Fill the cracks; beyond what I was

He was... well. Clueless is an understatement. When I say he has no idea what was going on, I mean the second round he was in he SLAMMED the alarm button and said “my screen said imposter what does that mean”

“It means you’re the bad guy this time, dad,” We explained. “But next time try and keep it secret, okay?”

“Okay”

The next round, he killed another player right in front of me and immediately self-reported.

“I got my first kill,” he said.

“Good job, dad!” we all replied. “You’re getting it”

He was so proud, next round, when he helped us catch the killer. And we were proud for him. He was trying so hard.

His kids showed him the game, he said — “Look dad a meme” — so he was playing it for them.

“What’s sus” he had to ask. “Is it inappropriate?” “No dad. It’s short for suspicious, because suspicious is a lot to type.” “What’s gg?” “It means good game” “ok. Thank u. gg”

Two rounds later, he slammed the alarm again. “My map looks different,” he said. “There are buttons on it”

“That means you’re the bad guy again, dad. You push them to sabotage us. Try it out”

We spent that round watching Dad of 3 gleefully pop in and out of vents at random and press all the buttons just to see what they did

“Have you killed anyone yet dad?” “No. It feels strange.” “It’s okay. It’s just a game. You can kill us if you want to practice.”

He was trying so hard. I don’t know if he’d ever even played a video game before, but he was trying so hard to understand this thing his kids enjoyed, and my little group of strangers was doing our best to help him get there.

I’m so proud of that random father’s effort, and I’m proud of all the other players who were so willing to help him learn.

Then out of nowhere he was gone. Mid-round, Dad of 3 vanished to a bad connection, and I’m legitimately sad. I’d hoped we’d get the chance to play a round for real, and I’d have liked the chance to wish him luck and say goodbye.

But since I can’t do that, I’m throwing this into the void: I hope you have a nice time, Dad of 3, and I hope we were able to help you learn so you can have fun with your kids.

Good luck out there, buddy.

MOOD:// An Interactive Journal

::sigh::

Turn those feelings outside in:

Print journal.

Place thought-feeling-emotion inside boxes.

Color.

Reboot brain from blah place.

And remember you are loved 🥰.

“Refresh,” x @claricetudor. “Dot-exe.”

🌟

Explore:

—the Sad Girls Club, a nonprofit supporting the mental health of young women of color.

This is a lovespoon. They’re found in several cultures worldwide, particularly in Scandinavia, but most famously in Wales (that photo is a Welsh lovespoon) and, from at least the 17th century, they were given as gifts by a suitor to his intended lady. They’re supposed to be carved from one block of wood, and decorated with various symbols which have slightly nuanced meanings, all basically a variation on ‘you’re rad, want to get wed?’

Because marriage in poor, rural parts of Wales was often more akin to cohabitation at the time (i.e. you didn’t really have a big ol’ legal ceremony, you just sort of said ‘we’re married now’ and shacked up together) a lovespoon could act as a wedding ring of sorts; you’d put your goshdarn heart and soul into carving it and you’d give it to the dame you sought, and if she accepted the spoon, then you were essentially wed, or at least bound together in a meaningful way. It’s assumed that they were initially supposed to be at least somewhat functional, because people did in fact eat with wooden spoons back in the day, but they’re now purely decorative. And hoo boy, can they be decorative. These are some of the ones on display at St Fagans Museum:

Nowadays, they’re generally mass produced, and tend to look more like this: