Celebrating Diversity 2023: Arts & Crafts Contest

[Chibi.Hoshi]

Don't bee afraid to show off your sweet roots

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[StarlitGlitch]

It's probably not clear just looking at the photo what this is celebrating, and this was done on purpose.
I have ADHD. But, I keep this a secret at work. At Japanese companies, if you say you're ND or ask for accommodations most often you will be limited for what kind of work you are allowed to do and possibly demoted to a small position that was created to meet the quota for disabled employees. So, I try my best to mask at work and keep up by using online calendars and lists diligently to stay organized.

Outside of work, I am part of a group here in Tokyo for people with "neuro-developmental delays" (that's the wording used here instead of ND). The main topic of discussion is almost always work haha. I really enjoy spending time with other people who are similar to me, and that helps me to gain insight on how to navigate certain aspects of work while having ADHD. Even if I don't tell my work about it, I am not ashamed to have ADHD and consider it an integral part of who I am.

This drawing is in part a hope for a future where people here will be able to share their disabilities without fear of it affecting their careers.

 

[LadyDestani]

Whew! I finally finished it. I am by no means an artist but I put a lot of time and thought into this entry. Please ignore the fact that I screwed up my proportions so badly on Dora that she's somehow larger than Grizzly.

For my entry I decided to create a brand new Animal Crossing holiday called Uniquely You Day! On the week leading up to the holiday, you are allowed to submit designs that represent you to be displayed as flags in front of the Town Hall. For myself, I chose the following flags:

Left - Polysexual flag to represent my sexuality
Middle - Mental health awareness flag to represent my own depression and anxiety as well as other mental illnesses in my family
Right - National flag of the Netherlands to represent my Dutch ancestry

On Uniquely You Day, your villagers will gather in front of town hall wearing apparel and carrying accessories that represent their own diversity. If you speak to them, they will share unique facts about their species or the countries they come from.

I chose to draw Grizzly representing the US as grizzly bears are native to parts of the US. He's wearing a shirt with the blue background and white stars of the US flag and carrying a sparkler for 4th of July celebrations.

I decided to draw Dora representing the LGBTQ+ community and specifically lesbians. She is wearing a shirt with the lesbian flag and carrying a heart balloon because Love is Love!

 

[ali.di.magix]

I wasn't going to enter at first as I didn't think I'd have enough time, but here we are!

It has been a hot minute since I've used photoshop, pretty much forgot how to use it I drew Marina representing neurodiversity! The cloud and galaxy-like thing represent the different neuro-networks that neurodiverse people have. Our brains process and respond to things very differently, which sometimes results in other people misunderstanding us. Neurodiversity aside, I think all of use process things in our own unique way, which is totally okay! I also included a neurodiversity badge on Marina's shirt, as well as ace and aroace flag patches on her shoulder.

Everyone's entries are amazing as always! Love seeing how diverse our community is

 

[Chris]

Wow, so many amazing entries with so much love and inspiration

Ok, this has taken me so long I am embarrassed to admit. I nearly gave up but I had to try. So, please ignore the waffle

My first thought was space camp then I thought of daycare when parents (me ) can go on a space adventure. Natural progression was to re draw Kylie & Kodie from the last diversity event. Since then they have adopted a kitten ) then final addition of rainbow duck plushies swimming in the pond.

Oh, final final was a little personal addition. When I first attempted an event I had never drawn more than stick men so had to be included

Without this wonderful community I would never have attempted drawing. Or been blessed to meet wonderful people a lot of who I am proud to call friends

View attachment 496447

Hi! Your entry appears to be missing a username. If you can DM me an updated version I'll update your entry.

 

[Chris]

REMINDER

Today is the deadline for submitting your entries.
Also, please don't forget to vote!​

 

[Bluelady]

This drawing was inspired by a hurtful comment that a relative told me last year, which is represented with the black and white stripes. That comment caused me to doubt my lack of attraction for many months. Especially when my feelings, thoughts or actions differed from fellow Asexuals and Aromantics. In the end, I’ve accepted that it’s ok to be different.

I tried making the colors on the AroAce flag look like paint to symbolize slow acceptance of oneself.

 

[LoveGraceMarie]

Here’s my entry! I decided to draw my new horizons character with my favourite villager Merry. I’m someone who’s quite lonely as I struggle to make friends due to anxiety/other reasons. However over the years, animal crossing has always been there for me, and although they’re digital and in-game, there’s something very comforting about the fact that I can open up my game and talk to a bunch of villagers who are all close to me. It’s great to have a game where everyone can be friends regardless of who they are, which is what I was inspired by

 

[GothiqueBat]

I drew myself in my island,

non binary pride

 

[Amilee]

my animal crossing fairy bringing some pride cheer

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sorry i didnt have any time to really polish it

 

[Flyffel]

The Pride Parade was in our city today and I met Tom Nook there, he allowed me to take a picture to share with you all!

 

[JellyBeans]

this was my first time drawing on my iPad so she's a little shaky, and I realised too late the program I was using didn't have a fill button, but anything for a star frag!! just a little rodney and I united against the world, because even if some people think he looks a little funky i think he's the best. don't follow the crowd's opinion, kids

Spoiler: boink

 

[dino]

my entry is about the feeling that animal crossing new horizons inspired in me when i first played it with all the online communities i am a part of and the ways that animal crossing villagers come to mean something special to each of us - the ways that we identify with them based on our own identities.

this game has been such a peaceful utopia away from the harshness and oppression of the real world, where all the differences, brightness, bold personalities, origins, races, orientations and more of everyone are so very lovingly celebrated. a large part of why we play this game, is to look at new horizons together and peacefully coexist and that inspires me so much! and makes me feel so at peace and hopeful!!

the villagers here are some ones my friends have felt really close to and represented by! mine is julian - whom i have always felt very inspired by, gender wise, and very soothed by his trans colors and his whimsical attitude. cheer to all the villagers that make you feel the same!

much love to this community that curates such a safe and welcoming space for people of all times <3

 

[VillageDweller]

I don't do any art at all but I'm very happy with how (Merry at least) turned out! my diversity is about celebrating pride, happy pride month!

 

[Shellzilla_515]

Goodness gracious it took me forever, but I'm finally done and I love the outcome!

Spoiler: An alternate drawing of the vehicle alone plus a few things

The vehicle you see here is a jeepney (or simply called "jeep") which is a form of transportation found in the Philippines. Since I like cars and have a Filipino background, I thought it'd be perfect that I draw this interesting vehicle! If you were to find a bunch of them, you'd notice that each one has a unique design in some way. It's basically a free for all ranging from a simple paint job to going all out on making their jeeps very flashy.

In my case, I wanted to design my jeep with an Animal Crossing aesthetic which is heavily inspired by the city tripper used in Mario Kart 8. I also took leaf tires from there as well, except I only used the wheel rims and not the grassy rubber lol. Mentioning a few other small details, the three badges on the sign call back to the forum events of 2021 TBTWC, 2021 Camp TBT, and the 2022 TBT Fair. Those events hold a special place in my heart for being memorable participating in numerous activities. There’s even a sneaky blue paw print on there too! I wonder where Blue is?

For my entry, I decided to use my animal villager OC Pag-asa the Philippine Eagle from last year's celebrating diversity event. This time, however, I also included the animal villagers of my friends! Tazan the tasmanian devil belongs to @Midoriya (aka Riley), Sterling the silver fox belongs to @xSuperMario64x (aka Bug), and Kylie & Kodie the kangaroos belong to @Roxxy! Don’t worry, I asked them first before I included them haha. Speaking of which, why did they put them in? Well, it’s not just because they’re my friends, but because of our different life experiences which I believe are just as important in celebrating diversity. Also, it’s a good feeling to see country flags of USA (represented by Riley and Bug), UK (represented by Roxxy and her son), the Philippines (represented by me), and Canada (the country I was born in) on the jeep itself. I tried really hard to get those flags to look accurate to the real thing lol.

Spoiler: A little more about the animal villagers

Tazan
Tazan had to work so hard in life to achieve what he has today. He may have stumbled many times, but he’ll always get back up and keep going. Tazan is very proud of the black belt he has achieved in martial arts. Let’s not forget that he tries to help others and give back whenever he can. Tazan has been a friend of Pag-asa for almost five years now and it's wonderful.

Kylie & Kodie
Kylie had to be strong for her son Kodie and fight against her weakness to overcome them. She’s also still got her dream of becoming a pilot someday and proving all the naysayers wrong. Kylie can be capable of many things once she musters up the strength to stay strong with Kodie helping her out along the way. They established a friendship with Pag-asa during the 2021 TBTWC event in which they were on the same team of Blue's Clues.

Sterling
Sterling has been through so much struggles in life dealing with issues I won’t go into out of respect. But one thing for sure, he’s an awesome silver fox that deserves to be listened to. He’s also transmasculine and omniromantic, and that’s okay. Sterling is so much more beyond his gender identity and orientation and it’s sad how people would discriminate against him and others in the LGBTQ+ community based on those traits alone. They’re missing out greatly as he’s very enthusiastic talking about his interests and generally being a rad silver fox.

Pag-asa
Of course, let’s not forget Pag-asa (did you know it means “hope” in Tagalog?). He was born in Canada and spent pretty much his whole life living there. Yes, he’s not too familiar with his own culture. Yes, he slips up quite a bit when trying to speak in Tagalog even though he tries his best. Yes, there are some foods from his culture that he’s not a big fan of (but at the same time has absolute favourites like chicken adobo for example!). Despite all of that, it doesn’t change the fact that Pag-asa is a Filipino. For some reason, it brings him a lot of happiness when he talks about cars and seeing recognizable ones in real life that appear in video games (more specifically the Gran Turismo series). He likes those four-wheeled vehicles so much that he’s actually went on to go to college on becoming a car mechanic!

Spoiler: Something about romantic orientation 🏳️‍🌈

There is one more thing to mention about Pag-asa, especially if you noticed the pan colours on his left cheek and the demiromantic bracelet on his left wing. He was questioning his romantic orientation for a few months but truth be told, he was in denial of being panromantic. It mainly comes down to the fact that he wasn’t being honest with himself and lacking self love which is something that he needed to work on. Along with Pag-asa thinking that he thought of being straight for his whole life, it left him pretty shocked too. Fast forward a few months later, he’s eventually come to accept with open arms that he’s panromantic while also discovering of being demiromantic in the process. Since then, Pag-asa has been feeling euphoric about his romantic orientation and having more self love. He didn’t want to tell his friends until very recently as he had to build up the courage first to do so. One thing for sure, Tazan, Sterling, Kylie & Kodie still accept Pag-asa for who he is as he’s so much more than that being a great friend and an awesome Philippine Eagle.

It’s great how a video game series about talking animals can bring so many people together. Without Animal Crossing and TBT, I don’t think friendships and an awesome community would have been made.

 

[Freya_Druid]

Hopefully it’s not too late to submit an entry: diversity to me is embracing the skills, talents, and passions of others regardless of social barriers like age, race, and gender. Happy Diversity TBT!

 

[Chere.]

Here's my entry! Drew my ACNH oc Eris with Fang. Excuse the small lore I'm about to dump, but I just wanted to give more context on this, as it's more personal to me. While Eris isn't exactly me, we have lot of similarities and I have a whole story revolving around my animal crossing characters. Eris doesn't have a label but she's a part of the LGBTQ+ community and her partner, Fang, isn't apart of the community but he supports them and Eris. I wanted to touch on the diversity between different communities and how meaningful it can be when people who aren't apart of a certain community are still able to support and even form relationships with them. Fang became such an important villager and comfort character to me while playing New Horizons, and the way I write him as his own character is based on in-game events that occur, which I find makes the experience more personal and engaging. While I was figuring out this portion of my story, it made me realize how meaningful it is to me to have people in real life who are like Fang. We're all diverse, but we're still able to make connections with each other.

 

[Emolga59]

This took more time than I'd like to admit but I'm very proud of how the green parts of my earth are somewhat accurate :feelsgood:

 

[Aniko]

Sometimes it feels like living in a bubble.

In my family, hearing lost is genetic. It affects me, my mom and several of our relatives, while nobody is totally deaf, some still need hearing aids, which is the case of my mom, who can’t hear the phone, TV or people talking in noisy environments without them. My mom is that lady who walks around unaware of her phone ringing in her purse, totally ignoring the staff asking if she needs help in stores and who makes the cashier repeat 3-5 times before asking me what they said. It was even worse while COVID because everybody was wearing a mask and we couldn’t read on their lips. It affects her in many ways, not only she can't hear, but people misunderstand her and get impatient with her. Every time I have to explain to people that she's not ignoring them on purpose but they have to get her attention first and talk to her in face without covering their mouth if they want her to understand what they are saying.

For me, it’s not that bad, I just can't hear some frequencies, like some alarms, cat toys…and sounds in Animal Crossing!!!
Once, I asked someone how they catch that elusive mole cricket; just digging everywhere? -First, I didn’t even know they exist until a villager asked me for one. - They said: “follow the sound”. “What sound?!” Same for fishing, I didn’t know it makes a sound when the fish bite. I just catch a balloon or a tarantula when I see one, and lately I learned that shooting stars were also making a noise!!! What?!

Playing with headphones is a lot better, I didn't know I was missing so much, I still can play without hearing much, I have other tricks, but it might be more difficult for other people to enjoy the game like everybody else. Some years ago I saw the petition “Help increase accessibility for deaf, and Hard-of-hearing, in Animal Crossing New Horizon!” there were interesting suggestions like:

“Making dirt come out the ground when there is a mole cricket, just like when a Manila Clam sprays water in the sand.

Confetti coming out of a balloon as it floats over.

Or when a shooting star happens that there is a light that you can see when not looking at the sky.

What do you think?

 

[xSuperMario64x]

whew I made it yall

presenting my entry! I'm quite proud of my work here!

this piece is meant to encompass who I am and just a few of the many things I love about myself! allow me to elaborate~

these three characters here are actually all representations of me personally! on the left is Sterling, my sweet silver fox boy, and he's holding a Bluebird of Happiness, meant to represent the collectible that my totally rad broski @/Shellzilla_515 gifted to me last year his cute little blush and tight hug also represents my willingness to be more openly affectionate with friends/family as of late! in the middle is Daniel, my main player character from Animal Crossing: New Leaf; I've always seen him as a reflection of myself, a nerd who loves flowers and interior design and buggies! and on the right is my Toucat, a character I created over 9 years ago and serves to represent my wild personality and my love of rainbows; she's holding a heart wand, meant to represent the collectible that the lovely @/Foreverfox gave to me earlier this year.

since Daniel is one of my AC characters, I drew Sterling and Toucat to look like Animal Crossing villagers! this is actually the first time I've ever drawn my Toucat in an anthro style and I like how it turned out! I like to think these two animal neighbors are his most beloved friends and the collectibles they're holding are the most special to me so I felt it was appropriate to include them as well, since to me they symbolize everlasting friendship!

and of course, I could never forget, the swirling iridescent cloud at the forefront of the drawing. It represents the immense amount of joy and love and euphoria I've felt since I started my road to recovery! going on a bit of a tangent, I've struggled with mental health issues my whole life, and earlier this year I finally started getting the help I really needed and I'm so much better off now! It's truly amazing, despite all the struggles I still face I've come to really appreciate everything I've been blessed with this year. and I'm learning to love myself for who I am, with the LGBT+ identities, being autistic/ADHD, acknowledging all the hard work I've been putting in recently, recognizing that there is a lot to love about me, and being myself unapologetically. I'm just letting all that joy and bliss swirl around, like a beautiful flowing rainbow, for everyone to see. I hope it brings them happiness too!

all of these things combined, set at the twilight hour under the radiant full moon and a sky full of twinkling stars, means the absolute world to me. honestly the more I look at this drawing the more I absolutely adore it, it's been a real honor to participate in this event and see everyone's gorgeous entries!