#eumelanin

[birdgenetics]

Black and Blue: Spread and Clumped Pigments!

[reblogs-the-art]

"A Color Palette I Wish I Tried Earlier"

[chakrafiend]

This includes folks with eumelanin; our melanin protects us to an extent. Cancer does not discriminate.

be pro-aging but wear sun screen. sun protection is not beauty industry propaganda it will save you. wear it. or else.

[blackgirlslivingwell]

Why Do Black Women Look So Young? Shocking Black Beauty Secret!

Melanin is a natural pigment that gives color to your skin, hair, and eyes. It's produced by cells called melanocytes and protects the skin from damage from the sun's UV radiation. People have varying amounts of melanin - the more melanin you have, the darker your complexion.

[everyones-story]

theoretically you could say all black cats are brown. its a deeply unscientific way to phrase the genetic relationship between black and brown fur, and not totally right, but its close enough

[despazito]

My collection called "stop suppressing eumelanin in dogs it's scary"

[whatcoloristhatcat]

sorry if this is an odd question but what exactly is rufousing? sorry i dont know that much about cat colouring fhdhjev

i can't believe i haven't explained this !! >_<

rufousing is a polygene (multiple genes that contribute to an effect) that affects the "warmness" of a tabby cat's coat! (we don't know exactly what genes cause it yet.) basic examples, left is a black mackerel tabby with low(er) rufousing and right is a black mackerel tabby with high(er) rufousing

this is what black tabby fur looks like (source is sparrow's garden):

ignore the red fur on the right for now i can't crop it out.

agouti (aka tabby) fur has bands of eumelanin (black) and phaeomelanin (red) that makes the fur between a black tabby's stripes appear lighter and more brownish. the amount of "yellowing" this fur has is decided by rufousing!

often, rufousing is most visible in a cat's cheeks, chest, stomach, and legs. it's also especially visible in areas where more of the shaft of the fur is visible, like where this cat's fur is folding up where they're crouched:

ok obvious question: how are these not tortoiseshell tabbies?

a: although rufousing is decided by the presentation of phaeomelanin, which makes red cats red, these cats with high rufousing are still black-based! all black-based tabbies have phaeomelanin in their fur, rufousing just decides the visibility of it. notice how the stripes on tabbies with higher rufousing still remain black - if these were tortoiseshell tabbies, their stripes would also be red.

rufousing can also affect the "intensity" of the redness in a red cat's coat, but that is like never what i'm referring to on this blog :p

[today-i-am-thinking-about]

black hair dye

[scottpartridge]

Dichromatic pairs - in each of these species the main pigment is melanin, but the male has mostly eumelanin (black/gray) and the female has mostly pheomelanin (reddish-brown/buff). This is a trend I noticed working on the AVE (Avian Vector Encyclopedia). I don't think it's fully understood why this is so, but it's touched on in this article from Avian Biology.

[madjazzed]

Intro to Alternian Biology: respiratory pigments

Like the blood of most species on Earth and Alternia, trolls' blood derives its color from metalloproteins used to transport oxygen. Unlike most species on Earth and Alternia, troll blood contains multiple types of oxygen-transport proteins--five in total.

HEMERYTHRIN is the primary oxygen-transport protein in the blood of seadwelling trolls, and is also present in significant concentrations in purplebloods. It is violet-pink when oxygenated. Much Alternian sea life uses hemerythrin as its sole or primary oxygen transport protein, as do many Earth marine invertebrates.

HEMOCYANIN is the primary oxygen-transport protein of landdwelling highbloods (blue and purple) and present in significant concentrations down to olive. It is dark blue when oxygenated. Hemocyanin is also found in the blood of many Earth mollusks and arthropods.

CHLOROCRUORIN is present in very small quantities across the hemospectrum, and in high concentrations in greenbloods; it was the primary blood pigment in limebloods, which are now extinct. Chlorocruorin is a dichromatic compound which appears light green in dilute solutions, including normal blood, and red when highly concentrated; an uncommon mutation causing extreme overproduction of chlorocruorin thus results in bright red blood. On Earth, chlorocruorin is mostly found in worms.

COBOGLOBIN is an important oxygen-transport protein in low and midblood trolls and is most highly concentrated in goldbloods, the only caste for which it is primary, with significant concentrations occurring in every hemotype from rust to teal. It is yellow-orange in color when deoxygenated. Coboglobin is the only Alternian blood protein that does not occur in Earth biology.

HEMOGLOBIN is the primary oxygen-transport protein in rustblooded trolls. The highest concentrations occur in burgundy bloods, and it is present in significant quantities in all blood castes up to olive. Fuschiabloods also have hemoglobin in relatively small but still significant quantities, notably more than in any of the other high blood castes. It is dark red when oxygenated. Nearly all Earth vertebrate species rely on hemoglobin for oxygen transport.

Additional notes:

The gray color of trolls' skin comes from black eumelanin and blue-gray carotenoproteins in the skin cells, the concentration of which increases with age. The yellow color of trolls' irises comes from yellow carotenoproteins. These are present in most troll tissues, but their color is usually masked by the darker skin pigments or the more vivid blood pigments. They do, however, contribute to the color of yellow blood, the only hemotype dominated by a transport protein which is colorless when oxygenated.

High concentrations of chlorocruorin are correlated with conciliatory impulses. Sopor slime is a highly oxygenated fluid containing significant concentrations of chlorocruorin, which give it its green color and are believed by many to contribute to its dampening effect on sleep rage and daymares, though the mechanism is not known. No surviving castes have as much as 50% chlorocruorin, while the now-extinct lime bloods had just over. Trolls with the rare cherry red mutation, however, have over 90% chlorocruorin, twice as concentrated as any other surviving caste.

It has been theorized that the cherry red mutation is a throwback to a now-extinct subspecies of troll which relied solely on chlorocrourin for oxygen transport. There were many subspecies in Alternia's evolutionary past, some more successful and widespread than others. In prehistory it is thought that none used more than one oxygen transport protein, as is typical in most planetary ecologies including Earth's. However, early hybrids benefited from the adaptive advantages of diversifying oxygen transport, and the mixing of subspecies through kleptogenetic reproductive strategies eventually resulted in the distribution of diverse respiratory pigments seen in the modern hemospectrum.

[reine-uls]

What is Douma's official hair color?

Learning about his character design was one of the first and oldest research I have done for my fanfic: cold affections. While there are many fanon elements, I took seriously with what is canon first and foremost. His hair took me a while because I was surprised the information shared along the majority had the misconception that Douma is blonde. The yellowish or golden-like form. I do not blame anyone for thinking this misconception except those who kept pushing the idea after only seeing either glimpse the colored manga (I also don’t rely on the visual coloring because after trying to find source of whoever colored it — it seems it’s fanon. i could be wrong.) or the anime without knowing his backstory.

It is common knowledge that light objects reflects light while black absorbs it. If the object has a similar hue to the light, it absorbs the others and only reflects what is similar to it. Douma's hair reflection to the setting's light varies accordingly.

It may be his appearance in season three and the colored manga that people often call him blonde (yellow/gold). He looks blonde but he is not. That was the warm yellow lighting of the infinity castle.

I’m not knowledgeable about the means of blonde entirely so I have to search and understand the etymology. Blonde has a couple of different meanings. To hair it means fair or pale yellow. to racial characteristics it means someone of having fair hair and light complexion. to wood or other substance it means light in color.

Focusing on hair, blond or blonde, is also referred to as fair hair. A hair that has low eumelanin (the dark pigment). If you have high eumelanin in your body, it’d come out as either forms of black or brown. I used to hear this when I was in pharmacy moreover my anatomy and cosmetic subjects, however I don’t recall much anymore since it has been a while. But anyways, blonde still has a variation of shades like sandy, platinum, ash, strawberry, etc., and they all commonly consists of a hint of yellowish color.

Platinum blonde hair is second mostly shared among the fandom that douma has that type of color. I honestly don't reject the idea because it is similar to his official hair color. Platinum blonde has a cooler tone of ashy and pearly blonde with a hint of metallic shine. platinum is defined as a silver-white color.

The difference between silver and gray is silver having more metallic shine to it. With Douma's light hair having reflected light so vividly, to describe it having a shine, his appearance description being one of them as platinum blonde is close to accurate. In my fanfic, it is still being rewritten, but since the beginning I have described his hair to be silver or platinum due to lighting, and pale gray nonetheless.

So why gray? Pale gray specifically. Well it is said so in the English translation manga, according to his fuckass parents.

With m&m eyes and senior citizen hair color, he became a cult figure which makes sense… since Douma is written to how a unique looking person could affect his deluded peers, environment, and mostly himself.

Either way, there is also another official here to note, and that after reading this, with Douma's magical color changing hair, he might as well be a K-pop idol or DanTDM in the Minecraft story game.

I read an analysis from a person I personally trust because of their insightful analysis and studies on kny. They also made researched on Douma, even his hair. Here, is the link for more information about what they discuss:

I'll just briefly mention in here that they talked about Douma's official hair color description being as 白橡, "shirotsurubami," a white-ish shade of oak (very light brown or beige color.) Brown is desaturated colors of red, orange, and yellow. And I thought this circles back to him being close to blonde once again but I'm just overthinking. It is still a different description, yet one amongst official to Douma.

Personally, I think he was officially described this way because of how he appeared in the Infinity Castle and how the warm colored lighting affects his appearance, but that's just a humble opinion.

Either way, for me I am only following what Koyoharu Gotouge has intended to portray Douma after all this time. And these are the very evidence by the author themselves, as they personally colored these:

alright i sleep its 3:30 am here...

[identifying-cat-phenotypes]

Are the aristocats coats possible? Could an all white cat (f) have a solid black (m), an orange (m) and a solid white(f) kittens?

(thanks and sorry english isn't my first or second language)

You could do a lot with them, that's for sure! Here are what the Aristocats family looks like, for those that don't know/can't remember.

Ignore O'Malley. This isn't about him.

It's possible, very possible actually, ESPECIALLY with the fact that we don't know the sire. That is a lot of creative freedom I can work with. I'll go into depth on each kitten's genetics below the cut :)

I want to have fun with this. If you know a bit about cat genetics, you'll quickly see how convoluted I make these answers because genetics are fun. Silly kitties with their silly genes and I will have FUN damnit!

Duchess's white is epistatic over everything. That means, we can really go crazy with what is under there. Eumelanin colors, red, tabby, solid, inhibitor, it can be whatever.

Therefor, I'm calling her a (technical) cryptic tortie. Below are the expressions I've decided to give her.

O/o, -/- W/w, l/l

I'll keep her black locus blank, as that will be affected by the sire. I'll be doing them last, so it'll be done last too.

Now, if you look at Berlioz, you'll notice something. He has a lighter gray stomach! That means I have to give him inhibitor at some point. You can also see this on Toulouse! However, since he is red, I'm passing it off as tabby. No inhibitor for him.

Marie is easy, so I'll just do her right now. The only note I have is that the sire HAS to be L/l in order for Marie to stay longhaired.

l/l, W/w

Onto the other kittens!

To stay as close to canon, Berlioz must have:

Black self (B/-)

Inhibitor (I/-) <- capital i

No white (w/w)

To stay as close to canon, Toulouse must have:

Red tabby (O/Y)

No white (w/w)

This means that we know EXACTLY what the sire has to have. It has to not have white, and have inhibitor. It's quite simple! However, I like to have fun.

Simple Genetics:

Duchess: l/l, O/o, B/B, W/w, i/i longhaired white (black self tortie) Unnamed Sire: L/l, o/Y, B/B, w/w, I/i shorthaired Marie: l/l, O/o, B/B, W/w, I/i longhaired white (black smoke tortoiseshell) Berlioz: L/l, o/Y, B/B, w/w, I/i shirthaired black smoke Toulouse: L/l, O/Y, B/B, w/w, i/i shorthaired red false-tabby

Now, you may be saying, "Robin, what possibly could be next? You've done all their genetics!" This is true! I just did it, however, I like to have a LOT of fun here. Fictional cats (cough. Warriors. cough) are my puppets, and I make them dance to my own rhythm.

Lets have fun with epistatic traits. Lets make these cats as far away from canon (but still technically recognizable) as possible. The world is MY oyster.

Duchess is now a longhaired cinnamon (b1/b1) self (a/a) cryptic tortie. Color-pointed (cs/c) with full white. The sire is now a shorthaired (L/l) black-silver (B/b1, I/i) tabby (A/a) with high tabby-breakage (spotted tabby).

So... onto:

Mod Robin's Funplex Cat-Genetics Note: I'm having fun. This is not accurate to real life probabilities.

Duchess: l/l, o/o, b1/b1, a/a, cs/c, W/w, i/i longhaired white (cinnamon colorpoint, carrying albinism) Unnamed Sire: L/l, o/Y, B/b1, A/a, C/c, w/w, I/i shorthaired black-silver spotted tabby (carrying albinism) Marie: l/l, o/o, B/b1, A/a, c/c, W/w, I/i longhaired albino white (black-silver spotted tabby) Berlioz: L/l, o/Y, B/b1, a/a, cs/c, w/w, I/i shorthaired smoke sealpoint (carrying albinism) Toulouse: L/l, o/Y, b1/b1, A/a, C/cs, w/w, i/i shorthaired cinnamon spotted tabby (carrying pointing)

yay! kitties :) !!!! <3333

i wrote this at 3pm and a dream okay. please tell me about any mistakes, and dont get mad at me for probability. I WILL have fun in my kitty echochamber and I WILL like it :)

signed, mod robin

[amber-tortoiseshell]

What’s mc1r and what do mutations there do?

Mc1r is short for melanocortin 1 receptor, a very important gene/protein in pigment synthesis. In color genetics, it's often called extension gene, too.

The molecule itself basically behaves as a switch: it determines if the cell produces eumelanin (black/brown pigment) or pheomelanin (red/yellow pigment) at any given moment.

In all kind of animals, lots of red, orange, yellow and pale color variants are associated with loss-of-function MC1R mutations, and, on the other hand, melanistic colorations are often caused by gain-of-function mutations. The OMIA database contains documented mutations in 48 different animals, lots of them with several different alleles.

Clown ball phyton, menil fallow deer, blond antartic fur seal, chestnut horse, white camel, red zebu - these are all MC1R-mutants.

Domestic cats however... well, they do have no less but three mutations on this gene, but the standard, wildspread orange that gives us red and tortoiseshell cats is none of them. (That would be on the recently identified Arhgap36 gene, famously sex-linked, unlike MC1R, which is autosomal and inherited independently of sex.) The mc1r cat colors are all relatively new and restricted to one respective breed; they are called amber, russet and carnelian.

Amber tabby norwegian forest cat, (likely solid) russet sepia burmese and carnelian tabby kurilian bobtail.

For further information see my extension tag.

[mai-komagata]

Vulcan skin color meta (why its not green)

In the past i've seen a lot of discussion about whether we should or should not draw vulcans as green, mostly centered around antisemitism. I want to start out by saying this meta is not gonna go into much of any of that. Regardless of whether it is antisemitic for vulcans to be green or not, the truth is they aren't. They also aren't quite human colored. It isn't a technical limitation; they aren't shown as green in the show or cartoons even when orions are green. This meta will mostly concern 3 questions:

in universe, why are vulcans not green when their blood is green?

in universe, are vulcan mucus membranes and other colored tissue like lips and nipples green? If not why not?

What color would a vulcan blush (do vulcans blush?)

If you are interested in this exploration, read on!

Why are vulcans not green when their blood is green?

Ok, maybe we should ask a more fundamental question: why are humans not red when our blood is red? Humans absent melanin don't look red. We look whitish, except for veins that look greenish/blue. Why is that? Well yes, all our non-pigmented innards are largely filled with red fluid, but our skin absorbs red light, so it isn't reflected back into our eyes. our skin reflects and scatters blue/green light so we see the bits near our skin that are green/blue after your remove all the red. Additionally, most people have varying amounts of eumelanin (which gives us brown/black coloring) and some much smaller amounts of pheomelanin (which is red). but yeah, we don't look red despite being sacks of red fluid because we are a bag of red-absorbing white film with black/brown/red coloring. But like, vulcan skin could be different. it could mostly absorb green light. It could have a lot of pheomelanin that would counteract the green color. A more pinkish base skin color could be advantageous in the hot Vulcan temperatures at blocking more infrared and prevent overheating, for example.

This would have the end effect of giving the skin this yellow cast vulcans have in the show via makeup. it is not green, it is not red, but something in between. Vulcans could then have eumelanin on top of that that give us normal deep shade variations from tuvok to stonn. Because of the predominance of eumelanin, characters like tuvok would not appear as yellow as whiter vulcans. There are other skin pigments vulcans could have that we aren't even considering. There are selenium based melanins that have higher skin uv protection, which could add even more pigments and change the color of vulcan skin even more.

Ok, but are vulcan mucus membranes and lips green?

First thing to note is human nipples and lips aren't red b/c we just have our blood just hanging out right there. We have red pigment (i.e. pheomelanin) that is making them red. (and other amounts of eumelanin just like all skin, which can end up looking purplish in certain skin tones). Look I like a green vulcan penis fanfic as much as anyone else, but we are shown no evidence that vulcan lips, nipples, tongues, mucus membranes in general would be green. If we go by the previous section, and assume vulcans want greater sun protection, they could have large amounts of eumelanin and less translucent skin to ensure they still look reddish on the outside. But vulcan skin doesn't have green pigments in it as portrayed by the show. And it doesn't seem biologically advantageous to have green pigments just for lips/inside the mouth when all your other pigments are red based. Ok, but maybe this is a technical limitation, maybe they just couldn't make red lips on actors without a lot of unnecessary makeup. Maybe. But in none of the cartoons are vulcans shown having green lips, and Orions *are* shown having green mucus membranes in the cartoons even when they couldn't for technical reasons make them all green in live action. if this was the intended coloring of vulcans, they would have colored them that way. But they don't.

Can they at least blush green?

Well, the first question here is: why and how do humans blush? So the way humans blush is by increasing bloodflow to their skin deep capillaries. There is suddenly a lot more red closer to the surface, so there aren't as many layers of skin to absorb the red and more of it peeks through. Humans vasodilate for a number of reasons, including shedding excess heat, any chemicals in our bloodstream that increase bloodflow, and for social signaling.

So in theory, vulcans that vasodilate would look greener. Unlike paler humans that often have complementary pheomelanin in their skin that would make them look redder than normal, vulcans wouldn't have green pigments making them look greener. The red pigments would still be there to counteract some of the green. So i don't think a vulcan would ever look as green as a tomato-red human, but if they had a reason to vasodilate their skin would darken/green with the green blood.

But do vulcans have the autonomic processes to blush when embarrassed/angry/etc? That is an interesting question. Social signaling in Vulcan would be very different. Most animals don't blush. Babies don't blush. We know also that Vulcans have much more conscious control over bodily functions than humans do. So it is possible Vulcans (specifically post-surakian) don't blush at all. Or maybe they only blush if impaired, like during pon farr. That said, maybe there are other reasons they turn dark yellow/greenish like hyperthermia, intoxication, allergic reactions, hives, etc.

[kywaslost]

Good day! Could you make a Ciel x reader where the Ciel has a crush on the reader who is Lizzy’s sister (for the sake lest say Lizzy and Ciel ended to engagement) the thing is the reader is the only one in the Midford family to have dark hair (from a grandparent) and she gets very insecure about it, feeling like a black sheep in her family. Lizzy and everyone is very kind to her it’s just she constantly feels left out because she has a very different personality compared to her sister and brother. She feels very out of place during photo’s with her family. And especially during parties when people talk about her either being adopted or the cause of her mother being unfaithful. She just is naturally much more moody, and she doesn’t have as many friends unlike Lizzy because she just brings the mood down.

Sorry if it’s a lot, have a good day!

Odd One Out - Ciel Phantomhive

A/N: I decided to post this one a day early! I only have one class today and have a lot of free time at the moment. So sorry this took so long!

Not gonna lie, I had to do some research for this one. I’m a sucker for genetics, and so I got super excited for this one. Blonde hair is an autosomal recessive trait, meaning both parents have to be blond. Since both Midford parents are blonde, all of their children have to be blonde, that’s how I learned it. But I did some research to see if there’s mutations or something that can cause dark hair in children born from two blondes. I’ll try my best to simplify what I’ve found. 

Melanin is a polymer, and it is most often known as the polymer that gives skin, hair, and eyes its color. By what I can understand, there are two types of melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Lots of eumelanin produces black or brown hair, whereas pheomelanin produces red hair. Blonde hair is produced by very little eumelanin. Melanocortin 1 Receptor (MC1R) is responsible for determining hair color. Mutations in the MC1R gene can cause red or auburn hair. 

For the sake of this fanfic, let’s just say there’s a mutation in the reader’s production of eumelanin cause I can’t find any way for two blonds to produce a dark-haired kiddo. And yes, I know this is a fanfic but listen people my love for science is strong so fiction or not I’m gonna make my details as accurate as possible. Anyway, hope you enjoy, and here are my sources <3

You were the black sheep of the family in every way possible. Literal or not, others found great joy in pointing out every difference between you and your siblings, especially when it comes to your appearance. It’s difficult to explain to others why you bear little resemblance to your family. Sure, you had your mother’s build and your father’s eyes, but that was as far as it went. You didn’t have the same hair color as your parents and siblings.

It’s common knowledge that two blonde parents bear a blonde child, yet you had dark auburn hair. After years and years of torment and rumors of your mother being unfaithful, or that you were adopted, you began researching why you were the way you were. There wasn’t much out there, but you did discover that you had some type of genetic mutation dealing with hair color. That’s why it was so difficult to explain to others why your hair was so different from your family’s, they didn’t have the same extent of knowledge as you did. 

It didn’t help that you were also extremely different personality wise. Your sister Lizzy was very outgoing and extroverted, never hesitating to host parties or to meet new people. Your brother Edward, on the other hand, was very stoic and serious. He didn’t tolerate much of anything, and was very protective over you and your sister. But you weren’t much like your siblings. You often kept to yourself, only spoke when spoken to, and were generally just very independent. Growing up, the only real friends you had were your siblings, and your twin cousins.

Now that you’re older, you are even more independent. You spent less and less time with your family, often opting to stay in your room or going off on your own into the city. Your family constantly tried to get you to go to events with them, such as going to balls, parties, and even things as simple as family outings, but you couldn’t help but feel out of place. People constantly stared at you, and you couldn’t help but notice their hushed whispers as you walked by with your family. 

You were grateful that your family didn’t see you the same way the rest of the world did. Your parents treated you no differently than your sister and brother. If anything, they tried their hardest with you to try and make you feel more comfortable and confident in yourself. Lizzy constantly wanted to be with you, doing your hair and makeup to spend some quality time with you. She took you dress shopping, and tried to cheer you up in that sort of way. 

Because of your discomfort around your family, you often spent a lot of time with your cousin Ciel. His servants never treated you any differently than they did the rest of your family, and the boy’s Estate overall felt like a safe place for you. Ciel was always willing to let you vent to him, whether it be about how people had been treating you or how you were thinking of yourself, he always had advice to offer. 

What he never would confess, however, was his feelings for you. His engagement with Lizzy ended just over a year ago, and it was all because he realized he had feelings for you instead. Watching you change throughout the years broke his heart, how you became more independent and less willing to socialize and go out. 

You were staying a few nights at the manor to spend some time with Ciel. You had been having a particularly hard time, and you thought it best to spend some time with the boy. He greeted you with open arms, and immediately ordered Sebastian to prepare your favorite meal for dinner. You fell into your cousin’s arms, tearing up as he held you tightly. 

“May I ask what brings you here?” CIel asks calmly as he hugs you. He can feel your tears soaking into his shirt and he becomes even more worried. 

You sniffed as you pulled away from Ciel, wiping at your eyes. “I’m sorry, it’s just been a really long week.”

Ciel frowned, gently taking your arm and leading you inside. “Come, tell me about it.” You were led inside the Estate and to the sofa beside the fireplace. Ciel draped a light blanket over your shoulders as he sat beside you. Taking your hand in his, his blue eye met your E/C ones. “What happened?”

You began to cry harder as you recalled the events of the past week. Ciel listened as you told him about the hushed whispers and not-so-hidden stares followed your every move at a ball you attended with your family. Then how you stepped out of your comfort zone to speak to girls your own age at said ball, and how they giggled to each other as they ignored you and walked away.

Ciel wrapped you tightly in a hug, pulling you so your legs are draped over his lap and your face is buried in his shoulder. “Look at this,” you sniffle, reaching for your bag at the end of the couch. Ciel released you from his arms as you dug through your bag, pulling out a photo. You replaced yourself on CIel’s lap, handing him the photo. His warm hands brushed against your own as he took the image.

“This is a lovely photo,” he smiled softly. It was a printed image of the most recent family photo taken three days ago. Your father held your mother’s waist, Edward on his other side and Lizzy standing beside your mom. You were beside your sister. Ciel was right, it was a lovely photo. But the longer he looked at it, he noticed everyone’s bright smiles, and then you. It looked as if you were near tears, barely able to hold your smile long enough to take the photo.

“Honey,” Ciel coos quietly. This was very uncharacteristic of the Earl. He never showed this much empathy and emotion towards someone before.

“I hate this photo,” you cried as you rested your head on his shoulder once again.

“Why?”

“I look so out of place!” You pointed to yourself in the picture. “I hate that I was born this way! Why did I have to have this mutation?”

Ciel set the picture aside, wrapping you in his arms again and running a hand down your back. “I think you’re beautiful,” his voice was soft as he whispered in your ear. “Genetic mutation or not, I love the way you look, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.” CIel continued to hold you until you fell asleep in his arms. As he carried you to your designated room, he whispered to you. 

“I don’t understand why others treat you this way, and I wish they would stop just as much as you do. But I love you, Y/N, and I would give everything to have you in my life. Genetic mutation or not, you are beautiful just the way you are.”

[lyxthen]

No like. It's like an actual "medical condition"

It's like. My doctor in christ. Literally who gave you the right to decide how much hair was pathological. Who gave you the right to decide how much hair was excessive. Why is it something you have to "treat". Like genuinely. The more you look into medicine the more fucked up it gets.

"Kids are not going on hormones or surgery that ain't happening!!"

Well they wanted to give me estrogen at age twelve because my legs were too hairy but they don't wanna give me T even though I'm asking for it.

Like OK not the height of intersex transgender oppression or whatever but I'm still so bothered that happened. I wasn't forced into it, I got to say no, but it was suggested, and not all kids are gonna get that chance.

Like yeah people are dying bc of transphobia and infants are getting sex reassignment surgery and over all that very short chapter of my life is ultimately irrelevant but I am bitter because I could easily get hormones that would make me "more cis" but not the ones that will help me medically transition and give me an actually better quality of life. And I am suffering in the trenches of gender dysphoria and often I go to the doctors I get comments on how hairy I am unprompted and told I should take feminizing hormones for that. Even when that is not what the appointment is for.

You know what I mean??? You do know what I mean.