think it's wrong to be happy for what we get for now while acknowledging it's not perfect and that it should be better.

I'm also super happy the anime chose to make the dark characters even darker.

[lostreverb]

things never change (pt. 2)

(post-prison!warren lipka x fem!reader) in where you cross paths with an old friend

content: angst, some fluff? maybe?

a/n: this was really fun to write in the most awful way my heart is sobbing. but i've always wanted to write a post-prison!warren fic so.. yay?

part 2 requested by @tracysent!

(here's part 1 if you haven't read)

--

when warren had left your unconscious body on the couch he returned to ghosting you. you thought you'd never see him again, until about a year later when your mom called you and told you to put on the news. "4 college students arrested for attempted robbery at transylvania university" was the headline. the story dominated local channels for weeks.

ultimately, your father never pressed charges against warren for stealing his painting. the monet remained exactly where it had been, still the centerpiece of the room—though now sporting a few dings and dents on the frame. nothing you couldn't replace without him noticing.

when your father heard the news, he practically jumped for joy.

"i told you that boy was nothing but trouble!" he exclaimed, his hands planted firmly on his hips as the screen showed four figures in orange jumpsuits walking out of the courthouse. "i'm glad he got out of your life when he did. couldn't imagine what it would've been like if, god forbid, he had gotten you wrapped up in something like this."

warren had already broken your heart twice. this time, he completely shattered your sense of self. did he ever care about you? had he only gotten close because you were well-off? or was it that the painting on the wall, the dream of quick riches, was just so much more enticing and valuable to him than you were?

you had talked to him about it before... dreams. warren fantasized about a life, outside of kentucky, maybe starting on a yacht in the bahamas and then traveling the world. it seemed so outlandish from the empty parking lot you were sharing a joint in, but you admired his ambition. to think you would've followed that idiot anywhere he went. hell and back. anything he would do, anything he went through, you would've been by his side. but now the reality was clear: your relationship was a one-way street that went miles on.

even though that night he had told you that he missed you, that he loved you while you lay underneath him. it was all just a mental diversion. a way to keep you docile while he served the only person he loved: himself.

it took years to put yourself back together, to trust again, to believe that someone could love you without an ulterior motive.

then that near decade of work— therapy, long conversations with friends, countless nights of self-reflection— was put to the test in one moment.

"..y/n?"

you looked up from your laptop, startled. there, standing before you in a philadelphia café, was none other than warren lipka. his long hair, once wild and untamed, was now brushed back, though a few loose waves still escaped from behind his ears, giving him that same effortlessly disheveled look you had once found so endearing. he had grown a short beard, the kind that hinted at maturity but still carried a touch of the boyish charm you remembered. despite the years that had passed, his face was almost exactly as you remembered—those sharp, familiar features that had once been the center of your world.

especially that damn smile of his.

"mind if i sit?"

you nodded, motioning to the chair across from you. part of you wondered if you were hallucinating. after all, with work, you hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

"i almost didn't come over, you know—didn't think it was you," he admitted, taking a seat. "but you know what tipped me off? that necklace."

you looked down at the delicate silver necklace, the one your grandmother had given you on your 16th birthday. the pendant, a small locket engraved with intricate floral designs, had once been her most cherished possession. when she placed it around your neck, she had told you stories of her youth, of love lost and found, of the strength she had needed to build a life on her own. she had smiled at you, her eyes filled with pride and warmth, and said, "this is yours now. a reminder that you're never truly alone, no matter where life takes you."

after she passed, the necklace became more than just a piece of jewelry. it was a tangible connection to her, to her wisdom and her love, something that kept you grounded when the world felt too overwhelming. you took a vow to never take it off for any reason, except to clean it. to you, it was as much a part of you as your own heartbeat.

you had shared this with warren one night, during one of your midnight dates. about your grandmother, about the promise you’d made to yourself regarding the necklace. it wasn’t a story you shared with many people, and when you spoke, you did so almost absentmindedly, not expecting him to truly listen. but he did.

"when did you…?" you started to ask, unsure how to finish. no one had told you warren had been released.

"almost three years ago," he replied, looking down at the table. "did seven years and some change."

"wow…" the word slipped out before you could stop it. warren, who had valued his youth so much and feared wasting his life away, had lost the entirety of his 20's just like that. the fact that he had come out on the other side seemingly unscathed was astounding.

as the conversation continued, you found yourself slipping back into an easy rhythm with warren, the years of distance and pain seeming to fade with each exchange. he told you about how he had decided to go back to school for filmmaking. it was a surprise, but also somehow made perfect sense. warren had always been drawn to storytelling, whether it was through his wild, grandiose dreams of the future or the way he could captivate an entire room with a well-spun tale.

“it’s funny,” he said, leaning back in his chair, a spark of enthusiasm lighting up his eyes. “after everything, i realized i wanted to create something that actually mattered. something that could make people feel, you know? i guess sitting in a cell for years gives you a lot of time to think about what you really want to do with your life.”

you nodded, genuinely impressed by his determination. “filmmaking suits you, warren. i can see you doing great things with it.”

“thanks, it’s been a journey, but i’m excited to see where it leads.”

when the conversation shifted to your career, warren listened intently as you shared how you had built a successful career in business consulting. you explained how you had worked your way up, navigating the corporate world with determination and a relentless drive to succeed. you spoke of the challenges you faced, the late nights, the difficult decisions, and the satisfaction of seeing your efforts pay off. it wasn't quite what you imagined for yourself all those years ago but you were happy with what you had.

“yeah, i could tell you were a big shot,” warren grinned. “there was never a doubt in my mind that you wouldn’t be.”

“thanks…” you replied, a shy smile tugging at your lips.

there was a brief pause, and you noticed warren’s expression shift to an almost hesitant look. he leaned forward slightly, his eyes locking onto yours in a way that made your heart skip a beat.

“can i say something?” he asked, his voice softening with a sincerity that was almost disarming. “might be crossing a line, but i have to say it… you look just as fucking beautiful as the last time i saw you.”

the world stood still, frozen, as you processed his words. you felt your breath catch, your pulse quicken as you searched his eyes for any sign of insincerity, but all you found was a raw honesty that left you momentarily speechless.

“warren…” the way he was looking at you, as if no time had passed at all, threw you for a loop.

"i know, i know," he chuckled, looking down as he fiddled with a sugar packet. "don't want to get myself in trouble with your husband—or wife… whatever…"

"i'm… actually single…"

warren stopped fiddling with the sugar packet and looked up at you, his gaze steady. he didn't move his head, just stared at you for a long moment before shifting in his chair, his eyes drifting off to the young couple seated nearby. you had noticed them too when you first walked in.

"make sense kinda... you're genuinely too good for anybody, anyway. deserve way better than what most people have to offer.."

a heavy silence settled between you and the sounds of the bustling café faded into the background, except for the laughter of the couple nearby. their easy, carefree joy was a stark contrast to the weight of the moment you were sharing with warren. each second of silence felt like an eternity, amplifying the pain and confusion swirling inside you.

finally, warren broke the silence. "i’m sorry—and i know that when i say that word, you have no reason to believe me—but i am. it haunts me, the things i've done… leaving you there…" you could see the struggle in his eyes, the guilt that had clearly been gnawing at him for years.

you wanted to brush it off, to protect yourself from the flood of emotions that his words were stirring up. "that was 10 years ago," you replied quickly. "no need to bring it up."

warren shook his head, not ready to let it go. "i just wanted you to know that i loved you...i tried to convince myself that i didn’t… that what we had wasn’t real. i hadn’t even planned on seeing you again until i got desperate for cash and wanted to skip town. my biggest mistake was leaving your bed that night."

his words hit you like a tidal wave, crashing over the walls you had so carefully built around your heart. tears began welling up in your eyes, the sting of emotions you thought you had buried long ago. you turned your head, looking away, desperately trying to compose yourself, to regain the control that was slipping through your fingers.

but then, warren's hands gently clasped around yours. the warmth of his touch was both familiar and jarring, sending a shiver through you. you had thought you were over this—over him. you had convinced yourself that seeing him again would be nothing more than a footnote in your life, a chance to hear him out and move on, finally closing that chapter for good.

but all those preparations, all the mental rehearsals of how you would remain composed, indifferent even, had crumbled the moment he smiled at you. that damn smile, the one that had always been able to disarm you, to make you forget all the reasons you should be guarded.

as he held your hands, you could feel the sincerity in his grip, the way his fingers tightened slightly, as if he was afraid to let go, afraid that you might slip away again. the flood of memories, the good and the bad, rushed back, and the tears that had been threatening to spill finally broke free. you blinked rapidly, trying to push them back. you didn’t want him to see you like this, to know just how much he still affected you.

warren’s gaze softened as he watched you, his own eyes glistening with unshed tears. “i know i don’t deserve your forgiveness,” he whispered, his voice cracking slightly. “but i need you to know that i never stopped thinking about you. even when i tried to convince myself that it was over, that we were done… i couldn’t let go. i still can’t.”

part of you wanted to pull away. but another part, the part that had loved him so fiercely all those years ago, wanted to hold on, to see if maybe, just maybe, there was still something left to salvage.

"i don't know if i can do this again... i- i hear you... i believe you it's just-"

“i understand,” he said quietly. “and i don’t expect you to just forgive me, or even give me a second chance. i’ve made too many mistakes for that. but… i want to try. i want to make things right. even if that means starting over, from scratch, just as friends.”

“friends,” you repeated, testing the word on your tongue. it felt strange, almost foreign, to think of warren as anything other than the boy who had broken your heart. but maybe, just maybe, this could be a new beginning—a way to heal, to move forward without being shackled by the past. "i'd like that"

"me too."

[cripplecharacters]

hello! i like to ask this for a long time but i cant word it better since english isnt my first language

it is ok to portray a disabled character being bullied/abused due of their disability? or if it doesnt is there is another way to portray ableism that isnt just being bullied and abused?

Hello,

in general, yes you can write your character experiencing bullying and/or ableist abuse. That happens. But whether you should depends on what kind of story you're trying to tell, and how much you know about ableism as a type of discrimination. It absolutely doesn't end at bullying or abuse, and they aren't even the most prevalent ones by a long mile.

Not every story with disabled characters needs to have them experiencing ableism, especially not the physically violent kind. If your story doesn't focus on some sort of social commentary or disability rights theme, I'd consider how necessary it is for it to be there. Being disabled doesn't necessarily mean one will or has been bullied or abused.

There's approximately one billion kinds of ableism that aren't either of these. Just from the things that I'm sure you've seen/heard of before: lack of accessible infrastructure, lack of access to education, the cost of disability aids, the costs of chronic medication, medical negligence, eugenic rhetorics, "what happened to you?" (AKA invasive questions), intruding on the disabled person's personal space by touching them or their mobility aids (which could be both abuse or bullying, but probably not what you had in mind), being infantilized or seen as incompetent, the list could go on pretty much forever.

Ableism means discrimination against disabled people, which is a group so incredibly diverse that it's near impossible to tell you what you could portray your character experiencing without knowing what kind of disability they have. For some disabilities it gets so specific and unique that it gets its own name; see audism or disfiguremisia that affect Deaf people and people with facial differences respectively. If your character has PTSD, a lack of ramp won't affect them the same way it would a wheelchair or mobility scooter user. You have to take into account their actual disability, their background, when and where your story takes place, etc.

If you want to portray ableism as a part of your story or the character's backstory, the most important thing is research. Both disabled history; what ableism means and how it affected the disabled community long-term, as well as just talking to disabled people on what and how affects them on the daily. You will see that microaggressions, financial barriers, and structural inaccessibility will be the most prevalent problems for a big portion of the population.

After you learn about ableism from the inside and out, you can think what works for your story - maybe it could be just "inaccessibility is everywhere and also able-bodied people are annoying" rather than an extremely sensitive scenario around a disabled person being physically abused for being disabled.

I will also say that while you can write about whatever you want, not all disabled readers are particularly excited to see stories where disabled characters get abused for being disabled. A lot of these tend to go into what I've called "torture porn" category, where the character is just subjected to seemingly endless suffering for no real reason and the whole thing generally just feels exploitative. So keep in mind that even though ableism exists, disabled joy is absolutely real and always has been there too.

mod Sasza

[raetreaderarts]

It’s Bive time! I’m kidding of course, Bive time is all the time, it never ends.

If you want to hear my inane ramblings about her feel free to subject yourself to that for whatever reason btw.

Okay so Bive is a really interesting character to me, and thus I have a lot of interpretations on her character which are probably very unoriginal. The way I draw her is mostly based off of the vrchat avatar of her that I use because I just, I love how shaped she is, she’s such a silly. It’s also my body type, so she has some pudginess going on in my vision even if she is a sentient hairball (that’s also why I gave her a double chin). Actually on the topic, I’ve seen so much diverse fan art of her when it comes to body types and shapes which is always such a joy to see!

I don’t know what’s confirmed or not but I imagine that she has schizophrenia, which is something I hardly ever see represented in fiction, and in fact it’s a disorder I still see is made fun of to this day which is honestly heartbreaking to think about. So even if it isn’t canon, if people with schizophrenia can relate to her and feel seen through her, I find that to be a wonderful thing! I also headcanon her as having AuDHD, mostly due to her dialogue about sensory issues and needing to constantly move, and paired with the schizophrenia I imagine she has some type of generalized anxiety disorder.

This is probably just projection on my part but I also headcanon her as always wearing more modest attire, like the oversized trench coat and maybe turtleneck sweaters or large hoodies in more casual settings. Personally as someone with anxiety if I wear something too revealing or form-fitting I feel extremely uneasy and have to cover up as quickly as possible. But she also doesn’t wear pants as far as I know so idk how well that headcanon holds up. Also she bites when she gets affectionate. And idk how canon it is that Bive doesn’t shower as often as she probably should (executive dysfunction can kiss my ass) but I do think it checks out with what all I’ve said here already, but also because of that I imagine she’s very greasy most of the time.

That’s about it, if I have anything more to add then maybe I’ll reblog this post and add another ramble? Depends on how interested anyone is ig. Ok ramble over, sorry for wasting your time 👋

[ivesambrose]

𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 💌

July 22 through September 3, 2023, Venus will be Retrograde in the sign of Leo ♌

Here's what you can expect instead of focusing on the generic 'return of exes'. It's highly likely you'll be revisiting some themes related to your childhood, self worth and individuality. Close some chapters with grace so you can start new ones inevitably.

The messages are for your Sidereal Signs (however, if you feel that it's applying to your natal placements more then you are free to consider that) Rising and Moon are mostly considered in your Sidereal, you may check your sun sign as well. 🧡

Aries : There will be a strong focus on your physical health. I sense that if you're not eating well and not putting quality food in your body most of the time and drinking enough water it'll start to show on your face. This can happen because you're too focused on work and travel so you can't really maintain your routine and in turn you find yourself being extra critical of yourself and your appearance. Please avoid doing so. You're doing the best you can do don't add more stress and let it pile up. Even if you're mindful of your eating, drinking and sleep habits at least 5/7 times a week it will help. Learn to go gentle on yourself. Additionally, you might reconnect with old friends you have lost touch with or a community you were once a part of or pick up an incomplete project and finish it.

Taurus : opportunities that come with ease , collaborations, doing something that empowers you. Thing is, you'll be feeling the urge to get a lot done and might push yourself to look for opportunities when the advice is to allow them to come to you, you'll know on your own. You might feel like you're in the spotlight and it can get overwhelming for some of you. But I'm getting you'll be getting recognition for your creativity, make new friends, connect with a lot of people and likey even guide them in some way. There is a prospect of foreign travel too. Your dreams however are gonna be pretty intense and symbolic so pay attention to them.

Gemini : Finding joy in making daily little rituals for yourself, be it a workout regimen, skincare routine, study routine etc you'll be logging them and romanticizing them even. You just want to look after yourself. Some of you want to party and have fun but only with close friends and siblings. You'll be reconnecting with your inner child, watching more culturally diverse movies or shows. You're inherently very curious this time around, you wanna connect with people but it might feel overstimulating almost so you'll focus back on your well being. You may spend money on health, art supplies or travels so keep that in check. You'll also realize that you've barely scratched the surface of your potential and you should give yourself a chance before shutting yourself out.

Cancer : Healing of generational trauma and release of guilt that you've been suppressing. If certain issues resurface it's time to put it down completely. I see most of these are related to your self esteem, self worth and maybe even your childhood to early teens. You'll find it in you to forgive because you simply don't feel the need to carry the weight with you anymore. There might be challenges when it comes to education, higher education, travel, personal or religious beliefs that might come up momentarily. Take this time to look back on how far you've come and the progress you've made. You're always expanding and sometimes growing can be painful but it's worth it in the end. Be sure to appreciate the beauty within and around you a little more, it'll add up till that's your go to thing to focus on.

Leo : You can easily make the best out of this retrograde regardless of whatever you experience. A lot of you can see an increase in finances through creative work or if you're in the entertainment industry. You might consider dropping something rigid for something that let's you stand out individually and is spontaneous in nature or is something you've always wanted to do as a child. It will bring you travels, possible relocation and a lot of success, it is highly likely that a lot of you might consider leaving your current location since it's not allowing you to have fun or is detering your health, speaking of which please take supplements for your bones as heart health, take it easy. You'll learn to shine on your own but also honor the ones who have been rooting for you since day 1 or you'll learn to distinguish between those who've always sought to dim your light and those who have pushed you to do better.

Virgo : You'll discover a lot about yourself, you'll discover new friends, communities, ideas and places. You'll have more faith in the unknown or will feel interested in the occult sciences. You'll want to tap into the unknown and hone your gifts. You'll find that your thoughts, visions and words are manifesting a little too quickly. You might push yourself to be overly active in pursuits of your goals but will find yourself slowing down, you'll have to slow down and let things unfold for you. It might feel like a tiring time physically, random body aches, urge to sleep and dream more, dreams being a little too vivid and premonitive to your liking. Please stay hydrated you may be prone to lightheadedness. The art you make or any work you put out now, whatever it may be, will be very transformative for you and will pave the way ahead. Don't try to force things, be in the knowing of ease. Difficult when you want to micro manage but this retrograde is asking you to be a little more whimsical to enjoy your journey.

Libra : Renewal comes for sure once you become mindful of the ways you self sabotage. You might feel tested since a lot of cycles are clearing out. You will realise a lot of your future planning aren't as what they seem and that you need to be more fluid than rigid and no amount of stubborness or latching on will help, it will only cause health issues and a feeling of existential dread. This can be avoided too. You will also feel the need to change your routine or rather this will happen automatically for your own bebefit. Avoid self pity and escapism. Try and spend time near water bodies (stay safe) or try water painting, yoga, evening walks and for those into ballet or contemporary dancing, let limbs stretch and go with the flow. It's okay for some structures to break so that something better can be made. It's okay to let go when time comes.

Scorpio : In the past if you've felt that you have missed out on a substantial opportunity that could have grown into something significant or you've almost received something only for it to be taken away to the point you have felt betrayed by it, this time around you're going to manifest something even bigger for yourself, it won't feel like scarps. You might have conflicts internally or with others but it will get solved. I see you wanting more harmony in your life and the connections which matter to you and you'll have it. Be less self critical of yourself in your pursuit of perfection be it in your work, health, routine or the you're of service to others. Avoid any heavy or big financial investments, let the money come to you first the bigger investments can wait. The more you enjoy the mundane things the easier life will flow. The quicker your desires will come to you.

Sagittarius : You haven't been nurturing yourself enough, so even if this means cooking yourself a hearty meal or treating yourself to one, please do so. Eat well and let yourself feel your feelings, it's okay. You might realize you have been looking out for others so much that you feel neglected. Open up to receiving the tenderness, time, compassion and love you deserve as well. Some of you might be concerned with the health of a mother figure in your life, it will be alright. I see likely more alternate type of treatments might be a little more beneficial (ayurvedic or homeopathic for eg.) You may feel nostalgic or a yearning for family or home. Emotionally, I sense you're guarded and don't want to let anyone in, take your time to heal and appreciate you for yourself and how far you've come, with that being said let yourself be appreciated too.

Capricorn : Allow endings to empower you. They have a beauty to it. Once you accept it you'll see the path ahead clearly if not, it will become overwhelming. You'll feel a calling to take a risk and might be something you've clearly never experienced and aren't used to but you feel beaconed to it. There will be fall out with people or people in authority, things might feel distruptive, don't make your mind your enemy. You will encounter someone very unlikely who will aid in your journey, meeting them will be very transformative, like they have the answers you've been seeking. You'll feel more spiritually inclined and open to learning, seeking, exploring especially esotericism, cultures and languages. You'll find your silver lining, it will be brighter than you expected.

Aquarius : Taking on the role of a leader in your life and not everyone or anyone else's. Change of perception and a genuine desire to seek something more sacred. You'll be healing wounds and patterns from your past relationships. You may want to become self sufficient and self reliant and find this empowering. If you've been suffering from any skin ailments it might aggravate only to remind you look after your hygiene, stay clean and look for any ingredient that maybe causing further issues. Once addressed, it will no longer be much of an issue. You may want to detach from social media and travel short distances instead. Relationship with siblings will also improve, spend time with them aswell if you've been neglecting them.

Pisces : Trusting your intuition more. Gaining wisdom and insight from unexpected places and unsual people. You can often sense what other's cannot, so if you feel you should read between the lines and look for synchronicities, you should listen to what your inner voice is saying. It's also very important for you to learn how to have proper boundaries with people, it's genuinely hampering your energy and well being especially if you're in public places a lot. Be mindful of people, not everyone has their best interests towards you. You will take up something you'll feel like a complete beginner at but if you stay disciplined you'll excel in it. Romance yourself and your life first and foremost, write, draw, scuplt, edit, cook, weave, scuplt etc if you must. For you, I wanna say practice makes perfect. You already know this, so trust me it's okay if you're not automatically good at something. Convey what your heart seeks, your sincerity will be rewarded

╚══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══╝♡╚══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══╝

To book a personal reading with me you can DM or email me with your query at Ivesambrose@gmail.com

Personal Readings

Masterpost

Thank you for the tip 🌹

[shamebats]

There's a wider societal issue that affects pretty much everyone and feeds into transphobia and it's the socially conditioned fear and demonization of certain bodily changes.

Originally, my thinking was that it's body changes in general but then I realized that actually, depending on your environment and how you were socialized, you might fear and desire different ways one's body can change. My partner is a cis man and was socialized as one and he sees greying hair as a good thing bc he feels like it'll make him look hotter and probably also in big part bc as a man you gain social status as you look older, you get taken more seriously in a way that elder women used to as well but now less and less.

Depending on how you've been socialized and what you've internalized from it, you might be terrified of gaining muscle but eager to lose weight. You might be terrified of gaining fat in certain areas (belly, arms) but not others (chest, butt).

The inverse of that is not wanting to be skinny/scrawny and wanting to gain lots of muscle.

If there was a pill that made all your body hair disappear (but not on your head) without major side effects, most women would be all over it. That's not a body change they would fear. But most ppl are terrified of losing the hair on their head.

We fear body changes that we are told from society are scary so much, we might never consider them on our own unless we see people go through them and be fine or even choose to go through them willingly and find joy in the results.

Most teenagers might find puberty scary and confusing, but they still want to go through it. They want the body changes it brings and if they don't start going through puberty at the same time as their peers, that's a problem for them.

But there are some body changes some will never be comfortable with on an individual level. I'll never be comfortable going through pregnancy and some ppl would never choose to go through having an abortion. Some ppl aren't comfortable with having any tattoos and some would hate not having any.

If we accept this about humanity, this diversity of desires and preferences for our own bodies and how we would like to shape them, accepting trans people is a no-brainer.

We have to accept that other people will make decisions about their own bodies that we might not.

We have to accept that there's always a social element to our choices. Someone who has lots of friends go through pregnancy and having kids at the same time might be more inclined to want it themselves. Maybe if all their friends were childfree, they wouldn't have made that decision at that time, or maybe they would've anyway, we can't know for sure. Just like a trans person with lots of friends who have chosen to get a certain surgery might be more inclined to get it themselves.

If we accept that the first example isn't a reason to gatekeep medical care, then we have to accept that the latter isn't either.

So my point is ok fine, you say that there's a "social contagion" that contributes to more ppl being trans and wanting gender affirming medical care...what about it?

Explain to my why it should be treated differently (by law & medicine) than having children bc of family expectations or getting hair transplant surgery bc you're insecure about your balding head or losing weight or gaining muscle due to societal pressures to look a certain way or getting a tummy tuck after pregnancy or any other choice ppl may make about their own bodies.

At the end of the day, all we can do is work on building societies that are more accepting of bodies in all their natural and unnatural diversity, and even if we ever achieve that fully, we will never have a way of truly knowing which choices are less or more valid than others, we'll just have to trust people to know themselves.

[jellyaibo]

breaking my silence...i fuckng hate this "genre" of object show gijinka and im tired of acting like it isnt . bland

(using ii gijinkas as my guinea pigs for this, considering i really ONLY see these kinds of gijinkas in the ii side of the osc)

they are just. all the same build, usually same hairstyles and fashion theres NOTHINGGG that differentiates one persons gijinka from another because thats how similar they look to me, also if i were to color these do u think it would make it more obvious who is who? (if u cant already tell who is who obvs. its tt, fan & pickle but ohhhh my god THERESS NO SAUCE)

this might just sound fucking insane on my part but also even though these gijinkas dont have natural skintones (obvs trying to match the objects) they completely lack any features that say they ARENT white (i mean like very eurocentric) finding one with afro hair is like looking for a needle in a haystack (im being so serious ive barely seen any . kind of diversity like that)

and not even just diversity in races too, because 99% of them are all tall and skinny they just completely lack any body diversity (once again, very eurocentric yk yk) and because of that they have. awful silhouettes (unless they have VERY defining features which is fucking rare, so unless you have a really unique design a lot of people probably can't tell who is who unless you either squint really hard or have them be colored in)

my point is . these gijinkas just dont look good like at all. (im not gonna kill anyone for making gijinkas like this btw but ill def squint at you rlly hard but thats just me) and i think people should try to go and experiment with more expressive and fun designs that can make these blokes rlly stand out more!!! (something as simple as just, giving them acne, making them shorter/taller than they actually are, wacky hair n cool disability aids etc. just fucking go nuts!!! diversity just. makes better designs imho)

i designed these kinda on the spot (im sorry pickle) and like. even if they might look a little bland imo they have way more personality than the designs above!!!!!!!!!!! its not hard lichurally all u need to do is get an idea n try it

also i didnt know where to put this but like. another example of why i think these gijinkas just fucking suck: i uhhhh made my loser gijinka into one

her joy? her happiness? her personality and transsexual swag? GONE. SUCKED AWAY FROM HER BEING. she is a HUSK

my final note(s) on this is like. just go experiment brah im sooo tired of seeing these ohh please im so exhausted...EVEN IF U ARENT CONFIDENT IN UR DESIGNING SKILLS . GOING AND TAKING THAT FIRST STEP IS GOOD please just go nuts ohhh u wanna go nuts so fucking bad . theres many many references for different bodies n details n shit AND U DONT EVEN HAVE TO LIKE. STUDY EVERYTHING TO BECOME "GOOD" at this . just . freaking go for it

and my final (final) note is uhmm very petty but idc but the artist that popularized this kind of object show gijinka isnt the best person so like. yeah that is one of my top reasons on why i dont like em LMAO

uhhh and yeah thats it thats pretty much all sorry for rambling im just a tired little biracial boy oohh im so tired heres a lollipop 🍭

[camille-lachenille]

There is a thing that I noticed reading The Lord of the Rings and other works by Tolkien. And that thing is how diverse and beautiful love is, and how much it speaks to me.

True Love at first sight exists in Tolkien’s universe, and from it came some of the grandest deeds; think Beren and Lúthien braving Morgoth and then Mandos to be together, think Arwen renouncing immortality and Aragorn reclaiming his throne in order to marry her. But these grand tales of love at first sight are that; tales. It’s not for normal people.

There is also another aspect of romantic love that is present, one slower to take root and much more domestic. It is Sam missing Rosie when he is halfway trough the world and barely daring to ask her out even after facing Mordor. It is the blooming love between Éowyn and Faramir, a relationship based on shared grief, mutual understanding, respect and comfort sought in each other.

Sometimes it ends badly, like Nerdanel leaving Fëanor despite centuries of marriage and having had seven sons together because they don’t get along anymore. It’s Erendis and Aldarion falling apart because they are too different to work as a couple. It’s Elrond mourning for his wife who had to sail West in order to heal her broken soul and body. But it’s much more realistic than the grand tales, this is something relatable for a human heart and mind.

And what I like above everything else is how these romantic relationships, no matter how epic the love is, are never sexualised. How they are not even the more important kind of relationships and love in Tolkien’s universe. For someone Ace and arospec as well, seeing familial relationships and platonic love having such a major role in the story makes my heart soar in joy because I can relate.

I can relate to Sam, brave little Sam who walked to Mordor and back out of love and loyalty for Frodo despite missing his home a little more each day. And my heart warms each time I read about Merry, Pippin and Sam plotting to follow Frodo and hammering in his head that they are in this together until the end, and only the direst circumstances managed to separate them.

I laughed at the bantering and teasing between Gimli and Legolas, who managed to bridge the gap of centuries of dislike between their folks, and I admire their relationship no matter if one interpret it as platonic or romantic.

I can relate to the brotherly love between Boromir and Faramir because I too would do anything to spare pain to my sister. I love the friendship between Maedhros and Fingon for I am so close to my cousins too, and I would do about anything for my family no matter the circumstances just like the line of Finwë followed Fëanor in the first place (the outcome was… not good but that’s not the point).

I can relate, to some extent, to Elrond’s grief at Arwen’s Choice, because sometimes, loving someone means accepting to let them go no matter how we feel.

I cried at the end of the Hobbit, when Fíli and Kíli died defending their uncle, because this unwavering loyalty and love for family is something I can understand better than giving up everything for a romantic partner.

I cried reading the Tale of Beren and Lúthien, but I cried more when Sam sails West after Rosie dies and is reunited with Frodo, when Merry and Pippin are buried with the old kings of Gondor once Aragorn dies too, or when Legolas builds a boat and sails to the Undying Lands with Gimli because he can’t bear to be parted from his dearest friend. I cried when Bilbo returns to the Shire alone after the quest for Erebor, having lost dear friends, and wishing to see the Lonely Mountain again decades later. I cried when Maglor, last of his brothers, wanders endlessly on the shores in eternal sorrow.

But I also smiled a lot; be it when Faramir kisses Éowyn, or when the Three Hunters are welcomed to the ruins of Isengard by Merry and Pippin whole and safe and they share a moment of carefree joy in the midst of darkness. I laughed at the foolishness of a Took and his Brandybuck cousin, I smiled fondly when Sam mutters to himself when he worries for Frodo. I grinned when Gandalf returns after his fight against the Balrog and takes time to catch up with his friends despite the war raging around them. I laughed when Gimli and Legolas plan a vacation and sightseeing after a gruesome battle, and then when they comment on how to redecorate Minas Tirith. These are small moments that make the friendship between the characters authentic and relatable, and I am certainly forgetting so much more passages that made me smile or cry along the characters.

There is also the love one has for a place, this powerful motivation that makes Frodo leave the Shire in the first place to protect it against the Ring. Faramir’s love for his country that makes war bearable for him, because despite how much he hates violence and weapons he won’t let his beloved home be destroyed without fighting with his life. The love Sam has for his garden and the green hills of the Shire that gives him hope until the very end when all seems lost. This is also a kind of love I understand.

Love in Tolkien’s universe is what makes the events go as they go, and more precisely platonic and familial love. And I rejoice in seeing how friendship old and new, how bonds forged in shared danger or in peaceful days, saved the world at the end of the day. I won’t say I don’t like love stories, because that’s not true, but I love to see platonic relationships so strong being so important in The Lord of the Rings and other Tolkien’s works. Romantic relationships are not a superior form of relationship. True, unwavering love is not always romantic, and I love how Tolkien managed to capture this in his writing.

[drill-teeth-art]

I second mar's comments!!! Your art was one of the things that made me realize that I could experiment with body types that weren't stereotypes; and admiring your art really helped me get a better grasp on how to be cartoon-y and still have realistic bodies <3

It also really just helps my confidence as a tall fat girl to see me represented in your art, and overall is full of good vibes and joy!!

I love your art and the diversity in it, I love the shapes and colours, I love how you can even take transformers and make them look both recognizable and original at the same time, while also adding a fabulous touch of inclusivity that is weirdly rare in this fandom

Seriously, your art is incredible, don't let one poorly worded anon get to you :3 Have a brilliant day!!

🥺🥺🥺!!! GODDAMN!!! Thank you so much! Wow where do I even start with my appreciation.

Firstly! I'm so glad my art inspired you like that!!! I actually had a really hard time with cartoony renditions of fat bodies because almost all mainstream cartoons are full of stereotypes of fat people and fat bodies. And it took a lot of observation studies and listening and looking at the work of fat cartoonists portraying fat bodies to develop my own stylizing of fat bodies. Even when drawing my own body! And it does kind of suck actually how long it took to learn to draw my own body with love but honestly there aren't a lot of mainstream examples. And so I like making it easier for other artists to learn depicting themselves and others instead of having to sift through a thousand mainstream, upsetting caricatures and give up and have to start from scratch like I and lots of other artists did.

SHOUTOUT TO YOU AND TALL FAT GIRLS EVERYWHERE! I'm actually really short and chunky, myself. But it always bothered me how there are almost never fat girls in cartoons who aren't the butt of the jokes and treated like lazy monsters. And I was like okay that's IT I'm drawing fat girls. Tall and short and different weights and fat distributions. Stay strong, warrior 🫡

And thank you for your compliments on my designs! I'm often trying to challenge myself to draw features I don't usually draw and research and mindfully touch on experiences usually left in the dark and be open to criticism so I'm really happy it makes other people feel welcomed and refreshed visiting my blog.

You have a great day too thanks again!

[flingmetothemoon]

Marya Zaleska/Tedward Lobo fanfic - Connected

Movies: Dracula's Daughter (1936) and Renfield (2023)

Characters: Countess Marya Zaleska, Sandor (DD), Tedward 'Teddy' Lobo, his mom Bellafrancesca, his sister Mandy, his deceased flashback dad, his henchmen, Rebecca Quincey and her deceased flashback dad (Renfield)

Relationships: Tedward Lobo/Countess Marya Zeleska and past Tedward Lobo/Rebecca Quincy

Scenario inspiration: Jane meets Tarzan

Summary: Teddy Lobo meets Countess Marya Zaleska A.K.A Dracula's Daughter and they get to know other better

Content warning: Language, (Which shouldn't be surprising considering it's Teddy Lobo we're talking about XD) subtle comparison to SA, violence, death, attempted suicide and intense emotional distress

I adore Teddy Lobo sm I even reblogged a post from Tumblr that perfectly sums up why I feel bad for that baby girl 💖

As for Marya Zaleska, Idk why she’s so underutilized compared to Dracula and even Alucard, but I also adore her sm! She’s my favorite female monster! I think what I love the most about her is she’s fiercely strong. And by strong, I don’t just mean by her physical supernatural force or being an immortal vampire, but mainly her ability to live for a hundred years experiencing the worst, darkest moments of her life as a vampire + a gross sustenance addiction and mental illness allegory and still seek a normal life of calm, peace and joy full of happy memories along with everyone else, maybe even normal friends. To me, not only is that a sign of maturity, but also a sign of serious mental strength~💜

The idea of these two being paired up together came about from when I came up with that ship some time ago and I really got into it the more I pondered about it. Out of the more popular Renfield ships I know of such as Dracfield, Tedfield, Renbecca and Tedbecca, I found a ship between a drugged up nepo baby with a mindset of a scared child trying hard to be braver to prove himself to his mom while living in a home where his family survives in a corrupt system using fear and violence and a mysterious woman from an obscure mid 1930s film with an implied strained relationship with a legendary vampire she claims to be the daughter of searching for a new life with peace and joy without having to continue to struggle with a lonely, morbid, immortal metaphorical mental illness any longer to be the most intriguing one

I see a lot of similarities and contrasts between their characters, backgrounds and relationships with others. I see ways they can add something new to each other's daily routines. I can see the ship baiting for a diverse variety of genres for fanfic stories: fluff, angst, horror, thriller, romance, kinky, ect.

I can talk about the appeal of that ship alone all day if I can just bc I love them sm I can't even 🥺

Now grab a snack, sit back, relax and enjoy reading! C:

After his pitch black vision slowly turns into a blur to a regained solid vision again, the only thing Teddy can feel at the moment is numbness and a bad headache. “Uhh… Umm, w-where am I…?”

The last thing he remembers is the sharp fangs piercing into his skin and him fanatically attempting to push the young female vampire away as his body slowly numbs from the blood drainage and fainting into unconsciousness as the last thing he can hear is the vampire turn into a swarm of speedy, frenzied screeching bats wrestling with each other as she felt a buzz of a sustenance she has not tasted in blood before, and he knew exactly what it is.

When he slowly sits up and looks around, he finds himself in completely different surroundings. Instead of inside a dark abandoned castle he was in before, he finds himself on top of a forest of trees. What makes his newly pumped blood feel colder is when he looks down and saw no nearby ground, but rather fog below. He almost chokes in a panic and his heavy breathing goes faster and harder.

“Oh fuck… Ronnie? Ricky? Shit… Mans’? Anyone here to give me a fucking hand? I don't know how to climb down this high up. Maybe someone can call mom to pick me up back home? That'll be great ‘cause I'm already done with those weird bloodsuckers! She almost fucking killed me, damnit!”

No response unfortunately. But he does notice something about himself: He is back to phase 2 of his beastly form. It's been so long since he last transformed into an actual Lobo. He always had that silver bracelet amulet on his wrist to tame that part of him, so the amount of pain he received from his transformation shows how unused his body was to turning into a completely different body. He had suggested the idea of embracing the family’s wolf forms to install more fear into the New Orleans residents to reach the world domination goal better, but his mother declined the idea, believing they're not quite ready for the moment yet with her son always fleeing from conflict.

Sighing from disbelief that he has no choice but to climb down himself, he hops off a huge tree arm to land onto the other nearest one on the left, but barely falls off along with an audible high-pitched yelp, a series of curses utters out of his mouth as he is lucky enough to only grapple the arm with his longer pointed claws. Another problem arises however: The heavy rain makes it harder for the claws to grapple onto a tree arm for long, so then his claws slip off and he falls two stories until he hits the other long arm with a painful impact on his back. It was so painful he couldn't get him to stop squirming around with another series of curses uttering out of his throat.

“Fuck! My fucking back!”

Thankfully, the only thing that shuts the young wolf up is the nearby sound of what he thought sounds like licking and crunching. Turning his head forward to the opposite of his direction is an interesting site: That pale woman eating a huge carcass. Is that a bison? How is she able to take down such an immensely huge and strong animal and carry it to the highest trees? She must have superhuman strength to be able to do that! Then again, she's a vampire, and apparently even the slenderest female vampires can give the most muscular non-supernatural male bodybuilders a run for their money.

That was when the vampire stops eating and turns to notice the young wolf staring at her, appearing to be lost in thought. Teddy notices something different about her besides having huge bat wings on her back. Her irises remain blood red, but her whites have now turned black. There is also the fact that she is now not wearing clothing, only covered up with long sections of her dark hair with dark purple and blue highlights. Her hair is about knee length, flows from even a slight breeze easily and has many partings like spider legs but thin and silky as a spider web. It appears she is also on a half phase of her feral form, but Teddy honestly didn't think she looked that terrifyingly ugly. As a matter of fact… Never did he think he would think this about a vampire, but her hair looks so… Beautiful…

“OH FUCK!” Teddy shrieks as the vampire woman suddenly jumps and charges towards him, only to stop at her tracks as if she's just trying to get a closer, better look at him. Teddy tries to scream, but is initially unable to due to his fast, panicking heart. It was only when the woman starts to slowly crawl towards him he is able to coherently speak again.

“W-wa-wait-wait wait! Back off! Back the FUCK OFF! I'm fucking warning ya! Do you know who the fuck I am? I'm Teddy fucking Lobo! I'm a criminal! I can knock your teeth out if I can! I'll do it, I'll fucking do it!”

Teddy thrusts his right foot out onto her chest in an attempt to prevent her from coming closer, only to be immediately followed up with a loud pop coming from his aching back. He whines and whimpers as he tries to quickly ease his back in fear of what could happen if he's off guard while the vampire is right next to him.

She leans over and reaches her hand to the wolf’s cheek to lean him over to see what's wrong with his back. Teddy really underestimated the strength of that woman, for he tries desperately to push her off, but to no avail.

“GAAAH! LET THE FUCK GO OF ME-”

But then he suddenly goes quiet and his breathing goes slower and slower. He is surprised by what has just occurred: The woman had started stroking his back slowly and gently as she can possibly go with how much she underestimates her own strength of her sharp claws. How this calmed Teddy's nerves within seconds is a miracle that can't be explained. He almost falls asleep and his head almost rests on the woman's breasts, but he is surprised he doesn't hear a heartbeat coming from her chest. Does her heart not work? Wait… Of course it wouldn't, she's technically a walking corpse, why else would she need to feed on blood to survive?

She leans back to place her head onto his chest to hear if he has a heartbeat and much to her surprise, he does. Quite a fast, hard one.

Teddy can feel his anxiety growing back once more and tries to hit her with his sharp long claws, only for her to grab his wrist on time with a swift motion that gives him barely any time to react. About 3 seconds later, the same thing happens to his left wrist. He swears his face feels beat red the entire awkward time. She rests her head onto his bare chest to hear his heartbeat and now she's restraining his wrists to prevent him from hitting her. Why is this daughter of Dracula playing with her potential prey?

But then he notices something odd: Despite her threatening appearance, the woman doesn't at all look hostile. If anything, she looks… Curious. If not a bit concerned for the wolf. She observes his claws and lifts up her claws near his to compare the difference. There is a difference: The wolf’s claws are thicker and black, expected from canine biology.

“Umm… You're not… You're not gonna suck me dry?”

“...”

Teddy isn't sure whether to take it as her being more friendlier than she seems or biding her time to set up some sort of trap when he is caught off guard or-

“...You say so much… Teddy Lobo”

That was not something he expected to hear come out of her mouth in both ways. For one, she speaks noticeably slowly and calmly as if she is trying to savor the words coming out of her mouth as much as possible, it is a noticeable contrast to how loud, obnoxious and talkative the Lobo is. And two, he didn't really notice how much he talks until a non-talkative vampire points it out. Holy shit! Does he really talk that much? In his defense, it's sort of a coping mechanism for him because he felt so lonely and underappreciated by most people he knows for most of his life, even by relatives, so talking a big game while putting up a loud, tough façade is his effective way of putting the attention on himself he rarely gets during his childhood and adolescence.

“Well uhh… Yeah? I like talking. I mean who doesn't? Awkward silences can make anyone uncomfortable right? Unless you like silence… Do you like to talk about yourself Mrs.… Umm... Mrs. Name I don't know?”

While grabbing his long, pointed fangs to observe the details, the young vampire reveals herself

“I am Dracula's daughter, the princess of Wallachia. Some call me “Elizzabat Draculaura”, or “Lizzy” for short. I call myself “Georgia” which is commonly said to mean “Agriculture”, but interestingly, “Georgia” also possibly originates from a Persian word “Gurğ” which roughly translates into “Wolf”.”

There is no reason he should be feeling this way, but the feel of her fingers moving around and feeling through his fangs while listening to her talking seems to turn his cheeks slightly pink and his mind keeps tricking him into thinking it's something more perverted happening in his mouth. Perhaps the fact that she reveals that one of her nicknames means “wolf” is what got him a bit too excited.

“But I prefer that you call me “Countess Marya Zaleska”. Because when you look beyond my bitter curse, what you'll will see within my soul is a forest of love”

Teddy looks absolutely in love with Marya with her strong yet soft voice uttering all the different names while the highlights in her hair reflect from the moonlight peaking through an open hole of a cloudy, stormy night, not caring about his fangs being played around with. For someone who commented on him talking a lot, she sure seemed to have wanted to vent about herself as if she's been waiting for that moment for ages. Maybe she likes to talk a lot too, she's just a little closed up about it and just needs the right person to confide in.

“M… Marya sounds… like a beautiful name. So does Draculaura. Maybe I should call you… Lady Draculaura!”

“...Interesting. Many fellow monsters often referred to me as such before.”

“Oh wow, really! Well shit, guess I'm really on the roll!” At that moment, Teddy realizes he was losing his cool and quickly stiffened back into his more tougher front. “It's not like I care about that or anything, stupid…”

Marya thinks it's kind of cute how the young wolf tries to hide his soft spot… Just before hearing a low rumbling sound. She twitches her ears like a cat and she tries to figure out where that strange sound is coming from.

“Ah shit! A bowl of meatballs was the only thing I ate this afternoon… “ Teddy's face flushes in embarrassment and he holds his stomach. He wonders if all the exertion from this crazy evening is what also contributed to feeling so hungry again. And maybe it's the smell of fresh meat from the carcass Marya was eating.

Marya has just the idea! She leaps back to the spot where she was previously feasting on her carcass, lifts the carcass above her head and carefully hops back to Teddy and carefully places her heavy carcass in front of him as an offer to share and hopefully fill his empty stomach.

“I don't believe a few small pieces of meat will be enough to satisfy you after everything you've been through tonight, just because of me… And… Sandor…”

Teddy feels his primal instincts trying to kick in as the meat comes in direct contact with him until Sandor is mentioned. “Huh? you knew about that guy?”

Her ears and position pull back. Just even thinking about that guy is enough to make Marya feel utterly uncomfortable. “Yes. He was my servant a long time ago. I promised him eternal life, but he was not a patient man. He wanted that gift as soon as possible, despite my dreams and wishes. Eventually, he betrayed me, and shot an arrow through me and killed me…”

Sighing, she looks like she's about to tear up even more. “You can't imagine how shocked I was to wake up and find myself at his hands… To use my power while my preserved dead body was sealed away for his disgusting world domination schemes…”

Hearing “disgusting” follow up with “world domination” makes Teddy flinch with disgust. The thing is it's true that he, along with his family, plans to gain power over the world and make everyone fear them. They don't know yet how they are going to accomplish that goal, but what at least Teddy knows is that it doesn't involve killing a woman and using her corpse as a power source for sinister purposes for no apparent reason other than because he didn't get something from her. That sounds like a vampire equivalent of… No. Don't think about it. That fucking bastard!

“But you, Tedward…” Marya stares at her claws as if she is lost in thought. “...When you saw what he had done to me, you tore him to pieces, along with the brides, and his alive coffin throne where I was stored as a power source. If too much of my power was extracted from me I would have weakened and stayed dead…”

“Hell yeah! It feels fucking good to give that bastard what he deserves. Now I feel like a king!” On the contrary of what he may insist, it's very rare for Teddy to actually ever kill anyone. The only person he remembers proactively killing is the father of that Asian officer as a punishment for killing his dad during that one fight that happened over him breaking up with Mrs. Quincy.

Teddy and Rebecca used to date a little bit. Teddy thinks it's cute when Rebecca gets angry over the littlest things and finds joy in teasing her about it. But even Rebecca used to think Teddy is cute, particularly his more laid back demeanor, his sense of humor and his dorky smile, which isn't something she normally finds in her workforce. So naturally, she grew attracted to him and wanted to take their relationship to the next level.

But there's a problem: As much as Teddy's emotional heart wanted to say yes, his logical brain says no due to multiple reasons: Too much conflict between their respective families, too much stress from dealing with the toxic environments within the systems they're bound to and both being too ill-tempered to be able to work out a conflict calmly, so Teddy unfortunately had to be honest with Rebecca and tell her that for these reasons, he doesn't think the relationship would work out long term

And man! He doesn't know what her deal was. Whether it's bottled up anger issues going on and she decided to use that moment as an opportunity to take it out on him or what, but to say she didn't take the rejection well is quite an understatement. First, she attacks him, and then Teddy's dad overhears the fighting and attacks her to defend his son, only for Rebecca's dad to jump in and attack him to defend his daughter. He shoots Teddy's dad until he falls off the two story balcony and the sharp rocks underneath cracks his skull open and he dies. Finally in a fit of rage, Teddy kicks down Rebecca's dad who begs for mercy and for him to spare his life. Not having any of it, Teddy finally pushes him off the balcony and he too dies.

To this day, that moment is still vivid in the young wolf’s and the young Asian officer's minds. They couldn't shake off that day even if they tried and blamed each other for the death of their respective fathers since then. Their feelings for each other hardened into bitterness each day and they swear revenge on each other someday. Just as Teddy got those painful ponderings out of his mind, he wakes up to see Marya with her hand on his head. “My kind has telepathy. So do I therefore, and it appears you too had your heart broken.”

Teddy is suddenly so emotionally drained, he honestly doesn't know what to feel at the moment. His mouth moves as if he's trying to say something, but the words aren't coming out. Maybe it's just he hasn't been snorting up some coke since this morning?

“...Teddy?”

But that was it, he's not saying anything. He's just staring into the void with tears slowly forming into his eyes. Until…

“T-Teddy?!” Marya gasps as she notices him starting to tilt to the right off the tree and quickly catches his hand once he begins to fall! “OH SHIT! Hang on, Teddy! I got you”

“Leave me alone to die…” Teddy muttered despondently, barely highering his head as his sudden suicidal depression crashes in.

“P-Pardon..?”

“What's the point of living on? I'm just your prey anyway…”

But Marya was not having any of it. She had a hundred years of experience with the worst, darkest moments in life as a vampire, yet she knows there is still hope for more happier, peaceful aspects of life to savor, therefore, others should be able to enjoy it despite their darkest moments as well. With all of her might, Marya thrusts her upper body strength and throws Teddy up into the air and uses two of her hands to catch him. She gently cradles him onto her arms and wings as she moves back onto the tree, very concerned for him. But what concerns her even more is when the young wolf's safety is reassured, he begins to panic and bursts into tears!

“Teddy? Are you alright? What happened?!” the extremely worried vampire asks as she tries to soothe him with shoulder rubs as gently as she possibly can.

“FUCK! Why the fuck can't you just let me FUCKING DIE! I WANNA FUCKING DIE!” Teddy sobbed loudly.

“Teddy… Why would you want to die instead of enjoying the beauties and wonders of life?”

“Almost nothing good happens in my life! I grew up into a crime family surrounded with drugs and violence, I was raised into a criminal, mom grew distant as a parent, I lost dad because I said no to a cop I liked, and now mom spends more time with Mandy while the only people I actually even get to spend time with anymore are my own henchmen.” Teddy couldn't contain his tears streaming down his face even if he wanted to.

“What else is there for me to enjoy? I'm lonely as fuck and I would eventually have to go back home to deal with the same shit over and over again… I would rather FUCKING DIE than to keep going like this until I grow old and grey FOREVER! So please… PLEASE LET ME FUCKING DIE!”

Marya was absolutely stunned! Was this young Lobo legit suffering this much his entire life?! He literally spilled his heart out like he's been waiting for that moment for ages! It was almost like that storm the heavens are still pouring out right now. It also reminded her of how she felt when she wanted to be able to live as a normal person again, to be out in the sun, to not have to continue doing evil or be shunned and even attempted to be crucified by mortals who'll eventually die out into dust while she continues to live on.

She paces her head around the tree to figure out what to do and how to comfort him. “Tedward… Look at me.”

It's a struggle for the watery-eyed Teddy to look up at the vampire, but he eventually calms down a bit.

“What do you see in my eyes?” The last time she asked that question to Sandor, his response was “Death”. That simple answer gave her a cold feeling since then. That simple answer reveals how he truly feels about her kind: Dead, unfeeling monsters. Incapable of loving life and happiness. No value. Only good for what he can get out of them. Otherwise, they can be killed off and disregarded without second thought. Her hope this time is that this Lobo wouldn't be selfish and cold enough to think the same about her.

As corny it may sound, Teddy can't help but think of one thing as he stares into such long lashed, watery blood red eyes: Soul gaze. Yes, sometimes gazing into the eyes can be like gazing into the window of someone's soul. After all, a person can reveal something about themselves merely with body language, even facial. Not for long he reveals his answer: Beauty.

Marya is taken back. What did he say? “Beauty”? No… that can't be right… How many people does she know think of her as someone beautiful? Especially considering what she had become? Tears begin forming into her eyes as well. “You… You generally believe that..?”

“...Yeah… I see beauty because…” He looks down unto his fiddling fingers as he feels embarrassment rushing through his face “Shit! This is so stupid… Umm. For someone who would be expected to look unattractive for your kind, particularly in your most feral form, you look physically attractive, you look so pretty! But I do see beauty inward because well… Not a whole lot of people I know actually gives a shit about whether I live or die, let alone a bloodsucker Batwoman”

When he looks up again, he sees tears in her eyes as well. “...You're lonely too aren't you?” The answer he doesn't expect is for her to wrap her clawed hands around his back and borrow his face into his shoulder.

“You… Are my God-given Guardian wolf, Tedward… You're like an answer to my prayers to God.”

“What the fuck..?” Teddy isn't exactly religious, but he sure as hell didn't expect a vampire to have good feelings about God, especially considering what many old priests have done to her kind under the name of God! “What do you mean by that?”

She pulls up from him, attempting to compose herself. “Do you know what “Tedward” means?”

“Uhh, not offhand. I do wonder how you know Tedward is my full first name when I haven't even told you yet? Oh right, you have telepathy.”

“Well yes. But Teddy is a nickname for a certain common name. Tedward sounds like a combination of Theodore and Edward. Theodore originates from a Greek word that translates into “God-given” or “Gift of God”, and Edward originates from an Old English word that translates into “Rich Guardian” or “Wealthy Protector��.”

“WHA-How do you know about these things?! That sounds fucking awesome!”

“I know, I'm a smarty pants. When I have time for myself, I like to read books outdoors under the moonlight and listen to the Children of the Night. Listen to them, what music they make.” By "Children of the Night", she refers to the sounds of chirping crickets, howling wolves that can be heard in the distance and wind chimes hanging on trees blown by the cool gentle breeze.

“Well you got the right guy, baby, because I'm rich and I can be your protector and provider. Everyone in the town where my family is at fears us and knows when to not piss us off. You'll never have to wait in line again! We can go to a restaurant and I'll order you whatever meal you want no matter the expense. We can go to a shop and I'll buy you all the sun protectors and fancy ass dresses you could want, and-”

His stomach comes back to interrupting with another loud growl, making the female vampire chuckle. “Ah shit, thanks for reminding me I'm still starving…”

“No problem, Teddy Lobo, I'll provide food for you this time.” She pulls the bison back closer to Teddy and uses her pinky claw to draw a blood mark to get both him and her hungry for blood.

The smell of meat entices Teddy so much, he feels sudden sharp pangs of pain as he feels himself morphing back into his fourth phase leopard-printed wolf form. He almost launches at the bison carcass only to stop and remember something. “Wait… Lemme ask first: I love Georgia. it's a really nice name I should consider tattooing onto my arm. I love the theory that it originally means “Wolf”, but why do you call yourself that? Aren't you more associated with bats or dragons or something?”

“Well… Vampires and werewolves weren't always antagonistic to one another, we mostly have been allies. In fact, some of us believe we are connected or are one thing, connected like Heaven and Earth. After all, bats are considered “sky puppies” as mortals call them. I do see why, I call myself "Georgia" because I often dream of associating with werewolves more to dissociate myself with Dracula. We must be more connected than mortals thought we are, as Dracula can turn into a wolf, and since I'm his daughter, so can I.”

Teddy's ears perk up and his tail starts wagging. “Huh? you're a Lobo too?! You want to join the Lobos? Oh fuck yeah! Please show me!

“...Sure.” Marya's onyx jewel rings start glowing colors of blue, purple and pink and she smokebombs a large poof of smoke clouds and bats that makes it hard for Teddy to see her. It takes half a minute for the smoke to finally dissipate and he sees the most awesome silhouette ever: A dark furred female wolf with bat wings and dark blue, purple and red highlights and blood red eyes.

“IT'S SO FUCKING AMAZING! IT'S THE REAL FUCKING DRACULA'S DAUGHTER!” The loud leopard-printed wolf begins jumping and wagging his tail so hard the darker she-wolf begins to worry it's going to fall out of his butt. Teddy licks and nuzzles his newfound favorite she-wolf.

“Y-yes it's me. Now let's feast”

Teddy is utterly excited yet complies and rips the carcass' meat with his new mate. Well… She's not exactly his mate yet, but he would be lying if he said he didn't already want her to be one just because of how much he adores her just after meeting her for one night. Only one question remains: What would his mother and sister think? Well… He honestly couldn't care less at the moment. His mother seems to value Mandy's opinions more than his, so why should he care what she thinks about who he wants to date anyways?

THE END

You can also read it on AO3 and DeviantART

I hope I did ok on it. I know my grammar and spellings aren't always perfect, but I think I'm pretty proud of it! :3

Teddy receiving back pain inspiration

Origin of Georgia name source

Vampire/Werewolf relationship source

[natsmagi]

yeah as someone with slightly ridiculous boobs next to my body it is very much not "the standard" in anything. it's insanely hard to find clothes and underwear that fit and people treated me like an adult basically from puberty ... yes, it has mainstream appeal, but appeal for consumption isn't real appreciation. being able to, in the right underpinnings, have the proportions of an anime png just gets you treated with as little respect as the anime png :(

right!!! like do these people realize that something being "portrayed alot" doesnt mean its Good?? and that a lot of the time it can be super harmful for those its portraying....

and im sorry u have to deal with that anon :( it really sucks to see this behavior be so normalized. its like no matter where you look theres people being blatantly misogynistic and shaming TMA bodies, and thats so baffling. i wonder if the hyping up from their similarly close-minded friend circles is worth it

but!!! i am very happy to hear that there are people who DONT subscribe to these ideas!! it always makes me super happy when people say they feel happy or more confident in their bodies when they see their body type depicted in my art!! im well aware that my stuff isnt super diverse, so obviously not every single person is going to relate to what i make, but im glad at least that those who Do find joy in it!! and im very lucky to be part of a community this lovely and kind ❤️ obviously this dumb blog isnt gonna solve sexism, but i really want people to love themselves, aswell as one another.........

[courtofmatchups]

Hi hi 👋🏻

I’d love to do an Obey Me! matchup trade. Side note - I’ve been eyeing Tokyo Debunker, and your writing has convinced me to give it a try too!

A few notes about me…

She/her, bisexual/heteroromantic

Appearance: 5’2, trim body, long wavy brunette hair, blue eyes, warm complexion. Celeb lookalike I get the most is Emilia Clarke (which always makes my day!)

Personality: Extroverted introvert - I need lots of chill time, but I also really enjoy social events and meeting diverse groups of people. Optimist, though I do struggle with anxiety sometimes. My loved ones say I am thoughtful, kind, and intelligent.

Values: The most important things in life to me are spending quality time with my loved ones and pursuing my passions/things that bring me joy.

Love Languages: Physical touch, acts of service, gifts

Interests: I love discovering new interests, so I’m pretty multifaceted in this department! Traveling, reading, photography, cooking, baking, scuba diving, camping, fishing, horseback riding, anime, gaming, K-pop and J-pop are my most consistent interests. I’m also a film and commercial actor!

Fun Facts: Japan is my favorite country to visit, though I also really love Norway and France! I grew up on a farm, but prefer to live in cities with the ability to retreat to the countryside whenever I need to disengage. My guilty pleasure is having ice cream or bubbly in the shower (hot shower + cold treat = perfect balance!). I cry super easily at movies, books, and weddings. I was valedictorian of my college finance class, but my job has nothing to do with my degree and I’ve honestly forgotten 75% of what I learned in school 😅

Partnership: I value a partner who is thoughtful, adventurous, empathetic, affectionate, and passionate. I’m attracted to confident people who have something unique or unconventional about themselves, and who are unshakably confident in their feelings for me. I don’t care what my partner’s job, education, or social class is - what’s on the inside and how we make each other feel is what’s important.

Thanks so much for the matchup! I can’t wait to make your match too!

Xoxo,

Kaede

It seems to me you've captured the heart of...

Diavolo!

One thing that really stood out to me was your adventurous nature, and I KNEW Diavolo would be the perfect match for you. Thoughtful, kind, and intelligent are words that people use to describe you, and Diavolo agrees. Your love for travelling and making new friends is a testament to that. He quite likes your optimism, and in the event your anxiety threatens to get the better of you, Diavolo will help you out.

Even if you have forgotten much of what you learned in university, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that you are pretty eloquent and really good at keeping track of things, and frankly, Diavolo would love that about you, and would fall even harder for you when he gets the chance to see that in action. A lot of his values overlap with your own, so that's another bonus. Spending time with loved ones? Check. Adventurous? Check. Empathetic? Check. Passionate? Check. Having unique quirks? Check. Hotel? Trivago.

He finds your guilty pleasure of enjoying a cold treat in a warm shower quite cute, so he'll ask Barbatos to spoil you with the finest treats. Might even ask you to enjoy them with him in a hot tub.

As for your love languages, it's quite uncanny how much they overlap with his own. Diavolo's pretty touch starved, so please give him lots of cuddles. Any gift you get him, he will cherish. And you know he's going to put in a lot of thought for the gifts he will gift you.

As for your interests, he would love to discover new things with you, and since he's already dabbled in some of the interests you have picked up, he'll be happy to tell you some things he'd learned also.

Your relationship will be full of fun and adventures, and of course, lots of emotional and intellectual stimulation. Truly this is the ideal match for you, in my opinion.

[theghostbunnie]

pleaspelaspelaalslsle tell me all of your Harrison headcannons pleasenthankyou

SORRY I RARELY CHECK MY INBOX DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THIS HAD TO SIT THERE SGSGFJK

I'm definitely not the first to have the "he can see ghosts" or "has religious trauma" I also think it would be interesting if his powers to some degree or another were tied to his emotions. But that's like a side effect that doesn't really show up until he's a bit older and it hurts his confidence bc he's improved so much just to have this steady growing loss of control for a bit??

His older brother, Cole, being the first born son in a traditionalist family was the pride and joy and of course became entitled raised on "boys will be boys." He used Harrison as a diversion to run away to go do whatever he wanted and left his family to assume whatever. Talked to the squid god on an acid trip.

He's one of the most emotionally mature and resilient knowing the bullying he receives is just the others coping the only way they know how, taking things out on him. So he continues to let it slide all the time, ultimately creating this cycle of him always getting walked all over.

Preston's friendship means a lot to him and it's not intentional but Preston and his dramatics tends to make the friendship focus way more on hisown needs. Harrison wants to keep his bff and actually worries HE puts too much on Preston.

I talked with a friend the other day and I also think he either couldn't handle spicy food at all or his body has gained a magical resistance to all things "hot"

Which I think could be a fun thing to explore aswell. He picks up someone's curling iron not knowing it's on and just doesn't notice lmao.

[jellogram]

Listen I play a lot of dress up doll games and it's so fucking infuriating how in 2024 they still don't all have diverse options. Like sometimes you get darker skin options but like, is it drawn in a way that you can still see the facial features? Are there diverse hair options? Are all the noses little baby button noses? Is there, God forbid, a larger body type? These seem like such basic things that make the game a) way more inclusive especially for young girls who deserve to dress up characters who look like them and b) way more fun to play because I don't have to rotate through blonde, brunette, and redhead white girls over and over. I don't expect much from the goofy flash games from 15 years ago where you dress up princesses or whatever but there's so many beautiful games with such lovely art that are a joy to look at and clearly took a lot of effort and then they just. Don't bother with diverse options at all. And it makes me not want to play it.

[fotu22]

"TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW" - A Review of Tough Act's White Hotel Showcase

Last weekend at White Hotel will be a tough act to follow! Manchester based arts collective “Tough Act” checked guests into the night with all sorts of fun, donk cheesy edits superfast and super hard. Tough Act remained effortless and cheeky whilst summoning ciaos. The collective went b2b at time and others solo for a while, all while warming the crowd aggressively, no holding back. When the floor is warmed up like this it calls the party starters to the front. Although you may question the time and choice of pace ,the ones who don’t need to loosen up are leading the troop. Transmitting that energy across the floor and truly setting the pace for the night to follow.

Almost immediately you are pulled into the fun by the others around celebrating who they are. I notice this is a different type of joy expressed. I haven’t mentioned it yet, but Tough Act are a queer collective and so attract queer crowd. People are celebrating having a space for them to feel safe. Releasing the week gone, finding themselves or simply just wanting to dance!

I can often tell a good crowd by how long I spend in other areas of the club chatting. I kept on getting caught in conversations with warm and beautiful people, of course, in the silly and unconventional clubland way!

LCY stepped up and immediately commanded attention, I observed strong influences of London/UK bass music. Steamrolling through genre boundaries, whilst remaining extremely high quality and refined.

LCY’s ability to maintain dark and industrial all while keeping the crowd enclosed with endless groove. Hard groove techno laced with trickles of amapiano took me on a trip across the globe, whilst my feet were stomping away in Salford. This attitude is synonymous with multi-cultural energy, often exuded by artists from highly diverse ethnocultural centers such as Bristol and London.

Often with DJ’s who have played the circuit for longer than I have been alive, it can go two ways. They seem to only ever get better or in some cases seem somewhat out of touch attempting to read a “younger” audience but completely miss the mark. Misreading their youth for lack of taste in turn, opting for “bait” or more palatable set. DJ Flight was the antithesis of this.          A true pioneer of the jungle/dnb scene, had me hanging on the end of every beat, filled with curiosity for what was to come.

There’s a noticeable difference between new generation jungle DJ’s and the OG’s. The OG’s are able to keep that soul and groove within the sets no matter how much the tempo increases. The music remained dreamy, but the breaks jerked my body into all sorts of movements, just how we like it! Flight closed with some more “soulful” dnb more commonly known as “liquid”, this brought the mood down nicely allowing the audience to reflect for a moment and catch their breath.

Bringing this journey to a close was Stolen Velour, by this point I was locked into a side quest so I shall link Stolen Velour’s music below. Let me know what you think!

Big thanks to Tough Act for a brilliant night. Their next party at the White Hotel is on July 15th , if its anything close to the last one you’re in for a treat. Hopefully see you there!

Lots of love

F.O.T.U

x