[click to proceed past warning, click to zoom, space for individual panels] This was an assignment for the art class I'm taking, but I think it's worth putting here as well. I'm pretty proud of it. The assignment was to explore panel layout and visual story elements in a mundane moment we were familiar with, and we were encouraged to pick something from the last month or two. I have a kind of bad memory, so I picked something I am intimately familiar with; skin picking as a stim. (This is why there is a trigger warning by the way; if things like that make you queasy, feel free to leave. nbd) This is a slight over dramatization of what's happening in my brain, but it's not too much of a stretch. I wanted to explore this topic, make other people realize that it matters in real ways, even if they aren't big ways. I did the first half of this project with a cuticle infection BECAUSE of this kind of occurrence. It's a harmful stim. I don't usually see it listed with hair pulling or banging on your head - and that's fair! Everyone gets hangnails, and picking at your skin isn't on the same level as the other examples in a lot of ways. That said, it still exists, matters, and impacts people. I kind of hate this little "habit" of mine. I get a bit embarrassed about it to tell you the truth; people ask sometimes what's wrong with my legs (scars and scabs from picking). It's not a great feeling. But it's part of me, in a sense, and I'm working on accepting that (as well as picking less). I hope that someone sees this and feels represented or seen. If not, well, that's how it goes sometimes. Art by @imonlyhooman, zooming in code by @colorsnatch.
