#thinking abt the blorbos but also ive been meaning to do hc stuff for agess

[anarkissm]

reiterating that jake’s transitioning into a lone survivalist was a slow-going process:

jake learned to build shelters and “bushcrafting” through trial and error. mostly self-taught, initially taking resources from various renovations to the park family’s houses and properties in order to build his own makeshift shelters. detailed in his “Woodworker” cosmetic: “Over the years, he dragged equipment out from his family's opulent renovations to work on his own project. [...] There was distinct satisfaction in sleeping in a shelter built from scratch. It was Jake's favorite way to unwind.”

jake has always been interested in the outdoors, but his family’s wealth and luxurious lifestyle was far removed from this particular fixation. his father was not supportive. unsettled by the way jake reminded sam park of his own missing father, strictly discouraging jake’s wanderlust.

jake “rejected his privilege and left everything behind to find himself,” according to his “Nonconformist” cosmetic. and lore from “The Stranger” cosmetic implies he started out by being a vagabond:

“On the road. Town to town. Yeah, it can be a hard life sometimes. What most people don't know, the journey IS the destination.”

his “Babyface” and “New Utopia” cosmetics also suggests he trained as a doomsday prepper:

“Be actively prepared for anything to go down and always ready for emergencies, disruptions or other deadly situations. Doomsday cometh!”

“Who needs the comforts of the modern world? Take on all challengers as a self-sufficient soldier of a new utopian society.”

he seemed to have learned skills from a prepper community. this experience most likely happened before jake decides to travel to south korea, backpacking through the country’s rural regions to meet the people his grandfather had saved. jake felt as if he could not return to his birthplace without the necessary skills to travel through yanggu county’s isolated areas bordering the demilitarized zone.

while a part of him wanted to connect with them and their concept of a fresh start, jake was not interested in the community’s ideologies, grifts or gimmicks. he was interested in the training, preparations for living off the grid. including homesteading, farming, hunting, basic emergency medical training, self-defense and handling firearms. 

he spent two years learning the skills he needed; jake left the prepper community, and inevitably headed for the vast, fathomless wilderness. alone.