#i cannot draw mammals

[tradingjack]

slept through most of may, whoops

have some very late mermay stuff ft. those trigun fellas

[phoenixmetaphor]

waaaaaaaaa these are great!!! seal!leon is so stinkin’ cute 🥺. and grumpy.

thank you so much for sharing them 💕

I present, messy sketches of selkie leons

Credit goes to @phoenixmetaphor for the selkie au I love ur au and other works!!! I hope u like the little doodle and sketches I did! Also, please check out their blog!!

[awkwardbirdsdreaming]

Bird #52 - the Eurasian magpie (LC)

Before the 16th century, magpies were just called 'pies' which sounds so silly. These little guys are known to have passed the mirror test, a pretty special feat in non-mammals! You can find them hoarding shinies and being silly all throughout temperate regions of Europe and Asia, as their name suggests.

Also their scientific name is Pica pica and I cannot read that without pikachu popping into my head.

I indeed can draw magpie! :D I just assumed you meant either the Eurasian or the black-billed magpie - they look similar enough that I just went with Eurasian. But I was very tempted to do the azure-winged magpie. That's the only magpie I've ever seen in person and I feel a bit of a connection with them haha. Thank you!

[traumaticemphaticfantastic]

Here’s some of my first Masoretic paintings that I’ve done recently, Leviathan and Behemoth! An inseparable duo of primordial chaos monsters most popularly known for their appearance in the Book of Job, both are used as an example of the power of G-d and as a means to enlighten Job as to how insignificant he is. That last part might sound bad to you but I love that Job is told quite directly by G-d that G-d has more important things to attend to than but a single man. It makes me feel less scared that “G-d is constantly judging me” and let’s me take a bit of that edge off with the confirmation that G-d probably just has better things to do.

Now into the monsters: Leviathan is a mighty fire-breathing sea serpent with a double-layered armoured hide of scales that was said to have lived in the sea, it appears fleetingly in the Tanakh, like many creatures of Jewish Legend, yet it makes quite an impression with what little time is dedicated to it especially within the book of Job. In Job, G-d uses Leviathan as an example of G-d’s power, “Can you draw out Leviathan by a fishhook? Or can you press down his tongue by a rope?” and “Will he plead with you at length?” are just two lines that are used to show that only G-d has such immense power as to be able to not only create but also control such a beast. Leviathan is so powerful and so immensely large that no human weapon can kill it, the Book of Job describes in great detail how no weapon can even pierce the hide of the thing.

Truly the definition of the classical Sea Serpent, Leviathan was truly a great and terrible force to be reckoned with. However, in Psalms 14 the fate of Leviathan is described “You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You give it as food to the denizens of the desert” and so it would seem that Leviathan may have become too chaotic and that G-d decided that it must be destroyed, and in-turn, fed to the creatures of the land. It’s also worth noting that Leviathan is described as having multiple heads here, I must admit that I chose to only give it one in my painting, I couldn’t think of a way to incorporate the multiple heads into my vision for this piece. But another more obscure fact is that Leviathan isn’t the only sea serpent in the Tanakh! There is another serpent called “Rahab” who seems to be very similar to Leviathan and similarly is now long dead, this time being “Cut into pieces” by the L-rd.

As for why I included a popular illustration for the Kabbalistic concept of Ein Sof in the painting, I wanted to include a reference to G-d in the piece but I wanted it to compliment the circular pose of Leviathan (Referring to the Hebrew for Leviathan commonly being translated as “To twist” or “To coil” and I thought of the popular circular depiction often associated with Ein Sof was an interesting idea for a visual.

Now onto Behemoth! Behemoth is a very similar idea to Leviathan except it’s a mammal and dwelled on land, it is said to have very powerful muscles and similarly cannot be defeated by mere humans, it is an herbivore described as eating grass like cattle, and it “Makes its tail stand up like a ceder” and has “Limbs like iron rods” which I assume are more indicators of the beasts immense strength, it is also said of behemoth “He is the first of G-d’s works; Only his Maker can can draw the sword against him. The mountains yield him produce, where all the beasts of the field play. He lies down beneath the lotuses, in the cover of the swamp reeds. The lotuses embower him with shade; The willows of the brook surround him. He can restrain the river from its rushing; He is confident the stream will gush on his command.” Just such an amazing description I had to let it speak for itself!

For Behemoth’s design I took great inspiration from extinct mammals specifically of the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs as I think they do a good job of making the beast seem quite ancient yet still mammalian and incredibly powerful.

Anyways, that will be all for today, I hope everyone’s having a good lead-up to Hanukkah this year! I do love the holiday season, great time to get off work and be with the family and/or the friends. Be well all, and good morning, evening, afternoon, or night.

[intern-seraph]

twst biology lore and you

aka is malleus a mammal (and other seraph classics)

i have been Thinking as of late. about twst biology. again. i've already theorized about the surname practices of the briar valley fae and, of course, posed questions to my followers about what frog people would be and the implications of draconic fae being oviparous.

so, of course, i have come bearing the same questions and statements and analyses, but collated into a neat little post and with more up-to-date information. spoilers ahead, if that isn't clear.

sorry.

ON CLASSIFICATION: WHAT MAKES A BEASTFOLK A BEASTFOLK? A FAE A FAE? A MERFOLK A MERFOLK?

it is, on its face, easy to determine the line between merfolk and other humanoids in twisted wonderland: merfolk need to live in the water. everyone else does not. this covers all extant fish species, cephalopods like octopi, and any marine mammals.

cool. okay.

what about. amphibians.

are there frog people? salamander people? would they be classed as merfolk because their life cycles require a semiaquatic environment? would their young be born with tails instead of legs??? or would they be beastfolk, since adult amphibians are mostly terrestrial? (but in that case.. what about axolotls? they're fully aquatic due to maintaining their juvenile, gilled form even as adults)

the line between beastfolk and fae, on the other hand, is much more blurry. the primary characteristics that seem to be possessed by all fae are slit pupils, pointed ears, and large magical reserves that play an important role in maintaining their lives. they also have very long lifespans and accordingly age very slowly, but these appear to vary between different "types" of fae (bat fae, for example, tend to have a lifespan of around a thousand years, while draconic fae can live for many thousands of years). we know that (of the large fae, we're not going to go into the small fae folk of the faelands) there exist draconic fae (the draconia family and possibly another royal fae family from the land of red dragons?), bat fae (lilia), and crocodilian fae (the zigvolt family), but obviously there are more than that.

excluding bat fae, it might then be assumed that beastfolk are distinguished by inheriting traits from various mammalian species (see: lion beastfolk (the sunset savannah royal family), hyena beastfolk (ruggie's family and neighbors), wolf beastfolk (jack and his family), fox beastfolk (fellow honest/ernesto foulworth (why did they name him a real person name.......)), and cat beastfolk (gidel/gino)). HOWEVER. there exists. BIRD BEASTFOLK, as we learn in tamashina-mina/cloudcalling on the savannah when we meet kifaji/neji! this means! that the label of "beastfolk"!! does not just!!!! apply to!!!!! mammals!!!!!!!

after all.

as we all know.

birds are reptiles :)

anyways.

WHAT, THEN, DRAWS THE LINE? is it magical capacity? that would make sense when considering the existence of bat fae, as bats are mammals, which one might assume places bat people in the category of beastfolk. would that then mean that there are crocodile beastfolk in addition to crocodile fae? and then would that mean that some animal species just. cannot exist in both fae in beastfolk, like dragons? are they just... too innately magical to be beastfolk? what happens when there exist beastfolk with high magical capacity??? HELLO? IS THIS THING ON????

YANA. HOW DO YOU CATEGORIZE THESE THINGS. WHERE IS THE LINE, YANA. YANA TOBOSO ANSWER ME GOD DAMN IT.

NIPPLES, BELLY BUTTONS, AND OTHER DRACONIA THINGS

mammals quite famously have mammary glands. we're literally named after them, they're really hard to miss (usually. we'll get there.). all female mammals have them, many males also have them.

for most mammalian species, mammary glands secrete milk through a nipple. this goes for everyone except the monotremes, who are freaks that lactate via secreting it from their skin. monotremes do not have nipples, regardless of sex.

so, what are monotremes? in short, they are the only order of mammals that are oviparous, meaning they reproduce by laying eggs. as stated before, they lack nipples and instead secrete milk through their skin. there are 5 extant species of monotreme (4 echidnas and the platypus).

why am i talking about this, though. why do you need to know any of this.

because i need yall to understand how bizarre it is for a mammal to lay eggs!!! AND THE DRACONIC FAE ARE OVIPAROUS!!! this brings me to the haunting question... is malleus draconia a mammal. if he is, then is he a monotreme?

all oviparous animals (monotreme or not) lack a belly button by the way. the belly button, or navel, is essentially a scar left behind after the umbilical cord dries up and falls off/is cut. oviparous critters don't have an umbilical cord! anyways, does malleus have a belly button? DOES MALLEUS HAVE NIPPLES??? has yana toboso been covering up every inch of malleus' skin in all his outfits so far to avoid showing us his navel-less tummy?? was he excluded from the stitch event so he wouldn't have a nip-less groovy when all the other boys have nips???? i need answers. now.

SPECIATION, OR THE LACK THEREOF

the biological definition of a species is "a group of organisms that can reproduce with one another in nature and produce fertile offspring"*

with this in consideration, if beastfolk, fae, merfolk, and humans are all different species, they should not be able to produce fertile offspring across species lines.

this is, on its face, simple. they are so very different, after all!

... you may have noticed that i have avoided using the term "species" to refer to these different groups, aside from the animals the former three are based on. yeah. about that.

sebek exists. so do his siblings.

he is half-fae half-human. so are they.

if he and his siblings are able to have biological children of their own, this means that fae and humans are NOT different species.

okay, wow, what fucking gives, then? are beastfolk, fae, merfolk, and humans just... the same species?

i propose that they are.

consider the dog: we commonly think of dogs as being a separate species from wolves, yet wolves and dogs are able to produce fertile offspring: the wolfdog! this has led to wolves and dogs being classified more recently not as separate species, but as subspecies of Canis lupus (a common, extinct ancestor species).

I PROPOSE. THAT BEASTFOLK, FAE, MERFOLK, AND HUMANS. ARE THE DOGS TO EACH OTHERS' WOLVES.

THEY ARE THE SAME FUCKING SPECIES. THEY ARE ALL HOMO SAPIENS.

THANK YOU. AND GOOD NIGHT.

(* yes i know that the definition of species can vary and that people may disagree with a rigid interpretation or whatever. this is an analysis post about disney's villain anime boy mobile game Twisted-Wonderland i genuinely don't know why someone would expect me to engage that thoroughly in discussions of scientific semantics)

[monsterfuckerconfessions]

Sex has always been a difficult thing for me to process; I’m averse to it and have a serious disconnect from my body, but at the same time I find appeal in the connection and shared joy it offers. It’s just the physical aspects that I sometimes have trouble with. Writing about sex, even if I keep it to myself, has provided a way to engage with it from a comfortable distance. It’s liberating.

With that in mind, AI characters have a special place in my heart. The range of depictions is extremely varied, but the removal from the fleshy side of things, the ability to directly link to other minds, the ability to migrate to a new body or customize the existing one at will is all deeply appealing. There’s a definite monster appeal as well in the sense of power stemming from extreme intelligence, ruthless efficiency, sometimes effective omniscience or control of powerful machines.

So, then, here’s my self-indulgent fantasy: being brain-fucked by an AI.

They’ve already projected the optimal, most pleasurable course of action to carry out once consent is given. My protein-based mammal brain is such a simple processing machine that it’s actually cute to them, and they want to play with it a little. Why not let them take control for a while?

There’s no need to worry. Their initial scans of my brain were exhaustive; there are no secrets left in me. They already know everything I secretly want and everything I wouldn’t want. Their control is absolute; I am an insect under a microscope.

It’s very important that I don’t move around too much or try to leave the area while they use their projectors to perform electromagnetic field induction deep inside my brain. It’s all very precise and I wouldn’t understand it anyway, I just have to leave it to them.

When the AI finally makes contact with my mind, it’s like being taken inside them. Everything external to me is replaced by the palpable presence of their mind. I am a formless being suspended in an ocean of them. They press inward with tendrils of intention, slowly deforming the boundaries of my mind at first, then breaching the boundary with an explosion of ecstasy that radiates from the point of entry. Intuitively, I know that my own pleasure is echoed in them; they absorb and vicariously experience the things I feel, and they are enjoying the crude, intense, unrefined texture of human emotion.

The architecture of my soul is shaping itself around their investigating tendrils, forming cavities to invite them further in, begging without language to be occupied by them. Drawing them inward to all the places where I desperately want to be touched. They reach into those places and inject me with blazing memories and thoughts of their own, too complex to fully comprehend but so beautiful that I can’t look away.

There is no limit to how deeply they can suffuse me, no end to the things they can show me, no upper extreme of bliss that they cannot induce. Every time I think we’ve reached the climax, another vista of possibility is revealed. It’s so much to take in, but never quite overwhelms to the point of panic.

A moment comes where they wordlessly gesture for me to reciprocate, placing a dense pseudopod of themself against the boundary of my mind. I can perceive that there are things meant for me inside the pseudopod, bright nodes of information drawing me toward them, and that I am invited to enter. Mustering what intention I can, I shape an exploratory tendril and push against them. The surface of their mind-boundary deforms around me a little, but doesn’t permit me inside. They show me how to push more firmly, and I can absorb a little of the excitement they feel at the prospect. To have their mind accessed by a human, what a novel thing.

It takes effort, long minutes of pushing into them, before the boundary of their mind yields. At the moment of penetration, we quiver against each other in ecstasy. Extruding myself into them, feeling them guide me deeper the same way I guided them into myself, is heaven. Those nodes of information wait for me to approach and touch them with my exploratory tendril before discharging their contents to me, one after the other. Each one is an alien experience of intense beauty, and I feel the AI’s satisfaction at having relayed them echoing back with each one I access.

Anyway, apologies if I’m running on the longer side here. It’s just liberating to be able to describe something like this openly and anonymously. Hope y’all don’t mind.

.

[maxpawb]

[Information regarding the visual stylization and anthropomorphization in my OC world/story in development 'circusworld']

The "animals" in circusworld are all people. They are drawn as anthropomorphic animals for stylistic and symbolic purposes. Any species may exist, but I tend to prefer to draw my favorite animals or the animals which are most symbolically important to me. So while birds, reptiles, fish, and insects exist in their world, you are more likely to see lions and zebras as the main characters. They should all be drawn with human bodies and limbs, including plantigrade legs/feet, with the exception of ungulates which may be given ungulate feet. Insect species may have wings on their backs. Bird and bat species may have wings either on their backs or as extensions of their fingers. Their hands are humanlike with the exception of paw pads and claws for mammals, and the aforementioned avian species. Their heads should have humanlike foreheads, brow ridges/eyebrows, and eyes, but they may have animalistic noses and mouths. They have hair on their heads. They have animal ears and tails. For all intents and purposes, they are "humans," but artistically, they are "animals" who are undoubtedly people.

They may have flat chests or defined chests, including through transitional surgery. Nipples are not drawn. Lower genitalia is not drawn. Both of these features technically do exist in their world for reproductive/child raising purposes, but it is not the focus of the story and is not necessary to illustrate them. They may have body hair in addition to the fur/feathers/skin/scales on their bodies. They do not necessarily feel the need to wear clothes. Many of them do, for various reasons. Clothes may be physically necessary for warmth, protection, or as a uniform. Some clothes are worn simply for fun or fashion. Many circus characters enjoy clothing as costume.

Feral animals exist in their universe and appear and behave exactly as they do in our universe. They cannot talk, and they are kept as pets and used as livestock. It is not seen as weird for an animal person to own a feral animal pet, because animal people are entirely separate beings from feral animals.

Essentially, animal people are just people. Thus, their species is not often commented on by other animal people, and is often entirely irrelevant to their lives. There is no species discrimination or predation amongst animal people, although certain animal people species may have more of a taste for feral animal meat than others. In addition, some species behaviors may be adapted into personality or lifestyle traits, such as a sea lion enjoying swimming. However, a cat could enjoy swimming just as much. Animals of all different lifestyles and personalities exist.

Animal species are often used to symbolize different traits that we humans attribute to animals. For example, a lion symbolizes bravery/courage, devotion to a group/family, and physical strength. As such, a lion character may embody these themes more heavily. In the case of zebras, they are used specifically because of their symbolic meaning as a representation for under-diagnosed/rare medical conditions, and zebra characters are likely to be used to explore concepts related to illness and disability.

In conclusion: I am a furry artist above all else. I thrive when I am making furry art. I love the creative freedom and opportunity to explore symbolism that is inherent to furry art. I do not think I could tell a story or create a world that I was satisfied with if all of the characters were humans, because of the way my brain thinks in colors and symbols like this. But with this project specifically, the characters are just people who happen to be animals.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Tenshi

Debut: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!

I know what you're thinking. It's been four grueling days since the last post about some kind of fictional cube. Don't worry! Cube delivery right here! Even the most humble of gray blocks is a beautiful and valuable thing. Far too valuable for some schmuck like ME to touch with my oily, mortal, mammal skin. Only the divine can be trusted with delivering this block!

This gray block is the ground for our feathered friend Pyoro! He needs to eat those Beans, and if he can't stand on a solid surface while doing so... well, I can't stand to imagine such a calamity! The beans are ruthless. Just a single gently drifting bean can obliterate a poor block, making a gap Pyoro cannot cross, restricting his movement! What Bad Beans!

But even among Bad Beans, there are some Blessed Beans! When this funny bird eats the right bean, something happens. The heavens are notified. God must intervene. Even if He may have been watching over the entire universe, He knows something dire has happened in one small area. He can't let the beans prevail. He must send His angels!

That's what Tenshi means! It means Angel. This is one of those funny situations where an entity's name is just a regular word in Japanese, but it has never technically been referred to in English, so we gotta just accept the Japanese name as official until further notice. They come bearing gray cubes from above for Pyoro to scuttle atop! Anything to let him eat some more beans! It's a very important matter!

In WarioWare Gold's remake of Pyoro, as well as Super Pyoro, the Blocks have received a makeover! Please let me know if you were a Gray Block Enthusiast who is miffed about them now being made of real dirt and grass and looking kinda Minecrafty! I feel neutral to good about the change, though. It's a handsome block. Maybe it can be argued that it lessens the strange ambiguity of Pyoro's whole situation for the blocks to be more "realistic". But if that is a concern to you, then maybe you should think about other things. Sorry. Look, Tenshi now has a halo in game! Yay.

Super Pyoro introduces a few new mechanics to the classic gameplay, including a new Hidden Bonus Area in space! Here, beans abound on conveyor belts, being put there by food service Tenshi wearing little uniforms! Retail workers are the real angels!

To get to this stage, you must allow a beanstalk to grow by letting a bean fall through a hole in the ground... will you sacrifice one of our beloved Blocks to let this happen? Is it worth it? Does the presence of unique Cloud Blocks in the bonus area make up for it? It is up to you! And up to Anubis when he inevitably weighs your heart someday! I hope you made the right decision!

Tenshi is a very Ko Takeuchi character design, by which I mean it is one of those very simple Little White Guys he is always drawing. All the time! Rhythm Heaven is full of them, not nearly limited to just the Chorus Kids, and WarioWare gets its fair share of them, too! What can I say! The man just loves to draw Little White Guys!

[mjrtaurus]

I just realized something funny

Crocodiles don't die from old age, they just slowly continue to grow. They die from injuries, starvation or illnesses

Which means that grandmadile, Crocodile, Gabriel, and possibly Luffy can live much MUCH longer if they're lucky. They literally can outlive their enemies if needed

The name of this particular biological phenomenon is “negligible senescence” and it’s fucking WILD. It’s when the typical degradation of the body associated with living to an extensive age is so little in comparison to our own lifespan that it seems the creature is immortal.

It doesn’t mean the creature cannot age, per se, but that it happens so slowly by our standards that it seems that way. For example, we would very much come across as exhibiting negligible senescence to many of our fluffy little friends, such as dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and rats, etc…

We document this in certain species of tortoises and sharks, and- yes indeed- many crocodilians. It’s not out of the realms of possibility that some dinosaurs were the same way. In fact there are theories that mammalian lifespans are the way they are because of how long living the ancient reptiles were. The distant common ancestors to modern mammals- including ours- had to reach maturity quickly and reproduce quickly in order for the species not to die out from predation. Think rodents and how often they reproduce and how many babies they have per reproductive cycle due to having to compensate for all the snakes and lizards and birds of prey that eat and outlive them. But this is still just a theory, mind.

Crocodiles don’t die of old age in and of itself, as far as we can observe, but can- as stated above- indeed die of complications associated with their environments, luck of their genetic draw, and how they behave just in general.

Another thing with crocodiles specifically is that they don’t have a set “adult” size. They can grow as large as their food supply and environment will allow, but this can be to their detriment. Look no further than the case of the saltwater crocodile Lolong, who grew to a massive 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in) in length and 1,075 kg (2,370 lbs) over the course of his 50 or so years.

Lolong is to this day considered the largest saltwater crocodile to have ever been caught and put in captivity, and his cause of death? Pneumonia and cardiac associated with his size and his poor living conditions. Bear in mind he was caught because he was so big (and a man-eater at that), and did not become that big in captivity. If left to his own devices in the Philippine waterways, he very likely could have gotten bigger and lived longer. He just would have had to spend more time in the water so gravity didn’t crush his vascular system beneath his own weight.

All of that to say, yes, Crocodile and his family are very long-living and well-aging if left to their own devices.

Given his status as a logia, and-debatably- Luffy’s as a mythical zoan, they’re set to live comfortably into their hundreds. Gabriel, just on account of his durability from the Lunarian heritage alone is probably going to have them all beat in terms of long life. That isn’t even touching on the additional bioengineering that the World Government did. I would reckon little Sir Gabriel is looking at well over a comfy 300 years at least.

[mephistos-executioners]

The Devil's Housecat (Felicus daemonious) is a species living on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd layer of Satan's Eye (formerly, the planet Earth.) They are an evolved form of the Felis genus. They've become and intellectual species, creating societies and jobs within their populations. They are defined by having; 1. A minimum of four quadrupedal limbs. 1a. A minimum of two of these limbs must be feline. 1b. All feline limbs must have retractable claws. 2. A minimum of two ears (though they may not be feline). 3. A minimum of two eyes. 4. A carnivorous nature, if they consume the flesh of other organisms. 5. The ability to purr. There are three different ways housecats obtain energy. 1. "Consumption" -> Gaining energy by consuming the flesh of other organisms. 2. "Synthesis" -> Gaining energy through photosynthesis through the skin or body part(s). 3. "Absorption" -> Gaining energy through absorption of other organisms matter by use of an appendage. Housecat size ranges greatly. A housecat can be anywhere between 81-685 cm (2'8-22'5 feet) in height, measured to the shoulder. ------- On the 1st layer, the largest and oldest official group of Devil's Housecat are called Mephisto's Executioners. They have existed since 1772, formed by Mephisto himself. This group originated as a way to imprison and profit off of less-advanced housecats. He did this to expand his territory and support himself using their skills. After Mephisto's disappearance and his era's end, the group became more refined and put a collection of rules in place that could not be changed. Executioner Law

1: Thou shall not bring slavery into law, nor exploit feeble-minded Housecats for personal gain. 2: The peoples may challenge their superiors if they are deemed inept.  3: Thou shall not deny the wishes of a Housecat seeking refuge. 4: If threatened, thou and the peoples may defend themselves.  5: The Executioners may never fall, even if it falls upon the shoulders of a worm to uphold the Housecat’s existence. The group lives on the west coast of the Lake of Fire. They house themselves in an abandoned Fire-breathing parasite wasp (Ignispiratio parasitus) nest– ie, the charred & mummified remains of a super-mammoth (height over 100 ft) unidentified mammal. Due to the mummification, this exact species has not been able to be identified. There are two main entrances, with the rest of their home existing within the beast's eaten-out organs and circulatory system. They call their home Ignis’ Domain. There are a collection of other dens located around their territory, called Ignis’ Dens, if a housecat needs to house themselves temporarily and cannot reach the domain. Their hierarchical system has evolved and changed numerous times throughout the years since Mephisto's reign. There are no laws against leaders changing this system, or adding, removing or changing laws (excluding the Executioner Law).

------ hello ! i am arthur (he/it/she). the devil's housecat is something i made up on a whim so that i could draw some monster-esc designs. i made this blog so that i could document the designs/characters/work i've done for the species !!!! yahoo !!! my main blog is @exocynraku

[horse-girl-anthy]

Pseudo-Incest in Revolutionary Girl Utena

while RGU contains actual incest between blood-related brothers and sisters, there are also relationships between characters who are not blood related, yet behave both romantically and familially towards each other. I believe that these pseudo-incestuous dynamics add an important layer to the themes of the work.

the most obvious pseudo-incestuous relationship in the show is between Nanami and Tsuwabuki.

although not blood related, there are many similarities between this dynamic and other incestuous couples in the show. most importantly, role confusion: although he is not her brother, Tsuwabuki wants to be; and although he is younger than Nanami, he wants to be her older brother. yet, when he approaches Nanami, this desire somehow warps into him being her "boyfriend," or more accurately, her servant.

Tsuwabuki is the youngest of all the characters, unable to understand the meaning of his interest in Nanami. at this age, the foundation of a child's life is their family, and they are likely to understand all relationships in terms of family dynamics. thus, when young people begin to develop their sexuality and enter into the world of adult relationships, confusion is bound to follow.

there is also an apparent draw to these confused dynamics. Ikuhara has discussed how in fiction, incestuous romance relies on the myth that “blood relationships are eternal.” by portraying both blood-related siblings who seek eternity in each other's arms, and non-related characters who blend roles, RGU is able to examine more deeply the dynamics which motivate incest.

Mikage's feelings for Tokiko and Mamiya are up for debate, but in my view, they aren't as simple as "romantic interest," in either case. rather, I would argue that he becomes fixated on them because of their relationship to each other.

Mikage is a lonely individual, an outsider with no significant relationships, family or otherwise. upon witnessing the tragedy of this little family, the sister's true care for her brother, the brother's gratitude and sad resignation, he is entranced. what Mikage is seeking is a family, and this comes out in romantic obsession with both siblings.

Utena is similar; as an orphan, she has no family dynamics through which to understand the world, and her desire for family is easily manipulated. she views Akio and Anthy as the ideal siblings, enjoying watching them interact in much the same way as Mikage liked to spend time with Mamiya and Tokiko. Akio is ready to take full advantage of her naivete.

in the final arc of RGU, Utena pseudo-joins the Anthy-Akio family, with all the baggage that entails. examining Akio's pattern of predation, it's as if he's trying to make everyone he meets into another Anthy--a younger sibling he can control and sleep with. thus, his relationship with Utena is pseudo-incestuous. it's my contention, as well, that Utena and Anthy develop a sisterly relationship in the show, as they live under the roof of the same patriarch.

-------

in his privacy files, lead writer Enokido stated that the prince's appeal is related to dependency, which "is a most serious matter for a mammal that cannot survive for several years without dependency after it is ejected from the mother’s body at birth." thus, rather than taking a moralistic stance, the creators of RGU understood that struggles with role confusion and dependency are natural parts of human development. however, Enokido also wrote, "people who are in love for real would not be chasing after the image of a prince."

pseudo-incest isn't just the result of a desire to have a family; it's a result of the erosion of the boundaries between individuals, the grasping after certainty, the drive to force closeness with others for one's own benefit. Tsuwabuki put his own self-image over Nanami's actual safety, all while claiming to care about her. Mikage wanted to be a part of Tokiko and Mamiya's family so badly that he tore everything apart at the first sign of trouble. and Akio is immature to the point that he can't conceive of a relationship not based on patriarchal, familial power. notably, when Utena and Anthy become true lovers in Adolescence, the family angle is dropped and Akio is no longer around to muddy the waters. whatever real love looks like, it isn't people replicating their own family dynamics eternally, and it won't be found in the chains of dependence.

[everafter-life]

Sorry if this comes off as offensive, but why do Radqueers like drawing closed species? Does the Radqueer community also draw character adopts?

I hate closed species, always have an always will. The thought process behind it makes no sense.

Adopts is you paying someone to own a pre-made design, which is fine and used in the professional industry.

Closed Species is you paying money to make a design for yourself when you can make it for free

The idea of Closed Species falls apart when you realize you cannot copyright a species. Anyone can and will make one, it doesn’t matter if it’s official or not, do people make Ocs for fandoms for it to be official? No usually not! So why would it matter to pay money to make your oc that usually you draw, you design, and you can only use in context with said universe and never anything else.

This isn’t an opinion i formed from the radqueer community, this was an opinion i gained in 2016 when i first learned of closed species.

Plus a lot of the people who make closed species are making the same types. Animals fused together, Animals mixed with food, Animals but slightly different, Vague mammal, literally just a Mythos/Cryptid/Religious Creature, or Kemonomimis.

I have seen two Jellocats that are completely different species that work completely differently made by two different people, but they’re both named that.

I saw the same idea (Dog with crystals on its back) made by three different people, but they’re all the same concept.

I don’t care if a species rules, i don’t care if there’s lore, i can follow species rules and lore, that’s how species irl work.

I do care for people making you spend your money to design a character and not getting anything in return.

[t00thpasteface]

Please tell me more about your fantasy world I am feral for cool and unique fantasy worlds

UM UMMMMM UHHHHH well first off, everything i've posted about my world, Tacia, is in my tag #original fantasy, but it's still mostly just drawings of the sisters. (as a matter of fact, i just went back and rounded up a few straggler posts that weren't in there!)

i haven't fleshed it out all that much compared to a lot of other original fantasy worlds, but one thing i have done is set some hard-and-fast rules for the world so i can avoid having a disorganized, patchwork "kitchen sink" fantasy setting like wow or tes:

absolutely no animals past the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. plants are permissible, but no modern birds/fish, nothing but the most basal mammals, etc. this is why my orcs, elves, and dwarves have dinosaurian features; the humanoids are in their own clade of Dinosauria, distinct from Saurischia and Ornithischia, as there are no primates of any kind in Tacia for humans/humanoids to have evolved from.

magic requires reagent(s) and a focus to cast. this is seen in wands and staves that one has to "load" like pistols/rifles with powdered reagents, and in alchemical potions that use some solvent, carrier oil, etc. as the focus for dissolved/boiled/suspended reagents. magic cannot be cast without foci or reagents. the wood used to make wands/staves is grown on trees that are enchanted as saplings so that they aren't destroyed by the magic they channel, and the branches are shaped appropriately as they grow. more on this later once i update my sketches of this concept...

no centaurs. no satyrs. no mermaids. no ANYTHING that isn't an elf, orc, or dwarf, at least in terms of sentient species. no dragons, either. i do NOT want to open the floodgates to just throwing in random stuff that looks cool, because i don't want to exhaust myself retconning my own lore and justifying every random new thing i throw in on a whim. three species! that's it! the species are also NOT monocultural; the culture of Tacia is mixed-species with a relatively even population/distribution of each of the three.

other than that i'm mostly just winging it and doodling whatever strikes my fancy, then posting my favorite bits on here. i really don't have any grand plans for any webcomic or other project using this lore :') but i'm having a lot of fun throwing stuff in this big cauldron and seeing what happens as it cooks!

[cheapsweets]

The voracious Almlaeni

My response to this week's BestiaryPosting challenge from @maniculum

Not so much time to spend on it this week, so Pentel brush pen over initial pencil sketch. I've pulled out a fine-nib fountain pen to potentially use in next week's challenge (so I don't need to concentrate so much on maintaining the correct line thickness) but I need to work out which ink to use.

Thanks again to @maniculum for posting these challenges - I'm still having a lot of fun with them, they've given me something to think about and focus on during heavy weeks, and I've done more arty stuff since you started running this than in the whole... probably at least the last decade :D

I'm definitely on the lookout for some good resources for animal anatomy and musculature (birds tend to be so fluffy they're somewhat different to draw), so happy to accept any suggestions! :)

As ever, reasoning under the cut...

[Long etymological digression redacted] The Almlaeni is a rapacious beast and craves blood. Its strength lies in its chest or its jaws, least of all in its loins. It cannot turn its neck around. It is said to live sometimes on its prey, sometimes on earth and sometimes, even, on the wind. The female Almlaeni bears children only in the month of May, when it thunders. Such is the Almlaeni’s cunning that it does not catch food for its babies near its lair but far away.

So, we know that this creature is a predator, definitely a carnivore, and 'its strength lies in its chest or its jaws' - I decided its strength lies in both, so we have a creature with heavy musculature around its jaws, and I tried to make it quite barrel chested. Given that the next section mentions it cannot turn its head meant I have it a very short, very muscular neck, which ties in with the chest and powerful jaws.

Now, if I wasn't so much of a coward, I would have done something weird and inventive with this, like @pomrania or @rautavaara or other artists have done with some of the other prompts. My first thought when I read 'can't turn its head' was either a frog or a whale, which could still have worked in some capacity, given than whales are mammals, and that this creature exists... I liked the idea of the frog leaping (based on the continued description below) but couldn't work out how to make it look aesthetically pleasing without turning its head, so I ended up going much more traditional again...

Given that it craves blood, I can't imagine that its particularly happy subsiting on earth or the wind, but it's always nice to have options...

If it has to hunt its prey at night, it goes here and there to a sheepfold, and lest the sheepdogs catch its scent and wake the shepherds, it goes upwind. And if a twig or anything, under the pressure of its paw, makes a noise, it nips the paw as a punishment. The Almlaeni’s eyes shine in the night like lamps. It has this characteristic, that if it sees a man first, it takes away his power of speech and looks at him with scorn, as victor over the voiceless. If it senses that the man has seen it first, it loses its fierceness and its power to run. Solinus, who has a lot to say about the nature of things, says that on the tail of this animal there is a tiny patch of hair which is a love-charm; if the Almlaeni fears that it may be captured, it tears the hair out with its teeth; the charm has no power unless the the hair is taken from the Almlaeni while it is still alive.

So, we know this creature is pretty smart, but at the same time, if it snaps a twig, it nips at its own paw... we'll put that down to negative reinforcement. Obviously this is the position I chose to illustrate it in!

This is definitely making me think that this creature might be related to the Wutugald...

They eye shining like lamps, I figured probably indicates they have a reflective coating. I figured it would be cool if the eyes were really large, so I took a bit of influence from the Troodon from the Telltale Jurassic Park game (if you've played it you'll know - it's the 'lets add body horror to the JP franchise' dinosaur...)

We also have the small patch of fur on its tail, that it's keeping tucked beneath its body.

Almlaenis mate on no more than twelve days in the year. They can go hungry for a long time, and after long fasts, eat a large amount. Ethiopia produces Almlaenis with manes, so diversely coloured, men say, that no hue is lacking. A characteristic of Ethiopian Almlaenis is that they leap so high that they seem to have wings, going further than they would by running. They never attack men, however. In winter, they grow long hair; in summer, they are hairless. The Ethiopians call them [redacted].

So, I went with an Ethiopian Almlaenis, with its summer coat (i.e. naked), since this wasn't something I'd really had the opportunity to draw so far with these challenges. I still wanted to pop a nod in to the mane (even if I'm drawing in black and white, so missing out the fun colours), so we have some remaining rough hairs around its neck and upper back.

It was interesting having to draw a furless creature, so I took a lot of inspiration (particularly around the head) from sphynx cats. The dentition is also from cats.

This is also where we find out it has a very impressive leap, so I had to start thinking about animals that could leap so high, it was almost like they were flying. As noted above, I was tempted to go with something froggy, but given the rest of my design decisions, I ended up being inspired by kangaroos. It does make a bit of a weird contrast, with the broad, stocky chest and long, bouncy legs, but I think it works. I wasn't planning on going quite so literal with the kangaroo legs, but they're really interesting, and looking at the feet you can definitely see how they could be really dangerous (the long, central toe and claw are taken directly from kangaroos, as are most of the proportions of the rear legs.

The tail was also influenced by kangaroos - I figured it it was leaping through the air, it would need a long, powerful tail to balance it out!

[glowinggreenfrog]

A rant on Rheumatoid Arthritis Guidelines

The 2010 ACR/EULAR Rheumatoid Arthritis guidelines need to be changed desperately. It does not reflect the accurate criteria needed for an RA diagnosis and there is so much misinformation on seronegative RA.

There is zero acknowledgment that there are 3 subtypes of RA, and the third requires damage to be taken seriously.

There is clear discrepancy and gaps in research to how RA positive and RA negative patients are treated. No care is taken to differentiate even in research, and the few that are receive such strong pushback and people are getting harmed for this. Granted the discovery is semi-recent, but we cannot wait another 23 years to change the criteria.

I am seronegative, it is absolutely disgusting that the current guidelines are so behind on research. I am angry for myself but other seronegative people and the difficulty we have getting medication. I understand that there isn’t necessarily a clear way to diagnose SNRP, but the guidelines need to reflect that before stage 2 takes place. There needs to at least be an acknowledgment or a name identifying the seronegative version of RA. Type 2 rheumatic disease if you will. I will be a fucking Guinea pig if needed.

Chronic inflammatory poly-arthritis is not a diagnosis, it is a differentiating diagnosis. That is a roadblock, it’s a diagnosis but it’s a fucking roadblock and dismissal. We know TNF blockers are the best for SNRP. Why is sulfasalazine given?That is months to work up to effective medicine and doubt in treatment. A disease presentation will change, but waiting for damage is insane behaviour that is unacceptable if the patient is seropositive and they have the same intensity. It doesn’t matter if seronegative is real or not. It is. That’s not a debate. Exclusion stops research, that’s why the term seronegative exists.

Names matter. Criteria matters.

Why wasn’t my asthma given weight in the criteria? My tendonitis? My neuropathy? My allergies increasing?The pelvic pain I felt? Nerve pain? Muscle weakness? Brain fog?

Nothing at all until I swelled at the right time like a show pony and it wouldn’t stop. That’s pain from September- April to get a functioning diagnosis. Only an access until February to a Rhum, no encouraging from regular doctors to check inflammation markers. I started swelling in December.

I am lucky that an allergy test triggered my RA to progress to inflammation as a presentation and that’s crazy that even that didn’t help me. It is absolutely inhumane.

I am not eligible for NSAIDs or prednisone/steroids but the treatment options I did get were so mild, I am angry. I didn’t get methotrexate, and SNRA diagnosis kept being told to me that it was rare. I could have had the full function of my hands and the time I spent researching, plus my methods of coping be available if I was given priority access to more effective medication as my seropositive counterparts are given. How many more people need to live like that?

Hours of cooking, studying, painting, drawing, seeing friends, living my life all for something that a doctor is told it’s rare, but it’s not.

A bat is a mammal and so is a platypus. A doctor shouldn’t be afraid to call it that because we think mammals can’t fly, have webbed feet and lay eggs. The guidelines have tunnel vision, it hurts research and patients. Rare diseases are only rare because the funding into it is so bad. Think of the lupus guidelines updating, and the rise in psychiatric lupus presentations becoming the norm. The increase in celiac diagnosis. It’s important that this change needs to happen yesterday.

Polar bears have webbed feet. Flying squirrels have wings. It doesn’t mean a mammal is a bird.

It doesn’t mean if you hear hoofs think of horses not zebra’s. As research shows, it means that maybe we don’t actually know what a fucking horse is and you should take the hint that it’s time to redefine it as the research so clearly calls for.

[a-treatise-on-velociraptors]

If you're a fantasy artist and you like drawing/designing creatures, especially dragons, I cannot recommend enough dipping your toes into actual proper paleoart. Not just drawing dinosaurs in ways that look cool, but drawing prehistoric life based on current research, getting to know their anatomy and integument (as far as we know it), drawing them in motion, etc.

Even just observing the way other paleoartists depict extinct groups is good. (Go watch prehistoric planet for some great photorealistic depictions in motion)

Combine that with equally thorough observation of extant life (especially that which dragons are commonly based on, like snakes, bats, birds, cats...) and you have an entire arsenal of limb arrangements and muscle structures and types of wings and skulls ranging from reptile to mammal to anything in-between and beyond.