5/6/25 WIP List To Hold Myself Accountable

Hey I know I said this blog was about dragon quest but I need to talk about Caroline and Pierre from Stardew Valley because their marriage is the most interesting part of the game for me personally

I really don’t think that it’s a superficial “ball and chain” type of relationship where Caroline is a cheating whore and Pierre is just some callous asshole who doesn’t give a shit ab his wife. I’m not saying those relationships don’t exist, I’m saying that I don’t think it’s the case for these two.

I think that Caroline used to be very wild when she was younger. She was outgoing, flirty, always smelled like fresh tea and lemongrass and summer air. A little salty too, with how much time she spent at the beach. I think she lived to have fun, and made a few too many hasty decisions.

When Pierre moved to the valley he was a handsome man with a strong jaw and blue eyes filled with ambition. He had a very specific idea of where he wanted his life to go. When he and Caroline met, they thought it could just be a fun summer.

Pierre didn’t expect to fall as hard as he did, and Caroline didn’t expect there to be consequences for her actions. I think she really didn’t know who Abigail belonged to. They married quickly, and what went wrong was the fact that their marriage was built on an idea of obligation. Pierre needed to take accountability for who he thought was his child, Caroline wanted to marry a man she knew could support himself and her.

Both of them knew this. Maybe they loved each other a little, but not as wholly as they could. Pierre tried so hard to make Caroline happy with what she had, with what she could give him, but it really wasn’t anything he could do. And of course this made him bitter. I think Caroline was remorseful that she married a man for the insurance, and she was afraid that Abigail would turn out the same as she did, and that’s why she holds Abigail to such rigid expectations. Caroline retreated further into herself, and Pierre retreated further into his business.

Their marriage was one of convenience and complacency. I think it’s a mundane tragedy.

In conclusion I have a fix it fic that involves the farmer.

kelp forest

people who don't experience hyperfixation don't know what it feels like to hyperfixate so much on something that it becomes not only your subject of obsession but also your source of happiness and literally the main reason why you still keep going; literal source of strength and life.

shoutout to my favorite fictional characters, favorite people, favorite ships, favorite movies, favorite tv shows, fanfics and archive of our own

USA and Ouran High School Host Club//Hetalia

That post about death note being "everyone's first anime" (untrue statement) made me curious and now I want to gather data for science

Can you reblog this and tell me where are you from and what was your starter anime?

DQXI Characters and how they’d comfort you during finals week

Because this game is the only thing getting me through postgrad

Erik

At first it seems like he doesn’t really care that much but he’s actually just trying to stay out of your way. He thinks he’ll just distract you, and he doesn’t want to be another obstacle for you.

Wants to support you as best he can, but you’ll need to be direct with what it is he can do. Say the word and he’d have the sword of light in your hands if you really wanted it.

Please for the love of Erdrea do not ask this man to proofread your papers or he might start crying.

Veronica

The older sister instinct kicks in for sure. All of her advice is completely unsolicited, but she just wants you to succeed! Would sit and help you take notes, listen to you practice presenting, and offers excellent feedback

Wants to make sure you’re happy and healthy and not losing yourself to your work. Reminds you to drink water, throws a blanket over you when you fall asleep at your desk.

That doesn’t stop her from nagging you and calling you lazy when you wake up.

Serena

Offers to help with everything, even if it’s a little distracting sometimes.

Very she’s committed to being there for you. If you pull an all nighter, she’d volunteer to stay up right there next to you. She’d still end up falling asleep before you do, but it’s the thought that counts.

Would very much offer to do things like cook, clean, walk your dog while you focus on your studies. She wants to lessen your load as much as possible.

Sylvando

Retail therapy <3 He spoils you with little gifts, whether it’s a new purse or even some cute stationary so that highlighting the 7th textbook you’ve read is a little less painful

Your number one cheerleader. Postgrad degrees are serious commitments and acts of dedication to something you must care about, and he knows this.

Sylvando would do everything he can to reaffirm your confidence in yourself. It would make him sad to see something you care so much about bring you stress, so his top priority is making sure you smile.

Jade

I think she’s the type to wake up early in the morning to go to the gym. Before she leaves, she’d make your breakfast and set it on the table so it’s there when you wake up.

When she comes back to you, she has two iced coffees and a little box of pastries from the coffee store for you two share while she sits with you.

The way she supports you is very quiet and casual, but consistent. Does her best to keep you as routine oriented as possible. She knows responsibilities are daunting and she doesn’t want to see you run away from them.

Rab

He’s a little bit like an old dad who forgot how to do long division trying to help you get your fifth grade math homework done, but the spirit is there

Always offers to give you breaks. Want to come with me to the grocery store? Feeling like McDonald’s? Come sit on the porch with me and watch the sunset for a few minutes. Let’s watch some TV together tonight.

Brings cut fruit to your room when he knows you’re locked in and need to focus. Always leaves motivational post it notes throughout the house.

Hendrik

If you weren’t anxious enough about your work as it is, he (unintentionally) makes it worse. He’s a little bit on top of you, he remembers your deadlines better than you do and he will not let you forget them.

You might tell him to back off because he is just a tad bit making everything so much worse. He will be so apologetic, and from that point on he’s at your beck and call.

Need a break? Let’s take Obsidian for a walk. Hungry? He’ll bring food home for you. He’s got your favorite orders memorized. Need to cry? He’ll hold the tissue box, help you wash your face afterwards, and hold you if you really need him to.

Jasper

It feels like he’s actively antagonizing you. What, you’re having a hard time? What did you expect? Maybe you should’ve thought about that before deciding to pursue all this. What else are you going to do then? Quit?

It’s mean and not very helpful, but he’s parroting his own internal monologue towards you. You’d have to knock a little sense into him. After a discussion about projecting his own self esteem issues onto someone else, he’d be a little nicer.

Your weeks turn into long dates at the library, sitting across from each other at the desks. He reads his favorites while you study and promises to tell you how they end, as long as you finish your work. Afterwards, he takes you to dinner at your favourite place.

How to begin a sustainable way of life

This is a draft of something I've been writing for a couple months. It is mainly focused on the culture of the USA. Feel free to repost or otherwise share, with or without credit.

Do not tell people what to do—help them do it! 

Give the gift of relief from being forced to engage in society’s unsustainable ways of life. 

“People need to eat more plant-based foods.” ->Talk about your favorite recipes, give others recipes, cook for them, and grow vegetables and plants in your garden and give them away as gifts. 

“People need to repair their clothes.” -> Offer to repair others’ clothes, and teach people how to repair their clothes. 

“People need to buy less clothes.” -> Give them old clothes that you don’t want, help them repair their clothes

“People need to buy less plastic stuff.” -> Learn to make things that can serve the same purpose, such as baskets, and give them as gifts. Let people borrow things you own so they don’t have to buy their own. 

“People need to stop using leafblowers and other gas-guzzling machinery.” -> Offer to rake the leaves. You can use them as compost in your own garden. 

“People need to be more educated about nature.”-> Learn about nature yourself. Tell people about nature. Be open about your love of creatures such as snakes, spiders, and frogs. Do not show awareness that this could be strange. You are not obligated to quiet down your enthusiasm for creepy crawlies to demonstrate awareness that it is weird. Point out at every opportunity how these animals are beneficial. 

“People need to use cars less.” -> Offer rides to others whenever you must go somewhere. Whenever you are about to go to the store, ask your neighbor or your friend who lives along the way, “Is there anything you need from the store?” 

You cannot control others’ behaviors, but you can free them from being controlled. 

If you think to yourself, “But this would be so difficult to do!” ask yourself WHY? Why does your society coerce you into less sustainable ways of living, forcing you to consume excessively? After thinking about this, consider that it is less simple and easy than you thought to make more sustainable choices, so why would you judge others for not doing it? 

Do not act alone—act with others! 

Environmentally friendly behaviors that can be done alone, without collaborating with or consulting another person, are the least powerful of all. Whenever an “environmentally friendly” behavior is suggested, figure out “How can I give this as a gift?” or “How can I make this possible on the level of a whole community?” 

“Personal choices” do not work because every single person has to make them individually. If you are focused on making your own personal choice, you are not focused on others. If you are not focused on others, you are not helping them. If nobody is helping each other, most people won’t be able to make the “personal choice.”

You inherently share an ecosystem with your neighbors  

            Start with your neighbors, the people physically close to you. You live on the same patch of land, containing roots from the same plants and trees. You can speak to them face to face without traveling, which means you can easily bring them physical things without using resources to travel. 

            Always talk to your neighbors and be friendly with them. Offer them favors unprompted and tell them about how your garden is doing. Do not be afraid to be annoying—a slightly annoying neighbor who is helpful, kind, and can be relied upon for a variety of favors or in times of need is a necessary and inevitable part of a good community. If you make the effort to be present in somebody’s life, they will have to put up with you on some occasions, but that is just life. We cannot rely on each other if we do not put up with each other. 

Simply spending time with someone influences them for good 

Every hour you spend outside with your neighbor is an hour your neighbor doesn’t spend watching Fox News. Every hour you spend talking with someone and interacting with them in the real world, eating real food and enjoying your real surroundings, is an hour you don’t spend only hearing a curated picture of what reality is like from social media. 

            Isolation makes it easy for people to become indoctrinated into extremist beliefs. When someone spends more time alone, watching TV, Youtube, or scrolling social media, than they do with others, their concept of what other people are like and what the world is like comes more from social media than real life. TV and online media are meant to influence you in a specific way. Simply restricting the access these influences have to yourself and others is helpful. 

A garden is the source of many gifts 

If you grow a garden, you can give your neighbors and friends the gift of food, plants, and crafted objects. This is one of the foundational ways to form community. When you give food, you provide support to others. When you give plants, you are encouraging and teaching about gardening. It is even better when you give recipes cooked from things you grew, or items crafted from things you grew. You can also give the gift of knowledge of how to grow these plants, cook these recipes, or craft these objects. 

More on gift-giving

            Some people are uncomfortable with receiving items or services as gifts. They want to feel like they are giving something back, instead of having obligation to return the favor hanging over them. 

            It can help to ask a simple favor that can be easily fulfilled. People generally like the feeling of helping someone else. 

When you give someone a gift, it can help to say something like “Oh, I have too many of this thing to take care of/store/eat myself! Do you think you could take some?” This makes your neighbor feel like they are helping you. 

When allowing others to borrow items, you might not get them back. Don’t worry about that. It just means the item found a place where it was needed the most. You can ask about the item if you think it might have been forgotten, and this can create an opportunity for a second meeting. But don’t press. 

If the person you give to insists upon some form of payment, this is a good opportunity to negotiate a trade. 

Ask to be given compostable or recyclable things 

Ask your neighbor to save compostable scraps, biodegradable cardboard and paper products, and any other items that might be put to use. Use them in your own compost pile. Or, start a compost pile at the edge of the yard where you both can add to it. Remember that “wet” compost like vegetable and fruit bits needs to be mixed with twice as much of “dry” and “woody” compost like cardboard, leaves, small twigs, paper and wood bits. 

Use the front yard for gardening

Overcome the cultural norm that the front yard is only decorative. Use the front yard for gardening so you can be seen by others enjoying your garden, and others can witness the demonstration of the possibilities of land. In the front yard, anything you do intentionally with your land can be witnessed. It also makes you a visible presence in your community. 

Grow staple foods 

Don’t just grow vegetables that cannot be the core component of a meal themselves. Grow potatoes, dry beans, black eyed peas and other nourishing, calorie-dense foods. Grow the ingredients of meals. You could even build a garden around a recipe.

Invite neighbors and friends over to eat food made from things you grew 

Be sure to send them home with leftovers.  

Grow plants for baskets 

Containers are one of the fundamental human needs. If we had more containers, we wouldn’t need plastic so much. You can learn to make baskets, and to grow plants that provide the raw materials for baskets. 

If someone rakes their leaves, ask to have the leaves  

If you see someone putting leaves in bags, don’t be afraid to ask if you can have the leaves. More likely than not they will be happy to agree. 

Collaborate with neighbors to plant things in the no-man’s-land of the property line 

In the border land between your neighbor’s yard and your yard, it is almost always just mowed grass because no one can plant anything without it affecting their neighbor. But these border lands add up to a lot of space. It would be much better if you talked to your neighbor about what would be nice to plant there, and together created a plan for that space. 

Give others the freedom to wander 

Make it clear that you will not get mad if the neighbor’s kids play in your yard or run across it. Invite the neighbors onto your land as much as possible. Tell them they are allowed to spend time in a favored spot whenever they would like.  

The power of the hand-made sign 

If there is a yard sale, you always know about it because of the hand-drawn signs placed around. Therefore, a cookout or unwanted item exchange can be announced the same way. In rural areas I have seen hand-made signs that say: FIREWOOD or WE BUY GOATS or EGGS. This is one of the few technologies of community that remain in the USA. If someone who looks to buy and sell can put up a hand-made sign, why shouldn’t you?  

Religious people or people with strong political opinions like to put signs everywhere. If they have the confidence and courage to do so, why shouldn’t you? 

So if there is a message you would like everyone to see, use the simple power of the hand-made sign. Proclaim “BEE FRIENDLY ZONE!” above your pollinator garden with all the confidence of a religious fundamentalist billboard. Announce to the world, “VEGETABLES FREE TO ALL—JUST ASK!” “WE TAKE LEAVES—NO PESTICIDES.” Instead of YARD SALE, or perhaps in conjunction with YARD SALE, you can write, PLANT EXCHANGE or SEED SWAP or CLOTHING SWAP. Who can stop you? 

Someone has to do it for society to change  

Some of these ideas might be eccentric, strange, or even socially unacceptable, but there is no way to change what is normal except to move against it. Someone has to be weird. It might as well be you. 

in times like these at least i have the character

I think about this constantly. Hendrik is only 36 years old and he’s endured so much trauma, both physical and psychological. He was alive for long enough that he has memories of his homeland and of his father teaching him how to dance. I imagine that he was only six or seven years old when Zwaardrust fell. Maybe not old enough to remember everything, but old enough to remember the darkness and the screams and the unyielding terror. At the same time, do you think he remembers waking up alone and scared? Do you think he remembers seeing the helmet of the Helidorian knight that dug his body out of the rubble? Do you think he remembers the shock in their voice when he coughed, when they realised he was still breathing, that he’s alive? Do you think he remembers his own birthday?

Hendrik’s service to Heliodor is simultaneously all he has to live for and a constant reminder of what he lost. If things were just a little different, he never would have been here. But what can he do about it now, y’know? He owes his life to King Carnelian, to Jasper as well frankly. According to the official character book (iirc), he was skin and bones, still crying for his family, and only fell asleep after Jasper shared some sweets with him and read him storybooks. What a privilege to grow up alongside such a patient, ambitious, utterly brilliant prodigy. What a fraud I am, standing next to this genius. Hendrik’s undying dedication to his oath is a fight for his life, for the right to feel as if he’s even worthy enough of a man to fight in the name of Heliodor, of a king who shaped the course of his life in ways he would never imagine.

I also think it’s not unrealistic that his trauma, the consequences of it, and how he’s processed it inadvertently contributed to his rivalry and fallout with Jasper. Obviously that doesn’t make it his fault, but things tend to affect other things like that.

The fall of Dundrasil was probably so horrific for Hendrik. Being knighted as a general afterwards probably felt entirely undeserved. Growing up, training at Puerto Valor, putting his soul into becoming a valiant knight, all for what? To let a kingdom die? He was forced to confront a question he never asked and always feared the answer to.

“If I were stronger, could I have stopped it?” No. No, you couldn’t.

Also I’m sure it wasn’t fun finding out that king carnelian was possessed for at least 16 years and exploited Hendrik’s ignorance of the fact while also exploiting his fractured relationship with his childhood best friend

Do you guys ever think about how Hendrik survived the fall of both Zwaardsrust and Dundrasil? The fact that they both fell due to monster attacks must have been horrible for him.