#i think i should get into woodcarving...

[keeps-ache]

okay, my plotting

[bmpmp3]

post ankle-twisting clarity

[creepypasta65]

Hi what do u think the creepypastas hobbies would be?

I chose random characters if that's okay. Thanks for the request :)

Toby, Jeff, and Eyeless Jack Hobbies:

Toby 🪓:

Toby loves woodcarving.

In his spare time, he carves animals with a pocket knife and gifts them to some mansion residents like Nina or Ben.

He likes hatchet throwing for obvious reasons. Toby has gained nice biceps from throwing hatchets.

Toby draws. Though he's not the best artist, he can draw pretty decently. He mostly draws abstract or cartoonish drawings.

He likes walking and exploring the forest, collecting rocks, pinecones, and sticks.

Toby also likes photography. He takes pictures of animals around the forest like deer, raccoons, ducks, etc.

He enjoys playing video games with Ben and Jeff. He may not be the best at them but enjoys them.

Jeff🔪:

Jeff also does woodcarving. Sometimes, he and Toby carve together or make each other little figures.

He is a workout type of dude. Jeff cares about his appearance, especially his body. He works out a lot. He has many dumbbells in his room. Jeff's weight lifts the most he can lift is probably 50 to 100lbs.

Jeff also likes boxing to take out his anger and stress.

Jeff plays video games with Ben and Toby. He enjoys beating Toby but rages when Ben beats him.

Loves listening to music. He enjoys rock bands like Mcr, PTV, The Cure, etc.

Jeff also enjoys watching horror films and makes fun of the dumb protagonist. He's like, "What are you doing RUN!". Yeah, he yells at the TV.

He plays the electric guitar and practices his favorite songs. He usually plays when he's alone because he doesn't want anyone to know.

Eyeless Jack🫘:

Jack enjoys reading. His favorite books are non-fiction, mystery, and thriller with the occasional romance. Yeah, he likes love stories.

However, he still reads medical books about the human body.

He is a writer. Jack is currently writing a book, which is a mini-series about a detective.

Jack also likes working out. His workout buddy is Jeff. They both encourage each other to do better.

He is a fan of astronomy and loves stargazing. Jack also knows all the constellations. Not many of the creepypastas know that about him. Pls ask him about the stars or constellations, he would be so happy to tell you everything about them.

Jack likes cooking. It reminds him of when he was human. He gets so happy when the creepypastas ask him to cook or compliment his food. However, he can't eat any of it because it makes him sick he can only remember how it tastes.

He likes playing checkers and chess.

Should I make a pt2? Have a nice day/night :)

[sillygoofyqueer]

about liu qingge breaking swords that wei qingwei replaces!!! i can imagine so well they start this "project" where wei qingwei wants to create a standard disciple sword (so like a sword that doesn't have to be chosen) that is almost unbreakable in the face of battle so it can be used safely for disciple missions without them having to fear it breaking willy nilly, and he's tasked liu qingge to use it in all kinds of situations to see where it holds up!

it's a long and difficult process so eventually people start worrying about why the bai zhan peak lord is fighting giant beasts with just an iron sword

YESS YES YES YES!!! Liu Qingge receiving different comments about whether or not he's lost Cheng Luan, and getting slowly more frustrated until it all culminates in him standing up during a peak lord meeting, throwing Cheng Luan onto the table and loudly announcing "I HAVEN'T lost my sword." before just flopping back down into his seat, with Wei Qingwei giving him a supportive thumbs up from where he sits next to the man. Neither of them elaborate. I'm going to start very mini rambling now, because I'm eepy and this man is always on my mind. I think that WQW actually gets really excited whenever someone damages or breaks their weapons because "Ooooh, I was hoping to upgrade this thank you SO much for this!" as though they're doing him a favour rather than giving him more work to do. He often spends a lot of his time upgrading weapons and working on random different designs, whipping out the most intricate, tiny swords to like...I don't know, file his nails. Despite both the previous QCP lord's and Mu Qingfang's best attempts to explain to WQW that he should NOT arm his disciples until they have the sword techniques down with the practice swords, WQW has gained his shizun's enthusiasm with arming children - the only difference was that he doesn't let them use their real weapons with one another, instead just sparring with him. So he takes on the brunt of stab wounds and shit. He just likes making things, alright?? I really love to think that this guy could definitely put effort into other kinds of art, but he really loves the physical labour that can be put into making weapons specifically - from personally mining and finding the metal ores to breaking them down and turning them into something gorgeous through his effort alone! He would also quite like clay/sculpting for that reason, but he's a lot more shy about that one (he has a secret little kiln that he fires everything in because everyone knows him for his metalwork and weapons ((and maybe woodcarving)) but not claywork).

[apomaro-mellow]

King and Prince 20

Part 19

There was no other way to describe it, Eddie thought as he literally watched Steve sitting under a tree with Robin, laughing at something she said. Spring had not only come to this land, but to the prince as well. Like a flower in bloom, he was open and inviting. And everyone longed to be like the sun, having that flower turn to face them. At least, that was the thought that crossed Eddie’s mind and surely everyone else felt the same way.

He teased the kids more, ruffling their hair, and even allowing himself to be the but of the joke at times. He and Robin turned out to be thick as thieves, which Eddie could have never predicted. All this because he had been allowed to roam the town.

Yesterday, Eddie happened to spy a hickey peeking from the top of Steve’s collar and could deny it no longer. He had found a lover. Steve had found a lover. Perhaps even more than one. After all, there was no reason to limit himself to just one. The fact remained though that someone was making him glow with their affections. 

Someone out there was kissing him, whispering sweet things in his ear, telling him how lovely he was-SNAP

Eddie looked down to the broken quill in his hand. 

“Something on your mind?”, Gareth asked, returning a book on one of his shelves.

Eddie wriggled his fingers and brushed the broken quill away, careful not to smudge what he had just been writing. “No. Nothing at all”, he lied. 

Gareth waited patiently for him to continue, knowing he would. In the meantime, he grabbed another book and sat on the other side of Eddie’s desk.

“Steve has been going out often, hasn’t he?”

“About every other night, yes. Are you regretting giving him that freedom?”

“Well…”, Eddie struggled for only a second to think of a reason. “What if Nancy’s right?” He pushed off from his desk and stood, going to the window behind him. Thankfully Nancy was in a neighboring town, otherwise he’d fear she would actually materialize out of thin air.

“About the prince conspiring with townsfolk?”

“Or a spy. Anyone really. We just don’t know.”

Gareth sighed. “Time to put on my ‘Nancy hat’. Why don’t you send someone to follow him and see?”

The last thing Eddie wanted to see was Steve actually in the middle of the deed. But going along just far enough to make sure no other liaisons were happening was just his duty as a king, wasn’t it? He had to protect his people. And if Steve was only just meeting lovers, well he should feel confident enough to bring them back to the castle to introduce to everyone, shouldn’t he? If they weren’t conspirators anyway.

Eddie found the resolution to do so just a few nights later. He and Robin were relaxing in a sitting room, sipping together after having sent the kids to bed a couple hours ago. That was when Steve came in and draped himself on the couch Robin was sitting on with a dreamy sigh.

“Let me guess”, she said. “The woodcarver’s son?”

“You know me a little too well for how short we’ve known each other”, Steve said, bringing his head to her lap.

Eddie was sitting on the couch opposite them, leg propped up on the armrest. He didn’t like the way Steve didn’t even seem to notice he was there.

“You’re late”, he said, sitting up.

Steve turned just his head to look at him. “I know, I’m sorry. But it’s not always easy to get away.”

Robin snorted. “You mean clean up takes forever?”

“Don’t be crass”, Steve scolded lightly. “And I’ll have you know, Jason is the perfect gentleman. He always helps me clean up afterward.”

Eddie knew of Jason, the son of a woodcarver. Diligent in his work, a leader among the youth in town. His face was…fine, Eddie had to admit. He certainly wasn’t plotting to take Eddie’s kingdom down, that was for sure. Born and raised here, Jason only stirred up trouble a couple of times the way kids typically did. He had no reason to mistrust him.

And yet…

As the night went on, Steve and Robin continued to talk about him. Apparently Jason first saw him at the festival when he competed in the games. They talked a lot about athletic pursuits. Wood carving wasn’t for the soft of hands after all. Robin asked about others Steve had met with. Faith, Gabriella, Harris, but it always came back to Jason. 

He must be Steve’s favorite. Which meant that Eddie had to see what the big deal was about. On top of all the other reasons he’d come up with before too, of course. Steve didn’t go out the next night or the one after. But the third night, he did and Eddie followed. He traveled in the shadows until they got to town, then shifted to a bird. His usual form would have been instantly recognizable at this point, so he went with a starling appearance tonight.

Steve tied his horse to a post and went into a tavern. Eddie perched on a window just long enough to see Steve immediately sit down with a young woman. So not Jason. He waited by the door for someone to go through and flew in, staying aloft in the rafters and close to the edges of the ceiling. He got right above their table to listen in. She seemed a sweet lady, but looks could be deceiving.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight”, Steve said. “I thought your family needed help at home this week?”

“I was able to get away”, she said. “Are you…disappointed?”

Steve reached out and touched her cheek. “How could I be when I am gifted with your presence?”

She melted in his touch and Eddie had seen enough. There was nothing shady going on, so he had no reason to stay. He went back home, but spent about an hour, pacing about in his room, trying to find explanation for why he was so agitated. Steve hadn’t lied. Hadn’t gone against them. Which meant he got to say ‘I told you so’ to Nancy when she got back. The night after that, Eddie sat down in his chair, ready for story time but was off most of the evening. El was the one to point it out.

“Why do you keep looking at the door? Are you expecting someone?”

“This late?”, Lucas asked.

“Yeah, you’ve been kind of twitchy all night”, Dustin added.

“No I haven’t, and it’s fine”, Eddie brushed them off. He knew it was because of Steve. If these kids knew, they wouldn’t stop until they got to the bottom of why. And Eddie wasn’t ready to face the why. 

It wasn’t until Robin spoke up later, once the children were sent off that he got the kick in the pants to find out the truth.

“They’re right you know. You were twitchy.”

“You know I can’t stand still for more than a minute”, Eddie said in his defense.

“Yeah, but this is different. It’s like…”, then she snapped her fingers. “How Mike gets when Will would rather spend time with Lucas.”

Eddie’s stomach dropped. They had been teasing Mike about his not so secret crush for a while now. To be compared to that…

The only way to prove he wasn’t jealous was to see Steve actually be with someone and have no problem with it, right? He had walked in on more than one of his servants entangled with each other. It was a big castle, places for secret rendezvous were numerous. He’d even happened on Dustin stealing a kiss from a girl in town once. He felt nothing when watching others share their affections. So Steve shouldn’t be any different. 

Eddie hadn’t disciplined Steve when he came back late, so he got more bold with his curfew. He always returned to lay his head in the castle, Eddie noticed, but he didn’t rush back as the sun set either. One day he left as the sun was dipping low, giving the last bits of light as he traveled on the path from here to town. 

Eddie followed, in his raven form this time as pitch black wings were better for camouflage in the night. And Steve may recognize this form, but even if he saw him, surely he wouldn’t put two and two together. There was more than one raven in the world, they couldn’t all be Eddie. When Steve dismounted, the tavern was just a quick stop. He tied the horse to a post and then went across the street. 

He watched the prince chat up a candlemaker, seemingly having just a nice conversation before leaving to go somewhere else. Eddie was about to follow when his bird’s eye view allowed him to see a child sitting in an alley, legs hugged to their chest. He flew down and pecked at their shoe to get their attention.

A nice shoe, not an orphan, probably just lost. The kid seemed down on themselves and after Eddie played around to get their spirits up (making funny bird noises, puffing his feathers up, tugging at their hair) he was able to lead them out of the alley. Feeling less hopeless, the child called out for their parents and Eddie helped to get attention by squawking from their shoulder.

A man ran up and scooped up the kid, grateful for having found him. Eddie took his leave then, but had unfortunately lost Steve. He knew he wasn’t at the pub, so his only lead was the woodcarver’s. That was where he flew and sure enough, when he perched on the roof, he heard something from behind it.

A soft sound, just a low ‘mmf’ that anyone else still on the street or in their homes wouldn’t be able to pick up. He walked across the roof and the posterior of the shop was lit by just a single lantern hung from a rung. He peered down, almost hanging upside down to see Steve, legs wrapped around Jason while he was sat upon some crates. Steve let out another quiet moan and Jason gave him a gentle shush.

“It’s the evening hour, you’ll wake everyone up if you’re too loud”, Jason smiled while continuing to thrust into him.

Steve pressed his lips together to keep from making too much noise. His eyes were unfocused as they looked up, suddenly gaining focus and gasping when he noticed the bird watching them. Eddie remained frozen. If he left now that he’d been spotted it would practically confirm his identity. Steve tightened his hold on Jason. His panting picked up as he got closer and Jason stuck two fingers into his mouth.

The prince groaned and for just a moment, Eddie imagined what wonders Steve was doing with his mouth. Was he simply sucking or did his tongue lick between the digits? Eddie knew he should leave, it was only decent. But Steve’s gaze kept him tethered to where he was. His eyes only closed when he started to cum, Jason pushing and pulling a few more times before he did as well. 

Steve was floating. Jason pulled his fingers out and wiped them on his shirt. He was saying something as Steve came back into himself but he wasn’t sure what. The bird had flown away.

Part 21

Taglist

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@lil-gremlin-things @littlebluejane @puppy-steve

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

I'm actually kind of done with Limbus Company mechanically speaking.

Got no incentive to return. Especially since the game has felt so frustrating to me recently in terms of how it's designed.

It feels like they're kind of designing it in a way that takes most of the fun out of it. Overpowered IDs, and a game that's rather solidly stuck to a meta doesn't do it for me. Sure you can win with other IDs, but those typically go under the label as "Challenge Runs".

Also like. It feels like they're going deeper into Gacha Hell. Even if it's like "Oh we need more money to do more things." It's like. I haven't seen that much that's that enticing to me. The Arknights crossover seems cool, but like. Sure Arknights seems thematically interesting but my friends have told me plenty about it and like. It's a gacha. It has problems.

Anyways, pretty early morning rant so not the most cohesive.

But like.

My big thing is that in my experience? Limbus Company fans will deflect ANY criticism of the game. Like. I don't hate Limbus Company. There really is a lot to love. But my god. The more I voice my frustrations with the game only to have them shot down, the more my discontent for this "game" grows. I feel like in a lot of cases, a story having a good ending can make people forgive shortcomings it can have. The shortcomings here being mostly gameplay oriented, which I will cover in my current review of it down below.

Also. I can't help that Limbus Company is getting dangerously close into a pay-to-win category. Eh. Sure you can contest me on this point but I think it's a bad thing where something you pay for in a F2P game gives you easier wins, with some truly powerful EGOs. Feels counterintuitive to a lot of practical game design.

I feel like a lot of the game can feel like that more and more even. Even more of the game feels designed around IDs that are the strongest of the strong, and I dislike the meta around strong units, since they are quite difficult to get, something you have to go out of your way for...

COMPARED TO LIBRARY OF RUINA WHEN THEY WERE JUST ORGANICALLY PART OF THE FUCKING GAMEPLAY!

Anyways I should wrap this up.

Very in-cohesive rant. Early in the morning. But. These feelings are my own.

I'll end if off with a review:

Lobotomy Corporation. A favorite of mine. Janky, obtuse, but so alluring in its design. So captivating, and so amazing. To slowly whittle away at it made me feel like an artist, like a woodcarver, slowly chipping away at a chunk of wood, until I have finished what I set out to do.

Library of Ruina. While I don't talk about it much, and have gotten bad at articulating it. This game means so fucking much to me. I love how there's so many weird strategies in this game that genuinely work in such a beautiful way. Even though this game has a sort of meta, I think it works in a satisfying and beautiful way, and when your entire deck is made up of those who exist at the apex of the City, it feels amazing. Truly amazing.

Limbus Company. In the past, while I don't do review scores, since I believe they're counterintuitive when it comes to making game critiques, I do give them sometimes. When I was still playing Limbus, I gave would give it a 7/10. A farcry from what I thought about LobCorp or Ruina. While I love the stories (even if I have some story based critiques here and there), the story is not enough to carry an experience that overall, is rather frustrating, and arduous. Many fights have polarizing clashes, where it is either just an easy slog you can do in your sleep, or is just simply, bullshit, with enemies that clash too high, and occasionally, negative coins, which punish you for like. Daring to actually engage with the mechanics in a way that make sense. It's like. If you're struggling with an enemy who's consistently clashing higher than you, your priority should be lowering the meter that makes them clash high. Enemies like Pequod Town villagers or Distorted Bamboo Hatted Kim completely destroy this philosophy. Just for an example. The big thing is, I have so, so many issues with Limbus Company that what would normally be a cohesive review quickly devolves into a rant about all the things I dislike about it.

What really gets me? A refusal for the game's fanbase to engage in actual criticism of the game. I mean look at their reaction to people leaving negative review scores on changes that, if I'm being honest, are changes I would consider bad. It's all about the "scary chinese players trying to hurt are hallowed project" rather than actually engaging in criticism of the game. Ugh. It's just. A lot. Issues with the game, that are reflected and exacerbated by the fanbase. Even people I hold in good regard as friends can be frustrating occasionally in this regard. Eh. It's just that. Yeah I love the characters and what not and love playing around with silly ideas for them, but playing with them feels more fun than playing the actual game itself.

As it stands, the review I would give Limbus Company, is a rare one where a numerical score reflects my emotions. 5/10. A glaring score of mediocrity, that only sours as the game continues to refuse to acknowledge or fix actual problems indicative to the game.

A game that builds it gameplay value out of obligation tied to upgrade materials and in-game currency, a game that is outcompeted by many other games with roguelike/turnbased gameplay in that department, so really, the only reason to play is an obligation for many people. An obligation that's not worth having.

[solitaireships]

Friendly Banter - Part 1

Hi, and welcome to the first little series of fics I'm doing on here! I was disappointed by the lack of banter/companion comments on what character you end up romancing, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and write my own banter. There'll be five parts of this, with each one having banter between Minala and a different companion

This first one's going to be with Davrin! It's a little non-traditional for my selfship fics since it's not only not including my f/o in the fic and it's actually pre-relationship, but I think it's cute

Rating: Gen

Genre: Fluff

Words: 654 words

Divider by saradika

“Alright,” Minala says, sighing as she stands up from her seat in the library. “We should have everything good to go for heading back to Hossberg tomorrow. Thanks again for helping out, Davrin.”

“It’s no problem. It might not be my usual station, but I know enough about the Wardens' work there to lend a hand,” he says.

While the two of them were making plans for their next venture out, he’s been whittling away at a bit of wood, slowly shaping it into another monster for his collection. His craftsmanship has always impressed Minala— she can’t imagine working on something as unforgiving as wood for hours. At least if she spells something wrong in one of the stories she writes, she can always just start again on a new page or cross it out. There’s no fixing mistakes with woodcarving, not without starting over from scratch.

“Well, either way, I appreciate it,” Minala says. “It’s a little late to head over now, but I’m thinking we can head out there with Bellara tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good. Maybe when you fill her in on the plan, you can let her know about some other things too,” Davrin says.

Minala blinks, looking over to where he sits, still carving away on what looks to be a carving of a deepstalker. “Sorry, I could tell her about what?”

Davrin shrugs. “The world possibly ending seems like a good motivator to tell someone you’re interested in them.”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Minala says. 

It’s a blatant lie, and probably one Davrin recognizes as such. It’s not as if the two of them just talk in a professional capacity— Minala’s surprised at how easy it’s been to make friends with the rest of the Veilguard, and she and Davrin seem to get along particularly well. Well enough that he clearly doesn’t buy her attempt to say there’s nothing between her and Bellara, with him raising a doubtful eyebrow as he keeps working on his whittling. 

For a moment the two of them are in relative silence, the only sound being his blade carving through the wood. Then Minala sighs, fiddling with one of her braids with one hand. 

“Okay, yes, I like Bellara. A lot more than I expected to. I was hoping to keep it quiet until I figured something out, but… well, here we are.”

“Here we are.”

“And apparently I’m not doing too well at keeping it quiet.”

“I only know because a griffon told me,” Davrin says.

“Assan can’t talk.” At least Minala’s pretty sure he can’t.

“He can’t,” he confirms. “But I did overhear you talking to him about Bellara.”

“Ah.”

“And with how often the three of us go out together, it’s hard not to notice the eyes you two keep giving each other,” Davrin says.

“We’re not giving each other eyes,” Minala insists. Or at least she’s pretty sure that Bellara’s not giving her any looks like that— maybe she’s been focused a little too much on her and just didn’t notice. The thought that it’s obvious enough for Davrin to have noticed her looking is embarrassing, though.

“Right. Well, like I said. If the world might end, I’d at least take a chance with someone I’m interested in,” Davrin says, leaning back in his seat. 

He has a point and Minala knows it. They’re doing everything they can to stop the gods and keep their Veil from falling, but there’s always a chance things could go wrong. She doesn’t know how much longer she or anyone else will have left before the end. She should ask Bellara if the two of them might be something more than friends before it’s too late. 

But still she’ll need to work herself up to that. 

“I’ll talk to her. Not right now, but soon,” Minala says. “And thanks.”

“No problem. Just try not to give yourself something to regret.”

[niftukkun]

for the first week of @shepscapades 's hermitcraft character design event, i offer grian as an aarakocra artificer!

for an elaboration on my choices in character design,

aarakocra was kind of an obvious choice, but as a bonus i made grian a scarlet macaw aarakocra because Pesky Bird.

im not sure how much the design communicates artificer, but that's halfway intentional since i wanted the design to communicate grian more than generic dnd character. i very specifically chose the artillerist subclass because on my brief readthrough on the wiki artillerist is not only apparently the explosions subclass but also on the 3rd level artillerists get eldritch cannons and on the 9th level artillerists get to explode the eldritch cannons! and i thought that was cool so i included an exploding cannon in the brackground of the drawing.

why artificer? uh. mm. i just find them kinda neat. also it kind of fits grian's. researcher? thing?? with the rift and entity this season. im not sure how it translated into amethysts just kind of appearing all over the design but hey i think it fits and the purple accent over everything reminds me of minecraft enchantments so. oh also i couldnt decide on a weapon but when i searched up woodcarver tools (cause artillerist subclass) there was one that kinda looked like what hes holding and i think grian is unhinged enough to use a tool as a weapon so i just gave him that

also i feel like it should go without saying that grian is on the chaotic end of the chart. im leaning towards chaotic neutral but honestly i think that morality is kind of a weird thing to measure in/from minecraft where death more or less holds no meaning and the guy in question has definately killed all his friends at least once and one specific friend about a thousand times so. eh

also sidenote but according to the wiki artificers are more support than anything but you cannot look me in the eyes and say grian isnt the main damage dealer or the guy who causes the most chaos during battle. he has so many counts of property damage and the only reason im not calling him a murder hobo is because hes more creative than that. if he wants to be chaotic he can do better murder is the least creative way to cause chaos; hed eat a plot important object whole in front of the town mayor before going on a murder hobo spree

[owlbelly]

2024 bingo review

no bingos. half-hearts are for things i started or did occasionally but didn't feel like i really completed to my satisfaction, which is maybe a little unfair because some of them (especially the garage clean/organize & woodchipping) i did make serious progress on but it's a huge job. so idk maybe i should have counted those! i counted "stretch/walk" because i did WAY better with stretching (almost every day for my legs/feet!) & i think i walked more than i did last year but i was hampered by tendonitis for a lot of the year again. i did a fuck ton of yard work though so that should count! i'm very bad at "going for a walk" as an activity in itself - i don't like walking the same route over & over again, i don't like walking up the big hill RIGHT at the start of the walk we always take, but i DO like doing hours of yard work to actually accomplish shit i can see.

my creative goals got put on the back burner again (as usual) due to putting most of my art energy into freelance...i need to not let that happen next year. i mean i need to continue to make money but jfc i also need to feel like i experimented & accomplished something new with my own art!!! feeling very hopeful about woodcarving, i'm really enjoying it now that i started. i just have so many things always that i want to make/do, & so little energy/time (executive function?). music also just didn't happen but i did acquire MORE instruments (stole my dad's mountain dulcimer because he doesn't play it, picked up a few hand drums at thrift stores, got a vintage keyboard for free) so like. bitch. either play them or get rid of them!!! i need to play them!!! i got a tuner as a holiday present so guitar/banjo are back on the menu too. i need to find local people to play with, i do much better with music when i'm not alone.

some of these are definitely gonna roll over to 2025 because i feel strongly about them, i also need to like...think about how to word things so that they're more doable or i can't look at them at the end of the year & go "welllll did i REALLY accomplish that?? probably not" because that's not a good feeling & i tend to be somewhat unfair to myself. i appreciate seeing other people's bingo sheets without bingos though, because it reminds me i don't HAVE to get a bingo! also there were a ton of accomplishments i made this year that weren't on that list at all, like organizing the fuck out of the house.

gotta work on the 2025 sheet now!

[lauronk]

I wish you would write a fic where...

Joel and Anna get together after Sarah goes to college. Ellie is their kid and Sarah is the cool aunt figure.

hi! thank you so much for the prompt! ngl, i struggled with it a little because i do not know how to write Romantic Joel, he exists only as Dad in my head lol but i gave it a good shot, i hope you enjoy!

the best day with you today

length: ~1.2k words tags: canon divergence; modern au; everyone's alive; joel/anna; joel & ellie & anna & sarah; family feels; pregnancy; family bonding; dunking each other in the river; no beta we die like david

Joel had never really planned on having another kid. Hell, he’d barely even planned on having the first - definitely not as young as he’d been - but Rae had gotten pregnant and they’d gotten married and then barely a year after Sarah’s birth, she’d decided she wasn’t cut out for motherhood, and she bailed. Sarah had no memories of her, but other than a few growing pains here and there, she’d never seemed to be worse off without her.

Joel had raised her and watched her graduate and sent her off to college (all the way to San Marcos, which really isn’t that far, Dad, I’ll come visit plenty) and then realized he had no damn idea what to do with his life now. No soccer practice to cart her to, no sleepovers to host, no extracurriculars to plan around.

Now it was just him and his empty house and enough woodcarvings to fill the time that Tommy finally confiscated his knives and said he could have them back if he left the house once a week for two months.

So, after digging around on the internet a little, he’d gone to the library down the street, picked up their calendar, and signed up for the monthly book club and the Spanish conversation group. Both of which, it turned out, were attended by a woman named Anna who had a habit of shooting him amused looks when one of the other book club members made an asinine remark.

True to his word, Tommy returned the knives to him after two months, but they started collecting dust almost immediately because Joel spent all his free time with Anna. A coffee date turned into a dinner date and within two weeks they were seeing each other near daily.

Sarah had been astonished - and more than a little skeptical - when Joel sat her down and told her that he and Anna were planning to get married, with her blessing of course, barely ten months after meeting. Joel could see it all over her face that she didn’t think it would last, that he was having some kind of midlife crisis - not helped by the fact that Anna was nearly ten years younger than him - and that they wouldn’t last the year.

But she could see how important this was to him, so she gave her blessing anyway. No matter her own reservations, she wanted her dad to be happy. And she liked Anna a lot, thought her a good match for Joel, even if everything was moving unsettlingly fast.

They’d done a small ceremony in the backyard, just Sarah, Tommy, and Anna’s best friend Marlene in attendance. And for another two years that had been their family; neither of them had planned on having kids.

But then Anna started throwing up, missed her period, and those two lines on the test turned pink. And suddenly, they were having a baby.

Ellie made her arrival a week before Sarah’s twenty-first birthday, and Joel’s eldest spent what should have been a night out partying pacing laps around their living room cradling her sister, while Joel and Anna snagged a few precious hours of sleep. He’d been worried that getting a baby sister when she herself was full grown would be a problem for Sarah, but it had been the opposite. Ellie was Sarah’s favorite person ever, a feeling that went both ways as Ellie got older.

Wild, Joel thought, watching Ellie and Sarah float in their tubes ahead of him and Anna, how his girls could be so far apart in years and yet be so close and so similar. Maybe not wild, just…lucky.

The two of them are shooting mischievous grins over their shoulders now, and Joel shares a wry look with Anna. Her nose and cheeks are tinted red with the sun, tips of her fingers tracing lightly through the water as they float down the San Marcos River.

“Here,” Joel says, carefully tossing her the small tube of sunscreen. He points to his own nose and cheeks. “Think you need a bit of a touch up, you’re gettin’ a little crispy.”

Anna gives him a wry smile, rubbing a fresh coat over her face. “Not all of us were made to roast in the Texas sun, sweetheart.”

Joel shrugs. “Can’t help it that I tan and you don’t, darlin’. Y’know –”

Something pushes hard on the bottom of his tube, and Joel goes ass over head into the river, the cold temperature jolting him into opening his mouth and damn near inhaling enough water to fill his lungs. When his head breaks the surface a chorus of laughter greets him - six feet away Ellie is clambering back into her tube while Sarah tries to hold it steady. Next to him Anna is howling, her own hand barely maintaining a grip on his tube while the other clutches her stomach. He doesn’t bother climbing back into it; instead he propels himself forward through the water until he’s caught up to the girls.

Ellie shrieks and tries to paddle away, but she’s too slow, and Joel has her flipped into the water in a matter of seconds. He waits until she surfaces, gulps in a bit of air, and then promptly dunks her again.

She comes back up sputtering, a hand frantically trying to wipe her face clean. “Rude!” is all she manages, scooping a hand through the water to splash him. It hits him in the chest - he can still hear Sarah and Anna laughing - and he propels himself forward to hook an arm around her waist and hoist her up over his shoulder. It takes more effort to keep them afloat - his back is gonna hate him for this later, fifty-seven is really a bit too old to be lifting teenagers, even ones as scrawny as Ellie - but he paddles them unevenly back over towards Anna.

“Caught you something, huh?” His wife calls, shielding her face when Ellie aims a splash of water her way too.

“Sarah neglected to mention the river was full of gremlins,” he says back, giving her a grin before sucking in a breath and plunging himself - and his squirming daughter - under the water once more. Only once they’ve surfaced again does he release her, the two of them treading water.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re an ass?” Ellie says playfully, splashing him again.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a little shit?” He retorts, splashing her right back.

“Anyone ever tell either of you that you're exactly the same?” Anna cuts in from behind them, one hand still holding Joel’s tube.

“No,” they reply simultaneously, and she lets out another bark of laughter, echoed by Sarah on the other side of them.

“I’m never bringing y’all floating again,” she says teasingly, her head tipping back dramatically.

“Oh please,” Ellie doggy paddles forward, hoisting herself back into her tube next to her sister. “You’d be so bored doing this without us. You love us.”

Sarah scrunches up her nose, pretending to think for a moment before she leans over - nearly upsetting her own tube - and smacking a kiss onto her younger sister’s cheek. “Yeah, guess I do.”

thanks for reading!

[pinkysberg]

For me a modern Charles wouldn´t really work with animals but rather work as an activist for Native American Rights. I really don´t know where yall get the sentiment that Charles loves animals and nature, maybe from that one bison mission? I think that was more him being mad because of the hunters killing the bison and trying to implicate the natives. Maybe he likes it but I don´t think he´d devote his life to it. Arthur loves animals and nature more than Charles I think. Anyways, by day he works with Native Americans, protecting their land, securing safe to drink water and preserving their culture. In the evenings he might go for a drink at the bar where Javier sometimes plays and maybe meetup with Arthur? Who knows. I think Charles would wear a lot of either second hand clothes, self made clothes or clothes he was gifted. Also he still woodcarves and gives the carvings as birthday gifts. (ModernAU opinions part. 2)

i have often wondered where this "charles is an animal lover" concept came from. i mean, im sure he's not an animal hater but like you mention, the only indication is the bison mission and his main concern is the threat to culture and exacerbation of anti-indigenous sentiments. you're spot on, the animal lover thing is much more applicable to arthur than it is charles.

in my modern au i just made charles a boxer bc. we see him box and self indulgently wanted an excuse to draw him in boxer scenarios lol. but i much prefer this as it feels more him. a major motivator for charles is protecting and working with the wapiti tribe.

i also want to add i feel his advocacy and organizing would (and should) extend to black liberation and the likes. he's afroindigenous and i feel sometimes we forget the afro aspect of his identity - which admittedly the game doesn't really do much with his black identity outside of the very isolating experiences of a biracial individual - especially during the time.

[wisteriaiswriting]

hello! hope youre having a good day:>

may i request for a general romantic hcs for overwatch hanzo? (e.g first kiss, confession, fav date places etc)

thank you so much!

𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝 ℝ𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕔 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕤

Words: 278

He was never one to give kisses early into the relationship. Needing time to build a connection strong enough to do so.

Needs the scenario to be perfect when the time comes. Wanting it to be romantic and comfortable for both of you.

Even if you say so he’ll get your confirmation at every step of the way. After his many years of mistakes and self doubt he needs to know you’re okay with this.

It will be a few months before he even thinks about confessing. All after many months of denying these feelings.

But when he actually does it’s everything you could ever dream of. Flowers, chocolate or anything else you prefer, definitely in private while telling you everything that he loves and that led up to this moment.

Before this he has backed out many, many times. With Genji and Illari forcing him to finally do it.

His top is gift giving, close next is acts of service.

With gift giving he especially loves making items to give, sees it as being more sincere.

A secret hobby of his is woodcarving. Has had you a smaller custom design based on yourself, which includes matching arrows. (All have both of your names carved into them.)

He’ll take you to one of many Japanese buffet style places. It’s one he used to frequent in his younger years, but not as often now.

You cannot convince this man to let you pay. He is taking that burden as someone like you should never.

Unless you have allergies or just don’t like certain foods, he’ll have you try every bit of food he orders. Hopes you’ll do the same.

[cyten0]

A Symphony in Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 4

The third floor. It’s been smelling oddly sweet so far, but otherwise normal. The darkened walls and stars, the smell of sadnesses, and rooms and tears everywhere. There is the hair too, which is interesting. Human, but soaked in that same sweet smell. Sadness is different. Combined with the hunger, and it’s been a little distracting. The floors layout hasn’t helped either, but you got that nice picture! You’re glad Isa knew about that.

But now that you’ve finally got this crest, you decide to try it out. You open up the corridor near the mirror room, since that seems like a nice one and find… A writing room. There’s… Not gonna be anything here to help with that hair barrier, is there?

✸ Correct Stardust! Looks like a dead end. Might as well explore before looping back though

Stars. Well, Ok. You head over to a bookshelf and take a look, see if there’s… Great. It’s a horror anthology. You’re not a fan of horror.

▲ “Oooh Mira, looks like the kind of books you like, yeah? Horror books… This one looks massive! What’s this one ca-”

◉ “THAT'S THE "HANDSOME YOUNG MEN FALLING INTO BEAUTIFUL HEARTBREAKING MADNESS" HORROR ANTHOLOGY!!!”

You jump backwards, nearly tumbling!

◉ “DID… DID SOMEONE IN THE HOUSE HAVE THIS ALL THIS TIME?”

✿ “Did someone keep it from you???”

◆ “What is it, anyway?”

◉ “It’s an anthology about pure-hearted boys being subjected to awful monsters and horror situations!!!”

Yeah, you figured. Monster books are not your thing, for obvious reasons. But Mira likes them, so you listen as she talks about the stories, and you feel confident in not wanting to read this. You zone out for a bit, letting her chat...

◉ “And also sometimes the hero’s end up bonding with the monsters, too-”

✦ “WAIT WHAT”

Oh my stars really?!

▲ “Woah! That got Sif’s attention.”

✿ “Me too! That sounds crazy!”

◉ “Oh yeah! While it’s not often, there are a couple stories that have that. It’s pretty good!”

✦ “I need to see those! So bad! You have no idea!”

Oh my stars oh my stars REALLY? That’s a thing people wrote? Monsters not only being good people but ROMANCE??? You HAVE to see it!!!

▲ “I too, would like to see the monster romance stories.”

◆ “I’d like to see all of that actually. You’ll have to give us recommendations afterwards.”

You nod furiously! You have never been excited for a horror book before! You're practically vibrating with excitement!

◉ “Of course! I’d love to! I’ll even lend some of my favorites! Well… As soon as we escape a horror story of our own I guess.”

◆ “Hah! I’m looking forwards to it.”

… Right. You have to get them out first. But this is a dead end so… You’ll have to ask Mira about it after your done!

>>>

Can’t believe you missed a key on the second floor! So BLINDING stupid. And you're not gonna loop forwards, cause you're trying to conserve energy for the king, and whatever this key unlocks will probably take you right to them. So here you are, in the trap room. You kinda sped past this room a little last time, but you might as well look around to get your mind off things.

Hm, are those wood carving tools?

◉ “Oh, you interested in trying woodcarving again, Siffrin?”

✦ “! I mean, I’m not sure.”

You have mixed feelings about wood carving.

▲ “I still have the figurine you made last time! It wasn’t that bad, I’m sure you could get the hang of it!”

◆ “Really? Because last I checked, that thing was more glue and splinters then carving.”

✿ “Yeah, I think Frin almost broke their knife making it!”

◉ “It wasn’t that bad! At least you didn’t hurt yourself.”

...You actually did stab yourself pretty badly... But you put it back together before anyone noticed, so it’s fine!

✦ “I’ll just stick to tinkering.”

◆ “Indeed. No shame in focusing on your talents.”

Maybe not for most... You should be good at it. You have to find a way to, at some point. It was one of Siffrin’s hobbies, and you should be able to do it for them. But… You guess tinkering is close enough for now.

You grab the key and move on.

>>>

As you enter the room at the end of the corridor, you find an empty room, with nothing but a statue of the change god. Is… Is that it? You’ve checked nearly every other room in the house, you don’t have anything else...

▲ “Well, I thought there’d be something in this room but…”

✿ “BUT IT’S A CRABBING DEAD END!!!!!!!”

◆ “Language”

◉ “But there’s an intact statue of the Change God over there… Isn’t it the first we’ve seen one in the house?”

...Huh. She’s right, it’s the only one. You decide to take a closer look. Maybe there’s something? This is your last option. If you can’t find something here, you’ll have to start taking drastic measures...

Your party starts to pray. You… Decide to join them. You know they likely won’t care for you, but… For the other’s sake, you pray. It’s all you can think of to do right now.

In a sudden flash of light, you feel something in your hands! It’s.. A knife?!? Shaped like a key???

◉ “Siffrin?? Wh-What are you holding there???”

✿ “A KNIFE!!!!!!”

▲ “Did, Did the change god give it to us???”

◆ “Huh??? No, it can’t-”

◉ “I think th-they did!!! With it, we can-”

With another light, you feel the world fall out around you, as you hurtle across a pure white realm not your own, emerging back in the main room. You all look around, in disbelief. There. There’s no way…

◆ “What the-”

▲ “We’re back here?”

✿ “The Change God beamed us here!!!”

You all stand there in disbelief.

And you… They… They gave it. To you.

They… They trust you? They answered you?

You feel tears down your cheek. They… They have to know what you’ve done, far better then what little fragments you can remember, but still…

◉ “Siffrin? You Ok? You're crying.”

✦ “I… Yeah. Just. A little overwhelmed.”

◆ “Whatever Deity gave us this knife, thank you.”

You hold the dagger close. And say quietly under your breath, so no one else can hear.

✦ “Thank you. For forgiving me.”

You walk forwards, and cut through the wall of hair in a single blow, putting your inhuman strength behind it’s blade. The knife shatters under the strain, but it’s alright. You can take it from here.

You have a king to beat.

>>>

You're well fed, thanks to Bonnie (Siffrin had good taste, those fritters were FANTASTIC), and you are all ready. It’s time. You clutch the broken hilt of the key dagger to your heart.

You enter into the final hallway. Towering above you, as their bright locks fill the room, sits the king. Their darkened, star adorned armor covering their form, their hands obscuring their face. Still as a statue, until you approach, and they begin to stir.

♔ “Ah….. Ah….. Young ones…. Are you….. here to kill me…..?”

You all stare at them, readied. Determined. He first turns to Mirabelle.

♔ “Oh…. Young lady…… You stand for Change Themselves, do you not…..?”

He pauses, awaiting a response.

◉ “You have denied the entire country of change. Of life itself. And we won’t let you win.”

He sits solemnly, and then lifts his head to see you all.

♔ “…. A shame….. I just want the world to be safe as it is……... Frozen forever in this perfect state……….. And the rest of you……?”

▲ “You’ve hurt too many, and we need to stop you! For all of Vaugarde!”

◆ “This country shouldn’t be confined to history yet.”

✿ “y-Yeah! You won’t get away with this!”

✦ “We can’t afford to let you win.”

The king stares, unmoving, then with a sudden snap, turns to face you. He stares you down, pure hatred in what little of his face you can see. There is a cold, icy rage to his voice as he speaks.

♔ “You….. Bright one…. Do you remember?”

W-What? Do they...? How do they know it’s you? How do they remember?!? Even you can barely get anything! Play it dumb, play it dumb!

✦ “R-Remember what?”

♔ “….. What cruel irony……”

♔ “In this battle between eternity and the end…… We shall fight…..”

As he lifts himself from the ground, is voice becomes booming, filling the room.

♔ “AND WE SHALL SEE WHICH SIDE THE UNIVERSE FAVORS”

As you pull out your weapons, the king begins to channel immense craft energy. A swelling power begins to fill the room, so potent it’s nauseating.

♔ “… For the sake of the rest of you, I shall be merciful…….. And give you time to come to terms with the end.”

You can feel this energy so clearly. It’s so potent and deadly. It’ll kill you all if you can’t stop it!

✦ “Isa, defense! Everyone, we have to stop him NOW!”

You all try and launch yourself at the king, trying to disrupt them. You launch yourself at the king, and as your craft empowered strike pierces through his armor, he does not so much as flinch. You strike, as fast as you can, snapping the bones in your arm apart just for more flexibility. Even Odile’s crafts are barely hurting him. You're doing damage but… There’s no time!

A wave of destructive power washes over you, striking you with the force of a tidal wave, as you all feel your bodies crumple and break as their flung halfway across the room.

It hurts. It’s so rare for things to hurt. But it hurts so much, You can barely move!

The king starts to move towards the others. He’s… He’s going to finish them off! You. Will. Not. Let. Him!!!

You unfurl your tendrils out of your body, and grapple the king’s hand before it can strike. The king turns towards you, enraged.

♔ “I knew it…..”

Weakly, you call out to your party.

✦ “Run!”

They seem shocked, seeing your monstrous nature, but only briefly. Bonnie, mostly uninjured, stumbles, then flees. The others try and pick themselves up, but they're too weak to move!

The king struggles in your grasp, fighting it, before he has enough and takes his other hand and brings it down on you, as it crushes you, you barely have time to squirm before your heart cracks under the weight of the blow.

《《《《《《

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

STARS that hurts so much!!!! You fought back the pain of the first blow, but that second blow, you were barely holding yourself together! It still hurts, even now, it hurts so blinding MUCH.

You breathe, slowly settling yourself. Putting yourself back together.

Ok. So. King is. A lot tougher then you expected. As your senses start to come together, and the pain fades, you can start to think a little. You can’t believe the king defeated you all in ONE hit! How did he even get so strong? No human should be that powerful, You should know!

You basically have two options. Either stop him before he can do that attack, or find a way to protect you all before then. That’s fine. There has to be a way to do that. Mira can do some elaborate healing crafts, and defense isn’t that far off. Maybe she has an idea!

… But… The king… He’s… Is he from there too? …You don’t want to take another life from there.

...You’ll talk with loop. Get their opinion.

You’ll find a way forwards.

>>>

You sit on a branch of the favor tree. Loop looks across at you. Silently. Behind their mask, their face is unreadable. Not that you were ever that good at reading faces, but still… They seem to be waiting for you to speak.

✦ “… Did you know? About the king?”

��� “Which part, Stardust? Quite a lot happened there, in very little time!”

✦ “That they're from the same place as Siffrin.”

✸ “Well, it seemed likely. I mean, no one knows where they came from. Not surprising, in hindsight!”

✦ “I-I don’t know if I can fight them. I can’t…”

✸ “Stardust.”

Loop’s firm response shocks you out of your worries.

✸ “… Look, whatever the king’s story might be, right now, they are threatening all of Vaugarde. They're about to end an entire country, all over again. And you aren’t going to change their mind at this point. What happened to them does not excuse their actions.”

It’s cold comfort. But you suppose it’s true. You don’t feel right being their judge, but you suppose you're just the executioner. Everyone else has made it clear where they stand. And they have deemed him a monster.

✸ “...And don’t forget, even with your loops, you're on a ticking clock.”

...Right... There’s not a lot of wiggle room. Even if you wanted to try, you’ll only be looping for so long before sadnesses won’t be enough. They're like drinking coffee, plenty of energy and it’ll fill your belly, but barely any real sustenance. It’ll catch up eventually, and if you're not done here by then…

✦ “...I guess there’s no option.”

✸ “Right! So that just leaves a way to get past that attack. And maybe see if there’s a way to find out how the king recognized you! Might be able to get a little breathing room, who knows?”

✦ “Guess I could always ask him, right? Not like he’d know after.”

✸ “That… Might work? But I don’t trust him. Might be a bad idea.”

✦ “Better then nothing. Ok. That’s a solid plan. I'll get on it.”

✸ “Want to grab a bite to eat first?”

Oh, right! You should do that! How did you forget that?… Ugh, it’s starting to catch up already, isn’t it? You likely won’t have much time at all before your hunger starts catching up...Oh well, you nearly have this all handled, so you should be fine. You nod, and Loop summons the sadness, which is killed and eaten quickly.

Alright. Let’s go Siffrin. You have a king to beat.

✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸

...They're getting close. You are pretty sure they can bypass that attack, and not resort to the same measures as you did. They're hungry, but not so hungry they can’t win, or will lose it. If they can beat the king, without loosing the others, then it should be over.

But… You think it might not. You hope it will. You can’t say it won’t. But now you can think it through… There might be more to this then expected. And if it is… then things will get much more dangerous… He’s getting hungry.

[strixcattus]

Playing through Inscryption again and I've decided that my goal should be to go about things as slowly as possible, since I'm in no rush to beat the game a third time (unlike Luke Carder, apparently.) Turns out there are a few things to see going through like that.

PO3 gets annoyed if you don't look in the rulebook as soon as he brings it up. He'll mention it in varying degrees of "please just go and look up the Wing Clipper sigil, god" every time you draw him. I don't think he ever stops until you do—I ended up caving so I could pick up the squirrel topper.

Speaking of, you can absolutely meet the Woodcarver before you find the squirrel topper. I always kind of just assumed she only showed up afterwards. Though I wouldn't recommend waiting on the topper—you won't get to use it until you meet the Woodcarver again.

If you beat Leshy before taking his film roll, you get a little card with a first place ribbon and the name you give him pinned to the door. Every time you beat him you can get another one. I wonder what the limit is...

On the subject of people getting annoyed at the gameplay? Luke is mostly silent for Act I, but after beating Leshy, he gets both talkative and clearly tired of going through the game again.

Apparently the Moon is not immune to Touch of Death in Act I. I could have sworn it was, but the stone sigil doesn't show up anywhere (even on actual boulders!) despite being in the rulebook.

I still haven't figured out what's up with the painting, and not for lack of trying. It haunts me. It's probably the one place I'd refuse to look up anything for, just because it seems so doable! But it isn't!

[aroanthy]

i've thoroughly enjoyed everything you already said on the topic and would like to ask if there is anything else you might want to get off your chest about saionjis gender shit if it strikes the fancy?

i am the transfem saionji truther, we know this, but mannnn. her whole thing with masculinity is so damn interesting and i see very few people actually grasp at what's going on in that (malcolm tucker voice) abandoned barn of a brain of hers. that was a joke btw her brain is not an abandoned barn she actually makes some of the most astute points in the whole show lmfao. anyway

saionji's masculine ideal is much more informed by traditionally japanese ideas of gender, as opposed to the americanised 'modern man' masculinity that akio peddles. like saionji thinks that princes are cringe. he's just also tormented by the fact that no one else thinks that and everyone loves these princes and because he's got the world's biggest inferiority complex, he can only think that he's wrong, that he's been left behind to a world deemed 'unspecial' because of some innate quality about him. and whenever saionji thinks this (all the time) he becomes fucking awful to be around.

i digress. saionji takes being the president of the kendo club very seriously, not just because he takes Everything seriously but-- well. arguably the reason that he takes Everything seriously is because of his practice of kendo. i think it's a bit of a chicken and the egg situation wrt 'is saionji Just Like That or did his warrior grindset make him that way'. kendo is really important to him, and the way that he and touga are (rarely, lol) able to connect through it would suggest, i argue, that it's a good and healthy thing for him to have in his life. same goes for touga but that's a different post about 1000 other things.

i think this gets at a) something rgu is trying to get at wrt americanisation and a critique of aspects of japanese culture that doesn't then discard that culture altogether. ikuhara does this a lot more obviously in his other shows. and then b) on a character-level, it's about separating something valuable and important (the practice of kendo) from ideas that have enmeshed themselves with it bc Society (misogyny, namely). saionji's conception of masculinity is all about kendo, and he likes kendo, but he's uncomfortable with/stifled by this expectation of Manliness that he simply cannot access in a way he's comfortable with. it's only when he lets himself forget about his obsession with power dynamics and Being A Man that he can just. enjoy this aspect of his life that informs how he lives it so wholly. tldr girls can be kendokas too. which is obvious to people who aren't as misogyny-brainrotted as ohtori academy student saionji kyouichi, but swagever.

btw if anyone whose better educated on nuances of japanese culture than i, white british person whose only read a handful of academic articles on the subject, thinks something ive said here is off in any way, please let me know!! i always always always want to gain a better understanding of rgu as a distinctly japanese show, my lack of resources and formal education on these topics be damned!!

i just think saionji is an androgynous legend who should get into textile crafts. let her woodcarve and knit. she'll be unstoppable. practical queen etc etc. lets embrace gender anarchy together

[filurig]

12 or 27 for Arvo + Folke?

ill answer both hihiii thank u for these!!!

12. Do they have any affection for each other? How do they show it?

yes - folke, after some denial, becomes aware of it. because initially his view of their relationship is a bit like arvo's in that he thinks he's in it to observe someone really weird... he comes to the conclusion that he does genuinely like him as a friend much quicker than arvo. arvo... doesn't really get there, or its more like a combination of him having sort of forgotten what affection kind of is - like what emotion would be the equivalent of that, AND also just denying any sort of emotion that concerns personal connection/camraderie between them (this of course changes during pt 2 but i'll talk mainly about pt 1 pareidolia for this answer)

folke is a very touchy person and likes showing affection by closeness - he's big on hugs and just general proximity. this is a bit difficult in regards to arvo because he's very very much Not a fan of that and reacts quite aggressively to it (not in chewing him out but like... pulling away violently and giving folke a good O_O stare). but it is something that folke makes the effort to adapt to and learns pretty fast that he should reign in when with arvo. other than that there are other ways he shows affection that is more congruent with arvo... inviting him into his own life/routines and showing him more of his own interests etc. basically spending time etc. and also eventually through food - circumstances already lead to folke having to cook food for arvo and during this he tries to learn his tastes and seeing just how well he can adapt to them. also through art, specifically woodcarving - he offers to teach arvo how to do it, and begins to carve figurines vaguely inspired by him - which he then gifts to him

arvo on the other hand will unknowingly show his affection through spending time as well - arvo is the type of person who can really enjoy just sitting in silence together and not even doing anything in particular. if he's affectionate towards someone he'll be more prone to talking, asking questions, and most of all - showing inexperience. you know you've really wormed your way into his heart if he admits to not really knowing how to do something in front of you WHILE he also doesn't consider you someone he has to show submission to. at the point in their relationship (in pt 1) where they're the closest he also even makes the effort to hold back on saying things that he knows will upset folke... with great difficulty.

(this is also something that will backfire on him later)

27. How far would they go for each other? Would they risk their own lives for each other?

this one is a bit difficult bcs neither i think would directly sacrifice their life for the other if given a very straightforward choice, but through the story they do make decisions that could potentially have put their own lives at jeopardy for the other - at least in their view. it also kinda depends on what part of the story too...

pt 1 folke: willing to risk a lot - his trust in arvo is put to the test and he is willing to bank on his hunch on it being correct when he would've been potentially killed if wrong

pt 2 folke: wouldn't want to risk much lets just say...

"epilogue" folke: does end up risking his other relationships which is a huge deal for him. perhaps his willingness to sacrifice eventually builds up to similar levels to the end of part 1...

pt 1 arvo: wouldn't want to sacrifice much for most of this part, but does end up making a decision where he basically gives up on his own life as a concession to folke. (in a way... its how he sees it in his brain)

pt 2 arvo: does end up risking his life for even just the potential reigniting of their friendship in a sort of roundabout way (LOL)

"epilogue" arvo: i think he still has that degree of selfishness that would prevent him from being too selfless, but he is certainly willing to give up a lot for him atp