#vitiligo symptoms

[bookdoctorconsultationonline]

Detailed Guide On The Early Signs Of Vitiligo at Livlong

Are you worried that you might have vitiligo? Check out this blog for the 3 most common signs and symptoms of vitiligo. Visit Livlong for more information about early signs of vitiligo.

[allhealthneedsdoctorconsultation]

Detailed Guide On The Early Signs Of Vitiligo at Livlong

Are you worried that you might have vitiligo? Check out this blog for the 3 most common signs and symptoms of vitiligo. Visit Livlong for more information about early signs of vitiligo.

https://livlong.com/blogs/diseases/vitiligo/symptoms-of-vitiligo

[cripplecharacters]

sorry if this is a little too vast, but how often do you feel the whole fantasy concept of curses falls into harmful stereotypes? just because a lot of ‘curses’ in fantasy media:

a) display either symptoms of real disabilities, especially chronic illnesses, or have fantastical symptoms that disable the character in some way or another

b) are often tied to some form of morality, whether a person is cursed because they’re evil and it’s a punishment, or they’re helpless and need to be saved from the horrible life of being ill

c) are usually curable through some sort of magic solution, even though disabled readers cannot magically cure their body

d) overall are linked to magic, and it is my understanding that ‘disability caused by a magic spell’ is very tropey with conditions such as vitiligo.

as an (aspiring) fantasy author, i think the whole concept of curses holds a lot of potential, i just wanted to know if it’s something that could likely be taken as hurtful and ableist, and if so is there a specific aspect of curses that shouldn’t be written about or is it a case of ‘abandon the whole concept of curses’.

sorry if this isn’t very coherent, i’m currently on a flare up right now so words are harder for me than usual. thank you all for running such a cool and helpful blog.

Hello!

You're right that this is a very broad topic. Curses on their own aren't inherently problematic but they certainly can be, especially when they're tied with the first point you've mentioned (That is, having symptoms of real disabilities).

Something also worth noting is that none of those points are necessarily bad on their own, it's all about how the author handles it. For example, a character that becomes cursed with immortality after stealing a child from the fae would be okay. A character that becomes cursed with paralysis after offending a sorcerer, however, would be different.

One example that comes to mind is Eda's curse in The Owl House. For those who aren't familiar with it, Eda was cursed by an unknown person for unknown reasons (Though this is later revealed). Her curse caused things such as limbs that pop off easily (Literally becoming removed from her body, in a cartoon-y way), changes to her appearance (Eye and hair colour), occasional transformation into a large demonic beast, negative effects to her magic, and several other things that are more similar to chronic illnesses (Periods of low energy, etc.).

Even before Eda became disabled (She becomes an amputee later on), her curse felt a lot like a disability narrative to me. She's found ways to cope with it and manage the symptoms she experiences such as taking naps and using an elixir (Which has a similar use to medication for her) that keeps her beast form at bay. There are days when the curse is worse and other days when it's better.

Two main things that stick out to me the most about this example is that, though she obviously doesn't enjoy the curse, Eda is more upset about (And focused on) the fact that she doesn't know who cursed her or why. The fact that curing her curse isn't her main goal is very refreshing to me.

The other thing is one particular arc where her mother comes to visit and it's shown that she comes every year with a new proposed cure. Although this is a magic world, the proposed cures are equated to the whole idea of curing paralysis with certain herbs or ADHD with a certain diet. What was especially relatable to me about this was that Eda doesn't want these so-called cures and her mother's actions are shown as an imposition rather than an act of kindness or charity. As somebody who has accepted my own disabilities while my friends and family members have not, this was something that felt very close to home for me.

Eda's curse has some similarities with real world disabilities -- both in some of the symptoms such as low energy as well as in the way it's treated -- but it isn't a disability in and of itself. That said, it's still one of the best portrayals of living with disability that I've seen and it's an excellent example of how curses can be done and related to disability in a way that isn't ableist or poorly designed.

The main reason that the portrayal of Eda's curse is so well done is because it's designed with consideration for the show's disabled audience. Although some able-bodied people may pick up on certain things, the whole narrative around Eda's curse is much more relatable and obvious to people who live with a disability than those who don't.

Essentially, it's the story that a lot of disabled people want to see.

Not somebody with a disability being cured or fixed but somebody with a disability living a full, meaningful life and with those around them learning to understand and accept that.

Eda's mother doesn't stop looking for a cure because she gives up on her daughter or because her daughter pushes her away. She stops because she realizes how her efforts were hurting Eda and how their relationship was suffering from it.

Not only that but she also accepts that Eda knows her curse better than her mother does AND she wants to learn more about Eda's methods for dealing with it.

This is huge!

The series is showing respect for Eda's bodily autonomy and her independence. It's recognizing that disabled people know our disabilities and our bodies better than others do. A lot of us have to deal with constant unsolicited advice on how to deal with our disabilities from friends, family members, and even complete strangers so to see this situation portrayed in this way was especially refreshing.

This is a smaller factor but another way that Eda's curse was done well is that it's clearly fantasy. The cause is fantasy, the manifestations are fantasy, and the resulting effects are fantasy.

While the effects may have some similarities to real life disabilities, the manifestations are enough to differentiate the curse from actual disabilities. For example, people with dissociative disorders may have moments they can't remember but they don't turn into a large demonic beast during them.

There's enough of a distance there that it isn't equated one-to-one as disability, even if the narrative is very similar to disability narratives.

Unfortunately, I have also seen curses portrayed in a way that is ableist and rather poorly dealt with.

I don't intend to name it (I'll explain my reasoning below*) but I recently read a book where one of the side characters was cursed as punishment for her own selfish actions and ended up functionally mute. She used ASL to communicate for the most part. Within the book, the character is shown to be so bitter and upset about her curse and the resulting effects that she takes it out on her family and her child in particular.

This is bad for several reasons.

First, by making the curse so similar to a real-world disability/symptom, any associations made with the curse are also, by extension, being made with that disability. In showing how much this character hates her curse, it's also showing how much she hates being disabled.

If her curse was something like waking up every day in a different body (Or something else that has no real-world equivalent), it's easier to put distance between the curse and any similarities to disability. It also allows you, as the writer, to focus more on other aspects as opposed to the immediate focus of how the curse disables a character (Such as how Eda was bothered by not knowing how or why she was cursed rather than the curse itself).

Because the curse is equated to her disability, this also falls into several ableist tropes.

As the curse was a punishment from the fae for her own selfish actions, it falls into the "disability as punishment" trope.

The fact that her curse -- or at least her frustration/bitterness from the curse -- is pushing her to act the way that she does also causes it to fall into several problematic tropes involving disabled villains. For one thing, the prime cause of her "bad behaviour" (For lack of a better term) being her curse/disability.

In contrast, Eda from The Owl House does push people away because of her curse but it's because of her fear (Specifically the fear of losing control of her beast form and hurting somebody) that causes her to do that. This habit of pushing people away out of fear is also touched on and shown outside of the context of her curse.

With the book, the character's actions are directly shown to be because she's mute and the anger/bitterness/frustration she feels around that.

A lot of this specific problem comes from the writing itself. If the author had wrote it so the character was lashing out at her family because she felt like she wasn't being heard or because she was afraid they might do something dangerous (Such as going after the fae that did this) and she wouldn't be able to stop them, that would be a different situation. There may still be some negative associations but it's less of a direct correlation between being cursed/disabled and being a jerk.

Now, having a character become cursed as a punishment isn't necessarily a bad thing.

In the show Lucifer, the side character Cain is cursed with immortality after killing his brother (And, as this is the same Cain from the bible, committing the first murder). Throughout his arc on the show, Cain is looking for a way to cure his curse and, essentially, die.

Because immortality isn't anywhere close to a real-world disability, these other factors aren't a problem as there's no association with disability.

Essentially what I'm getting at here is that curses can be perfectly fine. They aren't inherently ableist or problematic in any way but they certainly can be. It's all about how you, as the writer, handle it and what associations you're making -- whether you intend to or not.

The main thing to keep in mind when including curses in your writing is to consider what purpose they're serving and what you want to do with them.

If you want the curse to be a punishment for something terrible that the character has done, it's best to stay far away from disability and lean more into the fantasy side of things.

If you want curing the curse to serve as the character's main goal throughout the story, it could be okay to have some elements of real-world disability in there. For example, in a world where magic is used freely maybe your character is cursed to only be able to use their magic through a specific conduit and if it goes unused for a while, it causes tics or spasms.

While this is still similar to real-world disabilities (Such as Tourette's syndrome or epilepsy), there's enough distance between the manifestation of the curse (Only being able to use their magic through a specific conduit) and the disability-like effect of it (The tics/spasms). This distance gives you the ability to focus on other aspects of the curse (Such as the problems with magic) as the motivation for wanting to cure it rather than the disability aspects of it.

One final word of caution is to be careful when mixing the "curse as an allegory for disability" and "curse as a punishment for doing something evil". I'd generally suggest avoiding it. I have never seen it done in a way that doesn't end up incredibly ableist and reading as a bad cautionary tale for children ("Eat your veggies or you'll end up in a wheelchair" = "Don't kick children because they might be witches and you'll end up blind").

This is especially important to keep in mind if you want to use the curse as a disability narrative or otherwise have it be treated/showed similarly to disability (Like The Owl House did with Eda). If you want to do that, explore explore other causes for the curse. Maybe it was the result of a training mishap with a new witch? Or maybe they accidentally broke a dangerous artifact? Just as long as it's not shown to be a punishment/consequence of sorts.

As promised, I've explained my reasoning for not naming the book down below.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

*So my reasoning for not naming the book is because of a few things. The main one is that, while the rest of the examples I gave have a fairly large and established presence, this book is by a new author and published by a small publishing company. Simply put, they don't have the same resources that corporations such as Disney and Fox do.

The other thing is that while there are multiple writers working on tv shows like The Owl House and Lucifer, this book has a singular creator and this is her first book. Although I did criticize her portrayal of the character's curse heavily, there were several parts I enjoyed and I am reluctant to put the book on blast and risk discouraging her from writing more.

If this was the work of a more established author (Such as Rick Riordan or JK Rowling) or I was discussing it in a more positive light, I'd be more comfortable naming the book openly.

[scrabbleg]

as promised, MORE GAIA!!! got the full design from the wonderful GoowahGoon on instagram and i literally cannot stop thinking about her at any given point so HERE IS SOME LORE:

Working as a negotiator and diplomat for the Mud Kingdom on behalf of Queen Evermore, Gaia is skilled with her words and talented with persuasion -- however, like everyone, she is not infallible. Normally, this would not bother her, but when an important meeting with the SkyWing queen goes wrong, caused by a slip of the tongue, she finds herself lamenting over her failure.

It is after this, during a long walk in the woods, that she encounters a strange dragon -- a merchant, friendly and understanding, who offers a place to rest and a listening ear. In her stress, Gaia can't help but confess her situation, describing to the stranger just what happened -- strangely, the merchant does not seem surprised in the slightest by her words. Instead of consolation, he offers her a solution -- an amulet, enchanted by an animus of the distant past, that will grant her the ability to speak without flaw or mistake, and to persuade and twist minds as easily as one could shape clay. In spite of Gaia's skepticism, the merchant urges her to take it, if only for the beauty and unnerving similarities it shared with the jewelry she already owns.

She accepts his offer and just as quickly as he appeared, the merchant vanishes, the only trace that he had been there to begin with being the amulet in Gaia's clutches. After trial and error, she quickly discovers that the merchant had been truthful in his tale about the amulet -- it does exactly as he had said. Dragons believe her almost immediately when she speaks, even when she lies, which she avoids as much as she can -- situations that usually would have taken effort to control are now smoothed over with nothing but a few calming words. Her job becomes infinitely easier, and quickly she becomes known and renowned for her success, especially during times of war.

It takes several years for the true cost -- curse -- of her new charmspeak capabilities to become known to her. It starts with the tips of her claws and tail, primarily where she already has vitiligo; the scales and keratin, over time, begin to turn to gold, replacing organic material with solid metal. A strange side effect, Gaia finds no problems with the development -- the success she has achieved with the amulet's aid is worth too much for her to lose it over something so simple. Over time, however, the symptoms grow more severe -- gold replaces her scales, claws, and eventually bones, though not the muscle and tissue. It leads to arthritis and pain in her joints, making everyday tasks much more painful -- even still, she refuses to give up using the amulet.

and here's without background and shading because I LVOE HER DESIGN SHES STUNNING

[lexiene]

Sukuna with vitiligo lover who he admired and loved because your beauty amazed him.

Your symptoms may be look like a punishment from the Gods and mark of your weakness but Sukuna's point of view he sees it as symbolic.

Symbol of your true beauty.

A painting he would gazed until dawn.

You painted his form with your boldness and strength on overcoming your security of your birth marks that made him feel the same to his monstrous cursed being. You trully amazed him.

His habit tend to carried away on adoring your patch by caressing it, kissing the delicate spot or even he leaves his own mark.

You're truly his blessed being in this cursed world.

[l-in-the-light]

About Trafalgar Law and his vitiligo

Feel free to ignore this post if you so wish, but I chose to speak up on this matter. I have seen so many fanarts that portray Law with his white skin patches, often looking like a dalmatian and it bothers me. Are you all aware that animal-like patterns for vitiligo are considered insulting? And you all might look at me weirdly now and ask "how can something so cute/wholesome/unique possibly be bothersome to anyone?!" Read further on your own risk, slight tmi.

Law's disease is of course fictional. Visually it looks the closest to vitiligo, but it has a lot in common with autoimmune skin diseases as well. I happen to know how it's like to live with a skin disease. Meds for my condition aren't really for curing anything, they just make the symptoms dimnish, but in return they leave white patches on my skin that are resistant to tanning for a long while (also those meds are very dangerous for your kidneys apparently if used too often, as a side note). Why would anyone use them? Well, because it's a hereditary skin condition: it never goes away and there's no way to cure it, those meds are literally the only thing that does anything. I just get lucky whenever symptoms aren't visible for some time until they inevitably come back anyway. And believe me, this isn't "wholesome", "cute" or "unique" to have discolored skin patches. You all probably have no idea (why would you have anyway, it's natural that you don't) how it's like in summer, when you go on a bus or tram, you wear a t-shirt because it's freaking hot and you can't hide under the clothes or you risk melting or fainting. And people see your discolored skin or red patches on your skin. You know how they react? They stare at your hands/arms and then they move away. That's the default reaction whenever your skin looks unusual. People would rather move away, just in case it's something contagious. They will also stare, a lot, and you can feel it's judgemental, even though my condition is in no way my own fault (or anyone else's who also has it), thank you very much.

That being said, I doubt Law would be happy parading openly with white patches visible on his skin. Most people wouldn't realize that's it's just a leftover from his old, cured disease. They would simply assume what people always assume: that it's something contagious. Evidence below, if you need it:

And Law's reaction to their reaction:

He doesn't look very happy, of course.

People would isolate him, avoid him and *stare* disrespectfully at him like he's a weird specimen, at best. Law would quickly learn to hide it under his clothes, long sleeves, long pants, gloves etc. No one truly wants to attract negative attention like this, especially not someone who already went through a lot of traumatic experiences, like Law. And sure, as a child he didn't really hide it:

But take into account those are the clothes he was wearing ever since Flevance happened. He didn't have any other clothes. As soon as he's accepted as part of Doflamingo's family he starts to wear different ones, and he covers up the spots on his arms by wearing long sleeves:

And oh boy, I can totally relate to that.

Sure, in ideal world, no one would assume Law has a disease just because his skin is discolored. But we're not living in ideal world. Some people, just like me, have hereditary skin conditions and feel bothered by fanarts that exoticize skin disease or skin disorder. Yeah sure, why does it matter, Law is a fictional character with fictional disease, right? But vitiligo is very similar to this and is a real condition which is part of life of real people. Those aren't freckles that are just cute and make you look unique (and some people might have freckles and still hate the extra attention drawn towards it, and it's valid if they feel like that!).

Just wanted to get that off my chest. I don't need sympathy for my disease, this is not why I wrote this post. I just wish people would realize that by drawing a vitiligo Law they're toying with a lot of emotional baggage there, please treat it respectfully. Maybe one day the world will be wholesome enough to think of it as normal (normal, not fetishized, ugly, contagious or exotic!), but I assure you it still doesn't. If you think it's just a "me" thing, check out this blog: https://www.tumblr.com/vitiligo-is-not-a-trend/765530242896003072 and many other posts of theirs. Not everyone with skin conditions might react the same way, but keep in mind people with actual vitiligo and skin diseases can and often will be really sensitive about it, and for a good reason.

Yes, that being said I also think it's wholesome if Luffy accepts vitiligo spots on Law easily like it's not a big deal, especially in comparison to the rest of the world which would fear him instead. It's definitely something Luffy would do. But that's completely different from fetishizing it. Please, you're stepping on a thin line here, tumblr.

[sunthyme]

Hehehe. Part two baby! Be prepared! (Pun absolutely intended) Also, to the people who are yelling the the tags, I love you guys! I read them all and I can't say thank you enough. It genuinely means a ton!🩷🩷🩷

Enough of me being sappy,

🌻Savanaclaw🌻

Disclaimer: Savanaclaw is like lowkey my favourite dorm, not in terms of redesigns but I love the characters. Huge Leona fan and Jack and Ruggie are my children so I will not stop talking about them. You have been warned.

First up, though y'all have seen him already,

♟️Leona Kingscholar♟️

(he/him) - Unlabelled but doesn't care about gender

I snuck in a lil treat of my work in progress housewarden card. The jumpscare it was to toggle my version with the og card underneath, y'all. Am I making my version of pretty much all his cards? Yes. Will they ever be finished? Who knows? Anyways, onto the headcanons...

- Physically, I feel like I changed a lot and not a lot at the same time. I gave him some more scars which I guarantee you are from really stupid accidents.

- Piercing on his ears just cause I felt they fit him and snakebites because (I'm so down bad for them) it gave the illusion of fangs even with his mouth closed. Gave him moles cause they're pretty.

- I textured his hair and gave him a shit ton more because if the og design won't AT LEAST give him fluffier hair, what's the point? Yana Toboso, if you don't give this man a high ponytail in the Clubwear Card, I will hunt you down. Also made his front, larger braids the colour of Cheka's (And presumably Farena's) hair because honestly? They didn't really look similar enough? Also threw in some smaller braid to 'tie' them in more (haha).

- Someone gave him like this cool inverted pupil due to a scene in the movie but I simplified it to basically heterochromia.

- This might be hardly noticeable but I give give him slightly more muscle? I felt it suited him more idk.

- Onto non-physical headcanons, he has 💕depression💕! This is kinda not up for debate given how much he exemplifies the symptoms. Hell, he made me realise that I may have depression cause I was like, "Damn, he's so relatable, not wanting to get out of bed, no motivation to do anything, struggling to care of himself. He just like me frfr- oh..."

- By the way, I see a lot of people talking about Ruggie's reaction to the fallout of Book 2 but I think that on Leona's side, he felt horrible and probably locked himself away for a WHILE. I think his mental state must have been terrible and I'm SO PISSED HIS FCKING PROBLEMS NEVER GOT BROUGHT AGAIN WTF! Well, I'm on Book 4 so maybe???

- Anyways, I saw someone posit he could also be autistic, more on the asymptomatic side which is actually growing on me a lot. Picky eater, doesn't like tighter clothes, not fond of loud noises, smaller things but I'm a fan.

- Really random but I like the idea that he's one of those people who kids love for literally no reason, he just doesn't like to be around them.

- Is actually extremely book smart, though that's kinda already canon but I mean this bitch was a nerd when he was younger. Knows way too much on various topics, especially about his homeland.

- He can purr. I know lion's can't but there are literal mer and fae. He's just a big kitty. My and Idia like 🤞 when it comes to thinking of Leona as just a big meow. I have a cat who doesn't like anyone but I'm her favourite, I could win him over.

I could talk about him for sooooo long tbh so I'll shut up now.

Anyways, now for my boy,

💸Ruggie Bucchi💸

(he/she) Bigender - Biromantic Asexual

God I love my bigender child.

- I made him black, though probably mixed and gave him vitiligo for both visual flavour and a mild(?) reference to like hyena spots?

- He originally was going to have her hair down but then I realised how many of them had their natural hair already so I gave him dreads? I'll have to render them out at some point.

- Gave her more scars too, since she grew up in a more rough environment. Made his eyes really big and cute 'cause I feel like she can get extras when she hits 'em with the puppy eyes.

- Probably got mad ADHD, has to constantly be fiddling with something or another. Wears spinny rings a lot. He's actually really good at paying attention in class and likes to learn.

- Steals from Leona, whether it's money or items or clothes he leaves out (which, while Leona would never admit, he purposefully leaves out for Ruggie).

- Oh and a post pointed out that hyenas can purr, so have fun with that.

That's mostly it for now, but expect this list to grow lmao.

Now for,

💪Jack Howl💪

(he/him) - Queer (he doesn't know lol, just knows he likes dudes at this point)

Not me struggling to find a weight emoji (I failed) 😭😭😭

- Ah, I made a reference in the Heartslabyul post about my concern about darker skinned characters with white hair and I was mainly talking about Jack. I also had to make Kiki, and I figured that wolves have pretty naturally salt-and-pepper hair, so why not. I actually love how it looks omg, it's very pretty and marbled.

- Gave him darker skin, since I headcanon him as black but I did see someone who designed him as indigenous so it might change in the future idk. Also it makes his eyes almost glow and I love that for him.

- He gets more scars too, though likely from sports rather than fights or anything.

- He's autistic. Apologies that so many of them are autistic to me, not only am I autistic but like, the way they're written speaks to me. His whole moral compass being the reason for Book 2 playing out like it did was an immediate 'yes' from me. He's my boy and my son and I will fistfight anyone that smack talks him (looking at those Savannaclaw NPCs in one of Deuce's vignettes).

- Oh, I forgot. He listens to K-Pop. I don't know if it?s canon that he has younger siblings, though I totally think he does, but one of them accidentally got him into K-Pop and J-Pop so whenever he's at the gym, that's what he's listening to lmao. Specifically girl groups, he likes them enough that he knows all their names. He insists it's out of respect, which it is but he's also lowkey a stan too lol.

- Generally has a weakness for cute things, even if he doesn't show it. Also a total plant nerd omg. He could instruct you on pretty much any houseplant on how much sunlight and water it needs, seasonal changes, etc.

Final note is that I'll make a separate post about him and Epel, cause I love them and have some headcanons there too.

Now for my ocs!

💎Kiki Adebayo💎

Third Year - (she/her) Transfem - Aromantic Demisexual Sapphic

- Twisted from Rafiki? I think that's his name, the baboon. I'm crying sobbing throwing up that you can't see her eyes in this.

- She got the white hair since the fur on a baboon is directly white and took inspiration from Dislyte's Isis design. Her eyes are a pale gold like her earrings and she has red to blue eye shadow.

- Natural resting bitch face but she's just tired most of the time. She'd probably be the actual vice housewarden as I think her family has been close to Leona's for a long time, though she earned her spot with her own skills.

- Additionally, I wouldn't call her and Leona 'childhood friends' but she's known him for a long time. She's like, concerned about him as he's changed so much but she also worries that it's not her place. As a result, she tries to make sure Ruggie's not taking on too much and handles most of the dormhead duties herself.

God, she's so pretty omg anyways

👟Mandisa Jelani👟

Second Year - (they/she) Demi-girl - Pansexual

- Mandisa is also based on the hyenas, though I don't know if her and Ruggie are from the same pack necessarily.

- I gave her scars, moles, and some piercings as well, I just felt like they'd suit her.

- I think she and Jack would be relatively similar in terms of personality, I see her being the gruffer upperclassmen. I think she'd be rather protective of the first years, knowing how harsh the older dorm members can be and she does her best to make everyone feel welcome.

Next up,

🤘Rocío Chávez🤘

Second Year - (she/her but doesn't really care) Transfem - Panromantic Asexual

You'll never guess who she's based on /j

- My girlie based on Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove! Yes, she is a big and buff bimbo? Himbo? I don't know but she's got a heart of gold and head empty.

- I wanted to keep her physique cause it always annoys me when people genderbend a character but don't keep them proportional to their og design. Mini tangent over, she so silly I love her.

- She and my Yzma character met as first years and have been inseparable since, though I'll talk more about that later.

- Not a massive ton of characterisation sine it's been a while since I've seen this movie too but I'm always open to suggestions.

Finally, my silly

🎸Abayomi Furaha🎸

First Year - (she/they/it) Nonbinary - Bisexual

- My final baby from Savanaclaw, also based on a hyena. Specifically the lil bug-eyed one, but I gave her a lazy eye instead. Not sure how well that comes across but I tried.

- She's got scars, was definitely bullied as a kid and I think that once the dorm members consider her a part of the pack, they'd be super overprotective as a result.

- That being said, she's more than capable of defending herself as she's good at various martial arts.

- She's into rock music and joined the music club as a result. Probably a drummer or guitarist as I think she's insecure about her voice.

- She and Mandisa are quite close and she convinced them to dye the edges of her hair red. Abayomi wanted touch up hers and managed to get Mandisa in on to lol.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for Octavinelle and thank you so much for reading!

[kits-ships]

dela!! shes a new kny oc/si that i made recently :3 drawing is an edit of official nezuko (?) art i think !! i didnt freehand this!! -- NOT telling u who i ship her with bc im shy but. i love her <3 and you can make guesses if you want -- fun facts: 🌸 dela has hEDS, lupus, and vitiligo (which causes the streaks in her hair.) 🌸 she's alive before the taishō era !! 🌸 she attracts stray cats for some reason?? 🌸 doctors in her time period do not know what the hell is wrong with her body, but are able to treat her symptoms to the best of their ability. 🌸dela's very grateful to those who help her and tries to make sweets for them when she's able to stand for more than ten minutes at a time

long time no see taglist how are u

@stoneshipper @kylilah @dudeshusband

@punchurlightsout @strawberrisoulmate @knightoflove

@sunstar-of-the-north @faerie-circle-ships

@wyndford-dekarios-majima @wuffverine

[aahanna]

Things which women should not be insecure about but instead carry with grace and confidence

1. Asymmetric breast size

2. Uneven nipple size or shape

3. Stretch marks on breasts, hips, or thighs

4. Cellulite on thighs or buttocks

5. Body hair (including on arms, legs, back, or face)

6. Vaginal labia of varying sizes or shapes

7. Menstrual cramps or PMS symptoms

8. Acne or pimples on the face or body

9. Scars from injuries, surgeries, or skin conditions

10. Differences in toe size or shape

11. Uneven eyebrow shape or thickness

12. Hair loss or thinning (especially after childbirth or menopause)

13. Varicose veins or spider veins

14. Scoliosis or other spinal curvatures

15. Skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, or vitiligo

Remember, these traits are a normal part of human diversity and don't define a person's beauty, worth, or identity. Women should feel comfortable in their own bodies.

[chronicbeans]

Candle Cove Headcanons (2)

This set focuses more on the fictional "fandom" (read: the people who either remember watching the show or have heard about it from their parents who have) would react to what they assume to be the show's attempts at representation.

TW: Poor Representation of Mental Health and Chronic Health Conditions (particularly skin conditions), Mentions of Period Specific Stigmas/Discrimination and Abusive Behaviors

• The show has had people debating a lot of aspects about it, and the topic of representation, more particularly in the mental health department, is a big one. While doing so, many people like to mention how the show was created in the 70's, not necessarily to defend the poor representations of certain topics and groups of people, but instead to try to explain why it might be that way.

• One major topic is Pirate Percy, who is stuck in the odd limbo of "This Man Seems Like He Might Have Something Like Schizophrenia, But The Show Never States It, And It Could Technically Be Magic Bullcrap". However, people do tend to agree that, regardless of whether or not it is magic, his symptoms are very in line with the condition. So, he is still similar enough, where people still see him as being the show's "representation" of it.

The problem then begins where Percy is, unfortunately, a victim of the Schizophrenia to Violent Criminal Pipeline that the media likes to latch onto, mainly with the final episode where a paranoid Percy attacks Janice, and it is implied that he did so to his last crew. Many are not so surprised by this, because the 70's was not the best at representation or awareness of mental illness due to the stigma around it being much stronger back then, even if it is still around today. Others have pointed out that, if Percy was supposed to have a mental health condition and it wasn't magic, he is most likely in a very tricky spot as the world of Candle Cove seems to take much inspiration from the late 1700s to early 1800s. Back then, the main mental health treatments were to either deal with it on your own, asylums, or some sort of religious intervention. This was further proven by a few episodes where Horace would say that Percy should go to an asylum, seemingly implying that asylums are an existing thing in their time. So, not only was he a victim of the Schizophrenia to Violent Criminal Pipeline, he is also in the situation of "If the Creators Wanted to Show Accurate Treatment Within the Setting They put Themselves Into, it Would be Horrible. If They Wanted to Try to Show More Believable but Accepting Reactions and Treatment of it, Nobody In-Universe Would Actually Fit Because Nobody in that Era Understood It". Basically a damned if they do damned if they don't scenario they put themselves in because they wanted to make the show as accurate as they could.

Some of the younger fans who only know the show from listening to their parents describe it have made drawings and jokes about the scenario. They could range from a lighthearted "Get Well Soon, Percy!" card, to a more grim Percy in an asylum rambling to the doctors about the Laughingstock. There's even a joke theory that the entirety of Candle Cove was all in Percy's head, based on the numerous theories about Janice imagining the events of Candle Cove. In short, they shitpost about it all the time.

• Another, albeit more quiet topic of discussion is the mentions of chronic skin conditions in the show. Granted, with a character called The Skintaker in the show, some feel it was simply going to happen either way. The Skintaker has a very creepy, obsessive way of viewing skin in general, but his treatment of individuals with visible skin conditions, or conditions that impact the appearance of skin, like vitiligo or albinism, is extra creepy and obsessive. While some see it as the creators simply trying to make the villain seem very creepy, others see it as being way too uncomfortable. Especially because other characters in the show don't actually point out the fact that him targeting specific groups of people is a habit of his, or that it is a extremely unsettling obsession of his to go after these people specifically. They simply treat it like he's going after anyone and everyone with no acknowledgement of his fixation on people with visible medical differences in their skin.

Some others also point out that he's the only one to technically talk about skin conditions positively. While he does say some actually good words of encouragement in certain scenes, it is immediately flushed out by the fact that he's talking about them this way because he's obsessing over their skin, and the fact that he's the villain of the show doesn't help that situation either. The Skintaker also having a fondness for things he seems as "weird" makes the situation even more convoluted, since some can see the fascination being due to him liking skin, and the condition the person has could be seen by him as an extra "weird" factor into it.

Many agree that this whole situation could've been avoided if the creators of the show added a few scenes where other characters point out how odd his behavior regarding it is, but also can see how the actual characters would not mention it to him. He's already so weird about skin in general, the characters In-Universe might not even think of it as something worth talking to him about, or even see it as surprising or shocking. They just wish there was something to show that, while his behavior is bad, visible conditions are still something you shouldn't be something to be ashamed about having if you do.

• The final thing a lot of people find bad is the treatment of Horace. While yes, he is the villain's sidekick, he also makes it pretty clear that the Skintaker does not treat him well. Quite the opposite. That, and many think he is only working for him because he is desperate for positive attention from someone, and the Skintaker takes advantage of that. Yet, nobody in the show shows him any sympathy, or points out that the Skintaker is very abusive towards him, which is something Horace himself is either unaware of or ignores because of the fact the Skintaker still treats him positively on some occasions. The show even plays it off for laughs at some times. They completely ignore the fact he has shown redeemable traits, possibly seeing the fact he's hurting the protagonists and deeming him unworthy of sympathy or help in his situation. That, and they also ignore the fact that a lot of his harmful behaviors come from the Skintaker telling him to do it, and not because he actually wants to.

A lot of people in the fandom, for obvious reasons, find this extremely distasteful. They also believe it's another case of the 70's just not being that aware of how to properly represent these situations. That, and because it is technically supposed to be a children's show, they might not have intended for the treatment of Horace to be viewed in such a light. The creators might've just intended for it to all be treated as silly slapstick comedy, combined with a some motivation for Horace to stick around in spite of it, without realizing the fact it could be seen in a much darker light by an older audience. Well, an older audience that never could see the show, but was most likely still being thought about due to the adult comedy still being present.

A lot of people have joined a "movement" called Horace Deserves Better, where they "advocate" for better treatment of him in the fandom. The thing is, the fandom is so small that basically everybody is in that supposed movement and believes he deserves better in the show, and so there's really no need for it.

• The only representation that most people agree on being pretty okay are the unnamed guests on the Laughingstock. Sometimes there'd be a guest on the ship, most often being of a different culture, and some even speaking different languages. Most remember a Polish girl, a Korean chef, and a German man. However, there are many more that people cannot remember entirely, but remember aspects of their visits. A few people remember Percy advising Janice to try foreign foods before making picky judgements on them, but never necessarily for ing her to eat them if she's too uncomfortable with them.

The only real worry about the representation of the guests is not even necessarily any sort of misrepresentation, but actually mistranslations. The German guest most people remember couldn't speak English, and the Laughingstock crew couldn't speak German, with the episode being about language barriers. However, the episode did have English translations onscreen for his speech, which read like someone calmly trying to ask for for help finding his way home. However, one viewer, who's native tongue is German, remembers the actual German he was speaking to be much more disturbing. He remembers the man begging for help, and that someone was following him and was going to hurt him. The Skintaker was in the background of most scenes in that episode, which implies that the Skintaker was the person the man was talking about.

[anachr0nismm]

S1 Archival Staff Disability Headcanons

[plain text: s1 archival staff disability head canons]

[i will do more characters soon, but this is just so i dont forget stuff for the fic i am currently working on, which is set during s1!]

-> Jon Sims:

[plain text: arrow Jon sims]

disabilities: autism, ocd, pots, cfs, fibro, hEDS, short sightedness, crohns, dermatillomania, scoliosis, npd

aids: aac device, cane, rollator, compression socks, stim toys, sound-proofing headphones, feeding/ng tube (gets g tube post canon)

extra: runs out of spoons very easily, often has to lay in document storage in the middle of the day to get enough energy to continue on, has very bad brainfog and resorts to writing almost everything he needs to remember on his hands, has a lot of marks from picking at skin and having eds skin, has a comfort moth pendant from martin, a comfort panda plushie from tim, and a comfort ace ring from sasha, fluent in BSL, spins are moths, owls, books, languages, classic literature, and pride and prejudice

-> Martin Blackwood:

[plain text: arrow Martin blackwood]

disabilities: autism, cfs, gad, short sightedness, otosclerosis, lupus, pots, fibro, endo, pots, vitiligo

aids: aac device, stim toys, chewellery, hearing aids, immune system control medication, anti-depressants, compression socks, rollator, electric wheelchair

extra: has very complicated feelings about helping himself because of his mum, fluent in BSl, always keeps spare heatpacks and icepacks and panadol with him incase anyone needs it, spins are bears, koalas, gravity falls, strawberry shortcake, mlp (from g1 to fim) and the care bears, has a comfort tenderheart bear plushie

-> Tim Stoker:

[plain text: arrow Tim stoker]

disabilities: autism, adhd, ocd, psychosis, aom, pots, hEDS, bpd, bipolar disorder, dyslexia

aids: hearing aids, compression socks, chewellery, wheelchair, elbow crutches, port, stim toys, anti-psychotics

extra: often hurts himself by trying to do things that harm his body (sasha and martin cannot count the amount of times he has started vouging, only to then end up in his wheelchair in the breakroom with ice packs on his knees), spins are drag, norse mythology, and splatoon, has a comfort inkling plushie from danny, and a comfort polyam flag ring from sasha, fluent in BSL

-> Sasha James:

[plain text: arrow Sasha james]

disabilities: autism, ocd, cfs, gad, pots, crohns, muscular dystrophy, vEDS

aids: cane, crutches, compression socks, stim toys, chewellery, feeding/peg tube, port

extra: doesnt have flare-ups often, or even really bad symptoms, spins are medical science, armadillos, horror, coraline, and european mythology, fluent in BSL, has a comfort armadillo plushie from tim, often reads statements like theyre horror fiction

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Hi - I’m the anon who asked about the fictional condition and vitiligo (posted nov 1), and I wanted to follow up with further info.

1. The condition is progressive, though the speed of the progression is varied between people. Idk if it helps or not, but it’s usually triggered by stressful or traumatic incidents, however there is a genetic link.

2. I’m not too sure if it would be considered an autoimmune disorder or not, I’ll have to do more research. The chemical itself is linked to the adrenal glands and the fight-flight response system, if that helps.

3. Just as a side note, I do have two characters with vitiligo, completely unrelated to the condition (one segmental, one non-segemental), and only one of the five characters with the condition was going to present with vitiligo-esque symptoms.

Thank you for responding to my previous ask, hope this clears some things up!!:)

That sounds like it would work with vitiligo really well actually!

It seems like with the way it functions that vitiligo acts like a decently common co-morbidity (which can frequently happen with auto-immune disorders and disabilities in general) (and vitiligo tends to begin very similarly as well) which makes a lot of sense, so I think youre good to go!

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I am writing/planning a story, and one of the characters has vitiligo, and I was wondering if you had specific things that should be avoided/tropes that are harmful?

I'm trying to show representation and not fetishisation. Also, she's a full-fledged character already (she has a background story, and she has effects on the story)

Thank you a lot for answering so many peoples questions, and have a good day

Hey!

The main trope for vitiligo that anyone who's in any art space online knows is "using vitiligo as an aesthetic". It's not portrayed as anything deeper than that usually, just a cool splotch of color. A "fashion statement" almost.

Personally, I have never seen anyone ever mention vitiligo having a ton of autoimmune comorbidities that IRL ~1 in 4 people with vitiligo have. I guess because vitiligo looks cool, but rheumatoid arthritis doesn't. But it could be nice to include. Or how a big portion of people with vitiligo are d/Deaf/HoH. I mentioned some of this stuff in this post as well.

For other things to avoid; the black-and-white animal associations have to go. I have seen too many characters said to have vitiligo also have cow ears or whatever. It's not cute and is rather weird in fact. People get bullied and called names IRL because of those connotations, it's also just plain dehumanizing.

Any "mystical" or "curse" stuff should also be avoided. It's a skin condition, not a magic ritual. It's also not contagious or deadly or anything like that. Don't make up magical reasons or non-existent symptoms; instead try to include how maybe she gets a new vitiligo patch after a period of stress, or that she gets eczema around that spot beforehand. Don't make it so that she was cursed with light magic or something, and now she's slowly withering away for some reason until she gets the magic vitiligo cure and "yay they're normal now!" (real example that I have seen).

This post is about albinism, which is an unrelated disability, but in the writing/art spaces it's in the same "aesthetic fetishization" category, so maybe some ideas from it could be helpful to you.

I hope you're having a good day as well. Thanks for the ask,

mod Sasza

[mr-orion]

i have a love-hate relationship with shading vitiligo

normally in order to bring life to black/brown skin you use purple shades, but purple looks deathly on pale skins. so its like balancing a tightrope of red and purples. monochrome shading is the real mvp here for creating a bit of depth with kisses of purple and red. also look at all those layers lol.

time to add highlights and maybe a bit of bronzing...

im actually going to expand on why Ray has Vitiligo. A lil bit of worldbuilding will you. I've copied most of this directly from his oc Bio wip... it's rather vague but hints at how vitiligo is symptom of his failed nervous and immune systems and explains some medical history. It doesn't really go in depth with what the main disease is, so perhaps I'll nerd out another time lol

Most Desmondian species have a bundle of nerves that connect from their wings and tails into their nervous systems along the neck. These are often referred to as love glands, because when you hug your partner they tend to touch. It's a very vital part that can influence romantic attraction as it attaches directly to the love center of the brain.

Ray suffers from bond sickness. A rare condition. It weakens and causes rapid muscle loss. Once muscle is lost after the age of 25 it cannot be regained. It can cause fatigue. Additionally causes rapid pigmentation loss and sometimes hairloss.

This condition is tied directly to his species bondmarks. Bondmarks are the bundles of nerves that connect the wings nervous system to their main nervous system. These bundles of nerves travel directly up to hypothalamus. The part of the brain considered to be the control center of love. These bundles of nerves are highly sensitive.

The condition typically will only trigger itself with the loss of a friend, partner, or family member. Some individuals will go their whole lives without knowing and may pass a recessive gene to their children.

Ray's condition presented itself at age 20 upon the death of his lover Rajah. Initially he had red eyes, orange feathers, dark skin, and black hair. Upon Rajah's death Ray began to rapidly lose coloration and muscle mass while slinking into a deep depression for 6 months.

At age 23 he married his second spouse Daniel which momentarily stopped the loss of body mass and pigmentation for two years. When their marriage began to crumble the symptoms slowly returned. When Dani refused to move to Earth with Ray like initially planned so Ray may have a more hospitable lifestyle, and access to more diverse healthcare Ray completely severed their connection. Approaching 27 Ray lost pigmentation again, thus his blonde hair and pink eyes, but worked hard to maintain his muscle mass out of pure spite. This wave of pigmentation loss only lasted 3 months.

Scarlett, a later girlfriend, also causes Ray a third go around of pigmentation loss after assaulting him with a bite to his bond gland. Due to the emotional shock and trauma Ray experiences extreme loss of pigment in a matter of two weeks. A silver lining is that this incident helps advance research into the condition, but whats that really worth as you lose your personhood?

[eukaryotesrool]

Leucism and Kimba

So this is gonna be real life facts (ones I'd say are interesting) mixed with some fan stuff, you don't need to know about the franchise to understand this, but it will be long and only slightly hinged.

Grab a snack, a drink annnnnnd...

What is a Kimba?

(Kimba (1965) running)

This guy, the titular hero of Osamu Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion franchise (AKA Jungle Emperor Leo(direct translation), Janguru Taitei(untranslated title))

For now, all you folks need to know about him is that he comes from a long lineage of lions with uniquely white fur.

Gee, you know what else relates to lions, white fur, and genetics, oh boy, a segway into the next thi-

What is a leucism?

(Pronounced 'luke-ism')

(Animals with a leucistic disorder, leucistic peacocks look neat, though, they all do)

leucism is a variety of conditions causing a lack of pigmentation in animals.

"Isn't that albinism?"

They're comparable, but seperate, their causes are different, also no leucistic condition removes eye pigmentation, so, Kimba's blue eyes aren't a problem.

(Kimba (1965) running, he does that a lot)

Now I'd like to go over every major leucistic condition and compare/contrast them to what we can note about Kimba.

No, I am not joking.

(OH MY GOD ITS SO CUTE I- er, this is a real life white lion cub, owing its white fur to a leucistic disorder)

Something to remember, most of these conditions don't (or don't to our knowledge) affect lions and could be easily swatted aside as such, but KTWL (Kimba the White Lion) is a work of fiction which consistently does absurd things, for example, Great Mother, a surviving mammoth who lives on a magic mountain and has magic powers or a blue lion (no I won't tell you what makes him blue), so I'm willing to brush aside SOME realism... also I researched them so I want to talk about them.

Yes, there is a condition that causes real life white lions, buuuuut I'm saving that can of worms for later.

Easily disproven

These ones don't work for several reasons, I'll be using only the most glaring issues for the sake of brevity.

Vitiligo & flavism: These two conditions happen over the course of one's life, but we see Kimba near birth, and he possessed his white fur.

Chédiak–Higashi syndrome: Causes symptoms (including but not limited to: peripheral neuropathy) which Kimba almost certainly does not have.

Isabellinism: affects only birds and leads to a golden white, not a snowy one.

(An isabellinistic bird, majestic fellow, eh?)

Xanthochromism: Makes things fucking yellow.

(A xanthochromistic (pictured right) and normal (pictured left) Argentine horned frog, so cool.)

Axanthism: only affects things with light reflecting pigments, and can only make things with normally yellow color have white color.

Amelanism: Meaning lacking melanin, so those black tipped ears and tail would be a no-no, yet we observe numerous pelts of his ancestors all with the exact same ears, and, we have reason to believe, the exact same tail (his father also possessed the same tail)

Okay, that was the bulk of the list, we're making good progress.

Maybe

These ones are harder to disprove, but I'd still say they're obviously not what we're looking for.

Piebaldism: Now, this one seems convincing as it can generate black AND white fur, it is genetically dominant, therefore, could lead to the continous lineage (where at least one of few children seems to always inherit it) but it lacks the uniformity, as I said, every white lion posses the same pattern, with few inconsistently appearing exceptions within the franchise, we'll get to that later on, the point is, consistency is the rule, chaos is the exception, and piebaldism is too chaotic.

(Piebaldistic animals. That squirrel looks so neat! Like his back is covered in snow!)

Waardenburg syndrome: Specifically type two is a strong contender, most notably because it causes bright blue eyes (or a blue and brown eye, sometimes) along with its other effects, HOWEVER, it also causes congenital hearing loss, and in cats (Felis Catus or house cats, technically, but they're the closest comparison I have to lions) said hearing loss is more common and more extreme, I doubt Kimba has that. Type 1 and type 3 cause other malformities that Kimba visibly doesn't posses.

Not sure

I tried, but my research was not conclusive, if you have answers, I'd be glad to hear them.

melanophilin: it is listed, but isn't a disorder, it is a carrier protein, I did some research and disorders with this protein don't seem like they'd make the snow white color we're looking for.

Undisputable

Oh, uh, there's nothing here, we've gone over every major leucistic disorder, there ARE more, but we'd be here all day, and so little is known about them it'd be arbitary.

Well, we're not through with every leucistic condition on the agenda, there's still...

THE CAUSE OF REAL WHITE LIONS

That's right, we've made it.

There's obviously a myriad of similarities, Tezuka was probably inspired by the real life white lions.

For example

(Pictured left, Kimba (1989 anime series) and his love inyerest, Raiya, a fellow lion, but not a white lion. Pictured right, two lionesses, one being a white lion)

The jarringly (among other lions) snow white fur.

(Sorry the images of Kimba's paw sucks, you won't believe it, but it was SO difficult to find a pic online with his paw pads in it, real life white lions? Pfft plenty of pictures in an instant.)

(Yes, pink is the unpigmented color for paw pads)

The pink paw pads

(Pictured left, Kimba's father (2009 movie) pictured right OH MY GOD SO CUTE)

The genetic basis allowing for lineages that share the trait

So then, this is it?... no, no, no, no, sadly, no, not so simple, there is one glaring inconsistency.

Firstly, an aside: I tried researching the specific cause of white lion leucism (it comes from a mutation for tyrosinase) but very little is known about it exactly, though, I gleaned something just by using the oldest tool in the zoology briefcase, me own eyes.

Notice a difference between Kimba and EVERY image of a white lion I've provided? Here, have some more white lion.

(Look at 'em all!)

From male to female, newborn, to cub, to adult, one consistency that Kimba does not share, maybe you already noticed and want me to get to the fucking point, maybe I will, maybe I won't, okay, I will.

(Circles denoting where Kimba posseses the trait, 'x's denoting where the real lion cub does not)

Black fur, Kimba has black fur on the tips of his ears and tail, no image of a real life white lion that I've seen has that pattern, or ANY black fur (wait, did I just retread my point about amelanism? Damn), and I'm lead to believe that does not occur amongst real life white lions, so then...

Kimba is a an anomaly

(From top left to bottom right Kimba's aunt (1989) Kimba's father (2009) and Kimba's father (1989)

In the 2009 version the only white lions we see are Kimba and his dad, and his dad lacks the black fur, in the 1989 series the only white lions we see are Kimba, his dad and aunt, both of the latter lack the black fur, but Kimba retains it in all versions.

Perhaps the cause of white lions is the same as real life white lions, and Kimba is a very rare anomaly within an anomaly, I don't know a whole lot about genetics, but that sounds reasonable enough for KTWL standards.

Buuuuuut, every other version, including the manga that started it all has other white lions retain the same color palette, and even show dozens of white lion ancestors, and a DISTANT white lion ancestor who all have the same palette, so, this anomaly theory is ironically only relevent to anomalies, the 1989 series and 2009 movie, what about for the whole franchise, well...

I don't know

Here's where I'd like to pull something out my hat and save the day with the obvious and true answer... but, there isn't one, at least, not one I found, sooooo, yeah, everyone must come to their own conclusion, maybe you even disagree with some of my reasoning and come to a conclusuon I've disregarded!

I'd love to hear your take away, and what comes next is merely my own personal take.

I don't know (good ending)

i don't know, and that's the point, I like that conclusion, the Kimba franchise contains mystisms, but never delves into them, leaving them as strange mysteries, it is a story about the exotic, it is ever out of reach.

I choose to believe white lions are semi-magical, thus why Kimba's lineage is the ONLY white lions we see in a franchise that stretches from 1950 to 2009, with over a hundred episodes, thus why white lions seem to always produce a white lion cub, but usually only ONE white lion cub, and the rest resemble the mother, because it works by magic rules.

In the 1989 version(and possibly others) Kimba is directly or indirectly likened to the supernatural, the Great Mother, a huge mammoth who can summon powerful snow storms in tropical Africa treats Kimba as such.

Simply, it can't be explained IRL, that's pretty cool, not everything needs to be explained, and MAGIC!

Thanks for sticking around through my insanity, hope you learned something and had fun, I did!

(Normally I'd put a pic riiight here to close things off but I hit the Tumblr image limit, didn't even know they had one)