teratophiliologist

[teratophiliologist]

Also love how the mangaka actively blurs the lines between horror and the erotic, not for shock value or to make viewers uncomfortable, but to explore the intensity and all consuming feeling of first-time sexual experiences, especially queer ones. That scene of Yoshiki reaching into Hikaru’s stomach? It’s terrifying, intimate, uncomfortable, and strangely tender all at once. It’s not a clean metaphor for sex. It’s awkward, confusing, and overwhelming.

And if you read the monster in Hikaru as a stand-in for internalized homophobia, the layers just keep folding in on themselves. Yoshiki reaching in could be him confronting the part of Hikaru (or himself) that feels unlovable, wrong, inhuman. But he does it anyway. He stays. Even when it suffocates him, even when it literally consumes him. Love and horror don’t cancel each other out, they coexist here, feeding into something deeper and more complicated.

THESE TWO ARE FREAKS!! First Yoshiki got inside Hikaru, now it’s Hikaru’s turn to have his fill. Love a switch couple!

[teratophiliologist]

THESE TWO ARE FREAKS!! First Yoshiki got inside Hikaru, now it’s Hikaru’s turn to have his fill. Love a switch couple!

[teratophiliologist]

Beastly Bytes #2: A Whisper of Blue

Seems like there’s a new resident in the marine reserve you’re working at. And a dangerous one at that.

Story: An upcoming slow burn horror romance centered around a merman who was recently brought to your workplace. His wild nature and wariness makes him an especially hard creature to deal with. Don’t lower your guard. (Currently Demo Only)

Features:

~9k words in total

Customizable Main Character (name, pronouns)

3 bad endings and 1 neutral ending (to be continued)

One non-human love interest

Triggers: Hypnosis, Light gore (depictions of blood & wounds), Death (player & love interest)

My thoughts: If you want a slow-burn monster romance but don’t feel like committing to a long game, this could be a great choice. A full playthrough takes roughly 25 minutes, and stars a VERY pretty merman. Exploring the different endings was a big part of the fun, and one of them actually got to me more than I expected. The story has a lot of potential, and I’m curious to see how it develops in future updates!

Available on: Windows, Linux, and macOS. Price: Name your price

Click here to check out the game!

Or follow @awhisperofbluevn for updates.

[teratophiliologist]

My MA thesis on monster attraction is finally available for your reading pleasure!

A disclaimer about errors is included below the divider.

•´¨*•.¸¸.•*´¨•.¸¸.•´¨`•.¸¸.•´¨*•.¸¸.•*´¨•.¸¸.•´¨`•.¸¸.•´¨*•.¸¸.•*´¨•.¸¸.•´¨`•.¸¸.•

Please, please, PLEASE keep in mind that my advisor had me rewrite the first 40 or so pages one week before the due date, while I was also prepping for my defense that same week!! No one ever actually proofread anything past the background section, so what you're getting is a raw and sleep-deprived labor of love.

Because of how rushed everything was, there are two spots in the results section that completely contradict each other. (I didn’t catch it until weeks later.) If you come across something that feels like academic whiplash, that’s probably it. It'll read like: “This cat doesn’t like wet food… the cat loves wet food (with a photo of the cat gagging at the smell)… the cat doesn’t like wet food.”

That said, the conclusion section is correct, so if you're confused about what the correct interpretation is, just go with that.

I hate myself for that mistake and really wish I could go back and fix it. But here we are, stuck in academic hell with my mess-up immortalized for all to see.

[teratophiliologist]

caligo, miasma of night ❄️

[ bluesky | patreon | instagram | twitter | prints ]

[teratophiliologist]

So I just realized I never posted the exploratory infographic I made (the one I swore I had queued months ago, lol). That little slip-up reminded me of something kinda important, though. (Content warning: mentions of SA and DV below)

When I was putting together my thesis committee, one of the professors asked if I was planning to look at participants’ past experiences with sexual assault (SA) as a possible factor related to teratophilia. At the time, I didn’t think there’d be much of a connection. But I was aware that some researchers have floated theories linking certain attractions, kinks, or sexual behaviors, especially in women, to past experiences of SA.

It's not a straightforward cause-and-effect thing. But there are theories exploring how growing up or living in unsafe or unpredictable environments (like poverty, violence, or high mortality) can shape what people find attractive. In those situations, preferences for “formidable” or dominant partners might show up more often. And that’s where you get things like:

Life History Theory (how harsh environments affect development and decision-making)

Strategic Pluralism (how people adopt different mating strategies depending on context)

Misfiring Theories of Kink (where your brain repurposes old survival systems into new desires)

Erotic Imprinting or Conditioning (where strong emotional experiences become sexualized)

There's also the concept of formidability attraction. Basically, being drawn to partners who seem physically powerful or intimidating, sometimes as a result of living in threatening environments. So in theory, if someone has experienced SA, and you treat that as being part of a broader context of danger, you might expect that to influence what they’re attracted to, including, potentially, monsters.

But! These theories don’t all frame that connection the same way. Some suggest those preferences are adaptive, like choosing a protector in a dangerous world. Others see them more as coping mechanisms or as the result of trauma-related rewiring.

All that just to say, I’m really relieved that my data didn’t show a connection between past SA or DV and monster attraction. Particularly because if it had, I would’ve had to make some seriously uncomfortable arguments. Like… try explaining that in a defense presentation without wanting to melt through the floor. And more importantly, that kind of narrative, framing teratophilia as trauma-based, could easily be misused in harmful ways. So yeah. Big sigh of relief.

[teratophiliologist]

Some Fun Exploratory Analyses!

Turns out I hallucinated scheduling this weeks ago. Anyway! As promised, here’s the infographic I made with the data I got when I finally got to dig deeper and just… play around a little.

(If you missed the demographic breakdowns & hypothesis testing, you can catch up on them in pt.1.)

[teratophiliologist]

Kissing Fish

[teratophiliologist]

Art by 🔞Spit Tits🔞┊bluesky: liiwabeans

[teratophiliologist]

Art by Hamlet Machine ┊bluesky: hamletmachine ┊X: Hamlet_Machine

[teratophiliologist]

[teratophiliologist]

The assumption, from an evolutionary psychology perspective, that trans people should be considered as their opposite gender is completely baseless. Especially in the context of sexuality. In fact, I've seen a lot to suggest that trans women align with cis women when it comes to the nature of their attraction, and same with trans men and cis men.

I don't believe you're a bigot, but the basic fact of the matter is, whether or not you meant to, you have perpetrated a systematic degendering of every transgender person who volunteered their stories to your survey.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share this, I really appreciate it. I want to clarify a few things and acknowledge where I went wrong.

First off, you’re absolutely right that using AGAB (assigned gender at birth) in analyses can misrepresent trans participants’ experiences, and I regret that my approach contributed to that. It was never my intention to degender anyone, but I see how the methodology I used, rooted in evolutionary frameworks that often flatten gender complexity, could have had that exact effect.

To clarify, the data in my thesis came from a study conducted in 2023/2024, not the more recent survey (which I’m analyzing with a different, more inclusive approach). My use of AGAB wasn’t based on the assumption that trans people’s attractions align with their assigned gender; it was, admittedly, a flawed methodological shortcut rooted in tradition rather than inclusivity. Evolutionary anthropology has a long history of relying on binary sex categories, and I didn’t yet have the tools to properly integrate more nuanced gender data into that framework. I should also note that my thesis advisor provided relatively limited guidance; one of the few concrete suggestions I received was to use AGAB, largely because my more nuanced gender identity and expression data proved too messy to integrate cleanly and because it made the analysis more manageable, which is how I landed here.

My research wasn’t focused on sexuality or gender identity per se, but on how monster attraction might relate to evolutionary mate choice signals like beauty, protection, or power. Still, that doesn’t justify the oversight, and I fully agree that AGAB‑based analyses can obscure or erase trans participants’ realities, especially in a study meant to take those realities seriously. I’m actively trying to improve on this in my future work, so if you have any studies or resources you’d recommend on more inclusive methods or findings about trans attraction patterns within evolutionary psychology and anthropology, I’d be truly grateful.

[teratophiliologist]

The moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived!

I’m finally sharing the results of my thesis, Bump in the Night, the first official academic study on teratophilia!

More data (including some exploratory stuff) will be posted soon, so stay tuned for part 2.

Hope you all enjoy! (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)

Sidenote: if you only want the data skip to the 3rd photo.

[teratophiliologist]

From the artists Temptress AU┊Bluesky: maiqo ┊ X: _maiqo

(Heads up: Their art is mostly F/F and Genshin Impact/Honaki StarRail related.)

[teratophiliologist]

The mothman invites you on a date. Will you accept his offer? 💕💕💕

[teratophiliologist]

Beastly Bytes #1: Delicious Date

Can you (mentally) survive a date with Angel?

Story: You've finally struck gold when you matched with a cute guy on a dating app and scored yourself a date! However, as your time together prolongs, your flirtatious and charming companion may be more than he seems.

Features:

~7.5k words in total

3 endings

Partial voice acting (full voice acting in a future update)

Triggers: Vorarephilia, Cannibalism(?), Gore in one ending, Profanity, Shaking screen

My thoughts: If you're looking for a short monster dating sim with cute art, bits of horror, and slight Yandere vibes, I recommend giving this one a try. I stumbled upon this game (visual novel) a while back but was just now able to play it. The story was pretty cute, and I enjoyed trying to get the different endings. Don't want to say too much in case I spoil something. Hope you enjoy it!

Available on: Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Click here to check out the game!

[teratophiliologist]

Was sketching Poseidon and uh-