hi my name is Gem. I draw sometimes. feel free to message me or send me an ask // the header image was made by my friend in google slides while she was bored // they/it/he // 🇫🇮
i think that people should start using “in poor taste” as a descriptor again given it is often the most applicable and clearest phrase when discoursing about media and analysis; sometimes a piece of art isn’t actually THE most problematic thing of all time is is. just in poor taste (not JUST in poor taste as a reductive take on potential harm but/and as in regardless of intent the impact is this was an offensive or stupid take/choice)
when people say "ok but x bug has no benefit to nature" I bet they can't even name 5 facts about the bug they're shitting on. so how could they Possibly know what its function is in the environment and if it's "useless" or not
wasps being the perfect example, I still get people saying "oh bees are cute and pollinate :) yay. but WASPS ARE EVIL and they don't contribute ANYTHING!!!" and it's like buddy. wasps pollinate too. they also control spider populations. they do a lot of great valuable things. but even if they didn't, they're still worthy of being here. I see SO much hatred toward wasps and I wish people would try to learn a little more about them.
I'm mainly talking about paper wasps here because these are common ones we run into in daily life and most commonly deemed "aggressive". but wasps have body language. and if you learn to read this language and learn how to properly act around them, things will go a lot better for you! wasps can be curious creatures and they may come up to observe you, especially if you're wearing something brightly colored. this can be startling for sure, but my best advice is to just be still, DO NOT SWAT or wave your arms. try to just back away or sidestep so it loses interest and leaves. swatting is just gonna make them feel as if they are being attacked and increase your chances of being stung.
many stings happen due to unfortunate but accidental circumstances. unknowingly getting too close to a nest, stepping on a wasp on accident, one getting stuck in clothing, etc. I got stung once while gardening, went to pull a weed and the wasp was on it, so I grabbed her without knowing and she stung me because she was scared. this doesn't mean "oh wasps are AGGRESSIVE and EVIL" it means you stumbled into an unfortunate situation where the wasps felt threatened and defensive. instead of being like "FUCK all wasps" go forward trying to learn about common nesting areas, be wary of holes in the ground, wear gloves while gardening, and if you do have to be around a nest, try not to make a lot of noise. if the nest absolutely needs removed, call a professional.
👉🏽 girl help I can’t stop drawing connections between ghetto fabulous fashion and other cultural attire because it gets a bad rep in western aestheticism for being too loud, gaudy, and ostentatious despite keeping the art of adornment alive 👈🏽
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about centaur alien respiratory systems now that I’ve animated Talita doing stuff, so here’s a definitive post about them.
The main airway is unidirectional, except for the occasional sneeze. Air enters through the incurrent nostrils on the face, passes into the first air chamber, then to the main lungs that surround the heart and braincase, and then exits out the excurrent nostrils/vents on the rear of the lower ribcage. The majority of oxygen exchange and moisture reclamation happens in the lower lungs, which have a gill-like, high surface area comb structure that the air passes through. Centaurs cool themselves mostly by panting, where they breathe rapidly and open the lung structure up wider in the chest to allow more air to bypass the comb and leave with water and waste heat. They can produce infrasonic hums, rattles, and groans out the excurrent nostril by clenching the valve.
The centaur vocal apparatus evolved from an olfactory structure that got co-opted for language. There are still are still scent receptors in it, but the thing has become much more elaborate than in their ancestors. To speak, they breathe into two large sinuses on the back of their head, close those off from the main airway, and compress them to push air out through the trunk. Of the aliens in Runaway to the Stars, centaurs are probably the best at vocalizing human languages. The phonic structure is pretty similar to ours, consisting of vocal cords set in the skull at the base of the trunk, resonant loops back to the incurrent nostrils, and muscular ridges inside the trunk towards the lips. Their large toothed mouth is totally unconnected to the respiratory system, it only leads into the esophagus.
I got an ask from someone who felt timid about drawing curlier hair and wanted some advice! This is by NO means exhaustive and is mostly just my thought process for my own stylization. There are tons of resources for drawing more textured hair, so for this I just wanted to focus on curls. hope it helps!
Ok so today I was on the bus with another trans guy and we were talking about how hard it is to get testosterone. The waiting lists, the price, all the doctors you have to go to, that kind of stuff. Except, we were calling it ’T’, like you do when you’re both closeted and in public.
Then suddenly the elderly lady sitting behind us was like ‘young men, either I’m going crazy or you both have never heard of supermarkets, they have shelves full of tea there! Do you need directions to one?’
To which my buddy starts to explain, because why not. ‘Well you see, we’re both trans, and… ’
The lady didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. ‘Oh no, I don’t mind that at all! Now do you want to know how to get to a place that sells tea? I’m actually heading there right now!’
We let her take us to the supermarket. We let her show us, excitedly, where the tea was. We both bought loads.
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