#Cactus Codes

[ps-cactus]

[sunshineandlyrics]

🌵 Louis was wearing a Neil Barrett Cactus print T-shirt at Monterrey airport (29 March 2024) that he had worn at Lokerse Feesten on 14 August 2022.

[honestcactusblog]

Me and @cat-attack1701 back at it again

[pact-pooh-bah]

Biblically accurate Buck sketches (ft the human one because he's meant to look like that but I have no way to translate it right ingame)

[luckylunatix]

(Little headcanon I had about Boogie Bump/Guest!Micah and Cactus Gunman, when they first run into each other)

Cactus Gunman: It's a pleasure to meet you, uh... Señor?..... -ita??

Guest!Micah: Huh?

Guest!Micah, remembering they're nonbinary and very gnc: Oh

Guest!Micah: Either one is fine, but personally I'd rather skip the honorifics and formal speak. Just call me Micah, pal.

Cactus Gunman, in flustered bisexual: Ah, I, um, see. Wellagainit'snicetomeetyou.....

[vvelegrin]

feeling like a Whole Person tonight despite feeling so tired that i could pass away. that's always nice! i don't care for the alternative (feeling so tired that i could pass away coupled with wanting to pass away).

[cactfold]

(Eyestrainy under cut!!)

So give me a taste of sovereignty

A lantern in the night

Get me away from history

From the cycle's bitter light

From existing out of spite

COME FORTH AND KILL ME!

BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP ME!

TAKE YOUR TIME, ALL WE HAVE IS ETERNITY!

[thelifeofacactus]

Helluva Boss is like if a slightly less shitty version of Bojack Horseman was in an adventure comedy

[cjgladback]

[ID: First image is a swift 8-frame base walk cycle of a stylized 3D scorpion character and an anthropomorphic potted cactus riding in a chair on its back. Nearly everything bounces a little, including the simulated fabric of an umbrella-like sunshade attached to the scorpion's stinger. Only the characters' faces and the cactus's arms have no animation keyed on them.

The second image is a work-in-progress render sequence of the scorpion and cactus characters. It follows the finalization of the scorpion's claw forms, the sculpting and retopologizing of the cactus character, painted textures for each of them, the formation and texturing of the umbrella as well as the chair the cactus is sitting in and the cloth and straps under it, and finally the addition of a not-yet-textured hat that was not in the walk cycle. The rigging of the characters is unseen other than a change in posture of the scorpion's legs. End ID]

After some unexpected travel and delays, I pushed until the final weekend of the Endless Engines challenge but opted not to submit an animation and environment that just made the characters look sloppy. I saw a ton of incredible arthropod, cute, stylized, and desert renders from the community that I'll be rooting for in my place.

So from here on, I'll be keeping the trappings of the challenge that serve the characters but composition, timing, etc can just be for me. I've already slowed things down a bit and raised the main scene camera to see more of the characters (different from the character progress camera used for the renders above). I'm also making all the props, including those whose rigging is a bit more of a puzzle; starting with the hat I modeled during part of stream today. And for the environment I'll be excited to apply the texturing and generative plants skills I gained during the Bellicosaur project to the best of my ability rather than the fastest.

Still thrilled to have gotten that challenge-initiated jump start to make these characters (again, credit to Nicholas Kole) after almost two years of wanting to.

[deadhoneybee]

My cactus is currently growing at an angle,, nothing helps,, last ditch effort is a yellow bouncy ball for morale.

[dead-end-draws]

Tribe Banner concept art:

Folks seemed to enjoy my WOF WIPS, so here’s more concept art for y’all! My favorite thing about WOF is the potential for world building. I thought it’d be cool to see a tribe emblem represented on a banner/flag of sorts:

Read below for some of the thought process / headcannons behind the design choices: 👇

Skywing Banner:

Skywings pride themselves on 3 things; treasure, fire, & their enormous, soaring wingspan which steals the sky.

As such, portrayed on the banner, the fabric (often made with dyed cow or goat leathers) resembles draped dragon wings. Two Skywings embrace a goblet, which is spewing golden fire.

The banner is often held aloft with iron or gold poles, signifying to other tribes their wealth and pride.

Mudwing banner:

These banners are fashioned with leather hides from cow or crocodile skin, held aloft with bamboo, and painted with a Talon-print & Reed crest.

The talonprint symbolizes community and the strength of Mudwing sibling bonds. The reed border unifies all Mudwings regardless of their relationship to home; the swamp. Bigwings are often seen carrying these into battle, signifing their status and making it easier for a sib to locate them in the flurry of a fight.

Sandwing Banner:

Sandwing flags are made with camel skins and dyed cactus leather.

A crest shows a Sandwing coiled around a beaming sun, a reminder that despite the revered 3 moons, Sandwings are born to thrive in sunlight.

The fabric is cut in a way to mimic the swooping dunes of Sandwing territory. And the poles of the flags are equally intricate, with scorpion tails and golden ropes which frame the banner.

These flags make prominent appearances in parades, festivals, and markets, and even miniature version are often displayed in homes or as tapestries/carpets.

Seawing banner:

These banners are often seen displayed in royal quarters or councils, or above land to mark territory.

A nautilus shell crest on front echoes the swirl-pattern associated with royal Seawings: The banner’s borders resemble waves and a dragon swimming beneath their surface.

These are crafted with rich materials, strung with seashells, pearls, silver dollars, and deep oceanic color fabric. There is severe penalty for Seawings found plucking treasure from the banners, as they are a direct symbol of royalty.

Nightwing Banner:

These banners emphasize the Nightwings’ relationship to the moon, their source of power and praise. The material, a contrast of white stitching against purple velvet showcases moonlight and night, black scales against stars, magic and mystery.

They are seen decorated with 3 moons at the top and a centered dragon reaching up into the night sky.

These banners were often used during the war as secret code by spies to deliver to other tribes. Prophecy scrolls often came attached, delivering cryptic messages or secrets in the night. These banners all helped add to the secrecy of the Dragonet Prophecy, and kept tribes on their toes around Nightwings.

Rainwing banner:

Rainwing banners are not used for battle purposes like other tribes, most are mere decoration, location indicators, and have no unified design.

However, It is said back when Rainwings left the rainforest to trade pre-war, this particular banner design was often raised above Rainwing merchant tables, and showcases the coiled tail of a Rainwing with leaves, vines, and other sights from the rainforest adorning a bamboo pole. Bright color combinations accentuated the flag to entice curious customers.

Now, only one tattered version of the original Rainwing banner remains, displayed proudly in Queen Glory’s quarters, a reminder that building the Rainwings’ community is their most important goal.

Icewing Banner:

These banners reflect the same standards Icewings hold themselves to.

Like a visual of the rankings themselves, each banner is cut perfectly from an Icewing’s trained, serrated claws to resemble icicles, and crafted with fine blue stitching.

Flags are often held aloft with perfectly polished narwhal horn or bone, and can be inlaid with sapphires or diamond.

Icewing soldiers are often gifted these during ceremonies, and perform training exercises with the flags to test their stance/attentiveness. The crest showcases the swift sharpness of ice through a flying dragon, and a snowflake toward the bottom reminding Icewings that even minuscule snowflakes, small things, should be perfect in form.

[overanalysingfandoms]

Words cannot describe how much I love this animatic, I have been watching on repeat and rotating it in my mind all day

Nerdy Prudes Must Die and Secret Life have been the only 2 things in my mind for the last week and this is such a good combination of both

EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH THIS

I only have two braincells at the moment and they are Life Series and Nerdy Prudes Must Die

So I mashed them together and made this

[commodorez]

Cactus fascinates me, does it run on code similar to an existing instruction set or is it completely original on that front?

What can you do with it? What's it's storage?

Both the Cactus (the original wooden prototype from years ago) and the new PCB Cactus(es) are essentially derived from a minimal 6502 computer design by Grant Searle for their core logic. Here's what that would look like on a breadboard:

There isn't much to it, it's 32K of RAM, 16K of ROM containing Ohio Scientific's version of Microsoft BASIC, a 6850 ACIA for serial interaction, some logic gates, and of course a 6502 microprocessor (NMOS or CMOS, doesn't matter which). You hook it into a terminal and away you go.

Grant's design in turn can be best described as a distilled, modernized version of the OSI Challenger series of computers. Here's an OSI-400 and a Challenger 4P respectively:

The left one is a replica of the 400 circa 1976, also called the Superboard. It was affordable, endlessly reconfigurable and hackable, but ultimately very limited in capabilities. No BASIC, minimal monitor ROM you talk to over serial, but you could connect it to a bus to augment its features and turn it into a more powerful computer.

Whereas the OSI C4P on the right from about 1979 has more RAM, a video card, keyboard, BASIC built in, serial interface, cassette tape storage, and that's just the standard configuration. There was more room to expand and augment it to your needs inside the chassis (alot changed in 3 years for home computer users).

Grant's minimal 6502 design running OSI BASIC is a good starter project for hobbyists. I learned about the 6502's memory map decoding from his design. I modified and implemented his design on a separate cards that could connect to a larger backplane.

Here are the serial, ROM, RAM, and CPU cards respectively:

Each one is 100% custom, containing many modifications and fixes as I developed the design. However, that's only half of the computer.

I really wanted a 6502 machine with a front panel. People told me "nobody did that", or couldn't think of examples from the 1970s but that seemed really strange to me. Especially since I had evidence to the contrary in the form of the OSI-300:

This one I saw at VCF West back in 2018 illustrates just how limited of a design it is. 128 bytes of RAM, no ROM, no serial -- just you, the CPU, and toggle switches and LEDs to learn the CPU. I was inspired the first time I saw one in 2015 at VCF East, which is probably when this whole project got set in motion.

Later that year I bought a kit for a miniature replica OSI-300 made by Christopher Bachman, and learned really quickly how limited the design philosophy for this particular front panel was. It was a major pain in the ass to use (to be clear, that's by OSI's choice, not any fault of Christopher in his implementation)

So... I designed my own. Took awhile, but that's the core of what the Cactus is: my attempt at experiencing the 1970s homebrew scene by building the computer I would have wanted at the time. Over half of the logic in the Cactus is just to run the front panel's state machine, so you can examine and modify the contents of memory without bothering the 6502. I added in all of the things I liked from more advanced front panels I had encountered, and designed it to my liking.

Here's the original front panel, accompanying logic, and backplane connected to the modern single board computer (SBC) version of the machine:

And here's the new Cactus SBC working with the new front panel PCB, which combines the logic, physical switch mountings, and cabling harnesses into a single printed circuit board.

So, what can you do with it? Pretty much the same things I do already with other contemporary 1970s computers: play around in BASIC, fire up the occasional game, and tinker with it.

I've got no permanent storage designed for the Cactus as yet, it's been one of those "eventually" things. The good news is that a variety of software can be ported to the hardware without too much trouble for an experienced hobbyist. A friend of mine wrote a game called ZNEK in 6502 assembly which runs from a terminal:

Right now, you have to either toggle in machine programs from the front panel from scratch, burn a custom ROM, or connect it to a serial terminal to gain access to its more advanced features:

Here's it booted into OSI BASIC, but I have also added in a modern descendant of Steve Wozniak's WOZMON software for when I need to do lower level debugging.

I've also got a video card now, based on the OSI-440. I have yet to implement a keyboard, or modify BASIC to use the video board instead of the serial connection. Even if I did, screen resolution is pretty limited at 24x24 characters on screen at once. Still, I'm working on that...

Anyway, I hope that answers your question. Check the tags below to see the whole process stretching back to 2017 if you're curious to learn more of the project's history. I'm also happy to answer any more questions you might have about the project.

[xoxoskai]

RKVERSE BRATVA HEADCANNONS

that no one really asked for, but everyone needs<3

Damien Orlov is Nikolai Sokolov's Godfather.

The one-slightly related to the mafia- kid that all the second-generation mafia kids are scared respect is Sebastian and Naomi's firstborn (I said what I said)

In the Morozov household, all arguments are solved through uno.

Ironically, the one with the best accuracy while firing a gun is the one with the least bloodlust in him, Gareth.

Annika is closest to Lidiya Morozova and the Orlov Princess.

Naomi and Sebastian are Gareth Carson's Godparents.

Adrian tries to homeschool his kids, but it backfires when neither of his kids let him work in peace as a sign of protest. He reluctantly lets them attend a private school with an army of bodyguards.

Kai Takeda becomes the next head of the Yakuza.

Vaughn is very good at playing video games to the point that he gets invited to play at events.

Maya and Gareth are the best at cheating while playing any kinds of board games and often defeat the rest (Killian loses because he's in a team with Nikolai who gets bored midway and tries to sabotage the game instead).

Damien is good at cooking while Kirill has a hidden talent for baking. Adrian finds the prospect of both of them wearing aprons funny until he is put on duty for washing the dishes. Wearing his daughter's purple, floral apron.

Jeremy becomes really good at lip-reading while he's trying to figure out what his parents are talking about over his head and as an adult, he's desperately trying to lose the habit around them.

The one who taught all the boys to drive a bike is Mio Orlov.

She also taught Sasha who nearly gives the Pakhan of the Bratva a heart attack when she figures out how to do wheelies with Rai cheering her on.

Kyle Hunter is exceptionally good at hide and seek and the kids could never find him whenever the Sokolovs were hosting sleepovers.

Annika has knocked endlessly and tirelessly on Adrian's office door till he let her in so she could demonstrate her pirouette the first time she had perfectly done it (Adrian had made Yan, Kolya and Boris give her a standing ovation).

Rai Sokolov is everyone's go-to Aunt for anything their own parents aren't letting them do. Asher and Reina won't send their sons to another continent for college? Enrolls her own son to go with them. The girls want to go to a concert? Sends an army of disguised bodyguards with them. One of the kids is drunk and needs to be picked up? She's already buckling into her car.

Adrian and Lia are Vaughn's Godparents.

Mia Sokolov starts giving plants as birthday presents and nearly makes Kirill and Damien bust a lung from laughter when she gives Adrian a cactus.

Karina Morozova has the reputation for giving the most bizarre gifts that the kids end up loving. Rents out an entire theater for Annika's birthday party. Buys all the game-machines in an arcade for Vaughn. Tells Maya they are going shopping for her birthday and flies her to Paris for it. Sees Jeremy reading bl when he's home from college one time and buys him an entire boxful of yaoi comics with a "I dog earmarked some of my favorites" note. She's extra that way and they all love it.

Damien, Adrian, Kyle and Kirill also have a group chat that Adrian has tried leaving multiple times. When Annika and Mia get boyfriends, Damien is laughing so hard at their predicament that Adrian reveals his daughter's secret relationship with the Pakhan's eldest son and then leaves the group. Again.

Lidiya Morozova becomes the first woman Pakhan after her uncle dares anyone to oppose her crowning with her getting backed up by four of the strongest Bratva families.

Vaughn and Kirill bond over making castles out of playing cards. They've spent lots of days, sitting cross-legged on the floor and stacking one card after another, using multiple decks. It's how he discovers his love for architecture.

Maya Sokolov is a natural at coding and hacking, but she finds it boring and even refuses Adrian's attempt to teach her to hone her skills.

Kyle is really good at magic tricks. Almost all the kids (minus natural cheaters, Maya and Gareth) fall for it even though some of them don't want to (Jeremy and Killian, they know it's a trick, but they can't prove it).

Naomi is not approving of Damien until she actually talks to him and realizes he's just a bakayaro.

Mia Sokolov is really good at escape rooms while Nikolai spends half the time going "That was a clue?"

Ilya Levitsky is only accepted into the family after he goes through extensive torture and lives on to say, "You can't keep me from her". He wins Kyle's respect with that.

Lia discovers that she's really good at drinking games when she's having a girl's night out with Sasha, Mio and Rai. She can throw darts with her eyes blindfolded.

The Volkovs have movie nights on Thursdays where the movies are decided based on a game of jenga. Annika swears she's not shaking the table (she is).

The Morozovs host the best sleepovers. We're talking Princess Diaries level of sleepovers with mattress surfing, vending and claw machines in the house and treasure hunts across the entire property.

The Orlovs are the best at throwing parties and love any occasion to do so. Cherry blossoms are blooming? Throw a party. His daughter got an A on her dictation? Throw a party. Someone bumped into Damien and he didn't kill them? Throw. A. Party.

The Carsons are the best at pretending they have no ties to the Bratva. You saw an army of bodyguards leaving their house? Must be the new interns Asher is hiring. Their oldest nephew has tattoos at the age of 11? But he loves drawings. Reina's twin is AWOL the whole time? She's just shy.

The Weavers are horrible at pretending they aren't related into some shady business.

The Sokolovs' house is synonymous with a common playground. Especially after Mia's kidnapping. If she's scared to go out and meet anyone else, ofcourse the rest of them are gonna come over at all times and spend time with her, it's only natural.

_______________

Don't even wanna promise a part two when I know I never commit but here's to hoping?

[queenpiranhadon]

A/N: I find it hilarious that this is Bakugou x Reader and he's not even in like 1/3 of the series LMAO Big thanks to our resident beta reader @cashmoneyyysstuff srlsy dunno how she thought I was cool enough to follow ily 😭 Here's the masterlist!

Warning(s): Cursing, reader is the daughter of Aizawa, Shinso and Eri are biological siblings, Shinso is a year younger than reader, reader is 20 years old, afab!reader, reader's mother is dead, medieval fantasy setting, reader cries a lot, reader started sword fighting at age six, reader passes out from crying, reader drugs her family (JUST HEAR ME OUT LMAO- I DON'T CONDONE STUFF LIKE THAT BUT ITS FOR THE PLOT), bad explanations of anesthetics, reader's nickname is Cactus and Warrior, slight spoilers of the actual show/manga, mentions of crossdressing (it's probably inaccurate, idk man I'm not really experienced with this sorta stuff lol).

Pairing(s): Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ: Bruises

“I have bad news.” 

In that moment, you’re pretty sure you felt your heart stop. 

You sat there, frozen, unable to move as everyone else at the table starts talking immediately, asking your father was the issue was. 

Yet his eyes remained on you, inky coals transfixed on you, unwavering, boring into your soul as if waiting, watching to see what you’d do next. 

Your mind tries to wander, briefly remembering the last time your father said that, the slight pain in his seemingly empty eyes and his strained tone of voice. The last time those words were uttered, your mother died. 

No. 

Now wasn’t the time for that. Now was the time to protect your family, like you always have. Your feelings weren’t important now.  

You notice your father rub his index finger against the underside of his thumb, a code you knew to mean retreat. In this case, he wanted to go outside to talk to you, alone. 

The table goes silent as you stand up with a word, worried glances being sent you way. Smiling reassuringly at them, you make your way around the table to the door, spinning around to squeeze Ejiro’s shoulder as he was the closest to you and make eye contact with your brother.  

“Toshi, you’re in charge in the meantime- make sure everyone has enough to eat alright?” you ask, and he hums in agreement, but narrows his eyes, a look that means you’re telling me everything once you’re done. 

You chose to ignore that, turning around again to exit your home to meet your father who was waiting for you outside.  

Shutting the door behind you, you see him staring up at the starless sky, covered by clouds and most likely smoke from fires made to provide warmth with the coming winter.  

You join him on the steps of your porch, staring up into the night sky with him. It was poetic in a way, the loss of the stars in the sky reminded you of the man by your side.  

Shota Aizawa was a swordsman, and one of the finest in the kingdom of Bellorant. Since you were six, he used to teach you, much to your mother’s annoyance. She didn’t want you near anything of the sort, especially when you returned one day covered in bruises, saying "Shota, she’s six! She needs to grow to be a lady, not a soldier or a fighter. She doesn’t need to grow up around violence.” 

Yet he still taught you, teaching you ancient sword techniques and sparred with you on occasion, but you never won – unless he let you. Every time, he would stop you at the most spontaneous moments, you could be in the middle of a heated spar when he rubbed his index finger against his thumb, retreat. It was like he had a sixth sense, knowing exactly when your mother would be home, and when she walked through the front door, you would be helping your father with preparing dinner.  

It was your secret, only for the two of you.  

At least for four years. After your mother had passed away, your father basically fell apart, refusing to teach you as an unspoken promise to your mother following her death.  

He could barely look at a sword the same way after he lost both his leg and your mother, like the starless sky - you knew it was possible, yet it seemed wrong. Your father was as empty without his swords as the sky was without stars. 

“What’s wrong?” you ask, your voice betraying you, coming out as a shaky whisper.  

The raven-haired man sucks in a breath, refusing to look at you, not saying anything, The silence was deafening and suffocating, as waves of anxiety rack your brain and your heart rate picks up.  

What in the world could be so bad that he can’t even look you in the eye?! 

“I’m being enlisted into the army. The roundup is tomorrow at dawn.” 

Time stops right then and there. You feel your heart drop. You couldn’t lose him, you couldn’t. Sending him out there was suicide, and he knew it.  

He couldn’t do this to you, not after losing your mother. You needed him, he was all you had left to prevent you from tearing yourself apart from the inside. He was the loose string in the fabric that held everything together but was easily able to be pulled away in the blink of an eye.  

You didn’t realize you were crying until a rough hand comes up and brushes a few tears from your face.  

“You have to be strong my warrior.” he whispers softly, the name hitting you harder than it should’ve.  

He hadn’t called you that since the last time you trained together.  

Words fail you, but he understands, holding you tight as the dam breaks, unshed tears falling as years of suffocating pain and stress release you in the form of salty tears that drip down your cheeks and soak into your father’s shirt.  

You were going to be all alone again.  

Just the thought brings even more tears to your eyes, heaving sobs so powerful that you can’t breathe, there’s just too much and you can’t take it anymore, but you have to.  

You have to, for Hitoshi and Eri. If nothing else, do it for them.  

*** 

You’re not sure when you passed out, but you come to lying in your bed, your dad probably carried you.  

Your throat feels dry, and your eyes burn. Shivering and burying yourself in your blankets, your heart sinks as the situation dawns on you. 

Taking in a shaky deep breath you think, like you always have. Thinking about how to fix a problem that seemed so big that you could never fix it.  

But there was always a way.  

You tried to remember the last time enlistments happened. It wasn’t the first time your father has been in a war, neither had it been for many of the men in your village. But the rest of the village wasn’t battling a severe disability and trying to cope with even more severe mental health issues.  

As per the crown’s decree, the terms for enlistment were the oldest able-bodied man from each household would be sent to join the army out of loyalty for their country.  

That didn’t make sense- considering that your father was far from able bodied...shit.  

The alternative would’ve been HItoshi. Your father, knowing this, probably created a loophole, saying that the makeshift wooden prosthetic Chiyo provided from him considered the man able bodied, saving Hitoshi from the hardships of war he’d have to endure either way.  

Bastard. You curse mentally, somewhat towards your father but mostly at the situation at hand. Shota Aizawa was an intuitive man, and knew exactly how to manipulate a situation to get what he wants. This trait, both helpful and infuriating was one that was passed down to you, which explained how you could read people well enough to know their intentions.

But you knew that right now, what you needed was both your father and Hitoshi, at some, safe.  

And for that to happen, you needed some third Aizawa son to step in and take the burden from them both.  

Then it hit you, maybe there was.  

Cross dressing wasn’t a completely new subject to you- you remembered when you and Ochako snuck into a pub one night, dressed as two boys so no men would try to make a move on either of you.  

Maybe it would work again.  

Creeping out of your room, you see that everyone’s gone to bed. For once, you’re thankful that you do all the chores around the house, tip toeing into the room where you washed and dried all your clothes, spotting the basket of unfolded clean clothes that needed to be put away.  

Sifting through its contents, you find what you were looking for: a yellowed white tunic and some thick black pants that belong to your brother.  

Perfect. 

This was all going according to plan.  

Depositing the clothes in your room, you go into the washroom, finding the medicine cabinet where all Eri’s concoctions lived.  

You wince, knowing this was technically drugging your family against their will, but you get to work, finding the balm used for sleep. 

Sneaking into Hitoshi’s room first, you take some of the balm, rubbing the substance against your fingertips before rubbing it gently against the skin that covered his temple, herbs that were said to have magical properties allowed a light dosage of melatonin into the neural system.  

You felt his body relax, all the tenseness gone from his frame, and you kiss his forehead softly, a tear pricking your eye. 

You might never see him again.  

“I love you Hitoshi.” you murmur, stroking his hair before doing the same for your father and sister both sound asleep, and they would be for the next twelve hours.  

Fingering the paper in your hands, you bring it up to your lips, a final blessing from you before putting the letter addressed to your family on the dining table.  

It was almost dawn, grabbing the roll of bandages from the washroom and wrapping your torso with it to make your chest flatter. You felt like you couldn’t breathe, but you persisted, knowing that it would only be a minor inconvienience in the long run. 

Slipping your brother’s clothes on, you tie your hair into a wolf’s knot, a hairstyle that your father taught you himself, the mark of a warrior. Slipping on Hitoshi’s shoes, you grab the worn picture of your family ten years ago, looking at it, your mother’s face, and your father’s happy one. Now he’d at least be alive to have the chance to feel like that again

You put the photo in your satchel, along with the dagger you used to train with, and the diary Ejiro gifted you when you were thirteen. It was very thick, enough to only be half filled from 7 years of your living, but then again you never really used it back then. Well, that was going to change now, determined to leave your family and friends a little more than a rushed letter if you die.  

Holy shit.  

You could die.  

The thought had never properly struck you until now, and yet, you didn’t feel dread. You just understood the grim truth that if it wasn’t you, it would be Hitoshi or your dad, and it were more than happy to put your life on the line for them.  

You see the sun’s ray start to peak out of the horizon, eyes sweeping your home one last time before closing the door, hand staying on the doorknob for a split second longer than you should’ve, as it trying to subconsciously memorize how it feels. 

One step by one, you make your way down the steps of your porch, the same ones you sat on the night before where you cried your heart out in your father’s arms.  

That seemed so long ago, yet only a few seconds ago at the same time.  

You make your way down the cobblestone path, down to the center of the village, spotting men from the imperial palace with their scrolls condemning their people to death.  

You swallow down the pit in your stomach, taking a deep breath and joining the crowd of men that gathered around.  

Goodbye, home.  

Taglist: @andysdrafts @starieq @nemisimp @missa-archdevilme @coquettefoxxy

@032loe @icedemon1314 @fta1ask4 @iam-thevillain-of-thisstory @cuppalevi

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@yannvi @liluvtojineteyam @ah-mya @surprisemodafakas

@kksmush @sagejin @cax-per @kit-katsukii

[thelifeofacactus]

My old manager just messaged me "I like your shoelaces" guys I didn't know this happened in real life