#traditional landscape update

[whitehousevsslippers]

Patio Natural Stone Pavers in San Francisco

Inspiration for a huge mediterranean backyard stone patio remodel

[estimatey]

San Francisco Pathway Design ideas for a huge mediterranean drought-tolerant and full sun backyard gravel garden path in summer.

[littledapperdudes]

Pathway - Mediterranean Landscape Summertime photo of a sizable, fully-shaded, drought-tolerant Mediterranean backyard gravel garden path.

[justalittledisneygirl]

San Francisco Pathway Inspiration for a sizable, full-sun, stone garden path on a hillside in the Mediterranean that will open in the spring.

[tootditoot]

I just noticed that I never really showed my cover photo in full so here it is. This filled an entire page of my sketch pad lmao

I always liked those mixed cityscapes aesthetics and fond of the classical and gothic architecture (we may blame Minecraft for that), so I tried my hand at illustrating it lmao

Also now that some academic shenanigans have been settled with, I can finally focus on posting some OC character sheets and stories (and the story I mentioned a while back)

[aquaspiderart]

here's a sneak preview of the new stuff that will be available on my store at midnight (EST) tonight!! paintings, pins, and prints!

check out the shop update here!

[greggsbenedicttt]

for wewa

id in alt text :3

[iwillbe-healthy]

Landscape Pathway Chicago Photo of a small traditional shade hillside stone garden path.

[themesbynaeive]

Landscape Brick Pavers in Los Angeles Design concepts for a small, brick, traditional backyard garden.

[natcordeaux]

Pool Phoenix Photo of a sizable brick transitional backyard with a specially shaped natural pool

[spirantization]

I'm surprised at the hate that Sokka's character arc from NATLA is receiving. To me, Sokka's development and characterization was one of the strongest adaptations the series made.

In the original ATLA, Sokka's character arc revolves around him unlearning his own misogyny. He makes pointedly sexist comments throughout the early episodes like "Leave it to a girl to screw things up!", "There's no way a bunch of girls took us down!", etc.

Sokka's comments have a strong narrative purpose: they give a platform for women in the show (Katara & Suki mostly) to refute his attitude. Katara emphasizes traditional "women's work" (cleaning, cooking, sewing, etc), which forces Sokka to confront its inherent value. Suki is able to prove to him that women can fight too and he learns to respect female warriors. It's a great character arc and it's well-executed.

It's also characterization that is in direct response to the culture and feminism of the 90s and early 00s. The representation of women in the media at that time was...oof. It was not great. One-dimensional love interests whose only purpose is being saved by the male protagonist, mostly. Female protagonists were not as common, and certainly not ones who were depicted as being able to fight, and certainly not in cartoons. Female protagonists in animation were almost exclusively princesses.

ATLA was progressive in this regard. Katara was a complex female character in a time when there were not a lot of them, in media in general but especially in animation and kid's shows. (I grew up in the 90s; there were no characters like Katara in animation on screen for me.) ATLA incorporated the zeitgeist directly into the story, which is why we have Sokka learning to overcome his sexism in his interactions with Strong Female Characters.

If you go back and watch the original cartoon now, Sokka's sexism feels a bit dated. It's a very 90s, Girl Power, "girls can fight too" style of social commentary. It doesn't match with the media landscape of today. We've got 20 years of media with female superheroes behind us. If your message is "girls can fight too!" the response for the most part is going to be "yes, we know that. And?"

So imagine you're adapting the original ATLA for a live-action remake. You want to keep Sokka's character arc intact, but you want to update it for the 2020s. So what do you do? You look at the conversations that are happening today.

The 90s were about "girls can do everything boys can do", but the 20s are over that. The conversation is more about gender: gender expression, gender roles, gender dynamics. What does is mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a man?

Sokka's character arc in NATLA is focused on this question: What does it mean to be a man? At the beginning of the series, it's his identity as a warrior that defines him. He needs to be the warrior, the protector, the leader. He's constantly trying to reaffirm this part of his identity, and it's completely tied up in his perception of his value as a man. Instead of his interactions with Suki being about "how could girls possibly be warriors", it shifts to Sokka saying "I'm ALSO a warrior" and trying to justify that to Suki (and mostly himself).

His arc over the series is about him accepting other aspects of himself and relearning how to define his masculinity. He can still have value as man without being the greatest warrior. He can still have value as a man by using his skills as an engineer. He can still have value as a man by offering compassion and kindness to others, like the little girl with the doll & Yue in her final moments. Instead of rigidly defining himself by a specific set of gender roles & expectations, he learns how to define himself through his own strengths and qualities.

I know there are a lot of people who are upset at this change to Sokka's characterization, and the most common thing I see is that it results in changes to Katara's character and her anger in response to Sokka's comments. I think there are valid criticisms to be made about how the show handled the adaptation of Katara's character, but I won't go there with this. In terms of Sokka and his characterization, it was well-done and thematically consistent with the original. It's not an exact port, and it never needed to be. It's still a feminist arc that centres on unlearning harmful misogynistic worldviews, but the focus has shifted from external (roles of women) to internal (his role as a man). And his journey is one that people would benefit from seeing represented.

[songoftrillium]

Meet The (Updated) Art Team

Hello Kinfolks!

I've been really looking forward to this post for a while, and it's now time to unveil the art team I've assembled to put this project together! They're some heavy hitters that y'all ought to recognize, so without further ado let's meet them!

Bek Andrew Evans

Linktree

Mx. Bek Andrew Evans (he/they) is a freelance writer and illustrator from Jackson, Mississippi. He's been doing art since he was young and takes inspiration from comic books (particularly in the 90s), Jhonen Vasquez, grunge, and Carvagio. His favorite mediums are loose inks, watercolors, oil paints, and digital styles that replicate the looks of traditional mediums. He uses body horror and attention to expressions and lighting to convey stories through images, often queer in nature. He explores themes of mental illness, disability, abuse, poverty, and the many intersections of these statuses.

iezeradd (They/He)

Carrd

They are a mixed media artist and writer hailing from Quebec, Canada. They explore concepts of queerness, identity, generational trauma, and otherness through his illustrations of werewolves, often contrasting tenderness and violence in his works. They use transformations and inner conflict as a reflection of his own experiences as a queer individual.

iezeradd is joining the team to provide a myriad of art, ranging from props, to textures, and tribe artwork! We're very fortunate to have them on the team!

Dogblud She/Her

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Dogblud (she/her), is a Midwestern cryptid working as a freelance artist and writer. Her work is near-exclusively sapphic, centering primarily around werewolves, werebeasts, and their strong thematic ties - horrific or otherwise - to all forms of womanhood.

A long-time fan of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, she's joined our team to produce all of the tribe artwork for the book, in addition to a number of other contributory pieces!

Meka (Any Pronouns)

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Meka is a Scottish comic artist with a flair for the dark and extremely bloody and a long-standing love of monsters and what they let us all explore-- for better and worse. Vehemently underground, they build stories about horror, grief, depersonalisation, and the isolation that comes with being just a little too weird and too angry to swallow whole. Art and catharsis go hand in hand, as far as she’s concerned.

In a throwback to the original game series, Meka has joined to produce a 22-page fully illustrated comic for the series entitled Cracking the Bone. A postgraduate in traditional comic artistry, we're extremely fortunate to have them on the team.

Mx. Morgan (They/Them)

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Mx. Morgan G Robles (they/them) is a freelance artist and illustrator based in Seattle, Washington. Their work is best known for its use of macabre themes, animals, and nature. They use these themes to explore mental illness, gender identity, or simply to make neat skulls.

They're known for producing book covers for several major publishers, and they've been brought in to design our book covers as well. In addition, they've developed a number of inside pieces as well!

M.WolfhideWinter (He/Him)

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He is a part-time freelance illustrator from Scotland. His work is heavily inspired by the rugged terrain (and rain) of Scotland with a focus on werewolves inhabiting the wild landscapes both past and present. He explores themes of mental illness, societal stigma, dark folklore, and sad werewolves in the rain.

WolfhideWinter has joined our team as our monster-maker, dedicating their time towards depicting our primary antagonists of the garou: The Black Spiral Dancers, and the Wyrm's brood! We can hardly think of a body horror artist more fitting for the role.

[aquaspiderart]

A surreal adventure to that watermelon world.

these mini gouache paintings are now available in my store!

[thotpuppy]

Triskelion Reign by ThePurebloodPrat

Chapters: 1/? Rating: Explicit Warnings: Underage Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Erica Reyes & Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale, Lydia Martin, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Isaac Lahey, Jackson Whittemore, Sheriff Stilinski (Teen Wolf), Scott McCall (Teen Wolf) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Verse, Alpha/Omega, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omegaverse Omega Stiles Stilinski, Omegaverse Alpha Derek Hale, Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Prince Stiles Stilinski, Prince Derek Hale, King Derek Hale, King Peter Hale, King Regent Peter Hale, Political Alliances, Political Drama, Political Intrigue, Court Politics, Open Relationships, Minor Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Minor Derek Hale/Isaac Lahey, Vernon Boyd & Derek Hale Friendship, Minor Derek Hale/Vernon Boyd, Minor Derek Hale/Erica Reyes, Alternate Universe - Harem, Penis In Vagina Sex, Rough Sex, Rough Kissing, Gratuitous Smut, Oral Sex, Cunnilingus, Mpreg, mpreg is not a significant plot element, Age Difference

Summary:

"Since the day Stiles had reached the age where his womb could become fertile, he’s expected this duty to arrive. He knew his hand would be given to a suitor not for love, but for political security. Such is the way of a monarch born with a cunt between their legs." ----- At sixteen, Stiles is as prepared as possible to be given away as a tool for political alliance. He's not terribly happy with the choice of destination, but he knows his duty is important to more than just himself. Derek is the Crown Prince of his country, but has been held back from ascending to the throne for years by his uncle, the King Regent Peter. Peter is doing everything within his power short of assassination to keep his hold on the crown. Stiles has no idea what he's walking into, entering his marriage only to be faced with suspicion, confusion, and possibly subterfuge at every angle. He must work to navigate this foreign political landscape while balancing duty, emotion, and tactical conversation at every corner. Not to mention the mysterious, fantastical tapestries that tell the story of the Hale lineage, perhaps more literally than he'd thought.

[Click Here to Read]

Follow the tag: 'TriReign' here on tumblr for updates and on my blog for occasional thoughts and vibes.

[mod-coffee-is-here]

Useful resources to help Palestine

When you can't sit and do nothing, but there's nothing that can be done, what do you do?

You do what you can, so here are some useful resources to help Palestine from the discomfort of your home and your heart.

(Dividers are used for the sake of reading information more easily, if it bothers you or if you think it's dangerous to have, please tell me and I will remove them)

Arab.org

The most famous and easiest to use now is arab.org, a completely free and easy to use website where all you need to do is click a single button and you'll be already donating to Palestine, as well as other causes of your choice. It takes less than 5 minutes to donate to all 6 causes: Palestine, Poverty, Children, Women, Refugeees and Enviroment. AND if you got some spare time, you can change browsers and enable private navigation so you can click more than just a single time.

Arab.org works by, basically, viewing an ad. The text on their website says:

"You essentially are changing the world with the few seconds of attention that you give to the product/brand/service being promoted. The advertiser sets aside a budget and you, by viewing the ad, operate the transfer of revenues from the advertiser’s budget to us and onto the various trusted organizations."

You can find more information on their website.

Aljazeera

For news, you can rely on Aljazeera, a Palestine news website that is always updated about the situation going on in Palestine as well as other country's news and perspectives about the situation too.

Looking, reading and LEARNING, and most important, not forgetting about the situation, is one of the most useful ways of helping. Do not let their culture die down.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign website gathers all of the PSC's campaigns, such as disarming Israel, boycotting brands that are supporting Israel, Apartheids and more.

Reporters and resources

There are some easy to follow reporters that are constantly updating about the situation in Palestine. Here are some of them:

Wizard_bisan1 is the reporter who proposed the boycott, also updating on donation links.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Wizard_bisan1. ID over]

Direct Aid for Gaza is a group of volunteers, distrubuting food and care. Page is constantly updated about donations and distributions on their part.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Direct Aid for Gaza. The profile pic is the Palestine flag with their sayings on top. ID over]

Muhammad Smiry, reporter constantly informing about the situation in Gaza.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Muhammad Smiry. ID over.]

Decolonize Palestine is a collection of resources for organizers and anyone who wants to learn more about Palestine. It's filled with books, debunking myths and propaganda and articles about Palestine.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the main page for the website "Decolonize Palestine. It depicts an art of a woman dressed in white palestinian traditional clothing and a rural landscape scenario. On top of it, it's the website's logo in black. It's a key with the name of the project on the side. ID over.]

Eye on Palestine is a group dedicared to spreading information and raising awareness about the situation in Palestine.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Eye on Palestine. The profile pic is a big eye with rays coming out of it in the colors of the palestinian flag: red, green and black. ID over.]

Times of Gaza is a news profile dedicated to sharing information.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Times of Gaza. ID over.]

Artists for Palestine

A lot of artists right now are doing commissions, with all the funds being donated to Palestine organizations. Some of them are:

Crows4Palestine

AB for Gaza (Brazilian lead project)

(Will update this list as I find more. You can also DM me or leave suggestions in the comments/reblogs. I will add all of them to the pain post)

Donations

Here are some useful websites that you can donate to:

Islamic Relief USA (Accepting donations for food and care)

Islamic Relief Canada (Donations for food, health care, water and money support)

PAMA - Palestinian American Medical Association (Hospital care)

Pious Projects (Donations for hygiene and menstrual hygiene products)

PCRF - Palestine Children's Relief Fund (Humanitarian care and support for homeless families)

eSims for Gaza (Buying eSims cards for people in Palestine without acess to internet)

Care for Gaza (gofund me for the Care for Gaza project. Money going for the displaced families in Gaza)

For now this is what I have, but as I get more information, will try to update the best I can. Feel free to send me any links or other resources that you find too.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

[halloweenhuh]

Halloween, Huh? Day 2 Reveals

Night Class - Rated E - 12,617 words Alex how found the simplest solution for all the facts he had been presented. There were plenty of them to make sense of. Alex was taking the path of least resistance, accepting that whatever remained after all was stripped away must be the truth. June could laugh at him for the rest of time if she wanted. He was right. He knew he was right. He had to be right because nothing else on earth or in the universe made sense.

Henry Fox — his smarmy, entitled, wealthy, bland, irritating neighbor — was a vampire.

Alex knew it. He could prove it.

.🎃🎃🎃.

Because I’m A Scoundrel - Rated E - 8,368 words Alex Claremont-Diaz has exactly thirty minutes to make himself look as slutty as possible for this Halloween Gala. At this very moment he looks a little bit like a sexed up pirate, but with the addition of his small black vest - rest in peace to the Patagonia packers and finance brethren- and a low slung belt with a “blaster,” a very sex-on-legs Han Solo is looking back at him.

Henry Fox, who is both a double scull rower with enough Olympic medals it would make anyone other than Alex sweat, and the definitive arch nemesis of Alex - is wearing a white sylvette Princess Leia costume, hugging his curves in all the right ways, the clingy fabric draping to the floor.

When you and your arch nemesis show up to the most important gala of the year in a couples costume you either play it up or shut it down. Alex has a decision to make, but the way that dress is hugging Henry’s ass isn’t making that decision any easier.

.🎃🎃🎃.

Trading Traditions - Rated T - 2,093 words Alex and Henry's first Bonfire Night together.

.🎃🎃🎃.

The great turkey calamity? - Rated T - 4,919 words And that’s how Alex finds himself, two minutes later, facing two turkeys and gaping at them like an idiot.

“So, Alexander,” Cornbread starts, “what seems to be the problem?”

“Aside from the fact that I’ve gone mad?”

“He means with Henry,” Stuffing says.

“There’s no problem with Henry,” Alex quickly clarifies. He’s not someone who does things half-assedly, so if he’s going to speak to a pair of turkeys about whatever they think Alex has a problem with, he’s going to commit to it. “We’re just–”

“Yes?”

“Friends?”

“If you’re friends,” Stuffing starts and Alex could swear his turkey voice is infused with sarcasm, “why were you pacing your room worried about whether you should call him or not?”

.🎃🎃🎃.

The Candy Tax - Rated T - 2,931 words Ten-year-old Alex has invited his new friend Henry, who just moved to Texas from England with his family so that his movie star dad can be based in the US to shoot more movies, over for a sleepover the night before Halloween.

.🎃🎃🎃.

if you're all alone, pick up the phone - Rated G - 485 words By the third time Alex calls, Henry is pretty sure the man is making things up.

.🎃🎃🎃.

Through the summer and the fall, we had each other, that was all

Rated G - 750 words The mountains are on fire. Red, orange, and yellow leaves cover thousands of acres of land, and the peeking of the sun over the distant horizon illuminates the hovering fog, creating the illusion of a persistent fire burning brightly without causing any damage. Instead, it paints a masterful landscape for an early morning riser to gaze at as he sips at a cup of Earl Grey and marvels at the fact that this beauty is a sight he has somehow been blessed to see.

.🎃🎃🎃.

A little note for all of our wonderful creators: if your work was revealed by the Palace today, please be sure to update your publication date to today’s date so it shows up fresh in the AO3 feed.