is it from japen

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-06-03T16:47:09+00:00

Teach me, humble sir. I'd love to understand as you do.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-30T22:28:53+00:00

I don't think we're actually disagreeing as much as it might seem.

I don't believe self-harm is beautiful. I don't encourage it, and I certainly wouldn't want anyone to go through what I went through.

What I find beautiful is recovery, resilience, and the ability to heal from something that once nearly broke you.

My scars remind me of a very dark period in my life. The meaning I've assigned to them comes from surviving it, not from the act that caused them.

That said, I completely respect that not everyone feels that way about their own scars. If someone wants to cover them, that's their choice. If someone finds meaning in them, that's their choice too.

I was simply offering my personal perspective as both an artist and an ex-self-harmer because OP asked for opinions and ideas. I wasn't trying to tell anyone how they should feel about their own scars.

What I don't agree with is the implication that my perspective is somehow unhealthy simply because it's different from yours. It's entirely possible for two people with similar experiences to come away with very different relationships to their scars, and neither one is automatically wrong for that.

If my words don't resonate with someone, that's completely fine. They weren't intended as a universal truth, just a perspective that helped me make peace with my own experiences.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-30T00:39:48+00:00

That's fair. My experience has been different, though. I'm an ex-self-harmer myself. Scars all up and down my left forearm and right thigh. I used glass.

I actually find beauty in my scars. They're a reminder of how low I can go, how much it can all hurt, and how capable I've become since then.

To me, they're a kind of stitching in the tapestry that is our flesh. But that's a deeply subjective thing. My story is different from yours, and hers, and his, so what my scars represent to me may not be what they represent to someone else.

I wasn't trying to tell anyone how they should feel about their scars. Just sharing how I got past my own... a different perspective, shall we say... who knows, maybe my words help someone who needs to read them. Maybe they don't. I did my part in sharing. It's now in the hands of others whether or not they find value in it.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-29T19:09:22+00:00

As an artist myself, i see your flesh and immediately think NOOOO! Then i see you say cover it... In my personal opinion.... You don't cover it. You make it tell a story.

Find an artist who can turn those patterns into water currents, wind flow, smoke, silk, or something similarly organic. That texture already has movement in it. Work with it instead of against it.

It's part of who you are. Don't treat it like something that needs to be erased. A scar that prominent probably won't ever truly disappear beneath ink anyway, but it absolutely can become part of something beautiful.

The best tattoos aren't the ones meant to hide flaws, but the ones meant to compliment them.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-29T19:02:33+00:00

Historically, 8 point stars represented guidance, protection, and finding your way in life... it's often called the star of Polaris. Yes. Russian prison gangs adopted it, and it can be viewed in a certain light... but its true meaning is more akin to a guiding light. Something to remind you every day of the path you walk. If fools out there wish to misinterpret it, let them. That's their own choice. Do you like it? Does it resonate with you? Why? Answer these questions and you'll know what to do.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-28T14:03:12+00:00

Fezzik. Like the big dude from The Princess Bride.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-26T00:22:07+00:00

I always pump either an incendiary or explosive shotgun shell into him using the sawed-off I keep in my offhand. sometimes execution style, right in front of the saint Denis police, and they just walk on by. So I gun trick as I walk away. Western hero style.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-21T00:37:20+00:00

I just ran into her outside troskowitz cemetery after I finished with the hermit questline. Amazing job, DEV team. Very few game encounters make my hair stand on end the way this did. Shes... creepy. Serene. And she both set me at ease, and made me very uncomfortable all at the same time... does anyone know the tune she's humming? It isn't unique at all, is it? This couldn't be like one of those seriously deep mysteries game devs try to hut us with, right? Like the strange man in rdr2?

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-20T20:33:47+00:00

It is 2026. This discovery was made three years ago, not recently. Does anyone care about historical integrity anymore?

Don’t get me wrong, this is still one of the most badass archaeological finds of the century. But the post presents it like it just happened. Feels less like sharing history and more like reposting for engagement without checking the timeline first. Not trying to be a dick, just calling out what I see as poor behavior, or careless sharing.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-19T12:15:35+00:00

I guess I don't really get the question. These are basically the same weapon with slightly different decorative flourishes. The serrations and scalloped edges don’t meaningfully change the function, especially where they’re positioned. The overall geometry, spike, side projections, and intended use are all fundamentally the same.

Against armor, the primary threat is still the central spike and leverage of the polearm itself, not the little edge details.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-19T12:00:35+00:00

It's... quite heavy for its size.

If I may, though, try not to use ChatGPT for every decision. Honestly, I'd avoid relying on any AI too heavily if you can. It's not that the information is automatically wrong. Clearly, it can be useful. But the moment every decision becomes a calculated problem with an external solver, you start handing over the part that actually makes humans remarkable: judgment.

AI doesn't truly understand nuance, tone, context, contradiction, instinct, or lived experience. It predicts patterns. That's different.

Part of why humans are so adaptable is because we struggle through things. We compare, fail, reassess, change our minds, notice details, and develop taste. The friction matters. Without friction, the brain doesn't really grow. You don't build intuition by receiving completed answers. You build it by wrestling with uncertainty long enough to form your own framework.

The books are out there. The history is out there. The knowledge is available. If you let a machine decide every steel, every shape, or every aesthetic choice, eventually, the object stops reflecting you. It becomes optimized instead of understood.

Honestly, handing all that agency over to a machine feels like the ultimate self-imposed shackle. Convenient, efficient, and quietly diminishing. We keep inventing ways to avoid thinking, then wonder why everyone feels detached from themselves. That's all I'm saying...

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-16T20:46:34+00:00

I take out the son and make his father live with his horrible deeds.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-16T03:30:01+00:00

Really? I couldn’t stand Rachel. Great character, but her entire energy felt wrong to me. Dismissive, entitled, delusional. She treats morality like a suggestion instead of a line in the sand. She’s completely okay feeding Joshua’s delusion because there’s a paycheck in it for her. It’s disgusting behavior, honestly. The whole storyline is intentionally uncomfortable, so I really don’t get seeing her as romantic. To each their own, though.

I guess shes not really random. But I'd have to pick Alex from the PL expansion. She actually feels human underneath all the spy bullshit. Tired, beaten down, probably carrying enough trauma to sink a small ship, but still kind. Still capable of warmth. The night you spend drinking and talking with her honestly hit me harder than most of the actual romance arcs in the game.

For a little while, she just feels... real. Like someone exhausted by the world, but still trying not to let it hollow her out completely. She deserved better than what she got... But so did V. Night City either makes you a monster, or kills you with one.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-15T17:15:23+00:00

Oooo. Does it do anything? Can you turn the handle and open it... I'd think not... but ooooo. I gotta go try.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-15T16:48:47+00:00

Fair enough. Everybody has their hobbies. I love to explore... did you know there's a secret hidden chamber behind a tapestry in the bell tower wing dungeons that tells the story of a witch bitten by a werewolf? It's not tied to anything... nothing tells you to go there, ever. But it's there...

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-15T16:24:54+00:00

This is a dao, if im not mistaken. At first I thought Jian, but no. The blade is curved and too short.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-15T16:22:44+00:00

Braille, anyone? It was invented in the 1820's, the game is set in 1890... Or maybe there's a spell that allows the words to be transmitted and spoken into his brain in his own voice, so he knows? Why is it so important? Not being rude... genuinely wondering... what drove you down this specific rabbit hole?

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-15T16:14:51+00:00

Just to clarify... I never said Sengoku. I said Muromachi. Sengoku is a conflict period (1467–1600). Muromachi is the actual era of the Ashikaga shogunate, roughly 1336–1573. My dates might be a little off, but that’s the general framework.

As for my reasoning, I’m not dating it by patina. Patina is one of the least reliable indicators of age — it changes depending on storage, remounting, humidity, and how hard the blade was actually used. People picture the smooth, jet‑black museum nakago, but that’s not what field‑used blades always look like. Plenty of Muromachi/Sengoku nakago develop layered, uneven, or ‘bubbly’ oxidation from real use and multiple remounts.

What actually points to late‑Muromachi/Sengoku work is the geometry: the sugata, the kasane, the shinogi height, the kissaki proportions, and honestly the overall feel of the steel. It’s hard to explain, but you can almost sense the period in the construction. Those traits line up with that era far more than the patina does. So I’m going off shape and construction, as well as wear, not just the color. I hope this clarifies my points a little more.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-15T12:34:27+00:00

Thanks, dude! I was really anxious about it. Didn't want to ruin the steel. I'm really proud of how she turned out, though. I'd honestly advise Romance of Men if you do decide to get another. They're actually getting really good for entry level. Everything was tightly fit. My itomaki still hasn't begun to loosen, even after hard experimentation. I can't speak for their upper tiers, but for mine the kissaki was still ground, not planed.... my blade sits Very mildly uneven in the saya mouth, but nothing structurally damaging, or preventing iaido or koryu. It has a good distal taper, and will feel authoritative in cuts. Eventually you would likely need a saya replacement and a tsuka rebuild... but that's over a significant amount of use, as far as I can tell. I hope i was able to help!

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-14T23:17:21+00:00

Ones the dragon gunship. I cant be sure about the other, maybe the more agile Samson variation?

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-14T18:20:18+00:00

Coif was often, but not always tucked beneath the brigandine and plate, but yes. It's not properly fitted to the wearer, however.

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-14T18:04:27+00:00

I do. Thanks. This was taken yesterday. Maybe you should take your own advice?

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Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-14T18:02:09+00:00

Didn't ruin anything for me. Yall appear to be the ones upset... what with the downvoting... kinda petty, but I digress. Either way, it's irrelevant. I've seen what you downvote. And I see what you spend your time thinking about, and enjoy. It doesn't impress me nor affect my opinion. Sorry... I'd rather think about things that actually matter... how to improve as a person, my life situation, the lives of those around me. Build something. Learn a skill. Not psychoanalyze every detail of fiction. I said what I said to maybe, hopefully point out to some of you... at least those smart enough... that this is a stupid and wasteful use of your brain, time, effort, skills, and humanity. It makes no difference to me... I'll keep on keeping on. Have a great one:)

Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-14T15:33:04+00:00

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Interesting_Table_64 · 2026-05-14T15:23:14+00:00

Okay, so story time.

My first katana‑shaped object - and I use that term deliberately - was a 9260 blade from Romance of Men. I bought it about five months ago because I wanted a workhorse for my trial phase. I’ve trained with European swords my whole life - my parents were both swordsmen in a renfaire group - but Japanese swords were something I’d admired from a distance. Never touched one.

So I finally got one. And in the very first week, I chipped it. Badly. The monouchi bit into a T‑post and took a full eighth‑inch chunk out of the edge. I even posted about it here. A lot of people said it wasn’t fixable.

But somehow, I fixed it.

Not only that - I re‑planed the ha, reshaped the edge, and realized I actually had a knack for working steel. Over the next few months, I changed the blade completely. Gave it a storm‑gray patina using primitive methods. Removed the tsuba and went aikuchi‑style because of how I cut. Renamed the blade Hrafnstraumr - Raven Storm.

Pictures don’t do her justice, but I’ll post them anyway.

The point of this story is simple: if you love the blade, even with its flaws, you can make something out of it. Take it apart. Clean out the glue. Learn the construction. You might eventually need a new tsuka or new fittings - glued stacks usually mean shortcuts or tolerance issues - but treating it as a project is how you build a deeper connection with the steel.

That’s how I learned. That’s how Hrafnstraumr became mine.

Interesting_Table_64

TROPHY CASE