I wanted to draw marcille getting some hugs 🫂

clothing render practice with thistle as my unfortunate model

Human nephrite sketches

There are 7000 aid trucks waiting at the Egyptian border

The Iranian Regime is going to execute rapper Toomaj Salehi for supporting protests of Jina Amini’s murder by the regime in his songs.

Iranian activist Elica Le Bon says, “Iranians in the diaspora picked up on the fact that the regime tends not to execute people who become known to the international community. We have seen many examples of prisoners that were either released on bail or had their sentences commuted through our “say their names to save their lives” campaign on social media, using hashtags to garner attention for their causes, and even before social media existed, through getting the stories of political prisoners to international media outlets. Once reported on, and once the eyes shift to the regime and the reality of its pending brutality, realizing that the action is not worth the repercussions, we have seen them back down and not execute. For that reason, this is part of an urgent campaign for readers to talk about Toomaj as much as you can, using the hashtag #FreeToomaj or #ToomajSalehi. Every comment makes a difference, and if we were wrong, what did we lose by trying?”

i love watching steven universe really late and becoming obsessed enough to look into the fandom because there’s clearly some sort of baggage here that i’m slowly uncovering like some archaeologist digging through a dead civilization that has been battered by tragedy

okay so I have this idea for a new therapy thing. basically the idea is after an abusive relationship or a combat deployment or anything that might conceivably leave you with PTSD and a loss of ability to reasonably gauge how bad the shit that happened to you actually was, you sit there with a mental health professional for like, a solid 30 to 60 minutes, you tell them short vignettes of your experiences and they respond ONLY by rating how fucked up each one was on a scale from 1 to 10 and then you move on. the objective isn't to reflect deeply on specific experiences but to get a sustained series of reassurances that what you went through was, in fact, That Bad and gradually rebuild your trust in your own present and future ability to judge when what you're going through isn't okay.

currently calling it Rapid Fire Affirmation and Recalibration Therapy (RAP-FART). working title, open to feedback.

alright guys im curious. who were the worst mutuals youve ever had

So, there's a lot of USians around who are very clearly fucking fed up with their political choices this election cycle, and planning to sit it out.

And I get it! What's the point of voting if there's no one to vote for?

The thing is, I'm Australian. In Australia, voting is compulsory. We don't get to sit out our elections, and I'll be real honest with you - we don't exactly get better choices than you lot. So how do you vote if there's no one to vote for? You find someone to vote against. And there's always someone to vote against.

Now, we have the pleasure of preferential voting in Australia - We get to rank every candidate from 1 to X, and I'll tell you, there's something so cathartic about putting the biggest bastard of the lot at the very bottom of your preferences. I understand that USians don't get that option - you get to mark one person, and that's it.

That means that you get one shot, so aim it at the biggest bastard of the lot. The candidate you most utterly detest. Put your vote in the worst possible place for them. Don't even think about who that vote's going towards, that's not the point. Remember, every vote is a vote against someone. Make sure you fuck up that someone's election day!

This war has to stop. Israel is stopping aid from getting into Gaza and people are starving.

this was a comment on one of my post from a recent live event. it was photos of joyful queer buckaroos celebrating together and proving love is real through creation, community, and a trot of love. most important I AM LITERALLY IN PHOTO AS A REAL FLESH AND BLOOD HUMAN

it got me thinking about how DEEP AND VICIOUS the irony poisoning of these early internet communities goes. the way buds like this cannot fathom someone just being a sincere person unrelated to their OWN old days of cynical posting. it is fascinating, and i will admit, sad too

despite a DECADE of work, countless live events, 350 tinglers written well before large language models were a thing, there are still people who cannot imagine someone like me could exist. it is a strange place to be. not just part of me, but my entire EXISTENCE is often gatekept

it is easy to say ‘well chuck your art IS strange’ but honestly i think it is more than that. magical realism is common. there are stories about dinosaurs and bigfeet and unicorns. this scoundrel reaction is about two unspoken things: my art is neurodivergent, and my art is queer

heres the thing: I WILL BE FINE. what concerns me is not an issue of MYSELF, it is a concern for the other young outsider buckaroos who see comments like this one and think ‘is that what they will say if i express MY unique way? will i be dehumanized like this at every turn?'

i will be honest, i cannot say that WONT happen, but i CAN say this: for as deep as this irony poisoning goes, it is slowly dying. the way i was treated at the start of my career is LIGHTYEARS DIFFERENT from the way i am treated now. there is a massive shift towards sincerity

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY. to young artists trotting up, the things that i am harassed over and doubted for and made fun of for are NOT tangental to what has made me successful, THEY ARE LITERALLY THE SAME THINGS THAT HAVE MADE ME SUCCESSFUL. YES I AM STRANGE, WHAT OF IT?

the things that you tuck away for fear of a review that says ‘there is a PROBLEM with this art because it has always been done another way’ THOSE ARE YOUR SUPERPOWERS. the gatekeepers want you to tuck those parts of yourself away because THEY TUCKED AWAY THOSE PART OF THEMSELVES

never forget that your unique way is PURE UNFILTERED 100 PERCENT ROCKET FUEL. it will stick out (maybe, if you are lucky, scoundrels will even say that someone like you could never actually be real), but sticking out isnt so bad when you are waving the flag of love.

in fact, when youre waving the flag of love, sticking out is pretty dang cool. what are flags for, after all? LOVE IS REAL BUCKAROOS. thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed this long post then please consider preordering BURY YOUR GAYS.

LETS TROT

Alright, so to be as transparent as I can, yes we lost a pupper. It was hard, it financially drained us, and I felt awful to even ask for help because it felt like she was an excuse when she was never EVER a problem, I would've given my house or my left arm for that dog. Even so, we are in a financial hole with this, and my calling off work to spend a day with her made work graciously give me a 123 dollar check that I can do nothing with. I have to pay my gas bill and internet, the internet will be off soon and I don't really care much about that but it needs to be paid. We do need toiletries and since my check is already gone to an urgent bill, we need a bit of help with TP and such. All in all, this hole is only about 350 dollars deep. It is not that painful. But it is urgent as well, with it being the due date today for both.

Things will get better. I just need help again, I have overtime lined up 6 days a week until further notice, and I work 12 hour days so I'll basically no-life again in order to get my life back. Such is...life. Thanks for reading.

Paypal - Kofi - Venmo - Cashapp

Some Themed Asks for your Gem OCs

I always enjoy these little ask games to help build up lore about my characters, but so many of them are too human in scope for my Gem OCs- thus, I decided to throw together a set of Steven Universe specific questions for all of your OC and gemsona desires.

Questions are sorted into "eras" thematically. Enjoy!

Era 1:

⚜️Which court does your Gem belong to, if any? 🎆What is your Gem’s planet of origin and given designation? (Ex: Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG… Facet-5, Cut 8XM… Facet-413, Cabochon-12…) 💎Describe your Gem’s gemstone. What color, shape, facet pattern, and placement does it have? 🛠️What is your Gem’s given role under the Diamond Authority? 📌Where does your Gem perform their duties? Do they travel a lot for their role, or mostly stay in one place? 🧦Does your Gem get along with others of the same cut? 🖇️Has your Gem ever partaken in fusion with someone of the same cut? 💼Does your Gem report to anyone below the Diamonds? What do they think about this authority figure? 💥Has your Gem ever been rejuvenated? If so, how many times? 🪦Does your Gem harbor any hidden desires they think might get them shattered?

Era 2:

🌸Was your Gem incubated before Pink Diamond’s shattering, or after? If after, does your Gem differ from others of their cut due to Homeworld’s Diamond essence shortage? 🔎Does your Gem like the role they were given, or is there another role in society they would rather have? 🪢Does your Gem have any friends outside their cut? 🪄Can your Gem summon any weapon or special item? 🌍Has your Gem ever heard of the rebellion on Earth? If so, do they have any opinions on it? 🪩Has your Gem ever partaken in fusion with someone of a different cut? If so, do they defy Homeworld’s fusion rules openly or keep it secret? 🏝️Your Gem has been reassigned to perform their duty on a planet or settlement of their choice. Where do they go? 🫧Has your Gem ever been poofed? How? 🙈Your Gem discovers that someone they work alongside is off-color in some fashion. Do they narc to a superior, or keep this secret? 🪓Does your Gem know anyone who’s been shattered?

Era 3:

👑In the wake of this brand new era, where does your Gem’s loyalty lie? (The Diamonds? Themself? Someone else?) 🎓Would your Gem ever consider attending Little Homeschool, why or why not? ⭐️What is your Gem’s honest opinion of Steven, if they are aware of his role in Gem history? 🪁Name three hobbies your Gem partakes in. 🌄Describe your Gem’s idea of a perfect day. ⚧️Imagine your Gem is presented with the concept of human gender. Do they have any preference in how they are perceived or addressed? 🐌Does your Gem have any non-Gem friends? 🌙Would your Gem ever consider living as a permafusion? 🍕Has your Gem ever tried ingesting food or liquid? If so, what is their opinion on this activity? 🎻Assign your Gem an instrument. What type of sound do you feel best captures their vibe?

poll under the cut for *MAJOR MANGA ENDING SPOILERS*

important to note that immediately after this, Thistle’s spell breaks and Melini rises from the sea

edit: ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE. the MAJOR theme of the story is that “eating is the privilege of living” and Thistle refuses food here

nothing in life is certain except that i will always end up drawing blorbo with or as luxray somehow