I think if you said that to the medieval artist they’d just go, “oh good you understand my vision”.
Like… that’s 100% what they’re going for. Does the tweeter think it looks like that by accident?
I apologize, but I’m taking this as an excuse to infodump just a little. I am excited to tell you a number of things.
First, it is genuinely medieval; that’s a pilgrim badge. This particular photo may actually be a replica of the original – I’m not sure – but it’s a medieval design.
Second, it’s definitely supposed to be a vagina. It might also represent Jesus’s side wound, but it’s primarily a vagina. We know this because the “anthropomorphic vagina” thing is a recurring motif in pilgrim badges and a lot of those badges also have dicks, a context which I think makes the intent clear. (And, of course, there are plenty of badges that are just dicks.)
Third, nobody is exactly sure why this is a thing, but there is some ongoing academic debate on the subject. I’ve seen arguments for different theories, including:
some kind of apotropaic function
medieval hookup culture
funy
Fourth, two badges have been found with this design, and it has developed a colloquial name – here’s an excerpt from an M.A. thesis by Lena Mackenzie Gimbel that mentions it. (I was just doing a quick check through the library catalog to make sure I could verify this was a real design, and then I found this source and had to show y'all the screenshot.)
ALT
I love the Middle Ages, and so much of it is just objectively friggin’ goofy. Also I will be referring to kings as “god’s favorite munchkins” in future, thank you.
Reminder that the characters in the Canterbury Tales - some of the raunchiest stories available in any age - are religious pilgrims.
Medieval pilgrims were, at least some of the time, horny as fuck.
I did a work exchange at a museum in the netherlands for a bit when I was 16, and they had a whole cabinet in one of the stable storage rooms just dedicated to drawers and drawers of pilgrim badges shaped like dicks. big dicks, small dicks, fat dicks, skinny dicks, dicks in hats, regal dicks, dicks disguised as birds, dicks disguised as beasts, dicks disguised as pilgrims, ornate dicks, crude dicks. the curator who showed me around was so defeated like “we have no idea what to do with them all. people keep finding them and sending them to us. every time someone digs up a water main they find another dick badge. we have so many already.”
Thank goodness I can now reblog a version of this which points out that yes it is indeed 100% a vagina
Reminds me of when I tried to find one of these on tumblr once
Literally 1984. Medieval pilgrims were raunchier than us 😔
Oh hey! One of my friends is a medievalist and has written papers about these, she has infodumped to me about them a bazillion times.
Her theory is that these may have been satirical items – that, essentially, what these badges are saying is ‘look how silly these women being out on their own are, isn’t it ridiculous to see women traveling alone, they might as well just be wandering vaginas.’ The dicks carrying around the vulva is a further statement of ridiculousness, basically.
The idea of 'hysteria’ literally being 'wandering wombs’ means it’s sort of a … visual pun? 'Look at these hysterical women just wandering around like their loose wombs.’
Dunno if it’s true or not, because we really don’t know for sure, but that’s her theory!
If you have @jstor access, there’s a review of her book which talks about this here:
I suspect that non-medievalists probably aren’t aware of a) the VAST profusion of penises, vaginas, and other genital/phallic symbols in medieval art (especially religious art) and b) the fact that yes, all of these things are put together with intense layers of symbolism about Christ’s wounds, the (sexual) mystic experience of the divine, and the general Gender Fuckery that goes on in even a cursory examination of medieval popular mysticism, including that performed by prominent female and even nonbinary or transgender (as we would call them) individuals. This is not to posit a la John Boswell that the medieval Catholic church was an explicit vehicle for social acceptance of gay/queer people, but it does mean that queerness, gender, religion, femininity, and masculinity were all intertwined and represented in any number of ways in devotional art, including (as evidenced above) in pilgrim badges given to believers who had made the physical journey to holy sites such as Santiago de Compostela and Jerusalem, and that queerness and religion were NOT mutually exclusive in the medieval world. Indeed, medieval religion offered certain avenues and experiences by which to conceptualize, imagine, enact, or glorify queerness in ways that were less licit elsewhere, and shows yet again the uselessness of the Medieval Catholic Church Always Bad Mind Control Humorless Murder Blah Blah Blah stereotype. Yes, they did do a lot of murder, but there was also this.
The fact that the Pussy Goes A-Ridin’ vagina pilgrim badge looks like Jesus’s side wound (as noted in the first set of tag above) is not coincidental in the least; there is a vast corpus of scholarship dedicated to studying, shall we say, the yonic resonances in this imagery and what it was intended to imply about the gender or gender experience of the medieval viewer in relation to Christ and Christ himself. There are too many examples of scholarship about this for me to cite here, but I’m happy to dig up more if anyone’s interested in Yes Jesus’s Wound Looks Like a Pussy, It’s Intentional and Please Do Read Into It. Likewise, it wasn’t just that this mystic devotion to the queerly gendered body of Jesus criss-crossed masculinity and femininity, but sometimes transcended them altogether. Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography, an award-winning scholarly collection that came out a few years ago, examines all of this in more detail, but there’s also a chapter entitled “Gender-Querying Christ’s Wounds: A Non-Binary Interpretation of Christ’s Body in Late Medieval Imagery” that puts some of these discussions into context and explains how the wounds of Christ, especially that suspiciously vagina-looking side wound, played into a rich visual history and intertextuality of feminine, queer, non-binary, and proto-trans theologies and experiences.
So yes: the imagery does exist on purpose, it’s real, it ties into a many-layered discourse about gender, sexuality, queerness, religion, physicality, and femininity, and those interpretations are not just modern conceits but exactly what the original medieval artists were in fact going for, and what they would expect to be understood.
I’m crying y'all I use pinterest to to look up model/fashion shoots to use as reference for poses to exercise my shitty drawing skills, and today I was looking for pics of someone smoking when
Please i need somebody with better skills than me to draw this as Rosinante because those are his vibes
shit man tomorrow is christmas eve i swear yesterday was June 2010
As is tradition in tumblr culture the locals unearth the corpse of a long deceased figure and drag it across the streets merrily, laughing at what is preserved of the person’s words. This custom, seen as morbid in other cultures, is instead done gleefully and with an unmatched enthusiasm
trying out a little animation in procreate dreams just to find out that gif export is not a thing yet lmao. Used a years-old Ace doodle from one of my sketchbooks for this. Good thing nothing bad ever happened to him huh!
There have been a couple of posts going around about how smut writers have the challenge of keeping a sex scene interesting when there’s only a few different actions and a few different body parts to talk about
And yes, funny jokes about writing, but when I see posts like these I want to scream
If you feel like the sex scene you’re writing is repetitive, no number of synonyms for “thrust” will help you. Synonyms for “cock” or “cunt” will REALLY not help you.
Sex scenes are character studies as much as they are action scenes. What are the characters’ frameworks for what they’re doing? Emotions, thoughts, specific physical sensations. If there are metaphors, do the metaphors make sense with the characters’ experiences/the story’s theme’s/the setting? Is the sex scene completing a character arc, even a small one? Is there a character arc within the sex scene itself, even a small one?
A really good sex scene is specific and grounded to the physicality, emotions, and thoughts of the characters involved. Even if it’s a PWP!
It’s been said that the largest sex organ is the brain, and this is not a joke, especially when we’re talking about the medium of the written word!
This is why I always say that good characterization is important, that even a PWP should obviously feature two distinct characters recognizable by more than the names on the page. This is why fanfic is hotter to me than random erotica about two people I don’t know from Adam.
There is so much more to sex than the actions being performed. I’ve been told by a reader that they are impressed with how much story is in my smut, how much pathos. But that’s where the sexy is. Different people react differently in those situations. And even when the actions are straightforward, it means something different to each character. And if you’re just writing what they do and not what they think or feel about what’s happening, then you might as well be writing an instruction manual or something. Insert peg A into slot B. Of course that isn’t sexy.
It’s not hard to make every sex scene unique and interesting. Whether the act is monumental or perfunctory is part of the story, grounded in character. Each would result in a very different passage, even if both were written with identical actions. If you’re bored with a sex scene, it’s not been grounded in character and/or it’s completely unconcerned with story. If it’s not grounded in character, what’s the point? Might as well go look up something on porn hub.
08/09/23 TW: Child Slave, alludes to past child abuse and neglect, four grown men try to figure out what to do with a small girl.
Summary: 273 is a nameless child slave with only a number for identity, who hopes to escape her abusive captors. During a fight with another pirate crew, the perfect opportunity to run presents itself. She sneakily manages to stowaway on the new pirates’ ship and hides herself. But what will happen when the crew of this infamous ship finds her before she has a chance to leave for land?
He’s a long way from home–from the North Blue, definitely, but also from the Grandline for sure–in his quest to find the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates while avoiding other pirates and Marines alike. He was supposed to be dead, after all, but as he came ashore on the monstrous black bike calming spewing what appeared to be dark flames from the exhausts which propelled the bike, he paused at the welcoming party that greeted him. Samurai–and several of them, in fact. Oh dear. Disembarking, the few minutes that Thatch spent talking with them was fruitless, and though the country was apparently closed off to everyone, he kept his hood upon his head, upper half of his face completely concealed. Once he left here, it would have to stay that way, so it made no sense to reveal himself at this point, anyway. When his connection to his long-time friend was called into question, even that was met with suspicion, and well, it just wasn’t turning out into a good situation … especially with his own situation being hard to explain. If only Izo could come–if only they’d call him–maybe things would … smooth out … ? / IZO!! /o/
♞ 𓏬 How long had it been since he was able to relax in such a manner? Ever since he was young he had been jumping from one adventure to the next. Accidentally setting sail with the Whitebeard pirates was the greatest one. Hectic constantly but full of fun. Up until the end, and oh how he wished it didn’t end. His eyes shifted upwards at the calm blue sky, before closing. Taking in the peaceful sounds around him. The man still felt content with this, following what was his fate in a big circle. At least with Wano being save it set his heart at ease.
He would have fallen asleep where he sat if the silence wasn’t interrupted. A couple men coming up to his spot on the porch, clearly concerned. Whispers from them of a outsider claiming to know him. Izo understood their suspicion, after all who would be asking for a supposed dead man?
The man was quick to get ready― just needed to grab his guns. Then he followed the others to stranger. It all took one glance to answer his question. Of course it would be another dead man searching for him.
❝Thatch!!❞ Even with the hood drawn up, even with it being a couple of years, the recognition was instant. the cautious face pace was abandoned as he ran forward, arms outreached to grab the other into a tight embrace.
Saw this cool site shared around, setteidreams.net. It has collections of reference art and models for a lot of different anime. I’ll definitely have fun with these. Wano’s has not been uploaded yet sadly so we cannot do fairest Okiku…but have an Izo! All the Division Commanders had one in the Marineford album. Love how the big “Well Ace’s little brother, exhausted already?” shot is one they included. Nice focus on the gun. It’s cool how the shine on his hair is highlighted.
I am SO SORRY for the two months delay but I really had issues writing this request. I started it over about 7 times… But I am FINALLY content with it. SO here we go !
Scenario 1 : continuously denying others who think they are together
Izo x GN!Reader // Words : 2.3K // Warnings : few swearing (no beta reader).
« Are you two dating?”
The first time someone asked you this question, it was Thatch, during a lunch.
“Why. No?” You were as confused as Izo was. Nothing was going on between you. You were just friends. Thatch didn’t insist. You had no idea what made him think like this…
Character: Izo Reader: gender neutral Word Count: 890 CW: domestic fluff, hair care (I tried to make it as neutral as possible but since every type of hair needs different treatment, it might not be accurate for all; I based it mainly on my experience with wavy, easy to tangle hair) A/N: back to the raffle posting, this time a thingie for @bepoprotectionsquad who asked for domestic mutual selfcare & relax with Izo and Reader. I’m here to deliver <3
“May I?” Izo nods towards the dressing table as soon as you drop the bathrobe on the chair next to the bed. You were sure he’d been long asleep, given he barely returned from a mission, but he’s been waiting for you instead, his eyes almost piercing you with pleading.
You haven’t even agreed nor denied, and he’s already mid-action, reaching for the towel on your head. Leaning down—with a smile, it’s such a treat to be the one towering over him for once—you let him indulge and lead you into the magic time of spoiling. Despite impatience, his hands are gentle and precise; once he’s got you within his reach, he’s not rushing anymore, his attention swallowed whole by the task.
“Did something happen?” Hair and skin care, be it his or yours, are one of Izo’s favorite coping methods. If he’s so eager to do it for you, the need for a relief from something must be exceptionally itchy.
“Nothing worth worrying about,” he promises, kissing your temple. He’s not wearing his usual make up, lips free of lipstick are even softer and moister. “Just people tired.”
ALT
