#like i get that she's on a walker and not mobile much at all but surely that's ridiculous to smoke inside?????

[fazcinatingblog]

Imagine if out of all the mistakes I've made, the things Sophia thinks I'm doing wrong, the one thing that gets me fired is that I don't agree to the boss smoking in the office.

[giantkillerjack]

You shouldn't get a wheelchair, walker, cane, shower chair, or any kind of assistive technology mobility aid because then you might become dependent on them. Just like how you also shouldn't get glasses if you have bad eyesight because then you might become dependent on those.

For instance, if you end up stuck using corrective eyewear, you could actually lose your ability to tell what things are even when they are extremely blurry! You need to get used to having migraines from seeing unclearly because if you wear glasses all the time, you are basically giving up!! You don't need to see things coming at you from far away! You just need to get good at dodging, and if you can't, then you have no one to blame but yourself!!

For example, I read a really heart-worming article recently about a girl who was stuck using glasses - just absolutely, tragically trapped in her eyewear from dawn to dusk, even though she was good and never ever complained; and I heard she trained herself to discern the blurry faces of her loved ones with 60% accuracy! - she was even able to walk down the aisle at her wedding WITHOUT forcing the discomfort of seeing a woman in glasses on all her guests!!

Sure, she had to give her vows with a splitting headache, and she couldn't see her husband's expression when he said "I do," but overall, SO inspi-ration-al!!! So up-lifting!!

(She didn't even have to use a seeing eye cane, which would have been the worst-case scenario, obviously, because she worked hard to make sure she looked LESS disabled, not MORE disabled!!! Everyone knows blind people exist solely to be a cautionary tale to sighted people!!)

Also, did you know some people get glasses when they only need them a little bit?? How selfish of them! Sure, there's not a shortage, and an increase in demand would result in overall increased accessibility to glasses--but emotionally it's like taking glasses away from someone who needs them more! After all, if everyone who needed glasses got them, then...... um...... more people would have glasses! Which is probably bad!!!!

I also had a friend who was trapped in glasses who saved up all her money for laser eye surgery, and I don't know why everyone doesn't just do that! Sure, some doctors say some people don't "qualify" and it "won't help" those people, but that's why you can't give up!! You don't want to be one of those people!

After all, what's the worst thing that could happen with an unnecessary laser surgery to the face that comes with crippling debt??? It's worth the risk to gain your FREEDOM back, and I'm so proud of my friend!!

Tragically, she did die later that year while driving Uber and squinting at street signs, but at least now I know my friend is finally free from the shackles of her terrible eyesight. #ripAshley #rippedAshley #justripit 😌😌😌❤😇😇😇

And that's why you shouldn't get used to using a mobility aid!! Because, like glasses, they are inherently embarrassing to be seen with; and - like glasses - it is more noble to suffer silently than to depend on unnatural technologies that force you to rely on them; AND - just like glasses - by abstaining from using them, you DEFINITELY benefit SO many people in tangible life-changing ways!!! (Besides, everyone else will be so much more comfortable if you just look normal! 😊)

I hope you learned something today. 💖

[housecow]

Who says you have to be one or the other? I think you could have lots of fun transitioning between a housebound cow on oxygen and the fattest soccer mom possible. Maybe it’s all in the timing, maybe start out as a housebound cow and shift into soccer mom mode later.

okay, this is hot as fuck. getting to experience the limits of what my body can handle and then losing a portion of the weight—not too much, just enough to be easily mobile again, managing my health as well. but i’m still, what, 350-400lbs?

the whispers i’d hear from the other parents… “she’s such a fucking cow,” “how much do you think she weighs?” “there’s just so much… flab!”

and little do they know this is my lightest from the last few years. that i’d been 600lbs at some point, needing help up from bed and from anywhere i’d plopped down to feast. that my husband had plumped me up to obscene numbers, reveling in the fact i was dependent on him for almost everything.

my present soft, full, wobbling figure is the result of hard work. not only to get active, but in denying both myself and my spouse. we know what we want, but it’s for the kids now! they need a mom that can keep up with them. sure, i get winded easily, can’t see my feet or even past my tits, but this is an improvement!!

others just see my huffing and puffing as a failure, when it’s the opposite. it takes dedication. the extra wide folding chair i pull out at every soccer game was bought with pride, and the way my husband squeezes that back roll he gifted me is comforting.

sure, it still takes a lot of food to keep up with being 400lbs… i still eat like a pig. sonic shakes at every game and countless fast food runs before 3:30pm school pickup. i RSVP to neighborhood/school bbqs and they have to spend double the amount on food (we chip in!) but it’s all a labor of love!

plus, when it’s just my feeder and i, he gets to tease me about it all. talks about how hot it was when i needed the walker. how much of a shut in i was compared to now—“remember when you couldn’t even drive because your belly was in the way?”

he’d lay a hand on my still-formidabile tummy, stretched out from the hundreds of lbs and a few of his kids. i know he wants so badly to get me back there, i can tell what he’s thinking. and if he started that process—funneling every night, telling me what to eat and when—i wouldn’t be able to stop him. but we’re responsible :3

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Perv!Charlie Walker headcanons

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

warning : perverted behavior, yandere thoughts, stalking, obsession, nothing graphical, mention of nudeness, clueless reader, obsessed love

second part , third part, fourth part

masterlist

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

°It all started when you switched to his history class. When you came in and chose a seat diagonally opposite to him. You hadn't noticed his presence when you entered. But his gaze fixed on you the whole class. You were perfect. More perfect than Kirby could ever have been.

°My beautiful victim he thought as he walked past her, trying to catch a glimpse of her scent. You smelled so sweet and innocent. He would make her his Sydney. Keep her forever.

°A few weeks passed and his obsession with her grew from day to day. Every day he tried to talk to you as often as he could. No matter if it was the little talks during the break. Trivial or not, it was all the same. Your affection was enough for him. He just needed to have you with him. Just for him.

°He could hardly believe his luck when one day you asked him if you could come to the film club.

°Of course he immediately agreed and couldn't hide the blush on his cheeks when you pulled him into a thankful hug. You are so soft and warm...she's everything he thought as his arms wrapped around your body. It was only a moment but it meant so much more to him.

°The weeks went by and besides the activities at the club he helped her with her homework almost every day. Acting a little foolish with his own, knowing that you would help him. That you would pull him into the library and the two of you would sit together at the table next to each other. Yet you didn't see the look in his blue eyes. But he saw her and his heart beat with happiness every time you pulled him here by the wrist. She likes me he thought delightedly and continued to watch you.

°Soon he would find a way to get to know you even better. To see you whenever he wanted. To record you in his camera. Just for himself.

°It was the last lunch break before the weekend when he approached her. A smile played around his lips as she waved at him. A simple plan but it would do. ,,Hey, I was wondering if you would like to work together on the history presentation?" he asked and immediately saw her nod. ,,Of course I would love to, how about tomorrow afternoon, my parents are at work so we can relax" she suggested and there was joy in her eyes as she almost proudly told him about the free house. ,,Cool, see you tomorrow," he said, knowing that you would already have him in your house forever.

°As soon as he was in your house the next day his heart beat faster with joy. It was your house, your home, just you and him. He looked at your shape as you walked up the stairs in front of him and showed him your room. ,,You have good taste," he commented and smiled. You couldn't have been more perfect. Several horror movie posters and fantasy books were on the wall. Some he had read and watched himself. She's perfect for me he thought, letting his fingers roam over some of the books and posters.

°Everything here seemed to reflect you as if he could see and understand you so indirectly. He could touch you. He heard you say that you would fetch something to drink from the cellar. He just nodded before waiting for the door to close. His smile widened, his gaze determined as he pulled out of his backpack the many small cameras. They were not cheap, but for you, anything was enough. He quickly thought of the right places and set up the cameras. Before he saw on his mobile phone that he could see the whole room.

°He listened, but you were still searching in the basement. Before his gaze fell on your dresser with clothes inside. A blush crept into his cheeks. He knew he was close to being caught. But he wanted to finally possess something of you. To finally have you. Just a small part. Carefully he opened one of the many drawers. Your clothes came out, with the same engaging smell. It's almost like she's embracing me, he thought with a sigh as he reached for one of your t-shirts and stuffed it into his backpack.

°Then his eyes caught a pair of black folded panties with black lace. His cheeks grew even darker. His fantasy of what you would look like in them began to come together in his head. She's only wearing it for me he thought and a furtive smile crept onto his lips. It smelled just like you. Hastily he stuffed the garment into his backpack before the door to your room opened only a moment later.

°The remaining hours he was full of enthusiasm and admiration. He enjoyed the contact, touched you as often as he could and finally wanted to have you for himself. Only when you said goodbye to him in the evening did he practically run home. Connecting his mobile phone to his computer and opening the programme, he finally saw your room.

°You had already gone back to your bedroom and had just closed the curtains to your window when you started to undress. ,,So beautiful," he murmured and zoomed in with the camera. He saw you take off your pullover and fold it carefully. He saw your torso, saw the dark red bra with black lace that nestled comfortably against your breasts. His heart beat faster, you were so unbelievably captivating. He saw her take off her trousers and put them with the pullover. A matching pair of panties in the same colour showed itself to him. They clung to your hips and your body.

°He thought you were going to bed when you turned to one of the cameras. For a moment he was afraid that you had seen him. Instead you walked to your full body mirror and took off your bra. For a split moment, all thought was gone from his mind. Before he felt the slight tug at his centre. He could see your naked breasts and you seemed to almost present yourself to him as you looked at yourself in the mirror for a moment. Before she finally went to her bed and lay down under the covers. It turned him on, nervous and crazy for you, knowing that you slept only in your underwear.

°For him, for his image of you, you seemed to long for him. Seeming to wait for him. Loving him too. He continued to watch you through the hours. Taking in every bit of your features that he saw and loving you more and more. ,,Charlie" he heard you murmur as you moved slightly and seemed to almost hug the blanket. She's dreaming of me, the brown-haired man realised, and at that moment he would have loved to look inside your head.

°But for him it was just another proof. Another proof that maybe he should slip into your room tonight. Into you. Not just watch you anymore. Finally kiss you and finally have you to himself. Not kill you no you were better than Sydney he would keep you with him. You loved him as much as he loved you, he just knew it. But in the end you would have no choice. For no matter how much time passed he would always be watching you. Because love would always find its way. Willingly or not.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

[darylbae]

Pls could you write daryl dixon x fem!reader at the kingdom? carol and ezekiel took in a worn out and struggling woman and have been helping her get back on her feet. daryl comes along and teaches her to hunt and maybe r lost some memory but got a bit back when she shot her first animal w daryl maybe she’s actually a vvv good hunter

crack shot — daryl dixon 🩰

in which you find the kingdom, and an archer who's willing to train you.

note: love this, going to make a lil drabble of this.

You'd been alone for a long time. You'd survived with your stealth and trusty knives, but it was getting harder. Your backpack of supplies were low, you hadn't found a proper place to settle down, and you'd recently injured yourself trying to hide from a horde of walkers. Until you'd been found passed out from blood loss sat on a branch in a tree. A man, who spoke as if he'd been pulled from a fantasy book, and a woman, who seemed the exact opposite of him. And yet they worked together well enough to get you back to wherever it is they call home. The Kingdom.

That was almost a month ago. You'd spent a long while recovering, getting to know the Kingdom and it's people, and helping out with your very minimal mobility. Turns out your injury had been worse than you or anyone had thought. When Carol, the woman who found you, had sat at your bedside to question you, you appeared to have lost any knowledge of what's happened. Memories muddle into one, not being clear enough to decipher. You'd forgotten a lot of your life before this, but you assumed that was because the world had changed so drastically. You remembered some long-term things, like family members you had, what was happening in the world at this point in time, and where you were born, but everything else had fallen short. It was time to start building you back up. Carol would visit you a lot, bringing you things to eat, taking you around on walks to show you how things are going, and today she had other ideas in mind. "So," Carol sighed, sitting next to your bed once again, "I think you've recovered enough to start doing something. I've asked a friend to train you in dealing with walkers. Just to make sure you can defend yourself still." You nodded, finishing lacing up your boots and getting out of bed. "Who? Jerry? Because I love Jerry." Carol laughed. "No, an old friend of mine offered to help actually. He's waiting outside."

Carol had taken you outside, and stood in front of the both of you, was God himself. Everything you'd liked in a man, he was here. But you pushed those thoughts to the back of your brain, focusing on learning. "This is Daryl," Carol introduced him, and he held the strap of his crossbow on his shoulder, giving you a quick look up and down, and a nod. "He's going to take you hunting today."

The two of you had left the Kingdom, quietly walking towards the woods. "Carol said you forgot everythin'," he mumbled, his voice gruff but it pushed a few buttons for you, "that sucks." "Yeah. It's a strange feeling. I don't really remember much except the family I had, and how the world turned out like this." You explained. "So you're a hunter?" He nodded. "I'm good at it. Been doin' it all my life." "Well I hope I catch a good deer or something for Carol and Ezekiel."

It had been a long, slow day. You'd spent a long time just walking through the woods silently, trying not to scare any wildlife away. With the occasional "come 'ere" from Daryl. But you'd finally found a deer; stood gracefully between two trees, sniffing at the ground. Daryl raised his crossbow, explaining how to use it. "Wait," you exclaimed in a whisper, "can I do it?" Daryl handed you his crossbow, and before he'd opened his mouth about how to hold it, you'd fired the arrow and it landed perfectly into the deer, killing it in the most humane way. He was in shock, analyzing your features for any signs of shock. "You done this before?" He asked, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder again before following you towards the deer. "Maybe? I don't know. It just felt natural to me." You answered, and he was still reeling from how impressed he was. "Have to take you huntin' with me all the time now, crack shot."

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! I have a character who has nerve damage in both her left arm and leg and I'm a lil stuck on what mobility aids I can give her, since she'll sometimes need one for her knee (which has the bulk of the nerve damage in her leg). As far as I'm aware, crutches won't work since it'll put pressure on the left shoulder, which has the bulk of the nerve damage in her arm, and a cane will be difficult since her hand can get stiff and not hold it properly. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, thank you for your question!

If I understood the situation correctly, your character could definitely use a cane as you use it on the opposite side from the "bad leg". So unless she has the stiffness issue in her right hand as well it shouldn't be a problem.

For example: my right leg is the worse one, so I use a cane in my left hand. This way when I walk it feels more natural because people generally go left hand forward and right leg forward etc. It's great because when you walk you put the weight on either the good leg in the middle, or the cane and the bad leg on the sides which redistributes the weight between them and thus makes it less painful.

Some other options would be;

a singular crutch — basically like a cane but more useful for a lot of people as it provides more balance;

two platform crutches — they're like regular crutches but made for people who have a very weak grip, probably not ideal due to the shoulder situation she has but it's still an option?;

a hemiwalker — a walker that you use with one hand, kind of like a very advanced cane. I have very little experience with these so I won't be able to help much I'm afraid :-( (sad face);

a power wheelchair — much bigger than all the previous options obviously, but you can operate with only one hand or even no hands if needed. If I misunderstood your ask and she has grip issues in both hands, this would probably be the best option (it also has "power" in the name which makes it even cooler).

For anything that you use with one hand (cane, crutch, hemiwalker etc.) you will use it on the opposite side from the bad leg. If you're familiar with Dr House, he uses his cane wrong (lol) - walking like that seems very frustrating and painful to me.

You also might want to look at this post, which talks about the basics of a lot of mobility aids! There are also different types of crutches or canes mentioned (most notably the quad cane which provides much more stability than your regular cane) that you might want to consider for her.

I hope my answer was helpful! If you have more questions, feel free to send another ask.

Mod Sasza

[pack-coven-thing]

Some of the physical disability rep in me and @romeave-wives-club's rewrite because lets face it the lack of disability rep in MCD is unrealistic and even in MYS it was still "how do you know so many people and not one of them has a physical disability??"

[this isn't all of it, but it's some of it]

So, excluding the two entirely new OC characters because look they may be self inserts but Aph herself was one

Zane in both MCD and MYS has troubles with his balance, so, walking stick. In MCD he has this fancy and sleek one, while in MYS it's covered in stickers and paint and no that's not a pinkie cake sticker what do you mean. He's blind in one eye, in MCD it was from a relic incident and in MYS it's the infamous snowball incident. He finds it too much of a hassle to have it uncovered, that fucks with his perception of things more than it helps. He's also immunocompromised in MYS, which I thought was canon but now that I'm thinking about it it was never said in canon that he still gets sick a lot.

Laurance was partially blinded upon his return to the overworld, while Ungrth took the blunt of the void burns- he got a nasty one covering his entire left eye. It healed, slowly, but it left his vision severely blurry and hazed over with a dark-tinted film. He pulled a Zane, covering it with his hair or an eyepatch, for a while. But eventually that stops, and he adjusts to it the best he can.

Aaron was fully blinded when his village was wiped out, he was also very soon after turned into a werewolf. He can make out levels of light if the change is extreme enough, but that's about it- lets his hair cover his eyes, or a blindfold, just because the light tricking him into seeing movement was more of a hinderance in battle than a help. (Post S6 in MYS he's also blind, and either has a white cane or a service dog (or both) to help him around)

Post MYS S6, Travis is an ambulatory wheelchair user! He switches between his wheelchair and crutches, but if he's out and about he's probably in the wheelchair.

MYS!Aph has a walker, when she first got it she went over to Zane's house arms filled with stickers and "dragging" my OC along and the three of them had a hangout of just decorating their mobility aids

They're both background/more minor characters unfortunately, but both Nana's sister Shi and Blaze's sister Adira are deaf!

Some additions

Aaron has died 10 times over and will not stay in the ground, he has some form of chronic pain and will probably join the mobility aid crew at some point

Hayden uses a walking stick because yes

also there's a plethora of mental disabilities ranging from learning disabilities with Blaze's dyspraxia, all the meif'wa being autistic (this comes from the theory of cats not being able to be diagnosed with autism because they're all autistic, and you can pry this out of my cold dead autistic hands), dissociative disorders like MYS!Gene with chronic dissociative amnesia and Travis with DID

and more!

[thedisablednaturalist]

Office disability culture is so fucked in environmental science and fieldwork. Like the mindset that to do the job you have to be in perfect physical health or you should just quit. Like I'm not talking about something that is 100% physical labor here, everything is mostly achievable with aids and you don't need to be able to do every single thing. But there's this weird like..pride..that my older coworkers have. They work out in the gym and brag about how many reps they did. They tease each other for having medical issues. They don't ask for accommodations because they fear that their legitimacy will be hurt. That it means that they can't do their job anymore. That they won't be TRUSTED to do their jobs anymore. That it will get taken away.

So they FURTHER hurt their bodies by not resting, not taking breaks, not using ergonomic equipment, not using safety equipment. Not drinking enough water. Not using mobility aids when they are so old that it's supposed to be acceptable. They don't use the scooters at the grocery store, they don't use their handicapped placard, they don't use knee pads or compression gloves.

And here I come in, 24 years old, looking perfectly healthy. And I use walking sticks, I sit down a lot, I have my care bag, I have a ton of gadgets for making fieldwork more comfortable, I have boundaries and limits, I wear braces and knee pads and compression gloves. I use my handicapped placard.

They react in one of two ways:

1. How DARE I. I'm so lucky to be young and no one sees THEM having to do all those things (literally nothing is stopping them but pride). Like old man if you need a break take a fucking break. I'm not going to hurt my health to make you feel better about hurting yours. I'm not risking a flare up to spare the 65 year olds feelings. Im gonna take my break and use my equipment cause my boss doesn't care as long as the work gets done. I'm tired of glares from 100 year olds making themselves struggle across the parking lot when they could also be using the fucking scooter. (I never take the last scooter, there's always another available. Also it's not my fault if walmart only provides 2 scooters for the whole store).

2. It shows them its okay. Its okay to need aids. When I first showed up at my job it was very...macho..everyone was afraid of seeming old (theres probably only 3 of us under 30 in the whole department, most people are at least 50, mainly 65 year olds). Then they saw me using my walking sticks, taking my medicine openly, bringing a chair with me when working away from my desk, using my TENS unit. I overheard one lady ask her granddaughter what fibromyalgia was (apparently she had spotted my pain tracking journal).

My older coworker with a bad knee got a walking stick like mine and beamed when she showed me. The grandmother uses a cane and a walker interchangeably and more often. I get asked where I get my little portable fan and pocket heaters and special clothing. Even abled coworkers are doing it. My coworker who's younger than me sets alarms to take breaks now just like I do. People seem more comfortable using things that help them now.

My boss has really struggled. He has a lot of internalized ableism and hates thinking of himself as crippled. He spent his whole life physically active and strong and all these health issues and overexertion are catching up with him. Like he did environmental testing in areas with fucking radon. He did work where they threw asbestos around like snow for fun. He's done a ton of really hard physical work. He grew up with the mentality that pain was just something everyone has to push through. But I think seeing a young person make the choice not to push through is helping him a bit. He wants to make his own walking stick, he goes to the doctor more. We bond over having constant medical issues and I even gave him the name of my surgeon. Yea he still says stuff like "shoot me if I have to use a wheelchair" (not as much anymore since he now knows I use one) but he's getting there.

Yeah so I've had this in my drafts for a bit and I wanted to update that my boss has been walking around with a fucking broken ankle for the past couple of weeks. He thought it was just arthritis pain and eventually couldn't take it anymore and went to the foot doctor. The doctor has no clue how the fuck he's been walking on it. Now he has to wear the boot and he's banned from fieldwork while he heals.

Older people and the elderly need to learn that it's okay to not push through the pain and ask for help. Everyone needs to learn this, and not be like my fucking boss. Go to the doctor, get that sore joint checked out. Get those tests done. Use that aid. Stop walking on a broken ankle just because you can.

[aihoshiino]

I did some mathing in my brain about when is AI’s and the Twins birthdays since I’m trying to figure out with what we got in the prologue since Aka never gave anyone birthdays and the time line of seasons is a fuck here. but I’m thinking Ai just turned 16 around the same time she was discovered to be 20 weeks along(5 months) and it starts snowing when her death/20th birthday but the twins birth it also starts snowing with the reincarnation happens.Japan usually starts having snow around mid December til early April so I’m shooting that AI’s birthday is around December while the twins might be late march if im doing a ball park guess I know this is weird thing to bring up in a ask but if Akasaka doesn’t give us birthdays then the fans gonna have to do it with the context clues we get especially since she’s still 16 when the twins are like … 6 months. Idek I’m rambling and want to know of your take cause I love your takes

please undrstand i am saying this with nothing but love but this ask briefly sent me down a rabbithole of forbidden knowledge and insanity and i feel like a lovecraft protag who has seen too much. I THINK i have made sense of all this but.................... listen akasaka clearly didn't think about it the same way i'm doing here so really, i guess i'm the clown in this scenario. heehoo.

The most direct clue we get about when Ai's birthday falls is in Viewpoint B, during her conversation with Kyun. The flashback portion of the story is implied to take place in December (the framing device is set in December and Kyun's recent breakup happened 'right before Christmas') and Ai's upcoming fifteenth birthday is mentioned indirectly; she talks about being about to age out of the children's home she'd been staying in which would put her birthday either in December or January.

This is also supported by the fact that the the snowfall that occurs after her death is noted to be unseasonably early. Given that the series is set mostly in Tokyo which mostly gets its snow in January, December makes the most sense for her birth month. In addition, during the little happy memories montage at the end of the episode, we see the family celebrating Christmas in a space that has exclusively Christmas decorations — so Ai's birthday is not close enough to the 24th or 25th for those sorts of celebrations to overlap. With all that in mind, my best guess for Ai's birthday is late November/early December. I personally like to headcanon it as November 28th, as it matches the timeframe and is when the real life Strawberry Productions Fan Thankgiving event was held.

As for the twins birthday, my instinct was to try and guesstimate this based on the details of Ai's pregnancy. We're directly told by the text that it lasted the full 40 weeks (which is actually not as common for twins — Ruby and Aqua were a bit late!) and that a few months have passed by the time she returns to working as an idol; Aqua and Ruby are using walkers the day she returns from her hiatus and babies are not typically physically capable of using them until around six months old. Obviously the twins are a bit more mobile than a regular baby would be much earlier, but they do seem to be reasonably constrained by the physical limits of their bodies so I feel pretty comfortable saying around six months have passed by the time Ai comes off hiatus. This also makes sense in terms of Ai's health, since it takes about six months to fully recovery from childbirth.

20 weeks post hiatus pregnancy + six months postpartum recovery = ten to eleven months passed between Ai arriving at the hospital and returning from her hiatus. It's also worth noting that she may not actually still be 16 around this time? When Saitou talks about her age, he mentions her becoming a mother at 16 which is obviously the age she had the kids, but it does leave room for her to have had a birthday between getting pregnant and actually having them.

With that 20 week starting point in mind, though, we can use the remaining 20 weeks of her pregnancy to try and narrow things down a bit more.

Using the anime as reference, it seems to be around early/mid autumn when Ai arrives at the hospital. If you look at the greenery behind Gorou when he's up on the roof, you can see there's patches where leaves are starting to show their autumn colours.

Since the hospital is all the way out in Takachiho, where autumn typically lasts between November and early December (if I'm remembering right?), my best guess would be that Ai arrived at the hospital probably late November or early December.

With that in mind, the remaining 20 weeks of her pregnancy playing out in full, that means the twins' birthday must be in mid to late April. This is actually implicitly confirmed to be the case in the series itself: while Ruby's age (and therefore Aqua's by extension) is given as 14 at the start of volume 2, they are already sixteen by the time LoveNow starts airing, which happens not long after they start high school - and the Japanese school year starts in April.

I'm choosing to headcanon them on the earlier side of April, just because that places them smack dab in the middle of cherry blossom season for Tokyo, which both makes them spring babies in contrast to Ai and ties nicely into how cherry blossoms represent rebirth and new beginnings.

anyway watch me post this ask and then next chapter confirms the twins were born or october 5th or some shit.............

[blackbird-brewster]

Had a hearing assessment today because I had a nasty ear infection that began in like October and ruptured my eardrum and hasn't fully healed all this time later (even after multiple rounds of antibiotics)

The hearing test results were what I expected. I already knew I had hearing loss after my last test in 2020.

Today, however, the audiologist let me try out some hearing aids just to hear the difference they could make.

And I burst into tears. Because I heard Doom Them's voice, clear as day, for the first time in years. And they were sitting across the room while wearing a mask. The audiologist went to the hallway and asked me to a repeat a random number she said and I could hear her perfectly. She went further away, I could still hear perfectly! It was so emotional, because I honestly didn't realise how much I've been trying to compensate for my hearing loss.

The heartbreaking part was when I realised the audiologist was clearly used to 'young' people shutting down the idea they could benefit from hearing aids, because the first ones she showed me were tiny, discreet, ones even though she explained they're not necessarily great for long term use. And she was very hesitant in her wording when showing me the more visible behind the ear types, repeatedly saying 'I know they're more visible...'

I am obviously the type of person who doesn't care about that sort of thing. I use a walker or wheelchair for mobility, I got over hiding my disabilities long ago. I don't care if people can visibily tell I'm disabled, not when those visible aids are granting me independence and improving my quality of life!

After such an instantaneous and emotional response to testing the hearing aids and realising how much I could benefit from them, we already made an appointment to return so I can talk about my best options.

So, this is your reminder, whatever aids you need to improve your life, get them if you can! Whether it's a mobility aid, hearing aids, glasses, joint support braces, or anything else - - you deserve to have the best quality of life possible.

[honourablejester]

PF2e Character Concept: Shackles Goblin Rogue

Again, I’m watching Mythkeeper’s lore videos, this one on The Shackles, the pirate archipelago in Western Garund. There’s a lot of fun things in this area of the world, but a very small, random one snagged me. There are several goblin tribes in the Shackles, but apparently on Blacksand Beach, in the vicinity of Kelizar’s Atoll, there’s a tribe called the Reefrunners who are primarily swimmers and wreckers more than sailors and pirates, and I’ve no idea why that stuck in my brain, but … I’d really like to play a Reefrunner goblin horizon walker rogue? For reasons.

(Possibly it’s my choice of ghost fiction, and obsession with lighthouses, but wreckers have slightly more of a pull for me than pirates. Also I like the Reefrunners’ combination of almost-courtesy and raw pragmatism, in that they like to run ships aground and then let the crews go, not necessarily out of goodness, but because it’s easier to loot an empty sunken ship than fight a pinned crew. Which I love. This is about the shinies, the crews are just awkward obstacles that need to be shooed away first. Or, you know. Killed if it absolutely has to come to it, but let’s try the less risky methods first).

I was browsing backgrounds on Pathbuilder, and it has a regional one called Pearl Diver, which when I look it up on Archives of Nethys is actually regional to Absalom, not the Shackles, but I’m from the pirate isles, here, so I’m going to steal it anyway. Because I want a swimmer goblin who likes shiny things, a Reefrunner who’s fine taking the ocean’s bounty whether grown there naturally or lured there by a judiciously placed light on the rocks. Heh.

The idea here is just … I want a tough, scritchy little gal who’s in love with the ocean and all the shiny things the ocean can provide, and who’s not too particular about how the shiny things get in the ocean in the first place. She’s not mean, necessarily, just … single minded. Very loyal, courteous in a rough, absent-minded sort of way, but extremely pragmatic and with roughly one priority in the world, maybe two if she gets especially attached to anyone.

We’re in the pirate isles, so I am feeling rogue. But she’s a pearl diver and a swimmer and a scavenger, so I also want a survival emphasis, and I thought the Horizon Walker archetype? With aquatic terrain. I could take the ranger archetype instead, but I just like the vibe of horizon walker. Skillwise, we’re going to build around stealth, survival, intimidation, acrobatics, athletics and thievery. Because we’re a rogue and we can have that many skills levelled high. Heh.

Starting stats we’ll have a +4 in Dex, +3 in Con, +1 in Int/Cha, and +0 in Str/Wis. As we level I’m going to prioritise Dex, Con, Cha and Wis.

I’m going to go for Unbreakable Goblin for my heritage, because she’s a tough little gal, and also it’s just such a fun heritage. We’re tough, and we bounce, and we don’t go down!

Feats I particularly want as we go would include Breath Control as my first general feat, because pearl diver, Magical Adaptation from Horizon Walker as we hit Level 10, because water breathing, Quick Swim from Athletics Mastery, Fleet and Mobility and Catfall and Cave Climber and Skitter and just a lot of general movement feats, because we a bouncy goblin, Kneecap from goblin, to attack other people’s move speed, and a bunch of Intimidation feats because this girl is all teeth.

She’s 19, I feel like. Young for most people, but pushing the limits of survivability for goblins. She’s wiry and scarred and toothy, cheerfully pragmatic, polite as goblins go, and she has a collection of shinies sewn into/onto her clothes where she can see and admire them. She does favour seed pearls, all self-gathered, as a point of professional pride, but she also sees diving shipwrecks as much the same thing, so any old shinies will do if they’re pretty enough. As will glass and buttons and whatever was sparkly and caught her eye, to be honest. She’s out wandering, looking for better ships to dive, different waters to swim, because she is pushing survival age for a goblin, and she might as well. Most of her people die not much older than her, so why bother being afraid? Let’s just get the good stuff before we go!

Her name is Early Reefrunner. Early, to rhyme with Pearly. She’s a tough little goblin survivalist rogue from Blacksand Beach near Kelizar’s Atoll, and if you promise her good waters and good treasure, she’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. Or, well. The ends of the ocean, at least. Heh.

Ahoy, longshanks! Let’s go!

[rubeau-art]

PREVIEW - A Town Called Hope

Hey all! The current draft of chapter one is under the cut (to save people on mobile from a long post), and the Mp3 file can be found [HERE]

The audio isn't the best, but it's serviceable

Cheers!

A Town Called Hope

Chapter One

Grey clouds hung heavy in the evening sky, the threat of rain rumbling within them. The trip had been uneventful, but looking at those clouds would give anyone pause. Reynard was no exception. Uneventful or not, he was not about to drive through that approaching storm in the dark. It looked like the next village he found would be his home for the night.  

It was hard to tell if the sun had set by the time the lights of next the village came into view. ‘Blackwood’ the faded sign by the road announced. A fitting name for the place. Dark woods pressed in on the little village from all sides- expect the one that was pressed in by a broad lake. The clouds Reynard had been trying to avoid had settled into a dark blanket over the woods and thatched rooftops, and by the time he pulled up to the village Inn, the rain had dropped. It clattered like marbles on the windshield of his tiny yellow car, and for a moment he debated sleeping in the back seat. He glanced back at the seat in question. No. He was not going to scrunch himself in there just to avoid getting a little bit wet. Not again. Taking a deep breath, he snatched his bag from the passenger seat and swung the door open.

In the few seconds it took for him to sprint across the carpark to cover of the Inn, Reynard was soaked through. He hunched his shoulders against the cold highland air and hurried inside.

A wave of relief washed over Reynard as he stood there, dripping on the doormat. It looked like most of the town was in that night. To get away from the rain? Or to not be alone during the storm? The warm air was full of circling chatter and laughter, interspersed with the occasional crack and pop from the roaring fire at the far end of the building. The sounds seemed to hold up the old wooden rafters overhead, giving the place a life all its own. Reynard received some warm smiles as he dripped his way over to the bar, but everyone seemed content to keep to their little circles and conversations. That was until he made it to the bar and caught the attention of the young lady behind the counter.

“Excuse me, Miss? I was wondering-“

The young lady turned to face him, tucking a wayward strand of bleached-blonde hair behind her ear. The second she laid eyes on him she let out a small, shrill squeak- then covered her mouth rather quickly, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. Oh no, Reynard thought to himself.

“I- I’m so sorry, I don’t know where that noise came from,” She waggled her hand in the air between them. An anxious tick maybe? “You’re Reynard Walker! You must get this a lot, but I’ve read all your books. I’m really a huge fan.”

He didn’t ‘get that a lot’. The few books he had written had been poorly received by the public. They much preferred the articles and fluff he wrote for magazines as a part of his day job. This young lady seemed to be one of the few exceptions. He felt a smile pull on his lips and nodded politely. “I really appreciate that. It’s a pleasure to meet a fan. Miss…?”

“Shit-“ she covered her mouth again, cheeks burning, “I mean, um- Anna. It’s Anna.” She took a moment to calm herself down and did her best to keep her hands from fluttering about. “S-so! What can I do for you?”

“A room for the night, please. And maybe a mop.” He glanced at the line of puddles he’d left on the flagstone floor behind him.

Anna followed his gaze. “Oh gosh- I’ll sort that in a second.” She fished about beneath the counter. The click of a lock. A soft clink. A key set on the bar. “We have more than enough rooms this time of year. No one hangs around after the end of the Autumn festival. Not unless they’re hungover.” Reynard raised an eyebrow as he picked up the key. She might have floundered before, but Anna had been quick to find her stride. Not the worst fan he’d come across by any means. “If you don’t mind me asking-” Anna continued as she went back to pulling pints for the locals. “What brings you all the way out here? Didn’t think there would be anything worth writing about in these woods. Unless it’s a personal trip? You getting yourself away from the big city for a while?”

Reynard felt his lips tighten. “Personal work.” He said flatly, “Not here though. I’ll be heading up to Hope in the morning.” He saw the way her eyes lit up. Anna wanted to know more. Reynard was not going to give it to her.

Anna sighed and smiled. “I suppose I’ll just have to wait, then.” Reynard blinked. He was surprised there had been no attempt to push. His shoulders relax and smiled again. He was too used to being around other journalists.

 Anna waved her hand at him, shooing him away from the bar. “Go on now. Go get yourself dry. We don’t want you catching a cold and having to stay here when you’ve got work to do.”

---

Reynard found his room upstairs, dropped his things and showered before heading back down to the bar. Tucked away in a quiet corner, he watched locals drift in and out with the breaks in the downpour outside. Anna brought him dinner at one point. As he ate, he fished out his phone and tapped out a text.

‘Hey Chris, finally stopped for the night. Cute town. I think you’d like it.’

Almost immediately his phone rang in his hand. It was Chris. He picked up.

“Glad to know you’re still alive. Not one text. All day.” Chris was clearly annoyed, but Reynard could tell she was happy to hear from him, “Anyway, did you make it to the border, or is this another cute town you’re talking about?”

“Not at the border yet. Storm held things up.” He could hear her relief through the phone. Relief that he hadn’t pushed through the storm and into the night no doubt. “It’s nice here though. Little village, nice Inn. Chatty locals.”  

“Oh you must love that.” She laughed, and Reynard smiled. “Alright I’ll let you go now I know you’re alive, but you have to tell me when you arrive tomorrow, okay?”

“If there’s any reception. Otherwise, It might be a day or two before I get back here.” He could hear the little noise she made in disapproval. “Hey, at least Hope’s an empty town. How much trouble could I get into?”

A few tables across, a stranger tilted his head, listening to the writer’s half of the conversation.

“Oh my god, Ren! Now you’re for sure going to get into trouble. It’s like saying ‘what could possibly go wrong’.” She was laughing. “You just can’t help yourself can you. Listen, have a good night and I’ll send the police if I don’t hear from you in a week.”

“You know they won’t come again.” He teased, hearing the roll of her eyes.

“I’ll use a fake name for you. Goodnight, Ren.”

“Night, Chris.” Reynard looked at the blank screen of his phone after the click. After a moment a flicker of movement at the edge of the table pulled him from his thoughts.

A young man stood there. Long dark hair framed a tired-looking face. But those eyes were anything but tired. Reynard recognized that look. That spark of curiosity. He’d caught it on his own reflection many times. Reynard tucked his phone away, his gaze set on the man as he waited. An awkward pause dragged on before the stranger spoke in a hushed voice.

“I overheard you talking to Anna. You’re heading to Hope-” Reynard frowned, the young man hurried to explain himself. “Wait- Look, I know you don’t want to talk about it. I gathered that much from your talk with Anna. But I… I have something that might be of interest to you.”

“What makes you think that?” Reynard’s tone was calm. Where was this going?

“You’re a writer, yeah? A writer going to Hope for a ‘personal project’.” He fixed Reynard with a stare laced with- what? Understanding? Urgency? Another pause. Reynard gestured to the seat opposite him. The stranger slipped into the booth, a little smile on his face. “I’m Roman, by the way.”

“Reynard.” He offered. Then, with a hint of humor in his voice, “Though you probably ‘overheard’ that too.”

“Maybe.” Roman chuckled, “Bad habit of mine. I’ve read some of your work too. Your research is solid. That’s why I think you might want to take this.”

Roman pulled a battered notebook from inside his duffle coat. Its spine was reinforced with tape, and the pages of the book groaned from the sheer number of notes stuffed between them. He set it on the table and pushed it across to Reynard.

Reynard picked up the book and turned it over in his hands. Thumbing through the pages, his eyebrows raised. The book was full of research notes. Photos, fragments of maps, cuttings from newspapers across the decades. It was all about Hope. Roman had puzzled together a record of the town’s cryptic history, right up until it had gone dark in the late 40s. Pieces were missing, but it was as near a complete a report Reynard had ever seen. As he turned another page, a photograph fell out. Faded and water damaged, it showed children running in a schoolyard while a woman watched on.

“How did you get all this?” Reynard almost whispered, staring at the photo on the table. The water damage had made the woman’s face impossible to make out, but something about her was familiar. It made him uncomfortable.

“I’ve been looking into the town on and off for a few years.” Roman glanced over his shoulder. Paranoia maybe? “Figured with you being a writer and all, you might be able to get some use out of them.”

Reynard tucked the photo away and set the book down on the table. “You would pass over ‘a few years’ worth of notes to a stranger because you overheard me talking about the same town at a bar?” He didn’t even bother to hide the suspicion in his voice.

“Only if they have a ‘personal’ reason for going there.” Roman locked eyes with him. “No one has been there since the town was fenced off decades ago, and there’s no evidence that anyone ever left the town before it went dark. At least not in the records. But what if off the record, there was someone who made it out after all-“

“They would be dead by now.” Reynard cut in sharply. He pushed the book back across the table and stood. “Nice meeting you.”

“Wait! I- Shit!” Roman moved to stand- and his phone rang. Whatever it was, it was enough to make him hesitate in going after Reynard.

Reynard didn’t hang around. He strode out of the bar, up the stairs into the quiet of the guestrooms.   

---

Sat in the quiet of his room, Reynard pulled a battered leather case from his things. Resting his thumb on the latch, he stared at the worn edges and patched corners of the case. His hand was shaking. Roman’s words rattled through his brain. Someone had gotten out. But having Roman pin him that quickly had been unsettling.

He couldn’t do this to himself. Not tonight. Overthinking it all would do him no good. He tucked the case back into his things and pushed them under the bed. ‘Tomorrow’s problems’, he thought. 

Thunder rolled overhead as he turned off the light. Rain against the windows pulling him into a deep, dreamless sleep.

[peculiar0ne]

okay

so for the record because i've never officially mentioned it- i have a chronic illness. it is (as of currently due to financial reasons) undiagnosed, but that's besides the point.

it mostly affects my legs, they're always in some sort of pain. tolerance has gotten lower over the last few months and my cane that i only used on my worse days quickly became almost useless, except as an assistant in getting up and down stairs in my apartment. i recently was lucky enough to be able to have my friends scrounge up enough cash so we could get me a wheelchair, as my health has declined so rapidly and i was losing most of my independence, having to rely on my boyfriend for most basic things.

i was able to take a day trip with some of my friends just yesterday, it was not only my first time using my wheelchair in public (minus a literal 5 minute walmart trip the day i got it), but also my first time using it in a completely different place from home. we were in a town that we all travel to quite frequently, but because of how far away from home we were (hour 45 minutes), and the fact that my comfort person, my boyfriend, was back at home stuck at work, it was extremely difficult for me to enjoy my day the way i wanted to.

because yesterday i experienced my first ableism encounter(s) since becoming an ambulatory mobility aid user in general. i've had ableist comments over my autism, adhd, and ocd countless times before...but this stabbed me right through the heart.

i've had my wheelchair for i believe 4 days in total now, i'm still getting used to it and i still have very mixed feelings about myself having to use it (internalized ableism, but mostly just fear of not being independent enough). i have already sat and cried countless times, worrying that my partner will eventually give up on me because of how dependent i'm slowly becoming...

yesterday i was in a location in which i have always felt safe in with my close friends. i've visited said place over 30 times in my life because it's so close to home, and not once have i had a moment where i've had to stop to sit and hold back tears.

tears of rage i think, mostly.

but also devastation. i knew ableism was shitty especially to those of us who are visibly disabled in some way shape or form (whether that be using a mobility aid or being a fancy walker, etc.), but holy fucking shit i am absolutely in ruins over what humanity has become.

i was wheeling alongside one of my friends to go to a store in our favorite mall while our other two friends stuck behind at the arcade, which we all agreed to meet back up at. when leaving the store to quickly visit another one, i heard a group of three boys saying "tokyo drift" behind us.

at first, i pushed it aside. i figured they were just pointing out something or watching some sort of clip on their phones. but then when i glance behind me, as i have caught myself doing as a cautious approach to still not being fully used to my chair, they're smirking cockily at me.

again, i push this aside.

but i shouldn't have because the moment i turned back around i hear "they see me rollin'", followed by a chorus of immature giggles, and the boys running away laughing and looking back at me and my friend.

i immediately dropped any evidence of happiness on my face. i was disgusted with myself. honestly it's only been 12 hours, i still am pretty disgusted with myself even though all i was doing was minding my own business.

now, my friends that came with all either have adhd or autism, much like myself. the specific friend i was wandering the mall with at the time has selective hearing because of her adhd therefore she did not hear these horrid comments, but she looked over to me and asked what was wrong.

i tried NOT to sound like a dick but lowkey i kind of growled when i told her what happened and she just death glared them and then took me to build-a-bear (our original destination) and bought me a kuromi plushie to cheer me up.

fast forward about an hour, the four of us are just finishing dinner in the mall food court. at this point, i was still upset but i had cheered up a little as my mind was able to be elsewhere for a while.

just as we're getting ready to go to the arcade, i'm falling a tiny bit behind. but the arcade is about 100 feet away so it's not a huge deal, right?

wrong.

two other boys, completely separate from the three earlier, look down at me with stupid grins on their faces and say "do a trick!" as they're walking away.

again, my friends were a bit ahead of me, and we're in a crowded food court so they didn't hear.

thankfully they all spend the rest of the night trying to cheer me up (i do not deserve them) but i'm sitting here typing this and trying not to cry.

it's so stupid.

but the stupider thing?

all five of these guys were ranged 18-25 at most. one of the guys in the first group looked to be 16, but i'm not sitting here about to assume that shit. it just devastates me that these people can just look at someone in a wheelchair and think "OMG THAT'S SO FUNNY GUYS" and all his friends will fucking agree.

disabilities are not funny.

mobility aids are not a joke. mobility aids are necessary for us with disabilities to get around.

honestly, i hope you don't look at your grandfather in a wheelchair and start laughing. because there's really no difference there besides age.

just grow the fuck up and start respecting us disabled folks.

that or kindly go fuck yourself!

thanks for coming to my tedtalk, i will now go contemplate my life and worry about my crippling medical bills :)

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

Representation in MoaH (& GoS)

I don't like to tag my works with a lot of the rep tags they normally would/could have. Personally, from publishing the first book in Word Walkers, my experience is that those tags are more often used to blacklist works and I don't think people should get the opportunity to pretend that queer people, BIPOC people, disabled people don't exist by flagging that. Also like. As a white person, I feel a little weird being like "Look at all my BIPOC characters!" It feels a little virtue signally to me. Telling good stories should just include diverse casts because the world is diverse. You know?

Further, in my experience, particular with Wattpad at the moment, I have a platform to give people the 101 to a lot of these concepts (in particular queer and disability rep, which are my communities) and change their minds that they would have otherwise missed if they'd stayed in their bubble. It does mean you probably won't see things like neopronouns in my works, but if I can change someone's mind about they/them being singular, that's a start. I have a lot of ESL readers according to my stats on Wattpad and translating that can be difficult. But if my work can be a gateway for them learning what that means, that's more good done.

Also, my fics attract a lot of eggs so like. Y'all are finding me anyway, I don't need the tags.

Anyway, here's some of the confirmed rep in book 1 of MoaH and in GoS if y'all need a reference though for what is blatantly in the works so far.

Queer Rep

Marela is a lesbian and in a relationship with Saddiqah by the end of book 1

Link & Saddiqah are both bi-icons (confirmed in the Din's Temple arc) with femme preferences

The fortuneteller in Lake Town (Hart) uses she/they pronouns

The tour guide (unnamed) in Lake Town uses they/them pronouns

Zelda's middle sibling is transmasc, though he is not reintroduced as such until book 2 for plot reasons. His identity and the story around it is given a serious storybeat and is one of the reasons why MoaH Link is my only Link I firmly will say is a cis man, because I'm making a point of in having Link as an example of healthy masculinity (as a cis man) for a trans kid trying to find a role model on it. The series does not use his deadname again though after Link finds out in book 1

They show up later in book 1, but there's a gay couple in the Marksmen, Sorol and Kutt

That's just book 1. I've got an enby knight and an enby Goron in book 2. I've also gone over how some of the Gerudo naming conventions work in my worldbuilding posts to include enby rep like the Gerudo word for nonbinary, vyu, though Dirjaani Gerudo culture doesn't come up in the books until book 3.

Over in GoS, Endeavor is actually a huge part of my coming to terms with my own gender. Originally published with she/her pronouns, the current edits are giving Endeavor they/them pronouns to accurately reflect what I didn't have the language for in high school when I started writing GoS. Endeavor is agendered.

Endeavor has two moms

Two of the Earth Sages, Insen and Hira, are in a relationship, they are both men.

Disability Rep

Lance, Link's dad, uses mobility aids due to an injury that forced him to retire from the Marksmen.

Link has ADHD with anxiety symptoms, chiefly social. This is an intentional conversation on courage and how we define it.

Zelda is autistic. MoaH Zelda is also plus-sized.

Floan is auADHD, she has a special interest in bugs

Kaju, the son of Lake Town's steward, has a prosthetic leg

Ambrose has severe motion sickness (horseback riding is about the most he can handle, but he will not fight on horseback)

Not strictly a disability, but it's a point of worldbuilding that most Hyrulean lineage Zora don't do well in the cold, so there are accessibility enchantments made to allow for traveling extensively in colder regions.

Also not strictly a disability, but sign language is much more widely taught in Hyrule. It's a mandatory lesson for the Marksmen for tactics reasons, so Ambrose, Saddiqah, and Link all have at least a conversational level of fluency in it if not better.

Back in GoS, Link's granddad Lynard uses mobility aids.

Parijan, Guardian of the Spirit Sage, is blind.

Saruo, Priestess of Courage, has anxiety. Again, I like messing with the definition of courage.

BIPOC Rep

Ok, admittedly. MoaH is a little light here. But! In my defense, it's because I want the worldbuilding of MoaH to code countries and cultures with certain ethnicities and not races/species (i.e. the Gerudo aren't just automatically Middle Eastern, there are several cultures where Gerudo are prominent members with multiple influences). So in Hyrule, where the primary culture is Hyrulean coded European generic, there aren't as many opportunities for coded characters ethnically because that's not how I'm handling it. There are characters who are BIPOC, but it feels like a bit of a cop out to include them because then I just list off all the Gerudo who show up because their POC and that feels a little cheap. I am including them too, but I want to preface that other regions of this series are going to be better at this particular beat (I circle back to the enby knight, who is also BIPOC of Faronan-Dirjaani heritage, but that's book 2).

Basic ones, there are three major Gerudo characters in book 1: Saddiqah El Amin, Dragmire Al Iber, and Ayad Al I'Tidal. They are all of the more standard Hyrulean-Dirjaani lineages closest to canon expectation. Dirjaani cultures are influenced by Middle Eastern and North African cultures, so they are all women of color.

Saddiqah in particular, and this gets into spoilers so I'll be brief, is specifically coded to be a biracial woman. For reasons that come up in book 3. It's why her horse, Ajan, has a Creole name which is outside of the typical naming conventions I'm grabbing for the Hyrulean-Dirjaani names.

The Sheikah are coded as Japanese in the games, so Impa is coded as Japanese along with the Hyrulean Sheikah. Sorol is also a Hyrulean Sheikah, so this applies for him too.

The Dreeka in Hyrule are generally coded to be an indigenous group. Because of their relationship with the Sheikah, primary influence there is the Ainu. This includes all of the Dreeka characters introduced in MoaH (Constant, Temperance, Clarity, etc.) as well as the Drex in GoS (Endeavor, Justice, Zeal, etc.)

Over in GoS, Parijan and Dabir are both Middle Eastern coded, we are aiming to be more specific in the edits.

Sayyida and Daniel are both black.

This is loose canon, but I think there's a real read to GoS about making Link black because of the nameless and the felons' rights allegory that that is meant to be. I will not confirm it because Link is meant to be a stand in for the reader and how they see him, but I do like the interpretation.

And again, this is just book 1. There are nine books planned, there will be more.

[storyofmychoices]

Okay... with only one chapter in, I'm already having a lot of thoughts and feelings about Blades 2. I'm hesitant to add any of my Blades 2 posts to either my Mal x Daenarya (Blades 1 + Extended Universe) Masterlist or Mal's Orphanage Masterlist because it doesn't seem like things will work out timeline wise. So for now I'm dumping EVERYTHING Blades 2 related here. As we get more info from the book, I'll try to organize things better in relation to my other Masterlists [My Timelines + Universes explained]

In my original timeline, all fics that take place during Book 1 ("Beyond Riverbend" to "A Rose by Any Other Name") exist in this AU as well.

🖤 Shadows of Hope: She was there, and then she was gone. Mal would move heaven and earth to bring her back, but what happens when he can't? [Blades 2, Chapter 1] Mal's 5 stages of grief

🖤 Her Legacy: She may be gone, but she could never be forgotten. She lives on in the stories he tells and the hope he inspires. [Blades 2, Chapter 2] HC for why Mal is smiling

🖤 A Quest for Daenarya: After hearing her stories, Thalassa, Ovisa, and Lysander decide it is their quest to bring Daenarya back to Mal, they just never imagined it would be so easy. [Blades 2, Chapter 3] Reimagining Mal's reunion with Daenarya

🖤 The Promise of Today: Mal and Daenarya share a moment together the morning after her return. [This follows The Quest for Daenarya] [Blades 2, Chapter 3]

🖤 Torn: Daenarya is back and trying to process what happened. [Blades 2, Chapter 4/5ish]

🖤 Sculpting Desires: Daenarya considers a possible future as a sculptor with a very willing model. [Blades 2, Chapter 5] Also featuring Tyril x Maiele and Mal x Tyril

🖤 The Rogue's Embrace + Art 🎨 (Mal x Tyril): Mal loves talking. Tyril is tired of listening and has found a good way to shut him up, even if just for a moment. [Blades 2, Chapter 7ish]

🖤 The Princess of Parnassus and The Trophy Husband + Art 🎨: Daenarya and Mal enjoy a much needed relaxing afternoon while contemplating what comes next. [Blades 2, several months post book]

Book 2 Prequel: The Adventures of a Young Mal Volari

🖤 Mal the Magnificent: Young Mal Volari gets a bucket stuck on his head.

Book 2 Inspired Stories written before its release so I don't know how they fit into the timeline right now

🖤 Old Hair, New Look: Daenarya has a few thoughts about Mal’s new armor

🖤 The Cutest Goof: Daenarya has some thoughts on Mal’s new armor.

🖤 Go On, Feel It: Mal makes an offer Daenarya can't refuse.

Daenarya is pregnant and was in book one

Iliana Maria Volari: Mal and Daenarya's realm walker daughter

A year without her: Mal + the five stages of grief

Mal seeing Daenarya for the first time

Saving Rayden and Lydo in this AU /The Orphanage

"Mine" + love bites

Mal's hair: the lice conundrum

Daenarya's flirting (chapter 2)

Mal smiling (chapter 2)

Imtura, the pirate queen, deserves a mermaid queen

Mal would use the linked minds magic in Chapter 5 to make Tyril and Nia blush

Mal : new armor, old hair [Edit]

Party Together Edit with Mal's old hair [Edit]

Mal + Daenarya Orphanage CG Edit [Edit]

Daenarya enjoying Mal's new armor I [Art]

Daenarya enjoying Mal's new armor II [Art]

Mal x Daenarya x Nia art [Art]

Mal x Daenarya fae/goblin forest [Edit]

Mal x Daenarya neck kisses [Art]

Mal x Daenarya head kiss [Art]

Mal x Daenarya flower crowns [Art]

Mal x Tyril Kiss [Art]

Group CG from promo video

Blades 2 Recap of Book 1 video

Blades 2 Promo Video [Mobile Video]

Mentions of our orphanage in the dream state

It's been a year?!?!

Shadow Threep + Loola cuteness

Deadwood vs Whimseywood Maps

Chapter Two: Threep wanting Daenarya to bring him souvenirs aka snacks

Chapter Two: Mal's Cameo

Chapter Four: the best of Mal teasing Tyril

Chapter Four: Mal wanting Daeny

Chapter Five: Daenarya's "Insight" Inspiration Speech

Chapter Five: Mal + Tyril moment

Chapter Five: Handsome Sculpture

Chapter Five: Mal x Daeny play with magic wolves

Chapter Five: Kiss all the mermaids

Chapter Six: the gang reacts to Daenarya's new outfit

Chapter Six: Daenarya's reaction to the shadow court

Chapter Seven: "not living" moment rewrite

Chapter Seven: Mal x Daenarya moment alone

Chapter Eight: Mal reminisces about mazes as a kid + Lydo and Rayden adoption idea

Chapter Eight: Mal doesn't beg

Chapter Eight: Mal x Tyril (aka boyfriends)

Chapter One Reaction

The Missing Year for other LIs

How does Daenarya feel about using magic as a human

MC's new dress inspiration/fashion

Choices Irony

Realm Time Difference Question

Blades 2 Insider Blog

[Mal Volari x Daenarya:Masterlist : Book One + Beyond]  [Mal’s Orphanage (the original /precanon orphanage)]

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #317: Okita Souji Saber Alter

congratulations on surviving to summer, everyone! today on Grailfinders we’re starting off our summer right with Okita Souji Alter (Saber)! is she even really an alter at this point? whatever! she’s still a Horizon Walker Ranger to cut through space and time, but we also have to pick up Rengoku from daycare! Echo Knight was tempting, though they don’t really fight separately, and while he is a sentient sword, I feel a little warlock’d out… let’s go Strength Cleric instead. I promise this will make sense as we go. probably.

check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet here!

next up: GODDAMN HOT

Race and Background

second time, same stuff. Okita is still a Custom Race, custom designed to fight in a single battle. and to hang out on the beach, I guess. she’s also still a Far Traveler. all that together gives her +2 Dexterity, some Darkvision to nae-nae on her regular saber self, and proficiency with Insight and Perception. she also gets the Mobile feat for free, giving you an extra 10 of movement per turn, the ability to ignore difficult terrain while dashing, and you prevent opportunity attacks from creatures you’ve tried to attack this turn. this Okita actually wears armor this go around, so we couldn’t really get the monk speed boost again- that makes every inch of extra movement we get all the more important.

Ability Scores

your highest score should be in Wisdom. counter guardians have usually spent a little time in the future, so you have more information than most servants. normally that would be high intelligence, but really the difference between intelligence and wisdom are negligible and we need the latter wayyy more. after that, Dexterity. even though you wear “armor” now, it only covers half your body, so dodging is always in vogue. third is Charisma. you’re like three different flavors of warlock, even if we’re not getting levels from it. plus, you have a kid now, kids are cute. after that is Constitution. you’re mostly here to be a looper, but you’re less sickly than Okita. not that that’s saying much. that means our Strength isn’t great- don’t worry, we’ll get something to make it worthwhile later- and we’re dumping Intelligence. you’re pretty spacey, and while that would normally be wisdom, we need that for more than multiclassing this time around.

Class Levels

1. Ranger 1: starting as a ranger gets you proficiency in two saves as well as three skills, one more than usual. your Strength and Dexterity saves are great, as are your Athletics checks to run faster, Stealth Checks to move invisibly, and your Investigation checks to figure out who the hell you’re fighting. most times FGO characters are pretty forthright with their true names, but that’s no reason to rest on your laurels.

first level rangers can also pick out a Favored Foe when you attack them, marking the enemy for a minute and dealing extra damage once a turn when you attack them. you can do this proficiency times per day, and the damage increases as you level up. I’d call this “worse hunter’s mark”, but it does free up spell slots. and is worse.

you’re also Canny with Athletics now, so that’s a double proficiency bonus on all your checks. at least you won’t fall on your face while running at mach 10.

2. Ranger 2:second level rangers pick their Fighting Style, and Dueling will improve your shortsword’s damage so it’s more Rengoku-y. we’re not going for a longsword this time since we can’t monk it into a finesse weapon, and also because we need our hand free for Rengoku. who is also holding a sword in their hand. Honestly two weapon fighting wouldn’t be a bad pick either.

anyways, you also get Spells this level, which you cast using your Wisdom. Hunter’s Mark adds extra damage to all your weapon attacks against a specific target, and hits harder than FF, and can be swapped to another enemy if the first dies before the spell does. the downside is it will eat up your bonus action a lot of the time. if you’d rather only worry about hitting once and still getting that d6 of damage every turn, you can use a Searing Smite, spicing up your sword and dealing fire damage on a hit, plus an additional d6 of fire each turn the target fails a constitution save or doesn’t use its action to put itself out.

3. Ranger 3: at third level your Primeval Awareness gives you knowledge about whether or not there are any weird creatures nearby by spending a spell slot. it doesn’t tell you where they are, so it’s not that great, but Okita can’t talk to dogs, I think.

on the plus side, she also becomes a Horizon Walker, giving her a bunch of extra spells to make up for it thanks to her Horizon Walker Magic. right now you get Protection from Evil and Good for free to defend against higher-tier servants, but more will come as we go.

you can also Detect Portal once per short rest, telling you exactly where the nearest portal is in a mile around you. I guess a hole in reality is a lot easier to find than a dragon.

you’re also a Planar Warrior once again, letting you spend a bonus action to call your shot, turning your next attack against a specific creature into force damage, and dealing an extra d8 of damage to boot.

you also get one more first-level spell this level, so pick up Longstrider to stride even longer. it doesn’t even use concentration, so you that’s a worry-free extra 10 feet of movement for up to an hour.

4. Ranger 4: use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Wisdom score with the Resilient feat. this also makes you proficient with wisdom saves. that’s magic resistance, baby!

5. Ranger 5: speaking of magic, fifth level rangers learn second level spells. Misty Step is free, and it lets you move so fast it’s like you’re teleporting! (it’s because mechanically, you are) you can also turn Rengoku into a Magic Weapon now, adding +1 to their attack and damage rolls, plus sidestepping all those pesky resistances to nonmagical attacks.

but uh, we still haven’t gotten Rengoku yet, have we? the baby, I mean. let’s deal with that.

6. Cleric 1: calling the amassed survival instinct of humanity a god is probably a stretch, but Alaya’s cool enough that I’ll let it slide. after all, that’s where you get your Strength from, right?

as an Acolyte of Strength you have proficiency with heavy armor, as well as a free proficiency (Survival) and a free druid cantrip (Thunderclap). that’s all well and good, but we’re here more for the spell list. oh right, you get another Spell list, it still uses your Wisdom, check the PHB to see how many slots you have at a given point.

Guidance and Resistance will make you a little better than everyone else in either your skill checks or saves, while Light helps us get the special effects on your flashier attacks.

you also get some free first level spells. Divine Favor adds radiant damage to all your weapon attacks for a minute- it’s weaker than hunter’s mark, but if you’re fighting undead or just like, a ton of weak guys, this is easier to swap enemies on. if you’re going on defense, Shield of Faith can give you +2 AC for up to ten minutes, and you can even use it on allies. it’s hard to hit someone when a swaby (sword baby) is in the way.

you can also prepare spells of your choosing each time you wake up- Inflict Wounds is one of the fastest and simplest ways to turn spell slots into damage, especially at low levels.

7. Cleric 2: at level two, clerics can Channel Divinity once per short rest, picking between two different flavors- Turn Undead forces a wisdom save on undead creatures, making them run away. the real selling point here is your Feat of Strength, however. with this, you can add a +10 bonus to not only an Attack Roll, but any strength check or save as part of the roll. it’s a straight upgrade from the War cleric, though I admit war’s bonus action attack does admittedly map to rengoku better. if your DM doesn’t like Amonkhet or you just want a more vanilla d&d experience, war is a good substitute for strength.

8. Cleric 3: at third level you gain second level cleric spells, including your freebies Enhance Ability and Protection from Poison, two spells clerics already had. again, we’re here for the spells you can choose, like Augury to use some future info to your advantage, or Spiritual Weapon to let Rengoku run wild.

9. Cleric 4: use this next ASI to bump up your Dexterity for more defense and more accurate swordings. you can also use another cleric cantrip now, like Toll the Dead. I don’t particularly care for the flavor on this one, but you’re pretty offensively oriented, and tolling someone who is already injured deals damage, and that’s the name of your game. actually it’s Fate, but hush.

10. Cleric 5: at fifth level your turn undead turns into Destroy Undead, instantly killing any zombe of CR ½ or lower who gets got by your channel divinity. I haven’t seen Okita fight a zombie before, but maybe that’s why she wasn’t invited to the horror movie camp.

we also get third level spells this level including the ultimate mobility tool Haste. it doubles your movement speed, increases your AC, and buffs your dex saves, plus it gives you an extra action to smack stuff or dash. it’s good shit. sure, you need to take a turn off when it drops, but it’s summer! you should be relaxing anyway. you also get Protection from Energy for free, it’s not quite invincibility, but we’re working on it. you can also summon Spirit Guardians around you, dealing damage when its not your turn and slowing down foes. letting Rengoku off the leash is fun, but it’s probably a good idea to keep them close, yknow?

11. Ranger 6: at sixth level, your favored foe becomes stronger, so now it’s half as good as hunter’s mark! you’re also Roving, giving you another five feet of movement speed plus a climbing and swimming speed, perfect for summer!

12. Ranger 7: seventh level horizon walkers have an Ethereal Step, giving you one turn of Etherealness. for this turn you can move without worrying about the bounds of gravity, or anything else really. on the ethereal plane, only other ethereal things and people can affect you, allowing you to pass through walls for a turn. just be careful where you land, if you end your turn inside an object, you will take damage.

if you’d rather just make it look like you teleported, you can Pass Without Trace. this gives your whole party a massive boost to their stealth checks, and you don’t leave footprints anymore! it won’t help you move faster, but you’ll definitely be light on your feet!

13. Ranger 8: at eighth level you get another ASI, so become a War Caster. rangers don’t get a lot of spells, so getting advantage on concentration saves to keep your damage buffs up is huge. also, if you go the two-handed rengoku path you can now cast spells with both hands full of sword. on top of that, you can cast spells instead of making an attack of opportunity, as long as it only targets the triggering creature.

you also have Land’s Stride. now you can… ignore plants! and their difficult terrain. base ranger is so bad y’all I s2g

14. Ranger 9: moving on from that travesty, third level spells again! you get Haste for free yet again, but you can also cast Water Walk now. it’s a shame you can’t have both of these up at a time, but even with haste you can’t monk your way over water. it’s coolness vs. practicality, a tale as old as time.

15. Ranger 10: tenth level rangers are Tireless, so proficiency times a day you can gain temporary HP as an action, plus you heal from exhaustion on short rests now too! that’s nice, summer’s too short to sleep. so is Fall and winter tbh, and I have my doubts about spring… I am so tired.

anyway! you can also hide in Nature’s Veil as a bonus action, making you invisible for a round. it’s kind of like your skill 3, right? you can do this proficiency times per day, and it wont break when you attack, so I guess this is your noble phantasm! well, not quite yet, we still need…

16. Ranger 11: Distant Strike is your penultimate power from your subclass, allowing you to teleport before each attack you make as part of your attack action. additionally, if you attack two different creatures with your attack action, you get a third attack against a third creature.

you can also Conjure Barrage now. I don’t know why you can summon magic attacks in your third ascension, but dammit if it doesn’t look cool.

17. Ranger 12: use your final ASI to max out your Dexterity for the most ac and the most stabby stabbings you can stab.

18. Ranger 13: thirteenth level rangers get fourth level spells. Banishment is neat, it kind of fits in with the planet protector vibe you’ve got going, but the prize here is Guardian of Nature. with this spell, you can turn into one of two natural monsters. the great tree is nice, but we’re here entirely for the Primal Beast, which gives you a faster walking speed, increased darkvision, advantage on strength-based attacks so… whoops on that one, and you deal extra force damage on each melee hit, no marks required. it’s not a huge improvement over other spells you have, but it is all those spells put together.

19. Ranger 14: as a fourteenth level ranger your favored foes take a d8 of extra damage, and you can Vanish as a bonus action. it’s hiding, it’s just hiding. you also can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, but if your enemies are still using nonmagical means by level 19 your DM is doing something wrong.

20. Ranger 15: our final level comes with our final horizon walker goody, the Spectral Defense. whenever you take damage, you can react to gain resistance to that attack’s damage this turn. that’s how you can wear armor and still only have it cover your legs.

you also have Freedom of Movement now. I know you can already teleport, but that’s a once per day thing! with freedom of movement you can break through shackles easily while saving your big guns for later.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

much like the… can we really call Okita Alter the original here? the “original but not quite completely”, I guess, you’re pretty hard to hit, being able to teleport all over the place. add in your myriad of teleportations and invisibility, and just keeping a bead on you is near-impossible. you also have more ways to gain resistance to damage this time around, though missing out on evasion is pretty rough.

while you’re not a kensei monk anymore, you do still have access to some accurate attacks, thanks in part to your maxed out dexterity as well as your Feat of Strength. sure it only works on one hit, but so do most of your ranger damage will be in that one anyway- the extra attack is really there for consistency.

Rangers tend to do best when focusing on a single target, but you specialize in dealing damage in crowds, especially with cleric providing you Divine Favor to deal extra damage to everything instead of your chosen target. Moving from person to person also gives you even greater mobility than you already had!

Cons:

part of the reason we went cleric was to get your clunkier armor, but you don’t really have the strength to pull off anything that isn’t completely out-classed by your own dexterity. Cleric has plenty of other goodies to make up for it, but not being able to properly enter one of your ascensions is rough.

your spells are also middling at best, especially if you’re playing to character and mostly using the ranger ones. seriously, Conjure Barrage is entirely there to fill a quota. Cleric has an amazing spell list, but it doesn’t get used much here. if you’re playing at home, definitely feel free to branch out.

you’re a lot slower than the previous okitalter, and while more than sixty feet a turn is a little excessive in most situations, horizon walkers actually have a chance to use that speed effectively- Ethereal Step gives you a chance to fly for a turn, but every foot up or down costs two feet of movement. you’re still going to be faster than most of the party, but just barely.