#Responsible Human Development

[autoauthor]

@doveywovy's latest post [link] reminded me of (one of) my own mermaid AU(s) so I thought I'd write it up now. Absolutely adore their writing.

Tobirama is a mermaid kept in captivity.

He was rescued by Hashirama when he was very young, and has formed a sort of familial attachment. He is the only one Tobirama will not try to drown.

Tobirama's albinism as well as injuries sustained before capture means he's unable to be released into the wild. Thankfully Hashirama's friend, Madara has a marine facility Tobirama can be kept in.

One day, Madara's college-aged little brother comes to visit. Of course, he didn't tell anyone he was stopping by and took various "caution" signs as light suggestions. Leading to him peering over the edge of Tobirama's pool.

Of course he ends up pulled in.

Tobirama manages to drag him to the bottom of the water - using his greater mass to bring him under. With no one around, this may be his first actual human kill.

Izuna's instincts take over. Not his survival instincts or even fear - his instincts as a bratty and scrappy little brother used to being tackled and roughhoused with.

He elbows Tobirama right in the gills.

Then, he curls up at the bottom of the pool and extends his legs to launch himself towards the surface.

Izuna, grew up with a pool in his backyard, a lakeside vacation home, and trained hard enough to be captain of his university's swim team. Still, he would've never escaped if Tobirama hadn't become enraptured with his figure swimming towards the light with his loose hair trailing behind him.

Yeah, he's in love.

Izuna may be small, but he can fight, is beautiful, and is a much more graceful swimmer than the other humans.

Madara chews out Izuna for being so reckless, of course. And for the first part of his visit, they steer clear of even the room Tobirama's enclosure is in.

Eventually, Madara has to go check in. Tobirama's leaving large portions of food uneaten. He's also being downright loud - coming up to the surface of the water several times a day to cry out. Hashirama is starting to get worried.

Madara has some undefined veterinary experience so agrees to take a look, and Izuna trails behind him out of boredom. Which leads to Tobirama being even louder and actually going to the pool's edge when they arrive. He usually lurks under the surface when he sees Madara or anyone new.

Eventually everyone catches on that he's courting the younger Uchiha.

He tries giving Izuna portions of his food and also to convince him to get into the water. He even snaps at Hashirama if he thinks he's too close or being too friendly.

Madara warns that he's still a wild animal and it's no less dangerous. Izuna, who is again, a little shit, only wants to do it more now that he's been told not to. So he ends up slipping in for a dip.

Tobirama doesn't try to drown him again, but begins swimming around him - slowed due to his injury. Izuna decides that he'll practice some synchronized swimming (he was NOT paying attention when his brother described mer courting rituals). Tobirama is thrilled that his affections were returned. Someone has to let Izuna know that they're pretty much married in mer terms.

However, Izuna was only visiting for a few months while mers mate for life. He's also your typical carefree young-adult with a promising career. While Izuna is off doing sports anime shenanigans, Tobirama is refusing food and damaging his own scales.

On the flip-side, when he does visit, he does things like hand-feed Tobirama bites of his sushi and run his hands over his scales. They also still swim together (to Madara's dismay).

[winepresswrath]

seeing your reactions to the murderbot show is helping my haterisms. Appreciate you

I'm glad! My two big critiques of the show are that it sometimes feels plasticky in a way that is difficult to exactly put my finger on but is probably a function of comedy + a light approach to worldbuilding and murderbot feels like a different notaperson, but I like the characters and it's taking me far. I do miss MY murderbot but this murderbot can win my love also, probably.

[yashley]

no but the betrayer gods being cast the furthest and the darkest down into the consciousness of their world’s existence because they were the first amongst their family to defend themselves

[sockdooe]

FUCK YOU VOLTRON LEGENDARY DEFENDER!!!!!!!!!!!! I SHOULD NOT BE CRYING AT DAMN NEAR MIDNIGHT CAUSE OF YOUR FAILURE OF A SHOW ASS 🖕

[sanctiphera]

The way to judge a country is to observe the way they treat their animals, their women, and their vulnerable (not necessarily in that order). That's my benchmark, always.

[icewindandboringhorror]

I occasionally wish to reach out to old friends/acquaintances I haven't spoken to since high school/some other even earlier time in my life, but I have SOOO little social energy even for required tasks (like making dr phone calls or etc), I never have any leftover for extra ones, and it would be very odd to message someone I haven't spoken to in like 5 years out of the blue but then take 4 entire months to respond back lol.. My natural curiosity with nostalgia/collecting details of the past/etc. (literally if I were born a little earlier I would definitely do scrapbooking or something lol) is very strong, but, alas, not strong enough to beat out the Social Issues Demons apparently

[moe-broey]

Got any body type/anatomy thoughts? FEH has very little in the way of body type variation and I personally like reading that as an open invitation to get silly with it.

OKAOKAYOKAY!!!!!!!! I MIGHT. Have gathered everything.... but I have SOOOOOOO MANY THOUGHTS ON THIS bc you're absolutely right!!!!! It's like a canvas to me...

I have a few directions I take with it! My main one, is to extrapolate features that may be present in the canon design. Taking them Further. I'm so sorry to do this but he is the epitome of this for me, GUSTAV JUMPSCARE 😨😨😨😨😰😰😰

But this is what I mean! I see canon Gustav has a full beard, is big and muscular. Okay. In my mind's eye, that translates to Big Hefty Heavyset type of muscular builds that are more realistic than the 6 pack bulging muscles (that require a lot of prep/dehydration to Look Like That). Also, hairy. Which is why, to fully demonstrate this, he's.... I don't know what he's doing here. This was psychologically taxing on me, but then I reminded myself I Am An Artist and I Hate America. 🫡🧍

Sometimes, if a character fits a certain archetype, I might put a few personal touches into them... mom/mom-like characters who REALLY embody the Doting Caretaker archetype often get the same body type as my own mother. A little honorary thing... though I do wanna be careful as to not restrict a specific body type (esp fat bodies) to specifically stereotypes (aka "mom bod"). Also, a comparison to Sharena! They do share similarities! Henriette's face looks familiar though... and not quite in the way Sharena's does.

Another focal reason I started off w Gustav though, is the second biggest thing I'm Always Thinking About when it comes to character's body types. Which is, Telling A Story.

I've had.... SO many oddly specific hcs about Alfonse...... for So Long..... one of them that's always in the back of my mind is him being at different weights during specific periods of his life. That, for the majority of it/esp his youth, he was almost waifish. He only starts looking healthier when he's out from under his parents' (COUGH gustavCOUGH) thumb (but let's be real, Henriette can be EXTREMELY stressful too... opposite end of the spectrum about it).

Another example of Telling A Story though. Sometimes I trans characters just for funsies and it has no real bearing on anything. OTHER times... my trans headcanons are integral to specific lore beats in my elaborate inner world. ENTER. BRUNO

These are actually from a bit ago I was gonna hold off on posting til I felt I had everything together, BUT. BUT. It's extremely relevant!

In the beginning, I often asked myself, "Why doesn't ANY of the Askr trio recognize Bruno as Zacharias?" MY ANSWER. Is that he looked quite different!!!! In tandem with my silly hcs for him, I feel that Bruno is someone who must care a lot about his appearance. About Looking masculine. I think he's been out as a man by the time he joins the Order, but is early on in his transition (by whatever means that manifests in w ✨ Magic ✨ and shit!!). I think he passes, but definitely Looked Different. Give him More Muscle and a haircut and an even more noticeable voice drop and top surgery he dramatically shows off at every opportunity and a mask that conceals his big beautiful brown eyes with fluttery soft eyelashes and like. Who Is That Mysterious Man...... in that Damnable Mask.........

Okay. Let's back up a minute. What do you mean Lif got mysteriously taller. What does that even mean. I can grant him gaining more weight/muscle, but, Taller???? At his grown up age....?? Well.

Hel's memory of the mortals she claims isn't so good, apparently.... (Eir obviously can't tell anything by the nearly all rotted away bones, but the scraggly long hair is giving her pause...) (also is it the King Hel is thinking of in the first place....? Eir isn't going to ask.)

At this point, I definitely could feel myself getting distracted and decided to just art dump a handful of charas I have strong visions for.

Here, you also see The Secret Third Option of body type design philosophy -- which is. If the design itself isn't giving me a lot to work with. I just do my own thang LMFAOOO 😅 I think Anna def fell into that category for me... where a lot of the story/lore I added for her was purely hc territory, and I went from there. She's broad, tall, muscular, top heavy, but still kinda thin and knobby. Aerodynamic, perhaps....

Sometimes, characters are a combination of these things though... like Mirabilis definitely being a combo of qualities, having personal touches, storytelling elements to her, and doing my own thing for funsies! More about the fairies overall -- I think they all ended up having their basic needs met and were even granted dreams/desires for themselves after becoming Alfar (like becoming exactly as you see yourself, or how you wish to be... which unfortunately only goes so far, can't fully undo the damage done to Mira, but. It's free transition for Triandra, is what I'm getting at LMFAOOO). Which is why each of them did fill out more to varying degrees (again, Mira suffering the most long-term effects from her mortal life, and Triandra, already having an idea/concept of herself at the age she drank the nectar, being able to transition). I have specific human design concepts for them too, that look A Bit different than their fairy designs.... but. I'm still working on that 🧍

Eir is def a storytelling one. When it comes to Alfonse's scrawniness, he was just stressed out so bad it took a physical toll. I don't think there was ever any food restriction (or, if there was, it was a rare occasion/used as a punishment). For Eir, I think something like that would make sense for her though.... lack of access, and frequent meticulously purposeful elaborate abuse from Hel. Eir still looks like you could break her in half, but she does look a lot healthier since her stay in Askr. Another note, though I ran out of space... maybe Ymir looks more like Eir than Hel does. I wonder why that could be....

AND. BACK TO THE START. Extrapolating on canon design elements! If you're going to present me a female chara with big honking bazongas, I'm going to make her fat. Or at very least, Carry Some Weight, like Plumeria does (in that full figured curvy way!). And ESP. ESPPPPPP FOR SEIDR AND GULLVEIG. Where Gullveig has Various Lines about "Oh... I don't know how well these old clothes fit me anymore..." (paraphrasing/off memory I feel like she says something like this Multiple Times). Like. Okay. Well I took that personally. I also just like the idea of her changing over time... always having a chubbier build, but it just keeps going as she keeps growing and changing.

In putting this into words, I'm finding a common thread seems to be weight gain as a sign that someone is being taken care of... for Gullveig, I think it's just a purely neutral change over the course of her life. In Lif's case....... some sort of mix up occurred. I can see Alfonse taking more after Gustav naturally, too, as he gets older though!

One final thought is just, is there a fun little detail I can include? Like giving Seidr and the Seidrs a snake-like face? Doubling as something so cutes and something Intimidating? IT WILL BE DONE. Also Need to get to coloring an illust of Gullveig one day..... the golden stretch marks are soooo cool in my mind's eye...... also just. One Million Piercings. Also as characterization/storytelling. A lack thereof is storytelling, as well.... to me..... ALSO!!!!! SHAPE LANGUAGE!!!!!! I'M SUCH A SHAPE LANGUAGE BITCH!!!!!!!!!

I HOPE. THIS ANSWER FINDS YOU WELL 🫡

[healerinchief]

The internet is a great “space” for learning about other people’s thoughts and beliefs. It’s helped me to understand that the majority of people I’ve been exposed to are living in a dream world and are grossly out of touch with reality.

When I say dream world, I mean more of a nightmare, not a desirable daydream.

Most people seem to accept their thoughts and beliefs as if they are objective truth… without ever questioning them.

Many people use their imagination to dream up a future based on imperfect recollections of the past of incorrectly perceived experiences. This way, some end up suffering, in the here and now, over something that may never come to pass. This is because our minds can’t distinguish on their own between reality and fantasy… and our bodies respond to our minds’ commands accordingly.

Some people have “megaphones” and spread their unquestioned thoughts and beliefs around to other people who accept them as objective truth without question.

This is how hypnotism works. No critical thinking is ever required, and you can easily and inadvertently hypnotize yourself in undesirable ways. No formal training is required to make yourself or others suffer… only ignorance.

For more than two decades, understanding human behavior, psychology, and suffering has been my primary area of study. I wanted to find a way to help myself and others not experience it anymore.

Along the way, I learned suffering plays a vital role in the evolution of consciousness and that it is not my duty to interfere in anyone's path of progression. All that is my duty is to lead by example, be open, and be helpful.

When a person has suffered enough, they will earnestly look for relief… and be open to changing their beliefs, thoughts, and acts.

In the past 3 months of this year, it seems much of my inner work has been focused on questioning everything that brings me any sort of dis-ease. To me that is a sign of unfinished work.

Decades of suffering led me here, and I’m pleased to report that there is most definitely relief, peace, and freedom here… as long as I remember to keep questioning my undesirable experiences.

This isn’t really new for me, yet it is a new approach that is a lot more practical and efficient.

[evil-jennifer-hamilton-wb]

Currently fighting the urge to put Mecha into the alchemy world

[greyborn2]

Ok rewatched the Dragon Age: Veilguard gameplay we got and something continues to really stick out to me... Does anyone else think the architecture of Minrathous looks INCREDIBLY dwarven styled? Like straight up almost identical in parts to the architectural stylings we've always seen used in dwarven thaigs and stuff??

[sanctiphera]

Please explain why, even until now, not even one Gazan has said or even indicated to where a hostage can be.

[bones-and-whatnot]

It’s Headcanon Time!

If you’re like me, you’re just constantly asking yourself “What the fuck is up with the timelines of Donkey Kong Country and the mainline Mario series? What the fuck is up with that? What is it?”

I had an idea about it. So, I’m going to share it, here goes.

Are you guys ready for CONVOLUTION?

- After the events of Donkey Kong ‘94, the original DK (AKA, Cranky Kong) and his son return to their home, the extremely isolated DK Isles.

- Things on the DK Isles are great, they’re really bustling. Cranky and Junior are sharing things they learned in the city with the other animals, teaching them about clothes and buildings, everything is swell. (Meanwhile, on Crocodile Isle, the Kremlings are discovering the wreckage of abandoned human factories and warships. It’s fine, though, it’s not like they’re gonna internalize the ideals of industry and conquest and develop an obsession with becoming human or anything. That would be ridiculous.)

- One day, while out exploring the isles, Cranky finds a cave or temple or something that contains six watches. Alongside the watches is an inscription, something about “capturing a moment”.

- Even back then, Cranky hates the idea of change and thinks everything should stay just as it is, so he winds the watches up. To his surprise, however, nothing happens.

- Angered by this development, Cranky takes the watches to the top of a mountain and uses his simian strength to throw them off in various directions, far enough that they land in the sea and he never has to see them again.

- Unbeknownst to old C. Kong, the way the watches landed in the water has made them form a wide ring around the island and its neighbors. This ring then forms a time bubble, leaving the outside world frozen in time, but the DK Isles untouched.

- Fast forward 36 years, and the watches have finally unwound (each of the six watches takes six years to unwind), ending the spell. During this time, the Kongs, Kremlings and other animals have developed society and Cranky has grown old, with an adult grandson (36 years is enough time for Modern DK to be an adult because Kongs age slightly faster than humans).

- However, during these 36 years, none of the inhabitants were at all aware of the time magic that was at play, because none of them ever left the isles.

- After the bubble pops, the outside world continues on without having aged a day, the events of Donkey Kong Country occur, the watches lose their time-stopping magic and eventually wash up on the shore of the nearby Northern Kremisphere (leaving them to fall into the Bears’ possession), and the isles at some point regain contact with the rest of the world, with Cranky presumably seeing Mario and going “What the fuck.”

Thank you for your time.

[legendary-assassin-stance]

oh i'm sorry, i didn't realize we were taking moral standing points from the asura now. y'know. the race that full-hog experimented and ripped apart sylvari even after knowing they were wholly sapient beings (and it wasn't even inquest! it was regular fucking asura! the arcane council most definitely okayed those experiments! never mind the fact that the council TO THIS DAY fucking openly allows inquest to do as they please so long as they don't cause trouble in rata sum) and have done little to nothing to apologize for that fact to their sylvari allies.

but no, you're right, the humans are the worst race in tyria just by way of existing and trying to find a place for themselves. how could i have ever thought different?

[thatone-churro]

does anyone else have an adrenaline/panic response that physically keeps them from having an emotional response to something? like you’re forcibly calm during an intense situation? like is that a normal reaction?

like, for context/an explanation: a pretty severe medical emergency literally showed up at my doorstep last friday. while i was obviously a little flustered and a little panicky, i was somehow entirely calm and collected while we tended to her until the EMS arrived. the girls next door that were helping were freaking out and incredibly emotional by the time it was over. my roommate (who witnessed the entire event itself happen) was genuinely hysterical. i was nervous and a bit shaky by the time the paramedics were treating her, but that was the worst i felt. i pretty much got straight to cleaning my dorm once everyone was gone. my friday night seemingly resumed as normal after that.

i didn’t really feel sad or upset. i hardly even felt pity for her (i mean, obviously what happened was a horrible accident but i felt unusually assured that she’d be just fine anyway). the worst i felt was a little scared or nervous. that was it.

i know logically, that’s the perfect reaction you want to have but… it felt weird to see everyone else freaking out and generally feeling strongly about it and feeling virtually nothing regarding the exact same situation. my roommate’s still having meetings with our RA over it. but for me it feels like my life just moved on like nothing new.

is that like. a normal type of reaction to have to emergencies like that? i know i’m already fairly emotionally constipated and all but that still just feels weird to me. it’s not too unusual is it? please tell me i’m just unnecessarily dehumanizing myself over my instincts again and this isn’t like something psychologically wrong with me (or more than what’s already fucked up at least)

idk i’ve just been thinking about it & i was talking w/ my roommate about it again and it just. still doesn’t sit right with me.

[arielmagicesi]

ugggghhh ok so I’m reading some books to prep for my student teaching in the fall, the ones that my host teacher knows are likely to be in the curriculum, and first of all why is it a thing that high schoolers are made to read Contemporary Lit Fic that can be summed up as “how many gory explicit descriptions of traumatic abuse can we fit into one book”, like every year it’s just One Standard Shakespeare Play, One Twentieth-Century American Classic, throw in some other shit, and Somebody’s Fucked-Up Memoir From A Decade Or So Ago. Are there any contemporary books that are good but NOT traumatizing? If not, I’m happy to stick to classic lit personally

ANYWAY so I’m reading this book to prep for the fall and I ended up skimming the whole latter 3/4 or so of the book to spoil it for myself so the suspense wouldn’t kill me, and now I’m up late despite being super tired because my brain is just cycling through every horrific thing in the book, plus the reviews I read online, some of which are insanely saying shit like “wah wah, get over it, stop whining, we all had rough times in our childhood” and I’m like... Am I the softest, most naive baby on the planet for reacting to this horrific memoir by feeling bad for the author and thinking that maybe we don’t need to be making high schoolers read this? I’m not saying it’s not well-written- it is well-written, and well-structured, but Jesus Christ.

(also why are we allowed to make students read horrifying memoirs of abuse but god forbid they know that slavery happened in this country, but that’s a different issue altogether)

so yeah I now have managed to make my entire evening about Trying And Failing To Get Some Images Out of My Head, which sucks because I had a LOVELY day and was looking forward to some well-earned sleep, and also I’m gonna have to go back and read the entire book so that I’m able to teach it properly and know all the literary devices in it and shit. Cool cool cool

[sanctiphera]

Everywhere around the world, when such things happen, people talk about it as terrible victims in a war. Only when Israel is involved they insist it must be a genocide. Very strange...