astarion being cat coded and gale being puppy coded and gale being a cat person is everything to me actually

When the netherese orb in your chest ruins your love life for a SECOND time 🤣

what do you know of loss?

no words for how much I adore these two characters and the ways their journeys parallel one another's... take this as part character study (what if they helped each other heal!) and part ship content (they were made for each other...) anyways. the shadowzel illness never stops

We all know Scratch is the best boy 😁 (sorry Gale)

clowning around

happy pride to my fellow trans people who don't have realistic transition goals but would rather be a sexy skeleton or an evil triangle :)

(i'm not too active here so you can find me from twitter @surkea or ig @surkeart bye)

never forget I drew this

be free!!

Baldur's Gate 3 Appropriates Sacred Indigenous Tattoos

I was so disappointed to boot up the character creation for Baldur's Gate 3's full release, only to see they added tattoo designs that are very clearly copying from sacred tattooing practices of the Inuit and the Māori.

^ This is clearly copying Tunniit.

^ This is clearly copying Tā moko.

Please do not use these tattoos. Larian should never have included these designs. I personally plan on modding them out of the game at the first opportunity.

another day in the colonies where video game devs appropriate without care

i still get angry about phasmophobia and how now every gamer wasicu is using the word ‘smudging’ without having any context

i can't speak for inuit so i'm obviously not gonna comment on tunniit being appropriated but in regards to tā moko, since this comes up literally every time our imagery gets appropriated without fail i'll explain to people in the notes who seem confused (and quite hostile actually!) about why this isn't "representation"

first of all, tā moko is sacred. each moko is unique and you're able to trace where you're from, your family, your ancestors, your status, your career/life path (my moko shows other māori that i'm an artist for example! when i add onto it next it'll show that my mother is a musician) and more. it takes an extremely long time to become a qualified moko artist because you have to learn how to show all of these things using specific cultural imagery. it's also drawn freehand onto the skin to fit you perfectly compared to being designed in advance on paper like other tattoos. it is extremely rude to steal someone's moko for Cool Imagery because - sacredness aside - you're copying something completely unique to that person.

in particular facial moko are the most common choices to get lifted by video games as they're the most striking and recognisable. they are also particularly sacred and something that generally requires your community to decide you've "earned" it as they're heavily representative of leadership and respect. not that tā moko in general is something to be taken lightly but face moko is a HUGE step.

and look, a lot of people will disagree on how representation of tā moko should be shown in media. hell, some māori disagree with my choice to portray some of my characters with tā moko and i get where they're coming from! personally i think it's okay to have tā moko in a game if the developers specifically work with and commission a qualified moko artist for a design to match a specific māori character. inversely i think it's not okay to have tā moko as a cookie cutter customisation choice to add to an empty-slate player character. only māori are allowed to get tā moko and it's inappropriate for something so sacred to be available for any random person to make their character look cool. i don't even know a single māori who'd want to use a random moko. like again they're personalised. it'd be shallow and... i dunno, empty. meaningless. i truly have no idea how you would even design tā moko for a blank slate character.

and you know what? none of those nuances between opinions held by māori even matter here! because while these tattoos are clearly appropriative (the kauae/chin moko more obviously so), these are not real tā moko. the symbols are random spirals and lines that are trying to mimic our cultural imagery. there are design choices with both of the tattoos shown here that are leagues beyond just "clumsy", they're specifically stomping on actual moko (e.g. not leaving a blank space down the centre of the face to represent values that are fundamentally ingrained into māori culture and history).

there is a complete lack of understanding of māori art theory in these designs and a complete lack of research done on even the absolute most basic (googleable!) things here. this is not representation, this is a team of people deciding that scary tribal tattoos look cool for their video game.

so i have to ask: why do so many people in the notes of this post (and many other posts that point out appropriation of cultural tattoos) think that we deserve a bullshit knockoff of our sacred practices as "representation"? we've gone through centuries of tā moko being targeted, colonised, systematically destroyed, made illegal, stereotyped as violent criminal/gang tats, decades more of reviving and reclaiming what's rightfully ours no matter the cost (speaking from experience my moko has opened me up to a hell of a lot of racist hatecriming), just to get them time and time again mangled and thrown back at us by AAA companies making millions of dollars off of their games because some dumb fucks in their design studio thought that tribal warrior tats look sick.

why do you think we would want this?

most importantly, why are you speaking for us? if you're saying shit like "wow everyone is so sensitive, what about the people who want representation? what about the māori that want this? 🙄" i would suggest that you think inwardly about why you feel so comfortable speaking for a group of people who did not ask to be spoken for. we're right here, we can speak for ourselves, thanks.

Romantic Crow Doodles

i no longer respect the hustle i want universal basic income and dignity for everyone

i saw a post on twitter by a european saying americans are fake for their random compliments to strangers and their general cheery demeanor and like no. no no no you don’t understand. if you get a random compliment from an american on the street about your outfit or whatever, that is 100% genuine. we mean it. we aren’t lying we are making a small but fleeting connection with you because our lives are shitty but the human condition is enduring. oh god i’m clutching my chest

Some werewolf character concepts I've made during last months.

Do not use, copy or trace my art. Thank you

Just for once I’d like to tell the gate agents and flight attendants that my folding wheelchair is going into the onboard closet and not have them tell me there’s “no room”. Bitch that’s a wheelchair closet, not a “your bags” closet. Move your damn bags where they belong.

Ok, so according to my friendly aviation expert, this is a Big Fucking Deal. In fact, if an airline argues with you about putting your wheelchair in the wheelchair closet or even suggests there may not be room, unless there is already another passenger’s wheelchair in that closet, they have violated federal law.

CFR Title 14, Chapter II, Subchapter D, Part 382, Subpart E, Section 382.67, Subsection (e)

“As a carrier, you must never request or suggest that a passenger not stow his or her wheelchair in the cabin to accommodate other passengers (e.g., informing a passenger that stowing his or her wheelchair in the cabin will require other passengers to be removed from the flight), or for any other non-safety related reason (e.g., that it is easier for the carrier if the wheelchair is stowed in the cargo compartment).”

Source

This is hugely important because it means that if this happens to you, you should report their asses to the DOT. Why? Because these statistics are published every year for every airline, and the airline gets a huge ass fine for every violation. If we want to see change, we need to make airlines literally pay every time they treat us this way.

@annieelainey you should share this with your followers! This is important info!!

To my mutuals on wheels, print out the law before you fly and whip it out at the gate if they don’t accomodate your wheels.

Thanks a lot for posting this, bro! Flying while crippled is already difficult enough without people pulling this kind of shit. Also, make sure that if there is a piece of your wheelchair or something important missing off of it, that you make a big fucking deal out of it! I’ve had pieces fall off of my wheelchair and nearly lost a decoration I had on it that meant a lot to me because people were careless with my chair. Don’t let them mistreat your wheelchair.

Non-wheelchair folks:

Now that you know, speak up.

You never know when you’re going to see someone who needs an ally.

Yes! Let’s share this information and support our friends on wheels.

5 year anniversary of the miette post \o/

995 years left to serve on her term.

— stars & space dividers (moon edition)

Please like or reblog if you use 💕 [sun edition]

— stars & space dividers (sun edition)

Please like or reblog if you use 💕 [moon edition]