#She just has tanned skin

[samporterbridges]

Redraw of these two because Jackienat needs more art and I def didn’t make this to procrastinate the fic I should be writing about them

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Biblically accurate/color corrected Rangi (left) vs OG/official art Rangi (right)

Aka I give her the bronze eyes back, and I (unfortunately) suck the melanin out of her. u_u It's not my fault, that's how she's described in the books (even tho I do like the darker skin)! It's so weird they swapped the eye and skin colors on which was lighter/darker.

Yet they kinda got Hei-Ran right with her color palette (brown/bronze eyes and porcelain skin too), but then you put her next to Rangi and the contrast is just insane like???? Did they forget that they were suppose to be so similar to look like twins? TT0TT

[softquietsteadylove]

hey! I have a request! now this might sound a little crazy and really far fetched…..but let me cook for a sec.

is there any way for the Mermaid AU you could make Gil into a Mermaid? Maybe thena finds a plant for him to eat that either lets him breathe underwater, turns him into a mermaid or both! I was watching Barbie mermaidia today, and I could help but think of these two ( I got the idea from when Barbie and bibble ate seaweed to breathe underwater)! I feel like thena is always learning new things about the human world, so it is Gil’s turn to explore Thena’s world!

as always I love your work! 🖤🖤

"Are you sure about this, Angelfish?" Gil asked, but Thena just nodded so eagerly he wondered if her scales would fly off. She beamed up at him, her fangs shining in all their glory. He sighed. "Okay."

Thena watched from the water as he took a bite of the horrific looking plant she had brought to him. She refused to say what it was, just handing it to him and insisting that he eat the whole thing.

He groaned; it tasted awful, and the texture felt the way algae looked. His toes curled, his feet dipped into the water up to his ankles dangling over the edge of the dock. He gulped it down, though.

"It'll start working any second, just hang onto me!"

And with that, she dragged him underwater.

Usually, Thena was careful about him being underwater. She got nervous about how small human lungs were and what water pressure could do to them. They had only just got his held breath record up to a minute and a half last time they practised.

But Thena sped downward, his hand in hers, her tail propelling them. Gil had his hand over his mouth as she dragged him. He was going to drown down here, they were descending so fast.

But then it got a little easier. He started moving through the water a little faster. He looked down and his jeans were gone, no longer rolled up to the ankles--he didn't have ankles.

He had gills, taking up the work of breathing for him as they sped through the water. His ears changed shape and his eyes adapted to the dark the deeper they went. Scales erupted over his skin and when he looked down at himself, his midriff was exposed and he had a long, thick tail covered in shimmering black scales.

He was a mer!

Thena turned, not even having to slow down as she swam without looking. Seeing her in her element - literally - truly was an amazing sight to behold. "Isn't it wonderful, Gil?"

"Slow down, sweetheart," he chuckled, and she did. Just as naturally as he would slow down from running, his tail was able to slow their speed, moving automatically. He had long fins, too, which both helped cut through the water and assist the power of his swimming. "Wow."

Thena circled him again and again, too excited to float idly. "It's a dream! That herb is almost never found anymore--used far beyond its means, it's all but impossible to unearth."

Good to know the ocean was also capable of overharvesting and causing extinction, just like the surface.

"But Makkari said she had seen something like it and we went digging for treasures," Thena sighed, staring at him with eyes so starry they were glittering--perhaps it was her bioluminescence. "She said I could use it on you."

He looked at his arms, also dotted with scales, although it was different from Thena's scale pattern. "You've always had a magical plant that could turn humans into a mer?"

"Temporarily," she excused, as if what he had said wasn't abnormal sounding in the least. She circled him again before rising in the water in sheer delight. The end of her tail was flapping like a puppy's. "And look at you! I knew you'd be perfect!"

He laughed, accepting it as she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his back - the small trail of dorsal spines would take some getting used to- and kissing him.

His gills breathed for him as he kissed her back.

"Thank you, Angelfish," he nuzzled the tip of her nose with his, "for sharing this with me. It's...incredible."

She took his hand again, at least swimming at a lighter pace now. "We don't have long, unfortunately. But I want you to see some of what it's like down here."

It was beautiful. Of all the nature documentaries and marine biology live streams and deep sea cam feeds he'd watched, it could never compare to seeing it with his own eyes. Fish were everywhere, among other sea life. And the number of mers wasn't overwhelming, but he had almost thought in his head that Thena and Makkari were some of the only ones. And Ikaris, he supposed.

But he could see other mers swimming together, some of them speeding along, some of them happily swimming around each other in a lazy little dance. Their tails were different shapes and sizes, colours and textures. It was beautiful.

Thena purred as he kissed her cheek.

He didn't really want to experiment to see if he could purr too. But he took it in with her from above the reef spanning below them. "It's amazing--I had no idea this was so close to the house."

"Well, it's not that close," she assured, beginning to swim circles around him again. "You can travel several naughts faster with a tail than even in some boats."

He didn't doubt that. He looked down at his tail again. It was larger than Thena's, and something about her still being small and delicate even when they were in the same state endeared her to him further.

"It is a very striking tail."

He felt embarrassed, although blood didn't rush to his face like it would in his human state. He felt flustered, though, as if he should curl his tail up and try to hide it modestly. "Th-Thanks--I guess this is why you get all shy when I compliment yours?"

"I do not-!" she hissed at him. Her natural habits came out so much more when she had her tail on.

He took her hand and kissed the scales on her shoulder. "Show me more."

She was happy to receive the affection--she seemed to relish it even more than usual in this form. Her tail was better for speed, he presumed. Even with a longer, stronger tail of his own, he could feel the pull of her moving ahead of him. He was happy if she was faster than thim--it meant he didn't have to worry about her as much when she was out swimming alone.

Gil watched some of the other mers looking at him, surely trying to size up where he was from and how he had infiltrated their world. Most of them were in pairs, and while they weren't holding hands or anything outwardly romantic, those he assumed were couples had other signs.

They swam more closely, so closely their tails would collide sometimes, or their fins would brush together smoothly. They didn't hold hands, but their hands did move freely, brushing over and even more deliberately running over their partners.

"We can't go all the way out there," Thena mused, "but this is almost where we first met."

"Really?" he blinked. It all looked the same, just never ending ocean sprawling as far as he could see (which was significantly farther as a mer than as a human).

She nodded, pointing out over the end of the reef. "If you swam out that way another ten minutes, you would find where I first saw you sinking."

A very ungraceful introduction, unfortunately.

He gave her hand a squeeze, "I'm glad I could see it from your side of things."

She tipped his chin to give him another kiss. "We should start swimming back."

"So," he began as they made their way back towards the dock more leisurely. "This stuff really doesn't last that long, huh?"

She shook her head, paddling beside him. "It would be too dangers if it did. Humans could learn a little too much about us."

That was true, and also not a risk that was worth taking. He looked around them, "what if--won't they be angry with you if they find out-"

Thena cut him off, "there's nothing to find out. I'm showing my mate my home territory, nothing more."

He smiled; he could understand a little better what the term 'mate' really meant to her. It wasn't just their word for girlfriend or partner or anything. Seeing the mers swimming around together, he could see that mate meant something a little deeper to them. "Is there anything else I should do as your mate?--while I'm down here, I mean."

Thena seemed to really think about it, at least for a second. But she ultimately just smiled and shook her head, her beautiful mane of hair floating around her in the water. "We have no such formalities. And besides, I prefer our mating traditions back home."

"What mating traditions are those?" he asked with a chuckle. The act of mating wasn't itself a ritual ( he had learned). But she did like rituals such as 'falling asleep in front of the tv together', and 'calling him while he was at the store to tell him they were out of eggs'.

Human domestic life had really grown on her.

"Hm," she purred as they started their ascent to the surface. "I think my new favourite is eating between mating sessions."

He felt as if he could blush again. There were some nights when they were both feeling particularly needy and could go several rounds. And sometimes, in the middle of those rounds, they would get hungry and retrieve some dried sardines (for her) and shrimp chips (for him) to keep their strength up.

Gil kissed her cheek again as the light of the surface started warming them again. "Let's come up with some more when we get home."

[huginsmemory]

To follow up on the previous post mentioning that I knew I'd be meeting law soon in op and being excited because I'd know I'd like him. WELL. He's not the character I imprinted on. I mean let's be real I'll probably imprint on him aggressively when I learn more about him but u know who I DID IMPRINT ON? EUSTASS KID. THATS RIGHT. my gender envy snatched that boy so fast do u understand the envy of a person who as a kid was so desperately adhered to Toxic Masculinity and Always Wanted to Be Buff. Boy howdy did I mention I so badly wanted to be perceived as Male and that roughness expected of them. And Eustass Kid fulfills that roughly masculine stereotype to a tee EXCEPT not since he's also leaning into punk subculture and gender defying lipstick and it's not meant in an effeminant way but kinda a Don't Fuck With Me Way which his whole look screams and so suddenly that's TEN TIMES BETTER BECAUSE FUCK GENDER STEREOTYPES. and also did I mention he's clearly supposed to be Celtic/Scottish? and as a person whose also Scottish I'm like oh FUCK YES. And oh no that's EXACTLY the gender vibe I want. And then u don't know anything about him for the next age I guess since they all disappeared

[freaky-flawless]

I reeally wish the Rainbow High doll's skin tones were more accurate to how they are in the web show. The difference is hard to ignore, and its always the characters with even the tiniest bit of melanin that are super inaccurate. It's been a major hang up for me with these dolls.

[floralovebot]

its probably cause i just haven't been online in a while but i haven't seen anyone notice that flora is Still being whitewashed

it's definitely not the worst it's ever been and i am hoping that it'll look better in the actual show but like,, y'all... and i was literally just talking about how so many people (including rainbow) won't whitewash aisha but Will whitewash flora and no one notices?? and people think it's okay??

like i'm not trying to be the party pooper here but she is Not the right skin tone at all and some shading around the face doesn't make up for it. and if i see one more person say that they stopped whitewashing or that flora looks perfect i'm gonna scream

[this-should-do]

venting dont mind me xp ✌

[aropride]

i will never ever understand people who try to get a tan on purpose like as a hobby like i just do not get it

[leyartser]

@moxidi-fanarts-and-sketches's Ocartober 2023, day 9

Guard

I thought it'd be cute to make a sort of parallel drawing to an older one, especially since it ties very nicely into their arcs (especially Rin's)

[mantisgodsaus]

New blog moment /pos

Hello! I am here to formally request you may or may not tell me more about this selkieverse. Is it an au where everyone is a selkie (or at least, some bugs are)? Do they just turn into aquatic like bugs instead of actual seals? If actual seals, do you have species picked out for the selkie characters yet? How does it work? Are they even selkies at all? Once more, you don't have to answer if its information you'd like to withold but as local marine biology (mostly seals and jellyfish though) nerd I must know if this may be an au that is like. Right up my alley.

Oh boy, we can answer questions! Technically, we've had this blog for a bit, we just... haven't been using it (we are afflicted with a chronic need to illustrate our worldbuilding and we just Haven't Been Drawing recently).

Not everyone is a selkie, but some bugs are - actual species varies! They're seals, or other assorted... vertebrates, mostly. "Selkie", here, is less referring specifically to seals and more referring to the general category of Bugs With Bonus Pelt. We've got actual species picked out for the selkie characters, but we do want to keep a few under wraps - of the few we can reveal, Leif is a ribbon seal, Mothiva is a leopard seal, Cenn is a yellow-bellied water snake, and Vi... well, her pelt was an ermine.

In terms of how it works - selkies are, more or less, bugs that come in two... pieces, or with two forms. It's genetic, though it can very much skip generations and occasionally appears to manifest from nowhere - generally, you have a few main strains of selkie in an area, maybe with a scattering of other species around. Seals are by far the most common around both Bugaria and The North, and the gene's most common in moths (as far as anyone knows), though it can appear in other species - and, as previously mentioned, sometimes you just get a kid who's a selkie without any previous selkie relatives.

A selkie's pelt isn't present upon hatching, but manifests later - generally either when they metamorphose, in the case of bugs like moths and butterflies, or during one of their first few instars on bugs who do That. It is, functionally, a part of them - a selkie cannot be separated from their pelt for too long, though they can wander farther from it with age and practice, and trying to keep away from it causes fun side effects (like organ failure, and feeling like you're being physically peeled out of your shell, and death).

The pelt itself is, as is typical with selkies, a pelt - seal, or snake, or ermine, or whatever else someone might be. Looks like you'd expect a seal pelt to be - although a selkie's pelt contains a few more bones. Generally, you've got a skull, spine, and ribcage, but it's not uncommon to have a few other bones - they shape the skin, more or less. As is standard, once the skin is donned, they gain the form of their pelt, but the selkie has some control over it - as well as some control over how the pelt moves.

The thing about selkie pelts is that, as they're a part of the selkie, they're functionally "alive" - an extension of the self, an extra limb. Technically, anyone can don a selkie pelt and take on the form of whatever creature they are, but it'll be... strange. Uncanny. They aren't the selkie, and this isn't their form - they're just wearing their skin. Unlike on the selkie themself, the bones aren't going to merge to them properly, they're just going to stick in there, wearing away at their shell until they eventually take it off. A pelt only retains its transformative properties while the selkie it belongs to is alive - once they bite it, it becomes just a piece of leather, though with selkie skin being the only real option as far as skins go, it's still pretty damn valuable dead.

If a selkie's pelt is destroyed, the selkie dies. Likewise, if a selkie dies, the pelt becomes inert. It's a bit like holding a vital organ in your hand - and if the selkie and the pelt are taken too far apart, the connection is severed and the selkie will die even if no damage is dealt to either them or their pelt.

As is standard for selkie mythology, having a selkie's pelt gives you some measure of control over them. Specific degree of control varies, largely based on the selkie - though all selkies can be commanded while you're actively holding their pelt, if they'll keep following that command once you've put it down is a whole 'nother ball park. If you had Leif's pelt in hand and told him to do something, he'd keep doing it even if you put that pelt down later, but if you tried the same with Vi (again, while she had it) she'd stop the second you put it down. With Mothiva, just possessing the pelt is enough - you don't need direct contact, you just need to have it. The effect's at least partially psychosomatic - while it's a direct compulsion with direct contact, anything past that is largely based on if the selkie thinks you should be able to tell them what to do.

The selkie form itself is fairly standard as creatures of its species go, albeit downsized for bug scale. They're around the size they'd normally be relative to a human, relative to an average bug (using an ant as your Standard Human works, here). A selkie is, functionally, both their bug species and their pelt species - behaviors in one form will affect the other, and vice versa. Generally, this'll manifest most noticeably in either tics or diet - a craving for raw fish, an odd sense of territorialism, an impulse to drag dead things to your dumb, bad-at-hunting teammate. It does, however, vary - and a good chunk of selkies do try to keep the fact that they're selkies hidden, especially if they might have reason to fear a stolen pelt.

...this is a whole lot of rambling on Selkie Magic Mechanics and not a whole lot of marine biology, uhh. Hope this helps sketch out the general mechanics for ya! We're always glad to talk about Cool AUs!

[snekdood]

its wild to me how western european beauty standards even effected me as a child. my blonde, blue-eyed ass. i'd tan and come inside to look at my skin and it was "darker" in a way thats not conventionally understood as beautiful, I thought I was "supposed" to have more red and orange pigment when I tanned

like this

but instead it was more like

this and it always made me feel insecure on a subconscious level, like i wasnt the "right type of tan" or something :/

anyways, everyone with olive skin is beautiful and fuck them other color undertones sdjkhbvsfgdvghsdfhgvdfshvgfdgshv

[acoyote]

is it just me or is this comment super weird? 💀 “their eyes are a bit downturned” what?? is she not Polynesian Enough because her eyes aren’t downturned? 💀

[falling-hand-in-unlovable-hand]

either this is a change that has happened in the last..... two years (unlikely), or i'm just now starting to notice, but i stg sometimes my parents act just fucking ridiculous

[swimmingchicken9]

bit of oc lore bc why not:

rosemary was driving late at night intoxicated one time and accidentally hit sapphire with her car and thats how the two met.

sapphire, being an inhuman chaos bisexual, flirted with rose while she was literally in the hospital bed

saph was really like "youre cute. we should date." and somehow pulled rose into a relationship that lasted all of two months

the breakup is clean. rose is just like "hey, i really enjoy your company and all but i just didnt feel anything. im sorry."

saph goes "oh! thats all good, understandable :) wish youd told me sooner but its okay." and they still remain friends bc they just work better that way

[wyrmwinds]

Tbh every time I fantasia Ava, I end up slightly darkening her skintone. Reverse Y'shtola. Every time they lighten her I darken Ava by two shades.

[kavehater]

JFJEOSSK STOP I feel like I’d look better if it looked like I lost blood circulation (as in I become paper white pale) OR I get a tan because my current skin tone looks like my skin has seen terrors beyond human comprehension IT LOOKS TIRED LMFAO