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fanaticsnail · 1 month ago

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Meet Tobiuo

Moodboard: Art by @skullfacedlady (centre image), and @thenotsofantasticlifestory (Kiki [OC], Tobiuo, and Heat). The rest of the images are found on Pinterest or are stock images. Lyrics are sourced from 'Come What May' and 'Until the Day I Die'. Song used found here, Morgan Clae is the artist.

Images: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen. Dividers by @/firefly-graphics.

Depicted below is a little about Tobiuo and history regarding her culture and her species. There are references to all Deep Blue fishfolk reproduction, but nothing overtly NSFW below. I have marked it with brackets if you would rather skip them.

Tobiuo

Many would assume she is quiet and reserved simply due to the fact that when her lips move, no sounds follow. Silence lies in place of tales, songs and laughter: only the flurry of hands and hasty etchings of carefully calligraphed words depict her emotions in communication that leaves nothing to misinterpret.

Her body language? Another beast entirely.

Tobiuo, for lack of a better word, is a boisterous himbo. Her emotions and intentions are written in the way she carries herself: shoulders arched, arms strong, and always in a stance to either tackle or tease. The way she gets the attention of those around her is pursing her lips and whistling, or to simply grip the wrist or trace the forearm of her companion up to their elbow.

Tapping in code, using Auslan to flutter her hands, and sometimes diving below the Tang and communicating via radar are the ways she chooses to depict her words.

She knows she's not the most comfortable creature to look at, and would never dream of making anyone uncomfortable by her touch, but sometimes she can't help it. If Penguin is needing assistance with a task in the kitchen, she'd bump her hip against his before swaying to the beat from the den-den radio. If Shachi ever requires an additional pair of eyes on watch, Tobiuo is up there with a blanket draped over her shoulders and sitting behind him: the single blanket cascading down his body as he slouches over and reads to her.

If Law is in need of his back realigning, all he has to do is give a lazy gesture of his hand before Tobiuo emphatically raises to her feet, crosses his arms over his chest, and hoists him effortlessly into the air to release the soft pops of taught muscle.

When partners and lovers are introduced for members of the crew, she's just as enthusiastic about them as she is her found family. Hands squeezing over knuckles, soft scrunches of her nose, punches of cheeks, warm, encumbering embraces: that's Tobiuo. If she could talk above water, her voice would be that extra layer of comforting gruffness that matches her playful physical outbursts.

The one thing she dislikes, and will be slow to forgive, is if any reference to her fishfolk heritage is spoken of in a negative light. Her name, Tobiuo, translates to “flying fish.” Any depiction or slur, even in jest, and she is using her larger frame and stronger body to pin down and place a warning bite at the jaw of all those who attempt to do so. Being called “fish” or anything to do with oceanic life that reflects her genetic markup, spoken as a negative, makes her upset.

She does not think she is very attractive. Her eyes are otherworldly, her gills on her face, elevated bumped scales on her skin, and webbed ears, shoulders, hands and feet are all aspects of herself that set her apart from the majority of her crew. She envies the ability to speak and fit in with the society she interacts with on shore, reminded by her reflection puncturing the corner of her eye that she's not like the others. Even in fishmen circles, her folk are foreign and often thought of as simply a myth or creatures from fables.

Her crew loves her, and she loves them. She feels at home with them, and is extremely loyal to Trafalgar Law. Growing close since he found her entangled in shackles and chains, she sees him as an angsty little brother that is in constant need of cheering up or teasing. She respects him as a captain during her scheduled work hours, but treats him like a sibling outside of that.

Wrestling, rough housing, sparring, grappling, hugging, platonic kissing, nose brushing, hair braiding, back cracking, massaging: Tobiuo wants to express her emotions physically, as much as she can. If she receives it in return, in her mind, she is immediately friends. Respect her, listen to her orders as chief of security, and give her permission to sit closely beside her friends: that's all she asks.

This physical touch is what makes it difficult to differentiate between friendly touch and romantic expression for her. She kisses her friends on the foreheads and lounges with them, splaying her entire weight over them, or cradling them into her. How is she to know any different?

For her, falling in love takes time. She is blissfully ignorant of people looking her way without explicitly suggesting that they find her attractive and would like to pursue a relationship with her. Leaning in for a kiss? Tobiuo would shake her head with a soft smile at such a joking notion before reaching up to brush her lips over their head.

A lot of things go over her head, but when she catches on? She will shut down while she attempts to process as to why someone would ever want to see her in that light. She's had trysts and couplings in the past, sure, but navigating an entirely new beast like infatuation and romance is a foreign concept to her. She doesn't know what she's doing.

Tobiuo’s body is very taught and athletic, and littered in scars she has no memory of receiving. She has lean arms, and her legs are her strength. With all the throwing and lifting she does in combat, a lot of takedowns are done by sweeping and pinning. Her body is pear-shaped, and she usually dresses to hide her insecurities regarding her hips and otherworldliness outside of her Heart-Pirate uniform.

The clothes she owns consist of her boiler suit, heart pirate stock pajamas, her yukata from Wano, and her bathing suit. She doesn't own any other clothes, and will need assistance if she ever chooses to buy them. She has no sense of fashion, she just goes off vibes alone.

Her eyes are milky with no pupils, and her perception of the world is both hindered and advanced by the fact she is color blind. The only colors she can see clearly are the bioluminescence of her skin radiating in the light, alongside the temperature changes of others’ auras. She does have an awareness of what color is, but she does not actively care about what she's missing. What she does have is the ability to make out shapes in perfect perception underwater and at night. She can also see at great distances.

Her face includes large gills on each cheek, and two smaller beneath each eye. Her ears are frilled and webbed, matching two that lie flat against her shoulder blades. Unless she desires to jump higher or swim faster, they remain within her body until she releases them. Like the species she gets her name from, she can jump and hover over the ocean up to 300’. She can only hover when her shoulder fins are exposed, but she does not enjoy having this species feat well known. Her uniform was twin zips at the back that open up to allow for this ability.

The teeth in her mouth are all incredibly sharp, two larger canines on her top and bottom jaw, but all small enough for all to be hidden behind her lips. Her barbed tongue is tucked safely behind her teeth, but can flicker out into a pointed tip that extends below her chin. The feel of the barbs are coarse, but not sharp. Little ribbed peaks litter her palate, hindering her ability to truly taste food. She enjoys textures and different tingles on her tongue rather than fussing at the flavors. Sichuan green peppercorns are her favorite, the numbing effect has always been a delight for her.

Tobiuo is exceptionally self-conscious of her teeth, and often keeps her lips shut to hide this from others. Given her height is over seven feet, her tongue can extend a full seven inches outside her lips should she desire to demonstrate it.

Her fingers and toes are webbed, her nails sharpened into medium length claws. She also has scales framing her face, down her shoulders, over her ribs and lining the outside perimeter of her body.

While the scales are not visible in raw light, under UV and in great depths of the sea, they can be seen. They can also be felt to the touch, and are slightly ticklish. Intentionally touching her scales is seen as an intimate act for her people, and will only allow the touch for two reasons: genuine curiosity, and courtship practices. These scales can malt, and the peeling process is an awful and itchy experience.

Reproduction for her people is complex.

There are two species of fish-folk that lurk in the depths: angler-type mer-species that act as a lure to unwitting prey, and barbaric folk that have twin legs in lieu of a single fin.

Her half-sister, Masami, is an angler-mer, and is next in line to succeed the species as their ultimate queen. Tobiuo was meant to be the warrior to protect her, and the final trial that she underwent is the reason for her scarring and memory loss. She is unaware of this, and equally unaware that her sister has embarked on a mission to actively seek her out and bring her home.

Both of these species are born as male with the potential of becoming female should they hear ‘The Call’.

Reference for Gender Gyration in the Fish World: sequential hermaphroditism.

Breeding and reproduction includes spawning season, a flurry of eggs being laid by all those claiming the identity of female. This is done in a cave mouth, a soft pocket where air meets water in a warm humidity, where the Deep Blue folk take turns in nurture, care and protection over their developing young. This is done outside the body, no pregnancy is done internally. Each season, only a select few are chosen to reproduce to ensure no season of young are related genetically to the other.

The groups are all given names, and this is how they identify their bonds to one another. There are seven familial rotations that rotate genetically: wind, flame, sand, tide, illuminance, shadow.

Genetically, her sister belongs to illuminance: her father took another mate when her mother died. He has only spawned two young, and kept Masami away with his new bride when he shifted colonies. He returned when that fresh colony was wiped out by a sea king lurking in the depths of the furthest point of the Deep Blue.

Siblings and Cousins, Uncles and Aunts, Father's and Mother's, Nieces and Nephews, and potential mates are categorized genetically. If Tobiuo was to spawn, she would engage with her genetic mate: Flame or Tide. She is Wind: Flame is said to make her young stronger, and Tide is said to move faster with the swell of current. She is only permitted to engage with either of those if she wants to have offspring.

She does not want to have offspring, but does want to be a fiercely loyal and protective aunt to any young thrown her way. She adores new life, but it is not a life she wants for herself.

All of the women in Tobiuo's culture are what most humans refer to as trans or intersex. They're born with the genetic capacity to be both male and female. At fifteen, some receive what they refer to as 'The Call', akin to puberty, where they feel an overpowering urge to become female. This is the only true, extremely painful part of their puberty journey.

The males of Tobiuo's species are shorter than the females. Part of the process of 'The Call' is the stretching, breaking, and shifting of bones to make them larger. Few females survive this process. Tobiuo and Masami are both anomalies, it is rare to have two females within the same family.

The process involves shifting the bulb at their abdomen internally, their semen calcifying and forming into pouches of squishy orange spheres that would become clutches of eggs. A hormonal release coats their insides and shoots throughout their veins and blooms at their chest to form breasts. The mounds are capable of expressing lactation to feed their offspring should the parents be inclined to.

The shifts in abdominal structure and bone are a test to their endurance, and screams are heard throughout the Deep Blue that can register on submarine radar. It is not pretty, but it is a natural process.

This happens at sixteen years old.

Birthing clutches occurs over three to five days, to which small eggs are laid in batches of five to seven. They're given a ceremonial blade to cut them open to prevent insemination before they're fed to the sea. This is extremely private, and is not spoken about outside of extremely close relationships. Menstration occurs biannually.

If the eggs are cultivated, few fry make it to full gestation. It is not uncommon to have a clutch of fry laid in batches of five to seven. Inseminated eggs can take up to 1.5-3 years in the egg before they are ready to hatch.

Tobiuo does not want children.

The ceremony afterwards includes having an elder of the Deep Blue present the new female with a ceremonial blade they will use for their menstration, and they introduce themselves by a new name they will now refer to themselves as.

The first person they introduce themselves by their new name as female is a woman they respect.

Tobiuo introduces herself to Masami's mother, Ria, her step mother.

Tobiuo's name as a male was Takeshi - meaning "military" or "warrior". She chose Tobiuo because she has wings on her back and she's a Fishwoman. Flying fish seemed appropriate, and nobody would dare question her choice. She liked the way it sounded, and her Auslan sign name remains the same.

Her species is monogamous, and they choose a mate that is their special person for life should they unify through marriage. If one of them dies, they go into a state of mourning that can last anywhere between five years, to the rest of their natural life. After the five year period, they are asked to speak of the desire to take another mate, and the colony respects whatever decision they make.

Tobiuo enjoys dancing. There is a festival her people celebrate with to enjoy their amphibious attributes called the 'Irukandji Jellyfish Festival'.

Tobiuo's people don't celebrate many overworld traditions: Valentine's, Christmas, Easter, St Patrick's day, etc. Birthdays are celebrated in brood clutches: one birthday per year shared with hatch-mates. New year for them is based on the lunar cycle, which is another tradition all together named: "Call of Tide," to be discussed later.

The Irukandji Jellyfish festival is an event that began as courtship practices for her species to find their mates. Now, it is used as an excuse for her species to get naked and enjoy parading from the depths of the ocean, to the rise in the sand and rock.

It involves: Music sung by the sirens in the deep, drums beating on the dunes, and painting your bodies in a way to match your clutch-designation. The only thing worn to these events is the paints, and although it was initially used as a way to attract a mate, it is simply used now as a time to drink, dance, and enjoy the freedoms involved in a life between land and sea.

If an outsider is invited to share in this experience, their host (in this case, Tobiuo) would grant them a designation from the different factions and have the honour of painting their bodies. The paints are bioluminescent, and can only be removed by a special ointment dabbed at the skin. It does not come off in water, as it is a way to share which clutch they hatched from.

To receive an invitation, simply ask Tobiuo if there are any traditions she would like to share. She would wholeheartedly want to invite an outsider as a guest to dance with her, so long as they are okay with the fact that all parties attending are expected to be fully naked.

Guests are extended a title of brood clutch to don their paints, often at the bequest of their host. Wind, flame, sand, tide, illuminance, shadow, all have unique paint for their designations, and Tobiuo adjusts the markings of her guests accordingly.

The more she likes an individual, the closer she'll mark her bonds with paint. For a romantic partner, she will either give them 'flame' or 'tide' to match her 'wind'.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Tobiuo. I adore talking about her, and she is just so much fun to draw. If you made it this far, here is a picture of when Tobiuo decided to go clothes shopping by herself.

She's upset because Shachi and Penguin made fun of her. She thought she looked nice: like a coral swaying in the wind. They said she looked ridiculous and to take it back.

This is what she returned with, after receiving a little bit of guidance from her friend. She likes the other one better, but this one got a better reaction from her crew.

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