#Day 1 Childhood

[3dsoplya]

little sister

[mother-of-houseplants-2]

fiona gallagher // "i bet on losing dogs" by mistki

[conspicuous-clown-car]

splatoon is hilarious bc why tf am i literally crying my eyes out while singing gibberish like "komisurudamai hajufurodasukai" and "nyoehiniherahe nawenoni nyuenu"

[vpshinra]

I've been trying to collect my overall thoughts on Rufus Shinra in a document talking about how the whys of his personality. I'll likely make a proper video and/or share the full thing when I'm finished, but I figured I'd give a peek as to what my thoughts are, without considering Remake + Rebirth continuity. Wholly from what is revealed from OTWAS: Episode Shinra, as well as some tidbits in TKAA, and a lot of ground covered in Before Crisis. I hope someone out there can get some enjoyment out of someone on here caring about Rufus this much, haha.

Analysis (tidbits, but still substantial) under the cut!

To fully comprehend where Rufus comes from and why he is the way that he is, we have to go back to his childhood. In On the Way to a Smile: Case of Shinra, it’s outright stated that he didn’t see his father very often, and faced neglect. The few times his father did come home, he was typically very angry with Rufus and would tell him to go back to bed, as it was late. Rufus, in all likelihood, had no real parenting from his father. His mother seems to not have been a very present force in his life, either. Given President Shinra’s proclivities and tendencies to sleep around, particularly with his secretaries, as Rufus notes himself, this does not surprise me.

A particular instance that is detailed in Case of Shinra is one where Rufus is five years old. His father has, for once, let Rufus take part in talks about Shinra as a company. He was delighted when his father showed him the blueprints to the President’s office, but here we see the beginnings of a trait that would be a common thread in every action he takes henceforth. He looks at the blueprints and, instead of giving baseless praise, wants to find a way he can improve it. He wants to prove he’s intelligent, and wants to one-up his father in some small way. While here it isn’t malicious, later it would become as such. Here, it’s just a childish desire to seek praise for coming up with something that his father might not have thought of.

This backfires terribly, and Rufus redoubles his efforts to get out of the situation. President Shinra embarrasses him by implementing the idea Rufus had, but not for himself, notably. It’s for Rufus specifically, and it has a mark that Rufus cannot forget. ‘L’ for ‘Loser’. The idea that if he ever needs to run from his battles in the future, that’s a failure, and he’s a loser in his father’s eyes. That’s something imprinted early, and Rufus compensates by being able to be martially powerful, too. He learns to fight as well as the Turks in time, and outright battles Cloud atop Shinra Tower at the end of the Midgar segment of the game in the original.

What is also interesting here is the idea that even at five, Rufus has been told that the position of Shinra Company’s President is not promised to him. While I doubt he was aware of the fact that his father was producing heirs in case Rufus didn’t make the cut at this time, he becomes aware later on. Nothing is promised, and any one of Shinra Senior’s children could have taken Rufus’ spot had he proved impotent. This is highlighted later when one of President Shinra’s children, Lazard Deusericus, is made the director of the SOLDIER division of the military. As well as, when Rufus was around 6 years old, President Shinra had a child with someone more “special”, that Rufus posits was meant to be his replacement if Rufus himself didn’t make the cut, something he did not become aware of until many years later, but something President Shinra did nevertheless. This need to prove himself was drilled into him from a very young age.

---

Something notable within Chapter 9 of Before Crisis is that neither Veld nor President Shinra could fathom Rufus being the traitor. President Shinra wrongfully suggests it’s Veld, and when the activity continues despite Veld’s change in position, blame is then shifted to Hojo. Despite Rufus’ questionable actions thus far and clear resentment of his father, President Shinra still views him as wholly loyal. Whether this is because of some latent trust or whether he believed he “raised Rufus better” is left up in the air. Regardless, Rufus is not suspect yet at this point in time despite his clear questionable actions.

---

Interestingly, this is the first sign of Rufus being interested in the Promised Land as well. While Rebirth made it clear that Rufus has little to no interest in the Neo-Midgar project, I think that Rufus wants to find the Promised Land out of spite rather than any of the reasons his father wants it. He wants to find it before his father does to prove that he’s capable and different. That he isn’t less than simply because he’s younger.

He speaks about a plan to bring Aerith in using military force, talking to his father about the amount of resources and time wasted due to being “careful”. This is a more callous Rufus talking, one that’s more impatient. His father's dallying about Aerith’s situation makes it easy for Avalanche to come in and take what they want. Rufus, obviously, doesn’t actually want Avalanche to succeed. He uses Avalanche as a means to an end, to push President Shinra into action rather than sitting atop his heap of gil and growing complacent. It’s a push to get President Shinra to listen to Rufus about how the company should be run. An attempt to back President Shinra into a corner and get what he wants. Eventually, this turns into Rufus outright asking Avalanche to assassinate President Shinra. To cut out the middle man, so to speak, and give Rufus free reign to do what he wants without having to do these machinations behind the scenes.

---

I think more interesting than any of this though, is Rufus’ complete lack of understanding why Cid would want to fly his airplane before the rocket launch. Cid was meant to be the pilot of the rocket, and would be taking part. But he flew the Tiny Bronco because he enjoyed it, and Rufus can’t wrap his head around doing anything out of enjoyment, least of all with so much on one’s plate. Cid has a great deal of preparation to do before lift off, and Rufus views him as shirking his duties. He can’t fathom doing anything but work at this moment. I think this speaks again to how President Shinra must have raised him. Again, from a young age, President Shinra was trying to drive home how important “working hard” is. Rufus likely took this to heart, and has little time for “play”, as it were. It would do a lot to explain his rigid attitude. He doesn’t understand why you would choose to do something enjoyable or fun when there is the opportunity to work. Having been pushed into this mindset his whole life, he begins to look down on others who do this. Because if he can’t have fun, then no one should be able to, at least without criticism.

The full exchange Rufus has with Cid is enlightening, to say the absolute least, and speaks volumes to both of their values. Rufus tells Cid that he’s firmly against the space program, that it’s a waste of resources and time. That there are more efficient ways to expand business. And Cid, interestingly, says that Rufus is young, but lacks passion. Something, according to Cid, President Shinra has in spades. Whether President Shinra is doing this for the sake of his own dreams is still in question, but it’s interesting that Rufus is already so disillusioned from doing anything simply because he wants to. He views everything in terms of what is the most efficient way to achieve his goals. He doesn’t ever stop to think about things like morale, at least not here. It’s interesting to see how this stance changes later when Meteor is overhead, when he sees a panicked people and finally understands what these big, grand displays do, and what their purpose is. Especially because this is a point in time where trust in Shinra is low because of what’s happening with Avalanche.

It speaks to his immature view of the world that the only thing he has to say to Cid about what President Shinra has done with the company is to not bring his father up in front of him.

---

President Shinra is taken off the spot when Cid outright says he doesn’t care if he dies so long as he can achieve his dream. Rufus’ words once again go unheard, his ideas go ignored. Rufus, in honesty, likely didn’t care whether or not Cid lived or died. He put on this show to try and show how corrupt his father was in front of Cid, so that the rose-tinted glasses he has can fall off, and he can see how callous the president really is. This never happens, though. It’s Cid’s fervent wish to go to the moon, no matter the cost.

Upon hearing this, Rufus changes up his tactic. The immeasurable damage a failed launch would have upon the company. President Shinra is doing this launch for a morale boost and for trust to return to Shinra. Rufus sees this as a needless, pointless expense to keep favor. What Rufus proposes isn’t artificial trust. When he says he wants to run the world through fear, he means it. I don’t think he was truly interested in seeing Shinra succeed as a company. He wants to prove that he can do it better than his father, and that’s it.

Rufus doesn’t have enough experience to understand that ruling with an iron grip, with forcing people to respect and trust you, doesn’t work. This is blatantly evident with Rufus’ actions throughout this game, even. President Shinra ruled Rufus through fear. Raised him with fear, made Rufus afraid of him so that Rufus would, in turn, respect him. This simply didn’t work long-term, though. While it may have worked when Rufus was a child, Rufus is an adult now, and sick of being afraid. He revolts, thrashes, fights back in his own way. Shinra had no choice but to fall under Rufus’ leadership, because he has no idea what it really takes to be a leader. He sees failures, and sees from an outside perspective how to fix them, but without the burden of the public on him, he can’t imagine what it’s like. President Shinra, ironically, has a point with what he says to Rufus in this scene.

Rufus, thus far, has no idea how to run the company. The most efficient way is not always the most effective. President Shinra, during his time as president, understands this and does what he can to keep public favor alive so that the gil can continue rolling in. Actions that Rufus deems frivolous and unnecessary are necessary for the longevity of the company.

---

By the end of the game, the executives are still pushing for the Turks to be disbanded. Thus, they are put on trial in the president’s office, when none other than Rufus comes to put a stop to it and ask that his father reconsider.

While it isn’t wholly an altruistic decision, Rufus still does this because he, on some level, has grown to care about the Turks within the last four years. He knows their worth, knows how valuable they are to the company. He knows exactly how lost Shinra would be without them. He’s seen them work from within their headquarters, has talked to them, strategized with them. By helping them, he has earned their loyalty and respect. He knows that he can depend on them in the future. They’ve made sacrifices for each other, and the respect is mutual. Rufus sees in them a potential that President Shinra is blind to.

This is the very last thing Rufus has to say to the Turks before the end of the game. Trust in anyone is something he’s been lacking all his life. People he can depend on, people who elevate his strengths and can help make up for his deficits. This bond they all share isn’t something so easily erased. As we see, even post-FFVII, the Turks remain wholly loyal to Rufus. Even when everyone has turned his back to him, even when he gave each and every one of them an out, they stuck by him. This bond is something lifelong and runs deeper than blood. It’s beautiful to see a character like Rufus, who is so focused on efficiency and so stuck on what he can do personally, is able to forge these bonds. Of course, he still tries to do most things on his own. But when he can’t, he knows that his Turks have his back.

---

These are just my thoughts after a rewatch of Before Crisis, and I hope it proves enlightening somehow! I want to continue on to talk about how he is in FFVII proper, as well as all the supplemental material in time.

[localrobotfragger555]

My Childhood Crushes Bc It’s Funny asf & It’s Valentine’s Day🥴💝(Part 1)

[sapphicyanli]

the potential toxic rivalry yuri these two couldve went down the path to....both from low class....both have been underestimated by men....but sun ah seek revenge to the rich that had harmed them but jin joo instead trying to fix the system by becoming a judge....good god

[allthegothihopgirls]

i love all the new-age queer pop girls who do charity work by making Actually gay music that sounds like it was ripped straight from 2012, to compensate for how straight-dominated the music scene was during that time.

[vero-niche]

just another bit of lore in tristamp that i thought was cool and wanted to share in case i wasnt alone in not processing anything else from the end credits scene in ep12 other than "omg its chronica"

so in recent weeks i've been listening to Drain Gate more often, which definitely plays during when Vash uses his powers in ep12 (i can't quite place it when) so while rewatching, it actually registered what they are saying here:

so earth is basically using their independents' power (consensually!!! cough cough knives take note) to develop a warp type space travel! judging from the project's name (pieces of earth) i'd say maybe to reconnect with the previously deployed colony ships.

which means

the reason they were able to detect the energy blast at julai despite it being so far away ("amplify 2.7 million times") is because their tech is tuned in specifically to plant/independent energy!

[nadiajustbe]

Random Pendragon family concept idea: since Morgan's magic is really, and by this I mean really unstable, it's was pretty hard time to get him playing with toys. Mostly because every magic-based toy they buy in Ingary ends up being affected by Morgan's even more powerful magic, causing it to break, or multiply or start flying across the room unconditionally (remember the story with toy horses in HoMW? This, but 24/7 and ten times more loud)

The only solution for this problem — gratefully presented byHowl, because who else — was sneaking children's toys from Wales until the time Morgan grows up old enough to control at least the smallest part of his powers. This decision was made because things frow "Howl's world" are generally less affected by magic. (mechanics and magic do not mix much, as to use magic you have to break all the laws of physics mechanics works on, and to do mechanics you have to refuse all the magical manner). Also they're rather easy to navigate and much easier to control.

At least Howell thinks so. Sophie, quite the contrary, keeps bumping on them, pushing buttons accidentally over and over (see, the toys she had didn't have any buttons) and cursing their "strange Welsh power" to the point they start disappearing from the house. Wether Sophie charms them to disappear or simply throws them out the window, no one knows. She doesn't say.

Morgan absolutely loves his toys, though. Although he thinks it was much funnier when they could fly — higher and higher.

[umgeorge]

"Digital footprints last forever 😉🤩" - october 21, 2024 📷 @.mercedesamgf1 / tiktok

[jmbringitonworld]

Frans Week 2025 - Day 1 - Stars

After having to miss out on Frans Week for the past two years because my dad was dying/dead, I wanted to finally try my hand at it again. Unfortunately, the day after finishing my second prompt, a horrible cold struck me down like one of Zeus's lightning bolts, and I've been sick ever since. I'm still sick! It sucks! At least I managed to write out the two most important days for me. But I'm gutted that I couldn't get more out in time.

The rest of the days will be written eventually, though they'll be too late for Frans Week. I plan to include them in my ongoing fic, A Good Father. It's my own AU where Asgore adopts and raises baby Frisk in the Underground. Both of the prompts I managed to write in time are set in this AU. In this one, Day 1- Stars, both Sans and Frisk are children (11 and 6 respectively).

Thanks to @fransweek for hosting this event. I look forward to it every year!

_____________________________________

Sans didn’t think he was as fun to be around as his little brother.

Papyrus was far more entertaining and far more attentive than Sans could ever be, in the eleven-year-old skeleton monster’s expert opinion. Whenever the young Gaster brothers and Dreemurr daughter had gotten together, it was always Papyrus who had taken charge and decided what they would do for the day - even if that was usually puzzle planning and battle strategising.

However, today Papyrus wasn’t with them. He had very important business to take care of. Namely, chasing after old man Gerson with Undyne, to observe his fighting style (and to make sure that Undyne didn’t beat up too many “bad guys”).

Sans still wasn’t all that keen on letting Undyne into their small group of friends. And he still didn’t trust the preteen fish monster - she was far too hot-tempered and violent for his liking.

But it wasn’t up to him to decide who his brother wanted to hang out with. Papyrus was eight years old now, and was getting more independent and confident by the day. He didn’t need his big brother anymore - a fact that filled Sans with both pride, and a sad sort of wistfulness that made him feel older than he actually was.

At least Frisk still preferred to stick to his side over anyone else’s (besides her father, of course, but parents didn’t count). Sans could freely admit that their friendship was something he’d come to deeply cherish over the years they’d known each other, especially as she got old enough to play with the skeleton brothers and have actual conversations with them.

Sans especially appreciated how good of a listener Frisk was. He felt like he could tell his little human friend anything, and she wouldn’t judge him. Granted, at six years old she didn’t always understand everything he was talking about, and she couldn’t offer him the most insightful advice, or give particularly useful input. But something about her made Sans want to open up to her and share his thoughts with her, in a way he didn’t even do with either his brother or his father.

Which was why on this day, when it was just the two of them, he decided to take his best friend to his favourite place in the entire Underground.

_____

Frisk looked around the cavernous room with wide eyes, awe shining on her face as brightly as the glittery rocks on the ceiling.

She let go of Sans’s hand and took several steps forward, before spinning in a slow circle, taking in the entire room with childish wonder.

Sans gazed at her with soft eye sockets and an even softer smile. Fondness curled in his Soul like a contented cat.

“this is the wishing room,” he informed his awestruck little buddy.

Frisk turned to him with a beaming smile, sparks of joy lighting up her eyes.

“Wowie! This is so cool!” she squealed, bouncing on her toes the way Papyrus did when he was particularly excited.

Sans grinned at her. “so you like this place, huh?”

Frisk nodded her head so vigorously, Sans was half-afraid it might fall off - Pap’s skull sometimes did, though he figured that might just be a skeleton thing.

“I love it!” Frisk gushed. “Daddy doesn’t like taking me to Waterfall, ‘cause he’s scared I might get sick ‘cause it’s so wet. But I think it’s so pretty! I wish I could see more of it.”

Sans really wanted to offer to take Frisk to explore more of Waterfall. But he didn’t want Mr. Dreemurr to get mad at him - or worse, his father (his father’s lectures were the worst!). Sans was also reluctant to potentially endanger his best friend’s health.

But still… he really wanted to see that smile on her face again.

“hey, tell ya what, kid,” he leaned in with a conspiratorial wink. “how’s about i take you to visit some of the drier places in waterfall? i know plenty of really cool spots like this room.”

Frisk’s smile got even bigger, if that were possible. “Really?! Really really?!”

Sans wink at her again, feeling smug satisfaction bubble up within him. “really. and, uh,” his grin dropped a little, as he gave his friend a nervous look. “let’s not tell anyone about this, ‘kay? don’t want our dads knowin’. they might ground us.” He couldn’t help the shiver going down his spine at the thought.

Frisk let out a dramatic gasp, and gave him a nod. “‘Kay! It’ll be our secret.”

“yup. our own little best buddies secret,” Sans agreed.

It felt weird to Sans to have Frisk purposely keep secrets, especially from her father.

But sharing something special, just between the two of them, gave him a ticklish feeling in his Soul.

It made him feel special.

Besides, they weren’t hurting anyone or anything like that. They were just having fun and going on super secret adventures together, as young children should do.

More than anything, Sans believed that making his friend happy was worth possibly getting in trouble for.

_____

The next time the two friends visited the Wishing Room together, Sans brought along his telescope.

After setting it up and looking through it to make sure it still worked fine, he showed Frisk how to use it.

“Wowie!” she gasped. “The rocks look even prettier now!”

Sans chuckled. “yup, i think so too.” He gave his telescope a fond pat. “my dad gave me this thing. said it used to be his.”

That made Frisk tear her gaze away from the glittering rocks, and turn to give Sans a surprised look. “Really? I didn’t know your daddy liked looking at pretty rocks too.”

Sans shrugged his shoulders. “dunno if he does, actually.” Frisk tilted her head to the side, a cute gesture that was all hers, so Sans clarified, “dad told me he used to look through this telescope to see the stars better. ya know, back when monsters lived on the surface.”

The curious look Frisk gave him encouraged Sans to keep talking.

“see, dad loves stars. real stars. he says they’re brighter an’ prettier than anything else in the whole sky.” His voice lowered as he looked off to the side, gaze distant and unfocused. “when i was really little, and dad wasn’t as busy with work, he used to tell me all about the night sky. he taught me the names of all the different stars and constellations he knew of - he even drew them for me! he also taught me ‘bout all the other planets, and other galaxies, and black holes and supernovas and stuff!”

Frisk was quiet, as she observed the excited, yet sad look of longing on her best friend’s face. She wished that she could send comforting magic to his Soul, the way her father could. The way monsters could, yet humans could not.

She understood all too well the painful desire for something wonderful that was forever out of your reach.

“That sounds neato,” she told him softly.

Sans’s smile widened, not quite reaching his eyelights. “yeah. it sure does, huh.”

Frisk was quiet again, giving him a kind, sympathetic look.

Sans didn’t like the sad pity in her eyes, or the sombre tone the conversation had taken. He shook himself. This was supposed to be a fun time with his best friend!

“hey, ya wanna know something cool?” When Frisk eagerly nodded her head at his question, Sans leaned closer to her, as if sharing some new secret. “a long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. they believed that if you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true.”

Frisk’s face lit up. “Oh golly, that is cool!”

Sans grinned at her reaction, happy to have successfully managed to dispel the previous gloomy atmosphere. “yeah, ain’t it?”

Then Sans let out a sigh, “‘course, we can’t do that no more. now, all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling…”

At that, Frisk’s face fell, her lower lip jutting out despondently.

Sans rushed to console her, internally kicking himself for making her sad again, right when he’d managed to cheer her up.

“but hey! that hasn’t stopped us from making wishes! everyone believes that if we keep wishin’ hard enough, surely all our wishes’ll come true.”

Frisk’s expression brightened. “Right! They will! Thousands of people wishing together can’t be wrong!”

Sans knew that was a naive thought. And yet, a small, childish part of him wanted to believe her, wanted to believe that wishes could come true.

Then, Frisk turned to Sans with an earnest look of curiosity on her face. “Hey Sans? You ever made a wish before?”

The young skeleton monster was taken aback by the question.

He blinked, then averted his gaze sheepishly. “well… maybe. when i was a baby bone.”

Frisk excitedly tugged on his arm. “Ooh! What was it?” When Sans hesitated, Frisk tugged harder. “C’mon! Tell me! Pleeeeease? Pretty pleeeeeease?”

Sans’s Soul squirmed at his best friend’s pleading whine. He felt helpless in the face of her expectation. It was so hard to deny her anything when she was so determined. In the end, all he could do was let out a resigned sigh. He really was no match for Frisk.

“fiiine. i’ll tell ya.” He tried very hard to keep the pout out of his voice and off his skull.

Frisk’s fingers wrapped tighter around his arm. It almost felt like they were wrapping around his Soul, which was a silly thought. Sans couldn’t bring himself to mind.

He lowered his voice to a whisper, despite the two of them being the only ones in the room, causing Frisk to lean in even closer to him. He could feel her breath brush against his bones. It was an odd, but not unpleasant sensation.

“i wished that i could see the real stars someday…”

Frisk was quiet as a look of contemplation came over her face.

Finally, after a few moments of deep consideration for a six-year-old, Frisk turned her gaze up to the ceiling - to the glimmering rocks serving as proxy stars. When she spoke, her voice was just as hushed as Sans’s had been.

“Then I wish that I could see the real stars with you someday.”

Sans felt his Soul give a jolt.

Faint heat spread across his cheekbones, as he failed to keep his smile off his face. He scratched at his cervical vertebrae in an embarrassed gesture.

“heh. that’s a great wish, frisk.”

The human giggled, and preened under her best friend’s praise.

Sans hadn’t realised just how reflective Frisk’s eyes were. They were so clear that the light of the sparkling stones on the ceiling shone brightly within their depths.

Frisk turned her star-filled eyes to him.

“One day, our wishes will come true,” she insisted, with such determination, that Sans almost believed that the human could bend reality to her very will to make them come true.

The young skeleton monster let hope fill his Soul, despite his better judgement.

“if you say so, buddy.” Sans smiled, looking every bit an eleven-year-old child. “then i’ll look forward to seein’ if the stars are just as bright and beautiful as dad says they are.”

Frisk gave him a considering look, before her lips curled into a cheeky grin.

“I bet your eyelights are even brighter and prettier than the stars.”

Sans made a choking noise. Heat filled his face and his Soul. “w-w-what?! c-cut it out! you’re embarrassin’ me…”

Frisk erupted into giggles, loud and joyous, looking entirely too pleased with herself. The sound filled the cavernous room, echoing off the walls. Sans could practically feel her laughter reverberating in his bones and resonating in his Soul.

He dragged his hood low over his skull, trying to hide his face in the darkness of his hoodie.

Sans knew that he really was no match for Frisk.

[cherry-treelane]

I find it so ironically funny when hardcore Debbie defenders use the defense that she was just a victimised teenage girl (agreed) and then proceed to slander Fiona and express their hatred for her character and lack of sympathy

as if being an adult magically absolves an individual of the horrifying trauma that precedes them and screws up their mentality and actions

funnily enough these people get mad at others for "expecting Debbie to be an innocent angel and hating on her for acting out as a result of trauma" (also agreed, debbie does deserve more sympathy, she can't be expected to grow up to be a perfect saint when she's been through so much) yet seem to hold Fiona to the same unattainable standards and put her on a pedestal as if she wasnt a child that was forced to intensely grow up while never actually being raised

like lets put this into perspective and remember that fiona grew up surrounded by corrupt morals and insanely screwed up behaviour yet still emerged as messed up, yes, but surprisingly good considering the situation she was in??? she had to navigate basic things such as morals and being a good, responsible person on her own. imagine how difficult it must be to lead a bunch of kids, including yourself, with no previous role model or good example of your own to follow. most of the time, she always tried to do what she thought was best and would have the most desirable outcome

[i-am-a-fan]

Not now kitten, mommy is digging up old corpses to feel something

[nonoel-art]

'Baby Mine' ~ Sanji Week Day 1: Childhood

[astrolavas]

it's sound weird, but i have headcanon that Hunter didn't go hexside, because he too old to shool(according to my feelings, at the end of the he is 16-17 y.o (except for the post-credits scene), and at that age it is already too late to go to school):p

i mean, well- in my opinion he rather certainly did go to hexside, since one of the things he'd said during his TTT monologue was "i'd like to attend hexside like a normal student and play flyer derby with my friends" and all of his "wishes" were supposed to sort of foreshadow his goals and his future (carving palismen, studying wild magic, etc etc) so i feel like it's safe to say he succeeded in becoming a hexside student as well. we also know he attended grom with the rest of his friend group, and like- since he's 16 before the timeskip (no canon certainty whether he's recently turned 16 or is going on 17 already though, but like... around 16 canonically) that means he'd get at least 1 year of school, but most likely 2+.

my personal headcanon is that he went to hexside for around 2 years (full or not quite, depending on when the school year starts in the boiling isles and how long it lasts; possibly even 3), and during that time he picked up a mentorship/apprenticeship at del's palisman carving shop, and after he graduated from hexside he started carving palismen professionally with the clawthornes (i like to think that he also takes some courses at eda's wild magic university in his spare time, simply cuz . funny uni hexsquad shenanigans)

[compacflt]

wip wednesday: let’s have some happiness around these parts for once!!