#vitiligo awareness

[madhulikaupadhyay]

Discover effective vitiligo treatment by Madhulika Upadhyay, a renowned expert in the field. Visit MadhulikaUpadhyay.com to learn about her holistic approach, innovative treatment options, and success stories. Restore your skin confidence with personalized care and professional guidance.

[rolaplayor101]

Whoooo it’s nonbinary day!!! And disability pride! And my monthly polyam post!

On another note I super need commissions so please hit me up if you like my art!

Buy on a shirt or sticker!! Oooo you wanna Commission me so badd oooo! Pls don’t ignore my DNI! Reblogs are mandatory!

[afrotumble]

📷 PHOTOGRAPHY CAMPAIGN - THE BITTER TRUTH

Spartan Photography Kenya and ROYAL PATCHES FOUNDATION

Building awareness regarding Vitiligo

In frame @vit_jacky254

[two-tonexiptr]

Guys, some advice, please stop calling all skin discoloration Vitiligo I’ve had so many people irl say “oh I see you have Vitiligo” when 1, you don’t know how they feel about it! Get to know them and let them initiate before pointing it out and 2, Spots =/= vitiligo!! Some other conditions that can cause skin spots: Tinea versicolor - Spots caused by your skin producing more yeast, it is treatable and the spots come in several colors. The yeast colonies can move but can’t spread to others, they don’t usually hurt but can be itchy if you have sensitive skin Melasma - Brown/grey freckle like patches on the face and skin caused my hormonal changes and sun exposure, there’s no treatment and it can grow over time. It does not hurt, it is not skin cancer although it can look similar to other conditions Rosacea - Facial redness that may look like acne or blushing, this may be caused by abnormal blood vessels and can flare up and unpredictable times from food/drink responses to emotional responses to allergies. Solar lentigines (algae spots) - Small brown patches on the skin caused by sun exposure that can cluster and may cause slight itchy ness Diabetes - causes small clustered bumps and discoloration that can appear anywhere, they are usually not problematic but need treatment if excessively itchy or if they get infected No, there is nothing wrong with having Vitiligo or any other skin condition. Asking questions politely is fine, but with any medical condition the focus is on POLITE, some of these conditions make people very self conscious and should be handled with care

[avoicefromiran]

Reviews and comments

Vitiligo Made Me Beautiful, is a brilliant book. It’s highly recommended not only for kids but even for parents. It has great moral storylines and it is very relevant to today’s children’s life. This book is unique and clever. Everyone should read this children’s book, not only kids. Laleh Chini is a smart, kind, and extremely talented author. Hannah Main

[zoe-oneesama]

The Kwamis! Some of these came easier than others, but since Angelic Layer has no magic involved, all the kwamis became human~ They won't be very prevalent, they're mostly here to fill in background character roles - shop clerks, MCs Tournament Directors, fans - so they won't have a whole lot of speaking roles (aside from, you know, the MCs who're there to commentate on the fights lol). But I thought I'd give them all a nice nod in the story somewhere.

As expected, Tikki and Plagg are the main MCs. Marinette and Adrien's fights will be going on concurrently so Tikki will be commentating Marinette's fights while Plagg commentates on Adrien's. They'll have the most dialogue of the kwamis, so I do want them to have unique ways of discussing what they're seeing.

Pollen will be working directly for the Bourgeois'. As a VIP with a direct relationship with the international director of Angelic Layer, Chloe has her own private practice layer in her home and Pollen is in charge of it's upkeep and maintenance. She matches Armand the Bulter's levels of competence.

Trixx is a Rena Rouge mega fan. They've been following Alya's blog for as long as they can remember and are mega stoked that Alya moved to their city. When Alya starts to doubt herself, it's Trixx's voice that can be heard cheering her on to not give up.

Nooroo and Duusu are servants in the Agreste Estate. Unknown to Adrien, they are fully aware of his sneaking around to play and the two do what they can to make excuses and deflect Nathalie when Adrien isn't where he's supposed to be. They're rooting him on from the shadows!

Wayzz is the adult son of Marianne and Fu. He brings them to Angelic Layer fights against his will because the two really enjoy them. The two seem to be really invested in Ladybug and Chat Noir's career (and the behind the scenes shenanigans that they secretly spy on).

Longg is Kagami's bodyguard. Like Nooroo and Duusu, they are fully aware of what Kagami is doing behind her mother's back and feigns ignorance when Kagami pulls something..."sneaky" to get to a fight secretly.

Here's where we get into some existing jobs from the show:

Orikko and Kaalki are the "Layer Hot Girls (and boy)". lol I just thought it was funny that Angelic Layer even has them.

Mullo is the sales clerk at the Princess Piffle store (the store where you can buy your Angel and all the accessories). All of them lol. Mullo and her many many sisters who look just like her.

Barkk and Fluff take similar but still different roles (the uniforms are ALMOST the same but there are some tiny differences). So Barkk is the receptionist at the Practice Ring (literally you pay to reserve a mini-layer to practice on) while Fluff is the waitress/cashier at the cafeteria at the Tournament Center.

(and back to making shit up lol)

Daizzi is a nurse where Rose goes to the hospital and she has segmental localized vitiligo. Rose is particularly close to Daizzi since she helps Rose make her donations to the hospital.

Sass is the backstage directory, aka, the guy who makes things run. He has an earpiece that has the same diamond pattern as his pants on it! The anime does show one person who helps backstage, but I wanted to have a little fun with Sass's look and tie in to him being "in charge" of the kwamis.

Ziggy works at Socqueline's family art supply shop, which is frequented by Angelic Layer players who are on a bit of a budget. They love talking with the customers about their angels, though mostly the design part.

Stompp is Ivan's foster mother and Roarr his foster sister (Stompp's bio-daughter). I actually didn't think of what kind of job this outfit would be good for, but I think she'd make a good security guard - usually working at rock concerts, which she bonds with Ivan over, but she's also been hired for Angelic Layer tournaments. Sometimes sore losers get a little...violent.

Roarr falls in love with Juleka's Angel Purple Tigress immediately thanks to her pre-existing love of tigers in general. She's even bold enough to proclaim her love to Juleka herself!

Xuppu is Ondine's sibling and a fan of King Monkey, though they'll go out of their way to make fun of Kim himself. Secretly, they're very invested in Kim's career and get very upset on his behalf when he loses.

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I’m working on an original character project that I want to include a lot of casual representation in (“casual” meaning that the characters don’t need a justification for being disabled/fat/POC/etc, they just are because people can and do exist that way in reality!)

I was wondering if you had any suggestions for finding resources for drawing facial differences(and maybe other visible disabilities), especially in a cartoony style. I’ve looked through the Facial Equality Week tag but would like to see more examples, and since my art is so… goofy, for lack of a better word, I would love any help I can get in integrating differences without being offensive or upsetting.

Sorry if this is a bother, and thank you for all that you do!

Hey!

I'm not aware of any guides for drawing facial differences specifically (or at least, good ones. There's 1 billion tutorials telling you that scars are just a Singular Line, always, but that's not... correct), but perhaps someone in the notes could help out?

For my own advice, you could check out this old post I made. Because you mentioned your art being cartoony, I would specifically urge you to not overexaggerate facial differences the way they often are. A prime example would be how a lot of cartoons portray strabismus;

It's just a funny gag to them rather than, IDK, how some of us look like. Not to mention that one of these is also a mockery of intellectually/developmentally disabled people with "Derp" in the name, but that's beside the point here.

It's the whole "the character is crazy/stupid/wild/whatever and that's why they have it" that's the problem with how it's often shown. You can also see it in how characters who don't even normally have it will be shown with it for a scene where they're saying something nonsensical, etc.

Another example that's nowhere near as rampant is the split-face thing with various facial differences being used. Mostly vitiligo but sometimes also facial palsy. I'm talking about this weirdly perfectly halved face that looks extremely different on each side, often used to imply that a character is two-faced but mostly just signals that the author doesn't know how vitiligo looks like.

[note: vitiligo also shows up on lighter skin. I wanted to make sure it's visible here for tutorial clarity purposes.]

This one is just weird because it straight up doesn't look like that. I have no idea where it came from, but it should go back there. Facial palsy doesn't make someone look like the antique comedy/tragedy theater mask.

Unless I'm forgetting some other annoying cartoon trope, these would be the big ones that you should stay away from.

Outside of that, it's really on a case by case basis on how a specific FD should be drawn because they're so different. A birthmark can just be a differently colored patch of skin, but a craniofacial difference would require some more changes to be included. Alopecia is well, lack of hair, and can be done very easily but ectrodactyly can be more complicated to show properly because of the limitations of a cartoony artstyle when it comes to hands. And while I do think it would be great to see more of those facial differences that tend to not be included in art at all, there's nothing wrong with deciding to go for the things you can represent more faithfully, especially if you're just starting.

I will say that if you're making an honest attempt at being respectful and trying to get it right, most of us will still be excited to see your work. Even if it's not perfect or has some inaccuracies. I will take a "'yeah more or less' correct with a happy, human character" over a "Very Technically correct but tagged as #tw burns and with blood splattered on them" any day.

Lastly, I wanted to share some art featuring characters with facial differences (and other visible disabilities) that are done in a cartoony, or at least somewhat simplistic artstyles (I'm using both terms very widely here) - maybe it will give you some ideas.

Man with Treacher Collins syndrome (also one of the first pieces online where I saw a character with an FD portrayed in such a lovely way. A fav of mine.) Girl with Pfeiffer syndrome Too many characters to count Woman with burns Woman with a limb difference Multiple characters again Animation featuring people with Down syndrome [youtube] Multiple characters, including a girl with neurofibromatosis, a burn survivor, a girl with a cleft lip and another with TCS [twitter]

If you have a more specific art question ("how do I draw a person with XYZ facial difference?") you can send me an ask on @saszor. I prefer to stick to the writing theme on this blog but would still like to help if you need it.

Hope this helps,

mod Sasza

Edit: apologies for the lack of alt text on one of the images, it has been fixed.

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

FAQ (PLEASE READ BEFORE SENDING ANY ASKS!):

I have vitiligo does that mean I can't do X, Y, or Z?:

If you have vitiligo: Welcome to the club :D! In general this advice is mainly aimed towards people who don't have vitiligo, BUT if you do, do what you want! The only thing I would ask of you is to be aware that A) People might not be aware that you have vitiligo which is why you're taking liberates with it, B) People might try to emulate your depiction so if someone without the disorder doing something you might find uncomfortable, keep that in mind! and C) Be mindful of whether or not you're contributing to potentially harmful stereotypes! I'm not going to tell you, someone with the disability, that things are off limits, and I am aware that not everyone feels the same about this disorder, but keeping those things in mind won't hurt anybody!

Is it okay for vitiligo to be animal or shape based in pattern?:

NO. It's de-humanizing and harmful as many ablest insults aimed towards people with this disorder are animal-based. Also it purposefully goes out of it's way to make a person less human purely because they're disabled, which is obviously ablest in itself. Vitiligo is a disorder, NOT an aesthetic.

The same applied for characters inspired or based on animals, especially ones that are patterned.

YES this also includes giving them patterns like paint splotches, hearts, stars, and other stuff like that.

How does vitiligo develop?:

Vitiligo is an auto-immune disorder, which means its genetics based, BUT(!) it is not something you are born with, and needs to be developed through a person's life time. There are theories as to how it develops but as far as I'm aware there's no one solid answer.

Are POC the only people who can develop vitiligo?:

Nope! Vitiligo can occur in anyone of any race/ethnicity. The reason why you only see people with darker skin tones portrayed with it is because there's more visual contrast, thus making it seem more unique/distinct/obvious.

What does this blog offer?:

I do all sorts of things! I show examples of vitiligo represented in media, answer any questions people might have about it in general, questions specific to character/plots, character design tips, and sensitivity reading just to name a few!

Why am I not answering an ask?

I've got a few mental and physical conditions which make me extremely tired all the time and sometimes I just don't have the mental energy to do it </3

Also some asks are tricky! I might just horde the ask until I can think of a proper way to respond or if vitiligo finally gets enough media rep that I can do a proper analysis or make an actual wish-list lol.

Who runs this blog?:

@trinrose3! I developed vitiligo when I was 7 years and and for the majority of the time that I've had this disorder I felt disgusted and ashamed of it. Over the last few years I've learned to appreciate my vitiligo, as well as develop a slight hyperfixation on it in general, so I made this blog in order to spread awareness and positivity!

I'm the only one running this joint so if I'm being a little slow to answer an ask please be patient <3

Also here's a link to my ko-fi I'm struggling to pay bills and the health issues, job market, and other life circumstances are making it really hard right now so every penny is appreciated! I also take art commissions!

https://ko-fi.com/trinrose3

[homeofhousechickens]

Vitiligo can trigger that late? That's pretty cool actually. My elderly carrot is slowly turning into a snowball, she now has white "brows" and it looks very cute I think.

2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 My friends rooster Ginger (rip) yes vitiligo can trigger at any time be aware that it is an auto immune disorder with a genetic component

[felassan]

New today on DA:TV from Game Informer:

"A Deep Dive Into Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Expansive Character Creator by Wesley LeBlanc on Jun 27, 2024 at 02:00 PM As BioWare prepared to show me the character creator for Dragon Age: The Veilguard in its Edmonton, Canada, offices, I expected something robust – it's 2024, character creators have come a long way, and Bioware has a rich history of good customization. Despite my expectations, I was not prepared for how robust it actually is in Veilguard. Robust enough, even, that BioWare used it to create most of the NPCs in the game, save for mainline characters like companions. Setting hyperbole aside, it is a staggeringly rich creation system, and I look forward to seeing player-created near-replicas of celebrities and monstrous creations that'd be more at home in a horror game.  But I'm also looking forward to the community's reaction to the Dragon Age series' best character creator yet. At the heart of it is inclusivity, Veilguard game director Corinne Busche tells me before letting me guide her through creating my own character."

"As is usual, there are four races to choose from: Elves, Qunari, Humans, and Dwarves. After selecting Qunari, Busche pages through various presets, explaining the game allows for more detailed looks at each and the ability to choose pronouns with she/her, he/him, and they/them separately from gender, select different body types, and more. You can view your character, referred to as Rook in-game, in four different lighting scenes at any time, including The Veilguard's keynote purple hue, a bright and sunny tropical day, and a gothic night.  I joke with the team that after spending upwards of an hour creating my Dragon Age: Inquisition character in 2014, I immediately restarted the game after seeing him in the first cutscene; the in-game lighting made my hair color look terrible amongst other issues I had with my Inquisitor. Veilguard creative director John Epler says the team is aware of countless stories like that with Inquisition and its green-hued character creator, adding BioWare worked hard to squash that concern in Veilguard.  Head and body presets can be selected individually and customized to your liking with 40 different complexions that include smooth, rugged, youthful, and freckled skin tones, skin hues ranging from cool to neutral to warm, undertones to those skin tones, and even a melanin slider. Busche tells me BioWare relied on consultation to represent all people authentically. There's a Vitiligo slider (where you can adjust the intensity and amount of it) and sliders for your forehead, brow, cheeks, jaw, chin, larynx, and scalp. You can select your undergarments, with nudity as well because "this is a mature RPG," Busche adds, and use the "Body Morpher" to select three presets for each corner of a triangle and then move a cursor within it to morph your body or head into a mix of these presets. It's an impressive technology I'd like to see adopted in other games. [link to embedded DA:TV gameplay reveal video]"

"I can keep going: You can adjust height, shoulder width, chest size, glute and bulge size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, how visible cataracts are, the sclera color, how crooked your nose is, how big its bridge is, the size of nostrils and the nose tip, and there are as many sliders, if not more, for things like Rook's mouth and ears. On ears alone, I see you can adjust asymmetry, depth, rotation, earlobe size, and even add cauliflower ear to your Rook. Busche says makeup blends modern stylings with the fantasy of Dragon Age with more than 30 options, including eyeliner intensity, color, glitter, eye shadow, lips, and blush. Tattoos are just as customizable alongside options for scars and paint. Tattoos, scars, and paint are very culturally relevant to some lineages, BioWare tells me, with unique tattoos for elves, for example. You can add tattoos to Rook's face, body, arms, and legs, and you can adjust things like intensity, too.  Im most impressed, however, by the hair options on display; there are a ton, and as someone with long hair, I'm especially excited about the fun selections I can make. You can finally dye your hair with non-traditional colors, and it's gorgeous. EA's Frostbite engine uses the Strand system to render each style fully with physics. "The technology has finally caught up to our ambition," Dragon Age series art director Matt Rhodes says. After customizing all of that and selecting our Qunari's horn type and material (of which there are more than 40 options to choose from), it's time to pick a class out of the Rogue, Mage, and Warrior – read more about Veilguard's classes here. Since we built a Qunari, we went with Warrior. For the penultimate step of the character creator, at least during the demo BioWare shows me, we select a faction. Out of the six options, we select the pirate-themed Lords of Fortune."

"Rook ascends because of competency, not because of a magical McGuffin," BioWare core lead and Mass Effect executive producer Michael Gamble tells me in contrast to Inquisition's destiny-has-chosen-you-characterization. "Rook is here because they choose to be and that speaks to the kind of character that we've built," Busche adds. "Someone needs to stop this, and Rook says, 'I guess that’s me.'" Ready to begin our Rook's journey, we select a first and last name and one of four voices out of English masculine, English feminine, American masculine, or American feminine options. There's a pitch shifter for each voice, too, allowing you to tweak it to your liking further. Don't stress too much about locking in your character creations before beginning the game – the Mirror of Transformation, which is found in Veilguard's main hub, The Lighthouse, allows you to change your physical appearance at any time. However, class, lineage, and identity are locked in and cannot be changed after you select them in the game's character creator.  From here, we're off to Minrathous, and you can read more about that famed city in our cover story, which is available here. For more about the game, including exclusive details, interviews, video features, and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard hub button below."

[source]

[olderthannetfic]

Re: the weird belief vitiligo is only for POC, I've also seen people get mad that Jewel, one of the Rainbow High dolls, has vitiligo. Jewel is canonically mixed race (Native American, white, and Latina) but since black isn't a race she's got heritage from, the company selling the doll got complaints. Apparently some people not only think it's a POC only thing, they think it's just black people, no one else.

Meanwhile if you look at reviews of the doll from people who actually have vitiligo, many of them have zero issue with her. They're aware it's not race-specific. So everyone getting mad is getting mad on behalf of a marginalized group who doesn't have a problem with it.

--

Clueless white knighting? What a shocking twist!

[queenofexhaustion]

Sticking together Au

Virgil and Logan are brothers, they're a year apart but they have a close bond. Their cousin is Janus in this au, he's older than them (a year older than Logan). The three didn't have friends growing up since they had each other and since they were picked on a lot, Janus was bullied because of his skin. (Human Janus would have Vitiligo) Logan was bullied for being a teacher's pet, and Virgil for being reserved and being emo. But the three always had each other's back when they were being targeted for anything, which would make Virgil have trust issues when they're older. Logan would be more aware of anyone who isn't his family, not to mention he would be more focused on his studies. And it would make Janus a mother hen towards his cousins, overall they only trust each other and no one else. When they're adults like in their twenties, they meet the twins and Patton.

Patton and the twins met each other when they were young, they're willing to be friends with anyone. Patton was an only child so he got along with the twins, Roman and Remus are both energetic which matches with Patton's personality. They met Patton in elementary school and stuck close to him ever since, they would follow him like ducklings. They weren't bullied since Remus would scare away others on purpose, and if people tried to make fun of Patton for being "childish" when they were teens. Remus would chase them away. Literally, he would start chasing people while laughing in a maniac way. This of course would embarrass Roman, but Patton would appreciate Remus and his way of driving rude people away.

When they meet, Virgil is highly suspicious of their intentions since why were people trying to be nice to them? Logan would try to explain it to him, but Virgil would still be wary. Janus is watching their every move, he is cautious of how happy they seem to be interacting with the cousins. Much like Virgil, he's on high alert. One wrong word, and he's taking his cousins somewhere else. Logan is curious as to why the other three are talking to them, still keeping his guard up. Occasionally assuring Virgil that they probably won't do anything, and holding Janus from walking away too soon. He doesn't want to seem rude, but they leave since they have things to do. Patton is ever happy they might be making new friends, Roman is confused why the three seem so cautious of them. Meanwhile Remus is just as happy as Patton, they talk about their possible new friends when they get home.

"Ok, but am I the only one who noticed they seemed on edge when we were talking to them?" Roman looked at his brother and friend, "We most likely caught them off guard Ro." Patton told him, "Yeah! Patty's right! I mean why wouldn't they want to be friends with us?" Remus agreed, Roman still has his doubts but doesn't voice it.

"People never approach us like that before, they obviously want something from us or they want to bully us!" Virgil rambled, Logan grabbed his hands. "Virge, try not to think about it too much. I know it's hard but attempt to think of something else, not everyone is willing to waste their time being rude to us. What we experienced was bad yes, but not everyone is the same." Logan explained as he gently rubbed his brother's hands, he was trying to keep him from going into a panic attack. "If that is the case, why would they want to be our friends. No offense Lo, but I'm with Virgil on this. We can't trust them too soon," Janus said as he looked at the note he was given. A location so they could meet up again, he was also thinking about the times people insulted him on his skin. The rude comments on Virgil trying to express himself through clothing, and Logan just for doing what he's told by their teachers. Janus was not going to tolerate anymore of that, he promised that he would protect his cousins no matter what.

But two questions remain, would it really be bad to make new friends? And, could they make friends with the cousins?

[bear-boi-5]

Blind Man picks out clothes

He's well aware of what the shirt says/SILLY

Also, yes, I'm a firm believer in the theory that Brook was blind but used Observation Haki similarly to Fujitora without realising it was Observation Haki cause funny

There's just too much to point towards the possibility that Brook was blind

Also I gave him vitiligo for the funnsies, I like giving characters vitiligo. More characters should have it

[avoicefromiran]

Comments and reviews

[midnight-shadow-cafe]

Every Mark Tells a Story

Pairing: Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of self-consciousness, body image struggles, extreme fluff, Kyle being the best boyfriend ever

Author’s Note: I hope I did this justice, I don’t know why I originally read that as vertigo for some reason 

Summary: Some days, your vitiligo makes you feel like you’re under a microscope. Tonight is one of those nights, but Gaz isn’t about to let you dwell on it alone.

Masterlist

MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+

The bedroom was quiet except for the occasional sound of cars passing outside, their headlights flickering across the ceiling. Your bedside lamp bathed the room in a soft, golden glow, casting warm light over the walls and sheets. It was peaceful. Safe. And yet, you felt anything but.

Standing in front of the mirror, you tugged at the hem of your sweater, pulling it down as if it could hide what had been there your whole life. The patches of lighter skin stood out against the rest of you, creating a contrast that you weren’t always comfortable with. Some days, you could ignore it. Some days, you even liked it.

But today?

Today, all you could think about were the people who had stared. The lingering looks, the curious glances that felt more intrusive than they had any right to be. You knew people didn’t always mean to be rude, but it didn’t stop the familiar ache from settling deep in your chest.

You let out a quiet sigh, running a hand down your arm, tracing the patches absentmindedly. You weren’t even aware of Gaz watching you from the bed, his dark brown eyes following your movements with a soft, knowing gaze.

"You okay, love?"

His voice was gentle, warm like honey, pulling you from your thoughts. You turned, forcing a small smile. "Yeah. Just tired."

Gaz hummed, clearly unconvinced. He was still lounging against the pillows, shirtless and comfortable, his toned chest rising and falling steadily. But his attention was entirely on you.

"You’ve been staring at yourself for a while now," he pointed out, tilting his head slightly. "And not in the ‘damn, I look good’ way."

You hesitated, fingers curling into the fabric of your sweater. "It’s stupid."

His brows furrowed. "It’s not stupid if it’s bothering you."

You sighed, stepping closer to the bed. "People were staring again today."

Gaz shifted, sitting up properly now, resting his forearms on his knees. His expression softened, but there was a quiet intensity behind his eyes. "And?"

"And I know I shouldn’t care, but I do," you admitted, your voice quieter now. "It’s like they’re trying to figure out what’s ‘wrong’ with me."

Gaz’s jaw tensed for a second before he exhaled slowly, his hands reaching for you. He tugged you between his legs, wrapping his arms around your waist as he rested his chin against your stomach. "Come here."

You let him pull you in, your hands instinctively settling in his hair, fingers threading through the soft curls. He was warm—so warm—and you could already feel the tension in your body easing just from the way he held you.

"Nothing’s wrong with you, sweetheart," he murmured, his voice steady, unwavering. "They stare ‘cause they don’t have something this special."

You huffed a quiet laugh, rolling your eyes. "Kyle."

"I mean it." He tilted his head back, looking up at you with a lopsided grin. "Every inch of you is beautiful. Unique. One of a kind. You know how rare that is?"

You chewed on your lip, trying to fight the warmth spreading through your chest. "You’re just saying that."

Gaz scoffed. "You think I’d lie to you?" His hands found your wrists, gently pushing up your sleeves. "Look at this," he murmured, tracing a fingertip along one of the lighter patches on your arm. "It’s like clouds, yeah? Or maybe constellations. Either way, it’s art."

Your breath caught as he dipped his head, pressing a slow, lingering kiss against your wrist. Then another. And another.

"Kyle," you whispered, your voice barely holding steady.

"Mmh?" He didn’t stop, his lips trailing up your forearm, over the curve of your shoulder. Each kiss was unhurried, reverent, like he was trying to prove something with every touch.

By the time he reached your cheek, you were practically melting into him, your fingers still tangled in his hair. He pulled back slightly, his gaze locking onto yours.

"You don’t have to believe me right now," he murmured, his thumb brushing against your jaw. "But I’ll keep telling you every day until you do."

You swallowed, your heart pounding. "You really mean that?"

"With everything in me, love," he promised.

And the way he looked at you—like you were the most breathtaking thing in the world—made you think that maybe, just maybe, he was telling the truth.

Gaz guided you down onto the bed, pulling you into the warmth of his arms as the blankets settled around you both. His body molded perfectly against yours, his embrace steady and grounding.

The first kiss landed on your shoulder—soft, warm, lingering. "D’you know how much I love you?" he murmured, his voice thick with affection.

You hummed, already feeling your body relax under his touch. "Mmh. How much?"

Gaz let out a quiet chuckle, his fingers tracing slow, lazy patterns along your arm. "More than words can explain. More than the stars in the bloody sky."

You felt his lips against the back of your neck next, lingering there for a moment before he trailed down, pressing another kiss to the curve of your shoulder.

"You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen," he whispered against your skin. "And I don’t just mean your looks, love. You’ve got a heart that could make anyone feel safe." Another kiss, this time at the base of your neck. "And I’m so damn lucky to have you."

Your heart swelled at his words, and you squeezed his hand, intertwining your fingers with his. "You always know what to say."

"That’s ‘cause I mean every word," he murmured, his voice low and steady. He nudged his nose against the side of your face, his breath warm as he added, "If I could paint, I’d spend every day trying to capture how gorgeous you are. But I’d fail, ‘cause nothing could do you justice."

A soft laugh escaped you, your body finally settling into the calmness of the moment. "You’re ridiculous."

Gaz grinned, his lips brushing against your temple. "Maybe. But you love me for it."

"I do," you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper.

His arms tightened around you slightly, his body radiating warmth. "Good. ‘Cause I plan on reminding you every single day just how perfect you are."

His kisses slowed, becoming softer, more languid as sleep began to tug at you. Even as your breathing evened out, Gaz didn’t stop. He kept whispering sweet nothings, pressing gentle kisses to every patch of skin he could reach until you finally drifted off, safe in the warmth of his embrace.

Hope you enjoyed! Please consider liking and reposting! -Midnight💜