#kiiiiinda?

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

goodreads

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness… In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

Mod opinion: I've read this and it's long, but interesting. The transness is not fully canon, but it is still quite trans.

[erebus0dora]

there will come the day when all of us get used to and maybe even tired of Devil's Minion hugs

today is not that day

(also you kinda voted for it)

(can i sketch anything more explicit? absolutely. would i? nope. call me 'ace hugger', that would be alien enough.)

[outtox1cated]

No thoughts. Just Ivorb

[malaierba]

Thoughts on Toshiro’s eating behavior, restrictive ed/disordered eating habits, and ARFID (obvious warnings apply).

Been thinking about how Toshiro’s eating is described in the manga. Especially when you consider the context within which he snaps — which is jokingly referred to as “he has hangry”. Interestingly enough, emotional deregulation IS a common symptom of EDs. That, alongside all the symptoms that Ryoko Koi chooses to illustrate in him… it’s done too accurately for it to be dismissed as him simply choosing not to eat and starve, as if it were that easy.

Basically, I think Toshiro’s inability to eat is ARFID-coded, and that’s symbolism in itself. I also think food is one of the few areas in his life where he exerts control effectively.

Assuming that he was under the influence of the dungeon (not necessary for this analysis to work tbh), his behavior is a quite accurate depiction of how desire works for people who are chronic ascetics in general, and ED'd in particular:

According to Maizuru, he’s a person who's denied themselves all their life (“saving Falyn was his first selfish request“),

Who seems to only experience a sort of self-agency when it's linked to deprivation (not really eating food from anyone who wasn’t Maizuru as a child, turning down her food as an adult even though he’s otherwise easy to pull around),

Who's actively reaching towards something for the first time in their lives (so he doesn’t know how to work towards it without burning himself out).

A common trigger (perhaps the main one) in EDs is the desire for control. The logic often goes, what's easier to control than what you eat? what do you own more fully than your body? It tracks in Toshiro’s case: when he is picky that's one thing he can fully control, no one could force him to eat not when he was a child nor as an adult. Toshiro's “whims” are most indulged when he restricts or rejects food, rather than when he reaches for it.

The reason why I’m getting ARFID vibes from him is Maizuru’s wording. On the screenshot I shared, she said “he never ate much, but he ate plenty of what I made”, making it sound like he’d try stuff made by other people, but in the end, Maizuru was the only one who could tailor it to his tastes the best (and made it with love). Rather than fighting him or forcing him, he worked with him, which is the best course of action for parents with kids who are being picky eaters.

There’s also the wording used by Maizuru: I think he's ARFID and perhaps ortho coded, or some other restrictive ED. Here we have to note that EDs aren't exclusively or even always about weight, weight is often a secondary effect of the behaviors that are motivated by the ED. In layman terms, they're eating disorders not weight disorders.

With the established, I do see a narrative relevance to giving Toshiro this type of relationship with food:

It sets him in obvious opposition to Laios: You need to eat and take care of yourself to succeed, neglecting yourself equals not taking your goals seriously vs. I’ll sacrifice everything recklessly, myself included, in the pursuit of my goals.

Tangentially related but lol, can’t help but think of Laios getting SO mad when Toshiro’s reaction to his plan (admittedly thought of on the spot) to get back Falyn is “you aren’t even EATING” which, SO fair, you can strategize and make detailed long term plans all you want, but as they say the secret to your future lies within your daily habits.

It makes him a mirror of Falyn, her passiveness reflecting Toshiro’s own. Falyn explicitly says at the end of her adventure, while she’s turning down Toshiro’s marriage proposal, “I’ve always wanted to travel; I’ve always just done what my bother and Marcille want, I want to try doing what I want now”, which is reminiscent of Maizuru saying “He was always such a well-behaved, reasonable boy, so much so that it worried me sometimes. The only time he ever made a personal request was for this task” <- person disconnected from their desires. (More on this idea here, I love it as a narrative choice).

And then (here’s where I get suppositional). It could be an extrapolation of the way his upbringing has permeated so deep within himself that he overtly controls what he eats even under normal circumstances. This extreme exertion of self-control, this constant self-monitoring, would be unsurprising in the guy who’s a little too good at following social scripts and masking (fun fact, did you know that ARFID is often co-morbid with autism?).

I often think of him in this scene, where he seems to be telling Senshi that he’s had enough / he doesn’t want something (featuring the other Weird With Food character, my beloved Kabru, maybe trying to help him? or maybe hassling him too lol):

Looks like some habits are hard to break. But, Laios does get through to him when he kicks his ass, and Falyn seems to have reached him too with his words, so perhaps there’s hope.

Look at him forcing himself to eat a burger while holding so much distaste in his heart. Did he and Laios order for each other? At least Laios seems to like his meal.

[psalidodont]

misc. sketches... umm ummm umm......... the gay.........

[wilimia]

Can you draw Sky????

He’s the sky

[riant-draws]

had a rough day but inking is like getting free therapy

don't look too hard at the arm haha yeah it's way too long, that's what I get for not sketching first lol

anyway this was way more fun to make than I anticipated even if it turned out kinda janky :D the crosshatching on the bottom of his robe and the details in his head are probably my fav parts

[skrunksthatwunk]

dummies

[buttfrovski]

WAAAAAHHHH WHY IS HE INCORPOREAL

[ferahntics]

What do you mean this isn’t them.

( go read @post-it-notes7​ ‘s Heart & Soul series which does an awesome job at building up the friendship between these two idiots <33 )

[grumpyghostdoodles]

Hii, Clover, we see you.

And theres Marine, from "The first human" Comic, as well!

[erebus0dora]

there are three types of ink in this: plain black indian ink and two "Malevich" shades called "Medusa" and "Ursula"

seemed appropriate to try them sketching this face

[solradguy]

If Daisuke Ishiwatari ever drops substantial Gear biology lore you all better buckle the hell up because it's all I'm going to talk about. I've been unwell about Gear biology since translating Begin. Chomping at the bit over here. GIVE ME MORE

[emcscared-whumps]

Behold!!!! The piece that got delayed by my surprise visit to death prevention jail end of last year!

This is my submission to @thewhumpyprintingpress's ABCs of Whump zine!!! It's available for purchase, go check it out :)

I was so excited to participate, and it was such a pleasure :) This piece took a while, and it is right on the edge of my current capabilities as an artist, but it was incredibly fun and rewarding to work on, I'm very proud of how it turned out <3

Featured is my mer shifter boi Pete from my fav project Shifting Phases :) I love him very much and could not resist another oppourtunity to have a work featuring him published.

(I had to scrunch it significantly to get Tumblr to take it ^-^')

[lilyinwaiting]

OC-tober Day 15: MUSIC!!

I had the roughs done for this back in like January and abandoned it, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to finish it!! Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy is a song from Xander's playlist, and I think it suits him very well, especially in how blatantly romantic he would act toward Soren before they got together lol

[turochamp]

deltarune in a jhonen vasquez like style! i had a TON of fun with this