Our feelings about mutations.

[morrigan]

So, mutations are common. Does that mean that being used to such things our characters have a bit of understanding for people who appear grotesque?
In the real world, most people are aware that it isn't nice to think differently about people who are maimed, disfigured or deformed,  but still feel a bit uncomfortable around them, and the lower end of the gene pool are outright cruel to those sort of people.

How do we feel in Zalanthas?

[Lizzie]

It seems to me that really weird mutations are less uncommon in Tuluk.

And, I don't know that mutations are "common," so much that they aren't considered "rare" or "something worth going EWWW over" in most cases. So like, vestigial tails or extra fingers, really weird colored hair or birthmarks, cockeyes, hairlips, those kinds of things most people would consider "physical defects" and "minor mutations" in real life would be common and not even a little noteworthy.

More significant mutations such as an extra head, one arm coming out of the same side of the body as the other arm, a missing nose, eyes on the back of the head, three legs, a lizard's tail, ears that droop so much they morph into the shoulders, skin covered in thick matted fur, things like that - would not be common, but maybe a Tuluki would politely avert his eyes, a Nakki might crinkle her nose at, a desert elf would use a full quiver of arrows on if necessary, and a krathi tribal human would fireball.

Basically I think it depends on where you're seeing the mutant and the severity of the mutation.

[spawnloser]

http://www.armageddon.org/general/mutant.html

That should answer your questions.

[Angela Christine]

Also, the strangeness, usefulness, and "ugliness" of the mutation will affect how the mutant is treated.



Afflictions of the skin are usually considered ugly and repulsive.

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/03/missionary_enco.html
http://www.anaisdedermatologia.org.br/artigo_imprimir_en.php?artigo_id=10213
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/dermatlas/scleroderma.html


Severe facial deformities also induce a gut-level discomfort.  Even relatively common ones like cleft palet can be unpleasant to look at.

http://www.casa-guatemala.org/english/page13.html
http://www.plasticsurgery-africa.org/conditions_noma.htm
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~gw/extremedeformities.htm
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/im-here-ruin.php

And, I don't know that mutations are "common," so much that they aren't considered "rare" or "something worth going EWWW over" in most cases. So like, vestigial tails or extra fingers, really weird colored hair or birthmarks, cockeyes, hairlips, those kinds of things most people would consider "physical defects" and "minor mutations" in real life would be common and not even a little noteworthy.

I'm not sure about that.  Even simple birth marks can be pretty repulsive when the occur on the face or hands.  http://www.birthmark.org/


It is easy to be blase about mutations when you are only reading a brief description of them in a text MUD, but when you actually see them (like your character does) they are hard to ignore.  Being enlightened, educated, and/or empathetic only helps a little.  The visceral reaction of disgust or revulsion is there to help you avoid contagious diseases, and to help you avoid taking a mate with sub-par genes.  It wired into your basic survival instincts.

[Nao]

Since there's no modern medicine to correct things like harelips or skin conditions, they'd probably occur more often in zalanthas than on earth (even if people tend to make pretty characters).
I think people would be less repulsed by those things due to seeing them more often, just like med students stop being grossed out and fainting after a few surgeries.

EDIT: Also, those 'birthmarks' are typical child's conditions that disappear or at least shrink in size once the children grow up.

[morrigan]

AC, thank you for being a lot more eloquent about what I was asking.

The Arm documentation is full of information about it's people being intolerant towards things that are different. Our characters don't live in a world like ours with modern medicine and science. I find it hard to imagine one of my characters looking at someone with some sort of deformity and saying, "Oh, that's an odd mutation."  I find it much easier to see them saying something like, "What the feck is that?! Kill it, it's a monster!"

I read the documentation on mutation and it seemed to leave the attitude more or less open to player discretion, with a few guidelines about how we might feel depending on where's we're from. I was just curious I guess, about other people's take on it, as I've never seen anyone rping any sort of reaction to someone's mutation.