10 TO CLOSE
۰ ۪۪۫۫ · there was a guy that came in ten minutes before you closed. he was strange, but beautiful. you were staring at him, and he was staring at the snails—until he wasn’t.
☾ warnings—beating a dead meme, snails, retail
☾ word count—586
☾ notes—gn!reader, inspired by #bugrace. reader works at petco, edward is a freak. sfw but not sfb (safe for brain)
He came in right before you closed. Normally, you would’ve been annoyed—but he was so unfathomably beautiful that just this once, you didn’t mind.
“Can I help you find anything?” you called out to him, unusually eager to be helpful. “We’re closing in a few minutes.”
“Ah, yes,” he said, smiling sheepishly, “I was just hoping to see the snails. I’m sorry for coming in so late.”
“It’s okay, really,” you assured him. His smile was dazzling. He had perfect teeth. They were just as white as his skin—which, on second thought, was a little unsettling. “Are you hoping to buy any? I’ll make sure they keep a register open if you are.”
He frowned. “No, no, not tonight…” You found yourself missing his smile—but not for long. He grinned at you, quick and shy, and your heart fluttered as you began to lead him toward the back of the store. “Perhaps not ever. I don’t quite think I’m the type for pets.”
“You just like to admire them from afar?”
He chuckled, running a hand through his fiery, fluffy hair. “Something like that.”
Together, you came to a stop in front of the aquariums. The store was darker back here, only half-lit by the bright tank lights. “We have a few turbo snails here,” you said, pointing to the saltwater aquariums, “and an Astraea. I think we have an assassin in one of the freshwater aquariums, and a bunch of mystery snails, too.”
You turned to him, only to find him staring through the glass intently. His face appeared blue in the tank light; his eyes looked a noxious sort of green. Still, you thought he was—
“Effervescent,” he murmured, rubbing his knuckles against the glass. After a moment, he cleared his throat and took a step back, but he kept his eyes on the tank. "Do you have a favorite?"
"Um." You were kind of stuck on the effer-whatever thing. Was that an SAT word? Was this guy in high school? You looked him over surreptitiously; he was boyish and lanky, but his face was almost freakishly gaunt and sickeningly pale. Your brain was getting mixed signals—was he a boy or a corpse? Wait, what had he asked you? "The assassin is cool. It reminds me of a bee. What about you?"
Finally, he looked over at you. His eyes were dark all of a sudden; they were like a bottomless chasm, inviting you to jump in. "I don't think I could pick," he said. His face was so close. Had he gotten closer, or had you?
God, he smelled incredible.
He reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of your face. His hand was ice cold; you couldn't help but jump when it first made contact with the shell of your ear, but as it lingered there, you relaxed. He cradled your face in the palm of his hand, staring at you like you were what he'd come here for all along.
You thought about grabbing his hand and pressing it harder and harder against your cheek until your warmth became his, but instead, you tried to ask, "What's your—"
"I should get going," he interrupted, dropping his hand back down to his side. "You'll be closing any minute now."
"Oh," you said. You felt bereft already. Would he ever come back?
He glanced over his shoulder at the aquariums. His gaze softened. "I'll see you again," he promised.
You weren't sure if he was talking to you or the snails.
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how are you able to incorporate imagery (not as a metaphor but the actual images and gifs) so well into your games? thank you and i love your work!
if you just want the actual command, its a pretty basic html tag you can just google. its like <img src = "INSERT STUFF HERE "> iirc
if you want my process, here:
figure out the style
as in like. the art style. the vibe. i like each of my works to have a distinct visual style i can follow because that makes actually drawing things a lot easier.
for childhood homes it was ditherpunk black and white, for my brother;the parasite it was painted images run through a crunchy pixel-y filter. buy PIxaTool its good
draw a rough layout / reference something else
a visual reference is very helpful!! i like to read through different works and steal parts i like, then sketch up something, then actually build it in html.
Code It
this part sucks. i'm a novice at twine/html/etc so i am bad! but i am also very stubborn. get comfortable combing through forums and not understanding why the image isnt where its supposed to be. things will break and thats just the way it is. try again and again and eventually things will work.
w3schools and stack overflow are my best fucking friends as a newbie.
beyond that, a lot of it is just coding, testing, and then tweaking things over and over until i like how it looks alongside the text.
also!! keep in mind the mood of the scene!! how the reader should feel!! and adjust your images accordingly. never underestimate the impact a minor change in a picture will have. people notice, especially when its the only thing TO notice.
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Hello, everybody! Here is my little post announcing my Summer Commissions are OFFICIALLY open!
Just a few things to take into mind:
-Payment is done through Zelle/Paypal!
-You have UNTIL August 5 to order; so a work ordered on August 5 may take up to late August to be delivered!
-All works must be ordered via DM (Here or on Discord)
Every proceed from this campaign will go towards funding my very first illustration zine, so please consider ordering!!
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