Imagine An Animated Movie With A Canonically Gay Friends-to-enemies-to-lovers Storyline Ending In Love

Teachers: I don't understand why you all don't like online teaching

Also online teaching:

Surgeries and operations are being cancelled on the day of the queen’s funeral. These patients will have been on a waiting list for months if not years.

Everyone should be absolutely seething with rage.

drinking a can of soda is better than not drinking anything at all. “junk” food is better than no food at all. just rinsing your mouth out with mouthwash is better than no oral hygiene at all. changing into a different set of pyjamas is better than not changing at all. getting up just to sit down on the chair across the room for a bit is better than not getting up at all. changing just your pillowcase is better than not changing your bedding at all. cracking a window open is better than getting no fresh air at all.

if you don’t have enough spoons for full tasks, smaller adaptations are better than nothing at all. it’s okay if you don’t have the energy to actively fight today. just staying afloat is enough. you are enough.

The full story is in the link but the short and sweet of it is, I cannot take out student loans for graduate school until I rehabilitate an old defaulted student loan from like 10 years ago.  I’ve already begun the process but it takes 9 months to get the loan out of default.  In the meantime, I basically have to pay for graduate school on my own, and can use y'all’s help.

I’ve been a sex worker most of my adult life and a community organizer in Virginia for over five years now.  I’m hoping this degree will help me be a more effective organizer and also help me claw my way out of poverty.  

I am also going to be posting regular guides on anti-repression, prison abolition,  security culture, conflict mediation, sex work, and other topics throughout the summer to showcase some of my knowledge that I can put to good use with this education.

If you want to donate directly:

Venmo: @borkaborka

cash app: $MilaO47 (that’s an Oh not a zero)

paypal.me/tarotbycass

I am still and always accepting tarot commissions at $5/card, and am able to offer a variety of writing and workshop services around activism.

Books to #ReadWithPride

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month, everyone! 🏳️‍🌈

Seeing our identities and the world around us reflected in the books we read is vitally important. This Pride Month and all year long, we’re excited to spotlight some incredible LGBTQIA+ stories and creators. 

Check out some YA books to dive into and #ReadwithPride!

You Should See Me in a Crown

A joyful book about a queer Black girl who runs for Prom Queen to win a college scholarship…but then finds herself falling in love with one of the other girls in the competition. Start reading here!

Here the Whole Time

A body-positive YA love story between two boys who must spend 15 days living with each other over school break. Start reading here!

The Bridge

Two teens. One bridge. Four ways their story could end. A powerful novel about mental health, identity, and how our choices shape the world around us. Start reading here!

The Ghosts We Keep

After their brother is killed, Liam faces the world without the person they loved the most. Their brother’s best friend is the only one who knows what they’re going through…for better or worse. Start reading here!

Zara Hossain is Here

Zara’s family has waited years for their visas to be finalized, but now that dream is in jeopardy. Zara seeks justice to stay with her girlfriend and in the only home she’s ever known. Start reading here!

Follow Your Arrow

When bi influencer CeCe breaks up with her famous girlfriend and starts dating a boy who is very much NOT online, she’ll find out what it means to speak her truth. Start reading here!

Girl from the Sea

After Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie, everything they’re each trying to hide will find its way to the surface. Start reading here!

Heartstopper

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. Start reading here!

Where We Go From Here

A story about three boys whose lives will become intertwined in a story of HIV, friendship, love, and self-acceptance. Start reading here!

Technically, You Started It

A hilarious, snarky, and utterly addicting book that explores friendship, sexual orientation, mental health, and falling in love (even if things might be falling apart around you). Start reading here!

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali

When Rukhsana’s conservative Muslim parents catch her with her girlfriend, Rukhsana’s carefully planned future begins to collapse around her. Start reading here!

I Wish You All the Best

After Ben comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they’ll move in with their estranged older sister and find friendship, love, and acceptance along the way. Start reading here!

The Music of What Happens

Over the course of one summer, two boys will have to face their biggest fears and decide what they’re willing to risk – to get the thing they want the most. Start reading here!

Openly Straight & Honestly Ben

This heartfelt series follows two boys, Ben and Rafe, who struggle to find who they really are in the midst of falling for one another. Start reading here!

Lie to Me

A pulse-pounding novel about love, betrayal, and a serial killer that features a bisexual protagonist. Start reading here!

Muted

A riveting story of ambition, music, and innocence lost - and a deep relationship between two girls who could be something more on their quest for stardom. Start reading here!

Tarnished Are the Stars

The Lunar Chronicles meets Rook in this queer #OwnVoices science-fantasy novel that features asexual, bisexual, and lesbian characters working together to put an end to a deadly epidemic. Start reading here!

The Witch Boy

In Aster’s family, all the girls are raised to be witches and the girls are raised to be shapeshifters. But Aster is fascinated by witchery–can he find the courage to save his family and be truly himself? Start reading here!

King and the Dragonflies

A story about loss, grief, and finding the courage to discover one’s identity. Start reading here!

I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain

A powerful novel about navigating death and navigating life, at a time when the only map you have is the one you can draw for yourself. Start reading here!

O H I S T H A T A D A R E

Wdym I don't have the right profile

fat bodies tutorial!

ALRIGHT SO my pal @kalreyno wanted help with drawing fat characters and as a fat artist i felt like i could give a bit of helpful insight on that. there’s also been a lot of complaining about “boo hoo fat characters are hard to draw so i can’t include them in my work Ever” goin on lately so if that’s your case then this is for you too!! and also just for anyone who would like help with fat bodies in general, ofc. anyway, let’s get this show on the road!!

let’s start with some common misconceptions. these are the two main attempts at chubby bodies i run into, so i’ll focus on them. 

the Anime Chubby i see everywhere, and it’s just……so wrong in many ways. first of all, there is almost no additional body fat compared to your average thin character - except for where it’s added in “attractive” places (breasts, hips, thighs). the breasts are way too perky, and don’t have the realistic shape fat would give them (though how to draw accurate breasts is another tutorial all on its own lmao). there is still a thigh gap, which usually only happens in very thin people, and bones are still visible on the surface of the skin, which also rarely happens in fat people.

the Michelin Man is better in some ways, but still not that great. it’s a slightly better attempt, but basically all that’s done there is taking a thin character and blowing them up, while giving no thought to fat distribution. the thigh gap is usually still present, and they look a lot more hard than soft - and fat is very soft and pliable.

here’s a chart on how fat usually distributes (if you can’t read my messy writing, “1. next to no fat, 2. moderate amount, 3. most of the fat distribution”). basically, the more muscle an area has, the more prone it is to develop fat, such as the abdomen, thighs, and upper arms. it’s important to note that fat sits on top of muscle, and that it does distribute in different levels, and not evenly across the body as shown in the Michelin Man. 

now, here’s an accurate fat body with all of that kept in mind!! notice how the fat isn’t only kept to aesthetically pleasing areas, and how it sits realistically on the character’s body. their breasts sag a lot more, which happens even in thin people with larger breasts, and the nipples are pointing more downwards than straight out. there is no thigh gap in sight, there are no bones in sight, and most importantly, they have fat rolls, which are very important in drawing a convincing fat character!! as far as i know i’ve never met a single person with no rolls at all, and everyone has them, whether thin or fat - they’re just more prominent and more consistently present in fat people. pay close attention to where they are and how they’re shaped.

here are a couple of drawings showing how fat is affected when sitting vs stretching. as seen in the first, the fat specifically on the stomach is distributed a lot more evenly and stretched out, so it becomes “flatter”. the love handles are still pretty visible, though, as well as the fat on the thighs and arms. the breasts are raised with the shoulders, and the fat on the shoulders and near the neck forms rolls as it’s being pushed together. 

in the second, there is a lot less room for distribution, so the fat is all pushed together. the breasts sag and the stomach forms rolls and spills into the lap. a good analogy for the way fat works is to liken it to a water balloon, and thinking of how its shape would change when resting flat on a surface, hanging off of a ledge, held upright, etc.

here are a few extra tips i find a lot of people miss!

first on the top is the hip/pubic region. the first circle is showing the way the bellybutton is folded in fat people, as opposed to stretched out in thinner people. the second is the stomach fat spilling over onto the pubic region and creating a separation in the two areas, which is something that’s missing in a lot of art. in addition, the pubic mound also gains fat, making it round as seen in the profile drawing i did up there (i’ve heard people refer to it as fupa?). the last in the hip region is the lack of a thigh gap. i can’t stress this enough!!!! if you’re trying to draw a convincing fat character, make sure their thighs are pretty much always touching!! for reference, mine literally don’t separate until my feet are about 2ft from each other.

the bottom right is showing the double chin, which a lot of people are afraid to draw!! fat does distribute itself here too, and there’s nothing wrong with it, so don’t feel like you shouldn’t give fat characters a double chin in your work for fear of it looking like a caricature.

in the bottom middle, it’s showing how fat affects different types of breasts with the presence of more or less breast tissue. 

lastly, at the very right are stretch marks with their usual locations and directions, which i also can’t stress enough!!!!! i sometimes forget to add them honestly, but they’re so important in accurately portraying fat characters, as they literally come from the skin being stretched from fat being gained (and they’re also just rlly neat lookin like why wouldn’t you lmao). some people have less and some people have more, feel free to experiment with them!

the last thing is body types!! there isn’t one single way for a person to be fat, so feel free to experiment with shapes once you’ve learned the basics!! 

so there you have it, a tutorial on how to draw chubs!! now go forth and make some accurate fanart or some rad fat characters, because the world could always use more of both. hmu if you have any questions or concerns, and thanks for reading!!

EDIT: someone pointed out the bad wording in the tutorial. thank you for bringing it to my attention and sorry for offending anybody. i’ve updated the tut, so please reblog this one!

you can only reblog this today

HOLD UP HOW WAS I NOT AWARE OF THIS

Regarding the Amazon Rainforest

I barely have followers here, but here we go:

The Amazon Rainforest has been burning for the last 16 days straight. The Brazilian government says the wildfire is caused by the winter itself, since it doesn't rain a lot there... in a rainforest. It is actually, partially true. Winter is indeed a dry season and wildfires may happen, specially close to the Cerrado (a brazilian biome similar to the african Savanna), but what they're not telling us is that:

The deforestation has increased 80% since last year

The native peoples and animals are being slaughtered for their lands (legally protected green areas)

The government is hiding and lying about scientific data, saying that environmentalists and NGOs are communists trying to destroy the nation. They are brainwashing people to think that sustainability is terrible for the economy

Our Minister of Environment is couldn't care less about the environment and is only there to support the livestock producers and give them what they want. The President and his Minister won't put a single dollar on environmental safety

The wildfires are just so huge that its black smoke and ashes reached the skies of São Paulo, a state over 2.000 kilometers away from the Amazon.

We are hostages or our own government

I could just keep going all night about how our environment is being threatened by this new government. We need every single help we can possibly can.

Please don't let this go unseen. Search for yourself, talk to people about it, make noise, be angry and be scared. Let the world know about it and demand action. This is not about Brazil, is about the planet. The Amazon Rainforest is one of the most important biomes in the world, being responsible for the climate, rains, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and life itself.