late answer but i think rustica has such experience playing that he's good at most compositions intuitively! i think though, there is one thing that i can think of and it's gonna be some classic me making things about west ballad given any excuse

but in west ballad ch10 rustica talks about an old composition he made that was only playable by a wizard because you would need at least 3 arms to play, but a human tried to play it and broke his fingers in his attempt to do so so rustica burned it.

so my guess is that if there was ever another song like that that required more than 2 hands to play it, it wouldnt be immediate perfection on the first try because its something he's only ever done once. i hope that answer makes sense!

oh i love these questions because it's fun to be prompted about rustifau . im gonna answer overall then when they do the do.

i think rustica definitely at first ! like i think it starts as very casual affection because thats how rustica is. telling faust he looks lovely today, buying him flowers in the color of his eyes, inviting him out, and at first faust is tsun about it, like how he was in stellato card story where at first he was like "i dont get it" but akira found him later doing the music-listening that rustica introduced him to but on his own. and i think part of it comes from faust not believing he deserves kindness and being confused when rustica gives it to him unconditionally, and another part coming from wanting to preserve that facade of being an evil curseworker, which rustica who is very emotionally intelligent can see the loving and kind person underneath. and eventually faust and rustica get to a point where faust says sure when rustica invites him out (this is canon, serrato rustica card story) and admitting straight up that he looks up to rustica (rusticas birthday line 2023)

sexually i think its very important to remember the one mahoraji audio drama between lennox and faust: faust is a party drunk and a stripper of a man. and rustica is a west. so they're at the point where they're drinking together regularly and faust and rustica are good friends. i think there's definitely a point where they get wasted and fuck. but if it's going to be sober i think rustica makes the first move in that too because hes so casually affectionate. gives faust a sweeping bow and a kiss on the hand as thanks for leading him to where they need to go and it's so casual on rustica's part and faust doesnt know how to react because he's been in the woods for 300 years and barely seen another person so to be so casually shown physical affection shocks him. but also hes barely been shown physical affection in the last 300 years so he THINKS about it . and thinks about it . and when rustica sees him next faust is bright red saying his hello. and rustica knows hes hot and he knows other people know hes hot and the next time faust does something for him he ramps up the affection and again and again until hes driving this poor curseworker crazy faust is jacking off to the thought of what else he can do... and rustica's always willing to help out his lovely friend faust in whatever ways he wants him to, faust doesnt have to do it alone and all ~!

murrshy and lenofau and rustifau!

murrshy is very on brand because i love their combination of the biting banter while it also comes from that deep deep familiarity they have with each other and the fact that they can only have such good banter because of how long theyve been so close. also i love the aspect of shylocks loneliness in that hes so old that everyone he grew up with is dead (see the hc you’ll have ot pry from my cold dead hands that shylock had kids but doesnt bring them up cuz they died 1400 years ago) and murr who he’s known for 800 years is kind of the only memory he had that someone else was able to remember things with him, and with murr’s soul shatterimg he loses that memory and it causes him loneliness. i love shylock’s complicated feelings towards the current murr and the reflection on a relationship he wanted but didnt have, i think murrshy has so many layers and im so obsessed with all of them

lenofau i like master/servant ships. i dont have as long of an explanation but i love the complete and utter devotion lennox has to faust and how much he wants to take care of this person who doesnt believe he deserves anythimg and how much they believe the other deserves to be happier than them… but also i like how much faust has come iut of his shell and how much thats involved getting closer to lennox snd accepting the fact that someone cares about him, i think their relationship to each other os so good for both of their character arcs

rustifau is because i made it up december 2020 not expectimg them to ever actually have a relationship but then they started actually getting closer and its so fun watchimg a crackship grow before your eyes. ill link my ppt here https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VK3J61h4bsSIR0puUmhWzzX8eU_5lr_S-dmmmggt_Fo/edit

RUSTICA MY BELOVED ... so i got into the game around north ballad and i started out as a very singleminded faust oshi to the point where i didnt really know a whole lot of other characters names ! like i confused rustica with nero constantly for some reason and like every time either of them spoke i had to look up whether the brown hair guy was talking or the blue hair guy !!

west ballad was the first thing that changed a lot for me, bc um . im very normal about west ballad. between the first indication that west country has heavy destructive weaponry, the murrshy, the way that unchecked curiosity brings about destruction. the way that the people on langrenus island revered oldmurr's inventions without respecting wizards or even murr himself, west ballad is just So Good in so many ways!! and i had never really paid attention to rustica before but seeing the sweet mild mannered man explode the fucking airship core made me go "who the fuck is THIS GUY"

and then in anni 1, chloe and rustica have that conversation where chloe is losing hope and rustica says to him
Rustica: “Indeed. On dark nights, many wish the same in their hearts. Let there be light.”

Rustica: “But even on nights when the light is faint, you can find it shining somewhere.”

Rustica: “And on nights when you cannot say thank you, on nights with the spirits of the unrewarded about, on nights with frightful creatures roaming around…on all of those nights, you can find the light.” (anni1 ch17 mhyk_eng tl)

and i LOST IT . characters who have a sort of unshakeable optimism who always believe in good things and are the light in the darkness are my WEAKNESS !! and little by little i started having these moments of why is he like this. what is his deal . what happened to his bride. there are so many little references in so many events and it became so much fun to try to connect the dots that i came to appreciate his character so much

also im a sucker for characters with bird motifs, elegant characters, characters who wear white and gold... i was already a west oshi.... theres so much about him where the more i looked at him the more i was like "why wasnt he my favorite from the start this is insane"

(but there's so many new skills and hobbies ive picked up that can be kind of traced back to being a rustica oshi by this point like i didnt really enjoy theorizing until i wanted to figure out what happened to his bride and now i Really like doing it when i get into new things, i picked up cooking because i was determined to make savarin for his birthday last year and now ive come to eat a lot healthier... stuff like that. the attachment has become so real since he was a guy i got confused with nero all the time)

IM SO GLAD ITS BEEN ENJOYABLE TO SEE !!! it's been really fun to learn so i'm glad its been fun to see as well !!

i think my favorite so far has been meuniere (murr) !! its like fish covered in flour and fried in lemon juice and butter but u gotta do it really fast or it goes from crispy to soggy, but when its crispy and buttery and lemony... yea ... :100 emoji: but also savarin (rustica) because i made it in 2022 but had no idea what i was doing no idea how to bake and it was kinda rly hard bc of that so i was super nervous to make it this time but then it turned out really good ... you're supposed to bake it and then soak it in fruity liquor-based syrup at the end and then put cream and berries on top of the cream so its a really nice fruity pastry. its so good .... even my mom when i took some over to her was like ????? this is so good?? so im really happy about the savarin

as for whats left, gratin and sangria are things i already know i like (and i made sangria for shy last year) so it's gonna be fun to try and do the visual replication part of it!! and as for what i dont know how to do, owen .... it's gonna be fun to learn tho !!!!!!! ^^

OH NO I HAVE A REAL ANSWER TO THIS BUT I CANT SAY. BUT YOU’LL SEE . tho i would love to get some events that are more flashback focused someday!

west - current murrshy having to go deal with one of murrs many things he did in the past. i feel like oldmurr led such a wild interesting life, he was acquainted with royalty, did all kinds of research on everything there is, left a mark on history… i feel like events from murrs life would be so fascinating and we barely know tiny pieces! i feel like oldmurr is also a charactee whos easy to tell stories about without having to reveal anything that has to come up in main story

north - world conquest or northfam training days is my personal bias … either would be really easy to have enough characters for a full set, though there is a problem of northfam being spread out over three country groups. also if its northfam training days could we see inside the twins mansion please im begging . alternatively bradnero bandit days.

central - oh , yknow.

south- mimi tiletta training days. ik they’re norths and itd fit into norths but it could also put scary tiletta scenes in with tiletta trying to wrangle her big ol attack dog in the south where people have to be nice

east- heath asking his parents about his ancestors, i think we dont know a whole ton about the history of east country and it could be a good worldbiilding event

this is all i got so far but i could come back later with a more fleshed out “this is the focus chara, these charas receive a mission request for this problem, and this is how the flashbacks fit into the current timelines goal for the mission objective” answer while im spacing out on an airplane potentially

OH BOY LETS GO LETS GO im gonna do the ones that my airport-addled brain can think of something to say about . that being said i love rusticas relationships with everyone and i always wanna hear propaganda for new rustica ships

rustica/oz - oh they're so delightful and i love seeing them together !! oz going from a guy who doesnt leave his room except for when arthur (pleading eyes emoji) at him but still accepting harpsichord lessons from an extremely irresistible man to hanging out with this silly little guy on their own and still taking these lessons and spending time together by now i love how much oz has opened up ! and i love how fond they are of each other a lot...

rustica/cain - they're so fun !!! i love that cain is west adjacent enough that he can groove along with tica too !! i want them to get drunk and party i want to see rustica do the drunk frat boy stuff drunk knights do (hes a west hed be down) . i think they would look so neat dancing together too . but also rustica and cain blackout drunk with the types of drunks they are sounds like a great night im just sayin

rustica/brad - ive gone apeshit about them before but i love the way that they're such totally different people at their cores but they've come to get along so well ...

178gumi - they're so funny . i love a disaster trio so much . im so glad they're an idol unit because i love them but also what a comedy routine. owens trying to taunt rustica rustica is responding completely sincerely and optimistically. nero is uncomfortalbe because hes nero . i get my popcorn

rustifau - i SWEAR this wasnt supposed to happen. this was supposed to be a joke. it was always supposed to be a joke but i think it is very much no longer joke because it has become my most fav rustica ship i think (partially bc ive tended these lil crops so long) but since the rustifau powerpoint is under maintenance the long and short of it is that. 1) they're HILARIOUS. rustica is the ultimate boke faust is the ultimate tsukkomi their interactions are great. 2) aesthetically the light/dark imagery slaps imo. 3) faust has come out of his shell massively over time that he's willing to hang out with rustica! and he enjoys it too, they listened to the sounds of nature together and akira found faust later doing it on his own! and rustica without ever knowing him has always been wanting ot get closer to faust, and i think rustica has shown himself to be very emotionally intelligent and good at knowing what to say as well which is good for tsuns who are Goin Thru It . and in turn, its really sweet when faust is a braincell for rustica ! also part 2 ch7. when they are ssrs in the same event horses wont be called horses anymore

rustishy - they’re banging right now.

rustileno - rustica should kiss a big strong man . also rusticas genuine appreciation and emotional intelligence with lenos way of how he thinks of himself . i want leno to hear some affirmations (and more) . i want leno to carry ticas shopping bags for a day out and then they go out to a fancy restaurant with food that doesnt exist in the south for dinner.

uh that was the ones i could say smth about if my feelings on a ship are too complicated rn or i couldnt put my thoughts into words i just skipped them im half asleep rn lmao