#// will also be doing plain text descriptions for any ask with colored text

[ask-team-misfit]

@distortionmewtwo Ultraviolet @Pikavee:

"Are hybrids not common here?" He tilted his head. "I only know that they are not common in mine."

[ PT: "Are hybrids not common here?" He tilted his head. "I only know that they are not common in mine." End PT ]

[ @distortionmewtwo ]

[ ID: A grayscale bust drawing of Pikavee slightly angled away from the viewer towards the left. She appears somewhat concerned or timid, and her eyes are downcast. Her ears are drooped down. Pikavee's appearance is as described here. End ID ]

Pikavee: “Here? Well, here I’ve seen nothing but hybrids. Back home… not really.”

Lief: “Seriously? Pretty much nobody sees a full-blood anymore.”

[ ID: A grayscale bust drawing of Lief oriented similarly to the previous image. He looks puzzled, or curious. His left eyebrow is noticeably raised, while his right eyelid is lowered somewhat. At the left is an angular question mark. Lief's appearance is as described here. End ID ]

Lief: “Are there really no other hybrids over there? You’re a hybrid.”

Pikavee: “Not that I know of, until now. Um, were all of you also…”

She hesitated, looking uncomfortable at whatever she was thinking.

Lief: “Also what?”

Pikavee quickly shook her head. Scared was an understatement regarding the face she briefly made; it was more comparable to the expression one would have upon recalling a particularly harrowing memory.

Pikavee: “N-never mind.”

[describe-things]

This post is made with speech to text because my hand hurts from typing so much today. Please forgive any typos or speech to text swapping similar sounding words.

If you would like to start writing your own image descriptions, feel free to ask any questions.

The main things to keep in mind is that they should begin with some variation of image description start or ID, and end with some variation of image description and, and ID or something like that. This distinguish the image description from the caption or anything else.

Image descriptions should not be written in italics, bold, all caps, or any colors. If text in the image is in all caps, write it in regular case, and simply note before or after it that it's in all caps.

Image descriptions should describe all images in the post, without skipping any. This includes images that are nothing but text.

Plain text image descriptions in the body of the post are more accessible than alt text alone, because many people who need image descriptions cannot use alt text, and Tumblr is known for its glitches, so the accessibility of the alt text all by itself varies widely over time.

It is more accessible to have the image descriptions indented than not, because this helps to visually separate the image description from the caption. Having brackets or parentheses at the end is also helpful for this. This allows people to easily distinguish between the caption and the image description if they need to.

If you are an artist, writing image descriptions for your art will give you full control over the image description, and will allow you to correctly identify details that others might miss. This gives you the opportunity to show which parts of your art hold meaning to you and are important to notice.

If you are describing real people who are unknown to you, unless it is specified within the post or you are already aware, please do not assign any gendered terms to them, or any " male presenting or female presenting" terms like that. This is completely unnecessary and leads to misgendering. It is best to simply describe visible facts about the people. Hair color, length, clothes and style, pose, expression, the light or darkness of their skin, things like that. Do not assume that someone is white simply because they have light skin.

Do not use image descriptions to lie to the audience in any way and do not use image descriptions to make jokes where the audience reading the image description is the butt of the joke.

As an example, if there is a very clearly fake screenshot, do not say that it is simply a screenshot, or if a photo is very blatantly photoshopped, do not say that it is simply a photo. Say an edited photo, a badly edited photo, a screenshot with editing, something like that to indicate the changes have been made and then what you are going to be describing is not the natural version.

As an example, you would say a crab photoshopped to be driving a car. Rather than a photo of a crab driving a car.

Unless you are transcribing a text within the image, do not use meme speak within image descriptions. Do not refer to dogs as doggos for example, unless it is to specify that the dog in the image is, within the image, labeled as a doggo. Do not describe someone walking downstairs as breasted bubbly downstairs, even if it is an actor humorously walking down the stairs to imitate that sentence. Describe the facts of the movements, and then you can make the comparison for clarity.

If someone adds an image description to your post whether this be an original post or a reblog that you have added an image to, it doesn't matter how many notes to post already has, please copy and paste that image description into the original post or your original reblog. If it is a new post that has only a few notes from friends, after you update the original, you can just ask your friends to delete the reblogs of the inaccessible version and reblog the new one. Most people who are good people and care about disabled people will happily do so.

Keep in mind that image descriptions are accessibility tools. Treat them as such.

Anyone can write image descriptions. You do not need any special qualifications or training. As long as you are willing to take constructive criticism if you make a mistake, an image description written by someone who's new to it and honestly doing their best with good intentions is better than no image description at all.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, so please feel free to add on more tips and advice.

[beaniebabyenjoyer]

Hey artists! Photographers! Creators of any kind!

[Plain text: Hey artists! Photographers! Creators of any kind!]

This disability pride month, take a moment to ask yourself if your content is accessible. Especially if you encourage reblogs over likes, consider if you made the content you want to be shared actually accessible to others. If you don't make the effort to include disabled people, you are cutting off a huge portion of your potential audience. You can't get upset at people for not sharing something that you haven't made the effort to make accessible to others. Here are some things to consider:

Have you described your images? Is it only in alt text, or have you included it in the body of the post too? Personally, I suggest a shorter summary in the alt text and a more complete description in the body of the post. Alt text is great, but putting the ID in the body of the post as well is the most accessible option for everyone. For more info on this, read my post [here].

If your content has audio, have you captioned it? If it has text, have you transcribed it? Is the body of the post in plain text or have you made it harder to read with colored text, small text, or all caps? Have you put it under a read more, making the description entirely unreachable if you change your URL?

Also consider: Is your blog accessible? Does it have flashing images, eye straining colors, or low contrast font that's difficult to read? Do you tag flashing images (with #flashing or similar, NOT with #epilepsy or related tags) that could cause seizures and migraines?

Need help? That's okay! The people's accessibility discord server is here for you! It has lots of resources and many people willing to help write IDs and give feedback on descriptions you've written. You can join [here!] There are tons of other resources on writing image descriptions online too. Here are just a few!

Cooper Hewitt guidelines for image description

Diagram Center image description guidelines

Perkins school for the blind how to write alt text and image descriptions

Tips from Tumblr user @keplercryptids

Thank you for taking the time to make your content accessible to everyone!

[lowkeyrobin]

(Reader x dsmp/mcyt)

Reader who just got their tongue pierced and their s/o's/partners reaction?

-🌕 anon!

oooo I like this one!! I got a little handful of mcyts here so hopefully I got all the ones you were looking for! and welcome to the family 🌕 anon! you're officially my first child lmao

MCYT ; you get your tongue pierced

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, badlinu, quackity, nihachu, and foolish gamers

warnings ; language, mention of pills, mentions/descriptions of oral anatomy (ik some ppl get icked when ppl talk about insides of mouths i get it)

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

"woah- hey there"

you're bouncing off the walls and dying to show him

you picked the one moment he's busy with editing and you stand behind him for a solid 3 minutes before he turns around

you stick your tongue out to show off your new piercing and he exclaims a bit, his emotions in awe

he may look disgusted or cringed, but he's just surprised you're for one, not in pain, two, how good it looks on you

"Holy shit, it looks awesome y/n!"

then proceeds to ask a million questions about it

he's mostly just curious what it feels like inside your mouth and how you take care of it and eat around it

idk what to call it bc I obv don't have a tongue piercing (or any in general LMAO) but you do the little putting the piercing between your teeth trick for him and he jumps back all frightened at first

he had no idea how you did it somehow

"how the fuck did you just do that???"

you to be fair jumpscared him with it so you just kinda show him

"doesn't that hurt????"

RANBOO

"Ran, lookit!"

Bro looks up at you with your tongue out and his resting face turns into a wide smile

"Oh my God!? you actually got it? I'm so happy for you!"

wraps you in a hug

once the excitement wears off he's super paranoid about you being uncomfortable or in pain because I mean your tongue just got jabbed with a needle and now you've got a piece of metal in it

also asks questions, mostly because he also wants to understand how it feels in your mouth

"does it like... rub up on the roof of your mouth and scratch it? like, does it hurt other than the pain from the insertion?"

they LOVE when you do the little teeth trick, it's just so cool to them lmao

they'll gift you some new (high quality) jewelry as well every once in a while

he literally went online to get a customized one that says "#1 Ranboo fan" in it for you 💀💀

instead of wearing it, you turn it into a bracelet/necklace/use it as another kind of piercing that way you can actually show it off

he likes seeing you fidget around specifically w the pill ones

questions you constantly how you don't accidently swallow it or something

"wait.. do you take it out when you shower and brush your teeth? genuine question, I swear!"

again, they're happy if you're happy

they're happy seeing you be able to express yourself more clearly and they don't care what it is, they're always by your side

BADLINU

he, harry, & bill came with you for moral support

he wasn't staring down the inside of your mouth but he felt the pain with how hard you were squeezing his hand 💀💀💀💀

he looks up at Harry and Bill with pleading eyes like "Holy shit they have some grip help me"

he refuses to buy/let you buy jewelry that isn't 100% high quality

nor is he letting that shit get infected either

he always notices when you match the jewelry to your outfits or the occasion as well

like you'll be attending the streamer awards and you'll smile for a picture and he'll just see your jewelry perfectly matches your outfit

he likes buying you the fun colorful ones bc you only buy the plain silver/gold/black ones for yourself

"Wait, how do you like... get it out?"

"how much does it hurt?"

sometimes he just finds jewelry you left on the nightstand or dresser from when you have sleepovers

he'll text you like "dude you left your stuff here again I told you to check 💀"

"Shut up I'm omw back"

QUACKITY

"OH MY GOD HOLY SHIT YOU LOOK AWESOME"

like engulfs you in a hug

instantly shows you off the the gang and shit

you basically tell chat all about the story at the piercers and he's cringing in pain all the way through

oh my God he hates the descriptions you use he swears it's just to tease him or something

also the type to custom order jewelry for you

you do order a custom one with the pixel :) tho & u wear it the most out of the other jewelry you have lmaoooo

if it was still 2019 u totally would've done the iconic quackityhq duck

when he kisses you he likes touching the piercing w his tongue just to fuck you up bc it feels weird

"HAHA L!"

genuinely concerned sometimes bc you sit there and fidget w it and zone out for a solid 5 minutes in a loud room and he's just worried you'll rip it out or smthn

also the type to wonder how you don't accidently swallow it

always makes you pose with your tongue out in pics he takes of you bc he's so in love with it

he probably loves that damn piercing more than he loves you

NIHACHU

"Oh my gosh! you look so good!"

like hugs you and spins you around

helps you take care of it and stuff, always on top making sure you're not in pain and whatnot

she'll match her snakebites with your new piercing

if you're wearing some silver jewelry, she'll change her snakebites to silver hoops or spikes etc etc

also gifts you jewelry religiously

she found some online (high quality as well 🙏🙏🙏) that perfectly match your aesthetic and never has she ever clicked add to cart so damn quick

also helps you style jewelry with outfits

she also likes the teeth trick, she likes the sound mostly of the jewelry clinking off your teeth

it's one of those like adrenaline shudder moments yk?

but she is constantly getting pictures of you showing it off/with your tongue out

like quackity, I think she likes the piercing more than she likes you LMAO

FOOLISH GAMERS

"Oh, hi- oh my God, hi!"

he's so interested just off the bat

you do the little teeth trick and he does his little giggle ❤️❤️

"that sounds so weird"

he has you show it off to his stream and he's all smiles and shit

he of course gifts you a lot of jewelry as well and always triple checks to make sure it's high quality

his Google history is just "Is _____ high quality?" "Is it safe to buy from ____?" etc

when you're making out or whatever he loves tasting the metal of the piercing on his tongue, he's addicted

always compliments you as well, always posting photos w you showing it off too

like you'll most a photo showing it off and he'll be in the comments like "marry me pls" and be fighting off your fans who are just complimenting you

like some random person will be like "omg you look so cool!!" and he'll jokingly reply with a "back off buddy they're mine 😡"

God I'm so in love with this man

[ladytabletop]

Do you happen to have any resources regarding accessibility in ttrpg design? About design, colours, phrasing of text or anything else that could be helpful!

I spent wayyyyy too long compiling all this - but it's important, and I appreciate you asking!!

Accessibility is a subject near and dear to my heart, and I will say up front that I'm not sure universal (aka accessible to everyone) design is possible, because people's needs can vary even within the same subset of similar disabilities (such as limited vision or blindness). BUT that doesn't mean we don't try to design for and make our games available to as many people as possible. Mismatch by Kat Holmes is a great read on design for accessibility in general, as is Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. You might also check out literally anything Alice Wong has ever done.

To start, I recommend this article on the Lenses of Accessibility.

(for reference, this article is about web/graphic design, so I'm going to try and distill the most salient points for game design)

We are going to primarily focus on a few of these lenses:

Color

Font

Images & Icons

Layout

Readability

Structure

Keyboard

More details under the cut.

Color

Why does color matter? Well, for starters, there's a lot of colorblind people out there. Contrast affects readability. Autistic people and people who suffer from occular migraines might be affected by particular vivid colors. There's lots of reasons to consider color and the work it is doing in your piece, but in general you can provide a black and white, high contrast version of your game to help users.

There are tools out there to figure out if your contrast meets certain readability standards, such as this one.

Font

Dyslexia and other visual processing issues can make font choice really important. Plus, some fonts really affect readability. Additionally, line height, justification, and size of text can affect readability.

Best practice would be to provide a plain-text version of your game (and beware of "dyslexia-friendly" fonts which may or may not actually help - sticking to a basic readability font like Arial, Tahoma, or Verdana, is safest). I like this style guide for reference.

Images & Icons

For visually-impaired people, it's important to use alt-text, descriptions, and/or captions to help screenreaders properly translate images. Tons and tons of details that could go into this, but there are better people than me to describe it.

Layout

We've talked about this a bit, but there's tons of resources for this. There was recently a great writeup about Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast in terms of layout that I highly recommend.

Readability

More of the thing we've already talked about - it really is a combination of all the other lenses that comes down to readability. Audio versions of your game are always a good way to avoid the restrictions of screen readers, but can be expensive to produce.

Structure

This is tables. Tables are a nightmare for screenreaders, but including them as images can also be a problem. The short solution is "don't use tables" but that's not necessarily great for seeing people. The section in this blog is really great when talking about options for structure.

Keyboard

Debated on whether to include this, but given how many games are being read as purely digital files, I think it's important to have workable interactive elements that can be navigated through without a mouse. Some of that is going to come down to the programs being used to open your files. But if there are things you can do on your end (such as labeling form fillable fields on an interactive character sheet), they're worth doing!

Please understand that this isn't an exhaustive list. There's tons of resources out there and technology and standards are constantly changing.

It's also is important to note that even doing one of these things is helpful. You might look at this list and go "wow that's too hard" but I promise you, it's worth it. My games do not all have accessible versions! That's something I'm trying to rectify. The biggest part of that for me is thinking about accessibility from the start instead of at the end! But we can start today, and that's better than not starting.

The most important thing to remember are that disabled people are NOT a monolith - needs will differ from person to person. Accessible design makes gaming better for everyone!

Final Resources:

Accessibility in InDesign

Accessible-RPG

A11Y

Accessible Design for Teams

[bored-boring-and-tired]

intro post 2.0!

[Plain text: “intro post 2.0!” /end PT.]

⭐️ hello there, you have found my blog ⭐️

@astras-cats is my sideblog for my cats

[Header description: the aroace flag (5 equal horizontal stripes. in order from top to bottom they are orange, yellow, white, light blue, and blue). on top of the flag, the words “Nuh uh.” are written in black text /end ID.] [PFP description: a close-up image of a black and white tabby cat sniffing the camera. End ID.]

this post explains image descriptions. accessibility is the goal!

here’s a few things about me:

name: astra (not my real name for privacy reasons but that’s what y’all can call me online)

age: i’m a minor (between 14-18). i likely will never say more than that.

pronouns: she/they or she/her i’m not really sure

favorite color: teal/blue

i am aroace (aromantic asexual) or more specifically, aegoromantic, aegosexual, and bellusromantic.

likes: osemanverse (especially solitaire), young royals, sleep, playing cello, animals (CATS), books/reading, art (i’m not very good at it though), cooking/baking, taking pictures, camping, garlic bread, cake, cat cafes, music

dislikes: homophobes, terfs, racists, sexists, ableists, etc., school, socializing, being cold, and probably more stuff that i can’t remember 😭

you can send asks about anything even if it’s unrelated to anything i post (please send asks i love asks)

please. someone talk to me about cat cafes. i’m begging.

the wingqueers 🔥🔥 (love yall) @theozinosaurus @corryglover @michaelholdenenjoyer @thediamondarcher/@alcoholicspider @0s3manv3rse @bebop-robyn @chronic-crierr @listermylove @ani-bunnie13 @artisthedgehog @unknown-leaf @chroniic-pessimistt

oh and btw - if you wanna identify as [x] label, that’s valid! if you feel that that label suits you, nobody can stop you. at the same time, if you don’t want to put any labels on yourself or if you don’t feel that any labels are right for you, that’s cool too! everyone is different and is their own person, and even though people may not respect your identity, i do and its valid 🫶

also drink some water <3

have a good day/night!!

~ astra

[butchdarling]

Hi, thanks for all your IDs! I'm new to Tumblr and want to write IDs. Are there etiquettes that I should take note of, like which posts to write IDs for and which not to? Any tags I should look out for? I came from Reddit and I'm aware that not all users want to have IDs on their posts, there's probably something similar here.

Hi, first of all you're very welcome for the descriptions! It's always nice to hear that my efforts are appreciated :)

Ideally, any post with images should also have a description for those images. Any post that doesn't already have an ID in the original post is one that's appropriate to add a description to. Even if someone else already wrote a description in a reblog, you're allowed to write your own if you want to. I personally haven't encountered anyone who has been upset when I've written a description? I think that's more an individual thing than something specific to a certain type of post.

There's not a consensus on what format works best for image descriptions, but alt text or plain text (not colored and normal size) directly below the image in the body of the post are generally considered the most accessible. Alt text tends to work better for screen readers, and plain text works better for some people who need descriptions but don't use screen readers. I personally use alt text for posts with a lot of images and plain text for posts with only a few. I've also seen people put a short description in alt text and a more detailed one in body text.

Other etiquette includes indicating when a description starts and ends. I use brackets and start and end with [ID / End ID] but some other formats I’ve seen include “Start ID / End ID” of “Image description / End image description” and being objective in your descriptions. If you're describing a picture of a dog as a "cute puppy," you're telling the reader what to think instead of letting them come to their own conclusion.

As for tags I know some people like to sort their posts as “described” for posts with IDs and “undescribed” or “no ID” for posts without. I find most of my descriptions either from people I follow or from looking in the notes of specific posts as opposed to searching tags so I'm not much help there, but here is a link to a post listing a whole bunch of accounts that make image descriptions.

There isn't really one way to write image descriptions because people have different accessibility needs, but even a simple description is better than no description. The basic format I usually go with is this:

[ID: A (type of image, painting, photo, etc) of (subject; if it's fan art I like to include the source) doing (action, this can really be as detailed or as simple as you want.) End ID]

In general, I go with more simple descriptions for comedic posts and more detailed ones for art. My number one tip is to follow people who write and reblog descriptions and to read them! I've picked up a lot of formats and phrases I use a lot in descriptions from people I follow.

If you're looking for more resources, I’m going to point you towards my mutual Kay @pathos-logical ‘s accessibility tag that has a bunch of good posts on how to write descriptions. You're also welcome to send me another ask or DM me if you'd like ^^

[k-evans-reads]

In Living Color

Chapter 8

Summary: When Natalie Marton, lead character designer for Buzz Lightyear, meets the voice of Buzz, Chris Evans, the sparks are undeniable. But when their work pushes them away from each other, both physically and emotionally, will the sheer differences between their worlds be enough to force them apart?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Pixar Animator OFC Natalie Marton

Word Count: 4,256

By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour

We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.

Warnings: Sexual content. 18+ ONLY. MINORS DNI! We block minors!

Previous | Main Masterlist | In Living Color Masterlist

June 14th, 2021 

Nat rubbed her eyes with a yawn as she listened to the phone ring, hoping she wouldn’t wake him before he had planned on getting up for the evening’s night shoots. As the call continued to ring she contemplated hanging up and just texting him instead, but Chris answered. “Happy day after your birthday,” she laughed, smiling widely as he chuckled, his voice raspy with sleep. “Feel old yet?” 

“Based on how sore I’ve been all week, I think I’ve felt old for a while now,” he groaned, making Nat laugh a little, although she knew it was the truth. He’d been hard at work the past few weeks, busy with stunt sequences she couldn’t even picture in her mind based on the vague descriptions he’d shared. “Turning forty is just the nail in the coffin.” 

She tutted, telling him, “Well you don’t look a day over thirty-nine.” 

He scoffed, his voice unconvincing as he replied, “Thanks, that really makes me feel a lot better, Nat.” 

“How was your birthday?” 

“It was fine, just was on set all day. I got to talk to Ma and my sisters and my nephews and niece sang to me which was fuckin’ cute,” he informed her, but then paused as he yawned. “Then I also got this really incredible drawing of Buzz Lightyear with Dodger in place of Sox.” 

She smirked, having been waiting for his reaction to that gift in particular. “Oh did you?” She asked, her voice plain. 

“Yeah, this really talented artist I know made it for me,” he played along. “I think she might know that I love handmade gifts, and this is my favorite gift I’ve gotten in a long time.” 

Her heart skipped a beat at the praise, wanting nothing more than to be there with him, especially on his special week. “I’m really glad you liked it,” she told him quietly.

Chris’ voice was anything but teasing when he interjected, “I like you a lot more.” 

Nat sighed, the longing only intensifying the more he spoke and shared what he’d been feeling. “...I wish it wasn’t another month until I see you,” she murmured, unable to stop imagining that day in July when he finally arrived back in California to see her. 

“Me too, Nat,” he whispered back, the rasp in his voice sending a chill down her spine. “So what are you doing today?” 

“Just going to work. I’m meeting with some of the animators and they’re going to show me some of the chunks of Lightyear that’s done,” she shrugged to herself before she yawned quietly, the early hour something she wasn’t used to lately. “I’ll send you some videos.” 

“You better!” He laughed, and it did nothing to quell the emotions she felt. “I was wondering if you were going in early… normally you’re still asleep now.” 

But Nat shook her head, more to herself than to anyone, as she unplugged her phone from the charger and moved to lay on her back again. “I couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d just call you instead,” she informed him. 

“I’m glad you did. I’m still in bed too,” he mumbled, then paused while Nat stayed quiet and didn’t make any noise of acknowledgement. “...You okay, Nattie?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she explained, then bit her lip before she decided to just go for it, not being able to hold back her emotions any longer. “It’s just that it’s cold in bed and I’m alone and I’m not getting touched by you and I miss your kisses, and I miss you.” 

She could hear his sharp intake of breath and a muffled sound as the blankets moved around him, then Chris told her with a low voice, “There’s nothing I’d rather be doing right now than have my hands on you.” 

She all but shivered then, her voice unsteady as her longing turned into desire. “That makes two of us,” she replied. 

“I wish I was in bed next to you right now, Nattie,” he told her, his voice clear as she switched the call to speaker, putting the phone down on the bed next to her “I wish I could hold you tight and kiss every inch of you.” 

“Chris…” 

He was quiet, and the only sound that filled the room were Nat’s deep pants until he finally asked, “...Do you want me to stop?” 

“No.” 

“Nattie, I want you to touch yourself for me,” he instructed, his voice dangerously low as Nat’s fingers moved instinctively. “God, you have no idea how many times I’ve dreamt of you.” 

She nearly whimpered at a twist of her finger, unable to focus on anything except the sound of his voice and the touch of her hand. “I wish you were the one touching me,” she admitted with a whine. 

He chuckled, and Nat could nearly picture the devilish smirk on his face when he told her, “That makes two of us.” 

Her head flew back against the pillow, jaw dropping as she let out a moan then said, “I can’t wait until you’re back.” 

“I want to be with you right fuckin’ now,” he muttered, pausing as he shifted on the other end of the call, then told her, “I want to be the one touchin’ you, Nattie.” 

She couldn’t catch her breath for a few moments, feeling something build inside her. “You will be,” she whimpered as she slipped another finger inside of herself. 

“I wanna be kissin’ you and suckin’ on your neck that had you moaning that last night,” he rambled, voice sending waves of electricity through Nat and spurring her on. “I want my fingers to be the ones inside you. I wanna grab that pretty ass of yours, Nattie.” 

“Chris,” she moaned, unable to stop the nearly incoherent sounds from pouring out of her. 

He groaned on the other end of the call, silent until he ground out, “You like thinking of me touchin’ you, Nattie?” 

“God, yes,” she replied, wishing so badly that she could touch him, picturing the tattooed chest in her mind, with the chain dangling between his pecs as his hands moved over and in her. 

A low, dangerous chuckle spilled from his lips before he admitted, “I can’t wait until I get to have my hands all over you. I’m going to need to take my time with you when I get back.” 

She whimpered as she hit that spot inside of her, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before she instructed, “You better.” 

“God, your moans are so pretty, Nat. I’m goin’ crazy thinking of you laying in bed touchin’ yourself for me,” he moaned himself, his voice sounding strained as he panted. “Fuck, Nattie, I want you so bad.” 

“I just,” she moaned, unable to catch her breath. “I need, oh!” 

“I know you’re close, Nattie. Keep touchin’ yourself for me,” he all-but ordered, Nat following his instructions without hesitation as her fingers moved, pushing her closer and closer to the edge until she hit her peak. “I can’t wait until those are my fingers inside you makin’ you moan like this. Can’t fuckin’ wait to memorize the way you look coming apart for me.” 

But Nat couldn’t even respond for a moment as she layed in bed panting, her lungs trying to catch her breath while she felt her body relaxing into the sheets as she came down from her high. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment, just relishing in the feelings washing over her body until Chris’ low voice asked from the other end of the line, “Feelin’ good, Nattie?” 

“That was a good way to wake up,” she couldn’t help but laugh, running a hand through her sweat-soaked curls. 

He huffed, letting out a small sigh as he stretched. Nat ached again to be next to him, to feel his muscles behind her as he agreed, “You’re telling me.” 

“Chris?” She asked, voice small. She paused until he hummed, then told him, “I really miss you.” 

Chris let out another laugh, voice dripping with sarcasm as he said, “I could tell.” 

“That’s not what I meant, asshole,” she rolled her eyes, listening fondly at his laughter. “I mean that I really just… miss you.” 

“I miss you too, Nattie. I really do,” he assured her, his tone serious this time. 

She listened to his breathing, almost able to pretend he was there next to her if she closed her eyes. “Only one more month,” she said, more to herself than anything. 

“One more month.” 

Chris listened to what Joe was telling him before the director stepped back up to the monitor, watching through the last scene again. The directors motioned for the actors to take fifteen while they got ready to rerun the last take, so Chris gladly took the chance to sit down. 

It’d been a long few weeks away from home – away from everyone except for Scott – and while he was having fun on his first big project since he left Marvel, he was still finding it hard to get back into the rhythm of shooting after traveling so much, and after his unexpected break in 2020. 

With a quiet thanks to Scott as his brother – and assistant, as much as Scott hated the title – handed him a water bottle, he listened as Scott quietly told him, “Hey Chris, Nat texted me and said she’s trying to get a hold of you.” 

“Okay, I’ll call her,” he nodded, a little confused at what was up. Nat always respected when he was working, careful to not text more than once or twice without a reply when he was on set. But to go through Scott made him worried, although he did remind himself that it was likely just something funny or lighthearted… or Nat thinking about earlier. “Do you have my phone?” 

Scott nodded, digging into his pocket and pulling out Chris’ old iPhone. “Yeah here you go,” he paused, handing the phone to Chris. He was quiet as Chris turned on the screen, taking in the several missed calls and notifications from her. “She left you a voicemail too.” 

He thanked Scott and got up, heading off the set to near where the trailers were. He quickly dialed her number, thankful when she answered and told her,  “Hi Nattie.” 

“Hey I’m sorry to bug you while you’re working, I’m just so upset,” she explained, pausing and leading Chris to worry even more. “I went to the gym and my car got stolen.” 

He honestly couldn’t have even dreamed of that being the subject of her displeasure, instead imagining a shitty work day or some stupid argument with her sisters. But he realized there was no way Nat could even get by for a week with no car, especially with her schedule. To get a rideshare onto the Pixar Campus would be challenging enough, and for someone like Nat, it’d be a cause of anxiety. But his fears didn’t stop there, instead he was uncomfortable with the knowledge that someone hurt her, even indirectly, and took something from her. She took so much pride in that car, loving it so much, and it was something he always associated with her – that orange SUV was literally the love of her life. “What?!” 

“My car got stolen,” she repeated, sniffling before she cursed to herself. “I was at the gym and when I came out there was broken glass on the ground and my car was gone.” 

“Nat, are you okay?” He asked, louder than he intended.

He didn’t even realize Scott had made his way over until he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he spun around to look at his worried face as he asked, “What’s going on?” 

“Nat’s car got stolen,” he told Scott quietly, then stared in front of him and repeated, “Are you okay, Nat? Where are you now?” 

“I’m at home. I’m okay, I’m just really frustrated,” she admitted, groaning out in annoyance. 

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, quiet as he thought for a moment. “Did you already report it to the police?” He asked her, his voice lower. 

“Yeah I called them and they came to the gym and filed a report,” she explained, then let out a bitter laugh. “As sad as I am about my car, I’m almost more annoyed I left my purse in the car because I had to go get my spare key from Mark so driving in rush hour traffic to his house probably made me more annoyed than anything.” 

But Chris felt his heart all but stop at her brief expansion of the story, realizing one key detail from it. “Your purse was in the car?” He asked her slowly. 

“I had left it but-”

“Nat, you need to go to my house,” he rushed out, motioning for Scott to hand him his phone. 

“What? Why?” 

He let out a short breath, then explained, “If they have your purse they have your keys, driver’s license, and your work ID and everything.” 

“I know but they can’t get onto campus because my work badge has my picture,” she informed him, her voice a little frustrated. “And they don’t know where I live.”

“Yes they do, it’s on your license and car registration,” he reminded her. He was terrified at the thought of Nat in that apartment, alone with an already questionable door, while some assholes had not only her address, but her keys as well. It was asking for trouble and he couldn’t let her mess with her own safety like this. “Nattie, this is really bad.” 

But Nat was nothing if not stubborn and independent, and it showed when she replied, “I’m sure they ditched my purse and just wanted the car.” 

“But you don’t know that,” he tried to reason, already searching for security camera companies on Scott’s phone, trying to get someone to go to her apartment. “Nattie, I really want you to go stay at my house.” 

She sighed in frustration, telling him, “Chris, I’m sure it’s fine. I doubt they even found my keys with how messy my purse is.” 

“Look, Nat, I’m not trying to freak you out but I’m really worried about someone having the keys to your apartment. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he admitted, closing his eyes as he imagined the worst possible outcome. “Please go spend the night at my house, just for tonight. I need to know that you’re safe.” 

Nat was quiet for a few moments, enough that he almost thought she was finally getting it – getting how fucking terrified this made him – until she quietly protested, “I’m sure I’ll be okay.” 

“Nattie… please? For me?” He nearly whispered, jaw clenched. 

He focused on every tiny noise from her end of the call, the short huff of breath and sigh before she finally agreed, “...Okay, but only if you’re sure.” 

“I’m texting you the code right now,” he told her, pulling the phone away and sending her the code to his garage and gate. “And Nat, I’m going to have someone come and change your locks and put up some security cameras at your apartment. I’ll have Scott set it up and let you know when they’re coming.” 

“You really don’t need to do that, Chris,” she murmured, voice small. 

“Trust me, there’s no way I’ll sleep if I don’t,” he confessed, a short laugh almost escaping him before he heard something behind him near the set, then Scott tapped his shoulder and motioned that it was time to resume filming again. “Hey, I’ve got to get back to set, but promise me you’ll leave right now and text me when you get to my house.” 

He could hear her phone buzz as the text arrived, along with another right after it. “I’m grabbing my backpack right now and I’ll call Mark or Jamie to give me a ride,” she told him, her voice slightly muffled as she moved around her apartment. 

“Okay, I’ve got to go back to set but I’ll call you as soon as I’m done,” he murmured, waving his hand as a PA started motioning him over. “And will you text Scott when you get to my place?” 

“I promise I will,” she assured him, sounding a little less frustrated and upset… finally. 

They both shared their goodbye’s before Chris clicked the red button on the phone and let out a long sigh to try to relieve the tension that he’d been holding in his body. A hand came up to scratch at his beard while Scott put a hand on his shoulder as he commented, “That didn’t sound good.” 

“It’s not. Nat’s keys and everything were in her purse that she left in the car,” he told his brother, shaking his head as they made their way back on set and he handed Scott his phone. “Scott, I found a security camera company here, can you call them and have them go install cameras at Nat’s place? And then also call somewhere and get someone to go change her locks? I think you already have my wallet so you can use my card.” 

“I’ll take care of it,” Scott promised, already tapping away at his phone. “And I’ll let you know when she texts me.” 

Chris nodded, mind racing as he told him, “Let me know as soon as you can.” 

Chris glanced over at the director who was waving him over incessantly now, and he patted Scott’s shoulder to silently say thank you before jogging back over to the camera. He got into position, but while they adjusted the lighting, he couldn’t help but find his mind wandering. He’d known Nat since February and had found that in that time, she’d slipped into his life so effortlessly, ever since that first day he’d seen her crashing into the glass door of that Pixar conference room. 

But this was a wake up call for him. He knew he liked Nat, but for the first time he recognized just how deep he’d fallen in for her without even realizing it. The thought of anything even remotely happening to her was almost too much to bear. Thinking of Nat being upset about her car, let alone the thought that something bad happening to her made him sick to his stomach and longing to jump on a plane right then and there to go back to her. He couldn’t stand the thought of not having her and that was something he was finally starting to realize. 

He’d known for a long time that he was interested in her. Nat had intrigued him with her humor, talent, and confidence, but the more he’d gotten to know her, the more he’d found things that he loved about her. She was so sensitive and touched by everything. She was down to earth and didn’t take herself too seriously. But she was vulnerable and a straight shooter, she wasn’t afraid of emotions and didn’t mind sharing them and that was something he hadn’t experienced in the same way. She seemed to calm him and ground him in a way he wasn’t used to, he simply just loved talking to her and being with her and the longer he was away, the more he recognized just how absolutely head over heels he was for her. 

But it wasn’t an infatuation, or just some fling. He wasn’t interested in her for a good time or just for her looks, or even just someone to fill his time with as he’d done before. He truly just liked her and there was something about this that just felt… different. And once that next scene finished and Scott hurried over to tell him that Nat had texted and was at his house, he finally could breathe a little easier. 

Chris was thankful for the distraction of filming to get his mind off of his worries but still was calling Nat the moment the filming for the entire evening was over. He gave her the rundown of when all the people were coming to get her new locks and install the security cameras but made her promise to spend another night in his house since everything wouldn’t be installed until the following evening and he swore just hearing that one soft, “Thank you for taking care of me, Chris,” and he wanted nothing more in that moment to just hold her in his arms and protect her from all the things of the world that Nat was too caught up in her beautiful artistic outlook of the life to see.  

That feeling lingered in his heart as he went to his trailer, taking a warm long shower after filming and getting changed before he and Scott headed back to the hotel. His schedule was so mixed up with all these night shoots and he was getting ready to pull all the curtains to block out the sunrise when his phone started ringing. Assuming that it would be Nat, he quickly grabbed the phone and answered without even looking at the screen first. 

“Hello, is this Chris?” 

Chris frowned for a moment, his brain frantically trying to figure out who’s voice it was but came up with no answer and instead just replied, “Yes it is.” 

“Hi Chris, this is Eric Marton, Nat’s dad. We met for just a minute a while ago when I was in California visiting Nattie,” the voice on the other end filled him in before supplying, “She gave me your number.” 

Just the mention of Nat made a smile cross his lips and he instantly relaxed while moving around the room to toss a sweatshirt from the bed over to a nearby chair, “Yeah, I remember. It’s nice to talk to you again, Eric.” 

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m calling you but I wanted to call to thank you.”

“Thank me?” His nose scrunched up at the thought, not having a clue what Nat’s father would want to thank him for. 

He heard Eric clear his throat before the explanation came,“Nat told me about everything that happened with her car and that you had her go stay at your house and got all her locks changed.” 

“I just couldn’t sleep knowing that someone had the keys to her apartment,” Chris simply stated, knowing that it was the truth. He put the phone on speaker and tossed it on the bed while he started peeling down his jeans to get ready for bed and went on telling Eric that, “Nat seemed to think that they just wanted the car but I was just so worried. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.” 

“I know you didn’t, and I just had to call to say thank you,” his voice was soft and full of emotion, so much like Nat’s when her feelings were at the forefront. “I hope it doesn’t make me sound like too much of a crazy overprotective father calling about his 33 year old daughter, but I just love her so much and I worry about her.” 

Chris just laughed softly while climbing into bed, grabbing the phone and holding it with one hand while the other came behind his head as he propped himself up against the pillows. He knew what it was like to be worried about the people he loved, especially his family, and he knew that with Nat’s mother having been gone for almost her entire life, it was natural Eric would feel a little more protective and worried about his girls. But Chris found it anything but odd, instead finding it so endearing and loving the fact Nat had people in her life who loved her so deeply and told Eric, “I don’t think it sounds crazy at all. I’m so close with my family so I get being worried about them.”  

“I know that Nat can take care of herself, she’s certainly not helpless by any means,” Eric stopped to laugh, making Chris chuckle as well from knowing just how true that was. “But it’s nice to know that she has someone else looking out for her and taking care of her,” 

“Well Eric, I couldn’t agree with you more in the fact that Nat can take care of herself, but I don’t want her to always have to,” he knew how much he meant it. He didn’t want Nat to have to do everything alone and he wanted to do what he could to protect and care for her. “Besides, my Ma would be the first to say that I’m a bit of a control freak and anxious to a fault, so I couldn’t relax until I knew she was somewhere safe.” 

Chris smiled as Eric laughed at those words, knowing so badly that it just felt… right. And as they hung up and Chris went through the motions of getting ready for bed, he remembered how strange this stage of relationships used to feel, the awkward not-quite-dating yet stage before the we’re-doing-this one, but with Nat it all felt new and exciting. He didn’t dread returning to Los Angeles next month like he typically did, all because of her, his Nattie. He couldn’t wait to see her again, to hold her in his arms, and he couldn’t help but look at the clock as he laid in bed, counting down the hours in his mind until they were back together as he fell asleep. 

A/N: Genuinely.... we love them. And if you don't believe us, we wrote 62.5k words for them by the end of November. 🌯 is currently typing this on 11/30/2022, and we just cannot stop! We hope you love this, future-readers! Can't wait to read all your thoughts :)

ALSO We’re going to start posting updates TWICE A WEEK! So now every Monday and Thursday there will be an update! 

[fungal-wasted]

as someone with visual processing issues, i really appreciate your descriptions when my brain isnt cooperating <3 i was wondering if you had any tips on creating ids? it sounds like a fun skill to learn and also very useful!!

Hi! Thank you for reaching out! I will try to give some help. I personally do have low vision and rely on screenreaders sparingly, though I've started using them on mobile more often.

First I'm gonna give you some general advice that could apply to most descriptions, and then focus some more on content commonly shared in the Hollow Knight fandom.

General Concepts

"ID" stands for Image descriptions, and they exist to make content available to those that cannot perceive visual content properly for different reasons. Usually, these descriptions can be found in two places, right below an image in plain text, or in the "alt text", which is a feature that allows you to describe visual content in a way that's available to the screenreaders, but where the wall of text doesn't obstruct the rest of the post. In my personal opinion. it is generally preferable to put it below the image, just so people without screenreaders can still benefit from it, but there is nothing wrong with leaving more detailed descriptions in alt text.

My personal advice for you to start a description is to ask yourself:

What do I see at first glance?

What is the purpose of the image? / What do I think the purpose is?

What information do I need to state so the image achieves this purpose?

Let's talk a little more about this, using fanart, with the consent of @silkysong

What do I see at first glance?

When you look at an image, there are certain things that stand out at first glance. Our brains tend to process things as a whole, we see certain objects in the middle, and how they interact, then we can note some specific features of an image, then we can focus on the context, the background of an image or the colors used. Basically, we must try to describe things as we see them

An easy list that can help you decide what to say first:

What kind of image is it? Digital fanart, traditional fanart, an edit (image created pasting assets made by others together), a photo, a screenshot, etc.

What is the main object seen? Or what are the main characters seen? If it belongs to a specific franchise, name it here.*

Where is it? (Short answer: like a location name, a plain background.)

How do the objects or characters interact? Describe actions like: "the Knight swings its nail towards Hornet."

Is the appearance of the object or character different? How?

What is the background like? What is the lighting?

(*) While everything else can be optional, if you're low on spoons this can be a quick description that lets others know what the image is about.

But what defines what info needs to be there?

Time for question 2 and 3!

What is the purpose of the image? /What do I think the purpose is?

Ok, so, why am I sharing this image? Or why do I think the original poster shared it?

If it's a meme, then focus on what elements are needed to tell the joke, if it's an edit, then focus on what makes it different. And if it's fanart: what things would you like people to notice about it? A specific artstyle, the poses in a scene, the colors it uses, a new design, you decide.

As you can see, this is what can make descriptions so different. If you're the person who made the image you know best how much you want to focus on details. In other words, if a detail will have a meaning or an impact to the viewer, then try to describe it.

What information do I need to state so the image achieves this purpose?

Let's look at an example:

The image descriptiion is: "[Start ID: A drawing of the Broken Vessel and the Radiance from Hollow Knight over a white background. The broken vessel stands looking to the front, one of its eyes is black, while the other, next to where its mask is cracked, is bright orange. The end of its cloak twist and are colored orange as well. A tiny version of the Radiance seems to be sitting on its head, where its mask is shattered and full of infection. /End ID.]

First sentences gives us:

Medium (what kind of image?)

Characters (main objects)

Franchise (context for said objects)

A quick description of the background. (where are the objects?)

If for any reason you're not interested in any of those elements, you can already skim past it or press skip in a screenreader.

The next sentences describe what pose the broken vessel has and any relevant details of their pose and their cloak. Then we describe where the Radiance is and what she's doing. This lets us know what the drawing is trying to focus on. If we had a background, that would be the next element to describe.

Finally, we see the "/End ID." which helps people using screenreaders know when the image description ends and any other caption you add starts.

EXTRA NOTES, Hollow Knight edition:

Describing canon characters in detail is optional. It can be useful if you want your art to be enjoyed by people not familiar with Hollow Knight, but it is not necessary. Original characters do need a better description, however, since people aren't familiar with them. If you think it's relevant for you, add any style choice that differs from the canon designs, such as adding limbs on Hornet, among others.

If you do not have the energy to describe much you can say things such as:

-An anthropomorphic [insert a bug]

-A fictional creature with [base features such as scales, wings, legs or any other recognizable elements]

-An insect-like character with a white, horned shell and a dark cloak (to refer to vessels).

[tequitoclown]

Pinned post!

[PT: Pinned post! ./End PT]

Hi, I'm TequitoClown. You can call me Tequito! I'm an adult. EDT (UTC-5). I'm an artist, occasional writer, and a rockhound. I also do IT stuff on occasion. I'm not the most talkative person ever, but I don't bite!

I'm not on many places on the Internet. Here are my main ones! Mutuals are also free to ask for my Discord or Telegram!

Toyhouse (My characters) + My Ko-fi + Art blog + Aesthetic blog + Dreamwidth

This blog is SFW, but is intended for a +16 audience.

I often misread or forget messages due to long covid. Please don't be afraid to correct me or bump our DMs.

Despite the above, DMs are always open! Yes, you can message us whatever the fuck you feel like. Just no outright NSFW please.

I'm plural. We don't discuss this much here, but if you're curious you're welcome to DM. We use I/We interchangeably a lot.

The character in my profile picture is Sky, my slugcat OC. Art by me. The flags are the aroace flag on the left and the trans on the right.

I post spoilers for: Rain World, No Man's Sky, and Cassette Beasts.

List of programs I use

Status: Dealing with a heavy loss. Please be patient with me for the time being.

[PT: Status: Dealing with a heavy loss. Please be patient with me for the time being. ./End PT]

[Image ID: A gif from Gobou's Yume Nikki animation. Madotsuki, Poniko, Monoe, and Monoko are all in front of a the TV in Madotsuki's home. They're looking back at the balcony motionless as Masada dances outside. ./End ID]

[Gif Source]

My tags below the cut!

[pt: my tags below the cut! ./end pt]

My tags

[PT: My tags ./End PT]

#Tequito.txt: My posts.

#Tequitos Art: My artwork! (Most of which is on my artblog now)

#Image + #Gif + #Video + #Audio: Self explanatory.

#Described + #Undescribed: Indicates if the image/gif/video comes with ALT text or a description.

#Text + #Colored Text + #Large text: Some screenreaders struggle with formatted text. The "#text" tag indicates no colored or header text.

#Plain text provided: Plain text is provided.

#Has transcript/cc + #No transcript/cc: Indicates if the audio/video has a transcript.

#Screenreader Unsafe: Text posts with a ton of emojis or special characters that a screenreader would struggle with.

#Flashing + #Flashing Lights: Anything with flashing lights.

#Reblog bait + #Reblog game: Posts that say things like "Reblog if you like X" Or "Reblog to do X"

#Robotposting: Anything with robots.

#Rockposting: Anything about rocks, minerals, and fossils.

#Bookmark: Important posts I'm saving for later.

#Fave: My favorite posts.

Any and all triggers I can think of will be tagged. If you'd like me to tag something specific, please DM me or send an ask!

[egg04-id]

✨intro✨

[PT: Intro /end PT]

I am new to creating image IDs/Image Descriptions, but I will do my best to add them to as many of my posts (on @egg04) as possible. Specifically for images I haven't added alt text to (yet) first, and then I'll go to posts I have added alt text to. I also sometimes add alt text posts I like from others.

The plan is, once I'm all caught up, I will have to use this blog less by already having proper image descriptions in my main blog's posts.

Please DM or send an ask to:

tell me about any of my image posts I haven't described that you want described

give me any ways I can improve my text descriptions.

submit your own image IDs if you want to and I'll give you full credit

Tag System:

ID From Alt Text? For Image descriptions from drawings that have alt text

Fanart and Original Art are self explanatory

Photos and egg04 irl (I.R.L.) are also self explanatory

Character Details? Tag used when the ID primarily focuses on describing physical attributes (hair, clothes, etc.) of the character in the drawing. This tag in particular is so that not every single drawing featuring the character has that description unless something new is added.

For Tuko to Edit? Is for descriptions where I'm not quite satisfied with the current outcome and will edit in the future.

Not My Art and Not My Posts? Self-explanatory.

Video ID? Description of video

Plain Text Transcription? Transcribing plain text to posts with bolded, italic, small, colored, etc. text (New, and still figuring out the system to doing this)

[thesomewhatliterateaxolotl]

Hi!! Question, since you do a lot of IDs (image descriptions) do you have any resources or tips for someone who wants to start writing them as well? What to pay special attention to, what is irrelevant, checklists etc?

Hi Anon!! This made me so happy to see. I'm glad you're interested in writing ID's!!

It's definitely not as overwhelming as it may seem. I will say I'm still learning myself, but here's my process. I boiled down my steps into a basic checklist to get you started:

Describe the category of image (digital/traditional art, photo, social media screenshot, etc.), unless it's already stated in the post.

Next, the summary. Pretend you're explaining the image to a friend (since that's pretty much the goal). You'll find yourself naturally starting out with the broadest/most obvious things. If it's a drawing or a photo, for example, that'll be the main subject[s] and whatever they're doing: "[Character] holds a bouquet of roses." "A fluffy cat blinks at the camera." OneLook Reverse Dictionary is your friend if you can't find the word for an action or pose.

Then, once you have your super basic one-to-two sentences, you can start on the details. When I'm low on energy or time, I stick to describing the most punchy details of the image: "A heart-shaped frame surrounds the characters. The piece uses pinks and reds." I also found this site for identifying drawing styles. For art, pay attention to color (or lack thereof), presence/absence of line art, and shading. For photos, describe style, mood, and color if you think it's relevant. It might be for artistic photography, not so much for a news article or a meme.*

There are different ways to demarcate your ID. You've probably seen that I use brackets around the description ( [ ] ) and sometimes a slash ( / ) right before writing "end ID." I've heard these aren't required, but lots of people prefer the visual distinction.

Use plain text (normal-sized font, no fancy formatting). You'd think it'd go without saying, but I've seen far too many people write their ID's in tiny font. Bold text at the beginning and end is fine, but that's about it.

Some subjective language is fine for describing mood (melancholy, cheerful, etc.), but don't overdo it. Don't add jokes that aren't in the image itself.

*For fictional characters, I usually only describe their outfits and features if they deviate from canon. For real people, I use my judgement on whether describing these details is relevant: Without those details, would they miss out on something important?

As for what's irrelevant, people have different preferences. I've heard from some blind and low vision people that they prefer really straightforward descriptions, while others prefer the detailed ones because they give them an equal or equivalent experience to what a sighted person would have.

I try to strike a balance, writing shorter descriptions for memes/informational images and longer ones for art. Active voice can help simplify your ID, though this isn't a strict rule.

What I have almost universally heard, though, is this: Even the most basic ID is better than none. If all you can do is a quick one-sentence description, that's ok! You've still opened up a previously inaccessible image to a new audience.

Now for resources:

Image Desc. Guidelines - This helped me out a lot when I started out!

Writing Image Descriptions

Giant Google Doc for Describing Memes

Resource for Video Desc. (I'm still learning how to improve my VD's myself)

Lastly, I know not everyone likes joining discord servers to ask questions, but The People's Accessibility Server is a great resource. (I removed the link because I couldn't find a way to hide my discord # from the invite, and I don't want to just put it out there, but here's this invite via keplercryptid's blog.) You can ask for advice, for someone to review your ID's, or even for someone to write them for you. You can DM me as well if you're comfortable with that.

I hope this is a good starting point for you, anon!! Best of luck <3

[justcallmealt]

So, my work about Fau's distortion and how it happened. Also hint to how he got his e.g.o.

Warning: it's REALLY a lot of text

+ description of panic attack (not sure if it's graphical but still) and some little wounds

+ description of drowning, more graphical even it's just nightmares

+ Carmen appears what do you expect to go right?

+ Parahumans series reference. It's motto? "It goes worse!"

+ body horror, you were warned

And sorry if any of the canon characters will be ooc I'm bad at this (I'm good in char only to my OCs)

Kind of songfic, because if there's Alt, there's a song.

And please, don't hate any librarians till you read to the end, thank you

Sorry for some unreadable text, but it's important for the atmosphere

* - actually it's guan dao

** - I'm NOT using inches and American metric system

*** Fau's second name if you wonder

"What an curious little anomaly. And you're not here by accident, but on purpose. How interesting..." — The voice of that woman, Purple Tear, still echoed in Fausto's mind, reminding him that he didn't belong here, it wasn't his Earth Bet with such familiar, but at the same time distant parahumans and their superpowers.

Before attacks, Purple Tear looked at the librarians and their tacticians like a predator, ready to strike at the slightest mistake of the opponent, but at the same time something like a teacher, strict and cruel, but if you could survive this... He didn't know what to think. This tactic was almost reminiscent of his behavior on Earth Beth, when Fausto only had to rely on words and his Thinker power in few battles, but less so when Fausto didn't have to hide his powers in, well, a suit. It was also difficult to find colored glasses or glass here, but librarians could get "gifts" by suppressing guests, and when he found out about this, he was able to get several types of glasses: ordinary and black (although only one could be used in battles, not like his goggles, where the glasses were easy to change with one habitual movement of the hand and which were protected from the inside after the Shatterb...), using the fact that he was the last to wake up on the floor of the Social Sciences. Luckily Chesed was still an understanding and kind person (no longer that awful-looking boxbot and for good), he was able to gain experience, brush up his rusting skills a bit, and pick up some edge along the way. Although he lacked the familiar grip on the falchion*, that habitual hand-biting feeling at the slightest sign of panic. His armor was also missing, the pressure on the surprisingly pleasant, to the point of breaking, scales on the shirt below. Perhaps his armor was somehow different from the other, it seems that another set of Discord was worn by someone, if he is not mistaken, on the Hod floor, so he couldn't ask about this that time.

He usually wore glasses on his forehead, lowering them only immediately before receiving guests. The headaches weren't as severe or non-existent with moderate use, his habitual tactics weren't as conspicuous, perceived as trying to be cool (as in Winslow, where he had to pretend to be normal despite gangs that could, with one wrong look, destroy his life), if you take into account the fact that he was the youngest agent in the corporation, which Captain Devona or Sammer could joke about in a friendly way (or how he heard whispers from clerks behind him, discussing where he could get all these scars on his face and why he didn't work as a fixer with such skills at that age). He used to work with it so much before, making it almost second nature, hiding in plain sight to some extent.

With the deterioration of vision, there was a somewhat easier attitude. Because he tried not to use too much force and not get caught, the vision loss in his remaining eye had slowed down to a negligible level. If he was killed at the reception... A strange feeling, as if he had been before the Libr... It doesn't matter, some stupid feeling.

These thoughts always made Fausto's head ache. He hated this feeling. And how, after the resurrection, he did not remember anything after the defeat, except for a feeling of fear and something that he could not name. It was so different from being locked up with an abnomality in a book, being able to see what was happening, feeling everything as if in a dream, being aware of the information.

After Fausto, the Librarians in general, or even the Patrons were resurrected by the power of the Library, none of them showed any damage, which added a bit of honey to the tar. But intuition suggested that only he felt after the resurrections so strange that it was not something to talk about with others. The feeling of déjà vu and that he was missing something important that he could never find, not without someone else's help.

From Purple Tear, like other Color fixers like Red Mist or Blue Reverberation when he was scouting the situation in Library, there was an air of strength, power, so nostalgically reminiscent of the Earth Bet and the Triumvirate, only different in being not like that, more ... Supernatural.

Travel through dimensions, as she herself said. Not that the rest of the Library understood it as the Purple Tear herself, or at least him (not sure if it's correct, but hey, it's better than nothing), but on Earth Bet it was common knowledge.

The original Earth Aleph, the professor who created the door and made contact with the Earth Bet, twenty-two portals, hidden and guarded from the civilians, how they received some films, books or computer games from the Earth Aleph and so on. Such a familiar and once disgustingly boring part of recent history was now saddening. Fuck, what would have happened if he'd stayed there instead of accepting that forced offer? Could he live on another Earth provided he didn't approach the cape's business at all? Sometimes this questions still plagued him, when the loneliness became unbearable, when he was caught in small details only to end up unimportant because of his corrections or lies, or when his "luck" gave him a short break from all this encryption at every conversation. If only he was better...

The blue color that was everywhere on the Social Sciences floor was supposed to be soothing, but sometimes Fausto caught himself thinking that calmness was replaced by nostalgia for the coast of Brockton Bay, how he missed the bitter-salty smell from the Bay, not enough warm, wet and a little snowy weather in winters , no matter how terrible and rotten the city in which he was born was. There was less fear. Leviathan's attack still made him shudder sometimes in his sleep, waking up silently from nightmares where water was everywhere, he couldn't get out, his breath was not enough, when the reflex breath escaped only to bitter and icy water made him choke, the pressure of the thickness was unbearable , squeezing it and making it choke harder, making him feel like the chest is squeezing the organs, especially the lungs. The cold from the water was awful. Sometimes it was nightmares of flying shards of glass biting into his body, the pain was almost real. Sometimes his scars would throb and burn like a fire as a reminder. Sometimes it was just the color and texture of the floor space that made Fausto feel panic attacks. He could get distracted when reception of the guests happened, but their floor was used for this a little less than others, especially the floor of Languages under the auspices of Gebura.

Fausto took a deep breath, hoping no one heard what was said to him, that everyone took it for them and not specifically for him. The page he was equipped for the battle was unequipped and he could relax a little in his body and the form of the floor.

"Fau! Please wait for me!" — Familiar voice, his floor colleague, who came to the Lobotomy Corporation on day 50, not quite familiar as Fausto would like, but if he remembered correctly, his name was Adam. He had woken before him, but nonetheless seemed ordinary, if not seen in combat, where they weren't as different as wanting to survive.

"Of course. Did something happen?" Fausto slowed his pace, allowing his fellow librarian to catch up.

Adam looked out of breath, his usually beautifully styled purple bob was disheveled, and he himself was breathing rapidly.

"Didn't think you'd hear me at all, tall man," the violet haired smiled contagiously, causing Fausto to smirk slightly at the corner of his lips. Despite his age of twenty, he was tall compared to most of his colleagues.

"Why is this?" He asked politely, not really expecting an answer, and continued walking towards the stairs to either go down to the Hod or Malkuth floor, or go up and help someone on the upper floors if he was unlucky and noticed. Chesed didn't mind the behavior of the librarians as long as they were normal about it and helpful. Perhaps it seemed to Fausto, or Chesed realized that Fau sometimes felt uneasy in this environment.

"I can't keep up with your big steps with my small legs." Adam explained, gesticulating emotionally.

"Aren't you only a little shorter than me," Fausto narrowed his eyes, trying to determine the height of the interlocutor by eye, but did not succeed very much, "ten centimeters**?"

“Not all of us are given high growth. And in my opinion, it’s fifteen,” such an answer made Fausto raise an eyebrow, but in a second he realized that it was another, hidden with a prosthetic eye behind the hair and changed his expression.

Adam didn't answer, and they came to the stairs in almost awkward silence. But as soon as Fausto was convinced that none of the patron librarians was going to show up or go in his direction and was ready to go to the lower floors, Adam broke the silence.

"Where are you going? Isn't it interesting on our floor?" That question threw Fausto off balance.

"No, it's just..." He hesitated for a moment, torn with the urge not to reveal himself and to explain at least something so as not to arouse suspicion, before continuing with a weary sigh, "I just need to take a break from the blue. Not really good memories."

"Oh, sorry for asking that question in this case," Adam looked guilty, but Fausto just brushed it off, "And which floor are you going to? The Engineering floor?"

Garza*** just shook his head.

"No. I don't think I'll be able to look at purple in the next few hours after doing this with the Purple Tear and her teleportations."

"Is it because of what she told you at the reception?" - This phrase was said as if by accident, but caused an instant response.

Silence. Fausto could have sworn everything stopped for a second. The thought flashed through his head that he could not be mistaken here. If he's lucky, it'll just be written off as a joke or forgotten in a bunch of cases. But there were no distractions he could use. He mustn't make a mistake.

"What do you mean by that?" He gave Adam a thoughtful look, hiding his too-fast-beating heart and the unnatural immobility of some muscles under his usual tone and bored look.

Adam shrugged. His bright pink eyes peered into Fausto's reaction.

"She was focused on you for the first part of the battle. You have something similar, but I don't know what. And why did she call you an anomaly?"

Too close. Need to calm down. Pretend that she was mistaken and confuse the interlocutor, put him on false trails, chasing wild geese. What to do here? His body treacherously froze as he pondered the answer.

"She could have been lying. Besides, she hurt me quite badly in the beginning, why shouldn't she be focused on attacking? Unless..." He recalled how much the corporation employees loved rumors. This could be his chance and saving straw for his bluff, "Couldn't she have mistaken me for her son?"

Fausto feignedly widened his eyes, hoping that this trick would work. Adam frowned thoughtfully, forcing him to believe for a second...

"I don't think so. That's not what she was talking about and that's not what I meant. Your attack styles are somewhat similar, but..."

Something flickered at the edge of his vision. Fausto turned to see the two librarians from his floor. He didn't hear what Adam was explaining now. They followed him. And now they realized that he noticed them. As Adam, who suddenly fell silent, also noticed.

"What does all this surveillance mean?" Perhaps his tone was too dry, but he barely paid attention to it. The sharply pounding heart in the chest did not improve the situation, as did the distant pounding of blood in the ears.

“Fau, listen. We noticed that you have become less frequent on the floor with us and more and more distant. We just want to understand and help,” Acacia, one of those who followed him, began to explain, as if trying to calm him down, but she was interrupted Cosmo:

"What does it mean that you're an anomaly and not from here? What about your other oddities?" Her normally emotionless tone this time was full of suspicion, weighing on her emotions uncomfortably.

This means that his thoughts about this all this time were correct, and all his successful cases and avoidance of an answer were not forgotten. It forced previously frozen muscles into a fight-or-flight corporate readiness mode, no freeze that could lead to a fate worse than death.

"What's wrong with that? Do you rather believe the guest to be received and pry into my story that I don't want to remember because of all these injuries?! I have my own reasons!"

Anger mixed with fear. He began to see red, processing every movement of his colleagues as if instantly, waiting for the inevitable reaction, a blow.

"No, wait!"

"We just want to help!" - Two voices: Adam and Acacia tried to bring him to feelings, but Fausto focused only on Cosmo, entering into confrontation with her views. Adam moved away from him, noticing an overreaction to the approach, namely Fausto's tension. Cosmo remained unmoved.

"Maybe it was worth trying to discuss it with us instead of hiding?" Cosmo raised her voice, going on the offensive. Perhaps there was meaning in her words, but now Fausto did not hear it, absorbed only in his own mistakes.

"You want this?! For me to have another panic attack like Leviathan or Shatterbird attacks?! You want me to show all my cards?! No, fuck you. Just! Leave! Me! Alone!" He broke into a shout, oblivious to the curious looks of the librarians from the floors below, who had come to inquire about the source of the sound.

Silence. Realizing what he said, Fausto immediately came to his senses. No. No. Nonononononono. Now it's over. Now he... No, he wanted to live. He didn't want too many questions, or questions in general. But now it's all his fault. The pounding in his ears became unbearable. He failed. He failed. Damn it, he didn't make it. Everything seemed to stop. The pounding of the heart was replaced by white noise. Tense muscles reacted without his participation. The habitual reflex of childhood and adolescence eclipsed everything.

Run.

And he sped off.

***

Fausto did not know how long he had run. He followed his extraordinarily heightened intuition, skillfully dodging and hiding, taking advantage of every advantage of the situation in pursuit ("•_• Translation error?...). Perhaps he was not pursued, but his wildly pounding heart spoke of something else. To safety. Away from them. Where could he hide, even if only for a short time. How he wished he could turn back time and stop those words from escaping, instead telling another lie that others would gladly believe. But... Would there be any questions left for him?

Intuition suggested that here he could hide for a while, which he did. It looked like it was one of the upper floors, he wasn't sure which one, despite the colors, now looking a little faded.

But if he had said something else, would he have been safe? His excuses would have been remembered, and sooner or later this situation would have happened. No. Even in the Library, where Angela was the director, an android who broke the Head's taboo by her mere existence. No. Not safe. Nowhere. Nowhere nowhere nowhere nowhere nowhere.

Fuck, if he only knew how to keep his mouth shut, he wouldn't be in this situation right now. Or not, would be, but later.

Fausto wrapped his arms around himself as he slowly lowered himself down the wall. His forearms hurt from his own grip, and his body began to shake violently. These were the consequences, only of his actions and no one else's. So why was he so scared? Why couldn't he move more, again, instead being stuck in his own thoughts? Soon he would run out of hiding power, or run out of space, given the possibility of other librarians or even Angela joining the search. He will soon be found, he will have to run again, but he will not be able to leave the library, he was tied to this place after the collapse of the Wing L and the subsequent days of light until it became dark. No. What will happen to him now? These are not the words that he will be able to hide from, he will not be able to escape like in Brockton Bay.

Another spiral of thoughts was interrupted by someone's gentle voice:

-"Child, can you hear me?"-

"W-who are you?" - the voice could not stand something louder than a whisper, the throat, compressed from all these negative emotions, simply did not allow it.

-"Does it matter now? What do you want?"-

What did he desire? The only thought that raced through his head was safety. But fear didn't help. Trust this voice? Why should he?

"Who are you? Why should I trust you?" There was no one around, a quick glance around the area made that clear. Who was he talking to then?

-"Perhaps you've heard my name somewhere. I'm Carmen, child, and I know that you are Fausto, and you didn't come here of your own free will, and that you didn't want to feel any of that."-

A gentle voice, from which only kind red eyes appeared in Fau's head, caused another attack of fear. It was what he feared the most after being in the City. If anyone else found out about this, their life would be ruined given the possibilities. What will they do with it? If someone finds out about his superpower, what will happen to him? It certainly wouldn't be safe and put the Fau at risk. Only his consequences...

He didn't know anyone named Carmen, that name just didn't add up. Intuition didn't respond, and neither did his powers when putting on his goggles, showing no threads of emotion or action other than his tangled light blue, cold and wet. There was no one there, and yet he heard a voice. It didn't feel like a memory about his Trigger, which was confusing. The lungs involuntarily contracted, the feeling of squeezing made him think of panic attacks that had not occurred for a long time.

-"Child, it's okay not to know any aspect of our lives. Please don't be afraid to speak up, I'm not the type to give your secrets to others. And if you want, you can not share your secrets and fears, I won't judge. Isn't it Wouldn't you like to live without this fear?"-

Such words were reminiscent of Coil, but how could someone with such a kind voice have terrible intentions? The body felt like after an electric shock, involuntarily causing the compressed lungs to gulp air. Stranger's abilities. Of course, it wasn't just the abnormalities here or the capes of his world that had strange powers. He must not believe, he must not, he must...

-"Please, can you explain what you're talking about?"-

Did he speak out loud? No, panic must have gotten the better of him. But... What did he have to lose now, knowing he couldn't escape? He began to speak, listening to any rustle, his heart beating in his chest like a small bird caught in the dark capture of a predator, and fear made its way up from his chest, through his arms, to his numb fingertips in an icy wave. So little time before the inevitable. He remained a coward after all...

Why does it always have to be him? It's so unfair...

"Where I'm from... Some have superpowers. Different. Strangers affect how you perceive things. They can be dangerous, but they'll be like your best friends until your belly is ripped open and you're still smiling, not seeing the trick."

Fausto took a sharp and noisy gulp of air, catching his breath.

-"Why do you think I would do this? I can't influence the real world in full understanding, only guide others with advice. But the outcome should always be chosen by the person, not by me. Shouldn't your opinion in a conversation be on an equal footing with opinion of the interlocutor?"-

He would have chuckled at such a statement, but the rustle of other people's steps, along with the voices of others, made him frantically search for a place, hide and be silent, waiting for the slightest rustle of the soles of someone else's shoes, a hint of other sounds except his heartbeat and quiet, but hoarse breathing, to finally leave. He had been doing this for so long, since he was a child, and he doubted those skills would ever rust or go away, not with his appearance there, not with his secrets here.

As soon as he knew that everyone was gone, intuition prompted it, almost drowned out by the fluttering of his heart, Fausto continued.

"If everything was so simple, then there would not be much in my life. There would not be so many situations on the verge of life and death, there would not be my forced work for the Coil, the persecution of heroes if I was in the field of view after those robberies not according to my will, battles with the Endbringers," His throat closed sharply at the mere memory of the sound of a loaded gun pointed at his head, a conversation where he could not even defend his opinion and an unexpected rescue. It would not have been his work in the Lobotomy Corporation, there would not have been his fallen comrades-in-arms who did not wake up in the Library...

But the voice seemed to understand the direction of his thoughts.

-"Poor child. Wouldn't you like this to end? So that you can finally be safe, not haunted by a past you can't control? All these actions... It's not your fault, child, and you shouldn't blame yourself for not having choice or power to change something. Aren't you tired of running all your life? Maybe you want to forget about all these horrors?"-

Something in that kind voice pulled him, wished that this would finally end, that it would all fall into place. But Fausto himself... He didn't know. No more. If he had a chance to forget everything... What would he do? Would it be worth it? If he accepted it, what would be the price? What about others?

The voice answered patiently, without reducing its warmth, as if reminding of someone far away, but... About whom?

- "The decision and the price depends only on you and your judgment. If you do not want, then I will not judge or interfere. If you accept this ... It is not for me to judge your price, nor for me to condemn you. Take your time, child, I will wait until your choice."- The soft intonations of this voice somehow resembled a mother, not his, those he read about in deep childhood, which he dreamed about all this time, hiding from drunken anger, and after and "friends" of his mother, having learned his lesson with his blood and his broken nose.

Two possibilities hung in front of him: frightened and panicked, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But... Would it really be worth it? Just forget about it and be safe? And How? Was it even possible? His intuition was silent as he teetered between choices, feeling himself walking on a thread over an abyss.

Footsteps approached from both sides. In the echoing voices, he recognized Roland — patron librarian of the Keter floor, whom he had helped with sorting books once or twice. Fau's heart sank sharply, and it felt like it had missed a few beats. They talked about him.

"Mm, how did you manage to lose your friend? There aren't many places to hide. Or you could ask Angela instead of me." Roland's tired voice was spiced with curiosity and slowly approached his location.

No. No, no, no, there was nowhere to run from here, he couldn't do anything. Even if he resisted, it was most likely not just Roland. Indeed, the patron librarian of the Keter floor was answered by Adam's voice.

"He was surprisingly fast and zigzag like a drunken hare. I swear we didn't expect this, we just wanted to talk, but Fau was too fast. What if he's a spy for the Head and that's why he did it? What if he's just a misguided Arbiter or even Color? Perhaps we acted too directly and therefore scared him off and were too harsh? Angela... We were a little scared to ask her after what we did."

Adam's rantings were interrupted by the usually little emotional and firm voice of Cosmo:

"He hid too much and acted suspiciously. If he chose to run instead of answering, then he could act dangerously in the future and put us at risk. The conversation was necessary, sooner or later."

Roland answered, and Fau couldn't quite make out the tone.

"Mm, it's all understandable with the four of you. Could be softer."

Is this what they thought? Is that what they thought about him all the time, regardless of the fact that he worked longer than some back in the Corporation? Fausto ignored Roland's reply, removing his hands from his forearms and clenching his teeth and fists tightly, digging painfully into his skin with his nails until blood oozed out. On the other hand, they were also approaching his location, only their voices were not heard, but the steps, one person, echoed in space. There was nowhere to run. He has led himself into this trap.

-"Child, you don't deserve this. What they're talking about... It hurts you, doesn't it? It's not your fault."-

He just nodded silently, barely holding on to this emotion and the feeling of pain in his palms. The mixture of fear and anger was explosive: Fausto wanted to answer these accusations, hurt them with words and unleash all the accumulated barbs, even if he deserved it. On the other hand, fear wanted him to shrink into a ball, invisible, hide, wait until this storm passed by and then slip through any gap that opened, any gap and hide as far as possible, to any tiny place, curl up into a ball and not come out until he can physically react to any stimulus, until he is mistaken for dead.

"How much longer can he hide? We searched almost everything!" There was a familiar annoyance in that tone that made the fear triple in intensity. No, please, not that tone, what did he do to deserve that?

The whole body was reduced by immobility from the sharply surging memories of childhood. The ones where the bridge of his nose was broken and after the hospital he had to hide to the best of his childish strength. Please let this be just a nightmare. The chest heaved rapidly in frequent and superficial breaths, and the air again began to lack. W-would he never run away from that tone? Why does it always happen like this? Does this mean that it will again be painful and bad?

They entered the library room where he was hiding. Still far from him, but already noticed. No, please no. Fausto's gaze was fixed only on Cosmo. Her gaze, as always, expressed little emotion, but now it was dominated by only irritation. Not anger, but irritation. It wouldn't hurt as much if he just avoided the blows, but his body was numb again from the other eyes, completely immersed in memories, all the way down to Leviathan. Then his numbness saved him, but the sight of so many mangled corpses that just recently were still breathing and laughing... But this is not Leviathan, there is nowhere to hide.

Noticing his condition, Adam was about to say something, but was stopped by a slightly tense Roland. Fausto did not take his eyes off Cosmo, trying to step back, but only bumping into a wall. Trying to defuse the situation, Roland began:

"Ugh, listen. You don't have a problems, you just have to explain something in front of your friends, nothing more. You're not in any trouble, bud."

Friends? It didn't feel like friends. Even his so-called buddies in Winslow were nothing more than acquaintances with whom he seemed to be a normal and more or less cool guy, just so as not to slide into the place of a victim of bullying, no more, not to be like Taylor Hebert, who then turned out to be supervillain Skitter, exposed in Arcadia by two heroes. Here...

Knowing that this situation was hopeless, he silently whispered:

"Please help me to be safe, please."

A gentle voice answered, still warm, and with a kind of sadness that was elusive for him, but at the same time with almost maternal love:

-“Then follow the Light, Fausto. May you find what you desire, one way or the other."-

And he did it.

Everything has changed. He didn't hear Adam's subsequent sigh, didn't see Cosmo's and Roland's widening eyes. It's like... Faded. Then there was the crackling of glass.

***

Adam was shocked. They couldn't have made thi... No, they were the ones who had driven Fau into a state of panic, and now he towered in front of them like an ice statue. His decent height for most librarians from the Social Sciences floor has grown even higher. No, they really shouldn't have done it. They shouldn't have tried to open other people's scars, because now instead of their curiosity and awkward attempt to help, Adama and Cosmo met the consequences. If Acacia or the other librarians come here right now without equipment, there could be nasty deaths.

His conspiracy theories simply helped to brighten up time and cope with anxiety, he did not want to cause harm, especially this. He didn't want Fau to be afraid of them. Perhaps all of them should have noticed their colleague's anxiety when talking about the past and taken it into the plans instead of approaching the problem from the bad side. Oh Wings, they weren't even really watching, they just wanted to come one at a time and it so happened that Fau spotted them at the wrong time.

But at that moment, he clearly saw Fau's fear in his not hidden under the bang eye, how he looked at only one point, as if into nowhere, concentrating in his thoughts ... What did they do? If he really distorted, does that mean the Fau won't be back and will be turned into a book forever? What will happen to their Floor? Can they be an effective team after what they've done? Then... If they had to fight and win, wouldn't the price be too high?

Now Fau towered over them, even when they were all at a distance, changes in his colleague were noticeable. What a second ago seemed like a crack on the bridge of the nose had grown and something came out from there, now, instead of the face, Fau now had a hexagonal crystal that turned from light blue to dark purple in especially shaded places. The crack remains. Fau's hair lengthened dramatically, its tousled ends floating, revealing first the scars on his colleague's face, and then the face-replacing crystal solid with finer cracks on the sides and bottom, replacing the scars on some visible scalp. The crack that they had heard earlier turned out to be scattered into hundreds of glass fragments of various shades of hands. On the shoulders now was something like a pile of broken fragments, growing in different directions right from under the skin, tearing through the T-shirt and soaking it with blood. These fragments either broke away from Fau's former hands and soared in the air, then settled back, forming a terrible likeness of a tree crown: transparent, light blue, dark blue, green, yellow, red, and even several orange and purple fragments of various shapes and sizes rustled in air, occasionally touching each other with an unpleasant sound. For some reason, the Fau's head ended up with goggles, like swimming goggles, but with deep dark blue shards of glass instead of normal lenses, too strange for a normal model, what were they even for?

They definitely shouldn't have pushed like that.

Cosmo, being more attentive, noticed something else: a red thread coming from the center of Fausto's chest, no, not red, dyed red. On the neck one could see a trace of compression by this thin and most likely sharp thread, and in some places the beige colors of the trachea and possibly bones could already be seen. The way the scars on visible skin grew grotesquely larger; how something separated from the eye socket a second before crystallization; how on his clothes a ball of threads became visible on his chest, the same red ones as on the neck, only more voluminous. And it seems that part of the glass from his hands began to merge into something, still floating in the air. Yes, it did not seem: part of the glass of the same colors began to form crystals, no, rather, figures similar to crystals. In the name of the Wings, what is all this supposed to mean? Why couldn't he use words and speak directly to them instead of squirming and dodging questions? Why couldn't everyone just answer honestly? It was so annoying...

Cosmo clenched her fists, preparing for battle and getting ready to equip the page. He will need to hammer in some common sense, as they did with Angela when she resonated with the Library on the lower floors, after which he will answer questions and there will be no more innuendo. She could only hope so. People couldn't just lie all the time, right? If they won't lie they won't hurt other feelings so much worse, right?

Roland tensed. It's... Seeing the Distortion phenomenon live was unpleasant. At one moment there was only one Fau, with an unpleasant crack on the face in the area of the most noticeable scar on the bridge of the nose, and a second later the sounds of changing alien flesh were heard and in front of them was Distortion. It was distortion—it wasn't like all the times Angela had resonated with the Library. There wasn't a whole floor shaking, there wasn't that cool whispering sensation in the back of his head, it just wasn't an instantaneous process. Yes, that would definitely be a problem, and Roland could only hope it wasn't his problem. Thank you, no, he's already fought enough without his self-imposed choice.

***Roland wondered if all these little librarians, along with the patron librarians, could be... Truly real people, not projections of dead people created from the Light by Angela. It almost made him feel sorry. Too bad it's not enough. His plan still needs to be carried out. Not now, but when he can... Roland won't stop. He knew it.***

***

Everyone prepared, if not for battle, then for readiness to escape and return with reinforcements. But... The distortion didn't attack. Fausto seemed to be unresponsive to anything. Perhaps it can be returned normally in another way?

The three looked at each other. Fausto still did not move, instead bowing his head to his chest, and remaining in that state. Cosmo wanted to come forward. Adam shook his head, wordlessly urging her not to do it so hastily. Cosmo seemed to agree with this, as far as the short and decisive nod could tell. Adam exhaled sharply and exchanged expressive glances with the others as he stepped forward, suppressing signs of hesitation. Now is not the time for his anxiety.

Fau reacted by raising his head sharply. The crystal surface was now looking straight at Adam, and he swore he could see his own reflection in that crystal. The Librarian stopped, and Fau didn't react.

"F-Fau, please tell us what we did wrong? I swear we didn't mean to put pressure on you like that, we didn't even want it to look like that to yo..."

His words were interrupted by a torrent of shrapnel that hit the spot where he had stood a second ago. Only his quick reaction saved Adam from serious injury. Fausto did not speak - he had no mouth. However, the words reverberated through everyone's heads, causing a slight throb in the back of the head and temples.

P҉l҉e҉a҉s҉e҉ ҉l҉e҉a҉v҉e҉.҉ ҉L҉e҉t҉ ҉m҉e҉ ҉s҉t҉a҉y҉ ҉w҉i҉t҉h҉ ҉t҉h҉e҉ ҉o҉t҉h҉e҉r҉s҉ ҉i҉n҉ ҉t҉h҉a҉t҉ ҉a҉t҉t҉a҉c҉k҉.

Fausto's "voice" seemed to echo from the surrounding space, both unnaturally high and startlingly low sounds were present in it, as if several people were speaking at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Roland tried to ask, but he and Cosmo had to dodge, although this time the pieces were moving... Faster?

L҉e҉a҉v҉e҉.҉.҉.҉ ҉L҉e҉t҉ ҉m҉e҉ ҉d҉i҉e҉ ҉i҉n҉ ҉t҉h҉a҉t҉ ҉a҉t҉t҉a҉c҉k҉.҉ ҉I҉t҉ ҉w҉o҉u҉l҉d҉ ҉b҉e҉ ҉b҉e҉t҉t҉e҉r҉ ҉i҉f҉ ҉I҉ ҉d҉i҉e҉d҉ ҉t҉h҉e҉r҉e҉ ҉a҉l҉o҉n҉e҉.

The tone was starting to hurt their heads. The three people looked at each other again. This seems to have affected Fau too much. It's like... He couldn't get out of the past.

Then... Roland nodded, stepping back... And getting no response. He quickly retired for reinforcements and possibly Angela.

Fausto made no move. He didn't even seem to be breathing, completely becoming a statue in his sorrow and memories. Only... Anyway, even in his inaction there was something wrong.

W҉h҉y҉ ҉d҉o҉n҉'҉t҉ ҉y҉o҉u҉ ҉l҉e҉a҉v҉e҉?҉ ҉E҉v҉e҉n҉ ҉i҉f҉ ҉I҉ ҉s҉u҉r҉v҉i҉v҉e҉,҉ ҉S҉l҉a҉u҉g҉h҉t҉e҉r҉h҉o҉u҉s҉e҉ ҉9҉ ҉w҉i҉l҉l҉ ҉b҉e҉ ҉h҉e҉r҉e҉ ҉s҉o҉o҉n҉.

The words of their former colleague made no sense. Both Adam and Cosmo braced themselves for another dodge when Adam asked the question:

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Predictably, another attack followed. And immediately after it, the second, stronger one, from which Cosmo, who did not expect such quick actions in her direction, could not evade. A splinter cut her cheek almost to the bone, she briefly gasped, reflexively backed away towards the exit. Fa... The Distortion laughed bitterly, causing the two's heads to throb in pain. But there was a note of pain in that laughter that they couldn't understand. Distortion's laughter was like the soft tinkle of glass: pleasant, but if you listened to it too long, it would suck you in painfully, forever immersing someone's gaze in a continuous mirror.

Y҉o҉u҉ ҉d҉o҉ ҉n҉o҉t҉ ҉k҉n҉o҉w҉?҉ ҉E҉v҉e҉r҉y҉o҉n҉e҉ ҉k҉n҉o҉w҉s҉ ҉b҉e҉c҉a҉u҉s҉e҉ ҉i҉t҉'҉s҉.҉.҉.҉ ҉W҉h҉o҉ ҉c҉a҉r҉e҉s҉.҉ ҉T҉h҉e҉y҉ ҉w҉o҉n҉'҉t҉ ҉s҉p҉a҉r҉e҉ ҉a҉n҉y҉o҉n҉e҉ ҉a҉n҉y҉w҉a҉y҉.҉ ҉L҉e҉a҉v҉e҉ ҉m҉e҉ ҉b҉e҉f҉o҉r҉e҉ ҉i҉t҉'҉s҉ ҉t҉o҉o҉ ҉l҉a҉t҉e҉.҉ ҉N҉o҉,҉ ҉i҉t҉'҉s҉ ҉l҉a҉t҉e҉.҉ ҉Y҉o҉u҉ ҉d҉o҉n҉'҉t҉ ҉d҉e҉s҉e҉r҉v҉e҉ ҉t҉h҉i҉s҉.

The way that Distortion spoke of it... It seemed to be unaware of what it was saying, lost in its own grief.

Adam, ready for new attacks, again asked what Fau was talking about, but there was no attack. As there was no answer. Fau froze again, only the hair fluttering in the non-existent wind proved that he hadn't become the full statue he had been before.

L҉e҉a҉v҉e҉.

One single word before something red oozed from the cracks in the crystal. Not blood, no, they were very familiar with blood. This liquid... It differed in appearance, although it was red. There was no characteristic odor, the liquid quickly rolled through the crystal before a light, too light for blood, drop fell onto the Distortion T-shirt.

An unfamiliar voice was heard, soft and enchanting, not like any person in the Library, or a person in general, could have:

"What's wrong, Fausto?"

What was that voice? Who said it? Who was it anyway?

The unfamiliar voice was neutral, but soft and gentle, reminiscent of a lost home. There were no notes by which it would be possible to determine whether this voice belonged to a man or a woman.

Cosmo reflexively turned her head towards the source of the sound, only to see an unfamiliar face: dark-skinned, with strange markings on both cheeks under the eyes, with white hair gathered in a low and long ponytail. The stranger's eyes were closed and there was a soft half smile on their face. The stranger stood behind her, not close enough to attack, and who knew what the human was up to. The stranger wore strange clothes, even by the standards of the City. Everything from a white and silver shirt with a long hem and wide sleeves at the ends, fastened with two top buttons and pants with a strange flare to what seemed absurdly massive black lace-up boots with high soles compared to the stranger’s height, it seemed strange. All this appealed to some primitive feelings inside Cosmo, the remnants of the genes of the ancestors of people screamed about danger. Only Adam did not seem to feel this sensation of trembling and small goosebumps crawling along the spine and small hairs standing on the back of the head, chills on the skin, the same whispers in the head as when trying to talk with F ... Distortion, but talking about what kind of a predator is watching you. And whether you survive depends only on the decision of this sentient predator. It could even be a Color unknown to both of them, such an aura did not come just like that. But it was different from the aura of Purple Tear or Red Mist... How were they supposed to deal with two problems with just the two of them? If only Adam had noticed this and stopped staring at the stranger's belly like that, and stopped looking at those six pack abs, if he was looking in that direction at all and not into the void, they were actually on the brink of battle.

The fragments flew past her and Adam only to attack the stranger, but they dodged: too fluid movement, which is more typical of either dancers ... Or people who have dedicated their lives to combat and weapons. The second option was really dangerous. How could a guest appear in the library without an invitation? And what in the name of Wings did he want here? She would have bristled, but the stranger's actions weren't hostile, and weren't even directed at her and Adam. The stranger only focused on the distortion and ignored them. Or so she thought.

F-fuck, why can't she move?! It will definitely cost her dearly, won't it? Come on, move at least a finger, break out of this hypnotized state before... Before... Even if the stranger's movements were like a strange dance. She is stronger than that, there is always logic on Cosmo's side, and she rarely betrayed her in contrast to the feelings and actions of other people, leaving her alone in tears. So why can't she move?

***

Adam seemed to be fascinated. Something in him was drawn to this stranger, this warm, homely aura, but Adam knew that this aura was not directed at him. Something in the form of this human was too graceful, as a large cat can be graceful, stretching in a warm place. Something about the stranger seemed unsuitable for the City, heavenly. Adam just couldn't find the right word for this feeling. Where could this person come from? What did they want to do with the Fau?

As soon as the swarm of shards flew past the evading stranger, Adam realized what was wrong: there was no wind in the room, but the hair and long hems of the stranger's shirt seemed to float in the air. Or was his vision simply deceiving him? But Fau's hair was also floating. Was it related to his distorted colleague?

The stranger chuckled at the attack: Adam could have sworn the chuckle was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard in his life, so sincere and echoing off the bookshelf walls. Adam shook his head. Something wasn't right.

"I guess you're out of sorts, aren't you? It's okay if you don't want to talk," half smile in keeping with the soft and almost... Parental? the tone of a stranger could surely make any person stop being angry. But... Fau barely reacted physically, remaining still and sending more fragments towards the stranger, this time splitting the glass and attacking the white-haired one from different directions in succession, who still dodged with amazing ease.

Part of the glass began to fuse into something... He didn't know what it was supposed to be, but this forming thing looked like it was Fau's full height now, which already looked creepy. Hah, he was not so frightened by the abnos of the HE and sometimes WAW levels as now he was frightened by the silent and distorted Fau.

The white-haired human avoided the attack again and again. It was like some kind of dance, not an evasion of possible death. Something on the verge of life and death, more poignant than what he could describe in all his years of life or a day working in the Lobotomy Corporation. Were all high rank spotters that strong? Was this stranger even a fixer?

Adam didn't know if Cosmo felt the same way, but he couldn't move, mesmerized by the stranger's dance-like movements. Fau was in no hurry to attack him or Cosmo while they were both frozen like that. Was Cosmo also motionless like him? Adam glanced briefly at his colleague, only to find her in the same frozen state as himself. It might be the worst decision of Adam's life, but he really didn't want to break that illusion, even with the possibility that because of their inaction, they might be killed here, even if it was only temporary.

G҉o҉ ҉a҉w҉a҉y҉.

Fau's words didn't seem to have the same effect on the stranger as they did on them. The white-haired one tilted their head to the side, playfully saying:

"Why? Is this what suits you? Do you really want this?"

Fau didn't respond. No sound could be heard, only the hair of distortion hovering as his only movement. But finally the pieces formed this something. Resembling a white porcelain hand with a light blue pattern at the top and turning into claws made of rich dark blue and transparent glass, sharp even for a fleeting glance, this hand was definitely dangerous. Only the stranger did not react to this. It seemed that the white-haired did not even feel a drop of danger from the Distortion, on the contrary, with each dodge, the stranger... Approached?

The "hand" of the distortion twitched upwards, fingers soared into the air to pull on something invisible for a moment, and now the two librarians could see many threads of various colors, for which the distortion was trying to pull, focusing on a single target.

Viridian green thread, a rope woven of dark blue and silver, scraps of bright orange with red spots, black twine with a strange tar-like liquid, pink silk fabric, golden threads, a chain of silver, as if burned and severely torn at the visible end - all of them were visible from the stranger's chest. But what did they mean? Sharp fingers tugged at the chain, pulling the white-haired one closer and sending a swarm of fragments at the target.

W҉h҉a҉t҉ ҉y҉o҉u҉.҉.҉?҉ ҉H҉o҉w҉?

Perhaps in the emotionless voice of the Distortion sounded ... Fear? The distortion took a step back, slumping against the wall again, reflexively shrugging its shoulders. The stranger who noticed this clearly did something, otherwise there was no explanation why the stuck fragments were released and now hovered around the body of the Distortion again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." “Why did the stranger even apologize to the distortion?” What would it even give?!

Suddenly, the white-haired waved their hand and said something. Only no words were heard. As well as it was not audible the answer of the Distortion. Oh Wings. This will definitely be a problem.

***

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again, okay?" Alt tried to ask the question as gently as possible. He might have to lower his guard this time. Not that there were many entities that could harm him. The pain wasn't so bad. The pain couldn't have been worse than the time he'd been burned alive by his own flame. This is Fausto and they couldn't hurt him. Not in this condition.

Fausto stepped forward slightly, but did not attack.

W҉h҉y҉ ҉d҉i҉d҉ ҉y҉o҉u҉ ҉d҉o҉ ҉i҉t҉?

Fausto's voice was different. Not in the sense that he looked like his Cie... Falso Cielo, no. In front of Alt was a soul almost torn apart, capable of breaking from any touch, and this voice for them, practically representing the Wind and freedom ... It was a silent plea for the slightest help. Therefore, they limited the hearing of the witnesses, leaving them like that, preventing them from leaving or provoking Fausto. He could have let them pass out from lack of oxygen, but... Perhaps they softened and allowed the witnesses to live an extra hour. But if they were dear to Fausto, what then?

Alt involuntarily began to hum, answering Fausto's question. They hoped that he could hear the echoes of the music.

"I don't want to hurt you."

I'm falling through the hourglass

And I don't think I'll ever take it back

So I throw stones at walls I'll never climb

Victim to the sand of time,

Falling through the horglass

The hourglass

They could speak words as much as he wanted, but sincerity was always only in the song. Let it always take time - Alt had plenty of that. Almost a millennium of existence has made it possible to rethink and understand so many things.

Cause that's what I can feel

P҉l҉e҉a҉s҉e҉ ҉d҉o҉n҉'҉t҉ ҉l҉i҉e҉.

"Why do you want it to be a lie?" It was a simple question, but it bled liquid over the crystal that hid Fausto's head. Perhaps it was better that Alt was blind, otherwise they would not have seen, with ordinary eyes, few could understand it, that this salty red water is the cry of a wounded entity, all the tears that were not cried and the severity of the pain.

Fausto trembled. Invisible to the human eye, before sending out more floating glass shards in the hope of defending himself. Those threads that Alt could not see, but could feel - they were tied to Fausto as well. He could almost feel the quickening breath of the Distortion as they dodged again and again without attacking. No. They could not harm this Fausto, more Sky than the one who saved him years ago and raised him in a lie. No. He was almost like the members of the Alt's Famiglia —an equally precious gift. They would have loved to take this Fausto and introduce him to others - the way the little Alfie being ignored by their relatives, the way he later adopted William, Alfie's boyfriend, with his story. How he accepted everyone, letting his loyalty take root in everyone, vowing to protect them to the best of his ability. He couldn't hurt any of his lovely chicks, no matter how threatening he seemed when meeting William.

I'm falling through the hourglass

And I don't think I'll make it back

So I throw stones at walls I'll never climb

Victim to the sand of time

I'm falling through the hourglass.

The hourglass.

Cause that's what I become

(What I become)

Now. Alt rushed forward with a sharp jerk, closing the distance between themselves and Fausto. But instead of attacking, they wrapped their arms around Distortion, letting go of their air defenses and feeling shrapnel pierce their back. It doesn't hurt that much, all their nerves are used to pain. They can heal it in less than half a minute.

"It's okay. I can't hurt you, Cielo." He could feel Fausto's trembling under his arms, they could almost feel the fear and his racing heart. - You're safe.

Salt water dripped onto his shirt. It doesn't matter, they can always wash or replace. Fausto did not respond to the hugs, so they slowly and gently, trying not to startle, stroked the distortion on the back, and then on the head. Again and again, not letting the hug loosen.

There was a door next to it. Intangible, but Alt could still feel the texture of wood soaked in salt and weathered by the ocean winds of Brockton Bay. Slowly, he got up and walked through that door, already knowing how to help.

Inside was a room that looked like a shelter for civilians. But instead of being peaceful, this room was flooded, and in some places floating corpses could be seen, obviously people who had been killed a little earlier. In the corner of the room, behind a pile of broken glass, curled up in a ball, was Fausto himself. He was wearing the civilian clothes he wore on the day of the attack, before things went awry. Fausto was sobbing—silently, barely breathing in and out—probably the first panic attack. A variety of threads twisted around him, but Alt could not see this, just as they could not see the environment, feeling only the icy sea water in their boots and bottom of the trousers.

Alt approached, slowly sitting down next to Fausto, trying not to touch the other at such a vulnerable moment.

"Fausto, please listen to me. I'll try to help you now. You don't mind if I touch you now, okay?"

Fausto barely moved, but he managed to give a barely perceptible nod. Alt gently placed one hand on Fausto's shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. The white-haired one started stroking the other's shoulder in circles.

"Listen to me. Try to breathe with me, okay? Inhale and one and stop, two, three, and four - exhale" - all this was said in a soft tone. The grounding warmth from Alt's hand and the slow pace seemed to calm Fausto enough to make his breathing rhythm more steady, but that was still not all.

"Can you name five things you see?" Fausto hesitated, his eyes fixed on the floor, as he tried to answer. His voice was hoarse, like he'd swallowed water before, and the ensuing panic attack didn't make things any better.

"Water, my legs, floor, shirt, sleeve." Each word was followed by a pause and a convulsive uneven breath, followed by a ragged exhalation.

"Can you say four things you hear?"

"Rustle, the sound of water, k..." Fausto coughed, water spilled out of his mouth before he slowly continued, "knock, your voice."

"Good. Three things you feel?" Alt continued to stroke Fausto, gradually moving to his back, rubbing wide circles on the other's back and shoulders.

"C-cold, wet... Warm" Fausto seemed to almost cling to comfort, but there was still something that hindered him.

"Well done. Two things you can smell?"

Fausto seemed thoughtful before taking a deep breath to the best of his ability and trying to answer.

"Salt, blood" - the last word was more important than all the others.

"Good. Can you tell me what you taste now?" Fausto finally looked up from the flooded floor, only to meet Alt's slightly parted eyes. This unusual, strange and slightly frightening green color of the eyes hinted at the obvious inhuman origin of the white-haired one, but instead of danger, Fausto felt only an approaching wave of peace. He said nothing.

"It's okay, take your time. We've got plenty of it."

Fausto tried to move closer - not some conscious action, but something that told him to do it, and the body did it involuntarily. Or tried. Fausto almost fell, but barely held on, grabbing onto Alt.

"S-salt," the answer was too quiet, still hoarse and broken.

"Very well," Alt moved closer, gently hugging Fausto, who began to tremble. Tears began to roll down Fausto's face, but this time it was not a panic attack, but relief. - Everything is fine. Take your time

Fausto couldn't even nod as he leaned against the other and felt warm (does a human body have to be so hot? Especially in such cold water? His intuition was silent, so Fausto just tried to enjoy such a vulnerable moment while he could. As if there was no one. As if he really was safe.)

Alt stepped back for a second, standing up and pulling Fau with him. Strangely, compared to him, the white-haired one seemed so small, barely shoulder-length apart from the soles of his boots. But this aura of comfort, at home, still persisted.

Alt quickly found a dry place and it was so strange.

"Can you tell me why you did it? You were hurt by such actions" - Alt's soft tone, no pressure, just a silent promise of acceptance. Is it? Why was he like this? Was it all true?

"Why are you doing this?" Fau looked down, barely accepting all these pleasant emotions and trying to turn the topic of conversation to something else. Why?

"Doing what?" Alt sounded genuinely perplexed. Fau tried to get the point across.

"Why are you saving me over and over again?"

"I don't know." - Such an answer made Fau not understanding look at the interlocutor.

"Wh-what do you mean?!" Another bout of coughing interrupted his thoughts.

Alt shrugged.

"I don't know why I'm doing this anymore. Guess I've grown attached to you." “F-Fair enough, Fausto thought.

Fausto almost drooped, but instead began slowly, with breaks and pauses, to tell his thoughts, his actions and mistakes, expecting at each pause a reprimand or a verbal attack (blow), but none of this followed. When he finally finished, Alt was silent for a second, causing Fau to tense up.

"It's okay. I don't judge your actions. Please don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you, ever."

It was as if a rock fell from Fau's chest and split into millions and millions of dust and debris. Only Alt hasn't finished yet.

"It's okay. Sometimes there are good days, and sometimes there are just bad days. It's normal that you don't understand others and that others don't understand you. How about trying to solve the problem less hastily next time, okay?" No pressure, but he felt guilt." About the voice - is this really what you would like if you were given a little more time?"

Fau was slow to respond. Would oblivion be what he wanted? Would the loss of his memory of his entire life be worth it? If he had time, would he make this decision? Slowly, as if realizing his feelings, Fau shook his head in denial. It wouldn't be what he wanted. It wouldn't be worth it. He... He really wanted to be close to his team, open up without judgment, and above all, not be afraid.

Alt smiled softly.

"It's all right, Fausto."

Fau hesitated before answering hesitantly:

"Please call me Fau. I like it much more and it's more familiar."

Alt hesitated, cocking his head to the side and closing his eyes before smiling again.

"Okay, Fau."

After a while, while they were like that, in pleasant silence (and Fau really enjoyed this consolation, even if he would not tell anyone about it for the rest of his life), when the environment itself changed from shelter to something resembling the dry floor of the Library, Alt nodded before finally saying.

"That's good. Now let's go. You looked too much like a hybrid between Shatterbird and Simurgh."

Fausto's eyes widened sharply. No, he would never! He wouldn't be like those monsters!

When the crackling of glass was heard, it was accompanied by Alta's soft laughter. And Fausto opened his eyes. Well, eye.

***

Cosmo and Adam looked at the sight in disbelief. This stranger not only managed not to be wounded for most of the battle, and not to damage Dist... Fau, and force him to return. The curtain of silence was lifted and they heard the crackling of glass as all the crystals and all the shards shattered and the Fau returned to normal. The stranger seemed a little wounded, but all these wounds healed before their eyes. The white-haired one still held Fau in their arms.

"Huh, what a mess. Guess I'm glad I'm not the one to clean it up."

Fau didn't answer, instead enjoying the pats on his back and head. A playful smirk appeared on the stranger's face.

"By the way, I guess it's time for me to go. Good luck with the explanations there."

"Yes. I would demand an explanation." Angela appeared, along with Roland and several other librarians, looking annoyed.

It also made both Adam and Cosmo flinch sharply, not to mention the sharply pale Fau.

It seemed that their colleague, who returned to normal, wanted to mimic the white wall nearby, but he did not succeed. Angela's gaze pinned him right at the crime scene. And this crime was now his existence.

The white-haired stranger was no more, as if they had ceased to exist. Oh. They all seem to be in serious trouble. Oh shit. In the name of the Wings...

Fausto could hear the vanishing whispers from the periphery before turning completely pale at the sight of the Library Headmistress herself.

"If you hear that lady's voice again, tell her your opinion directly. Good luck."

Angela seemed to look more and more annoyed with every second. Fausto muttered, thinking he was quiet:

"I wish I had been hit by a bus then."

The remaining pair of eyes turned to him. Ah, oh.

[absentcaryatid]

what's up cuz! you've mentioned before that sometimes you use a screen reader for Tumblr posts, yeah? i wanna make sure my content is as accessible as possible, so i was wondering if you had any feedback on how to better format Tumblr posts - especially fics - for those who use screen readers. like, is there any kind of formatting the reader struggles with a lot, like italics or bolding or strike-throughs or colored text? does it handle emojis (❤️) or emoticons (<3) better? and probably anything else you think would make things easier for the screen reader and the people who use them?

I remember giving input when someone asked for suggestions a while back but I am not a screen reader (reads web pages aloud) user myself, though I do use the reader mode on browsers to get a plain text for easier reading when a fic is in distracting font or unusual colors.

Considering accessibility is so important and a few of the things I picked up from reading conversations on here and Twitter include the emoji over emoticons because the first gets read by the name "red heart" and the second would be read "less than three". The automated reading also will plow through things one at a time so when people use multiple of the same thing it is going to say each one individually which can be particularly frustrating when it is detailed like "smiling face with open mouth and smiling eyes" or "raised hands skin tone three". Three in a row for emphasis will be read out three times.

A lot of symbols used as a page break are also a problem when read aloud:

"asterisk tilde asterisk tilde asterisk tilde asterisk tilde asterisk"

And more of a Twitter issue, people grabbing aesthetically pleasing symbols or letters from other alphabets to spell something like their handle. A triangle might look like an "A" but the screen reader will name it for what it actually is, meaning your friend Alex is perpetually "triangle lex" in the audio version.

Edited to add in with permission from user @the-smol-machine

on the topic of 'aesthetically pleasing' stuff from other alphabets, some screen readers won't even try to read that stuff. some can't. depending on what symbols you're using. like artificially changing the font with fancy characters has made some posts unreadable for my screen reader before. as in it just skips the content altogether. zalgo text is also annoying for screen readers. or for people who have trouble with print to begin with from my understanding lol.

End edit.

Pictures don't always load for me, so when a fic title, author, and pairing is in the image only that is annoying. Coming up with ALT descriptions for images is a huge deal, even for things like images used as page break lines. I think a lot of us are willing to do these things if asked, or when we know we have a visually impaired follower, but it is good practice to do these things whenever creating original content to benefit everybody. Also, accessibility features come with most technology so it is probably a good exercise for any of us to turn them on and experience our own posts firsthand to see what that is like for users that rely on that assistance.

I am happy to learn more from anyone or be corrected on this topic that doesn't get enough exposure.

[swisscheeseghoul]

Ghoulish Affairs

A/N: this idea literally came to us in a dream and it’s also an excuse for us to stick our plurality into everything we do-

Also, please take into note that the ministry, ghouls, and papas are all based either on introjects we have of them or source memories of them. So, if they don’t seem to be acting or looking as you think they would be or as they are commonly depicted, that is the reason why.

TW: caps lock text, swearing, body transformations/shifting (nothing too descriptive or towards body horror tho), please tell me if there’s anything I need to add

Chapters: 1(you are here), 2, 3

~~~~~~

Zen groaned as ze opened zir eyes. The room was dimly lit, the light flickering like a candle’s, daring to go out at any moment. Ze shifted, using zir hands to push zemself up. And ze found what was making zem wake up in this strange room.

Below Zen was a sharp red pentagram, likely made of a mix of ink and blood. Candles- the only source of light ze could see- sat on each of the points of the pentagram. A summoning circle.

And yet the man before ze hardly looked like the teenagers ze was used to dealing with on nights like tonight.

“Hello..” The man finally greeted, his eyes gazing over the ghoul before him. The ghoul was tall and rather slim, zir skin a darker gray than most ghouls. Zir ears were pointed and ze also had a long tipped tail, usual traits of ghouls. Ze wore a plain gray button up and jeans, as well as black shoes. The only bits of color on zem was zir wispy white hair, red horns that curved down by zir ears, and a pair of bracelets on zir right wrist- one green and one purple.

Zen shifted, zir hair falling in zir face. Ze moved a hand and brushed it back, deep red eyes staring at the other man.

“Hello.” Zen finally spoke up after a moment of taking in the other man’s appearance. This man was simpler, wearing a t-shirt and red jacket, as well as red sweatpants and tennis shoes. His hair was brushed back and he had very dark circles around his eyes and his lips were black as well. And his eyes.. one- the left one- was a deep brown and the other- the right one- was a pure white.

“So, ah, you’re a ghoul?” The man spoke, causing Zen to pull zir face into a confused look.

“You summoned me, didn’t you?” Ze asked, pulling zir knees up to zir chest and crossing zir arms over zir knees.

“Ah, yes, but you see, this was my first time. I- I only saw the sisters and my brothers do it before. You’re my first ghoul.”

Zen hummed as ze listened to the man speak, zir ears tilting instinctively.

“Your first ghoul?” Ze questioned, glancing around the room for a deeper look. There wasn’t much. It was very dark, but ze could make out a table against the far wall and a door on the wall to the right of that.

“Ah, yes, the ministry says that every Papa must have their ghouls and I’m going to be Papa soon, so I didn’t think it would be that hard to summon a ghoul for myself.”

“The ministry..?” Zen tilted zir head. “Where have I heard that before..?” Ze questioned softly before noticing, once again, just how empty the room was. “You summoned me *by yourself*?”

“The Ministry of Sin, is what we’re called.. Fairly popular in hell, I’d think.. never really been..” The man trailed off with a soft laugh.

“You summoned me *by yourself*?” Zen questioned again, staring at the man before zem.

“Ahhh.. yes?” He chuckled softly.

“I’ve never heard of a Papa who could summon on their own.” Zen spoke, slowly standing up. The man scrambled to stand up as well.

“Well, I- I’m not Papa yet- Terzo is still Papa- I.. wait, did you say, no one’s ever summoned alone..?” He asked and Zen nodded.

“As far as I’ve ever heard, Papa’s use the Sisters of Sin to keep up enough energy to summon their ghouls.” Zen explained, looking the man over once again. Ze was at least half a foot taller than him.

“Oh. I haven’t been to a ritual yet. I- I just assumed they did it on their own and I- I found a book about summoning them and I followed it.” He spoke, turning away and walking over to the table, where Zen now noticed a book splayed out.

Zen followed him, peering over his shoulder at the book. It seemed to be the ministry’s official book- not that Zen had ever seen anything like it, but it didn’t look like the ones ze saw with certain teenagers.

“What’s your name?” Zen finally questioned, and it must’ve started the other man because he jumped before turning and looking up at Zen.

“Copia. Cardinal Copia.” He answered, offering a gloved hand to the ghoul.

“You can call me Zen.” Ze greeted back, taking Copia’s hand in zir own.

“Zen is a pretty name for a pretty ghoul.” Copia smiled before clearing his throat. “Um, do you want a room? I think we have a room open.”

“Sure.” Zen shrugged, “Don’t have anyone else to go, really.” Ze spoke, turning to follow Copia as he led zem out of the room.

Zen blinked as ze walked into a semi-brighter hallway, zir eyes slowly adjusting. It was a beautiful long hallway, decorated fairly extravagantly. Zen followed after Copia as he led zem down the hallways towards another door.

“Where the fuck are we?” A feminine voice suddenly hissed from the back of Zen’s mind, making zem flinch slightly, being genuinely startled by it.

“Shh..” Zen shushed aloud, making Copia glance back at zem.

“Everything okay back there?” He questioned.

“Yeah, fine. Just thought I heard something.” Zen shrugged, trying to wave it off.

Copia paused for a moment, looking around and listening for Zen’s phantom noise before shrugging it off as well and continuing on their journey.

“Zen. Answer me. Where are we?” The voice hissed again, causing Zen to roll zir eyes and wave zir hand by zir head like ze were fighting off a fly.

A heavy sigh echoed from the back of zir mind before the voice spoke up again, “As soon as we get privacy, you’re telling me everything.”

Zen nodded slowly to zemself before looking up to focus on what was happening around zem.

Ze hadn’t really been looking at where ze had been going- which was probably going to be a problem in the long run- but now ze stood in another, darker hallway with doors lining the halls.

Copia was in the middle of saying something and Zen had the smart idea to finally tune into what he was saying.

“-sure they wouldn’t mind if you took a room to use.” Copia finished, looking up at Zen.

“Uh, thanks.” Zen cleared zir throat quietly, attempting to make it look like ze had been paying attention the entire time.

“Are you feeling okay?” Copia suddenly questioned, reaching a hand up to cup Zen’s cheek, “Your skin looks blotchy.”

Zen blinked at the touch before shaking zir head slightly, “No, I’m feeling fine.”

Copia’s brow’s pushed together in a confused look, “Your hair is turning brown?” He questioned, reaching his hand up further- as far as he could reach at least.

“I’m fine.” Zen suddenly snapped, grabbing at Copia’s wrist. Ze glared at Copia for a second before pushing his hand away and letting go of it. Zen then wordlessly turned and walked into one of the rooms, shutting the door after zem.

Zen breathed a sigh of relief as the door was shut, leaning back against the door.

“Zen, I’m sorry. I- I didn’t mean to point it out, I just got worried. Please don’t be mad at me-” Zen could hear Copia now at the other side of the door, but all ze did was turn the lock on the handle and then walk away from the door.

The room was nothing more than a tiny bedroom with a bed, nightstand, and dresser and a door that led to an attached bathroom. Zen walked into the bathroom, flicking on the light and looking in the mirror.

“Shit.” Ze cursed as ze saw zir reflection. Copia was right. Zir dark gray skin was splotched with lighter gray- looking almost like waves of vitiligo- and zir pure white hair had lengths of dark brown roots that hadn’t been there at the summoning.

“Zen.” The voice was back in zir head with a hiss, startling Zen once again due to how loud it was.

“We got summoned.” Zen finally explained aloud, staring at zemself in the mirror.

“Yeah, no shit, dipshit. Where are we?” The voice almost sounded like it was rolling its eyes.

“Ministry of Sin.” Zen answered, bringing a hand up to rub zir face. Ze noticed the splotches were shifting- growing bigger- as more brown took over zir hair, “I’m not switching-”

“WE’RE IN THE MINISTRY OF SIN?” The voice yelled over Zen, making ze flinch.

“WE WERE SUMMONED BY A PAPA! I DON’T KNOW WHY! I JUST WOKE UP HERE!” Zen yelled back out loud, hoping that there was no one else in any of the nearby rooms.

“Give me front.” The voice growled lowly.

“You don’t need the front. I can handle this.” Zen growled back, fumbling for a plastic cup that had been left on the counter, filling it full of water and gulping it down.

“We are leaving this place. Now. Do you know what happens to ghouls here?” The voice spoke as Zen filled the glass again.

“Nope. But, yknow, it’s not like I ever get to front or get told about anything happening out here.” Zen spoke aloud, gesturing to zemself in the mirror as ze talked. If ze should be even referring to the body in the mirror as zir’s own anymore. It sure as hell didn’t look like zem anymore.

The ghoul that stood in the bathroom was slightly shorter and had skin that was a light gray now and even though xe were still in the same clothes, xir figure now filled them out more prominently. Xir eyes had shifted from the deep red of Zen’s to a vibrant violet and xir horns had also changed, now curving to the sides like a bull’s and colored a midnight black. Xe shifted, tossing back xir long brown hair before working on tying up into a ponytail.

“We’re leaving.” The headmate spoke, but now from the mouth of the body, xir hands now moving to flip their bracelets, moving the purple one closer to xir hand.

“Mel. Please.” Zen’s voice now echoed from inside the head.

“Zen. This place is dangerous.” The headmate- now known as Mel- spoke, finishing xir hair and now moving to fix up xir clothes.

“Mel. Copia was really nice. Please. Just give it a chance.” Zen spoke, the body’s eyes shifting between Mel’s purple and Zen’s red before settling on the left one purple and the right one red.

Mel froze, xir gaze locked on their eyes in the mirror, “Zen. This cathedral is a house of murder. They will kill us the moment they don’t need us anymore. And this will kill us for good.”

A sigh echoed from the back of xir mind, “Can we at least just sleep the night here? It’s late and I’m sure they won’t kill us in our sleep.”

“No, we need to get out of here, now.” Mel argued back, stepping out of the bathroom and heading to the door to the hallway, “Do you remember the way back down?”

“Nope.” Zen popped softly, “You were too busy trying to get me to talk that I didn’t pay attention.”

Mel groaned, rubbing a hand over xir face.

“Fine. We’ll wait until morning. Then we’ll see if your Papa can help us get back.” Mel spoke, turning back to flop down on the bed, kicking off xir shoes and trying to relax for the night.

~~

Pronoun Clarity:

Zen uses Ze/Zem/Zir/Zirs

Mel uses Xe/Xem/Xir/Xirs

Copia uses He/Him/His

[thankyoumskobayashi]

PSA CAT SCAM

hey everyone i have found the most recent iteration of the cat scam. the scary thing is that it looks like a real person's blog, full description, blog theme, and everything

this message has been improved to make the reader feel bad for saying no. plaintext for the above image reads: Hi! Im really sorry for coming across like this, i hope im not stepping out any boundary, just in need of dire help right now as my cat needs some emergency treatment and im on financial bind. Im trying to raise some funds for him and I’m hoping that you’d be so kind to help us even by just spreading the word out. I made a post about it on my blog and pinned it, i know times are tough right now for and its a few days before Christmas, just wanted to atleast get the care he needs before its too late. I feel so bad 😭 i hope you would consider, also pls if maybe answer the ask privately or send me a message instead? its just that people sometimes tend to get weird on these things. 🙏😭

end of plain text. did reading that make you feel bad? good, that's what it was designed to do.

they have a full blog description even if some of it is nonsensical. unique icon and blog color scheme and some cartoony header.

plaintext for this blog's description from the second image above reads as follows: She/Her/ | 31 | Cat and Vampire coded | Have claimed dibs on the silver wolf at recess xp | Just a girl out here trying to find her way through this hell of a life. I still don’t know what I’m doing so if I over step a boundary please inform me also

end of plaintext for description.

they have reblogged some overwatch shit. it's just a shame that their first post was from yesterday as if they made this blog for scammy purposes

i'm not censoring this url because maybe someone out there knows how to report scams (i have forgotten or tumblr simply doesn't have an option for it.) anyways, this person has been blocked, so be careful they might improve the scam in the future.