Good as our intentions might be, few of us feel inclined to take initiative in a crisis while other capable do-gooders are nearby. A survey conducted by researchers from York University and University of Toronto in Canada suggests individuals with autism may not be quite as susceptible to this hesitance. Researchers have known about the bystander effect since the late 1960s, when the American social psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané found male undergraduate students were less likely to report smoke when in groups compared to when they were alone. [...] Now we can include the neurological wiring of those in the crowd, with self-reported evidence suggesting people with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD) might be less easily influenced by the social norms that would keep others from stepping up. "Our study shows that to the extent that they would act if they saw something wrong, employees with autism were much more likely to intervene, regardless of the number of people present," says lead author Lorne Hartman, a behavioral scientist from York University. "And in situations where they would not intervene, they were more likely to identify the influence of others as the reason, whereas neurotypical employees were more reluctant to acknowledge this."

Continue Reading.

Recent research found the cruelty of Zimbardo’s prison guards didn’t emerge spontaneously; some behaviour was encouraged. Some of the “prisoners” later admitted that they were pretending to be distressed. Similarly, a study published in 2007 found that the 1964 incident that inspired the theory of the bystander effect was distorted. According to the paper, archive material shows far fewer people witnessed the incident than was reported at the time, and some people could only hear screams, without seeing the location of the incident. At least one person did try to intervene. Recent research indicates that bystanders are much more likely to intervene than the theory suggests. A 2019 study of 219 violent situations from cities around the world caught on CCTV showed that bystanders – not just one, usually several – intervened to help victims 90% of the time. The study also found that the more people were present, the more likely passers-by were to intervene. In the words of the study’s lead researcher, Richard Philpot: “It shows that people have a natural inclination to help when they see someone in need.” The burgeoning field of “heroism studies” also questions the bystander effect. In a recent article for The Conversation, I described how acts of heroic altruism are common during terrorist attacks, when people often risk their own lives to help others. Consider the following situation: you’re standing on a train platform. The person next to you suddenly faints and falls on to the track, unconscious. In the distance, you can see a train approaching. What would you do? You might doubt whether you would act heroically. But don’t underestimate yourself. There is a strong possibility that, before you knew it, you would find yourself on down on the track, helping the person to safety. There is a growing awareness amongst researchers that heroism is natural and spontaneous, and by no means exceptional.

do not listen to russian propaganda no matter who is parroting it. Even if it someone you normally listen to.

It makes no sense for Ukraine to blow up its own dam. If there were benefits, the costs far far outweigh them.

it diverts resources form the counteroffensive.

It kills their own people.

Destroys their own land.

Anyone who thinks Ukraine would cause such a massive disaster is barely thinking at all.

This is what russia does. Like an abuser, it deflects blame onto the actual victim. It spouts ridiculous propaganda, repeating it so much with such conviction people begin to doubt or even believe it.

But if you know them at all or how they operate, they're painfully transparent.

Don't give russia any support by entertaining their narratives at all.

Instead, support Ukrainians now with whatever you can give. So many people suffering. In such a massive disaster, we need to help as much as possible.

Okay, well replaying Skyward Sword reminded me that I wrote this like a year ago buried in a reblog so I'm just gonna air it out and plop it here.

The first time Link had disappeared, it had caused alarm. Zelda had just gone missing, ripped from her loftwing by a treacherous tornado, and suddenly Link was a haggard mess, dressed in a knight’s uniform, and then gone. People feared that he had been hurt too, a search shouldn’t last after sunset; he wasn’t a full knight, after all. However, Headmaster Gaepora had managed to calm the academy students, and the news spread throughout Skyloft.

It took almost a week for Link to return to Skyloft. When people saw his crimson loftwing circling around the town, a collective sigh of relief fell over the sky island. If he’d been gone consistently for so long, then he’d only return when he’d found Zelda, after all. Not to mention it meant they were both safe.

However, that had not been the case. Link had been alone, tired, and filthy. His clothes had tears in them in certain places, he had strange silky threads wrapped around parts of his legs, dry blood stains were disturbingly evident on his tunic, and he practically had bags under the already constantly present bags under his eyes. He had landed just by the goddess statue and had not been seen since. However, another bright light had appeared in the cloud barrier, unnerving the Skyloftians, who chattered about it amongst each other.

The bazaar had been exceptionally busy that day, and the new red light in the sky caused people to gather there to discuss the matter. It meant there were long lines just to get inside, and Link had not seemed keen to stand among the crowds to get the supplies he so desperately needed. Instead, he’d sat on the bench outside, waiting for the townspeople to eventually spread throughout the island once more and give him the space he needed to prepare for his next trip.

The crowds did indeed start to thin, but as people trickled out of the bazaar with hot drinks and hot gossip on their tongues, they paused, finding the boy passed out on the bench. At first it was amusing; Link often fell asleep all over town. But then it was worrisome. He looked haggard. Everyone in town was invested in this boy’s well-being; they’d all welcomed him into their homes at one point or another, the adults all remembered the little orphan wandering the island aimlessly in the days after his father’s unfortunate death, they all remembered bringing him into their homes with promises of warm food and a pillow to lay his head on.

So it had been collectively decided that someone would fetch a pillow from their home and get Link a bit more settled. Wryna brought a blanket as well, but Greba had pointed out worriedly that Link was still a mess (with an emphatic “He stinks!” from Kukiel). Mallara had gotten Commander Eagus, who had promptly swaddled Link in the blanket and carried him to the academy to tend to him.

After that encounter, everyone on Skyloft had decided that they’d keep an extra careful eye out for the boy.

This new pact ended up saving the young knight-in-training’s life. The next time he came back, he had fallen off his loftwing entirely, caught only by Pipit, who had been notified that something was wrong when Orielle noticed the loftwing’s panicked screeches. He’d been unconscious before he fell into his classmate’s strong arms, and even Groose and his stooges had watched in concern as Pipit had rushed Link to the infirmary.

But today was not quite so dire. Link had been missing from Skyloft for two weeks after he’d recovered (his periods of absence continued to grow, much to everyone’s concern), but this morning Jakamar, his wife Wryna, and their daughter Kukiel woke up to a surprise green bundle curled up in their bed. He was on the edge, barely taking any space, but he hogged a majority of that side of the bed’s blanket. At first Jakamar nearly jumped out of his skin until he realized who it had to be, and he pulled the blanket back just enough to see the curved little ears and fluffy dirty blonde hair that everyone on Skyloft knew so well.

Blowing out a sigh, he turned away and held his wife as she peered over his shoulder. “Well, at least we know where he is.”

“He’ll be hungry,” Wryna commented. “I’ll get started on breakfast.”

Jakamar grunted in acknowledgement as his wife crawled to the bottom of the bed to climb over the wooden frame so as to avoid waking Link. Kukiel shot up and started to bounce on the bed in excitement, and Jakamar scooped her into his arms and also climbed out of bed in a similar manner. The house was silent as the family cleaned their faces and prepped for the day (though only because the parents constantly had to remind Kukiel to keep quiet with gentle shushes and fingers over their lips), and then Jakamar took his daughter out for a morning stroll while Wryna busied herself in the kitchen area.

When he got back to the smell of a delicious breakfast, he stretched and smiled, glancing at the bed to find it empty. He looked back to see Wryna’s disappointed face.

“He’s gone!” Kukiel exclaimed in her high voice.

“I didn’t see him step out,” Wryna said guiltily.

Jakamar put a hand on his wife and smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it, hon. At least he got some sleep. Pack it up in a bottle, if we see him we’ll give it to him.”

Jakamar had the luck to find Link later that day as the boy was meandering around the windmills. Although Jakamar was getting ready to offer the now lukewarm food, Link instead started asking him about the windmill’s missing propeller. Jakamar helped him as best he could, and just as Link rushed off to find Gondo at Jakamar’s suggestion (he figured the robot, though broken, might be able to help), the man called out to him, waving the large bottle with food carefully packed inside.

Link stared at him, confused. Jakamar held out the bottle. “Take it, kid. You look like you’re starving.”

It was a bit of a slip up to admit it to his face. Link often would recoil at such remarks, would cover it up with an embarrassed laugh and then actively avoid whoever said it for a while, which then made it even harder to help him. But it was the truth - he did look gaunt and worn thin. Jakamar was usually a pretty easygoing guy, but this seemed like it was starting to get serious. He wished the headmaster would reel the kid in.

Link’s expression shifted, so easily readable on his face, and his confusion clearly became shame. He looked down at the ground, biting his lip. When Jakamar pushed the bottle into his sight again, he took it wordlessly, but as he locked eyes with the man he gave a grateful smile. Before Jakamar could get a word in, Link turned on his heel and headed for the bazaar.

Jakamar blew out a sigh as he watched the boy run. Hylia look out for him.

this girl doing a grwm tik tok and proceeding to tell us how a friend got attacked by a man on her behalf after the friend told the man that she already told him no to giving him her number….and the girl just watched her friend get attacked. she then made a follow up grwm tik tok clarifying that she hardly knew the girl and the girl was an associate and not a friend. as if that made her just watching “the associate” get beat up by a man any better

truly my friends and i jumping a man before we even let him swing on a woman 😭. heels, purses, phones, you name any weapon…we using it! a wwe handicap match it will be before i even let a man put his hands on a woman in front of me

~ JAIDEN VODS ARCHIVE (by meeeeee!!!!)

~ youtube playlist

~ internet archive

for now only the twitch streams are archived. oke oke.

He told himself he shouldn't be doing this to the inspector, who was just a clerk in the wrong place and probably wasn't a bad man. The trouble was, the trolls up in the plaza probably weren't bad trolls, and the dwarfs down in the square probably weren't bad dwarfs, either. People who probably weren't bad could kill you.

Terry Pratchett, Thud!

If I saw my friend and thought they looked uncomfortable nothing would stop me from intervening. I don’t care who’s in the room idc how much power they have. If I brought you to that room and I saw what they claim to have seen I’m immediately pulling you out

I saw my 60+ year old manager getting flirted with at work and could tell she was uncomfortable so the whole group of us hosts went up and got her out of there like we were 16-17 but she brings up every once in a while how uncomfortable he made her feel. It does not matter who you're around because if you think someone is making somebody uncomfortable you NEED to help

The Twin Terrors

Two out of my five headcanon calliope kids, along with some of their traits and background! And some crumbs on the other siblings as well if you squint. (Special thanks to @kuroneko1815 who heard me out on my rant about them lol)

Callisto was ecstatic when he saw that the twins’ hair color was the same as Penelope’s; he insisted that the eye color complimented their pretty hair color.

Just like their mother, the siblings have a love for expensive things, especially rubies and emeralds, (blame their father, Callisto covered them in emerald jewelry since they were literal babies).

Growing up, Dante will start to resemble his father more and more, while Eden will take after Penelope with looks.

The twins wear ‘coordinated’ earrings. Dante’s earring has a star, that he wears on his left ear, while Eden has a moon earring on her right ear.

The gold earrings were actually Callisto’s and Penelope’s, but when the twins were born, the married couple immediately knew the earrings would suit the children better. It was a toss on who’d get the star, and who the moon, but in the end with Judy’s and Kayden’s help, they settled for the current arrangement.

Turns out the choice suits the twins nicely since Dante is more outgoing, therefore ‘as bright as a star,’ while Eden can be more secluded, which alludes to the different phases of the moon.

They also have ‘complementary’ moles of sorts. The position of the moles actually defined the placement of the earrings, Dante has a mole under his left eye, and Eden has one underneath her right eye.

Dante is the only one out of the two that has always had dimples, however growing up, only the dimple on the left side remained. The dimples come from Callisto and his mother (whom I decided to call Eleanor), whom had dimples on both sides, while Callisto has only one on his left side.

Dante is the oldest of the two, and takes every chance he gets to rub it in Eden’s face, which consequentially gets him whacked on the head.

They show their love by beating each other up, it’s just how they are.

Chaotic middle children.

Walking potty mouths. The ‘no cussing rule’ only worked on Judith and the baby of the family, Rigel. Kayden can and will curse, however he chooses not to, he has more ‘fancy ways’ of insulting people, but Dante and Eden are the foul-mouthed duo of the family. Sometimes Callisto’s crude language pales in comparison to the twins’ appalling choice of words. The only time they don’t curse at all is in front of Penelope, mom is a scary being that should not be angered in any way.

Stick together like glue, where one goes, the other follows.

They will get angry if someone assumes they like the same things, aka the dumb stereotypes that always follow twins.

Once at a party hosted by a noble, someone tried to serve a meal that had a big amount of peppers in it to Dante just because Eden likes peppers; Dante ended up grabbing that servant by the collar of his uniform and threatening him, because he has a strong dislike for raw peppers after he got sick as a child after eating some. The only thing that stopped the servant from getting sucked punched was Judith’s interception of the whole thing.

People refer to them as ‘The Terrors’ because personality wise, they’re basically copy and paste of Callisto’s more brutal tendencies. (Reynold was the one that started referring to them as that, however he means it in a playful and teasing manner, he loves the two gremlins to death).

Literally the karma of shitty people, because despite all of this, the twins only go after the bad and questionable ones.

The two of them aren’t mean, in fact they’re very nice, kind and playful once you get to know them. A good example of the people present on Eden and Dante’s hit list are the ones exactly like Gloria Kellen and her fetch dogs, aka the bullies.

The twins are the equivalent of ‘the hot cheeto girls’ when it comes to defending someone from bullies.

Out of the two, Dante is the more volatile one. He’s the one that picks fights the most out of the five Regulus siblings. The altercations are usually put to rest by Kayden, and when his older brother isn’t there to stop him, Judy will try to placate Dante.

Dante is very irritable when it comes to people he doesn’t like, and won’t hesitate to call someone out on their bs.

He gravitates more towards swordsmanship, and has a collection of all kinds of swords, which are his pride and joy. Some of them he forged himself overtime with the help of his father; you can find any type of sword you can think of in that collection, from normal ones to magical and very powerful ones, to ancient sword relics.

Dante combines magic and swordsmanship, and has this one special attack of ‘flying swords,’ it helps that some of his swords are somewhat sentient thanks to the magic he imbedded into them with Penelope’s help.

Oftentimes he can be found training with Kayden and Callisto, who teaches them everything he knows.

On the other hand, Eden is the more ‘docile’ of the two. People usually would rather deal with Eden than with Dante because they deem her more well-mannered, when in reality they should watch out when it comes to her.

Eden is actually more of a ‘behind the scenes’ kind of girl. Cross her and she’ll dig up any and every information on you in under an hour. Give her 20-40 minutes and she’ll have your entire life’s events at hand.

She’s the blackmail girly, and has her own special ways of making people talk when she needs/wants something, ways that actually don’t include any sort of harm, at least not physical.

Eden is in fact, a telepath, who also makes use of telekinesis. I’m talking about literally eradicating trees and yeeting them at someone if she’s testy enough, all of that without breaking a sweat. She could be sipping tea while controlling random objects to do all the work for her.

All of the Regulus kids have an inkling for music, and each has their own designated instrument. Judith plays the piano; Kayden has his cello; for his brash nature, no one would expect Dante of all people to play the violin, but he does, and he’s pretty much a prodigy when it comes to that; Eden has her beloved harp and lyre; Rigel plays the flute, and later on, he also picks up on how to play the guitar.

Speaking of talents and hobbies, Eden can be found very often in the kitchens trying out some of her recipes. The kitchen staff are some of her favorite people.

The Head Chef is always the first who tries her dishes, (yes he’s the test subject), this man has went through food poisoning because of little Eden’s very dubious deserts, yet he’s still the first who offers to try out her weird concoctions. He’s pleased to see her improvement as she grows, the Head Chef is basically an adoptive uncle at this point.

Judith and Callisto are the ones who get the finished, improved and actually edible result to try out firsthand. They have no idea Eden gave the Head Chef food poisoning a few times, and are giddy with the fact that they are the first to try her dishes, ignorance is bliss after all and Eden couldn’t agree more, she doesn’t have the heart to tell them the truth.

Penelope knows of this and has tried quite a few times to coerce the Head Chef out of his ‘test subject’ occupation, however he insisted on it, and Penelope settled on designating a special doctor for the poor man. However, she does find amusing Callisto’s and Judith’s giddiness whenever they boast about being the first to get to try Eden’s food.

I so often think about the fact that the case that is the entire basis for the bystander effect and this dim view of humanity not being willing to help each other is a lie. The Kitty Genovese case is a famous one about a woman who was raped and murdered, and the story goes that 30 people—neighbors, passersby, etc—stood by and did nothing. This lie, repeated by journalists, was initially reported by police.

The reality is neighbors screamed for help, one kicked in a door to get to her, people called the police. Someone held Kitty while they waited for the cops. People shouted at and chased after the suspect.

The reality is people tried to help. They DID help. What did the cops do? Force false confessions, implant the idea that no one will help and you can only rely on the police, and that strangers are your enemy, not an ally. Then the New York Times reported it as fact, only decades later adding in a footnote that the story may not have been fully accurate.

People want to help. They put themselves in danger for each other. They try to comfort each other and get additional assistance.

I think about these realities with respect to the murder of Jordan Neely. That people are so trained to see cop behavior as what bystanders are meant to do. That strangers are threats and not just people living their lives the same as you.

I think about it with respect to how San Francisco cannot stop talking about former Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani getting “randomly” attacked on the street by “violent homeless people” and then it being revealed that for months he prowled the street beating up homeless people and pepper spraying them and destroying their possessions.

Homeless people are painted as your enemy, strangers and neighbors and community members are painted as your enemy—as a threat. As people who won’t help you. So you better leave it up to the police. The cops are the only ones who can protect you, deputizing yourself to be a cop is the only thing to protect you, when the opposite is the truth.

Strangers aren’t your enemy. Your neighbors want to help. Cops and “cops” don’t make us safer, they pit people against one another, and papers often report the lies as fact, and psychologists often report it as the “human condition.”

Fuck every institution that seeks to divide communities. Do not become a tool for them.

More on Kitty:

Link Link Link

More on dipshit Don:

Link

For context : The brick incident mentioned

The Public Rape and Murder of Kitty Genovese

In the early hours of 13th March 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese finished her shift as a Bar Manager at Ev’s 11th Hour in Queens, New York, and began her journey home. Kitty worked long hours at two jobs in the hopes of one day earning enough money to open an Italian restaurant.

She left the bar at around 2:30am and got into her car. Unbeknownst to Kitty, while stopped at a traffic light, she was spotted by a man driving a white Chevrolet Corvair. Unfortunately for her, the stranger decided at that moment to follow Kitty and make her the victim of a viciously fatal attack.

Kitty arrived back in her home neighbourhood at approximately 3:15am. She got out of her car and walked towards her apartment building, turning onto a dimly lit alleyway in Kew Gardens. Her armed attacker followed closely behind and grabbed her as she almost approached the safety of her home. When Kitty screamed out from the shock, he plunged a knife into her back, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. Altered by Kitty’s cries for help, one neighbour named Robert Mozer opened his window and yelled “Leave that girl alone!” causing the attacker to flee the scene, but the police were not called.

Suffering from the stab wound in her back, Kitty stumbled into a nearby doorway, where she collapsed. Sadly, this did not mark the end of her trauma, as the perpetrator had only temporarily fled. He waited for ten minutes in his car, changed his hat, and then headed back to the crime scene to find Kitty — he then stabbed her over a dozen times and raped her in an attack which lasted for thirty minutes.

Read the full story here.

Tbh the thing from the TMAGP ARG I'm most looking forward to making an appearance is fucking Bonzo.

How would the twst bully!au react to mc that knows how to fight? I think a quite a majority of them would get annoyed.

You is finna get ganged up constantly, YOU ARE ONLY ENTERTAINING THEM.

Except Jack. He’s very proud of you.

Those who are offended because you are challenging their authority tho: Riddle, Vil, Azul

Been thinking on this a lot lately and it’s not a decision set in stone by any means.

But I would like to stop posting fic here. I really would. I probably can’t, or rather won’t, but it’s a nice dream. Maybe for everything other than DALDOM, just to see that through.

I’m very thankful to mutuals, creators and non-creators alike. It’s important I say that because you all understand where I’m coming from (and this isn’t a new topic to most of you, either).

Posting and sharing fic is abysmal on this platform. It’s somehow essential if I want to make my fics accessible and yet all I ever experience is consumption.

Like, read, move on.

Check any one of my recent one-shots and you understand my point.

People used to reblog stories they liked. A like does nothing. It doesn’t share the work with anyone, all it says is that someone enjoyed a post enough to save it to their likes.

I’m so fucking tired. This platform makes me feel like I have to churn out fic, like I have to chase that shallow validation. That’s toxic as shit. I’ve been writing for the better part of fifteen years and never once has it felt like this.

I hate that social media has essentially told my brain that my hobby is content creation.

It’s not.

If I wanted that, I’d be in a vastly different field.

No one fucking engages with creators here anymore, so why should we continue to place food on the table.

Idk, I think I’m better off just posting links to AO3 and calling it a day if I do cross-post. Yeah, excludes a lot of people, and maybe that means “my numbers won’t be doing numbers anymore” or whatever the fuck but it’s fandom. Who gives a shit.

it’s all his fault [edit]