#shotglass

hes not a futch hopefully well pass these widowing times and draw her as a futch

someday ..

and YES they should definitely kiss

A little girl stood silently in front of a long, modern mirror, her mother right behind her. She carefully reached up at her face towards a zit, but she paused before she did anything.

"But... but it'll hurt, mama."

"Just do it."

"...But it'll be all bloody and gross, mama."

The mother grabbed her child's wrist and forced her to touch the zit. "I told you to do it, didn't I?" With her other hand, she made the girl's fingers close around it. "I don't appreciate your tone, young lady."

"W-Won't it go away in time?!-- O-Ow!!"

The zit popped, making a tiny hole of blood on her face. She whimpered, trying to wipe away the blood just for there to be more coalescing on the tiny pore.

"See? It's only a drop of blood. You're fine. Now fix..." The woman gestured to the girl's face with a vague wave. "...everything else. And don't forget to wash it and do your routine."

The girl waited until her mother was fully gone until she reached for another one. Her hands shook as it popped, and she bit down on her lip, trying to get used to the weird stinging as she popped another and another and another because it was what her mother ordered.

After her face was scarred with bloody pores and her skin felt raw with sweat and scratches, she splashed water all over her face and reached for the face wash and then the whitening cream and-

A man walked up behind her. "Little butterfly, what are you doing?" His tone was filled with concern as he gently took her hand to keep her from using the cream. He suppressed a gasp seeing her face.

"I'm- I'm doing what Mama said to do."

"Love, do you know what these things do?"

The little girl stopped before shaking her head slowly. "Mama said it would make me prettier, but..."

He quickly interrupted her. "No. No, no, no, this doesn't make you prettier." He stumbled over his words, trying to explain but unable to do so. "How can you be prettier when you're already the prettiest little girl ever?"

She giggled a little before frowning. "Why would Mama lie to me?"

"...Mama lies about a lot of things," he said, running her hand under the cold water of the sink to wash off all of the different substances. "You don't need to do any of this, is what I mean. Just- just- this, this thing you h-had on your hands, this cream, it makes your skin, uh, lighter in color. And some people think that that makes you prettier, but it really just changes what you look like, changes who you really are."

He hoisted her up in his arms, hugging her to himself. "Some people will do it because they want to, just like how- just like how some people will eat different foods because they want to that some people won't like! But.. but if you're forced to do it, then it's not fun, just how if you were forced to eat a food you didn't even care for it wouldn't be good, right?"

She nodded, processing the analogy the best she could. "But... but what if the food... Issit- issit a yucky food?..."

"...Well, no. It's not particularly a yucky food, but a lot of people will eat it because they think that other foods are yucky foods and this is their, um.. only option. But- but... You know how Mr. Mallory has that darker skin color than Alice?"

"Mhmm?..."

"Well, some people would say that Mr. Mallory would be bad for having that darker skin color, when really it doesn't actually mean anything other than the fact he's different than us!"

"...I think... I think Mama said something like that. That he's gross for being of a... different... et-niss-et-tee."

"Ethnicity. That means she thinks hes bad for being of a different race- a different skin color- yeah? So what this cream does..." He picks the container of whitening cream up. "Is make you even more different than anyone else. And while being different can be cool and fun, this type of being different can be mean to other people who don't have whiter skin like us."

"...So... I shouldn't... Use it?"

"You should only use it if you want to. Not if your mama or me or anyone else does." He boops her nose, which makes her laugh again.

"Okay. And- what about my other face stuff?"

"This other stuff is used to make all of these little dots you popped go away. But you don't have to use it. Some people say it makes you healthier or prettier, but it's really up to you, and I think all those little dots make you perfect, because all those little dots make up you!"

Slowly but surely finally getting some decent merchandise. Still no signs of my fave Ultimate Lifeform, tho 🥺😢