unholyangeldust

[unholyangeldust]

HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO PUNISH A KNIGHT WHO BLUSHES AND SMILES EVERY TIME YOU TRY

[unholyangeldust]

as a fat person who's always clamoring for more interesting fat characters in media, I honestly think one of my all-time favorite depictions of a fat character is Jumba from the original Lilo and Stitch - both visually and personality wise

from a design perspective, even though he's an alien, he has so many little anatomy quirks that make him a more believable fat character than many fat human designs in other media. I love the realistic sag and layering of the fat on his arms, the lack of neck definition, the rim of chub around his face and upper back, the way his back is rounded. his clothes pull taut and pinch in anatomically accurate places (e.g. shoulders are firmer = smoother outlines, the sides and back are squishier = bumpier outlines).

and he's stylized so well! all these great details boiled down to some simple shapes and pen strokes. IMO the Lilo and Stitch art style is extremely appealing - it's warm and clean and visually pleasing, but every character is super unique. Jumba isn't supposed to be pretty, but even though he's a very large, very fat, bald older guy who spends most of the movie in crop tops, the way he's stylized and staged makes it clear the audience is supposed to find him interesting to look at, and variably intimidating/cool/powerful/capable. he's often funny, but the physical aspect of his comedy is derived from being so hefty the other characters struggle to prevent him from barreling ahead and doing whatever he wants; being fat makes him come off more in control of the funny situations he gets into, not less. also, because the art style is what it is, a lot of his character acting also just makes him look kind of cute ... though that's universal across the cast

I also really like the fact that his size clearly gives him both realistic advantages and realistic disadvantages. along with having a stronger sense of agency in the comedic scenes, his size in combination with his impulsivity also makes him a more intimidating antagonist. you never know what he's going to do, and his size makes it difficult for other characters to stop him when he's made up his mind. at the same time, it seems to take him longer to catch his breath, he sometimes grunts when moving around a lot to imply it takes more effort, and he clearly struggled to find clothes that fit him when putting together his disguise. I think it's awesome that the character's size impacts how he interacts with the world so much, and again, in relatable ways

and personality wise, it is ALWAYS great to see fat characters portrayed as intelligent - not only is Jumba an accomplished scientist, he's also crafty and witty! a few quiet scenes imply a philosophical side, as he ponders on Stitch's existence and feelings as a living weapon. with Stitch explicitly being made in his own image to an extent, I'd argue there's even room to interpret some of the things he says about Stitch being hints to how he sees himself; we never learn much about Jumba's past, but it's clear he's a social misfit and strongly defiant. I don't think it's a stretch to assume some of what he said to Stitch about being a monster who can never belong anywhere was intended to read as projection (which makes it all the more heartwarming when both of them find a place to belong on Earth)

it's also a nice twist that toward the end, Jumba is the one who is unexpectedly compassionate toward Nani, while Pleakley tries to urge him to ignore her. again alluding to a level of emotional depth and intelligence that is often missing from even well-intentioned depictions of fat people. his character isn't even fully explored, and yet he's one of the most dynamic and interesting supporting characters in a movie full of fantastic characters. the audience is expected to find him fascinating and even sort of mysterious, and he is!

the sequels and spinoffs were more merchandise-driven franchise fluff for kids than the artsy direction of the original movie, but even so, I remember Jumba went on to become Lilo's lovable, amoral uncle figure, which I also thought was so fun as a kid. I love that they committed to the fact that he was more caring and compassionate than he seemed. not only was he a cool evil mad scientist character, but he was also eventually ... a friend ...

and he was even gay

[unholyangeldust]

after a suicide attempt in 2016

[unholyangeldust]

in a world where a prominent branch of anti-trans activism focuses on fearmongering about "parents' rights," trans rights and youth rights become inextricable.

trans kids deserve to be called the right pronouns and the right name by schools and doctor's offices, regardless of "parental consent." trans kids deserve to undergo the right puberty at the same time as their cis peers, regardless of "parental consent."

the very concept of "parents' rights" is a smokescreen that enables the abuse and dehumanization of children by adults. this is bad for cis kids, too.

[unholyangeldust]

Not all venom fans are monster fuckers 😞 some of us are just aroace disasters who like the idea of a platonic soulmate who likes to murder annoying people for you, is that so bad?

[unholyangeldust]

I had to do that… it’s just smol silly Stols >:з

Reference:

[unholyangeldust]

Huhu, no sé Owo

[unholyangeldust]

The sentences "Asexuals can still have sex" and "Aromantics can still date" need to go up on the high shelf for everyone except aces and aros talking about their own experiences. From now on, everyone else has to use the revolutionary new phrase "Asexuals and aromantics can do whatever the fuck they want forever."

[unholyangeldust]

Hehehee comic time

I can’t frickin draw Val I swear 😭😭😭 anyways I tried. Honestly idk what inspired the whole comic thing originally it was just supposed to be tired vox bc I was projecting…. but it turned out like this so here have it

Uhhhhh. Yeah I apologise in advance for the terrible cursive writing and val’s devious cake

[unholyangeldust]

give youre maid a knife. you will not regret. you wont. nothing to regret. do it. my knife #myknife i mean #herknife

[unholyangeldust]

Doomed by the narrative.

[unholyangeldust]

Ok bear with me.

She-ra is literally the antithesis of all of those superhero films from a gender perspective. You see these superheros that get popular (or any sort of magic world-saving story) and the majority of the cast is men with the exception of one female character. And all of the characters have to have their own strengths and powers, and even though they could give anyone anything (because again, it’s fiction) the token woman always ends up with archery or maybe not even a power, she’s just smart.

The problem with this is that there’s no reason a woman couldn’t have super strength. But these narratives always imply that a woman can’t possibly be better at anything that requires physical strength than a man, even in these supernatural scenarios.

This is why she-ra is so amazing. Bow is the token male character who is smart and good at archery, while almost all of the female characters are the ones with the power, especially she-ra, who has super strength among other abilities. Even Catra, someone who doesn’t have any powers, rose to power with her intellect and ambition, the latter of which women rarely have in these narratives (side note: if this wasn’t a kids show, and this was a possibility, I would also point out that the writers also did good by not making her more of a seductress, since that’s what Villian Cat Lady is synonymous to in this industry)

Idk. I just think it’s neat to see the gender roles flipped.

[unholyangeldust]

You know what really proves the decline in clothing quality? The fact that mosquitos can bite you through jeans. That should not be allowed.

[unholyangeldust]

the thing about writing about religious themes and experiences is that you will write about that feeling of inescapable wrongness and people in workshops will ask you well what does this speaker think they've done wrong. what is the sin that the narrator's so caught up on. what does it mean to them when they say they're bad. what have they done that makes them feel so irredeemable. and it feels kind of like running face-first into a brick wall over and over trying to communicate without outright saying it that sometimes there is nothing specific to be guilty over. sometimes it's not an act. sometimes it's existence. sometimes it's not a fact about you. sometimes it's the way that the world around you constantly presses the idea into your head that you are a creature made up of something unclean so that when you consider what about you is sinful the answer is just everything. like i don't have time to explain that in every poem man

[unholyangeldust]

Support me on PATREON or Ko-fi 💕

[unholyangeldust]

block & report @//mockingjaimes for harassment everyone <3 he's been commenting under tons of proship posts

[unholyangeldust]

tbh i think the funniest phenomena that's been happening in the last couple years is "youtuber, having gone too deep into the research hole, has been made an investigative journalist against their will"