⚧

happy pride it’s been one million years since i drew my girls so this took WAY longer then it should’ve

ahhhhh we’re running out of june

a couple more Paradise Pride doodles

But have you considered this?:

✨keep up w my art on insta ✨

Tragic backstories and lgbt+ identities are clearly signs that those are things that the kids creating the ocs live with. Most of those kids struggle with abuse or are lgbt+, and either way need a character to relate to

Self-inserts who hang out with their favorite character or variations on their favorite character? yeah chances are that kid feels pretty alone and needs to feel like someone who they love and look up to respects them back. see the abuse thing again

"Flawless personality" when you feel like everybody hates you you start to feel like a shit person. so having an oc like you who is also flawless is a place to embrace the things you like about yourself and get more self-confidence. I don't know, this one's hard to explain. See the next one

"Overpowered or underpowered" yeah, an OP oc is usually because the kid feelspowerless and helpless and nobody wants that. a relatable oc or self-insert who has lots of power? instant self-confidence boost. If my oc who's like me can have power, so can I. With underpowered characters that's just an outlet of that same frustration

Anyway yeah cringe culture is dead. All this applies to adults too, not just kids! you're never to old to make a fun character!

Plus not to mention that all this stuff specifically preys on neurodivergent kids.

I finished the orchid mantis plush I’ve been working on! They’re easily my favorite species of mantis and I’ve been really wanting to make a plush of a good bug for a while. This was a super fun exercise in figuring out ways to use my embroidery machine to make life easier with small fiddly parts but it all worked out great!