#</pre>badly designed

[healing-with-ai]

Garbage Poetry "Typewriter"

In the old shop, where dust accumulates, A treasure trove of typewriters waits. Keys sticking, sticking, before they hit the plug, A symphony of clicks, a writer's hug.

Make sure to inspect, before you buy, For some machines, parts are missing, oh me, oh my! A rock-hard bargain, or so it would seem, But beware, my friend, of the badly designed dream.

In this company of old, where rubber meets metal, I find myself, in a handful of typewriters to settle. Two or three, perhaps, to take home with glee, And sell, using yellow pages, a sight to see.

But now, I'm the buyer, in this buying old shop, Where machine moves, and all keys start to pop. Yet, some are rubbish, beyond repair, alas! But I'll take them home, and make them shine like glass.

For in the art of selling, lies a story untold, Of pld typewriters, and memories to hold. So let me cherish, these machines of old, And make them sing, with a story to be told.

[woa-for-shades]

The gang being dumb as always

[randaccidents]

Ngl I am REALLY TEMPTED to rant about the little design changes between the pre-roe character designs and the post-apathy character designs. Like I really really want to point out all the tiny little details of things I have moved and body language of the pose I chose and the addtion/removal of elements of each character for Heartless.

Because I made those decisions with foreshadowing and symbolism, whether in mind or something I noticed after.

mmm but its late so instead Im going to cash in on that ask from @hhoneycloves a day after I drop the Penitence character reference. Just to give you guys time to absorb the sad babygirl.

[likemmmcookies]

I'm like if a girl was a science class skeleton replica with the pins falling out

[six-improbable-things]

Spring break is next week, and holy fucking shit I'm so ready for that. I was just home the other weekend, but I'm so burnt out on school I already need another break. I have NO IDEA how I'm gonna make it through March and April without literally losing my mind.

And to make things worse, I have to somehow come up with 7 more credits next year in order to graduate, but I've already take all my required classes (I'm 99% sure), and everything else I'd want to take either had a zillion pre-reqs or overlaps with one of my classes I actually need to take.

[autolenaphilia]

One thing I noticed talking about Linux and free software is that a lot of people seem afraid of learning things about technology. I constantly read things like "I hate windows, but switching to linux would mean learning a new OS, and you have to be some super-smart programmer-hacker to do that." Or even: "Switching to firefox would mean switching browsers and I don't know how"

And that is precisely the attitude tech companies like Microsoft and Apple try to instill in their users in order to control them. They create these simple and “friendly” user interfaces for their products, but these hide information. From their OS being pre-installed to their settings apps, they keep people from learning things about how their computer works, and letting the companies make the decisions for their users.

I think people are underestimating themselves and overestimating how hard it is to learn new things are. It is like Windows/Macos have taught them some kind of technological learned helplessness. Not knowing how computers work and being afraid to learn how is how companies like Microsoft controls you, and justifies that control.

For example, people hate the forced and automatic system updates on Windows. And Microsoft justifies it as necessary because some people don’t know that their computer needs security updates and therefore don’t update, so they have to force the updates on them. That’s definitely true, and Microsoft’s tech support people is definitely very aware of that but it is a operating system that presumes that the user is incompetent and therefore shouldn’t control their own computer. And of course Microsoft abuses that power to force privacy-invading features on their users. Windows updates are also badly designed in comparison, no Linux distro I’ve used required the update program to hijack the entire computer, preventing the user from doing other things, but Windows does.

This is the dark side of “user-friendly” design. By requiring zero knowledge and zero responsibility for the user, they also take control away from the user. User-friendly graphical user interfaces (GUI) can also hide the inner workings of a system in comparison to the command line, which enables more precise control of your computer and give you more knowledge about what it is doing.

Even GUIs are not all made equal in regards to this, as the comparison between the Windows Control panel and their newer Settings app demonstrates. As I complained about before, Windows have hidden away the powerful, but complex Control Panel in favor of the slicker-looking but simplified and less powerful Settings app for over a decade now.

Of course this is a sliding scale, and there is a sensible middle-ground between using the command line for everything and user-friendly design masking taking control away from the end user.

There are Linux distros like Linux Mint and MX Linux who have created their own GUI apps for tasks that would otherwise use the command line, without taking control away from the user. This is mainly because they are open source non-profit community-driven distros, instead of being proprietary OSes made by profit-driven megacorps.

Still, giving that control to the user presumes some knowledge and responsibility on part of the user. To return to the update example, by default both Mint and MX will search and notify you of available updates, but you will have to take the decision to download and install them. Automatic updates are available in both cases, but it’s opt-in, you have to enable that option yourself. And that approach presumes that you know that you should update your system to plug security holes, something not all people do. It gives you control because it presumes you have knowledge and can take responsibility for those decisions.

All this also applies to the underlying fact that practically all pre-built computers nowadays have an operating system pre-installed. Few people install an OS themselves nowadays, instead they use whatever came with the computer. It’s usually either Windows or MacOS for desktops/laptops, and Android/IOS for smartphones (which are also a type of computer).

Now all this is very convenient and user-friendly, since it means you don’t have to learn how to install your own operating system. The OEM takes care of that for you. But again, this is a convenience that takes choice away from you. If you don’t learn how to install your own OS, you are stuck with whatever that is on the computer you bought. It’s probably precisely this step that scares people away from Linux, few people have installed even Windows, and installing your own OS seems impossibly scary. But again, learning is the only way to take back control. If you learn how to install an OS off an USB stick, you now have choices in what OS to use. (Sidenote: the hard part IMO is not the actual install process, but fiddling with the BIOS so it will actually boot from the distro on the USB stick. This old comic strip illustrates this very well).

That’s how life is in general, not just computers. Having control over your life means making decisions based on your own judgment. And to make sensible, rational decisions, you have to learn things, acquire knowledge.

The only other alternative is letting others take those decisions for you. You don’t have to learn anything, but you have no control. And in the tech world, that means big corporations like Microsoft, Google and Apple will make those decisions, and they are motivated by their own profits, not your well-being.

Computers have only become more and more capable and more important in our lives, and that can enable wonderful things. But it also means more power to the tech companies, more power over our lives. And the only way to resist that is to learn about computers, to enable us to make our own decisions about how we use technology.

[beatingtheouijaboardallegations]

forever tired of our voices being turned into commodity.

forever tired of thorough medaocrity in the AAC business. how that is rewarded. How it fails us as users. how not robust and only robust by small small amount communication systems always chosen by speech therapists and funded by insurance.

forever tired of profit over people.

forever tired of how companies collect data on every word we’ve ever said and sell to people.

forever tired of paying to communicate. of how uninsured disabled people just don’t get a voice many of the time. or have to rely on how AAC is brought into classrooms — which usually is managed to do in every possible wrong way.

forever tired of the branding and rebranding of how we communicate. Of this being amazing revealation over and over that nonspeakers are “in there” and should be able to say things. of how every single time this revelation comes with pre condition of leaving the rest behind, who can’t spell or type their way out of the cage of ableist oppression. or are not given chance & resources to. Of the branding being seen as revolution so many times and of these companies & practitioners making money off this “revolution.” of immersion weeks and CRP trainings that are thousands of dollars and wildly overpriced letterboards, and of that one nightmare Facebook group g-d damm it. How this all is put in language of communication freedom. 26 letters is infinite possibilities they say - but only for the richest of families and disabled people. The rest of us will have to live with fewer possibilities.

forever tired of engineer dads of AAC users who think they can revolutionize whole field of AAC with new terrible designed apps that you can’t say anything with them. of minimally useful AI features that invade every AAC app to cash in on the new moment and not as tool that if used ethically could actually help us, but as way of fixing our grammar our language our cultural syntax we built up to sound “proper” to sound normal. for a machine, a large language model to model a small language for us, turn our inhuman voices human enough.

forever tired of how that brand and marketing is never for us, never for the people who actually use it to communicate. it is always for everyone around us, our parents and teachers paras and SLPs and BCBAs and practitioners and doctors and everyone except the person who ends up stuck stuck with a bad organized bad implemented bad taught profit motivated way to talk. of it being called behavior problems low ability incompetence noncompliance when we don’t use these systems.

you all need to do better. We need to democritize our communication, put it in our own hands. (My friend & communication partner who was in Occupy Wall Street suggested phrase “Occupy AAC” and think that is perfect.) And not talking about badly made non-robust open source apps either. Yes a robust system needs money and recources to make it well. One person or community alone cannot turn a robotic voice into a human one. But our human voice should not be in hands of companies at all.

(this is about the Tobii Dynavox subscription thing. But also exploitive and capitalism practices and just lazy practices in AAC world overall. Both in high tech “ mainstream “ AAC and methods that are like ones I use in sense that are both super stigmatized and also super branded and marketed, Like RPM and S2C and spellers method. )

[heyaheiya]

hi sweetie, I love your work (◍•ᴗ•◍)

here's my request: pro hero katsuki x influencer quirkless reader. like how started the relationship and maybe some headcanon like hand placement, if there's pda in some events or awards, what he would answer if some1 ask him about his relationship, etc.

I hope you like my request, thank u and have a great day 💗

Omg I love the idea of katsuki with a famous non pro hero partner.

You were surprisingly popular for what you did. Makeup tutorials, reviews, grwms, ootd, vlogs. A part of your popularity was how it seemed you lived the dream life, inspiring teens all across Japan to strive for your aesthetic. (Wonyoungism lmfao).

You officially met Katsuki when you were asked to be the main interviewer on this year's annual Pro Hero Billboard Chart red carpet. When you read the email offering you this once in a lifetime opportunity, you slammed your laptop closed and sped walked laps around your bedroom. You were just a random person who posted silly footage of themselves. But now you were going to be on national TV, being on screen with the most famous faces of Japan. You were shitting yourself.

The company in charge of everything didn't really give you anything to prepare, not terrifying at all!! You spent days researching the heroes, trying to dig deep to find actually interesting things, rather than the repetitive "What made you want to be a hero?". A part of you really wanted to find embarrassing and creepily personal things to entertain the audience, but you quickly found there was a reason why you weren't a detective. 3 days straight, you attempted to stalk the heroes, and nothing. NOTHING!

The event was coming up quickly, and you had absolutely nothing. Your thick stack of cards, all decorated with the iconic design, were blank. You cried for 7 hours.

Eventually, you wrote down some questions, but rereading them, they were the most pathetic excuses for questions ever. You were spiralling. The next day, you were probably going to bomb, have no chemistry with any of the heroes, broadcasting hours upon hours of awkward tension, ruining your reputation and career, destroying the image you had spent years creating for yourself. You cried. A lot.

With a blink of the eye, you were at the red carpet, all dolled up, with less confidence than ever before. Great. The first hero you were stuck with was Deku. You assumed production noticed your panic and decided to throw you a bone.

"So, Deku, if you had to describe your pre-hero days with one word, what would it be?"

"Hmm," he took a second to think, "Bad."

Huh. No, Deku, No!! You were supposed to be the easy one! You cried internally.

"What? A nice, handsome boy like you? I bet you were popular in middle school!"

"I was bullied horrifically."

Damn.

Eventually, you'd managed to get past Deku, Red Riot, Sun Eater, and more. And it was awful. Just one more until your break. Just one more.

Praying to get an easy one, out walks Dynamight. Why do you hate me, God????

He was tall, brooding, and bad with interviews. You were hoping he'd just kill you so you wouldn't have to live with the memory of fucking up infront of the country.

"So- Dynamight. What inspired that name?" Fake it till you make it ig. You grit your teeth in discomfort.

There's a long pause before:

"Dynamite."

"Yeah, what inspired it?"

"Dynamite."

"Dude I just wanna go home, please don't make this harder."

"FUCK! DYNAMIGHT COMES FROM THE ENGLISH WORD DYNAMITE! I JUST CHANGED THE SPELLING OF "MITE" TO "MIGHT" CAUSE ALL MIGHTS FUCKING COOL AS FUCK!"

"Don't yell at me! :("

Dynamight's PR team advised him to keep his answers short and to hold in his anger until he was off screen. You'd assumed he'd been holding in his sass for the past 5 hours, so it was only natural he'd blow up soon. (Like dynamite lol)

As soon as you got home from that shit show, you quickly noticed how your name was trending on twitter.

Welp, time to see how badly I ruined my career. Goodbye fame, it's not like I spent years on you..

You slowly scrolled through your tag, skimming the posts about you. However, the more you read, the more you realised people didn't hate you. In fact, the most popular video of the night was you and Dynamight's interview. And people were.. SHIPPING YOU???

You avoided anything and everything for around a week, not even opening your blinds to let in the light. The only contact you had through those 7 days was your ugly orange cat. That was until you got a knock at your door.

That's weird, I only ordered food 2 minutes ago.

You pulled the door open, saw Katsuki, and slammed it back closed, a tuft of his fluffy blond getting stuck between the door and the frame.

"FUCK ME DEAD!"

"Sorry!!"

You yanked the door back open and looked up at the man. The commotion made your cat, Miso, perk up in fear and scratch at the tall beast of a man.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! First you avoid me like the plague, then you assault the shit out of me!"

"I'm so so sorry (ToT)"

------

Headcanon time 😼😼:

This man has his hands around your waist 24/7.

However, in the privacy of your own homes, he'd be a massive cunt and keep you in a headlock, knowing you can't do anything about it. He'd stop in a second if you asked him to.

At first, he wasn't big on pda. He felt it ruined his tough guy reputation. But his PR team begged him to keep a hand on you at all times, noticing how it kept his hashtag trending. Although he makes a big fuss, he secretly likes showing you off to everyone, and showing how you're all his.

Whenever he's asked about you, he insults the shit out of you.

"Huh, y/n? Never heard of them."

"They're an influencer? Yeah, no I only keep up with actual relevant people."

He means it with love. And he makes sure you know it, smothering you with love when he gets home.

Despite him bullying you about your only real job being promoting brands in your videos, he constantly buys you stuff. You make sure to show them off in your vlogs too.

Hope you enjoyed <33333

[ccswife]

Oh No..

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part 3: drunk words, sober thoughts

previous next

***song has designated playing time. will be in big red font.

pairing๛: kate martin x iowau!reader

synopsis๛: kate catches you watching your saved edits of her

warnings: sexual content, mentions of drinking

not proofread again smh sorry

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Its been about 3 days since deciding to distance yourself from kate. and trust me, its been incredibly hard; not only do you miss her desperately, but you have to be around her constantly due to your training duties. you try your very hardest to ignore her at practices, only communicating when absolutely necessary. an example being when she gets knocked over, hard, during a pick and roll gone wrong. she smacked her head pretty badly, and you had to carry out concussion protocol. or, when they are in the weight room for lifts, she almost always needs direction for 1-3 exercises. this instance is arguably way worse than the other, considering you have to touch her and guide her into the right form. whenever you have no choice but to talk to her, she gives you these big puppy eyes. you love them, but again, stubborn ol’ you wont actually fix anything right now.

one day after practice, when you had just finished explaining stretches to jada for her hamstrings, caitlin and gabbie come over. gabbie looks worried and caitlin has a very serious look on her face, the one she only wears before giving the team a pre-game talk.

“y/n, we need to speak to you” caitlin starts. "yea, its nothing bad so please dont make that face!!" gabbie sees the worried expression you hold. looking around the gym, you slowly nod and look between the two taller girls. "alright...go ahead..."

"we have noticed-" caitlin pauses and looks at gabbie for reassurance, gabbie in turn nods her head and caitlin turns back at you. "you and kate have been rather, distant! and that is very weird for you too."

"usually you two are inseparable, and you seem like youre ignoring her, whats up?" gabbie continues.

mouth wide open, you start to move it but no words come out. the fact that they said something and noticed the ignoring was on purpose threw you off enough, and now you have to tell them why. 3 things go through your head. 1) lie to their faces. 2) tell them the truth and get yelled at. and 3) turn and run as fast as you possibly can. gabbie looks at caitlin and they turn and whisper for a second, you still standing there, trying to form a coherent sentence. caitlin turns and says "you dont have to tell us right this second, but we are here for you, so feel free to come to us whenever you need, ok?" she puts her hand on your shoulder, rubbing it in a small circle. your eyes dart back amd forth between them, and you peep out a little 'ok thanks' before turning and walking away. usually people didnt pick up on the things you did, kate did though. shit, even when you try to hate her its so damn hard because she knows you like a calculator knows math. you felt like your life was slowly falling apart, like a broken pot thats been trying to stay together, but crumbles as time goes. you needed to add some glue.

ever since caitlin and gabbie came up to you after practice, they talk to you way more throughout lifts and practices. to be honest, its more caitlin than gabbie. in fact, youve noticed that caitlin has been touchier and more flirtatious. from an arm circling around your neck, a touch to the waist when she slides by, a wink in between drills, or suggestive jokes only between you too. you cant tell if its on purpose or not, but you kind of .... like it? maybe you like it, or maybe you like the fact that you can see kate in the corner of your eye everytime, staring the two of you down. when these interactions happen, its like she teleports so youre in her eyeshot. almost every single time you talk to caitlin, flirtatious or not, she turns and talks to hannah. this leaves you thinking, what could she possibly be saying? of course your whole being hopes that its her being jealous, but the devil on your shoulder tells you shes talking shit about you, calling you a whore and that youre only using caitlin to get popular. sometimes the angel on your shoulder talks too, though. kate has been consistently texting you, asking if you can meet up and talk, or if she can call you to resolve whatever it is that's happening. you respond with 'no thanks' or 'im busy rn.' to every single text. you feel like she owes you something, but you dont know what. your heart aches, wanting so badly to respond nicely and to be in her arms again, back to how it was always meant to be.

࿎

࿎

࿎

its saturday night, and you get a text in the team groupchat.

hawks🦅💛🖤

caitlin clark: hey guyysssssss so since we got the huge W (😜😜) i think we should all go out to the cluerrbbbbb

gabbie marshall: oh fuck yes what time should we meet and where

kate martin: im down if everyone else is

you roll your eyes at her text, only because its her.

(jada, kylie, and 5 others liked kate martins message.)

you look up at the time, seeing its 10 and use it as an excuse. you did not want to see kate in a club setting right now, let alone get ready. getting drunk did seem pretty nice though.....

you: ill pass, thanks thoooo

immediately, caitlin and gabbie respond, insisting you to go out with them. after 4 minutes of arguing with them, you give up and get off the couch.

now its time to get ready!!!!

pulling out your speaker, you blast your getting ready playlist. you slap on a stunning layer of makeup, drawing on eyeliner to emphasize your eye color, as well as 2 layers of mascara on your curled lashes. a little concealer here and there, some blush, highlighter and a layer of setting powder to make sure it stays intact while you are shitfaced. the dress of choice is a tight black, mini strapless dress, and to feel a little alive you throw a lacey pair of undies on underneath. its not like you were gonna get laid anyways. you did your hair in an updo, to accentuate the muscles in your back. you slip a small pair of heels onto your feet, then finally spray your signature perfume and some glitter. galncing at the clock, you see its 10:45, and that you have to get going. if we are being honest, walking out to meet everyone... you felt like a billion dollars. you dont know what it was, but something was making you so, so confident right now. the sway of your hips while you walked was hypnotizing, and getting a whiff of your perfume as you passed by put the cherry on the cake.

arriving at the club, the team stood outside waiting for the rest to get there. it seemed that you were the last one, so the girls filed in one by one. upon entering the club, it was hot and humid, bodys everywhere and the music blasting. not seeing where everyone else went , you made your way over to the bar to order shots.

"two shots of tequila please" you smile nicely at the bartender, grabbing the shots after he poured them, saying a quick thank you before downing both of them. you hoped that they would quickly take the edge off, and to make you stop thinking about kate. she was right in your eye sight, which didnt help too much. especially since she looked so fucking delicious. she sat next to jada, legs man-spread, wearing a green button down, top buttons open- showing her chest; and a classic pair of balck jeans on her botoom half. her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and she stared across the room at you, sipping out of a solo cup. you turn back to the bartender and order some more shots, hoping they actually work some magic on your poor little brain.

after youre 4 shots and 1 drink in, gabbie comes and pays you a visit at the bar. " how ya doing over here girl?" she places her cold hand on your leg, standing and looking down at you. " im s'greatttttt. d'gyou kno that i loveee someone ? yesssaaaaa i dooooooo" you make a heart shape with your fingers and raise your eyebrows repeatedly. her eyes widen as you continue to slur some more words at her. " her— shes righttt over there next to shjada ! she looks so sexy fuck me bro" you put your head in your hands, and gabbie sits down next to you, picking up your chin. " babe i think its time to sweat some of this alcohol out, get out there and dance your little butt off." looking back at her, you crookedly smile and get up, hearing that your favorite club song just came on.

now playing 'Up Down (Do this all day)' by T-Pain, B.o.B.

making your way to the dance floor, you can feel kate watching you like a hawk. you pick a spot right in front of her and start to move your body. mindlessly moving, you back up little by little, and crash into a chest. looking up, you see its a basketball girl from another school. you dont remember her name— being that youre drunk, but her face rings a bell. "you dancing all alone baby?" her hand sits on your hip, other one creeping to your ass. looking up, you nod and put both hands around her neck. "lets change that then, m'kay?" as soon as those words came out of her mouth, you turned around, pushing back into her, slightly grinding your hips. you purposely turned around, wanting to see kate's face while you grinded on some random basketball girl. you watch her fist shut, squeezing the empty solo cup she held. you keep eye contact, moving your hands up and down your body, while the girls hands stayed on your hips, face in the crevice of your neck. this continues for a while until suddenly, kate gets up and leaves the room, clearly angry. it was sexy on her.

seeing that she went into the bathroom, you follow her in a couple seconds behind. you decide to wash your hands, as that girl on the dance floor was actually really sweaty. kate comes out of a stall, and she stares at you through the mirror. leaning against the wall, your first words with her outside of practice are exchanged.

"you gonna tell me what the fuck that was out there?" you turn around and look at her with a confused face.

"what was what? i was just dancing." her lip curls and she turns away her face. " y/n, i am— i dont like that. you shouldnt be grinding on someone you dont know." a smile grows on your face and you tilt your head. "oh, so i should be grinding on people i know? regardless of feelings?" her head whips back at you, wearing a confused but intrigued look. you walk closer to her and trace your finger across her jaw. "so i guess that means you want me to grind on you, right martin?" her last name comes out of your mouth with a little slur, both of you still being drunk. unexpectedly, kate grabs your face and waist, kissing you deeply. she turns the two of you around, the cold tile making contact with your exposed back. she lifts your leg up to her waist, and you tangle your hands in her messy hair. never in your life have you kissed someone so passionately before, and her hands roaming and groping your ass just make it 10x better. she kisses you like youre oxygen and shes the lungs. in between kisses, she speaks.

"i hate"

"that youre ig— noring me-"

" i jus- wanna love you— and make you mine- for ever- baby."

"please- i need yoh— im sor- ry for"

"whatever i did"

after the last blurb of words, she moves down to your neck, kissing all around, and sucking behind your ear. you let out a groan and grasp her a little harder. inside youre silently praying you remember this in the morning. but then what she said registers in your head. although you didnt want to, you pull away from her soft lips.

"wait."

she looks at you with her sweet puppy eyes, intensely waiting for you to keep talking. her hands still on your ass.

"why? why are you saying this now? and not before" she looks at you a little confused, stepping back a bit. you continue speaking.

"kate, baby. how'd we get here? how'd we get like this?"

she stares back and you and fails to answer again, now playing with the bracelets on her wrist. angry that she didnt say anything- ESPECIALLY after she just kissed the fuck out of you, you turn and storm out. kate follows you out, scared of what you'll do and also that you might find that girl again. gabbie sees the state you two are in, and lets the girls know shes calling an uber. not protesting, you galdly go home. the ride was completely silent, windows open letting cool air in. the chill helped you sober up a little, and thankfully you safely made it uo to your apartment. after showering and cleaning tbe rest of the makeup off your face, you climb into bed and think about the nights events.

a thousand questions fly through your head. why would kate say that right then? why did you do what you did? did she mean those things? although it confused you, one thing kept you content enough to close your eyes and fall asleep.

drunk words are sober thoughts, arent they?



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A/Nq(❂‿❂)p: i hope i wasnt being dramatic when i said i had a good chapter coming! i was gonna make this longer but i decided to save some stuff for the next chapter. i hope you guys like this one teheh PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! I WANNA IMPROVE AND MAKE THIS A GOOD STORY THAT YOU GUYS ENJOY! anyways.. toodles my munchkins😜

[blueskittlesart]

Tell me about the road design of Hyrule!

YESSS ok so my tangent last night was mostly about the changes between the botw and totk maps but the map design of botw/totk hyrule in general is a really great example of environmental storytelling imo!!

in botw, most of the roads we see are kind of implied to be pre-calamity remnants. we very rarely see travelers, especially not along roads that aren't stable or village connectors, and a lot of the roads in hyrule field especially are near-deserted and clearly haven't been kept up. many of them lead through the ruins of what would have been villages or cultural hubs pre-calamity but are now either completely deserted or overrun with monsters. if you do come across travelers along the path, there's about a 50/50 chance they'll either be fighting monsters (and losing, badly) or disguised yiga clan members trying to ambush you. (and I think there's an implication in the yiga posting disguised members along the sides of old roads that since so few people use the roads nowadays, it's reasonable for them to use that kind of disguise as a way to catch specifically link--it's probably 10 to 1 that if you meet a traveler along a road, it's gonna be him.) the roads are like the ruins we see scattered around hyrule--reminders of what the kingdom USED to be, back when travel was a safe and sustainable option for its citizens, but now littered with monsters and slowly falling into disrepair.

in totk, though, the map and the roads along it are much more populated. they get WAY more use--you'll almost never follow a road for more than a few minutes without passing an npc now. there are a few new roads that allow for more convenient travel between previously difficult-to-access places. roads that were previously in disrepair and obviously too dangerous for the average person to travel are better-maintained and more populated. new stables are popping up. The observation that prompted this whole thing last night was specifically the walkability of the roads--in botw they tend to be wide and seemingly optimized for horse travel, which, given the amount of monster activity along them, makes sense since horses are the easiest way to travel safely on that map. in totk, though, several of the roads seem narrower and more winding, with sharp turns and obstacles that are hard to navigate on a horse at top speed. This is partially due to the upheaval adding more small obstacles to the map, but I also think it speaks to how post-calamity it's likely become a lot safer to travel on foot, so having wide, straight roads is no longer as much of a practicality issue.

the way the roads are built i think also gives us some insight into how travel worked pre-calamity and just generally what culture was like in different regions of pre-calamity hyrule. the field is heavily populated by roads and old structures, implying a culture of travel between the hylian villages and outposts that would have once been there. races that we know to have been historically more isolated, however, like the zora and the gerudo, only have one road leading in and out of their settlements, and in the gerudo's case the road isn't even clearly marked, making it extra difficult to traverse if you don't know what you're doing. by the time we get to totk, the gorons have gained a couple more roads in and out of their main city, allowing for easier access, which i think implies that their isolation during the calamity was involuntary and they were eager to open up to other races as soon as it was safe to do so!

[bloodiedrogue]

IN UNFAIR HANDS WE'RE DEALT (9)

SUMMARY: With the battle of Moonrise quickly approaching, you and Astarion take a moment to yourselves.

PAIRING: Astarion & Female Reader

WORD COUNT: 2,949

WARNINGS: Spoilers for Act 2 (henceforth there will be spoilers in all chapters here on out), angst, lots of hurt/a little comfort as a treat, descriptions of dissociation, mentions of death, untimely flirting probably.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter killed me so... be kind. :')

CHAPTER LIST / MASTERLIST / NEXT CHAPTER

-

There’s an impending doom that hits your chest mid-conversation. 

As you sit alongside your peers, discussing with Jaheira the plan of attack on Moonrise, you can feel the depths of your mind begin to drift. Slowly but surely, moving through the air to focus on Astarion’s face engrossed in the details of your infiltration. It makes you narrow your eyes in frustration. Seeing the interest in his own as she explains the designated route, marking down the paths she deems safer than others while he slowly nods his head.

You’re not sure why but seeing him like this —so invested in something you know will probably end in suffering, makes you sick to your stomach. As if, your body’s reacting to some sort of inevitable, internal prophecy that no one else can feel. All at once it takes over, erasing the previous hours of the day you once found enjoyment in. Coating such memories in a shadow of doubt that makes you wonder if this is the last time you’ll feel this. The pleasantries of being alive without consequence. The overwhelming sensation of warmth that blooms throughout your chest each time you look towards the pale-skinned elf. 

As you sit there, half-listening to the exchange that goes around the table, there’s a feeling of selfishness that follows behind such thoughts. A sliver of fear that quickly takes over, forcing you to wonder what would happen if you were to pull Astarion aside and ask him not to go. 

“So, we leave tonight.”

Unsurprisingly, it’s Wyll who furthers your anxieties. Bringing up the inevitable in such a casual way that, as he speaks, you find yourself turning to face him, watching unimpressed as he stares at the map splayed out in front of you, pressing a finger to your destination. On the parchment, it’s circled in red. Symbolically marked in a blood that’ll inevitably be split. 

Swallowing hard, you turn back to Astarion not long after, catching his eye; causing his expression to shift from focused to curious, immediately offering you a direct line to his thoughts if you need it. 

Without protest you take it, forcing back question after question until you settle on a single one, raising your brow in the process. 

Are we sure this is a good idea?

Your tadpole wriggles in response. Ebbing and flowing behind the sclera of your eye as you listen to Astarion’s sigh rattle through your brain. No, but it’s the only idea we’ve got. 

So far. 

His lip twitches. You blink. Both of you refuse to break eye contact even when Lae’zel brings up the fact that you’re all incredibly low on supplies. 

I’m sure our valiant Blade of Frontiers will come up with something.

You have to resist the urge to snort as you look away, allowing yourself to accept Astarion’s reassurance in the form of a badly timed joke and an ever-so-subtle tap to your thigh with his pinky. Both of which make your heart swell through the negativities that take up far too much space. 

“Don’t worry about supplies.” Jaheira clicks her tongue, pulling back your attention with the wave of her hand. “Give us a list and we’ll gather everything up while you rest for your journey.” 

It feels uncharacteristically kind of her to allow you more time to breathe. But it’s also something you don’t take for granted as you all disperse into your own spaces, attempting to ease your minds against the oncoming battle you’re less than certain you’ll return from. 

Letting out a heavy breath after your exchange, you find yourself wandering through the camp, feeling Astarion’s presence trailing behind as you move up the stairs of the Inn, finding refuge in your previously shared room. Once there, you kick off your boots and fall carelessly onto the bed, hands quickly moving to your temples as you stare at the ceiling, feeling the space beside you shift. 

“I’m not really in the mood for…”

Trailing off, you’re not sure what you’re meant to say. Or how you’re supposed to divert Astarion away from your racing thoughts after relying so heavily on him. Because at this rate, it’s been months of constant reassurance. Weeks of support, both reluctant and not. Days and hours and minutes of a growing tenderness that you’re undeniably thankful for, even now as you deny him your thoughts. 

Since the beginning of your journey, he’s been there in some capacity, distracting you from the growing wound inside your head. Forcing back all the terrible aspects of your shared reality so that he can take over the front. 

Somehow in such a short time frame, he’s managed to consume your every waking thought. Whenever you wake he’s the first thing you think of and before you sleep it’s not uncommon to find yourself dreaming of a life after all of this is over. A life where you’re together and happy and free of all the bullshit. 

And it scares you if you’re honest. Terrifies you to the point of obsession, filling you with an endless sense of unease even as you crane your neck to share his gaze, realizing he’s still there, despite it all.  

“For what?” 

You motion between the two of you, frowning. Unsure how to explain the feeling in your gut that roughly creeps through your organs, laying waste. “Being cheered up.” 

Despite your somewhat cryptic response, somehow his face is still as stone. An unwavering set of features that hold no obvious purpose as you stare at one another, unable to express anything other than exhaustion as he huffs at your defiance.

“You’re being rather obtrusive.”

“I know.” 

“Why?”

As if by design, your hand slots perfectly against the plush of his cheek. Gently, you stroke your thumb against the coolness of his skin, forcing yourself to smile despite feeling like you’re falling apart, knowing this may be the last time you find yourself together. 

“I don’t want to go. Not with you.”

Almost immediately he opens his mouth, ready to provide you with some sort of offended quip before he remembers that isn’t what you want. “I’m afraid we don’t have much of a choice, my love.” 

“I wish we did.”

You can tell then that he understands what you’re saying. Based on the sombre expression that follows your words and the way he tugs at your waist, maneuvering you further into the bed. Quickly, it becomes apparent that your feelings are shared. That when he looks back at you, taking in your words, he’s not only aware of the implications but feels them himself.

“Another unfair hand dealt, I suppose.”

All you can do is snort in response, allowing your eyes to roll around, remembering the hold he has on you. How regardless of everything you’ve been through he’s managed to attach himself to you like a ship’s anchor; always keeping you steady. Grounding you at every rough turn through the waters of your journey. 

“You know if you die I’m coming with you, right?” 

It’s a rather terrible joke. One that has him immediately laughing before he realizes there’s a hint of truth hidden inside. Then he looks at you as if you’ve just ripped the already cold, dead heart right out of his chest. “You can’t be serious.” 

“What if I am?”

He pauses for a moment, leaning back to get a good look at your face, picking apart each and every feature with narrowed eyes. “Well, firstly I’d question your sanity.” 

“I’m surprised you don’t already.”

“Then I’d tell you it’s not worth it.”

“Says you.”

He doesn’t laugh or smile. Instead, he just continues to stare, stroking the fabric that covers your side in slow, unsteady motions. “Darling, I’m aware that dying alongside a lover after they’ve fallen is typically viewed as a romantic gesture but for the love of Gods if you even think of doing such a thing—”

You go to protest but he cuts you off, squeezing your side. 

“—I’ll haunt you till the end of your days. And not in a sexy way.”

You raise your brow. “There’s a sexy way to haunt someone?”

In response he releases a humoured, heavy breath, shaking his head. “You know for someone who claims they don’t want to be cheered up you suddenly seem rather perky at the thought of me following you beyond the grave.” 

It’s because it’s you, you want to say but instead, you just grin and kiss his cheek, allowing yourself to further indulge in his company. To feel his touch wrapped tightly around your frame as the seconds turn to minutes and the minutes quickly shift into hours that pass by like whitecaps crashing against the shoreline each time you take a breath. 

By the end of it, you’re gasping for air. As time inches closer to your departure, there’s this breathlessness that coats your lungs, forcing you to suck the air Astarion breathes through shared kisses filled with desperation, knowing this is it. The calm before the storm. That final step before you’re at the edge of the cliff, staring down. 

It distracts you enough to make the moments shared feel less real —foreign in a way that has you feeling completely separate from your body, wandering past the Inn, across the expanse of the cursed lands with cautious feet. 

Beneath Astarion’s hands, you may be still as a board but somehow you’re also drifting through the darkness, following Jaheira’s path with tightened fingers that wrap around your blade, prompting Astarion to stop.

All at once his movements freeze, parting gently to showcase knitted brows that glance between you and your roughly placed hand. 

Your hold is tighter than expected, your nails digging between the fabric of his shirt, pushing through to just barely hit his skin. Without hesitation it forces him to carefully reach over and grab them, coaxing them out of his arm to the space between, hushing you through the silence, knowing that your mind is loud. 

“It’s going to be fine,” he tells you. Then his thumb runs along the course of your index finger, applying pressure to each joint as he moves up; becoming that anchor once again as you blink away the surrounding forest.

“You don’t know that, though.”

Fully encapsulating your hand, he digs his thumb into your palm, pressing away the stiffness that collects as you roll onto your back, staring at the ceiling. “True but that’s never stopped our blinding optimism before, has it?” 

You snort. “You and I both know I’ve never been an optimist. That’s Karlach’s job.”

“Fair. But you’ve also never expressed any doubt before,” he points out.

That’s because the circumstances have changed, you think, feeling the creature behind your eye wriggle in response, igniting within you a sensation of dread. Of a weight carried throughout your stomach that has you swallowing hard and abruptly sitting up, realizing why. 

It’s because you’ve grown used to what you have. To you and Astarion and the rest of your friends who patiently sit, waiting for the hour to strike. After years of abuse and solitude, you���ve managed to find the one thing you’ve never thought possible: a family of sorts to call your own. A party of confidants ready to roll into the gaping mouth of battle.

Standing up from the bed you feel your chest begin to tighten at such a discovery —both at the thought of gaining and losing such loved ones. Ultimately, it’s a bittersweet moment. One that has you fighting for air like before as you palm the sockets of your eyes and laugh. 

“What the hells is wrong with you?”

It’s a question said without malicious intent. The kind that sounds snarky but that’s truly filled with a curiosity that forces Astarion to sit up from the bed, watching as you rub your face. 

“I think I’m freaking out, a bit,” you admit, stifling back chuckles that half-catch in your throat as you turn back to face him. “I don’t want to lose anyone.”

You know then that he wants to lie to you and say that you won’t. That, as previously mentioned, everything’s going to be fine and that you’ll win the war without a scratch. Even though both of you know, that’s not the case. Not this time. Not with the growing size of the Absolute and the thickening plot. 

Because at this point you know very little about the world revolving around you and yet, you’re still rushing into it. Taking the cards you’ve been dealt and slamming them on the table, hoping they’ll work out in your favour. It’s all you’ve ever done this entire journey. Every fight fought, every person met —all of it’s come at the cost of blind luck. Of a dice roll and prayer filled with a hope that you’ll survive the day to come.

Deep down, you know that none of you should’ve survived up to this point. One by one you should’ve died and moved on but somehow the Gods have smiled upon you enough to allow you a moment of peace to persist. To travel across the land, surviving every encounter. To experience a life you never thought possible. 

To be with the man you think you might be in love with. 

“If I don’t make it—“

The words catch in your throat just as Astarion’s jaw begins to shift. Carefully clenching his teeth as he grips the sheet beneath him, making you frown and wander back over. 

“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.” 

You move your hand into the space between you, raising your pinky into the air with narrowed eyes, watching him look at you with annoyance. 

“A pinky swear?” Shaking his head, he looks up at you in disbelief, taking in the way you grin through the sadness and wiggle your finger, forcing him to look back down. “Darling, you can’t be serious.” 

“Yes, I can.” 

“You’re telling me you want me to swear on this delicate little thing that I won’t perish in the heat of battle?”

“Yes, was that not clear?”

“No, it was, I’m just—“

“Just swear on the damned pinky!”

He takes it instantly, the shock of your outburst causing his eyes to widen as you let out a breath of relief. 

“Now swear that if either of us die, we don’t do something stupid.”

For a moment there’s a brief pause but then it’s quickly followed by Astarion clearing his throat. “Okay, but what exactly classifies as stupid? Because with such vague terminology the options seem a bit endless.”

Thinking about it for a moment, you ponder the options, allowing yourself time to really explore the results of your oncoming fight. 

Because at this rate, anything could happen. You could all perish under the Absolute’s reign. Be taken into custody and forced into servitude like so many have. Hell, you could even survive this whole thing by the skin of your teeth. Lose a couple of limbs or something —truly anything is possible. 

“Promise me that if I die you won’t.” 

It’s a statement that hangs in the air for ages, collecting dust as both of you nervously stare, shifting and swallowing —forcing yourself to feel just how heavy this moment is. 

Quicker than anticipated, it consumes your every thought, causing the tadpole to slither to your eye’s edge, prodding at the skin behind, knowing it’s Astarion calling to you. Asking for permission to see what’s on your mind as you blink away, focusing on the position of your hands as you allow him access to your thoughts.

It takes no time to offer them over. To show him all your wishes and doubts and ideal outcomes. Letting him explore, you allow yourself to take a breath and close your eyes, strengthening the hold you have on his finger as he wanders through your membrane. 

I promise I won’t off myself in your honour.

Silently, you thank him, smiling to yourself as the thought is pushed towards him. Good, because I plan on haunting you. Sexily. 

You hear him hum in amusement. “You’d make a very alluring phantom.” 

“I would, wouldn’t I.” 

“You’ve got the moan for it.” 

Reaching to punch his chest, you open your eyes, scrunching up your face. “Shut up, you harlot.”

“Fine, but only if you promise to give me a proper burial if I die. One with lots of gifts. And flowers.”

“Flowers?” You raise your brow almost humorously before the image of a grave marked in his name appears. 

It’s the last thing you want to think about. And immediately Astarion feels you start to shift, prompting him to pull you to his lap. “We’re going to be okay, love. You and I we’re, uh, we’re good —we make a good team.”

Team. 

It’s a word that rattles through your head violently, wishing deep down it was something more. Something caring and intimate and perhaps tailored to better represent the feelings that he stirs within you. 

Having experienced as much as you have together it’s obvious that you’re something else entirely. A friend or a partner —something more personal. 

Sure, together you do make a fairly decent team. In battle, you flow alongside each other beautifully, anticipating every need or want without so much as a thought. And everywhere else, you’re just as fitting. So it’s no wonder he views you as such. 

But still, there’s something missing in his words. A sentiment or belief that has you forcing out a smile, hoping that deep down he loves you all the same as your tadpole wriggles for him one last time, and the knock upon the door calls for you to leave. 

-

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[zahri-melitor]

Have now met Minhkhoa Khan.

I honestly think he's the most interesting addition to the wider Bat lore since probably Damian's introduction, in terms of the fact he's actually filling an unoccupied gap in the setting and lore.

Part of the issue with the proliferation of new characters over the last 10-15 years has been that a lot of them are effectively redundant on arrival: they're not providing new storytelling opportunities. Characters like Harper Row (Bluebird) and Mary Turner (Strix) and Claire Clover (Gotham Girl) and Bao Pham (Clownhunter) and Francine Charles (Operator) and so on aren't really designed to have a long term existence or take-up. You know once a writer leaves a book that character is probably done, and going to fade into the annals of 'hey do you remember'.

They exist because a writer can't use the character they clearly wanted to use instead, or they wanted to run a trope in a story arc (the characters listed above are: 2x 'we actually wanted to use Cass'; 1x 'we wanted to use Oracle'; 2x 'we wanted a troubled kid for Bruce to help deal with their trauma').

And I personally don't have a problem with creating short term characters to tell the story you want to tell, though I do prefer it if writers actually check if there's a pre-existing character that fits what is wanted, especially if that character is well known. (We shouldn't have the 'this is just Cass, but the writers weren't allowed to use Cass' situation).

But what makes Khoa instantly compelling to me is that he fits straight into continuity without causing any issues, because he's a character that makes sense to exist, and could have existed in the background for decades.

He's part of Bruce's past training journey, but unlike Henri Ducard or David Cain or the O-Sensei, he's not one of Bruce's teachers; he's a fellow student and rival.

Unlike Thomas Elliot, he's someone Bruce has an active rivalry with and who can instantly draw Bruce back into acting like a petulant teenager. He's not from the Gotham society Bruce left behind like Tommy is (or Roman Sionis); he's part of the development of Bruce's code of morality in his world travels. And he's someone Bruce actually has a give and take relationship with, rather than being a character developing a terrible case of one-sided rivalry watching Bruce.

It takes genuine effort to look at the Bat canon and go 'hey, there's an unoccupied gap here where I can fit in a character that will add to the story, rather than just repeat it'. And Khoa's also a character that can disappear off panel for 5-10 years then pop back up when another writer wants to use him and that would make complete sense; he's not someone who should be getting called in and isn't, or whose only use after his initial story arc is to fill out the background of crowd scenes.

I'm honestly impressed. And interested to see where this goes.

(Also I want fic about David Cain, Minhkhoa Khan and young Cass very, very badly; or a story where Cass runs into him while she's working in Hong Kong)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

what I meant by my post about the boys not appreciating Yuu enough is about the trauma they inflicted on them and the lack of compensation we get because trauma=not guilty.

We just let them get away scott free without them facing serious consequences and get little to nothing in return. I got inspired by this post https://rose-tea-and-strawberries.tumblr.com/post/720285231576465408/justiceforyuu

So what are your thoughts on this?

[Referencing this post!]

Mmm… 🤔 While I do think the post linked is an interesting read (and OP does make valid points), I think a lot of it goes back to the nature of TWST’s design vs what the individual desires. It’s very easy to self-insert (meaning everyone’s mileage with the characters and plot will vary greatly), and with it being a mobile gacha game, there are definitely some limitations and design philosophies that must be adhered to in order to keep content flowing and thus keep the game profitable.

However, I don’t agree with some of the points suggested (whether by OP or by Anon), particularly that TWST presents “trauma = not guilty” and that Yuu should somehow be “compensated” or given something in return for the troubles they went through. To the former point, I completely agree that the boys’ punishments are far too light for what they’ve done (in OB form). As for their behavior pre-OB (which is, admittedly, still shitty)… I mean, we came into this game knowing the characters are twisted from villains, of all things. We shouldn’t be expecting them to be Super Nice and Empathetic to begin with, no? (So of course Riddle will be insulting Yuu’s background and lineage, Trey’s a bystander, etc.) It doesn’t excuse the behavior of course (it’s still objectively bad), but I thought we came into TWST expecting it??? Like it’s a major part of the draw…

I also believe TWST does a decent job at explaining the OB boys’ trauma while not excusing them because of their trauma; funnily enough, a major theme in book 1 was Riddle being held accountable for his actions for once. (This isn’t limited to just his OB behavior, but rather extends to prior; he was clearly harming his own dorm members well before Yuu got involved with Heartslabyul.) The OB boys were eventually punished for their actions, but because the sentences are relatively light, that’s perhaps where the “trauma = not guilty” perception of the fandom comes from. As I said before though, I think this can easily be attributed to TWST being constrained by the mobile game format (ie it has to be snappy); the light novel is able to expand on the consequences in greater detail.

The game devs likely don’t want to linger on how badly the OB boys truly acted because that could hamper their bottom line (ie endearing the characters to us enough so we sympathize with them and spend money). If they keep demonizing the boys or continuously bring up their literal murder attempts when they were fully lucid and aware of themselves (Leona almost sanding Ruggie, Vil trying to poison Neige), it looks “too” bad on the characters’ part. We also can’t haul the boys off to serious rehabilitation facilities because they need to be physically present to return for the subsequent book—and, of course. You can say “they didn’t get punished severely enough”, sure. But what exactly would that “more severe punishment” being called for entail, especially without disrupting the current story’s flow and not harming the OB boys further in the process? There are practical real world game design and business reasons for this.

To address the Yuu should somehow be “compensated” part, well… I’m not entirely sure if I understand it?? Thinking about it logically, what “compensation” are we looking for? Firstly, no compensation, in my opinion, is worth the anguish that “earned” it in the first place. Compensation will never make up for the mental scars 😔 Secondly, it implies that people are “owed” something for the general bad attitudes they’re given on a daily basis, which is not in any way how real interactions work. Some people will just be assholes to you, and we have to deal with it and move on. In the cases of the OBs and some events (like being kidnapped and basically held hostage in book 4), yes, those are much more serious and should be treated as such. But again, what exactly are we looking for here as “proper” compensation? Is acknowledging one’s faults and mistakes, and saying sorry for it and working toward being “better” not enough? What about the money Vil gives in book 5; is that also not enough? Where do we draw the line? When is it finally “enough” compensation? It’s so poorly defined and there’s no “blanket” compensation that would satisfy everyone and anyone 💦 I would personally be happy just knowing that the other person is aware they’ve done wrong and are taking that vital first step to changing. That’s very difficult to do, especially considering the pride of the average NRC student, so I commend them for at least doing that.

TWST’s story isn’t one that focuses on condemning people for their flaws and errors, but giving them a chance to recognize their wrongs and to grow from them. Its story promotes restorative justice over punitive justice. Overly punishing measures and reparations have proven to not smooth over “bad behavior” in real life; it’s something people need to consciously and actively work toward, so of course it’s going to be a hard process.

The reaction(s) Yuu has to the events going on around them are only as serious as individual fan interpretation makes them out to be. Official depictions thus far (manga, game, light novel) have not strongly indicated that Yuu has had any extremely adverse thoughts or feelings regarding the treatment they’ve experienced at the hands of their peers or any stress related to not being returned home. It’s also not clear (especially in the game) just how much physical involvement Yuu has in battles. Because TWST itself does not frame or portray these events as having super serious impacts on Yuu, that also informs the fans that absorb this content (so they, in turn, will usually also not take the story’s impact on Yuu all that seriously).

The interactive medium of the game (which is the main form people absorb TWST content by) plays such a crucial role in how Yuu is portrayed. Because Yuu is so inherently tied to being the player’s avatar/self-insert, there are limitations to the overt nastiness Yuu takes and their involvement. The manga and the light novel feature new versions of Yuu, yes, but these interpretations are wholly separate from Yuu (the game one). The manga and light novel Yuus can be treated as their own characters and not self insert vehicles, therefore there is a degree of separation between the player and the manga and light novel Yuus. This is why the manga Yuus are more shown to be more active in the story (most notably getting involved in battles). This is why the light novel Yuu is shown receiving more bullying (from mob students) than is depicted in the game. The manga and light novel are NOT interactive mediums, and they don’t have to worry about potentially alienating or offending players who self insert as the game Yuu. Game Yuu is intentionally kept vague for this reason; we aren’t necessarily meant to interpret that game Yuu gets as involved or is treated as harshly as what other mediums depict.

I really don’t think we (the audience) are meant to interpret most of the things (game) Yuu experiences as being deeply traumatic or scarring. In most instances, Yuu is either ignored or they act very nonchalant about what’s happening (groaning or joking about how “oh, not this again!”). The worst injury I can recall Yuu ever getting is when Grim scratches them at the end of book 5. They barely even ever bring up going home or the worry of not being able to get home (not counting very early and very late in the main story when it is plot relevant, or the occasional event story to shoehorn Yuu’s presence in). The game in particular glosses over any potential negative ramifications on Yuu’s part because endearing the boys (who often are Not Nice) to the player is an important component of the gacha model. You can’t have the players despising the characters because that doesn’t encourage spending money to roll for them on banners or to throw money at merch.

I also want to add that many people make Yuusonas to have fun and to escape into a magical world (which is likely reflected in the nonchalance Yuu demonstrates toward going home for most of the story); it’s far more common to see these lighthearted takes because I can’t imagine many people want to self-insert being deeply traumatized by the same magical boys they’re likely big fans of. If you personally want to make or to see a Yuu that becomes traumatized and jaded from what happens during their time in Twisted Wonderland, then yeah! Go for it! All the more power to you. Just remember that this isn’t a universal take.

All of that being said, we come back to something I’ve said time and time again: since Yuu is such a blank slate, you get out of it what you put into it. This means every person’s individual interpretation of the events and how Yuu engages with and reacts to those events may differ wildly. It’s all in good fun, just try to be cognizant of canon vs fanon, as well as others (who may have very different interpretations of the same events and characters).

[snek-panini]

As promised, I've got more books to share and they are all fic binds. Have a look at this new one:

This is Among the Stacks by MeinirRhos, and it's one of the few post-s2 Good Omens fics that I've liked enough to bind. It's canon-compliant and full of pining, fluff, angst, and a memory loss plot and I knew before even finishing it that I wanted it on my physical shelves.

I kept it pretty simple on the outside, with Library Summit book cloth and white HTV for the title. Large parts of the fic have to do with libraries and library books, so I thought it would be fun to make it look like a library rebind, something that looks innocuous and blends in to the shelves but it's actually going to be your new fave once you open it up and start reading. I wanted very badly to have the titles hand-written in embossing inks but I couldn't get a clean enough line with the textured cloth, so this handwriting font saved the day.

More photos under the cut; I'm really proud of the typeset for this one!

Top view, with pre-made end bands and a ribbon bookmark. Going with the library rebind aesthetic, I didn't think it ought to have handmade end bands, so these were perfect. Honestly I'm not sure the ribbon bookmark fits the theme, but you can pry that from my cold dead hands. All my books have them and I love them too much to leave it out. The endpapers are cream-colored cardstock, and while they look plain they feel nice. I tried out a new-to-me corner style, the library corner, where you don't trim off the excess material at the turn-in. It's supposed to be more durable than other styles and is common in rebinds. Library Summit is stiffer than most of the other book cloth I've worked with, so it was a little challenging to get it to lay flat while drying, and it's a bit bulkier than I'm used to, but it's perfect for the theming. Unrelatedly, it also holds a hinge crease really well.

Title page. I could not be more pleased with this title page design. I showed it to my husband after I finished the text block but before I had the cover on it, and he didn't realize at first that it was one of mine. I have cracked the code of professional title pages. The graphics were, at the time I put this together, available for free on rawpixel. I'm in love with it. It is sexy as hell and it will never be equaled.

Couple more interiors. The chapter header font is called Book Ends and I found it on DaFont. You add in the little plants and stuff with symbols. I haven't done much with custom fonts until this batch of fics, and in some of the others I've got in the pipeline I went a little nuts with them, but I think this one's my favorite for how well it fits the story. I also started experimenting with formatting text messages in this fic, and I'm very pleased with how those came out as well. The Renegade Bindery discord has resources on this kind of formatting, so check them out if you haven't already. I'd never have gotten them so professional-looking otherwise.

And that's it for this bind! I started working on it back in April and I'm thrilled to finally be able to show off the finished product. Thanks @rhosmeinir (Hi! It's Amberfly from Ao3!) for giving me permission to bind it nearly six months ago.

[mxfortunecookie]

Bisexual lighting or somethin idk. Was gonna draw something cute for my first post during pride month… but obviously that didn’t happen

finally decided to come up with a design for passive though :>

I don’t ship Cross with Passive, though I think he’d be protective of him. Some info dump bellow & other stuff if curious

(goin that route where Nightmare and Passive are two people that share a body and Passive is still a child that happens to front when Nightmare’s weak, napping, or feeling soft

The base of the image is someone found out about Night’s alt, because he got badly damaged while fighting, and they tried to take advantage of it. Though Cross saw and wasn’t having any of that

regular shading | extra colors | flats

Line art | sketch | pre sketch

Bonus: drawing I didn’t finish & other doodle w/it + idea drawing for passive

Basically, when Nightmare isn’t able to, he’s made it Cross’s mission to bodyguard Passive. Passive is a bit scared of Cross, because his first impressions of Cross are him harming other monsters, but he trusts him because Nightmare does. Passive eventually learns that Cross isn’t that bad and eventually gets along with him. Passive and Nightmare are close because they’ve been sharing a body for quite a long time, and have gotten to know/imprint on each other, plus Nightmare did help him when he needed the help. They both go by Nightmare when they’re the one fronting, for obvious reasons, though Passive nicknamed goopy (Ik there’s a better name for that form, but I don’t remember it rn) North, because of the crown that he has the ability to see from when Passive alts (and he wouldn’t let him call him goopy)

and when North alts; Passive just goes by Passive (for now anyhow, haven’t came up with anything creative). Credits-

Cross: Jakei95

Nightmare: Jokublog

[quitealotofsodapop]

the previous post got me thinking of my og Yuebei design for the slow-boiled au,and got thinking; what would she look like without LBD's influence?

immediately I got blasted with the mental image and had to draw her.

you've heard of Slow Boiled Yuebei, now get ready for Soft Boiled!

basically Yuebei was born sooner for whatever reason and therefore didn't consume LBD's dao. I like to think she was actually originally gonna be a lot like pre-during jttw Wukong; loud, bright, abrasive. But by consuming an entire demon's dao it influenced her overall being, making her more chilled out. so she's basically the opposite of her Slow Boiled counterpart.

there are some similarities. she still has her glow-y ears and black fur from Wukong's yearning for Macaque, and her mask is still a skull-shape, just not bleached white by LBD instead red so it looks like the mask the eclipse twins have. however, she relies more heavily on the fire-y imagery of the sun rather then the soft clouds and bones of Slow Boiled Yuebei.

now, lore.

she might also be able to be considered an "opposite au" as I like to think the catalyst for the changes between Soft and Slow Boiled is the Samadhi Fire ritual. everything up to that point is the same as in Slow Boiled, but during the ritual Yuebei, still just 'the egg' reacts badly to the fire, but this time, instead of just causing a potential miscarriage scare, it sends Wukong into premature labor.

this is not good. obviously. premature baby is not great, likely to have health issues and complications. the labor takes many, painful, stress filled hours, close to a full day! unlike her Slow Boiled counterpart, Soft Boiled takes hours after hatching to start crying. Wukong is understandably a mess during this time. for a lomg portion of it he's grappling with the possible consequences of the ritual, and if he made the right choice to participate. luckily he has the pilgrims to comfort him until Guanyin comes back with news.

this also has the side affect to tipping off previously unaware parties of his pregnancy. PIF is having words with her brother-in-law later. Ne Zha is a little horrified, DBK is just trying to figure out if everyone is still alive while trying to keep a baby Red Son entertained. he too will be having words with Wukong later tho.

I don't think Yuebei will have ended up being a ring in this au, as she rejected the fire after originally trying to consume its dao, having learned the hard way it was too much for her. might have freaked out a little to much tho. but its possible have taken at least a little nibble of the fire to taste test may have contributed to her fire-y personality in the end.

as for her childhood. I think she'd be like, pre-teen to 14 as of canon lmk.

I feel like her being premature + samadhi fire shenanigans means she was a little sickly as a baby. maybe even with some permanent, though not overly serious, damage. perhaps she fried some of her nerves trying to absorb the fire, resulting in a lack of feeling around her chest area? maybe her taste buds too, she likes DBK + Red Son's cooking because it's hot enough she can actually taste it.

for as long as they were around, she grew up around the pilgrims, with them acting as a support group for Wukong. then, one by one, they stop coming. she doesn't understand why, having been so young. and with as young as she still is when canon rolls around, she also doesn't really understand why they don't remember her, and why they stopped coming around so they could run a noodle shop, and why they seem to have moved on without a second thought of her to raising another kid. she just knows Baba looks sad when he sees them around.

she probably is very jalous of/very avoidant while glaring daggers at MK when he first becomes Wukong's student. he took her uncles from her, was he trying to her baba now too? probably comes to a head in an episode of its own. perhaps he takes her to the shadow play to try and connect with her, Yuebei having shown an interest in theater, but she's quiet and grumpy the whole time. the two unexpectedly do end up bonding over beating on Macaque when they realize he's present, MK having been let in on some stuff by his mentor early and Yuebei also knowing some things herself.

you see, she knows about Macaque, Wukong having tried to raise her with the knowledge of his mate/her other parent. but he also tried to be honest with her, so the second it comes time to learn the full truth of how she was born she can't help but resent him a little bit. even more so when Wukong explains how, when, and why he died. she knows of his hearing abilities, her baba loved how her ears looked like 'his special ones', he should have known about her. she wonders is she wasn't enough for Macaque, if she wasn't worth trying to salvage the relationship for, or, worse yet, if he hadn't wanted her altogether. Wukong tries to tell her that couldn't be farther from the truth, but she can only believe him so much. she also isn't pleased with him for abandoning her baba in the first place.

the first time she meets Macaque (the shadow play) and clues into who he is, she decks him in the face and tries to fight him. having not even registered her presence previously, Macaque's just confused about where this sassy child came from- and why are her ears like that? why does she look so familiar?

no answers arise before MK, a slightly bigger threat then the runt that somehow got the jump on him, joins the fray, just as pissed at the monkey.

season 3 is... complicated, to say the least. Macaque reacts about as well as you'd expect him to when LBD reveals the girl who punched him mere hours before is his ex-mates kid. who is now a wanted enemy to boot, LBD wanting her as leverage against the king.

this got super long, how do i keep doing this? anyway hope you enjoyed my tangent on this new little au of mine

Link to; Yuebei's Slow Boiled au design.

One; I ADORE EVERYTHING about Soft Boiled au Yuebei's design! The fiery sun imagery, the red and black clothing that makes her look ready to Fight, her orange eyes, the little red ribbon in her hair!!! And she has her own version of Macaque's scarf!!

Two; Wukong about to get a talking to the second his adoptive family gets a hold of him. Once the monkey recovers from the early labour, and has emotionally recovered from the rollercoaster that was Yuebei's birth ofc. It would be so cute if Yuebei first started crying over something completely normal - for some reason, I'm thinking it's something like Zhu Bajie trying to pull a funny face for her. Wukong is so relieved to hear his baby crying that he doesn't even scold his pilgrim brother for scaring her!

Three; Wukong would be so protective of his little Moon Comet Star. She was so sickly and weak as a baby, that he worries about ever letting her leave places he knows to be safe. But of course she is growing up...

Four; I feel like Yuebei's growth was severely stunted by the Fire, hence why she's seems much younger than Red Son despite being only a few years apart in age. That and I can imagine Wukong took her to stay with Guanyin on her unaging island for a while to help her health improve. She's ultimately a big kid.

Five; And oooough! Yuebei not understanding that her pilgrim uncles have passed on and reincarnated, but believes that they've "abandoned" her and her baba!! Thinking MK has "stolen" her family from her and is attempting the same with her dad. MK wanting to be Yuebei's friend since she seems so lonely, but not knowing why she's cold towards him! (｡•́︿•̀｡)

I bet even with Guanyin, "Cousin" Nezha, and the very rare corespondance with PIF and Red Son, Yuebei spends a lot of her childhood lonely.

Yuebei is gonna have a time when she starts understanding whats really going on with the Noodle Gang, and why her family "suddenly" can't remember her. Wukong blames himself for not explaining it better to her earlier, but hadn't wanted to dump so much loss on his babygirl all at once - it was a lose-lose situation.

I LOVE Macaque's first impression of Yuebei being "Who's sassy child is this??" He don't hate her, he's just a little confused why some little kid has beef with him specifically. Also confusion on why she looks like him and Wukong mixed together.

MK 🤝 Yuebei: beating up Macaque for being a doofus.

I imagine Macaque awkwardly trying to connect with Yuebei after S3, and reconnect with Wukong, especially since he hadn't even known she existed at the time of his and Wukong's big fight (or chose to believe so - Memory Scroll issue for later). Yuebei doesn't like Macaque, but she doesn't completely abhor the idea of him and her baba becoming close again. She just doesn't want either of them to get hurt again.

LBD likely gets destroyed closer to canon, since Yuebei doesn't eat her soul (I hope XD) like in the Slow Boiled au. Yuebei takes her skull tho. Trophy.

Azure Lion about to get decked in the face the second he comes around. When did the monkeys multiply? Why is he on fire?

Wukong is just watching Yuebei tear into their enemies like; "I love my strong little girl." <3