Edits For People Who Don't Know!

I drink apple juice every morning, but why it makes school disappear?

Wdym I don't have the right profile

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no, you would pass as Leo tho

Since once in a blue moon I actually discover a decent rule for adulting, and since I know I have followers a few years younger than me who are just entering the workforce, I want to tell you about a very important phrase. 

“I won’t be available.”

Imagine you’re at work and your boss asks you to come in on Saturday. Saturday is usually your day off–coming in Saturdays is not an obligation to keep your job. Maybe you were going to watch a movie with a friend, or maybe you were just going to lie in bed and eat ice cream for eight hours, but either way you really, really don’t want to give up your day off.

If you consider yourself a millennial you’ve probably been raised to believe you need to justify not being constantly at work. And if you’re a gen-Z kid you’re likely getting the same toxic messages that we did. So in a situation like that, you might be inclined to do one of three things:

Tell your boss you’d rather not give up your day off. Cave when they pressure you to come in anyway, since you’re not doing anything important.

Tell your boss you’d rather not give up your day off. Over-apologize and worry that you looked bad/unprofessional.

Lie and say you’ve got a doctor’s appointment or some other activity that feels like an adequate justification for not working.

The fact is, it doesn’t matter to your boss whether you’re having open heart surgery or watching anime in your underwear on Saturday. The only thing that affects them is the fact that you won’t be at work. So telling them why you won’t be at work only gives them reason to try and pressure you to come in anyway.

If you say “I won’t be available,” giving no further information, you’d be surprised how often that’s enough. Be polite and sympathetic in your tone, maybe even say “sorry, but I won’t be available.” But don’t make an excuse. If your boss is a professional individual, they’ll accept that as a ‘no’ and try to find someone else. 

But bosses aren’t always professional. Sometimes they’re whiny little tyrants. So, what if they pressure you further? The answer is–politely and sympathetically give them no further information.

“Are you sure you’re not available?” “Sorry, but yes.”

“Why won’t you be available?” “I have a prior commitment.” (Which you do, even if it’s only to yourself.)

“What’s your prior commitment?” “Sorry, but that’s kind of personal.”

“Can you reschedule it?” “I’m afraid not. Maybe someone else can come in?”

If you don’t give them anything to work with, they can’t pressure you into going beyond your obligations as an employee. And when they realize that, they’ll also realize they have to find someone else to come in and move on.

So, India is dying.

Look, I know a good number of you are from the US and things aren't amazing there either, but my country is literally on the brink of collapse. So I'd love it if we could talk about that for a minute.

If you can't do anything else, please just read and reblog.

A second COVID wave has taken out the healthcare system. There are no more hospital beds. There's an oxygen shortage. There's a critical vaccine shortage. The Central Government has thrown its hands up and is passing the baton to the State Governments to do what they can.

There are over 16 million covid cases. A record 330,000 new cases reported yesterday - comparable to the US at its peak. 187,000 dead as of today.

There is no plan.

Mass cremations are taking place. The cremation grounds are running day and night and they are short on wood. People are watching their loved ones die while waiting for a hospital bed, and then they're unable to give them the proper burial rights.

Hospitals are overwhelmed. Patients are being confined, two to a bed. They're the lucky ones.

We are on the verge of people dying in the streets.

This is the second-most populous country in the world. The largest democracy. A country that encapsulates over 15,000 years of recorded human history and has endured everything from famine to invasion to colonisation.

We might be at the end. This might be the thing that does us in.

People are dying.

People are dying.

People are dying and there is no plan.

More good news? Variants are popping up. A double mutation strain has shown up. It is resistant to current vaccines. This will not go away. This is the devastation they warned of when the anti-maskers were out protesting the minor inconvenience of covering their face in public.

My country is on the verge of an emergency state. Our government has failed us. This is as dire a situation as it ever could be.

Look. I don't do much with my life. I write fics, some of you have read them and that's pretty much it. I spend my days with my head in the clouds because that's where I like to be.

But two days ago, my grandmother tested positive, had to be taken to hospital and the ambulance caught fire.

She barely made it to the urgent care she needs.

So, here I am, using whatever meager platform I have to cobble this request together. Because I have to do something.

If you can, donate.

Or spread the word.

Help. Please.

It can be easy to feel like you’re flailing and failing in life, but I think it’s so impressive you’ve made it this far, past so many obstacles! 👏 Life is not a breeze, and I think we all deserve some credit for making it through.

Chibird store | Positive pin club | Webtoon

Happy Asexual Awareness week to all my Aces and Aspecs. Here’s a friendly reminder that:

The “A” in LGBTQIA does not stand for ally but asexual and aromantic as well as agender

Asexuality is on a spectrum so depending where someone falls or how they identify, they may or may not experience intimate attraction

Asexuals are not broken

Asexuals aren’t “cishets trying to evade LGBTQ+ spaces”

Asexual and aromanticism shouldn’t be used synonymously. They have similar principals but different meanings. Both primarily deal with experiencing little to no attraction

Not all asexuals are virgins and that doesn’t make them any less asexual because of it

Asexuality is real and valid

Just because aphobia infrequently escalates to violence doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent

Corrective assault isn’t limited to just bi and gay men/lesbians

A few pro tips while I’m at it:

Using virginity as an insult to asexuals is like using heterosexuality to insult a straight person, you sound stupid

If at one point you believed to be asexual but later discovered you weren’t that’s okay, but using that experience to invalidate others isn’t

Spitefully sending nsfw to people who identify as ace, especially MINORS (and yes this has happened before) is disgusting. Seek help.

Gatekeeping isn’t a personality trait

Oppression isn’t a competition so quit acting as such

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!

If you’re queer and a Disney fan, you’ve no doubt watched the new Pixar movie Luca and have picked up on the HEAVY queer-coding between Luca and Alberto. 

Here’s my take on why I don’t think it’s ‘coded’ but rather blatantly queer.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So, yes the director has stated he didn’t ‘plan’ for it to ‘come across like a gay romance’ but keep in mind that most people who work at Disney can end up under very strict rules in regards to discussing LGBTQ+ topics publicly. Disney parks actors are reportedly not even allowed to say ‘gay rights’ or ‘happy pride’ so it’s understandable that the people involved in creating Luca refuse to openly say it’s a gay story.

But the fact of the matter is IT IS. And here is my argument as to why.

First of all it’s obvious right off the bat when you begin the movie that it is serving strong Little Mermaid vibes. Alberto collecting human objects, Luca dreaming of going to the surface and his parents saying no and forbidding it. All things from the classic Little Mermaid. But how is The Little Mermaid queer you ask? I’ll tell you.

The Little Mermaid, the Disney film is obviously based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale and Hans Christian Anderson was a bisexual man who put blatant coming out metaphors into his original tale. Then when Howard Ashman came along to write the Disney adaptation he also put heavy queer elements into it. Ashman was an openly gay man suffering from AIDS during the AIDS epidemic and those themes definitely showed up not just in The Little Mermaid but in all his Disney Renaissance films. And of course, Ursula was modeled after a drag queen. 

How else was Luca a queer masterpiece? The entire narrative parallels the coming out experience. When Luca’s parents learn he’s been going to the surface to spend time with a boy there they decide to send him away to ‘The Deep’ a horrible dark and desolate part of the ocean to help him ‘straighten out’ this is an OBVIOUS nod to conversion therapy, a tragedy that befalls many queer kids/teens when they try and come out to their parents. We also see parental rejection in Alberto when we learn that his father abandoned him. 

When Luca runs away with Alberto they then of course have to hide who they are from everyone around them because sea monsters have been vilified by the town. Again, this is an obvious metaphor for homophobia. Showing that Luca and Alberto can only be their true selves when they’re in private.

Also, speaking of their true selves, their sea monster colors combined make up the colors of the men loving men (mlm) pride flag. 

Alberto also soon shows tell tale signs of jealousy over the fact that Luca begins to spend time with Giulia alone. It is clear it is not the kind of jealousy one holds for someone they only view as a friend.

Later in the film when Alberto shows Giulia that he is a sea monster he hopes that Luca will join him in this (again OBVIOUS) metaphor for coming out. But Luca is terrified and treats Alberto like a monster, going along with the societal expectation to condemn sea monsters.

Later, when Luca lets the rain fall on him, exposing his true sea monster self in order to save Alberto this is the ultimate expression of true love. Then when the two stop to help Giulia after she’s hurt, we see that while many people in the town still hate and distrust sea monsters, many people, including Giullia’s dad who up until this moment had also shown hatred towards sea monsters, realizes the mistake in his long held prejudice and having grown to know Luca and Alberto he openly accepts them for who they are.

And in one of the most beautiful and heartwarming shots of the entire film, we see a couple of elderly women that had been in a few scenes as background characters, let their umbrellas down so the rain can fall on them and reveal that they too are sea monsters. And clearly, sapphic women.

In the second to last scene we see Luca, Alberto and Luca’s family celebrating with Giulia’s family. A beautiful found family scene that so many of us queer kids either had growing up, or desperately wish we had. We learn that Luca’s mother fears (and has always feared) that Luca will essentially be a victim of a hate crime because she knows how awful the world can be towards sea monsters. The same way that even today so many people are so hateful to queer people. But Luca’s grandmother assures her:

“Some people, they’ll never accept him, but some will. And he seems to know how to find the good ones.”

This is such a beautiful encapsulation of what it is like to exist in the world as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Not everyone will see you as a whole person and accept you for who you are. Some will be downright hateful. But some will be loving and wonderfully supportive. The film Luca shows what it is like to finally find those individuals who stand by you no matter what.

Lastly, the ending is one of the most obviously romantic scenes ever. With Alberto and Luca sharing a tearful goodbye as Luca tells Alberto he can’t go without him and Alberto assures him he’ll be okay. Then Alberto holds Luca’s hand, chasing after him for as long as he can.

People have argued this isn’t a gay movie because they’re kids and to insist that they’re gay is inappropriate because it’s a children’s film. This is an incredibly ignorant and homophobic argument. Many people have childhood loves. And to insinuate that putting gay characters in a children’s story is somehow inherently bad and not suitable for children to see only continues to invalidate LGBTQ+ youths, and children who have queer parents, friends, family members. Luca and Alberto are at an age the director described as ‘pre-romance’ they are finding themselves, discovering who they are and what it means to form a true and intimate bond with someone. They are at an age where it is normal to question your feelings and sexuality. It is perfectly normal and okay and BEAUTIFUL for these two boys to be gay and feeling childhood versions of love and the early stages of what could one day become a budding romance toward one another. 

No one would ever argue that Peter Pan and Wendy weren’t in love even though they were kids. So ask yourself, if Luca’s character was a girl would these homophobic viewers still argue there was no budding childhood romance written into the story? No, they wouldn’t.

Also, they released this movie during Pride Month. I mean, COME ON.

So that’s my take on why Luca is a blatantly gay movie. I am so happy that kids will now have this movie to watch while growing up. I wish there had been a movie like this for me when I was a kid. A beautiful film that normalizes and celebrates queer kids and queer love. 

Happy Pride Month everyone.