[closed] quest to find a dang hobby

[strongroots]

Who: Robby, Shigeo (centile), Ritsu (centi), Ritsuka (in_loveless_memory), Sunny (good_mourning), Frisk (stilljustyou), and some others
What: Trying ~new things~, for fun. As a treat
When: Early February, over a few days
Where: Daniel LaRusso's house/Miyagi-do dojo, elsewhere
Content Warnings: N/A.

There's a lot that comes with arriving - and living - in Trench. Adapting to its culture, bartering system, way of getting a job or education. And yeah, everyone knows about the beasts and blood, but there's figuring out being your own person as often to struggle with.

Sometimes, you need help finding things to do and that make you fulfilled.

Robby gets it. And as someone who gets it deeply, he's also kind of throwing this whole thing together haphazardly of inviting a bunch of younger teens in the effort of let's try new things. Maybe they can be useful day-to-day, maybe they're just something that can be a fun hobby; as long as they possibly interest you, that's about the goal. And hanging out--'cause it's easier to try new things when you're not doing them alone. Probably. Right?

Regardless, he's invited some younger pals for a few different days to come over to have a go, hang out, keep adjusting to their new life. With some planned activities, and they're free to recommend what they can do.

And so, on these different days...

THE ACTIVITIES

→ skateboarding: skateboarding, Robby's speciality. The road outside Mister LaRusso's is surprisingly clear of snow, and there's a maximum of three skateboards, designs simple and for use. There won't be any grinding or kicking up half-pipes, but Robby can help familiarise the gang with the basics of riding a skateboard, as well as include some very simple tricks once they get the hang of that.

→ sewing a stuffed animal: Not much of a doll person? Nor Robby, but it's about following the instructions and learning some sewing. Hopefully those instructions don't suck, but there's a couple of patterns to choose from: a cat, a mouse, and a fox.

Wow. At least learning to stitch might be useful, right?

→ weaving: Who thinks about cane weaving ever? ...probably resourceful people, but Robby's managed to snag two types for trying: a small holder and a fruit bowl. Which is just a larger holder.

Or there's macrames. Another kind of weaving, this time with cords, one project is a coaster, while another is for making a keychain...or probably a bookmark, or bracelet. Whichever strikes your fancy.

→ cooking: For cooking, Mister LaRusso is only happy to help teach some useful meal foods that everyone can do back home. Come early enough on one day, and he can show how to make pancakes and crêpes. Want to learn how to even fry an egg, or make an omelette? That's a good lunchtime meal. And as for dinner? You know he's got to teach you how to make a lasagna.

Of course, requests and suggestions can be made. Sunny's got a recipe for cookies, which require the special ingredient of love. ...and flour. Making pastry can also be touched on, if anyone wants to know the secret of making pies.

→ gardening: It's a visit to Ezra Bridger's for this task. One that isn't immediately rewarding, but will take time--months, even, to see the rewards of your time and patience. They're taken into his garden where the land has been left to fallow, but he has a greenhouse where young seedlings are left to sprout, kept warm and covered despite the chill outside its walls.

The process is simple, and the instructions easy. A mix of compost and rice husks is used for the mix--rice husks for allowing air into the mix, and compost to help give nutrients to the seeds--and the trays are basic, coming with lids, and small mats infused with coldstones turned towards a soft heat will assure the seeds stay warm and have help to germinate.

But what are the seeds? There's a choice to choose from. For flowers, there's cosmos, dahlia, busy lizzies, dahlias; as for vegetables, you have choices from sweet peppers, small lamb lettuces, onions, and, for an always safe beginner food? Rainbow radishes.

This will be an activity to come back to over time. But hey, at least the radishes might only take five weeks to grow.

( OOC: tl;dr, not everything is done at the same time, you can pick and choose what your character does or swipe the ideas for later! if your character would have any ideas, put them up. B) i know photography was brought up, so going around and taking photos?? can be a thing!! )

Comments

[centile]

[a good question, and one he considers for a moment about the freedom not to answer. that was nice of him, mob thinks, and it helps making him feel a little less uncomfortable about it. especially with people connected to that big power like ezra, they seemed to understand better than even a lot of psychics in his own world.]

I guess... [he stalls, mostly because it's hard to put this sort of thing to words. he doesn't talk about his powers or emotions much besides the basics.] I was happy the first one looked healthier, I think. I was thinking how pretty it would look fully grown.

[then... well, it's certainly grown now.]

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Ezra raises his eyebrows.]

One of masters once told me, 'Your focus determines your reality'. He meant stuff about your feelings and perceptions-

I guess it can just be...extra literal with you.

[centile]

Sometimes. [said with the hint of finding that kind of a tiring fact.]

The power you're all tied to, the Force? It comes through your emotions too, right?

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Ezra bites his lip, pondering how to answer.]

Hmm. Yes, but complicated? Partly because emotions are complicated. Our connection to the Force is like...both a doorway to everything and a mirror. We can let feelings, sensations from the Force, everything around us, flow through us, pass through us. We learn things that way, feel less alone, draw strength from it. We can let our emotions arise as they happen, and simply...be, while interact with the Force. We can use our emotions to reach out and shape the world around us, too, yes.

But using our emotions, focusing on them, colors that connection to everything else.

[centile]

[mob listens carefully in his way, which is quietly and with a far off look as he processes it.]

That sounds nice. [the not alone, the way it sounds sort of like a partnership. (34% as he buries the fact that makes him a little jealous.)] Mister Maul said the uh, dark part? The Dark Side? Showed him things like it wanted to help him.

My powers aren't really like that. They're just there.

[ezra_of_lothal]

I absolutely believe he had visions in a place strong in the Force, that helped him. [Extra dryly-] I question whether calling it anything to do with darkness is accurate, but I guess calling it that helps him, so what I think doesn't matter.

[Ok, very privately, he thinks Maul clinging to what he experienced as an expression of the 'Dark Side' shows Maul has a lot to process about his past and learn from, still.

Ezra sets his opinions aside to ponder Mob's remark about his own abilities for a moment.]

But you do sense things around you. Often, yes?

[centile]

[that makes a lot more sense to mob, even if he doesn't fully grasp all the complications around the force and what it means to each of them. it's probably a pretty personal thing, he thinks, with a lot of history. such an odd world.]

I don't really understand why there's 'dark' and 'light' whenever people talk about it. [he admits] But it seems important to everyone to do so.

[and that question gets a nod.] Yes. Spirits and curses, stuff like that, people auras sometimes if they have power. Like you guys, being tied to something so big.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Ezra goes quiet a second, debating whether to voice his beliefs more clearly. Then he takes a breath, before taking the plunge.]

Well. To be honest, my teachers never talked about a 'light side' at all. Maybe there's some Jedi that do, but what I was taught was-

The Force is everything. Everything good or bad, or in between. Spirits and living. All of it. Some people might simply call it the cosmos. Or God, if they believe God is in everything.

So maybe I'm tied to everything in a particular way, and you can see that. Which is cool by the way.

But I truly believe that we're all connected, to each other and to that everything. Some of us in different particular ways, maybe.

[He smiles faintly.]

Like seeing auras?

[centile]

[ah ezra, mob clearly seems to understand this much easier, nodding along with the faintest look of comprehension on his bland face.]

That's what it feels like. When I look at you and the others, I mean. [a beat] Is it overwhelming? I think everyone is probably tied together like that, like you said, but it seems kind of personal with you.

[being able to see that being cool he isn't sure about, but maybe for the first time in a while he's willing to admit it's nice to be able to see something that's probably really important to the person instead of just hear about it. and maybe the idea of that vast connection is comforting too.]

You have a nice aura. [he decides to offer after a moment.] It looks like it connects to people easily.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Ezra startles a little, at the compliment, and offers a shy smile.]

Thank you. Empathic connections is one of my particular gifts, yes.

It can be overwhelming. I can get kinda lost, if I connect really strongly with a being, or a group of beings. Or if I just let, uh, everything in.

[He grins a little.]

All part of what all that meditation is for. Focus and balance.

[centile]

That must be really helpful. Reading people is hard. [still genuinely impressed. reading a room is a skill that will always allude him, even if it sounds like a bit of a headache sometimes at this level.]

Do you ever- [hm, a pause like he isn't sure what to say, glancing around a bit before he settles on,] Do you ever lose control completely like that? When you got kinda lost.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Not complete control, just from a lot of...input.

It's when I've gotten really scared and angry, that I've lost control in bad ways.

[centile]

[his shoulders droop just a little, maybe like relief. it's just nice to hear someone who might know the feeling, in their own way, even if he wishes ezra didn't have to. losing control in any way is terrible to go through.

(he will remember this conversation for later too, when he might need someone to talk to about control slips.)]

How did you stop it? Or... how do you stop it from happening again?

[ezra_of_lothal]

In an immediate sense - the danger right there and then ended enough I calmed down and then kinda passed out.

In the long term sense...I've had to face why I was so angry and afraid. You can't just, hmm. Get rid of an emotion. Or, well, sometimes you can shove it away in the short term, to stay level headed in a stressful moment.

[Ezra shrugs.]

That's not inherently bad, to do that when you're getting out of a situation. But if all you do is shove it away, usually it will come flooding back, unless something actually changes. Your overall circumstances, or your understanding of them, or your understanding of yourself. Something like that. There's no one answer.

[He pauses] To make it even more complicated, emotions can be like muscles, in a way. The more you, ah, practice a state of mind. If you tell yourself all time - 'I have good reasons to be angry'. Well, it's gonna be easier to get really angry. And you can practice calm, too.