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#i really want to draw his lighter too because i've been thinking too much about its design and also i want to render some objects
bluebirbbb · 1 year
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little arthur malevolent lester portrait because my brain is full of him
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lovebugism · 6 months
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Hi! Could I pls request a Steve x shy!reader drabble? Maybe they’re a bit of a bookworm and they have a meet cute at a library or bookstore or something ☺️ I love your fics, and I hope you’re having a good day! 💛
i've been working on this wip for ages but i loved this request too much not to finish! thanks for being patient with me anon!
summary: steve hopeless romantic harrington meets shy!reader at a bookstore and fluffy awkwardness ensues (meet cute, strangers to lovers-ish, fluff, 2.1k)
fictober (㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)
Five hours go by like minutes, tucked away in the back of the library — your own little corner of the world. 
Because all your spare cash went to groceries and good food (and the newest Margaret Atwood novel just dropped), you hide in the back of the bookstore and get lost in the nostalgic earthy scent of the thick pages you’ve been waiting ages to read. 
You sit between the dystopian and gothic fiction aisles, back propped against the former with your knees folded to your chest, and speed-read as much as you can before closing.
The in-store café offers complimentary coffee and bagels. It’s lukewarm and a little cardboard-y, but it’s fuel nonetheless. You only get up once to use the bathroom and stretch your stiff limbs. Other than that very brief break, you’re relatively unbothered — until page 196, anyway.
“Where are the porno mags?” a male voice wonders from a few aisles down. It’s not the first voice you’ve heard all day, but it’s certainly the closest.
A feminine voice follows, nearer now. “There’s no porn, dingus. I was just saying that so you’d drive me here.”
“…That’s so fucked up.”
“You’ll get over it.”
“No, actually. I won’t. This might be the end of our friendship, now that I think about it.”
Their conversation draws closer and closer to you in time with their nearing footsteps. You figure they must be looking for a different section — certainly not the one you’ve had to yourself all day — but then they turn the corner of the aisle and stop short when they find you sitting there.
“Oh,” a pretty girl hums as she stares down at you, rouge mouth forming a softly pouted ‘o’ shape. 
Her hair is a sandy color, like a beach, and it’s chopped at her shoulders. She wears a pair of slacks and suspenders over an oversized button-up. She looks like a character from a book you wish you could write. 
She smiles down at you, a tad bit awkwardly. “Hello…”
“Shit— ” you curse, scrambling to get your legs out of the aisle. Your face burns as you bring your knees back to your chest. “I’m sorry.”
“No worries,” she shrugs and walks on by you. 
A pretty boy follows.
His hair is a really specific shade of brown — like chocolate syrup mixed with honey. It’s pushed back over his forehead, messy with intention. A few strands hang over his thick brows like they’re meant to be there. He’s got a layer of scruff on his chiseled jaw that’s a shade lighter than his actual hair. 
His wide eyes are a similar chocolate-syrup-honey color.
He’s almost annoyingly pretty. The kind of pretty that seems unfair.
“Don’t apologize to her,” the pretty boy jokes with a lopsided smile. “She’s a total bully.”
The pretty girl interjects. “Don’t listen to him. He’s an idiot. And stop bothering her, dingus— she’s obviously trying to read.”
You breathe out an awkward laugh through your nose. 
You don’t want them to think you’re actually annoyed, but you don’t have the words to tell them that. You have no idea what to say to them, actually. They’re obviously far cooler than you are, and the notion almost threatens you.
The pretty boy doesn’t follow his pretty friend. He lets her roam the aisle, obviously in search of something, and leans against the gothic fiction section across from you.
“So, uh… What are you reading?” he asks.
You don’t trust your voice to answer him verbally, lest the words get stuck in your throat and make you sound like Kermit the Frog. You flash him the dystopic, renaissance painting-esque cover with a tightlipped smile.
“Handmaid’s Tale,” he reads with a squint, then nods. “Sounds fun.”
“It’s not,” the pretty girl scoffs. She thumbs through her own copy of the book that she plucked from the shelf. “It’s the one I was telling you about on the way over.”
The pretty boy’s face screws up in disgust. “Oh. The one with gross men?”
“The one with the gross men.”
He turns back to you, looking apologetic. “Sorry, I take it back. Not fun.”
You smile wordlessly in response.
“He’s Steve, by the way,” the pretty girl says to you, nodding to the pretty boy. “I figured if he’s gonna keep weirdly hovering over you, you should probably know his name—”
“I’m not hovering!”
“—You can call him dingus if you want. I’m Robin.”
“Hi,” you greet, quiet and mousy.
“Do you come around here often?” the boy — Steve — wonders, bushy brows pinched and burly arms crossed over his chest. “I feel like I’ve seen you before—”
“Ugh. Stop flirting with her.”
“I’m asking a question!”
You purse your lips to the side in attempts to hide your smile and your gaze back to your book. 
They argue like a married couple. You wonder how long they’ve been together — six months or six years?
“Sorry about him. He’s not usually this annoying,” Robin quips with a playful twinkle in her deep ocean eye. She slams the book closed with a ringed handand walks back towards you. She pushes Steve ahead and away from you in the process. “Alright, I got the goods. Let’s go before they close.”
Your eyes widen as you look down at your wrist. 
Ten minutes until eight o’clock. 
You turn to the book once more and find that you’re about a hundred pages shy from the end of it. You tend to read like a maniac if you’re focused enough, but there’s no way you’re finishing it before closing.
“Shit…”
“You okay?” Steve asks, still lingering at the very end of the aisle, though Robin has already left for check-out.
You rise and straighten out your clothes — the very un-special sweatshirt and baggy jeans duo you’d changed into after work. It’s not unlike the navy blue henley and similarly colored denim he’s got on, but you don’t look nearly as pretty as he does.
“Yeah,” you shrug, not quite meeting his gaze as you return the book that feels like it only fits in your hands. “I just— I didn’t realize how late it was.”
You don’t expect to see Steve looking so concerned when you turn back to him. His brows are furrowed, honey eyes glinting in question. “You’re not getting it? You looked like you were almost done.”
“Oh, I don’t— I can’t…” you stammer then trail off, fidgeting awkwardly ahead of him. 
You don’t want this pretty boy’s first impression of you to be that you’re completely and utterly broke. Even if this is the last you ever see of him, you’ll only be remembered as that one girl from the bookstore who couldn’t buy herself anything. 
“I figured I could just come buy tomorrow and finish it…”
“Oh. Okay. Well, it was… it was nice meeting you, then.”
“You, too,” you murmur with a tightlipped smile, eager to get away from a moment you don’t feel very deserving of. 
Out of every girl this pretty boy could’ve chosen, why did it have to be the one in the very back of the bookstore who was too poor to get anything other than a free coffee and bagel? 
You chuck both in the bin as you head towards the exit.
The sun has almost finished setting when you leave — mostly disappeared over the skyline, but painting the sky a deep lavender shade unique to the twilight hour. You stand at the crosswalk — the man on the speaker shouting “wait!” at your side — as you anticipate the orange hand across the street to turn into a white stick figure.
“I told you she’d still be here,” a familiar voice sounds from a few paces behind you, mostly drowned out by the sounds of passing cars. A louder “hey!” follows. You only think the voice might be calling for you until it comes closer. 
“Hey!” It comes again, louder now.
You look over your shoulder and find Steve from the Bookstore striding towards you. 
Both happy and confused to see him, your wavering smile is paired with a pair of furrowed brows. “Hey…”
“Sorry, you just— you left this.”
When your eyes manage to flit away from his sculpted face — which you just noticed looks eerily similar to Michelangelo’s David — you find that he’s holding a book in his hands. Handmaid’s Tale. The same copy you were reading, dog-eared just like you left it.
Your contorted features never falter. “I didn’t…” you trail off with the shake of your head, laughing softly. “I didn’t buy that.”
“No, I know,” Steve shrugs with a crooked grin. “I did.”
You think he might be implying he bought it for you, but then you realize that’s crazy, because why would he do that for you? That’s the sort of thing that happens to girls in Brontë novels, not to you.
“Youdid?” you echo like an idiot because it’s all you can think to say.
“Yeah. ‘Cause, you know, you looked pretty interested in it and everything…”
“But you didn’t have to… You didn’t have to buy it for me—”
“It’s not a big deal. Seriously. I mean, it’ll save you the extra trip down here tomorrow, right?”
You meet his confident grin with a trembling one. “I can’t take it…”
“Well, if you don’t take it, that means I have to keep it, and—”
“He’s pretty much illiterate,” Robin calls from a little ways behind him.
She’s waiting by a pretty maroon car. It looks like a luxury model of some kind, shiny like it’s fresh off the lot. She leans against it like it’s hers, but Steve’s got the keys in his hand — the one not holding the book he bought for you.
“…I was gonna say I haven’t read anything since junior year of high school, but sure,” he concedes with a shrug. His eyes sparkle down at you— or maybe it’s just the street lamps flickering on. Either way, you feel your stomach whirling. He waves the book at you. “Take it. You’ll actually read it.”
“But…” you trail off, eyes flickering over to Robin. You step closer to Steve and lean in like you’re about to tell him a secret. “Won’t your girlfriend be upset?”
“Girlfriend?” the boy repeats with pinched brows. He goes soft with realization a second later, then starts to laugh. “No. Robin, she’s— No. She’s not really my type.”
“Oh. Shit. Sorry,” you stammer with wide eyes. 
If cool, pretty girls aren’t his type, then there’s no way in hell you are. 
Slightly comforted by his assurances, when he motions the book to you again, you take it. 
“Well, thank you, Steve. That’s… That’s really nice.”
He shrugs again. “’S no big deal. Really.”
“But I feel a little bad,” you confess quietly, peeking at him from beneath your lashes while you fidget with the book in your anxious hands. “I feel like I should give you something in return, or, I don’t know, like—”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Steve assures with the shake of his head. He swipes a hand through the chocolate-honey locks and flashes you a smile that borders on shy. “But if you wanted to go out for coffee or something sometime, then I’d be willing to call it even.”
Your cheeks burn. You don’t know if you’re breathing anymore, or if you even can. A quiet smile quirks at the corner of your mouth as you nod. “Coffee sounds good,” you answer sheepishly.
“Cool,” Steve replies coolly, like he isn’t totally beaming down at you. “Then, just… call me whenever you’re free.”
“Oh, I don’t— I don’t have your number.”
His sneakers scuff against the sidewalk as he walks backwards to his car. He just nods at you, smiling gently as he argues, “Yeah, you do.”
Your brows furrow in confusion — because you most certainly don’t. He was a stranger to you a little more than ten minutes ago. You have no reason to have his number. 
Realization settles over you like pinpricks down your spine, butterflies in your belly. 
You open the front cover of the book and find several numbers written down at the very bottom of the cover page.
Call me when you finish, the note reads in half-legible chicken scratch. I’m not really a book guy, but I could probably hear you talk about them all day.
He signs off with his name, number, and a sloppy smiley face. 
You don’t realize you’re beaming until you already are. 
When you look back up at Steve, you find him standing at the open driver’s side door, already smiling back at you.
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ryuichirou · 2 months
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Apologies if someone's already asked previously and I've missed it, but as a fellow enjoyer of the threesome of Trey, Riddle, and Che'nya, I'd love to hear your general idea of the dynamic on these three as well as any headcanons you may have! (I'm someone who adored TreyRiddle first and am just genuinely surprised that it's such a far and inbetween ship in terms of popularity so it's always just very refreshing to see and hear other's views on it!)
I talked about both of these ships, but I don’t remember talking about them together! this is an interesting topic, Anon. Sorry for the wait, it took me some time to think about this.
I do have some headcanons! But I kind of got carried away a bit lol so the first three are focusing on the psychology of it all… in a way. I can’t help it, these guys’ brains are too fun to examine:( I ended the list with a couple of lighter/hornier ones though.
Also, it might seem like there is a Trey/Riddle bias, but it depends on how you look at it I guess. It’ll make sense after the first one. Hopefully! I guess.
Their dynamic is pretty balanced, but not really symmetrical: Che’nya loves Riddle, but he isn’t someone to be committed to one person or get jealous at all; and Trey has been in love with Riddle ever since they were kids and wasn’t able to move on even during the years of their separation. Che’nya wouldn’t mind stepping aside at some point and leaving these two together, but for that to happen he needs Trey to fully admit his feelings and directly confess to Riddle and ask Che’nya to leave. That doesn’t happen, so nothing is stopping Che’nya from having fun with Riddle~ Che’nya sleeps around, but Riddle is one of his favourite boys.
Their first time together happened pretty spontaneously, Che’nya pretty much provoked the other two. I picture something similar to this drawing, but these three had a lot of moments of mutual tension prior to this. Che’nya just started appearing at their dorm more and more often at some point and teasing Riddle, both to enjoy himself and to poke Trey towards facing his own feelings. What a friend!
Riddle is very confused about the whole thing and doesn’t want to think about it. Because if he starts to think, it falls apart in his head: he can’t have relationship with both Che’nya and Trey, he shouldn’t be doing these things even with just one of them, let alone both at the same time. Whenever Riddle is with them, he gets this nasty feeling in his heart that he is prohibited from having fun with them (ah nice memories), but at the same time, he mentally returns to his happy place… I’m not sure if this whole thing is therapeutic or traumatic to him lol It feels right, but as if it’s too good to be true. Thus, he just shuts his mind off whenever they start making out.
And it’s surprisingly easy for Riddle to stop thinking when he is with these two! It honestly surprised Trey and even Che’nya a little bit, even though Che’nya was like “of course he is like that, who wouldn’t melt when his chin is getting scratched?” as if what he does is exactly that… In actuality Che’nya just touches Riddle everywhere and licks his body with his rough tongue until he starts whimpering.
Riddle was very surprised when he got bitten for the first time, but he figured that it’s probably natural for Che’nya who is a beastman. What he didn’t expect is that he would find not only Che’nya’s bite marks, but also Trey’s. Riddle is usually to aroused to notice what exactly is going on, so he had no idea that Trey was biting his sides, arms and chest too…
Che’nya is kinky, and he knows that Trey is kinky too but is too afraid to scare Riddle away, so a lot of times he just starts messing with Riddle and pushing his buttons to show that even if Riddle protests and gets all red, he enjoys things that Trey would’ve never even considered as acceptable. Riddle also wouldn’t…… but there he is, getting all hot and bothered because he got aggressively tickled.
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brinaanana · 1 year
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I just discovered your art and it’s so beautiful!! Have you thought about sharing a process video or brush details sometime? I also use procreate and your painting work is so lovely, it’s soothing to the eyes, I’d love to learn more about it 💕
Hi!
I'm really happy you like my work so much! Tbh, I've always wanted to share my drawing process, but never ended up doing it. Thanks to your ask, I'm finally motivated to write one!
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I will go over my process / brushes / and other extra things of this particular drawing... under the cut!
I will go over my process / brushes / and other extra things of this particular drawing... under the cut!
Starting out:
The most decisive part of drawing (in my opinion, anyways) is the initial sketch. I usually find myself drawing multiple preliminary sketches before going to coloring, hence why the video below is cropped in the beginning. There are so many things running through my mind as I sketch - should she look at the viewer? Should I make her cross her arms? How should how clothes flow? That sort of thing.
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The most frustrating thing in art is definitely having an idea, but being unable to carry it out due the skill set not matching up. For example, most of my drawings have the characters standing there like 🧍‍♂️ I wish I can do something much cooler like having Kaine pointing her blade at Nier but I lack the skill to draw poses like that. Better yet, I want to be able to draw from different angles. One day... I swear!!
Coloring:
There's no lineart section because I barely have patience to do so loll. Back before uni started, I had enough time to go line my drawings on CSP using my tablet back home. Nowadays, I'm just drawing on my ipad whenever I can. My art style changed a lot due to this new adjustment, which is pretty funny because it's been only one semester so far.
The brushes I usually use are the following, I don't usually use anything else other than these, unless I am working with metals. I use the "glass" brush in pretty much everythingggg, from sketching to cleaning up. Lmk if anyone wants to try the brush. The edge brush is by JenClaessen , which I love to do to shade skin. The last tool I use is the ordinary airbrush. My favorite thing adding soft lighting using it!
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I like to do this thing where I use the glass brush at low opacity to add a complementary color (yellow in this case) in the area where the base and shade meet (1)! Another thing I do it adding a brighter, saturated color towards the end of a round surface. This is adds shape to the 2d drawing, since there is light creeping from behind her (2).
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Because my art style is highly stylized, the lighting in my pieces seem to hit harsher than reality. I make the shading where it meets the base color the darkest, and the shading gets lighter as it gets farther away, or vice versa (3). In other words, the shading near her nose is darker than the other areas on her face.
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I would usually lower the opacity of the lines and change their color appropriately, to give the drawing a softer feel. Coloring is basically also my cleanup stage too. As I color, I will erase the lines and make the colors show the way instead. I would also like to note that I utilize the airbrush in skin to show texture of it, while the use the glass brush to do the intricate details in the hair/clothes.
Editing:
For editing, I usually start by copying/pasting my whole drawing then tone curving immediately. Tone curving is basically adjusting the lights and darks by manipulating this line. The line towards the right changes the lights, vice versa for the darks. I don't remember the exact configurations for this drawing, but it should be akin to this:
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After tone curving, I like to slap on a gradient map for more interesting effects! Similarly to the tone curve, the colors towards the right highlight the lighter colors, and vice versa. Below are the colors I chose for this drawing. Tbh, I can't really explain why I chose these colors specifically - I think the best results would come from going with your guts and trying to use colors to match the vibes.
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Honestly, with procreate's features, you can't really go wrong. Sometimes, I'd tone curve a drawing multiple. Other times I would add two gradient maps that contain different colors together, with different layer effects. The noise filter is super charming when applied subtly to the shades. The chromatic aberration makes lazy doodles polished.
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Here is the process video. I draw multiple things in a single canvas, so I cut those bits out.
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@madharemuses replied to your post “((I have a headache so I'm watching an FE:Engage...”:
[I want to enjoy Engage. I like the art design, I like the characters, I like the gameplay, but for some reason I just can't really bring myself to enjoy it. Also, it lacks replay value compared to most previous titles, so I feel like I spent too much on it.]
@gensokyogarden replied to your post “((I have a headache so I'm watching an FE:Engage...”:
ENGAGE GOOD
((Ayyyy we have the big two(tm) opinions here! Joking aside, I reply to these responses in the same post because I want to share some general thoughts. I'm not trying to pit you against each other by highlighting your opposing opinions lmao. Even though it's been a few days, Engage has been swirling around in my head for about a week or so now, and I do want to give my thoughts to you two, who responded to me, at least, so that post I made doesn't just become a big jebait or whatever the term is. So, spoilers, Zane's thoughts, and etc. etc. beneath the cut. Oh yeah, and it's long so don't read it unless you want to know what I think of a game I've not played, that a lot of people have been dismissive towards.))
I am writing this across several sittings. At the time of writing this statement, I'm watching the Avalanche map, so basically I'm right near the end. (I've also seen some supports, but the guy whose playthrough I'm watching is doing them offsceen because he doesn't want to waste his audience's time with grinding.)
This isn't going to be a structured review, it's more of a slightly-edited thought-dump.
My overall thoughts of this game so far, which is an impression unlikely to change, is this:
Fire Emblem Engage is a game unfairly criticised as worse than it actually is. It's not a super good game, but it does not fall as far below the 'average' standards of the series as much as people say it does.
Before I get into the full swing of things, I need to offer a disclaimer: I am out of touch with the series. I've played FE3-12 and Echoes, which means I'm missing FE1, the game that started it all, and Awakening and Three Houses, two immensely popular games that made big changes to the way Fire Emblem works, brought many new people to the fanbase, and generated a lot of attention. (I also haven't played Fates, but it's a bit less relevant to what I have to say.) I have never been interested in Awakening or Three Houses, but they changed the Fire Emblem 'landscape' so much that I would consider myself out-of-touch simply because I haven't played them.
Addressing some common criticisms
The two main complaints I see first-and-foremost on the internet that dominate over the better-formulated criticisms are: It's too anime and the writing sucks.
Now, the anime thing is stupid. Fire Emblem has always been anime; it's a stale and tasteless counter-argument, but it's objectively true. Most Fire Emblem games at least partially reflect the anime style popular around the time they were made, and all of them draw some influences from anime in general. The designs are too colourful and fancy for my taste, but I still find them enjoyable (Chloe and Etie are probably my favourites? Not super fond of Etie's Archer outfit but the player I'm watching made her a Warrior and she looks fine). In fact, I think this design choice was good; they clearly wanted to deviate from the grimness and seriousness of Three Houses, and can they be blamed for that? Making that sort of story can get heavy at times, so for an anniversary game I feel like going for something lighter was the right choice. Overall, the presentation in this game is excellent; not enough to make me love it like I loved Echoes (which was carried by the presentation alone for me), but good enough that I enjoy seeing it on my screen.
The second criticism is the writing, which is semi-valid. It's almost-good in a lot of places, but there's always one or two tiny details holding it back in my eyes. It's frustrating, because I feel like Engage would actually be quite well-written with a few fairly small edits that remove some of the issues or make the stupid parts (Chapter 10-11 Time Crystal) less stupid. The issue I have with the criticism is not that it's wrong, it's that people act like all of the other games in the series are god-tier writing or something. This is objectively untrue; most Fire Emblem stories are fairly straightforward or cliche plots carried by a cast of one-note, but enjoyable and likeable characters. Liking the characters makes you overlook the flaws in the plot. Just think about how many Fire Emblem games are about awakening or summoning some kind of all-powerful dragon or dark god (or both), and then think about how often that actually bothers you simply because you like some of the characters.
Let's talk about the writing for a moment, since this is an RP blog and therefore revolves around writing
It sounds to me like Engage's writing is actually really average by Fire Emblem standards (it can't be worse than the GBA games at least, if you ask me) but it's issue is that it came after Three Houses, a game which tried to be very different from the rest of Fire Emblem when it comes to writing. I haven't played Three Houses but I have seen people react to it. The amount of time people spend debating and arguing over who's in the right or wrong, beyond just which lord/house they like, shows that the game provoked more thoughts from its players than just "Oh I like this character more than this other character." Engage clearly has not done this, and parts of it that could form a good running theme just don't quite connect. The dots don't quite link up and the stars don't quite align. It falls just short.
In my head, I'm comparing it with other Fire Emblem games and I don't think it's that much worse than some (fairly well regarded) entries in the series. For example, in FE7, everything Ephidel does doesn't really make sense since he's formenting a rebellion in Lycia to gather Quintessence for Nergal to summon dragons... even though Nergal already has enough Quintessence to summon a dragon. In Sacred Stones, Eirika is supposed to be the diplomacy route, and yet everywhere she goes, stuff(tm) happens and she gets dragged into fights because Fire Emblem requires things.exe to happen so that each chapter can be a fight. In Binding Blade, the big exposition was Jahn explaining Idoun's backstory... through the medium of Roy seizing like 20 thrones in one chapter. In Monshou, the big main idea of Hardin being turned evil was great and executed pretty well, but most chapters are "So you're fighting dudes loyal to Medeus or Hardin" and the story is mostly about Marth trying to figure out what's going on in Akaneia. It's not bad, but it's hardly some god-tier story that has the player hanging off the edge of their seat at every chapter.
By comparison, Engage has an issue with build-up and payoff. The payoffs are often good, but the build-ups often don't do them justice. For instance, Morion was a good payoff because while what happened to him was quite predictable, Alchryst and Diamant's boss conversations with him are great. What's lacking is the fact that he gets captured by Hyacinth like... one chapter after he's introduced, after raising a million death flags. If he had been a green unit (or even a playable character with a big "Morion will go back to ruling his kingdom after next chapter" warning, or his stats transferring over to Diamant like with Nils and Ninian in FE7) for a while to let the player get to know him better, then his death would have been more impactful. Let Alear agree or argue with him about certain things; Alear needs to interact with Morion's pretty strong force of personality (that I think is pretty well demonstrated, even if it's quite one-note, in his first appearance).
Likewise, Lumera died too quickly. We needed a few more chapters for her and Alear's relationship to ripen. If the game had opened with Alear sent to Firine (upon Alfred's request, to help deal with Corrupted and bandits), with Lumera accompanying them but not helping them in battles to help him readjust to being awake, then it would have probably worked out better pacing-wise. Little happens character-wise in those chapters, so slotting in some Alear-Lumera interactions would have helped establish Alear's personality and motivations for the rest of the game. After Firine, they could return to Lythos for a little bit of R&R with Lumera promising to teach Alear more about the Emblems. Then the attack happens, she dies before she can, and the game proceeds with Brodia after that. It makes Lumera more impactful because the player gets to see her relationship with Alear more, and it makes their feelings for her stronger too, since they now have time to experience how she's their mother and acts like it.
One last example I will give is Zephia. Her whole death scene is kind of invalidated by the fact that she's been speaking as if the Hounds are her family for the whole game. I think a little tweak could really have fixed it. Take 'family' to be the theme of the story; a lot of Fire Emblem games place emphasis on bloodlines and family. Engage could have taken that both ways: that sometimes, blood family is important (e.g. the royal sibling pairs in the game) but sometimes your found family is just as important (Lumera and Alear) and sometimes your family can be abusive and bad for you (Sombron and Veyle, Zephia and Marni). How does Zephia fit into this? Well, imagine if her dialogue was tweaked ever so slightly. The idea is that she misunderstands how family should be because of Sombron (what he said during the time travel part). She longs for a real family, but because of Sombron she thinks that family should be abusive. Seeing Alear and Veyle helps her appreciate what family should be, and she helps them because of that. She dies thanking Griss, and hoping that Marni will forgive her in the afterlife. There we go, a villain given a better redemption than the weird one she got in the game, and completing a theme/story/lesson for the game as a whole.
Zephia also suffers from the buildup thing. The Hounds have a lot of screentime but they don't really do much with it; Griss and Zephia get their motivations and backstories infodumped as they die, and Mauvier spends the first half of his appearances being all "I am a knight I follow orders" when he should have been dropping hints that his true loyalty was to Veyle, rather than just mechanically following orders. If some of that screentime had been used to develop that Marni wants familial love, while Zephia misunderstands what a family should be, and Griss thinks of Zephia as his mother/older sister but struggles to convey that since his world is dull when he's not feeling pain, then it would have made them more compelling than the four big mooks you knock over 13 times throughout the story. Oh yeah, and of course, they do the "I must retreat" thing way too often. Fighting them feels completely insignificant because they never die until they suddenly do.
Lastly, the characters are all quirky and... oh boy. I've seen people complain that the Engage characters are more one-note crazy than usual. That... doesn't feel true to me. They feel like they're less serious than usual, but that's Engage being light-hearted. I've seen serious stuff (Alfred's illness, Hortensia's feelings about stuff) but mostly it seems to be on the lighter side. I don't mind, but I think it should have perhaps been a bit more of a balance. I will say this thought: of the supports I have seen, character motivations at least seem to make sense and stay decently consistent.
Some of my other criticisms
I would argue that there are a few things holding the game back. The writing, I have already mentioned. While there are plenty of good individual moments, there's often a lack of good build-up or connectedness that makes the whole feel like wasted potential and staleness. The gameplay, I think might actually be the most tactical in any Fire Emblem game so far; you can't just air-drop a god-unit into any situation with 1-2 range as easily because of Weapon Triangle breaking, and chain strikes mean that positioning actually matters, and tanking isn't infinite. This might not be a good thing, however, as I get the feeling that the average casual Fire Emblem player... doesn't care about gameplay much. It can't suck, but a lot of the time they do just want to make their favourite unit into a god and drop them into whatever situation.
One of the biggest problems is the Emblems, however. They're not really written as themselves. They're more like echoes or shadows or ghosts of the character they're meant to be. They often feel like they were written by someone who'd only read a synopsis of what that character was like, instead of seeing and analysing them (which... is probably what happened). The Emblem ring bond supports are bland and soulless most of the time, with often no connection between the character and the Emblem based off their commonalities (though to be fair, writing 12 Emblem supports for each character would have been hell). Regardless, all of the Emblem characters feel way too superficial to actually matter most of the time, they mostly exist to reference their own games a lot or provide the same basic statements about things. The advice they offer in the story is... logical but kind of bland and uninteresting. Sometimes they feel right, but most of the time they feel... not very good, which is not great when they're meant to be a big selling point of the game. It's like the Emblems are supposed to make you so excited about seeing your favourite characters that you don't stop to think if they're acting in-character. I won't comment on them too much gameplay wise, since I think that as much as they are meant to somewhat represent their own games (e.g. Sigurd being mobility and canter, Lucina having dual strike stuff) there's a limit to what you can do since most Fire Emblem games play quite samey.
Another issue I think that Engage has is the lack of post-game. Relying on DLC and Multiplayer to create replayability for a single-player game is just... objectively a bad idea? It's not what people are mostly there for. Watching the playthrough made me think "If I were playing this game, I'd want to run some of the other characters in side battles to see their supports and find out more about them." A post-game would be good for that, maybe with a bonus series of maps like Thabes was in Echoes. As it is, I've seen no evidence of that sort of thing.
I want to say some nice things
So I actually quite like Alear. Not a lot a lot, but a fair lot, if that makes sense. Based on everything shown about past Alear, and the way Alear loses their memories, their character makes sense for most of the game. Past Alear was emotionally stunted because Sombrero is the worst Fire Emblem dad in the series, and present Alear has a serious case of no-thoughts-head-empty at the start of the game. Given that everyone treats them super well (worships even...), it makes sense for them to develop a positive outlook on life, a strong fondness of their friends, a solid sense of duty towards everyone counting on them, and also feel kind of creeped out at being worshipped. Alear also feels a little more complete as a main character to me, oddly enough? I haven't played those games so I can't say for sure, but Robin and Corrin both often gave me a weird vibe like they're meant to be the player's self-insert but didn't commit to it enough. Like they wanted to make a self-insert character but then realised they needed to insert more character for supports, interactions, and story beats. Alear, on the other hand, feels like they wrote a complete character and then had to shove the self-insert in, to their detriment.
I also need to talk about Yunaka. I think Yunaka did something no other Fire Emblem side character (non-main character) has ever done: she immediately made me want to read about her supports to learn more about her backstory. Most Fire Emblem characters show up and I'm like "Okay, so this is this character's vibe. I'll find out more in the supports, I bet." Yunaka though... as soon as I heard her battle/crit quotes and saw how much that differed from the quirky "OwO I am cute thief" personality she was projecting, I was immediately like "There's more here. I need to know what her deal is." The game immediately shows that she's good at acting, and as soon as you put her into combat you see a side of her completely different from the one you saw before, and that sparks curiosity. That's good. Fire Emblem doesn't do that, instead it tries to establish the one note that its one-note characters are based around in a good way so that the player knows what that character's deal is. This time, it did that, and more. I haven't seen all of Yunaka's supports yet, but I will go through all of them when I get the chance to. I must know.
The music and voice acting are pretty good. The presentation and CG art is good. I don't think I need to elaborate on this, I think they're presented in a way that accentuates the atmosphere they're trying to create most of the time.
I'm hesitant about this last bit, but I think the game conveys its characters well. This is something Fire Emblem has never really had trouble doing, so it's not really a thing in Engage's favour, it's just another thing the game is not bad at. The supports (or those that I've seen at least) are good at showing what each character's deal is. That's not hard to do, though it is occasionally not done well (Vaida and Dorcas... a support that shows what their characters are like, but repeats the same joke dragged out three times in a row without really resolving anything).
Edit: Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to say that the really cheesy and campy moments are amusing rather than cringe to me. I think they just barely toe the line at times, but like... given how often the games try to shoehorn the 'Fire Emblem' into it, this really isn't even the worst.
Conclusion
This is the part where I pretend to have a conclusion so it feels structured. I already said what I needed to say at the start, so this is the part I put a bow on it.
I feel like it's hard for me to assess this game. I haven't played it, and I haven't played Awakening and Three Houses, two games that I feel like probably influenced both the fanbase and Engage a lot. But I can't help but feel like it's better than all of the hate it gets. I don't really think it's god tier, but it's definitely not as bad as it's said to be. I think if I did have the opportunity to play it though, I'd enjoy it at least as much as I enjoyed FE6, FE8, and FE11. With the others I played, I think it'd be a bit more up in the air.
If I had to say though, there's enough problems for it to be disappointing, but enough good for it to not warrant the amount of hate I've seen. I feel like the hate it gets is often an instinctual rather than logical thing; rarely do I see people fully explain how they feel, and sometimes some of the people criticising it talk like they're series veterans but it turns out they've played like... 4 games. Still, I can't help but feel like if this game came out after Fates rather than Three Houses, people would have a better view of it.
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the-s1lly-corner · 11 months
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Random creepypasta character hcs VOL. 3(?)
Lost count on these but yeah I wanna drop more headcannons!!!
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Nina is genderfluid and uses any pronouns! They also wear binders every now and then + they wear pride jewelry
Also they dye their hair like. A few shades lighter because he likes how the roots look when they grow out!! Same note they dye their own hair!!
I'm sorry for really focusing on nina but I've been flashing my design for her; but she also wears fake fangs
Before eyeless jack became eyeless, he has heterochromia! One eye was brown and the other was more gold!
Obligatory "I hc that ej and nina would be friends" but they do each others nails and would help each other put together outfits
A majority of eyeless Jack's shirts are band shirts
The neighborhood, TV girl, hollywood undead, mother mother, ICP, ect ect are a few of his favorites! Granted I think his wardrobe would become more limited since he lives in the woods alone in my au...
Still focusing on EJ, in my au before he got all.. monsterified... I feel like he was studying to be a doctor
Ironic and kinda messed up considering now he's forced to dissect people to sustain his own body but yeah
I'm pretty sure I said this before but I'll say it again since I love the concept; but Ben 99% of the time is bound to electronic devices. Basically meaning you'll rarely, if ever, see him drag himself out. Even when he does it takes a lot out of him, and he can only wander for so long until he has to go back
More au stuff but to help give jill her own unique vibe and stuff, I designed her to look like those old dolls you'd see way back then. You know the ones, with the porcelain faces and ragdoll-like bodies!! She still has her black and white clown look but yeah!! Due to this she also has visible tears and stitches on her; mainly on the limbs!! I also kinda wanna give her a sort of lolita dress look, if I ever draw her again! Give her loads of frills and stuff
Tying this all off since shes made to resemble a doll shes short 😔☝️ a moment of silence for lady
She can still stretch her limbs like jack, though
Though tbh idk if jill could do that or not <\3 but shh it's my au
Jane is much more... well idk the right wording, but I guess shes more masc presenting in my hc/au? She doesnt wear a dress or pair of heels like her canon look
I adore her canon look dont get me wrong, but I feel like considering that shes gunning for Jeff, that isnt too practical; esp considering jeff is.... something else
Basically wears stuff that's easier to run in, add some protection to her if she falls, swap the heels out with running shoes, no dangly accessories, ties her hair back. If not she'd definitely cut it down short
She still has her mask, though, but its a prosthetic she made/received herself since I dont think she'd want to touch the one jeff gave her
So yeah!!
Also I feel like, out of most the creepypastas, she has the best chance of living her own life in society; she only has intention to end game jeff, but asides that shes just. Mostly normal. Shes in therapy for her trauma, she has a job, she lives in her own place, ect
Oh that also reminds me! I keep rattling in about "my au" this, "my au" that, but I havent actually... released anything about it outside of headcannons
Idk if it'll be out in written fanfics, or as comics, or just one shot half au-accurate drawings or WHAT but
Basic run down of the au; time skip has taken place, havent decided a set amount of years, but it's been long enough that characters (that age) like jeff or jane are in their 20s (so like anywhere between 7-13ish years)
Slender still has his mansion, but it's hardly like anything the old fandom had,, it's no where near as huge or extravagant; its about as good as an abandoned mansion can be with little to no access to materials to upkeep it, and hardly anyone lives in it
Also same area ej lives, but they don't interact much and have a tense dynamic; both refuse to change locations
Still fleshing out the mansion idea!! So this is subject to change!!
Anywaus
Obviously characters who dont age/are ghosts/undead dont change ages; so like ben and sally are still the same, and the same applies to others like
Uuuuuh
Puppeteer, laughing jack and jill, slender and his brothers (this au does not include THAT one, fuck that one, we only have splendor and trender here), zalgo
Oh speaking of zalgo! He exists!! They don't really have a physical/tangible form though, hes more so a concept/untouchable entity that corrupts whatever it touches and causes chaos
Anyways
Also eyeless Jack's aging is... slowed; not by much but yeah!! Side effect of his curse and the whole "his body is changing into something horrific", and the slow age thing is a whole thing about the curse trying to extend his life span in order to cause more damage to himself and others
Real goofy stuff
Anyways
Laughing jack lives in his lil box and mostly transfers from person to person via the box being passed around
Be it garage sales or being sold in a goodwill, he eventually finds a new family to torment
No one suspects the old ass jack in the box!!!!
Ysah that's about it
Sits
Anyways yall should totally send me In requests (please read my pinned first!!)
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mayzi33 · 10 months
Text
Alright, alright...
So, I've had this crazy TMM theory for a long time now, but I've been afraid to share it cause I thought it was uh- too weird.
But since @ackarcue convinced me, here it is.
I don't really have a name for this theory but uh- basically
What-could-have-happened-to-Carter's-parents-why-Kalagan-might-hate-them-and-how-Carter-and-Leila-might-actually-be-related
There. JUST STICK WITH ME FOR A WHILE OKAY?
HEAR ME OUT.
Where do I start-
So we all know how Carter's parents vanished, and we unfortunately didnt get an explanation for that- Tho I do feel half of the fandom has a silent mutual agreement that it most likely has something to do with Kalagan
So think with me
In book 3, when Mick told the misfits about the fire, he said that Kalagan didn't ONLY hold a grudge agaisnt Dante, but also against Lyle. Because he, Dante, and Sandra, escaped through the tunnels and left the others behind. So he holds a grudge against the cousins, but not against Sandra since- well, he's obsessed with her.
But waaaay back in book 2, when Sandra gets introduced to Carter and they start talking about his dad, Mr. Vernon says smth about how "friends" wouldn't be the way he'd describe Sandra's and Lyle's relantioship- And she gets all flushed. Hitting that, they probably had uh- a sweet little relantioship.
And giving that Kalagan had a crush on Sandra, no doubt that would set him off.
NOW THIS IS THE PART WHERE MY DELULU GETS WEIRDER
JUST STAY WITH ME A LITTLE LONGER GUYS YOU CAN TAKE IT
We know that Carter's parents vanished when he was a little kid. We're not sure how old, but the book says it was when he had "few years of age", and he seems to have some clear memories of his parents, so lets ASSUME it was around age 3-6 (I'm guessing that it was probably 5 since in the beggining of book 1 is mentioned that Uncle Sly used Carter to steal from that couple on his 6th birthday so-)
We don't know who Leila's father is. The only thing we know, is that Sandra left her at the orphanage due to not being able to take of her. Now, who convinced her to do that? Our favorite pshycopath, Kalagan.
Ok this is really weird but
What if
WHAT IF
Lyle really is Leila's father?..
JUST HEAR ME OUT.
Now, I'm well aware that Sandra says she has a husband and that he is a miner in book 2. BUT SHE NEVER SAID **HE** WAS LEILA'S FATHER...
WHAT IF... Sandra and Lyle had an affair after all these years? AND *THATS* WHAT DROVE KALAGAN TO MAKE LYLE VANISH?
Hear me out. If you pay attetion to Leila's hair in the colored drawings, you can see *blonde locks*. Sandra's hair is darker, while Leila's is lighter. A light brown going to blond to the hair ends...
We know that the reason why Lyle left Mineral Wells was to protect his wife and son from Kalagan. But it never said he was a loyal husband... So maybe, after he had an affair with Sandra resulting in Leila, he did it with his wife resulting in Carter. AND ONLY LATER ON, KALAGAN FOUND OUT.
Lets assume that the Locke family was way too well hidden, so it took Kalagan some time to find them.
And when he did, it was poof with Carter's parents
In the end of book 1, Mr. Vernon says he has always been looking for Carter. Kalagan KNEW that Dante would come after him after the news of the Locke couple going missing spread; So he took Carter away, and kept him hidden.
Hidden from Dante, his family, Mineral Wells... And I believe it might have been not only to hurt Dante more, but also to sort of "mock" him. I feel like Kalagan wanted to make Carter suffer as much as possible during those years with him, so he could show him "the crulety of the world" and corrupt him. And also how he'd constantly force Carter to help him steal from others... H wanted to make Carter his assistant, a thief, a criminal, just as bad as he is. So then when he dragged him back to Mineral Wells, he could show him to Dante and be like "yo Dante, look what I did to your cousin's kid I made him emo lol"
Ok, that's it delulu is done.
So... what do yall think?
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softguarnere · 1 year
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Hello! I have a ship request :)
I have short dark brown hair and brown eyes. I am 5'6. I am also ftm and gay.
I am currently learning German and Ukrainian. I play the cello (I would say that I'm pretty decent at it). I want to join the paratroopers soon and maybe get a doctorate degree in the medical field. I like writing books, reading, and drawing. I am very interested in history mainly the 20th century. I also know how to cross-country ski and love the winter.
My MBTI type if I remember correctly is INTJ. I love procrastinating and do well under a lot of pressure. I'm also very stubborn and awkward with talking to people so I don't have many close friends. For some reason, I have a sort of knack for doing things well, even if it's the first time I've tried it and that might be because I listen really closely to stuff to make sure I'm doing everything correctly. I need a straightforward path and a list of things I should do to get something done.
I have depression, anxiety and maybe (I say maybe because it's undiagnosed) maladaptive daydreaming, which basically means I daydream too much that it's a problem. Any small words of affection or reassurance sends me through the roof and makes me happy for the rest of the day (idk why). I also get angry very quickly and forget things quickly.
I am converting to Judaism so that’s cool. My sense of clothing style is just me pretending I’m in the military, pleather jackets, heavy jackets that are either camo or dark green, aviator sunglasses, a lot of neutral colours, fancy dress shirts/blouses, combat boots (which I currently do not own so just tennis shoes or winter boots), I have a few BoB pins which I have created on my own :) I like wearing t-shirts in winter under my jacket just because. The t-shirts usually have designs like aeroplanes, space, and museum shirts. I also have a collection of shirts from places I’ve never been cause I think it’s hilarious.
I keep a lot of stuff in my pockets “just in case”. I impulse buy, which is a big insecurity of mine. People intimidate me easily so I usually wait to get approached to start a conversation. I like watching adventure shows like extinct or alive or expedition unknown.
 I would say that I have a very dark sense of humour and am almost always sarcastic when talking to my friends (also I love irony). I have an interesting music taste, most any song I listen to goes onto my liked songs on Spotify heh. I sometimes slip into a British accent or one that isn’t mine at all.
Take all the time you need to get to this and have a good day :)
Hello dear Anon! Thank you so much for your patience 🥰 this semester has been busy and I really appreciate it!
I ship you with . . .
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Skip Muck!
Listen! It's the ✨vibes✨
He's a fun guy! You sound like a fun guy! I just think the whole relationship would be super fun 🤭
You meet in the paratrooper program, for sure
The second that he approaches you, you would just know that the connection between you is something special
Your darker sense of humor with his lighter one would just balance each other out so nicely. Like, you're both having fun and cracking jokes, but they're on completely different ends of the spectrum, which makes it interesting and keeps you guys on your toes
Skip is a very adventurous person, and because you're into so many different things, I feel like every day would be an adventure with you two. Even if you just want to stay at home and read some history books, he would enjoy just spending time with you
Speaking of ✨vibes✨, as someone with ADHD, I feel like Skip probably has it too? (Just me? Okay lol) So since it's hard for him to get past steps in certain tasks, it works really well because you remember details so well. He is so efficient with you around to help him plan things out
For as much as he likes to joke around, he can also be serious. He's a words of affirmation dude, for sure, so when he casually tells you that he loves you or cares about you, you can be sure that he's being genuine 💖
Skip would think that your fashion sense is so cool! Catch him out here stealing your jackets and cool t-shirts (And he'd be cool with it if you wanted to steal his clothes, too)
Since you keep so many things in your pockets, I feel like he would make it a running joke between you two. Waiting until you're out with friends and then asking you for something insanely specific. The rest of Easy is like "there's no way - Oh! Okay, never mind. Wait, how did you fit that in your pocket?"
The laughs you two get out of it would never get old
Thank you for the request, Anon! I hope you like this 💕🕊️
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servin-up-surveys · 1 year
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survey #124
Do you like pineapple on pizza? To be entirely fair, I don't think I've tried it, but considering I'm generally not a fan of sweet and savory combos, I'm doubtful I would enjoy it.
Do you like milk? I do, but only legitimate, mammalian milk. No oat, soy, etc. stuff; trust me, I've tried it because the dairy industry is actually fucking horrible and rooted in awful abuse & I want NOTHING to do with it, but I just don't like non-dairy alternatives, like in the way that I have to aggressively fight spewing it out - which I don't always succeed at. I just hate it. I am so, so sensitive to tastes I dislike.
Do you like syrup or powdered sugar on your french toast? Uh I guess a bit of both is ideal, but I could see me going for one or the other depending on my mood.
Do you put jelly or butter on your toast? I honestly don't really eat toast. But if I DO have it for whatever reason, I'm gonna want grape jam on it.
Do you like baking? Never done it. I really should learn, though... I just need to learn cooking in general.
What are you grandparents' names? Right now I only remember my mom's parents' tbh, which were Cecelia and William.
If any, how old are your siblings? Ashley is 29, Nicole JUST turned 25, Misty is 35, Katie is 39, and Bobby is... oh, he doesn't have his birth year on FB, so idk lmao, but younger than Katie. Full disclosure I looked up Misty's and Katie's too bc I'm awful and don't remember my half-siblings' birthdays/ages like a literal asshole <333333
What color is your dad's hair? So he was born blonde IF I remember his childhood pictures correctly, but it became totally black for the majority of his life. It's pretty much entirely gray by now, but you can see the hue kinda peppers in lightness in a sorta way where at least to me, you can tell his hair is supposed to be black, he's just old.
How old was your mom when she had you? FUCK my mom doesn't have her birth year on FB either, but I THINK it was 1961, so if that is the case she would've been 34. It's somewhere around there.
Do you live with any of your family members currently? Just my mom.
What is your favorite cousins name? I don't have a close relationship with any of my cousins, honestly.
Who are you closest to in your family? My mom.
How long have you and your partner been together? It's been around a year and a half now.
Do you live together? Not currently, but I'm aware that when he has his own place again, he wants me to come with him. His mom is in a stable enough place and has been for a long enough time where he's comfortable leaving her with the house, but because of just how fucking CLINICALLY INSANE the housing market is right now, he just hasn't found a decent place that's priced even remotely reasonably. It's just financially intelligent to stay where he is until the market gets better or an incredible deal falls into his lap.
What is the first movie you watched together? As a couple? Technically, I think it'd be Coraline, which I know we watched once at my place the first time we tried dating in '17. Oh wait... or it mighta been the remake of It, which we watched in theaters.
How old are they? He's 29 and convinced he's basically on this deathbed age-wise lmao sir your life has JUST started
What are some things you enjoy doing? Primarily computer-related stuff, like watching videos or listening to music, socials activities, RPing, editing various things, playing WoW, doing surveys... but I also like to take photographs, read, draw, play video games (these days primarily with others), and I would absolutely adore going on nature walks and things of the like if I was in better shape (one day!!), and it wasn't hot. I also love learning about and watching animals.
What is your favorite color? Pastel pink is #1, followed by... many other pink shades, haha, like coral, rose gold, neon, fuchsia, etc. etc. I also like deep, regal reddish-purple colors, like maroon and burgundy, and lighter shades of purple, like lilac, orchid, and such.
What state are you from? North Carolina.
Have you ever adopted an animal? I'm assuming you don't mean truly "purchase" from a breeder or something, in which case, yes.
Have you ever taken in a stray? That's how our outdoor cat infestation from my childhood started, haha. I know my family (myself 100% included) has ZERO regrets over rescuing Chance, but yeah, it was a massive problem. Even after her, when we'd entered a phase of having no cats, we took in two kittens (Aphrodite and her sister whose name I just can't remember anymore) that were LITERALLY thrown out of a car in a plastic bag. Aphrodite started a fresh chain of having way too many cats, but not nearly as many as we had with Chance's family. They were still taken by animal control, though, because of wildly shitty neighbors that never communicated "hey they keep wandering into our yard, stop this or we're calling somebody." Coming home from school to every single one of them gone was one of the worst days of my fucking life (I was literally shrieking curses and sobbing on the porch), and I still grieve Aphrodite especially; I adored that cat. BUT ANYWAY, DO NOT keep your cats outdoors, and even when solely indoor pets, spay/neuter them, PLEASE.
What is an animal you are scared of? Whale sharks. It's funny, I like them, they're such peaceful animals, but their mouths just REALLY freak me out. I'd actually like to swim near one one day, maybe kill the fear.
Have you ever been bitten by a dog? Not a serious bite, no. Just a couple nips from nervous ones, the kinds that never even drew blood. My sister has been bitten by a German shepherd though on the hand; it belonged to her friend, and for some reason I don't remember, the dog just attacked her. She wound up needing stitches, and bless her friend, poor girl was sobbing because she felt so bad. It didn't affect Nicole's love for dogs though, and later in life she basically owned a German shepherd named Zeke. Maybe she sorta still does, idk; he was her ex-boyfriend's, and even after the split I know she's always been allowed to see him and I THINK bring him to her place occasionally? That dog is literally the child of divorced parents lmfao
Is Halloween your favorite holiday? Concept and aesthetic-wise, absolutely yes. I LIVE for the vibe, but as far as celebrating the holiday goes, it's not; I really don't do anything, pretty much ever. Christmas is definitely my fave celebratory-wise, because my family gets together and I just love seeing Ash's kids be so overjoyed about it all. It's just one of those days where you really, really focus on the love you have for the people you choose to spend your life with.
Do you like to watch scary movies during October? Meh, I'm just not a movie person, at least when it comes to watching them alone. I'd totally be done for like, watching them with Girt. Primarily because he hates horror/is a total pansy about it and it's hilarious lmfao
What are a couple of your favorite horror films? The original The Blair Witch Project is #1 (I like the sequel too), and I also totally adore The Crazies; maybe tied with the former mention, actually, idk. I thought The Boy was EXCELLENT, that's actually a movie I'd love to watch again. You can't go wrong with The Shining, either! The acting is just historical, plus I'm really into the concept of hysteria building off of what is technically nothing; I think that's also why I love The Blair Witch Project so much, at least the explanation behind it (collective hysteria, overreacting to certain things). The mind is SUCH a powerful thing.
What is your favorite Halloween treat/candy? Pumpkin-shaped Reese's, haha.
Do you often find yourself eating just because you’re bored? I used to be really bad at this, but not so much anymore. I'm not gonna say it NEVER happens, but I've gotten way better about reinforcing to myself "no, you're not hungry, you're bored."
Are you a sex addict? lmao if you know me at all, you know I'm definitely not.
Have you ever had a boyfriend/girlfriend taken from you? No. She tried, but I know Juan didn't date her after a lie she made up DID make me say "you know what fuck this I'm done with this whole drama bye" and break up with him. The lie she'd told was very believable for him honestly, and even though I DID know it could be a lie, Rachel had caused enough stress for me already and I wasn't confident enough of how into Juan I was to put up with it. To this day, I consider that lie a saving grace. I know Juan's done bad things that I don't know about (it's specifically stuck with me to this day that his answer to me asking about a stab wound scar he had was "I deserved it"), and bad things I do know about. It says something when your teacher pulls you aside when she noticed him visiting me a lot in art class to tell me to stay away from him. I'm pretty sure she did this literally twice, but for certain once.
If so, what would you like to do to the person who took them from you? Even in the hypothetical of Juan getting back with Rachel after that incident, Rachel is actually my friend now and I think she's fantastic (people grow, I will not hold her past against her). I wish her zero harm at all, only good things.
Have you ever been cheated on? If so, have you forgiven them? No. To mention my last survey, I DO sometimes wonder if Jason and the girl he dated after me (Ashley) had something stirring before we even split, but in total honesty, I don't think so, I really don't. I don't think that's the kind of person Jason was. But it WAS definitely alarming just how quickly he was onto someone else after we split following dating super seriously for over three and a half years.
Quick! Tell me the name of your favorite movie. The Lion King and The Meerkats 2008 documentary. I forget to mention the latter a lot, because it's an obscure movie barely anyone you will ever meet probably even knows, but it is simply phenomenal.
Do you wear water bras? ... What the fuck is a water bra?
Have you ever sent an anon hate message, be honest now. Nope.
Would you let someone give you a golden shower for a million dollars? I had to look this up and hell fucking no.
Name a band that you think is beyond overrated: I don't care man, let people enjoy whatever art they want. I really don't even know who's "in" these days anyway.
Who is the last person you said goodbye to? My PT therapist for today. She was new for me and is already tied with one other woman for my favorite, haha.
Who can you not live without? Nobody. PLEASE, don't adopt this mentality. I know it's hard to, but think realistically: you, in all technicality, CAN live without any one person, and I think this is so important to remember for when one day, you do lose them in one way or another, and you have to continue living without them. I totally used to believe this when it came to Jason, and I know it played a massive role in the severity of the breakup aftermath, but look at who the hell is living just fine - even happily - without him now.
What’s your favorite sea creature? Giant whales like blue whales top the list, but I also deeply love sea turtles, sea lions, seahorses, jellyfish, and dolphins. Sharks are also very cool and VERY unfairly villainized!!
What’s your favorite acoustic song? The "If I'm James Dean, You're Audrey Hepburn" one by Sleeping With Sirens, I think. That's been a high wedding song contendor for years now, lmao.
What’s your favorite riddle? Okay so this is really just because of context/plot; it's from God of War: Ragnarök, where Brok asks, "What gets bigger the more you take away from it?," and Mimir realizes the answer near the end: a hole. You'd have to play the game to understand and feel the sheer weight of it, which I HIGHLY recommend, the game is fucking brilliant, I cried SO much through it.
What do you think happens after we pass? I just don't know. I know I don't believe in some perfect paradise and a wicked hell for suiting people, but I DO believe we're still... there somehow, but definitely not with the level of sentience and awareness that we do while alive. I like to think that it's a peacefulness, a feeling of wholeness with the world.
^ Is it different from what you’d like to happen? I don't know, really. It's like, on the surface, the idea of a Heaven sounds fantastic, but... to live in nothing but flawless harmony for all conceivable eternity? That just doesn't sound ideal for me. And I ABSOLUTELY don't believe in/want a Hell-like realm to exist, because like I mentioned earlier, people change, grow, and are ALWAYS (well, I suppose almost always) deserving of the chance to redeem themselves. Eternal punishment so severe that our human minds can't even interpret it is just purely fucking diabolical to me, I want that for nobody.
How do you feel about people self-diagnosing themselves with disorders? Hear me out: it depends. In MOST CASES, I absolutely hate this, especially when the person acts like it is stone-hard fact while holding an unconvincing amount of evidence. However, there are plenty of people who just don't have access to doctors capable of properly diagnosing, and then there's also worth mentioning that you know you more than anybody else does. Just depends on a lot.
0 notes
dendrite-blues · 1 year
Note
Hi! This is not to pressure you at all (and feel free to ignore this if you like), but are you continuing your reparations verse? It’s been kinda quiet here, but I read reparations this summer and I just wanted to say I would read the heck out of permutations if you ever wrote more, and if you don’t I’m so grateful for reparations! I’ve reread it so many times lol (and I’m off to read it again)
Oh goodness, I don't know when this was sent but I'm so glad you enjoyed the story!
Reparations is never over, not really. Many authors have that one story that they come back to forever and ever even though they could have ended it at any point. That's what Rep is for me.
So why am I not writing it? Good question.
(Humor me while I get reflective and self-important for a minute.)
Reparations, like any story, was a product of the time that it occupied in my life. I wrote it as therapy after a really turbulent period that robbed me of any kind of joy or excitement for the future.
I wrote it as therapy, and the act of writing it helped me get better, but as I got better I found that I didn't relate to the story the same way anymore. It stopped being a diary and started to become a photo album.
From the beginning, Reparations was a story about imagining a better future for myself through Tony and Loki. Therefore, I want Permutations to be the realization of that future. I want it to be a reflection of a couple post-crisis who aren't perfect but are a lot closer to it. A couple who are happy and going on with their lives.
I couldn't have written that story in 2019. I was still too close to the pain. The early chapters are some of the best I've ever written, but they're raw. They're super fucking grim, and I really wanted that entry in the series to feel lighter. 
I wanted to show the darkness that will always be inside Loki and Tony, but to also show them choosing to focus on the light in spite of that, and I just could not do that yet, on a personal level. I was reopening old wounds instead of tattooing over them.
So I put it aside and dedicated myself to finishing up other stories in the meantime. That turned out to be super draining, and then 2020 happened.
It took a long time for me to feel the urge to write again, and I think that's because I was processing 2020. I was one of those white people for whom that year was an overdue wake up call, and I had a lot of things to come to terms with.
I think I'm being called by Final Fantasy VII now (despite it being an absolutely ancient fandom that never interested me before) because it's a world and a band of characters that speak strongly to the themes and questions I've been grappling with:
What is morality under capitalism?
How much responsibility do we place on individuals when individual behavior is so influenced by society?
Do we accept violence as a tactic for change, and if we do then where do we draw the line?
Can you remake the world without destroying it?
These are all central themes to that game series, and so it's natural for me to want to write in that universe at the moment.
Long term, I think that I will return to Permutations, but it won't be in the next six months. Emotionally, I am finally healed enough to make that story what I always wanted it to be, and I have the desire to do so. However, my soul is also carrying a heavy weight from the last two years that hurts in a totally different way, and I need to remove that tumor first.
I'm sorry I can't just say an enthusiastic, "Yes! Absolutely! I'm typing it up right now," because I definitely wish I could. But the truth is that the time isn't right for me, and I don't when it will be.
Thank you so much for making space for Reparations in your heart. It gives my life so much meaning to know that I've created something people care about. 
I'll never abandon it permanently, but that does mean that there will be long periods of waiting. Thank you so much for being patient, and I hope you're doing as well as you possibly can be.
Best,
Den
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intheticklecloset · 3 years
Text
Dare You To (SK8 the Infinity)
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Summary: During a game of Uno Dare, Reki is challenged first not to smile and then - failing that - not to stop Langa from tickling him for a minute. When he fails the second time, the others decide a little playful punishment is in order.
A/N: YES!! I LOVE lee Reki! I love writing for him, that cute little ticklish redhead!! *ahem* Anyway, I've never heard of Dodge or Dare, and I honestly didn't feel like watching a clip of whatever show it's from to learn how it works, so I modified things just a tad, but I think I got the general idea of what you wanted in there. Enjoy! ^^
Word Count: 1,758
~~~
“Ha! No way he’ll be able to do that,” Miya laughed, enjoying the way Reki’s face went red in response to both his challenge and the dare that had been put before him.
They were playing Uno Dare – a new take on the card game they were already familiar with – and so far, Reki wasn’t doing too great. He’d already failed to balance a single card on his head, stand on one foot until his next turn, and do ten push-ups in ten seconds. (Actually, he couldn’t even do ten, period.) And now Langa – who was seated on his right – had the audacity to play a dare card and dare him not to smile until his next turn.
“I can do it!” he insisted, pouting, shooting Miya and Langa a glare each. “It won’t be hard with you guys picking on me.”
Joe smirked at him, attempting to share a glance with Cherry, who promptly ignored him.
“Well? Take your turn,” the pink-haired skater said, gesturing to the pile.
Reki frowned, determined to win this dare so he wouldn’t have to draw another two cards. He already had more than anyone else in the circle. He glanced at his hand briefly, played a card, and stared at the discard pile. He didn’t want to see anyone’s faces. He didn’t want to accidentally slip up again. He would win this dare if it was the last thing he did.
Langa pinched his side.
“He-eey?!” Reki screeched, jolting to the side. Thankfully he was able to keep himself from smiling, but when he made eye contact with his friend it was difficult to keep a straight face. He saw the devious smirk and suddenly grew flustered. “D-Don’t…I know what you’re thinking, but don’t! That’s cheating!”
Cherry took his turn, which passed the flow of the game to Miya. But the evil little skater just sat there, smirking, watching Reki intently.
Langa reached for him again. Reki’s hand shot down to grab Langa’s wrist, the anticipation nearly forcing him to smile already, but he held firm.
“No tickling!” he cried when Langa’s other hand reached for him. Reki thought it was going for his side, but suddenly his friend shot down to his knee and squeezed, making him squeak. He broke into a wide smile in the split second before he could push Langa away and regain composure, but it was too late. With Miya watching him like a hawk, there was no hiding that he’d lost the dare.
“Told you!” Miya laughed again, taking the liberty of drawing two cards for Reki and handing them over. “Here, slime, take your punishment.”
“No way!” Reki exclaimed, looking around the circle at the two adults with them. “Langa cheated!”
“There’s nothing in the rules that says other players can’t try to mess with you,” Joe said, chuckling. “So technically, he didn’t cheat.”
Reki glared at Langa, who smiled calmly back at him, winking. The redhead demanded, “I want a do-over! Give me another dare, or let me try that one again without you cheating.”
“I didn’t cheat,” Langa replied. “I thought that had been established. Take your cards, Reki.”
“No!”
Cherry sighed, but Miya quickly piped in again before any of them could get scolded. “Fine, you big baby. How about this – if you can take Langa tickling you for one minute without fighting back or saying ‘stop,’ you don’t have to draw your two cards. That’s your new dare.”
Reki’s eyes widened. “What?!”
Langa laughed. “Oh, come now. You can take a minute, can’t you?”
“Of…of course I can!” Reki swallowed, setting his cards face-down in front of him and clenching his fists in his lap. “Bring it on!”
Miya pulled out his phone and got the timer set up, then counted down from three, and the challenge was on. Langa – sneaky, sneaky Langa – immediately slipped his hands under Reki’s shirt to scribble at his bare skin, skittering over his sides and lower ribs, and Reki burst into giggles, gripping his knees so he wouldn’t fight back on instinct. Langa was not going to make him lose two challenges in a row!
“You’ve always been super ticklish, Reki,” Langa purred into his ear, making him squeal and arch his back.
“Don’t – dohohohohn’t tehehehease me! Thahahat’s cheating, too!”
“Everything is cheating to you when you’re losing.” Langa smirked, moving gradually around to his belly, which they both knew was his worst spot. “Do you really think you can handle a whole minute of your tummy being tickled?”
Reki whined, starting to bring his arms in protectively but stopping himself just in time, squirming in place as Langa finally reached his weakest spot. “Hohohohohow muhuhuhuch lohohohonger?!”
Miya smirked. “You still have forty seconds.”
“Whahahahat? No wahahahahay!” Reki cried. Langa began to circle around his belly button, and his giggles grew into frantic cackles, his whole body shaking from the effort not to protect himself. “Plehehehehease, not thehehehehere, Langa!”
“Where? Here?” Langa dipped his finger into his friend’s navel, and Reki screamed, bringing his arms in at the same time he fell back onto the floor, pushing and kicking at his blue-haired friend.
Miya stopped the timer. “Dude, you lost again! How are you so ticklish?!”
“Shut up!” Reki snapped, blushing as he sat back up. “Fine, whatever, I’ll take the stupid cards. Let’s just move on.”
“No way!” Miya declared, putting his cards down as well and nearly lunging across the circle to tackle him back onto the floor, reaching up into his underarms in a flash. “As punishment, now you have to have two people tickle you!”
“Wha—?! Nohohohohohoho, Miyahahahaha!” Reki squealed, laughing all over again. He was just beginning to muster up the energy to push the little skater away when he suddenly felt fingers digging into his open belly once more, making him shriek and start thrashing more violently. “GOD, NOHOHOHOHOHO!! NOT THEHEHEHEHEHERE!! NOT BOHOHOHOHOTH OF YOU!!”
“Tickle, tickle!” Miya taunted, grinning. He kept digging and scribbling in the redhead’s underarms while Langa got back to work scribbling over his belly and eventually digging into his navel again.
Reki bucked and thrashed and kicked, laughing up a storm but unable to get away. He was in the midst of pleading for mercy when he suddenly felt another weight on him – this one sitting on his legs, pinning them to the floor so he couldn’t kick.
“Jeez, kid, you’re gonna hurt somebody if you keep that up,” Joe’s teasing voice came from somewhere by his feet. Seconds later there were fingers scribbling over his soles.
“NONONO PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE, NOHOHOHOHOHO!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!” Reki begged, laughter coming out in shrieky, uncontrolled bursts. He flailed his arms wildly, unable to do anything else at this point. “WHY?! I SAHAHAHAHAHAID I’D TAHAHAHAHAKE THE CARDS, YOU JEHEHEHEHEHERKS!!”
“Because it’s fun,” Langa replied, leaning down to blow a raspberry over his belly button. “Plus, if you let us tickle you a little more, we might even let you off the hook so you don’t have to draw any more cards.”
“LEHEHEHEHEHEHET YOU?!” Reki screamed. “I CAHAHAHAHAN’T STOP YOU!!”
“Oh! Well then, this should be a pretty easy win for you.” Langa blew another raspberry. “It’s unbelievable how ticklish your tummy is, Reki.”
“STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP CAHAHAHAHAHALLING IT THAHAHAHAHAHAT!!” Reki’s voice was pleading now, mirthful tears springing to his eyes for how hard he was laughing, having three spots tickled at once. “AND NO RAHAHAHAHAHASPBERRIES!!”
“You’re so picky,” Miya muttered, sliding down slightly to squeeze at his upper ribs.
Reki started to push him off, finally able to muster up some strength once his underarms were left alone, but that was the exact moment that Cherry decided to join in, grabbing his arms and pulling them above his head, pinning them down, doing nothing more than making him more helpless and watching his companions draw laugh after screaming laugh from his core, now that he couldn’t move almost at all.
“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Reki tossed his head back and screeched loudly, hysterically, unable to hold back or protest or anything anymore. All he could do was lie there and take it and hope desperately that they’d get bored soon and leave him alone. It was true – he was incredibly ticklish, but especially on the three spots that were being assaulted right now, and Reki wasn’t sure he’d be able to take much more of this impromptu tickle torture. “G-GUYS, NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!”
Miya smirked. “Tickle, tickle, slime~”
Langa blew another raspberry. “You’ve got such a cute, ticklish little tummy, Reki~”
“Your laugh is pretty great, dude, not gonna lie,” Joe added, still scribbling over his feet, his touch lighter than the other two’s. “Don’t know if I’ve ever heard you this happy before.”
“I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T!!” Reki cackled, a tear sliding down his cheek as he laughed helplessly. “PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE, STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!! I GIVE!! I’LL TAHAHAHAHAHAKE THE CAHAHAHAHAHARDS!! GUYS!!!”
After another few seconds, the three of them silently agreed that they’d had their fun, and all four of them let Reki go, climbing off of him and releasing his limbs so he could curl into a ball, still giggling into the carpet.
“Aw, man!” Miya whined, drawing the redhead’s attention to him. “Look! All of his kicking ruined the game!”
It was true. There were Uno Dare cards splayed everywhere. No one could tell where one person’s cards ended and another’s began, and the draw and discard piles were intermixed as well.
“S-So you…you t-tortured me for…for nothing?” Reki gasped incredulously, pushing himself into a seated position, staring at the failure of a game before them. “What was the point, then?!”
“For fun,” Langa replied, gently nudging his shoulder with a smile. “Come on, you didn’t really hate that, did you?
Reki’s blush quickly spread all the way to his ears and neck. He hunched his shoulders and looked away. “Shut up, dude.”
“Cheer up, dude.” Langa pulled him into a hug, poking his sides sporadically to get him smiling and giggling again. “Tell you what, the next time we play you get a free pass on any dare, and you don’t have to draw any cards in place of it. I think you’ve earned that much, don’t you, Miya?”
Miya scoffed, but he was smiling. “Yeah, whatever. You get a free pass, slime.”
Reki giggled, squirming in Langa’s soft, tickly hug. “Okay, okahahahay, I’ll take it!”
The others smiled at him, Langa let him go, and they got to work gathering up the cards so they could shuffle and play again.
Miya handed him the deck. “Your turn to deal, loser.”
“What?!” Reki exclaimed.
Everyone laughed.
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tartagliad · 3 years
Text
Seeing you for the first time pt.2 (ft. Albedo, Xingqiu, Venti, and Razor)
summary: how they react when seeing you for the first time
G/N reader
warning(s): misspellings, grammar mistakes (?), some scenes from windblume festival in Venti's and some from Razor's lore and a little angst ig
fluff!
(A/N: hey there, I'm back..this time I wrote for the other characters, i hope you enjoyed it)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Albedo:
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You met this boy at Dragonspine
That boy literally spent 24/7 of his life in that place ._.
He was at Starglow Cavern, painting cave structures and some hilichurls
You entered the cave and continued your adventure there (finding the history about the place)
Suddenly, a bunch of hilichurls started to attacked you..
There he saw how calm you are in that position, just swaying your sword back and forth elegantly
He just stands there and didn't realise that you've finished fighting the hilichurls and stared at him
"You know..it's not nice to just stand there and do nothing" you joke
"Oh..uhh sorry, I kinda zoned out.." he blurts
"ahaha, it's alright..i can see it on your face" you said
Albedo is literally stunned by your appearance, your figure, your eyes, everything
"I'm y/n, are you always go to this place?" you asked him
"Oh uhh, yes actually..i always do some research on this place..I'm Albedo btw" he respond
"Ahh I see.." you said, after that you accidentally saw his paintings
There was a painting of hilichurls and sketches of..you fighting?
"uhh are those your drawings?" you asked him
His face flushed because he got caught sketching a portrait of you
"Uh..yeah, you were an interesting...'view' let's just say..so I decided to draw you" he confess
You actually find his drawings beautiful yet pleasing to look at
"Wow..these are beautiful" you speak
The boy is literally out of words ngl, he's used to get some compliments from other people, but somehow..compliments from you made him flustered
"a-ah..w-why thank you.." he said
"Uhm..maybe you could come and join me next time..maybe pickup some materials or sightseeing areas of Dragonspine" he adds
"Of course, I'll go with you" you said
You two always spend time together at the mountains, well.. even though you don't go there everyday..lol
You always helped Albedo on his 'unusual' experiments or even tell him your stories of your adventures
The boy loves your eyes, he literally could get lost in those beautiful pairs..
Even though he painted it or sketches it..the feel is still different compared to looking at it directly
The feel just makes his heart race..<3
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.."
Xingqiu:
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Like Albedo, he always spent most of his time at a certain place, for him..the place is the library
So... you obviously met him there
He was looking for a book that he wants to read since the last couple of months
The book was actually rare that not many people knew or read it..so he's looking for it
You actually borrowed the book from the library and you wanted to returned it
He currently asking the librarian when you suddenly walk to the counter and returned it
"I heard that you want to borrow this book?" you asked
"Oh..yes, I've been wanting to read it for sometime now" he answered
"It's quite rare that people actually read this book though and yet it actually caught your attention" he added
You nodded and smile at him "Yes actually, I was reading a few pages and then I was so in to the book, i have to borrow it"
You both laughed as you leave the library
"My name is Xingqiu btw, may I ask yours?" he asked
"I'm y/n, nice to meet you Xingqiu"
There, you two talked for archons know for how long
You two sometimes switched books from your collections or maybe go out and find some interesting books
Other than reading, Xingqiu enjoys going on adventures with you
Seeing the nature around him makes him feel lighter
He really loves to read books though, but he tries to make you comfortable as much as possible around him
Maybe he'll try to take you out on a stroll around Liyue Harbor or maybe eat at Wanmin Restaurant, depending your mood
Sometimes you guys planning to pull another prank on Chongyun LMAO
He wants to make sure that you're comfortable around him and feel happy around him
All in all, he wants to see you enjoyed his company
"𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘟𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦? 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.. 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦..𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦"
Venti:
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You met him at The Windblume Festival
It was your first windblume, so you're still confused about the traditions that happening around
He was in front of the Cathedral finding students for his poetry class
When he saw you, he waved at you and you approached him
"Hey there! New to the festival?" he asked
"Oh yes, I've lived in the city for awhile but i never experienced this festival before.." you answered
"Ehe, allow me to explain it. The Windblume Festival is a Festival in Mondstadt celebrating the thousand winds. Usually, the people of Mondstadt offers windblume to the anemo archon and to their special loved ones" he explains
"The people actually have to take their matters into their own hands, so they don't really have anything to get helped with" he added
"Is that why when I asked if anyone needs help, they say they don't need one?" you asked again
"Hehe, that's right" he says, "Oh, I haven't introduced my self haven't I? ehe, my name is Venti, the most popular bard in town!" he adds
"Your that bard, I've heard great things about you, my name is y/n, I'm just a regular adventurer.." you replied
He shrugged and acts a little nervous when you said that
"So uh.. want me to take you around town and see what people are doing?" he offered
"Sure, that would be nice.." you said
With that you two took a stroll around the town
Seeing people prepare gifts for their loved ones, the atmosphere feels so wholesome
You guys even took a little trip to Windrise, and he even play you a tune or two
You really enjoyed his company and he’s enjoying it too
During the festival, you guys grew closer together, and maybe you guys would perform together in front of the Cathedral
You were really happy that you have someone to enjoy the festival with
Even Venti feels a lot of joy hanging out with you
He wonders that he could be with you for a long time..
Well, whatever he is feeling, he wants to grow more closer to you :3
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.. 𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦..𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦? 𝘦𝘩𝘦"
Razor:
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Bless this wolf boy :")
You two met at his habitat, Wolvendom
You were currently adventuring at that place
When you're peacefully strolling around the place, you saw a bunch of wolves dead..
So you rushed to see where it was coming from
There, you saw a boy fighting against an abyss mage, boi... that thing really do like to cause trouble
The boy looked really angry despite the mage killed his wolf packs
You determined to help him and so you did..
After you two defeated the mage..he turned to look at you, "thank you... lupical, dead.." he said
This baby almost cried because he couldn't save all of them, only a few of them that are safe..
"I tried to protect them...but I failed...", he said in a sad tone
You looked at him sympathetically, "aww..it's alright..you tried your best, it's not your fault.." you said to him
He looked really sad and disappointed, but at the same time he felt kinda relieved that someone was there to help him
"Why did you come here..?" he asked, "Oh, I was just adventuring and then I suddenly found you..." you said
"My name is y/n.." you added, "I'm Razor"
"Do you come from here Razor?" you asked again, "yes..I was raised by wolves, Razor has no human family" he said
You were shocked that there's actually someone who is raised by wolves
"I see..." you said, "I think some of your wolf friends got hurt..may i help?" you offered him
Razor nodded and help you as much as he could
"There, that should do it.. they can't move that much for awhile, but they'll be alright.." you said to him
Razor was very grateful that he could find you, maybe he would be doomed if you hadn't come..
"You're strong...can Razor learn from you..?" he asked shyly :")
"Of course, I would be happy to teach you" you say
Razor smiled a little, he wanted to learn from you so that he could protect his lupical if something bad like this would happen
The next day, you came back to Wolvendom and train him
He picked up the lesson pretty quickly, and he now learnt how to use his Vision
You even teach the boy how to write and read loll v:
You came to Wolvendom couple of times, and besides train him, you helped him hunt some meats to eat
You never really force him to come and live at the city, but if he wants to visit it once or twice..you bring him there
Razor is really happy now that he learned new things from you and also has a friend that helped him..
Sometimes he wonders if he could protect you from danger too
He just didn't want to lose you like he loses his other wolf friends
Razor silently swore to him self that he will protect you from any danger that you encounter
Overall, you guys cared about each other and wanted to protect one and other, he just wishes that you'll be saver around him <3
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘳... 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰..𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(A/N: AHHH this is not like I wanted in my head...I hope you liked it, leave me some suggestions what I should write next, I still have some couple of ideas, but requests are open...so yeah ANYWAYS- thank you and good day :D)
Here are the rules if you wanted to request
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help-im-a-gay-fish · 4 years
Text
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The Anomaly of Notre Dame
(idk if its Dom or dame I've been getting mixed signals from Google)
Here they are! Yessss I'm so proud it only took about 6 hours, pfff worth it.
I'm not fully done though, both Dream and Ink do have other outfits which I'll work on at a later time.
A few notes.
I didn't draw Error's glitches. He does have them but since this is a reference I didn't draw them so his design would be more clear.
I think Nightmare has no tenticals normally. I like the idea that the tentacles symbolise his lust and insanity. I know he isnt really insane but he goes pretty crazy. As it gets deeper into his obsession for Dream the tentacles become more prominent. Idk I thought it could be interesting.
The scarf Dream is holding is the one he 'gives' to Nightmare during his dance. The scarf is a little too saturated but is transparent normally so it will look lighter in later works.
The scarf around Dreams waste has little apples because I couldn't resist adding random details.
So original Ink doesn't wear shoes. But Clopin has amazing shoes! Like I love his shoes, soooooo I compromised and had one shoe off and one shoe on, you can change that if you want I know it's an odd choice.
Also ink is very very colourful, maybe slightly to much, but this is his festival outfit so it's fine.
Cross' design is most simple, I just changed his pallet to much cooler tones then phoebus. This looks more like Cross and complements Dream better.
This was based off @zu-is-here artwork and I'm so happy you let me do the colour schemes Zu! It was such fun.
Make sure to check out @zu-is-here for more info about the cross over.
Also I just wanna clarify that these designs/colour schemes are 100% OK for anyone to use. I don't own them so please feel free! Though tag me cuz I'd love to see them put to good use.
Hope you like it! I look forward to drawing more soon :)
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mistreaders-requiem · 3 years
Text
OC Interview: Nohsi, Retired Commander & Vigil Warmaster
Tagged by @salad-tales, thank you!
Draw (or use an old drawing, don’t worry!) or take a screen of your character in an interview setting and make them answer the following questions!
INTRODUCTION
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Can you introduce yourself?
The sylvari seemed to avoid eye contact right until this first question, making him turn to face the interviewer with a gentle, albeit subtly nervous smile. "Hello. My name is Nohsi. Uh..."
Noting the way that the person was gesturing to him, he continues. "I'm a Vigil Warmaster. A Pact Commander too, once upon a time."
What is your gender identity, orientation and relationship status?
"I am, for most part, masculine. And while I haven't really thought about it much, I think I'm only attracted to males as well. The bond is the important part to me."
Nohsi straightens his posture, his expression became notably more cheerful. "Forgal and I are betrothed. I love that man with my entire being."
Where and when were you born?
There was a brief silence. He must have taken a moment to do the math. "I awakened in Caledon. 1306. It was deep into the night, and I startled the menders, mostly because there were no saplings that awoke for hours before I did."
Nohsi chuckles. "The first thing I had to do since awakening was go back to sleep!"
What is your weapon of choice and fighting style?
"I swap between weapons a lot to suit the situation. As a sapling, I felt mighty lugging a huge hammer around. Now, as an aged Sylvari with a creaky bark, I carry lighter armaments like swords and foci to battle."
Nohsi pressed a hand to his cheek. "Longbow and Axe share sentimental value to me too. My Dear taught me the basics on how to wield them."
Lastly, are you happy?
He seemed briefly surprised by the question, but Nohsi gives a solemn nod as his answer.
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
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What’s your family like? What is your relationship with them?
"I care for Mama as most Sylvari do. A young noonbloom, Diwata, is my closest sibling. I of course should also mention Forgal and our dear children."
Nohsi breathes a happy sigh. "Estavius and Sampaguita, my pride and joy. I love them very much."
Have you ever ran away from home?
"There was never a reason to do something as drastic as that. I left the Grove back then as a sapling, but...a Soul-searching retreat hardly counts as what you'd describe as 'running away'."
Would you consider marriage or having children?
"I've answered that already, haven't I? I am very lucky I already have both."
Do you secretly hate one of your friend?
"H-huh? Why would that ever be the case? Disagreements happen, but I never despise anyone who doesn't deserve it."
Which friend knows everything about you?:
"As cheesy as it may sound, Forgal is definitely one. There is also the one I regard as my sister."
ASKED BY FANS
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"'Fans'... It's quite hard to believe that I would have them. Retired Commander and all..."
Are you literate? Have you been to school?
"Like other Sylvari, I learned those skills from the Dream." He answers with a nod. "And instead of school, we only have mentors. I listened to them as a sapling for a bit, as long as their lectures didn't involve Wyld Hunts and Dream Interpretation."
The eeriest prediction you made that later came true?
"I once told Forgal: 'We ought to have been with Dyowana & Wikki.' I said that because I wanted to see the two Asura... It was the day of the crash that happened deep in the Maguuma jungle."
What is something you were embarrassingly late to realize?
“I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm embarrassed, but I used to have no sense of table etiquette. In my defense, I didn't have a need for one back when I was just travelling alone and eating on the road.”
Do you have mental health or physical issues?
He briefly wore a perplexed expression, and seemingly wondered whether or not he agrees. "Nothing specific comes to mind, thankfully."
What is your current main goal?
"There isn't much I could ask for myself these days- save for maybe a vacation." Nohsi laughs.
"In all seriousness though: Stevie and Sam are at the point of their lives where they are preparing for adulthood. At the very least, I want to watch over them as it happens."
CHOICES
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Cats or dogs?
"I've always adored dogs, they make for sweet and loyal companions. I don't actively own one at the moment... but Stevie has a Sylvan Hound as a Ranger pet. Maybe by association, it can be my pet too."
Drink or food?
“Both are a necessity...”
For a moment, Nohsi smiles with a glint on humor in his eyes. "What's your take on soup passing as both?"
Early bird or night owl?
"Oh, definitely a night owl. Forgal found that out in the most awkward way. We set up camp for the night, but as he slept, I was still up channeling fire magic to keep our camp warm and lit. When he randomly woke up in the middle of the night, we ended up staring at each other for a while before he fell back to sleep."
Optimist or pessimist?
"I like to be optimistic! Wouldn't be who I am otherwise."
Sassy or sarcastic?
"I... can have my sassy streak sometimes, people say. It's rare, and I only really do it to poke fun at something."
HAVE YOU EVER
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... Been caught sneaking out?
Nohsi pretends to act disappointed. "A few times while sneaking away from lectures."
... Received flowers?
He thinks for a moment to recall. "From survivors of the attack on LA, yes."
"Unless you mean affectionately? I suppose so. I give My Dear flowers more often though... For fun."
... Broke a bone?
"No. But in this line of work... If I had any, I probably would have when I'm not careful."
... Ghosted someone?
He seems to be confused and unaware of what that means.
... Pretended to laugh at a joke you didn’t get?
"I think people can easily tell when I don't get their jokes from my reaction. So to answer the question... no. Well- not to be malicious at least."
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Text
Folklore [song series]
mirrorball
Modern Day AU! Steve Rogers x OC!Reader
Plot: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album folklore. The story follows the timeline of Bucky and Elizabeth’s life throughout the years.
Word count: 2110
[a/n: thanks for being patient with me! hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! if i forgot to tag you please inbox me]
previous part
Series Masterlist
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Age: 20
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Year: Summer 2014
Steve flopped down onto his bed, tired after today's events. Elizabeth softly laid down next to him, Steve wrapped his arm around her bringing her closer to his chest.
"Today was a day," he tiredly says.
"You okay?" She asked him.
After Bucky had left there was a sadness aura that followed Steve for the rest of the party. He had no clue what he had expected Bucky's reaction to be, but definitely not the one he got. He had even prepared himself fo a fight, he was grateful that didn't happen. He just wasn't expecting for Bucky to shut down and leave. Not even accepting his offer of having a conversation later.
He knew that Bucky just needed his space, time to think it all over. But the look on Bucky's face had Steve questioning whether or not he would ever come around.
It threw Steve off when Bucky requested that he breakup with Elizabeth. He couldn't believe his best friend would want his own happiness to suffer.
His whole life he had done everything possible to keep Bucky happy. After what Bucky and his family had to go through with his father, Steve made it his mission to never let his friend feel that way again. Granted he was only 7 when he made that promise to himself, he still kept it.
Steve had never put himself first, at least not until he had made the decision to go to school in California. He had even thought about changing his plans after his breakup with Elizabeth but he knew his parents would've been disappointed with that decision.
He had put Bucky first his entire life, what he's doing isn't selfish. Yet he can't help but feel like the most selfish person ever.
What if he was keeping Elizabeth from truly being happy? What if she just didn't want to break his heart? What if she just didn't want to break his heart during a family event? What if come tomorrow she would tell him the truth, that she was really still in love with Bucky.
He's not sure he could handle that heartbreak.
"Want to tell me what's going on in that head of yours?" Elizabeth asked, breaking Steve from his self destructive thoughts.
"I won't be mad if you still love him," Steve says, "I'd understand."
Elizabeth quickly sat up to get a look of Steve's face to make sure he was being serious. It nearly broke her to see how defeated he looked. She's never seen him so down, not even after his breakup with Peggy.
"You don't have to pretend to save my feelings," he continues, "If it meant you were happy, that's all I care about. If being with Bucky makes you happy, then please don't let me stand in the way."
"Oh Steve," she gently caresses his face, staring down at him, "I wasn't lying earlier when I told Bucky that I didn't love him anymore. And i most definitely wasn't lying when I said that I love you, because I do love you, with my whole heart. You make me happy. The happiest I've ever been. Bucky was my past. You are my now, and hopefully my future.
"If you can't see how truly great you are, then I must not be doing my job as not only your girlfriend, but you're friend," she says, "Because you make me feel special every single day. And I just want you to feel the way you've made me feel."
"It's not your fault," Steve softly says, grasping her hand to place a kiss on her knuckles.
"Growing up I've always been second to Bucky," he explains, "Everyone seemed to prefer him over me. Whether it was girls or just our friends. It was always Bucky then Steve."
Elizabeth takes a moment to think back on their time growing up. She couldn't help but feel guilty when she realized that everything Steve is saying is true.
After she and Bucky got together, Steve sort of became an after thought, not because they purposefully excluded him, it never crossed their mind simply because Steve also had Peggy at the time. But after Peggy left, Elizabeth never really got to talk to Steve about how he felt, because she got caught up in her own drama.
"Steve, I'm so sorry," she apologizes, "I should've known then about how you felt. I was so caught up in my own shit, I never realized that you could've been going through your own stuff."
"Liz, it was never your fault," he says, "You were going through your own stuff. And I had learned to suppress it. Plus Bucky was your boyfriend at the time, of course i wasn't really on your mind. Plus it's kind of my fault for allowing it to happen. I never spoke up about it. I just always went along, figuring it was better than nothing."
"Once I got to Berkeley that's when everything changed," his mood shifts a bit to a much lighter feel, "I no longer felt like the shadow of a person. I felt like my own person for the first time ever. I was able to become someone I never thought possible. I am no longer 'scrawny Steve, Bucky's best friend'. I just became 'Steve' or 'Rogers'."
Elizabeth smiled at the way Steve's eyes lit up when talking.
"I had never imagined myself leaving New York, let alone making the permanent move to California," he confesses, "As much as I love it here, California is where I feel I belong. I know you feel it too."
Elizabeth nods her head agreeing with him. She felt the same way, as much as New York was her childhood home, California was where she felt her heart aching for. Where she felt like she belonged, where she could thrive. The more she spent time there, the more it felt like home, that's why moving there wasn't a tough decision for her.
"Coming back here," Steve says, causing Elizabeth to shift back her focus on him, "It just makes me feel like that scrawny kid all over again. I feel like no matter how hard I try to shed that image, Brooklyn will never see me for who I am now, but for who I was then. Like no matter what I do I will always be 'little' Steve Rogers."
"I know you feel it too," he says looking up at her.
She did. She did feel stuck in the past whenever she came back home. It seemed like life stood still here, while outside of Brooklyn everything is moving ahead. She knows it's only because she grew up there, and had nothing to do with Brooklyn itself. Once she was in California, she got a taste of life outside of Brooklyn, and she's not sure if she would want to go back. So moving there was an easier choice for her to make.
"I do," she agrees, "It's why moving to California was an easy decision for me to make."
"I wasn't even sure I was even going to make it to California," he says.
"Why is that?"
"Felt like I was disappointing my parents," he confesses, "We had always discussed me going to Columbia as a pre-med major. That had been the original plan. It wasn't like they were forcing it on me. More like I was forcing it onto myself.
"It was the 'safer' choice, granted the longer one, but in the end it all would've been worth it. For some reason as a child I believed that was the only way my parents would've been proud of me. Regardless of the fact that they were already proud and would tell me constantly. I just put that pressure on myself."
"It wasn't until junior year that Mr. Lawson, my high school art teacher said I should apply to some art schools," he continues, "Then after I had a long discussion with the guidance counselor she agreed as well, saying I would get in no problem with whatever art field I applied in.
"I never really gave my drawing much thought. It was just something I would do. Also a career in art is not exactly financially stable, or at all stable. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to apply to a couple of schools as an architecture major. Never really gave it a second thought."
Steve pauses, "I did get into Columbia."
"Steve, no fucking way," Elizabeth gasp sitting up straighter, "I never even heard."
"That's because I only told my parents," he says, "I got the acceptance email the same day I got NYU's and Berkeley's, where I hadn't applied as pre-med, which my parents didn't know of at the time."
"Wow," Elizabeth responds feeling herself become speechless. She had only known about NYU and Berkeley. She knew about NYU because that was the plan, they, including Bucky had discussed Freshman year. Back when she was still with Bucky, and Steve with Peggy and they all had planned to stay in New York. Before life got complicated.
"When I did get the Berkeley acceptance I had to come clean to my parents about what major I applied under. I was nervous, because a part of me never told them because I was worried I wouldn't get in. So seeing that acceptance it was the assurance I needed. One that really let me know that I could actually do it. And of course my parents were proud."
"Of course," Elizabeth smiles, "They would've been proud if you had decided to not even go to school and just worked in a restaurant."
"That's true," Steve lets out a small laugh, "And I think I more so didn't want to regret the decision. Leaving home to move across the country for a career that could be unstable. It's scary."
"Do you?" Elizabeth asks.
"Do I what?"
"Do you regret it?"
"Not one bit," he smiles, pulling her back down onto his chest.
They laid there in a comfortable silence. Steve ranking his fingers on Elizabeth's arm, feeling himself grow tired.
"I hope you know you're amazing," Elizabeth quietly says looking up at him with pure admiration in her eyes, "That I think you're amazing. I think you're one of the greatest people I have ever known. And if I have to spend my entire life showing you just how amazing I think you are, I will."
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Age: 29
Year: 2023
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Elizabeth giggled as Steve carried her over the threshold into their hotel room for the weekend. He kicked the door closed as he silenced her giggles with a kiss, before placing her on her feet.
"Why thank-you Mr. Rogers."
"You're very welcome Mrs. Rogers," he smiled brightly at his new wife.
Her makeup was slowly fading, hair no longer perfectly done after a night of dancing with their close loved ones. Steve just stares at her lovingly. He ahs never seen her more beautiful and the fact that he gets to be her husband for the rest of his life, he's never felt luckier.
Elizabeth feels his eyes just on her, "What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No, just admiring my beautiful wife," he compliments, causing Elizabeth to blush.
"How about one more dance?" she asks.
"There's no music."
"When I'm with you there's always music," she says holding her hand out for him.
Steve pulled her to him, one hand grasped in her's, while the other lay on her lower back. Elizabeth's head rested on his chest, with Steve's chin softly resting on the top of it.
"You know I think you're amazing," Elizabeth says as they sway softly in each other's arms.
"You might've told me once or twice," he responds.
"Get used to it because I'm going to be telling you that for the rest of our lives."
"Nothing I want more than that," he kisses the top of her head.
"If you'd asked me to runaway with you to join a circus, I would in a heartbeat," she says.
"Oh really? If I lose my job, and having nothing to show for, you'd still be there?"
"Right next to you baby, every step of the way," she says looking up at him, "Plus you won't have nothing to show. You'll have me. You'll have us. With me by your side I'll make sure you never not know how much you mean to me."
"You've made me believe in love again when I thought it wasn't possible. You've made me love myself in a way that I didn't think were possible. You make me a better human being by just being you. I love you Steve, more than anything.
"So if everything were to go to shit, as long as I have you that's all I need. I'll be there reminding you every single day just how special you are to me."
"I love you," Steve smiles as tears fall from his eyes.
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wendystales · 3 years
Text
Memories - lrh (Chapter Sixteen)
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Memories (also on Wattpad)
Chapter Fifteen ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Chapter Seventeen
Luke pov.
“Do it again.” Ashton asks, staring at me intently.
We were about to leave my house for my surprise party, which I discovered in less than an hour. I was rehearsing a face of surprise so as not to end the surprise, cause I know everyone worked hard for it.
I widen my eyes, breaking into a smile.
“I can't believe you deceived me.” I say with my voice altered by the ‘surprise’.
“Don't say that, it will be very obvious that you know. Says ‘I can't believe you threw a party for me’.” he suggests.
"I can't believe you threw a party for me." I redo the entire acting.
“Yep! Me either. But what doesn't M&Ms ask, that I don't do?” Ash dries the water bottle with a shrug. “I'm just kidding.” he laughs after seeing my face.
“Speaking of her…” I fill my glass with some more wine, since it's too early for us to go. “Something new?” Ashton denies, frustrated too.
“I commented that she was acting weird, but she just changed the conversation and said that she's been busy and that she was nervous about the party.” he sighs. I massage my forehead, annoyed.
"Am I going to have to put her against the wall to get something?" I look at him, not knowing what to do.
“You know this isn't going to work. She's going to run away, you're going to fight, she's going to walk away and you're going to be more annoying than you already are.” I appreciate my friend's attempt to change the mood with provocation, but it has no effect.
"I can't find any reason to give me any sign of what's going on. Was it my fault? I knew I shouldn't have stayed with her that Saturday, I pushed the situation too hard and now she's pulling away, avoiding me-”
“Oh shut up! Don't even start with that.” Irwin raises his voice, cutting mine off. "Marnie isn't like that, she doesn’t do these things. If she wasn't comfortable she was going to talk. You said yourself that she asked you to sleep there. She let you pick her up on Monday and asked you to take her home, even after you dedicated Best Years to her. She didn't run away there, because it was remarkable how much she liked the song. You should pay more attention to the way she looks at you.”
A silly laugh escapes my lips when I see Ashton imitate her looking at me and smiling. My heart warms at the possibility that she is actually falling in love with me, just as I already am with her.
"Luke, if she didn't want to get back together, she wouldn't open up so many gaps and opportunities for you to be together. She must just be confused about the feelings. That's how it looked for the first time. Look, let's analyze her behavior today, after all the stress of the party and then we get stressed.”
I agree with my friend. I'm freaking out over something that shouldn't be very important. Maybe it's all the pressure with finishing the album. The release date is approaching and sure enough, Jim freaking out in my ear for the publicity trip we were supposed to be doing, but we're still going against it due to Marnie's accident.
I don't know how many times I have to tell him I'm not leaving LA yet. This delay wasn't hindering anything, so I don't know why he makes such a point.
“Go, get rid of that dead face and let's enjoy your party.” Ash slaps my shoulder.
We left the house, heading to Jack's house, where the party would be. I've been training my face the entire way, wanting it to be as realistic as possible, even though everyone already suspects that I know.
Even if I didn't know it, the moment I see the street full of cars, I realize that I would find out there. Irwin tells them we're coming and I notice the noise of the music fade away. Discreet.
We entered the house, finding everything quiet and tidy. But when we turn to the kitchen and garden, a lot of people scream in surprise. I take a step back, like I'm really shocked.
"I can't believe you did that." I look at Ash, wanting to see that I did well. But his expression ‘so so’ disappoints me.
“In the car it was better.” he says before walking away and letting people get closer.
I don't know how many people I hugged, but I know the only one I wanted to see was the last one to arrive. I hold my breath, seeing her in a black leather skirt and a transparent black blouse, highlighting her tattoo between her breasts.
I swallow hard, cracking a nervous smile as she approaches with a huge grin, almost jumping into my lap. Unlike yesterday, where I just got a congratulations message, M&Ms hug me, leaving a lingering kiss on my cheek.
“Happy Birthday!” the gleam in her eyes proves to me she's already a little high.
I resist the urge to steal a kiss from her lips, just kissing her cheek back but giving her waist a squeeze, pressing her against my body. She seems to notice my intent, drastically changing her breathing.
"I wanted to talk to you later. If possible.” I say against her ear.
“About?” her eyes sweep me for any clues.
“Surprise.” I reveal, seeing her roll her eyes in agreement.
I watch her walk away with the girls, but she doesn't fully break eye contact with me, looking at me from afar. I let out a breath, realizing it's going to be a long night and another long battle to resist her and the urge to take her to a dark corner.
In the kitchen, where most of the drinks are, I start my work, drinking the alcohol, enjoying the burning sensation that the liquid leaves in my throat. I get distracted with video game conversation and allow my mind to relax with lighter, more relaxed topics.
The party had been going on for a few hours. My head is already light, due to the high alcohol content my body retains. I know I'm laughing at some bullshit Brian is talking about, even though his words don't make any sense in my mind. Maybe I've already had too much to drink and it's better to stop for a while. I don't want to be sick at my own party.
The term vibrates in my mind and I start searching the crowd for the cotton candy hair, worried about her condition. The feeling pulls my head out of the air, sobering me up for a few minutes.
I find her dancing hand in hand with Noah, laughing at the older man's exaggerated steps. I stare at the scene, happy that she is enjoying herself. Unlike at the beginning of the week, Marnie is now upbeat and not acting. Maybe Irwin is right and she was just stressed about the birthday party.
I push my thoughts away, concentrating on yet another beer pong game. I've played more times than I could count and I'm starting to doubt the two arms Jack has won since my last drink.
“Problems.” Michael sings beside me, pointing to the door. Pam walked in smiling excitedly, holding hands with a guy who sure as hell didn't want to be there. It's not possible…
Sobriety hits me like a cannon. All the alcohol and smoke that was in my body is gone and I am able to think clearly for the first time since I arrived.
I massage my forehead, bringing my gaze to Marnie, who's already staring at Pam without a specific expression. I cross the room with incredible ease, reaching for her, hugging her waist, pulling her to me.
“We can talk now?” Marnie didn't even seem to hear me, still staring at Pam, who was greeting some people. "M&Ms?" I call closer to her ear, but no effect. “Hey!” I drop a kiss to her temple, squeezing her waist.
Her green eyes cross mine and I can palpate the insecurity in them. Marnie just nodded, letting me lead her out of the room. We went up to a room, being alone. I look at her face, still half lost, and I approach slowly, feeling that little box weigh tons in my pocket.
“What do you want to talk about?” she gives a slight smile, turning her full attention to me.
“First I wanted to apologize for Pam. I didn't know what she was going to come.” Marnie rolls her eyes, shrugging.
“It’s OK! No need to apologize. My head is so full I don't even care about her anymore.” she sits up in bed, crossing her legs.
“And I believe she won't even mind us today, after all, she came with someone” I sat beside her.
“Yeah! Poor guy.” I let out a laugh at her pity for the poor boy. “It was just that?”
I lose myself in her eyes for a few seconds, wondering if that's all. I draw her face in my mind once more, recording every feature I fell in love with. My lips tingle as I landed my eyes on her mouth, slightly reddened by the drink.
At another time, right now she and I would be locked in some bathroom or bedroom, succumbing to desire and the alcohol in our blood. My fingertips ache amidst the memories of all the times I have run across her skin, feeling it burn under my touch.
My mind starts to cloud and the flashes of the two of us become more and more vivid. I try to push those thoughts away, but they seem to sink into my mind with force. My body heats up with every scene my mind plays. I feel the blood running the wrong way and I don't know how to stop it.
"Luke?" I'm startled by your touch on my hand. Marnie was looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and concern. “Are you okay?” I watch her hand squeeze mine, like she always did when I was angry or upset.
And just with that touch, everything stops inside me. The fire is gone and now I'm seized by a gigantic pain and rage in my chest, a rage for her being ripped from me so abruptly. I stare at her fingers moving gently, transmitting a caress throughout my body.
"Luke?" now she was looking at me extremely worried.
“Sorry. I think the drink hit.” I open a smile, trying to calm her down. M&Ms don't seem to buy much, but she smiles smugly.
“I already told you you're drinking a lot. In a little while you'll be passed out and won't even enjoy your own birthday party.” my smile widens in the midst of her care. "Don't give me that smile." she pushes my face away. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"
“No!” this time I answer faster. “Actually, I wanted to give you something.” I fish the little white box in my pocket, feeling my fingers as soft as jelly. What if she doesn't like it? What if she gets angry?
“You know it's your birthday, right? You're the one who should get presents, not give. Especially for me.” she looks at me angrily, not wanting to accept the box.
"Well, it's my birthday and I'll do what I want, in which case I give it to you." I place the object in her hands. “I wanted to wait until your birthday, but it's still far away and I can't take it.” I lift my shoulders quickly, making her laugh.
Taking advantage of the fact that she was involved with the present, slowly, I move closer to her body, contenting myself with the least contact we have. I notice Marnie hold her breath at the sight of the blue quartz necklace, just like the one she had.
With no more reaction than that, I start to convince myself that I've fucked up and she hated it. It wasn't the time yet, as much as everything was going well, it wasn't the time yet.
“I can't believe you did this.” her voice comes out in a breath in surprise. I let my mind race to our first Christmas, where she gave me my necklace and I gave that star to her.
“If you don't like it…” my voice trails off as I see her eyes watery and filled with joy. It was the right time.
I'm not afraid to advance towards her, covering your lips with mine in a short kiss. The cherry taste becomes my favorite for the rest of the night. Marnie wipes her tears as she calls herself pathetic for crying.
"I know we used it as a dating ring, but it doesn't have to be-”
"Could you put it on for me?" she interrupts me, not caring about my fear. With my hands still trembling and cold, I close the necklace around her neck, enjoying the scene of her smiling enchanted by that stone. “Thanks!”
This time it is she who steps forward, stealing a kiss. The mood changes drastically. The screams outside seem to die in my ears, leaving only silence. The music that used to burst had ceased to exist.
That little kiss breaks, but she doesn't pull away, keeping her forehead still glued to mine. I'm startled when her eyes return to mine, I can see her perfectly there, in front of me, in my arms. I recognize that glow, that look and what it wanted to convey.
It was her there. The reason I get up every morning. The reason that makes me want to be better and better. The person I always want to impress. My girl. My Marnie.
I bring my hand to the back of her neck, bringing our lips together once more. I feel goose bumps as our tongues touch and her hand cups my face, holding me there. If she knew the last thing I want is to run away…
I'm surprised I feel despair on her side. The urgency on her lips. The need for the touch of her hands, the way they ran through my hair, the back of my neck and chest.
Easily, I pull her onto my lap, moaning, feeling her body against mine after so long. The fire that had previously ceased inside me, runs again through my veins, making everything too cloudy. I can't reason whether this was right or not. We both drink too much. She still hasn't given me full openness to so much attitude, even though she's still here, kissing me.
I try for a few minutes to clear my mind, to be a little rational and not get carried away by emotion, but the sound her mouth makes when I touch her neck with my lips ruins whatever train of thought I was building.
I touch the exact spots that make her moan and scramble for more friction. I watch thirstily as her eyes roll back and her lip is bitten in an attempt to control the moans. Her nails scratch the back of my neck, releasing an electric current that migrates between my legs.
I gasp when I feel her rub against my groin, spreading a current throughout my body. I want to beg her to do it again, but it's not really necessary, she knows and she does. So excruciating, but so good. Again I am startled to find that glow that I knew so much. I wonder where this Marnie was all along.
I shove my hand inside her shirt, enjoying her burning skin. I stroke the spot below her bra with my thumb, wanting not to frighten her. I suck the skin under her ear, lapping it with my tongue. My body combusts as she stirs and presses her crotch harder against mine. I cup her breast with enjoyment, hearing her call my name the way I liked it best.
Her desperate hands run inside my jacket, wanting to throw it away. I was ready to help when a heavy knock on the door disrupts our moment.
"What the fuck is it?" anger rips up my throat, causing a very angry scream. So much time to interrupt.
"It's time to cut the cake." I hear Calum's voice and feel like throwing him from the second floor.
“Serious? Stick the cake in your-” two small hands cover my mouth, preventing me from continuing.
“We're on our way, Cal.” Marnie yells louder and breathless.
I watch your body soften, lost and, I fear, even regretful. She is no longer there. She avoids looking at me, perhaps out of shame.
“It was better this way.” her sweet voice comes closer to a whisper.
“Was?” I stare at her, not wanting to accept that I was the only one to feel it. I know I wasn't, because her expression tells me I'm right.
“Was! You know it was.” her tone is still sweet, but her gaze is hard. "I think we'd better go downstairs." she gets up carefully, getting out of bed. I throw my head against my hands, visibly frustrated.
"Go ahead, I need to get both heads in place." I throw my body against the mattress.
“Sorry, Luke.” I can't stand her feeling guilty when she's the biggest victim of all this.
"M&Ms?" I leap out of bed, grabbing her before disappearing through the door. “It's not your fault. I'm the one who lost control, I'm sorry. You didn't give me the opening to attack you like that and I let myself go…” her lips silence me.
“It wasn't anyone's fault, can we do that?” I nod, stealing the last kiss before I let her go. "I'll wait for you downstairs." she announce.
I turn around, heading back to bed, still feeling frustration coursing through my veins.
“Hey!” I turn to see her there, standing in the doorway. My chest races with yearning from the many times I've seen her do the same scene. My ears and heart ache wanting to hear those words that always came next. Those three words that were so beautiful in her mouth. “Thanks for this.” she smiles and leaves.
I stare at the wood, snapping back to reality. I'm such an idiot for thinking she was going to say she loves me. I hide my face, exhausted. I look across the bed, able to see the two of us there, so given to each other.
I replay the scene in my head, tasting her kiss on my lips. Feeling my body tingle, still wanting her touch. The pressure on my pants becomes bigger and more uncomfortable. I need to make this go away. I scramble my mind for many things to calm myself down, but I can't. I can still feel her hands running around the back of my neck and her groin against mine.
"Shit!" I give up, going to the bathroom and locking myself in there. I don't care if I'm late, or what they think. I won't be able to eliminate this with thoughts alone.
I lower my pants and underwear, releasing my already throbbing member. I run my hand over it, making my body vibrate in relief. I let my mind flood with all thoughts and memories with her, feeling my body inflate further.
I increase my speed, being able to feel her touch through my body. I punch the wall, feeling my stomach contract. I rest my forehead against the cool coating, letting out several sighs. Her eyes flash in my mind.
The many times I've seen her face twist in pure orgasm under my touch. That smirk and that vulgar glow she always lets off before pulling me aside. And I always did, like a puppy.
My breathing gets out of control as I reach my orgasm. A wave of relief and lightness overcomes me, along with a wave of guilt. It must have been the 15th time since it all happened.
I can't have her. I can't stand the idea of ​​looking for someone else, even though we are not officially together, so I have to get by with baths and my bare hands, but as a result I feel like the dirtiest human being, as she doesn't even suspect.
I walk down the stairs, not attracting any attention. I find her sitting on the couch, on Leah's lap, laughing at some imitation Ashton was doing. I approach the group, who make no fuss about my delay.
I pick up the bottle of white wine on the coffee table, flipping half the contents. I feel her green eyes burn on me and I don't even have the courage to reciprocate by ignoring her.
“Is everything OK? Sorry if I messed something up.” Hood says next.
“It's OK! In fact, it was better, if you didn't show up, we would have done something stupid.” I say dry.
"Is that why this sour face?" he raises an eyebrow.
"I'm feeling awful for almost bringing her to this and not having the conscience to stop." I reveal a part of the guilt that burns in me.
“Luke, you are not complete strangers. And maybe she really wanted to go further, she just didn't know how. After all, at that moment she was supposed to be your f-”
"I know!" I cut it off, not wanting to hear the rest of the sentence.
For my salvation, someone starts to sing happy birthday and the matter is closed. I open a smile disguising the shit my head was on. Michael puts a little purple hat on my head, blowing a plastic horn, very excited.
The scene makes me laugh, relieving the stress. I watch Leah and Kyleen swing colorful pom poms behind Marnie, who is holding a small cake with several candles.
I look deep into her eyes, noticing her happiness to be there and somehow mine too. After all, she's here, even if she doesn't remember much, she's still here. The accident could have been a lot worse and I could have lost her forever.
I push the damn thoughts away, blowing out the candles and driving everyone crazy. I'm surprised when Marnie leans in, stealing a kiss, not caring that she's in front of everyone. Her rosy cheeks manage to steal a smile far bigger than Michael did.
In the back of the room, I notice Pam with her arms crossed and sulking. I don't know if Marnie did it on purpose, intent on teasing, but something she did, and if Pam is pissed off, we're happy.
The clock was already showing around 5:00 in the morning. I've already fluctuated my alcohol level more times than I can count. While the boys filled me with rum, M&Ms filled me with water and food, afraid I would go into an alcoholic coma or whatever. Of course I took advantage of her concern and all the attention she was giving me.
At some point during the party, Michael took over the DJ's table and there we were, jumping up behind him, singing I Want It That Way at the top of our lungs, with the lost girls trying to do the choreography. That was definitely the best thing about the party, right after my moment with Marnie in the bedroom.
Right after his moment commanding the party's playlist, Clifford decided to climb on the roof to jump into the pool. Something that was already taking a while to happen. What he and no one expected was Marnie yelling at him, worried.
“It's comical, because if it weren't for the amnesia and the lack of alcohol, she would be the one on the roof.” Irwin comments lying beside me, watching the scene of her yelling at Michael, asking him to come down.
“And we called the fire department because she got stuck again.” I shake my head, wanting not to laugh at the memories. “Good times.” I'm toasting my friend, still watching her worriedly behind the older one.
Sitting in the garden, talking to some friends, I watch the girl laughing in a circle with Noah and Calum. She gets up, walking into the house, returning in a few minutes. I watch her come around, stopping behind me.
“Now the one who needs to talk is me.” she whispers in my ear. I don't think twice about taking your hand and heading out of the wheel chat.
I can see a large package in her hands and the idea of ​​being my gift makes me anxious. A little farther away from the mess that remained, she hands me the black box with a gold bow on top. Before opening it, I take a look at her excited smile, letting out a laugh.
I find five rings and three necklaces arranged around the box. I can't hold back the smile, seeing what she's chosen. I know I might look like an idiot for some jewelry, but it's amazing jewelry she picked out.
“You liked?” she bites her lower lip, curious.
“I loved!” I hug your body, thanking her. I know she has no intentions other than to give me a birthday present, but of course I will wear these rings and necklaces with more affection than usual. “Thanks.” I mean, still ecstatic.
Hand in hand, we approached the crowd again, bumping into Kiki, Sophie and Michael.
“We were thinking about going to Michael's house. The party is already boring and I'm hungry.” Kiki comments. I look a little offended at her, after all, that was my birthday party. “Oh! Nothing personal.” she laughs, slapping me on the shoulder.
“What do you think?” I ask the M&Ms, who shrug their shoulders. "Have you talked to the rest?"
“Leah was going to call Noah and Ash, we were going to rescue Calum.”
“OK! We'll get our stuff and meet you at the door.” Marnie agrees and so we disperse.
Still holding hands, we walked back upstairs, looking for her bag. In the kitchen, I grab a bottle of vodka, a tequila, and a whiskey, trying to put everything in my bag, but it doesn't quite work.
“We should take advantage of the gathering and have your liver funeral.” I turn to Marnie who glares at me, seeing three bottles in my arm and me struggling to open one of beer.
Easily, we made our way to the front door, finding Kiki and Sophie. Gradually, everyone arrived and so we left the party, without saying goodbye to anyone.
“Uh, tequila?” Hood comes towards me, hugging the bottle.
Michael's house was the closest and, having drunk too much, we thought we'd better walk.
On the way, we stopped at a bakery, buying a bunch of things to eat. The day was already showing signs of life when we arrived at Mike's house. At the dinner table, we spread out the stolen drinks and food, starting our round table, as well as picking up several board games that Michael kept.
“I wanted to propose a toast to Mr. Luke Hemmings.” Noah draws the toast, making everyone raise their glasses and bottles. “One of the few people worth meeting in this hellish city where you can't trust anyone. The other people are unfortunately not present…”
A shower of paper balls and food flies towards the 20 minutes older twin. I'm surprised when I watch Marnie leave my arms, standing up.
“I also wanted to give a speech.”
“You didn't have to, babe.” I say, shaking her hand that still had our fingers intertwined.
“It's not about you.” she sticks out her tongue, causing everyone to scream.
“Ouch!” I put my hand to my chest, accepting the blow and still feeling my heart race.
“Shut up.” she screams, laughing. “Well, I wanted to make this toast in thanks to all of you. I know it's been three years of friendship, but for me it's only been a month and even with all the confusion and breakup.” her fingers squeeze mine and I move them, giving them a light caress. “You still took me in and took great care of me. I am eternally grateful for that. Leah doesn't even start crying, I need to get this over with and if I cry it's going to go wrong.” the mood breaks a little with the laughter. “Bottom line, I just want to say that whatever the future holds, I like you all a lot and that this isn't just a bunch of crazy friendship the universe threw at me, it's the family I've been looking for. As Noah said, you're the few people worth living in this hell of a city and I love you all so much. Cheers!”
Everyone raises their glasses once more, toasting her speech. I cross my gaze with Leah, who has also noticed something odd. She still hadn't commented on Monday's episode and I still had it hanging around in my mind.
It was very visible that something was troubling her. Her eyes wandering lost, her disappearance since Monday until today, claiming to be super busy and out of time. Everyone was sensing that something was wrong, but she wouldn't let go or comment on it.
“Especially you.” I focus my attention on her, who settles back into my arms. “Regardless of our future, I like you very much.” she whispers, before pressing her lips to mine. “Please never forget that. Promise?”
I get lost in her eyes, noticing a hint of fear and pain in them. It's horrible to see her like this and not know what to do. For nothing in this world I want her to feel unprotected or alone, she said herself that we are a family, so she wouldn't have to face anything alone.
“Only if you promise me you'll tell me what's going on.” I play hard, not caring if this becomes an issue between us, or if it pushes her away a little.
“Luke…” my name comes out in a painful sigh.
"Marnie." I say her name harshly, wanting her to understand that I won't change my mind.
“I'll tell. Just not today. Today is your day and that's what matters to me. So please let's enjoy?” she begs. As always, I surrender, nodding. I drop a kiss to her forehead, before pulling her to my chest again.
Hastings still looks at me suspiciously and unfortunately I only have reason to agree with her. Something was up with Marnie and she didn't want to tell us.
A minute of silence, our baby is turning 25 today and I am not knowing how to handle it.
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