#empathy is learned

[bluepeachstudios]

Since Ghost is about to be BODIED by Cass' Apocalypse once more in @tmntaucompetition, I thought I'd draw him with all of the children he's collected. He also got adopted by The Eldest Brother boys, and also by Redline Shen, but I was running out of steam and they both have art of them already sobs

Snapdragon boys by @bluesgras met Ghost behind the scenes and Ghost said "oh my god all of your parents are awful I'm kidnapping you all"

Empathy is Learned boys by @alicat54cwriting also found Ghost between matches and Ghost was like "what's with these sassy lost children" and just took them. No one claimed them, they're his now.

@falling-from-dawn-au turtles met Ghost in the competition first round and Ghost adopted them until they go home.

Totpocalypse by @pastadorable was another case of babies wandering around without parents and Ghost went "oh god oh no" and just started taking care of them.

Ghost in the Shell is my last AU in the competition, so I shall be dumping them back into their world after this round. <3 Thanks for letting Ghost take care of your kids, it distracts him from the fact that he is in fact lost in yet another dimension.

FINAL GHOST ADOPTION COUNT: - 16 new kids - 8 new brothers - 1 mama

[kittynomore]

Ghost has adopted a new set of feral babies @amevello-blue @alicat54cwriting from @tmntaucompetition

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: In a different turn of the universe, the being once known as Lou Jitsu would struggle to empart the concept of ‘do not eat your brothers’ onto his four charges. He would teach them the concept of family, all the while learning to be a father himself. However, in this turn of the universe, where Lou Jitsu did not escape the lab fire with his four turtles, that did not happen. Draxum encouraged the first concept, as it would not do for his prized experiments to destroy each other. However, he did not see value in enforcing any others. Why should he? His turtles were perfect. … Locking a bunch of hyper intelligent children engineered to be agents of destruction away until they are old enough to command armies has consequences. Especially when they have creepy ninja mind meld powers. Starts as mild horror, and morphs into found family.

Author: @alicat54c

[spectralsleuth]

OKAY TRYING THIS AGAIN. New LSoE chapter! (The link didn’t post on the last one lol.)

This is my favorite chapter I think? @alicat54cwriting is the best writing partner and I’m almost sad this is almost finished!

[spectralsleuth]

AHHHH this is EXACTLY HOW I PICTURED IT HAHAHA THANK YOU SO MUCH?? I LOVE THIS???

April O'Neil, now the big sister of ANOTHER set of turtles

Wanted to make some fanart of a little snippet from the fic Little Scraps of Empathy, which is a crossover of @spectralsleuth's and @alicat54c's aus (go check them both out they're really cool)

(Mikey is there too he's just snork mimiming under the bed)

[astearisms]

catalysts, protectors

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[ithinkdogshouldvote]

POV: you are Willy Stampler

[bubblingsteam]

[bluepeachstudios]

Little Scraps of Wisdom Anniversary!

Hi everybody! @spectralsleuth's fic Little Scraps of Wisdom was first posted a year ago today and me and @alicat54c got together with some other people to make an anniversary gift <3

If you haven't read it, it's REALLY good, it's a series of stories about Yoshi/Lou escaping Draxum with the kids without being mutated, and him integrating them into human society. Audio's writing is so lovely! <3

Premise of this gift is that the tots from Little Scraps of Empathy (LSoW / Empathy is Learned crossover; also very cute) found Ghost in the sewers and decided to bring him home with them while their family is out.

---------

“You’ll love our big brothers, Mr. Ghost!” the little spotted turtle, Touma, chattered. “Mikey makes the best food, and teaches me how to make the best food too!”

“You guys must eat really well, then,” Ghost murmured, casting apprehensive looks around the home.

“Hm!” Touma squeaked. “Mikey made a whole salmon for Raph yesterday! I got to help!”

“You should sit!” Aoi, the little slider, patted Ghost’s knees. “Dad says it’s polite to sit nice guests on the couch, not stand in the hallway.”

“Oh.” Ghost shuffled further inside, eyes scanning as he let the four little ones guide him into the other room, where he perched on the edge of the couch.

He could see an old magazine on the coffee table, depicting a grinning human in yellow tinted glasses. There were more beneath that, but Shima, the little soft shell, climbed onto the couch next to him, peering into his face intently.

Ghost hesitated before reaching out and petting over his head slowly.

Shima’s glowing red eyes scrunched shut as he leaned into the touch, tiny churr in his throat, before settling back against the opposite arm of the couch. 

“What were you guys doing out in the sewers?” Ghost asked, eyes softening at Shima. “You’ve got a nice house to live in here.”

“Dad never said we couldn’t go outside,” Aoi argued, fiddling with something under the table. “Just that we shouldn’t touch Donnie’s plants, in case, um, something.”

“Eaten,” the snapper, Kouji, signed, flopping onto the floor, where a pile of blankets and cushions had been stacked,

“Thanks for helping us find home!” Touma chirped, struggling to climb onto the couch cushions without digging his claws into the fabric.

Ghost scooped him up, placing him on the couch. His eyes kept drifting over the magazines on the table, then back up to sweep all the entrances.

Touma cuddled against him immediately, little yellow spots creasing like freckles as he smiled. “Thank you Mr. Ghost!”

“Yeah…” Ghost petted over Touma’s shell. “How did you all end up here…?”

“We used to live in the storm drain, before Dad found us,” Aoi chattered. They seemed to be setting up a game of chess on the coffee table. “We wanted to see what the storm drains here were like. We didn’t mean to get lost! But it’s okay, we found you! Dad likes turtles, so Dad’s gonna like you too!”

Ghost hunched his shoulders slightly, taking note of the exits once more.

Touma chirped, cuddling against his plastron. His grip was strong for a turtle of his size. “It’s okay, Dad’s nice! He makes sure no one screams at us! You don’t have to be scared!”

“Oh, no, it’s not–” Ghost paused, taking a breath and curling an arm around Touma. “That’s… good to know.”

“Do you want to play with me?” Aoi’s red eyes peered up at Ghost hopefully.

Ghost surveyed the board game, nodding. “You play?”

“Hm!” Aoi nodded. “Leo, my big brother, is teaching me how to play better, and lots’a other fun games too! He’s the best! Do you know any fun games?”

“Some…” Ghost sat forward on the couch to peer at the board. “You can go first.”

“Okay!” Aoi moved a knight. 

As they played, and whichever hand was free went to petting either Touma or Shima, Ghost wondered why a famous actor would adopt not four, but supposedly eight entire mutant turtles. He couldn’t see anything to gain from it, except perhaps more fame, but it came with more problems than it was worth. There were easier ways to get famous.

Ghost wondered why they were living aboveground, in a normal house, on a normal block, like they were humans. Was it possible?

Casually, he moved some of the magazines to look at the covers. If not Lou Jitsu, then it was Hamato Leonardo, posed and dressed like a model, bright red crescents always prominent. Ghost could feel his own Leonardo cringing at the thought of being seen, let alone modeling for a magazine on purpose. 

How did everyone know about them and nothing happened? Was it possible to live like this?

“Checkmate!” Aoi chirped, drawing his attention forward again.

Ghost blinked. He hadn’t been paying that much attention to the game and it had cost him. “Mm. You’re very good.”

Aoi beamed, tail wiggling. “Leo’s teaching me! He’s really fun to play with! Um, I like playing with you too!”

Ghost’s eyes softened. “Yeah. Me too.” He started to reset the board. “Another game?” He would pay attention this time. Give the kid a run for his money, as it were.

“Yeah!” Aoi chirped, already resetting the board.

“Shelldon says Dad and everyone’s gonna be home soon,” Shima hummed, playing with a tiny spider between their claws. It glinted metallically. 

“I should…” Ghost stood, stiff. “I should go.”

“You can’t go!”Touma cried, latching onto his arm like a vice.

“You gotta stay!” Aoi latched onto his leg just as tightly. He was trapped. 

“I can’t,” Ghost insisted, desperately. “I have to go, I can’t– I’m not supposed to–”

“Nooo!” Aoi whined, as Kouji wriggled out of his nest to capture Ghost’s other leg. “We want you to meet Dad and our brothers!”

“I can’t, I don’t belong here!” Ghost tried plucking them off carefully but they were like barnacles. If he wasn’t terrified of hurting them, he could have run.

If he really wanted to, he could have gotten away.

There was a rattle of keys in the lock, frantic worried voices on the doorstep. 

“Daddy!” The little turtles cheered, voices eerily in sync. 

The door opened.

Ghost swallowed.

Looks like he was stuck here for a while. 

[kittynomore]

Vote Empathy is Learned in @tmntaucompetition !

It's a cute story about the boys being feral af and crime-ing by @alicat54cwriting

[kittynumyum]

HEY HOW ABOUT WE GET THEM TO TIE?????

Round Three!

Empathy is Learned by @alicat54c

Teenage Turtle Ninja Mutants (ttnm) by @idiot-mushroom

[spectralsleuth]

Last chapter! @alicat54cwriting IT’S BEEN AN HONOR. o7 I’ve learned so much writing with you and had so much fun.

Guys as we get closer to the end of the year (and the anniversary of me starting LSoW) I’m sure I’ll be getting a lot more emotional.

I started writing it coming off of a very very long bout of depression that I don’t think I realized effected me as much as it did until I was on the other side. I wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t eating, and I didn’t create anything for almost five years when previously I would never put a pencil down. It actually took a huge chunk of my life away now that I’ve allowed myself to think about it.

This year has been like dragging myself out of a hole, and I’ve always been such a huge fan of TMNT all the way from when the 2003 series was airing, so I knew I could write something that I would enjoy now that I was in the mindset to start creating again! So I did. And I’m still nowhere near finished.

Feeling so much better this year also encouraged me to reach out to other fans, and engage with the fandom a bit, and I’m super glad I did because enjoying things outside of a vacuum is far better than doing it alone. I like to think of some of the people I’ve met this year as friends.

Li was one of those people and I am super proud of what we made. The idea that I can look at this years from now and remember opening the google doc and discord at two am while I was in bed, and having full yelling conversations about baby turtles and Master Splinter with them makes me really happy.

Here’s to writing and creating more! I’m hoping within the next two weeks I’ll start posting more of LSoW, and I hope you guys really enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

[merrysithmas]

Charles' line "There's so much more to you than you know" has always struck me because it's SO easy for Charles to come off unlikeable-

"There's so much more to you than you know" (But I do)

"What do you know about me? - Everything." (Whether you like it or not)

"I know what this means to you but you have to let go!" (Stop this nonsense)

"There's a mutant here already! [Exposing Hank]"

"I don't want your pain. They sent back the wrong man [To Logan]"

"I've seen what Shaw did to you"

"I feel your agony [After Nina died]"

"[Jean expresses no one knows how it feels to be tormented telepathically] Oh but I do."

Like on a base level what he communicates is such an invasion of privacy and instantly gets the hackles up because it's not natural. He can sound, at first glance, self-important and even dismissive (Erik at one point calls him 'arrogant'). Charles' telepathy gift is so alienating. He knows people's most personal thoughts, feelings, dreams, and nightmares. Seeing into someone's soul is as simple as breathing and second nature to him -- and he knows how repulsive this must be (see: how profusely he apologized for outting Hank. This speaks to a past/youth where he clearly unintentionally shared the secrets of others or caused trouble with his abilities and disturbed the people around him or endangered himself/others).

But Charles can't help his powers in the same way that Rogue can't - actually, Charles' abilities could easily been seen in some regards as the psychic equivalent to Rogue's physical gift. She can't touch ANYONE without hurting them in some manner, she is dangerous in some regard. And it's the same thing with Charles -- wherever his mind goes he exposes and hurts people. It's a side effect of his powers.

But unlike Rogue, Charles can't wear gloves. He can try to keep up psychic shields (which hurt HIM), or he can promise Raven he'll never read her mind, but he can't ever lessen his gift. He can't be perfect but he has to try. He can't or he'll be hated, despised, and feared. Rogue and he share a similar distress. Rogue suffers from touch-starvation but has to deal or she'll be seen as a monster. Charles suffers from the same kind of thing is a psychic way - he has to block his abilities or be seen as arrogant, invasive, and holier-than-thou. He has to starve his mind and powers.

So that's why it's sooooo touching that he tries SO hard to do good with it despite all that. Especially as he grows as a person and sees how powerful he can be with appendages like Cerebro. He ALWAYS makes an effort to clarify his knowledge of someone's mind with encouragement, love, understanding, and hope.

He can't help reading someone's mind but he CAN help how they react to it or how they feel about what's been exposed and the constant effort he exerts to express empathy, kindness, and aid is a testament to how hard he works to do good with his mutation. He frankly just doesn't have to do that. He could be like Emma Frost or Jean Grey or Psylocke. They know your thoughts, they use telepathy, and it's as simple as that.

Charles feels people's pain so ardently, sees their struggles so clearly, that it literally torments him not to help. How can he see that and just walk away? Innermost pain and secrets are revealed to him by nature -- he could ignore it, exploit it, or use it maliciously. Instead he takes the information and tries to help (surely in part to make up for how sensitive the invasion is).

"There's so much more to you than you know" (But one day you'll be more powerful than me. Don't get lost, keep going, you have so much more to remember and you aren't just made up of this pain that is so so heavy for you. This is not all that you are, I've seen what you forgot, I promise it's still there. You're still a person. Hold on).

"What do you know about me? - Everything" (I have seen your whole mind - the good and the bad - and still I came out here to ask you to stay. Because nothing in there scares me and in fact it gives me hope. I need you. We could do something great together.)

"I know what this means to you but you have to let go!" (They'll succeed in killing you if you let them. You deserve better)

"There's a mutant already here!" (Thank god! And you're incredible!)

"I don't want your pain. They sent back the wrong man." (Proceeds to cry at Logan's life and is amazed at his strength, you poor poor man. Is inspired to keep going from Logan's strength).

"I've seen what Shaw did to you." (Shaw did it to you. It's not a shameful secret and you aren't Frankenstein's Monster. It won't stop me from seeing who you really are. You're free).

"I feel your agony." (Come back to us. I can help you. You're not alone. You never had to leave. You still have a family. Grieve with us.)

"Oh but I do" (I survived. So will you. I didn't have help and I also had parents who didn't love me. I won't let that happen to you or leave you alone. I promise. You can sleep. You're safe. I'll protect you.)

[spectralsleuth]

OH MY GOOOOD this looks so good I'm literally tearing up Hamato Yoshi really said never talk to me or my eight sons ever again-

THANKS SO MUCH

Yippee I got this done before the fic ended!!

Another fanart for @spectralsleuth and @alicat54cwriting 's fic Little Scraps of Empathy, specifically from chapter 5, because the imagery was just too cute not to draw

(also wasn't 100% sure what exactly they looked like in their respective aus, so I just used my own hcs)

[bluastro-yellow]

Kurvitz stresses that Kim doesn't actually have a character sheet hidden in Disco Elysium's code. Imagining that Lieutenant Kitsuragi has only one natural attribute point in Motorics helps the ZA/UM team to understand the depth of his character beyond what's referenced in the game's dialogue. "We just came up with this stuff for coherency," says Kurvitz. "And because we're nerds."

"I like to think Kim has a Thought Cabinet project called Revolutionary Aerostatic Brigades that he's worked on since he was a teenager," Kurvitz says. "This raises the learning caps for his Reaction Speed and Interfacing."

Kim's high Volition skill makes him impervious to prying, Kurvitz says, as the detective can find out on occasions being met with Kim's brick-wall resolve. Kim often chastises these whims of the detective's, but will occasionally play along. The Lieutenant finds his new partner funny, says Kurvitz.

Kim is naturally shit at Motorics and thinks Harry is funny source