T4TM (Theseus4TheMinotaur)
lost wax cast bronze, patina & paste wax
2023
(process photos & info under cut <3)
my minotaur boy!! pls click on the photos for higher res! my thesis is focusing on trans men and creatures (how original ik) and this was last semester's final. i spent a lot of time looking at sculptures of the theseus/minotaur story, and yknow? a LOT of them are erotic! i'm pretty sure i saw some of them on tumblr a decade ago, and that's led to this now!
as you'll notice, the minotaur has a big t-dick! i wanted to give him breasts and an enlarged clitoris to present a very masculine trans figure. the boy on the bottom is also trans because i say so . the piece is about looking up to older, bigger, hairier trans men and seeing something awe-inspiring and beautiful. the minotaur was locked up by a cruel father for being different, and i think modern adaptations tend towards a sympathetic asterion (his name in one version)
making this piece was. so much effort. it took me about 3 months to get it all together - from clay model (plasticine) to 3D print to silicone mold to wax cast, and finally bronze pour into the shell mold. and then a TON of filing, sanding, dremel-ing, and various other metalworking techniques that probably took years off my life.
i started with sketches and made theeeeeee ugliest model ever:
then used a 3D scanner to get it digital, then spent a goooood month or two making him pretty in blender! then i spent an agonizing few weeks trying to get it print-ready, and fiiiiiinally did
^^^ an early resin printed draft of the model - you can see in the final that i added lots to theseus after some feedback, but sadly the nosering broke off every time i cast it so i just. let that be <3
then came the moldmaking, and then the wax dipping!! the yellow stuff is shell mold (ground up ceramic bits and algae soup, sticks to the wax, then silica sand in varying sizes on top) which gets the wax melted out, and bronze poured in!
then it's all metalworking, cutting stuff off, and working with hot metal. they don't tell you about all the bronze dust and how annoying it gets wearing a respirator AND goggles. but it is for me health, me boy. here's him all cleaned up before the patina:
and then i spray him down with various chemicals to make it "patina" (aka rust) in pretty colors. wait a few days, then apply paste wax to seal it and give it that shine!
then we get what you see above!!! the blue was actually unintentional, and i'm still not super sure why it looks that way.. but it's pretty so idc <3
thanks for reading!! if you ever have any bronze/casting questions, don't hesitate to message me! <3
i think a reason why werewolves appeal to trans people but are terrifying for cis people is because trans people are not inherently afraid of transformation and change. changing your body into something more empowering and heavily removed from your old self is a dream for a lot of trans ppl but for cis people its evil, wrong, scary, violent, etc. hence the differences in how the little gay people on here talk about werewolves vs pop culture depictions of them
Golden Retriever Boyfriend
Imagining these two making out after acrobatics practice
before i get busy with the comms, here are some drawings i made of spiderfist that were really liked on twt!!<3
an ode to testosterone weight gain
'ritual for passage into manhood for a new man' via ftm international, issue 41 (june 1998)
'The Werewolf Howls'
by Mont Sudbury, Weird Tales magazine, 1941
"i'm using delusional in the right context, it's not like it's that serious"
DELUSIONAL DISORDER + SCHIZO SPECTRUM DISORDERS + TBI + MANY OTHERS
"calling someone a narcissist isn't ableist it's not a disability"
NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
"sociopath/psychopath are just adjectives it's not like I'm hurting anyone"
ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
"saying i'm ocd doesn't affect you it's just the way i act"
MOTHERFUCKING OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER
"i'm schizoposting lol it's just a joke"
SCHIZOPHRENIA
SCHIZOID PERSONALITY DISORDER
SCHIZOAFFECTIVE DISORDER
SCHIZOTYPAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
it's never just a joke, it's never an adjective. use a fucking thesaurus
i love alter/nonhuman tumblr simply because of the experiences shared and because you go oh yeah there's a canine talking about how much they love tearing into raw meat. there's a cat bathing in the sun. there's a deer talking about the forest they just visited. all of it feels so comfortable and it's so nice to finally find a community who understands
like as a trans man i have repeatedly had more cis women be misandrist to me and then when i tell them they're doing such their reactions are always wildly on the opposite ends of the spectrum and neither are good
one is always "how can i be misandrist when you're not a man :(((" and the other is on the complete opposite end of "yeah well you deserve it because you're a MAN and MEN don't deserve my kindness" or whatever bullshit excuse they wanna make up and it's like.. so fucking annoying.
like. sure. there are a lot of oppressive men. but i can assure you, very greatly, that your trans man friend is not immediately one of them as soon as he comes out. and i can assure you that we are not "betraying our femininity" when over half of us DIDN'T FUCKING WANT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.
and then there's the entire can of worms of people claiming misandry and androphobia aren't even real, not to MENTION how some people shit their britches in anger when you so much as MENTION transmisandry and transandrophobia.
like, genuinely, how do you even MANAGE to have friends with how rancid you must act on the daily with fuckass opinions like these.
☆ he/him ☆ trans man ☆ 23 y.o. ☆ gay ☆ furry ☆ wolf therian ☆ autistic ☆ polyam ☆ forcemasc enjoyer ☆ discourse reposter ☆ reclaimed LGBTQ+ terms used on this blog ☆ I block everyone who denies trans experiences or is a TERF ☆ gatekeepers fuck off ☆
169 posts