amandamccoyart

[amandamccoyart]

My face is having uncontrollable spasms. Great. It hurts really, really, really bad.

I think part of why I have trouble explaining pain to the doctor is when they ask about the pain scale I always think “Well, if someone threw me down a flight of stairs right now or punched me a few times, it would definitely hurt a lot more” so I end up saying a low number. I was reading an article that said that “10” is the most commonly reported number and that is baffling to me. When I woke up from surgery with an 8" incision in my body and I could hardly even speak, I was in the most horrific pain of my life but I said “6” because I thought “Well, if you hit me in the stomach, it would be worse.”

[amandamccoyart]

Me trying to figure out the distance between places and how long it’ll take a character to get there in a society that travels mostly on foot:

[amandamccoyart]

[amandamccoyart]

I need everyone to watch this I’m smiling so fucking big

[amandamccoyart]

ATTENTION WRITERS

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Seriously guys, BetaBooks is the most useful website in the whole world when it comes to beta reading, and… IT’S FREE.

[amandamccoyart]

Why ‘female-presenting nipples’ matter

When I was 10, my mom made me wear a bra and it felt like a punishment for being different.

When I was 10, I took the bra off when changing for gymnastics and accidentally dropped it in the school hallway. A teacher picked it up and said, “Oh, this must belong to you” and handed it back to me in front of everyone. I quit gymnastics.

When I was 11, I thought maybe the boobs would be okay so long as they didn’t get any bigger than would fit in my hand, so I kept measuring it, but they did.

When I was 12, I started wearing two or three sports bras to smush them down, until one day a classmate said, “Are you wearing two bras?!” while laughing.

When I was 13, a boy told me he wanted to squeeze my boobs “until they popped.”

When I was 14, I got cast in a play as an older character and a classmate told me I got the role because I had boobs.

When I was 17, my mom told me to return a swimsuit because it would be too distracting for my boyfriend’s father.

When I was 21, I got properly fitted for a bra and everyone felt the need to tell me how much better my boobs looked.

When I was 26, I got pregnant and my immediate fear was that my boobs would get bigger.

When I was 28, I got shamed for trying to feed my screaming baby in public without a cover.

When I was 28, people asked me “why are you bothering to use a breastfeeding cover?”

When I was 30, people gave me weird looks that I wasn’t yelling at my kid for putting their hand on my boob.

When I was 31, I avoided going to the beach or pool because I didn’t want to have to deal with boobs in a swimsuit.

When I was 32, I got asked, again, “why don’t you get a breast reduction?”

When I was 33, I watched a 5yo girl get shamed for running around in sweltering heat without a shirt on and had to reprimand a bunch of tween boys who thought it was okay to shame her for doing something they do all the time.

When I was 34, my kid kept patting my breast and saying “Mommy’s squishy breast!!” They will never see me express any shame about tits, because I want them to have a different mindset than I had. Yes, boobs are nice! They’re squishy! They’re fun! That’s the end of that.

I’m 35 and no longer give a fuck. I don’t care anymore. As a teenager my tits were covered in stretch marks. They’ve been engorged with milk. My nipple changed shape with pregnancy. Give it another couple decades and my breasts will probably be all wrinkly. It’s sexual when I’m using it sexually. I don’t fucking care, and I won’t be ashamed anymore. 

Every time a policy or cultural hangup treats people with breasts differently, it fucks us over. 

Tumblr’s new policy makes an active choice to participate in this culture of shame. By classifying “female-presenting nipples” as explicit material, Tumblr has taken a stance that any chest or breast that differs from a male default is worthy of shame and unavoidably sexual. The idea that breasts are shameful and unavoidably sexual is exactly what fucked me up for so much of my life.

Stop shaming people for having bodies. 

[amandamccoyart]

ask me about the difference between leopard/cheetah/jaguar print, it’s my field of expertise 

[amandamccoyart]

[amandamccoyart]

[amandamccoyart]

The attraction ‘off switch’

I think I’ve talked about this here before but, let me tell you, it took me a really long time to realize that other people couldn’t just ‘turn off’ their attraction for someone else.

For me it was as easy as going ‘ya I don’t want to have a crush/like this person any more’ and poof! There went all my feeling towards them.

It was because of this that I never really understood why it was so hard for people I knew to just break up with someone or WHY they would keep going back to someone again and again.

Because for me there was an ‘off switch’ for my attraction to someone, because that attraction had never existed in the first place and I was just fooling myself into believing it was, while for others the attraction was a real, tangible thing that they couldn’t just turn off like it never existed.

[amandamccoyart]

Instagram: @maloart

[amandamccoyart]

CAUSE I SERIOUSLY NEEDED SOMETHING LIKE THIS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER. I HOPE THIS HELPS YOU GUYS. Don’t forget that drinking plenty of water and tea, eating a healthy diet and daily exercise will make a HUGE difference with your complexion.  Touching your face frequently is also a big no-no.  Everyone’s skin is different, so experiment with your own treatment routines and find what best suits you!!  I think this is a topic that’s almost taboo to talk about, but everyone has it, so we might as well help each other out with what we’ve found successful, right!?

[amandamccoyart]

having ocs is weird

some of them are just like ideas and concepts while others are like people living inside your head demanding a nice room and snacks and attention and occasionally they poke you in the feelings when you’re least expecting it

some of them you spend forever coaxing out from a dark corner of your mind with some candy and some of them are always up in your shit

[amandamccoyart]

Animal sizes for comparison

Moose

Grey Wolf

Maned Wolf

Sea Otter

Toucan

Grizzly Bear

Polar Bear

Stellar Sea Lion

Cow

Pig

Raven

Black Bear & Bengal Tiger

White-Tailed Deer

Buffalo

Capybara

[amandamccoyart]

“Sharice Davids, a lesbian, is the first openly #LGBTQ person elected to congress in Kansas. She and Deb Haaland of New Mexico are also the first Native American women elected to congress. #ElectionNight”

-  Bi-Trans Alliance 

Openly gay ex-MMA fighter will be first Native American woman elected to Congress http://hill.cm/YJGnTNF

[amandamccoyart]

I honestly believe that people who lost their childhood, teenage years to mental illness and/or trauma are so strong for still being here. Especially once you’re about 18-25 and trying to relearn how to be in society and healthy and human.

Especially when you decide to work towards getting better.

Especially when your life isn’t where you wished it would be.

Stay alive okay? If you lost your youth, I’m sorry and I’m so proud of you for still being here. Keep fighting. Your best years are ahead of you.

[amandamccoyart]

chameleon changes color