#mmpa

i wish i drew in the arcane art style 24/7....

I did a whole face/art style study rq before drawing this^

WHEEEE

Happy #SeaOtterAwarenessWeek! What better way to celebrate than with #TwoTruthsTuesday?

Do you know which of these three statements isn't true about the sea otter? Let us know in the comments!

1. Sea otters are a keystone species.

2. Sea otters have more fur per square inch than any other mammal.

3. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the only national marine sanctuary sanctuary that sea otters inhabit.

Did you know this incredible photo is also a stamp? Learn more about #NationalMarineSanctuariesStamps:

Maybe More People Are Arospec, 3/3 - The Alloaro Edition, in which we cover some alloaro specific (negative) tropes that I personally believe is the reason why there are so few people who identify as alloaro 🙃

I both have everything and nothing to say on this one, because the topic at hand hits home harder than I want to admit 😔. I think it's important to acknowledge the harm that constantly enforcing these ideas about sex without romance as being inherently emotionally drainining, a sign of emotional immaturity, or predatory, etc. probably damages the self-perception and self-worth of most alloaros greatly. Of course,:I understand that NOT ALL highlighted are inherently related to being alloaro - but the way these ideas are framed, especially in the split panel, imply sex without romance is the root of the problem, which in reality it is not. A lack of communication, respect for other's boundaries, or being flat out a predator is the actual issue here.

Anyway, I do understand the intersection of different issues that lead to the ideas that I referenced in the comic (elaborated more in the comments). I suppose the solution, as usual, is more education and more nuance surrounding the discussion 😅😉

I'm so glad to finally have this last part of the series up! I hope you enjoyed the ride, and for sure let me know if there's anything else that I haven't covered here you think also keeps people from realizing that they're aromantic 💚💚💚

[Image Description:

Slide 1: Celia sits on a green armchair in a living room. "Actually, let's make this take even more spicy - maybe a lot more people are alloaro in particular."

Slide 2: She looks down. "Alloaros are more likely to be labelled as heartless, or feel that on top of being 'broken' there's something predatory about themselves -"

Slide 3: "There's this idea that people who only want sex, and not romance, are the kind of people you want to avoid. Who don't care who they hurt. You know the trope - "

Slide 4: An illustrated example of the stereotypical trope. Shown is a house party where two characters are interacting. A taller man leans over a clearly intimidated woman:

"Hey Babe, you alone here tonight?" "Umm …" "Come on, don't be so cold, why don't you loosen up a little?" "No, uh-"

An arrow points to the man that says ""the predatory-college-fuckboy-frat-bro-trope"

Slide 5: Another series of examples, this time illustrated from Celia's childhood. The panel is split into three as you progress through the years. In each section Celia watches a television show.

1: "You can't trust him, ALL he does is sleep around - he's never settled down" 2: "Sorry I'm only looking for something casual right now …" "You're scared of commitment" "No, I-" "You're just using me!" 3: "At least it happened with someone who's loved her and been dating her forever", this is in reference to a teenaged character having sex the first time.

In this last section celia says, forlorn, "There's something wrong with ME, isn't there?"

Slide 6: Celia speaks to viewer directly. "I sure as hell didn't want to admit I was Aro because I knew I wasn't Ace."

Slide 7: "So yeah, those are my thoughts. I've told my allo friends about my theories and they …"

Slide 8: "… didn't exactly believe me." Celia is shown video chatting with her friend, saying "So those are my theories as to why romantic attraction is probably less common than we think, and why there's probably way more Aro people! People are probably too embarassed to admit it because stigma or never even realized it!"

Friend awkwardly says "I … I'm sorry I gotta say I don't agree …"

Maybe More People Are Arospec, 2/3 -So explain the note from slide 5 : As a gray-aro, I want to clarify that most with this label experience gray-aromanticism differently. I can only speak for my own experiences, which is that I don't experience romantic attraction but (in the past) have experienced something that was close enough/briefly maybe the real thing (?) that I can know when attraction ISN'T romantic. (You can read more in my "Squishes vs. Crushes" comic by scrolling down further on my page 🐸) I’m only including this point because this ACTUAL conversation illustrates how much arospec people get told what we’re feeling, even when (in my case at least) we clearly know otherwise.

Which, speaking of - there are SO MANY MOMENTS in this part of the comic that are reinterpretations of things that I've genuinely experienced 😫😫 Sometimes I wonder what took me so long to accept my aromanticism, and moments like what I showed, especially the speech bubbles in the second last slide - gosh. There's a lot to unpack there 🙃 I think if there’s one thing that really surprised me to realize as I made this series, it’s the amount of casual arophobia that’s just … woven into so many stories and common ideologies. And though there’s a lot of work that needs to be done on that front, I will say that on the bright side realizing my identity has allowed me to confront and start to unlearn these harmful sentiments. Like actually understanding it’s not my FAULT that I’m arospec, nor is the expression of my aromanticism a fault of any kind to begin with - it’s really helped improve my mental health these past few years 💚💚

I've also got an update more about my personal life in the comments! But barring that, hello everyone, I'm glad to have this up now and I hope you're all doing well too and taking care of yourself this *holiday* season 🐸💚!!!

[Image Description:

Slide 1: Celia again sits on a green armchair in a living room. "Feelings are murky, and romantic attraction is perhaps the most poorly defined of them all. Ask any two people, and you'll get different answers"

Slide 2: "So … wouldn't it be logical to assume that because society categorizes ANY strong positive emotion for others as romantic love -"

Drawing of a classroom (based off of something Celia would have seen growing up in Health class anyway). Teacher, a faceless ginger woman stands talking gesturing towards a screen.

Screen says: "Signs of romantic love", with smaller icons underneath labelled "you think about them often", "you want to plan a future with them", "you always feel like smiling when you're with them"

The teacher says "True love is a wonderful experience - we'll be going over some of the ways …"

Slide 3: Continued text from last slide "-that maybe, a lot of people miscategorize their feelings for people (especially 'straight' attraction) as romantic attraction?

In this scene a girl seems to be flustered by an aesthetically attractive man winking at her. But in the background you see her thoughts, which ramble on:

"Wow he is so cool! And … he's talking to me? OH MY GOD. Oh no my hair is sucha mess I hope it looks okay? At least I'm wearing my matching hair bows today … Wait do I have a CRUSH on him? I .. don't think so. But I'm also feeling butterflies right? Doesn't that mean I like him?"

Slide 4: "I've been told when I've described my squishes -"

Celia standing in the scene against a blank background. She's describing a squish to someone off panel.

"I don't really know how to describe it … like for some reason you just feel safer and happier to be around them, and you want them to be present in your life, for a long time -"

Someone off panel says "Oh, that just means you're in love" - which is noted in the bottom of the panel that this was referring to romantic love, based on an actual conversation Celia has had.

Slide 5: Celia responds to previous panel. She looks unimpressed and says "… I'm gray-aromantic. I know what a 'crush' feels like. I know that isn't it."

(another note directs reader to description for more information)

Slide 6: Shot switches back to Celia in her armchair. She says "I've heard aros who dated before they realized their identity say that they thought everyone just played along with social norms for romance"

Slide 7: "So I wonder, in a society that demonizes those who say they don't feel the same 'spark' that everyone else describes -"

A boy is drawn sitting at a desk as though in school. In the background speech bubbles paraphrasing common arophobic sentiments in the background:

"He's evil. Of course he wouldn't understand what it means to feel love."

"But like, why can't she feel the same way for him? He's perfect for her - I just don't get what's WRONG with her"

"He's so weird - did you hear how he's never been in a relationship?"

Maybe More People Are Arospec, 1/4 - I return, a month later with increasingly spicy takes 😩

... anwyay, welcome to my new series! 🐸🐸 It’s again something that’s been in the works for a while (hence the hairstyle change lol, I started drawing this 4 months ago). As for the comic itself, I think most of what I have to say about the subject will come in the next few parts, so please bear with me as I try to get it out while I deal with studio chaos 😭

For this particular l post - I did want to talk about how much pressure exists, socially, to go out with other people even when you’re not exactly “feeling it”. While the example illustrated is a bit … direct 😅 (though I feel like I’ve seen this exact plot at LEAST once in a sitcom), it unfortunately is a sentiment I feel, at least, that amatonormativity pushes onto people. And whether it’s something someone pressures themselves into, or is peer pressured by others into - it’s always confused me why anyone would think it’s a good idea. If someone doesn't seem ready to go on a date/pursue some kind of romantic action ... why should they feel any pressure to do so? If they do have feelings and they're not ready, the date will only be more enjoyable if they're in the right frame of mind. And if they don't have feelings ... why should they force themselves to do that? 😭😭😔

I don't know, I guess it makes me question, like why is it that choosing to stay single is always seen as the “boring” and “sad” option? And perhaps more importantly, why is it generally socially acceptable to pressure someone into doing anything they may not want to? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Image Description:

Slide 1: Celia sits on a green armchair in a living room, speaking to the reader, "You know, I’ve thought about it quite a bit, and I have a flaming hot take -"

Slide 2: "MAYBE more people are actually arospec! And they just don’t realize it?"

A chibi version of Celia stands presenting the take, which is hand lettered in a large font.

Slide 3: Celia continues speaking, "Amatonormativity doesn’t even let people consider the possibility of no romantic feelings at all whatsoever -"

Slide 4: If you’re not straight, then you must be by default gay.

In the center of the slide two blank people are drawn. On the left, a person with a "straight" symbol drawn on the chest with a number of question marks around them. An arrow to the right shows the same person, now with a gay male symbol drawn. They appear to be confused.

Being arospec (and in a broader sense, aspec) isn’t an option.

Slide 5: Celia continues, "And maybe people don’t necessarily want romance that strongly – I feel like the social pressure to do it plays a big factor."

Slide 6: "It's a common trope I see in media, where someone is feeling uncertain about their romantic life, and their friends push them into going out -"

A scene is drawn with two random characters. A south asian boy with an undercut is shown speaking to a white girl with long wavy brown hair who is sitting at her desk reading a book. He says "Aw, come on, I know you like him! Hey you know I could introduce you -", while she says "I- I don't know if I'm, uh, ready for that-"

Slide 7: "- even though they might be showing signs of visible discomfort?"

Saturdays are for the seals!