In Stars and Time my beloved

I finished this brushbuddy art doll earlier this week and he is very cute. It's got a wire armature inside and is fully posable, including the leather fingers and toes. (There are also magnets in the feet to potentially stick it to things later.)

Suggested Siffrin because I like them and I like your art & I wanna see how he'd look in your style & you said you had requests open... no pressure tho!! Totally get if you don't want to / can't draw it

THANK YOUUU!! I HOPE I DID HIM JUSTICE!!

observe

Do you, sky, know everything?

Realizing that a species is imperiled has broad connotations, given that it tells us something about the plight of nature itself. It reminds us of the need to implement conservation measures and to protect the region of which the species is a part. But aside form the broader picture, species have intrinsic worth and are deserving of preservation. Surely an oddity such as C. vicinella cannot simply be allowed to vanish.

We should speak up on behalf of this little moth, not only because by so doing we would bolster conservation efforts now underway in Florida, [highlighting begins] but because we would be calling attention to the existence of a species that is so infinitely worth knowing. [end highlighting]

But is quaintness all that can be said on behalf of this moth? Does this insect not have hidden value beyond its overt appeal? Does not its silk and glue add, potentially, to its worth? Could these products not be unique in ways that could ultimately prove applicable?

Until I learned about toxic stress from a TED talk my professor had us watch. After that, well... Rant beneath the "Keep reading".

Let's talk about before Iruma got into the Netherworld first. Forced to work from age one, Iruma has been put through repeated stressful situations. While we can acknowledge his danger sensing instincts, we also have to acknowledge that prolonged/repeated exposure to stress hormones can lead to toxic stress which is maladaptive.

Continuing my talk about the Adverse Childhood Experience study, I looked into heart diseases that correlated to a higher ACE score. Before you continue, I want you all to take a guess as to what sort of heart disease made me more incensed.

Made a guess? Great. Here you are then. The one that shocked and aggravated me most.

Heart failure.

Heart. Failure.

Imagine Iruma continuing to live with his parents, still growing up in that stressful environment. He would have had over 40 percent of a chance for heart failure (and still might, because continue to consider 13 years of repeated trauma).

Let's also consider his appetite. We all know that for Iruma, food was scarce and he often ate grass. Despite how fucked up his digestive tract must be (he has to at least be somewhat anorexic), he eats large portions. But why?

My first guess was that Iruma's taste buds were affected by his "meals" and therefore because he couldn't taste, he couldn't savor his food. But that was tossed out the window in the Harvest Festival arc. He can still taste, so that isn't why he's a black hole.

My second guess was the presence of Alikred. The gluttonous feeder ring feeds on magic and has quite the appetite. Could the magical appetite of the ring's entity be affecting Iruma's appetite to make him crave large quantities of food to consume mana.

Now to bring up Iruma's mental health. Because we obviously have to talk about that.

Let me start with before Iruma came to the Netherworld. Because I think part of that is the reason we see Iruma grow.

I have a few theories and guesses as to what Iruma's mental health was like, but I will say without a doubt (a little headcannon of mine) that he had both mild (maybe) depression and high anxiety.

Before anyone goes for my throat, let me explain.

Iruma has been neglected by his parents and has never truly had any friends his age. Being ousted by both parents and peers, Iruma's mind would twist slightly and he would grow depressed as he would feel isolated. And for teenagers, who thrive on social interactions just to put labels on things, Iruma's isolation was dangerous and harmful to his mental health because he was alone.

As for anxiety, that one was obvious. Jobs can be stressful. Iruma is a teenager. But because he's never gone to school and learned about deadlines early on, any job he's had that has had a deadline has made him anxious. That's also why he's bad at studying. No school. He's never been in a situation where he's had to really study and he's not used to basic math or complicated terminology. We also have the life-threatening situations that would also raise anxiety.

Not to mention the "training" his parents gave him to never say no...

Now, let's get into Iruma in the Netherworld.

When Iruma is sold to Sullivan, he genuinely wants to say no to him. He doesn't like that he's been sold by his parents. Sullivan knows how to use his words though and Iruma becomes his grandson. A little bit after though, while Sullivan is planning Iruma's education and Iruma is trying to protest, Sullivan makes a remark that had Iruma refused, he would have eaten Iruma, Iruma gets terrified. Iruma's seen animals that would gladly turn him into a meal and Sullivan's words bring back that trauma.

That's also why Iruma is so anxious around his schoolmates. If Sullivan brings back that trauma, then the school anthem and the reminder of what his schoolmates are bring that trauma to the forefront.

Also, he doesn't know social norms or have any experience with people other than being ignored, being made to do things, and he's worked with a lot of adult coworkers. After all, he's 14. That's also why he's wary of his own classmates and teachers. They all terrify him because he doesn't know how to talk to people.

When he looks at his teachers, all he sees is another boss. That is anxiety inducing because of Iruma's experience with jobs. It's also because of this that he doesn't rely on his teachers. Because if they're the bosses and he's the worker, that means they won't help him. So he's already got the mindset that he has to do the work himself and that asking for help would make him bad at his "job" as well as make him a burden. He only relies on others when it is necessary.

That's also why when he is shown repeated "kindness" (looking at you, Kirio), he tends to latch on quite quickly. He's never had a reliable senpai who he can really talk to, so he latches onto Kirio even when Kirio turns out to be dangerous. Balam is the first teacher to show concern and kindness even though the teacher is terrifying physically and that makes Iruma latch onto Balam enough to trust him with his identity as a human. Asmodeus and Clara are the first of his peers to actually be friendly to him and so he latches onto them as his first friends. He even relaxes with Ameri at times because of their love of the same manga.

Iruma gets attached because he's never had good experiences. He's still nervous with his classmates, has never relaxed with Kalego because of how aggressive and indifferent Kalego is to him, but another person he grows attached to is Purson.

Why? Because though Purson is always looking indifferent, once he starts talking, Purson spills everything out. Iruma realizes that Purson is socially awkward and he understands to an extent. Why? Because he's the same in some senses. He acts as a shield for Purson and also acts a voice when initiating communications when first negotiating with the rest of their class for the Music Festival. He's acting the way no one ever acted for him. He's never had a shield or someone to act as his voice. He's playing a role to support someone else.

I could go on forever about this, but I think that's enough for me for now.

pawprints - thewunderkind