Thanks for noticin' me

Edwin Roland  |  Twenty-Five 

[pessimisticedwin]

dianagupta:

When the man agreed with Diana’s words, she was surprised. Not guilty as many would think, but surprised. “Yeah, go.” She turned away from him, continuing her search for signal, but she couldn’t forget the nagging thought in the back of her mind about the man. Luckily, he hadn’t gotten back to wherever his tent was when he turned around. Diana walked over to him, and turned his body in the direction of the group of people nearby. “Why don’t you just go and start a conversation with those people? It’s not that hard,” she said with annoyance that she was even talking with this guy, coaching him through (disgusting) social interaction.

After his shocking interaction, Edwin turned fast when this person, who just was very rude to him, began to talk to him. They wanted him to go and talk to other people? Edwin was a very shy man and that did not interest him in the slightest. Maybe he could start up a conversation with the new people about how he just had this very weird, and quite scary “chat”. He turned to start to walk over to the other people, dreading every step. Walking with his back slightly hunched in an uncomfortable matter, he turned back, “I might just go back to my tent.”

[pessimisticedwin]

ladvchess:

This, without a doubt, was officially the worst activity Astra could make Duchess participate in. She would give a limb, probably, to get out of the camping trip, because it was, in a word, horrible. She could feel her skin itching to break out, which would mean more makeup, which was impossible to put on decently in the wilderness, and honestly, Duchess was on the verge of crying the moment she stepped out of the van. Looking for a signal so she could call someone, she’d wandered off into the woods, utterly lost when she finally looked up from her phone. “Oh, no,” she sighed out loud, mostly to herself, as she tried, once again, to find the Wifi signal or a signal in general so she could pull up Google Maps. But none of that was working, so she was forced to talk to someone who seemed to live in the very forest she was wandering through. “Excuse me,” she started, but he’d already helped her out. “Oh! Wonderful, thank you so much.” She didn’t want to just leave, because she was mildly concerned. “Do you… live in these woods?”

Looking down at this person a little confused, Edwin replied. “Oh no, haha, I don’t live here. I’m actually with those people.” He tilted his head and nodded towards the campsite. “I just wanted to get away for a little bit.” Edwin looked over at the rest of the people thinking that he should probably get back soon. Jumping out of the tree, he turned back to her saying, “Here, let’s walk back together. My name is Edwin.” he turned and reached his arm out to shake her hand. 

[dianagupta]

This sucked. When Diana had heard rumors of an Astra-hosted summer trip, she definitely wasn’t expecting to go camping. She’d thought that maybe they were going somewhere warm and tropical where at least they could spend their nights in hotel rooms and not sleep on the dirty, disgusting ground. Also, there wouldn’t be available WiFi there. Astra just didn’t have any sort of common decency, clearly. Diana rolled her eyes as she walked around with her phone high in the air, searching for some kind of phone signal. Eventually, she groaned loudly, she was so caught up in her problems that she didn’t even realize when she tripped over a man sitting by himself around a campfire. “Can you watch where you’re going?” she snarled, “And maybe get some friends while you’re at it so you don’t look so pathetic.”

[pessimisticedwin]

Not knowing what to do on this camping trip, Edwin sat by the campfire. Everyone else had gone to do something else so he just sat in silence. He noticed someone walking around, obviously trying to find a signal on their phone. Not really thinking anything of it, he looked back at the fire and closed his eyes, feeling the heat on his face. The next thing he knew someone bumped into him. “Oh, uh I-I’m sorry.” he said with a little shake in his voice, “I... I am pathetic I guess... I think I’ll just go back into my tent now.” Edwin started to get up from the log he was sitting on to head back to his tent. 

[pessimisticedwin]

Edwin has always been an introvert. He needs time to be by himself. He likes having time to be by himself. He loves the outdoors and so this camping trip sounded like something he might actually like but he was worried about being around people all the time. Edwin decided to go for a walk in the woods to allow himself to be alone for a little bit. He found a small stream not far from the campsite and climbed a tree to admire everything around him. Past a few trees he could still see the everyone and the tents so he wasn’t worried about finding his way back. He closed his eyes and just listened to the stream and the wind blowing through the trees. He heard someone walking below him and he opened his eyes. Looking down, he noticed someone who looked very confused and lost. “Hey if you’re looking for the campsite, it’s over there. Walk past about four of those trees and you’ll find everyone.” 

[astrapeter-blog]

Peter leaned against a bookcase in the library, watching the scene around him. He couldn’t believe that people actually went here - I mean, is studying that important? To Peter, right now, it was. If he was going to fly, he was going to have to sit down and learn all of that boring shit that he couldn’t stand. But Peter wasn’t the best at concentrating and he’d never exactly been the ‘studying’ type. Well, you know what they say, old habits die hard. He put on his best smile and wandered up to the first person he saw, leaning down on their table. “Hey. You look pretty lonely sitting here all by yourself, mind if I join you?” Which they wouldn’t. Peter knew what he looked like. And who would rather study than chat with a pretty face?

[pessimisticedwin]

Edwin sat at a table slouched over his open textbook with his notebook next to him. He didn’t really want to study but he thought he should at least give it a try. In his notebook, he started to doodle a little while skimming through his textbook. All he wanted to do was to go back to his room and take a nap. Soon  his “studying” had turned into just daydreaming and unconsciously doodling random lines and letters all over his notebook. Just as he was starting to get away from his dreaming and was thinking about going back to his room, he noticed someone standing in front of him, “Oh- oh no, of course not, go ahead.” Edwin perked up and motioned toward the chair in front of him. 

[pessimisticedwin]

rickytickingtigre:

Smiling a big smile, Carter dragged Edwin toward the arcade faster than his heart could desire. It was great to have his best friend back, and Carter wasn’t about to let any opportunity for fun go to waste. “Perfect!” he said before grabbing the other’s wrist in his hand and taking off running as quick as his feet in his favorite tennis shoes could take him. All he could hear was the first part of Edwin’s statement, before hearing the rest once he slowed down near the entrance to the arcade. “Oh, yes, I definitely remember!” he recalled happily. “It’s definitely not quite as big back home either, but that’s okay! It’s all the memories that matter the most, right?” He was sure that Edwin would probably agree with him. 

He couldn’t remember a time where Edwin had disagreed with him, nor was he able to think of a time where they’d fought with each other in general. Carter took that as a good sign, and believed it meant that they had a strong, stable friendship, which only made him happier to be here with him today. When Edwin spotted the Pac-Man game, Carter’s eyes gleamed. “Holy moley! We haven’t played that game in forever, man! We have to go and play it right now!” Luckily, there wasn’t a line for the game, so he pulled his friend over as fast as he could without running. There were kids around now, so he didn’t want to run one over or something horrendous like that. As he was about to take a turn at the controls though, Carter thought about it a second time and decided to give his friend a chance. Stepping to the side, he motioned toward the control board. “Here,” he said. “You have a chance first, Edwin.”

Walking over to the Pac-Man game, Edwin couldn’t contain his excitement. He got over to the machine and realized that they had forgotten to buy tokens. “Oh shoot, man. I’ll be right back, we forgot the tokens.” Edwin said as he began walking away to go to the token/money exchange machine. He tried to put a bill into the machine but the machine spit his money back out. “What the heck?” Edwin said as he pulled it out and tried putting it back in again. This time the machine took his money but didn’t give him his tokens. “Are you serious?” he whispered as he smacked the side of it in hopes that would actually help get his money or tokens out. “Of course this would happen to me. Um h-hey miss? The machine took my money but didn’t give me any tokens.” Edwin said walking over to the service counter. The lady gave Edwin the amount of tokens that he paid for and then he turned to go back to Carter. He missed playing the game so much that he bought enough tokens for him and Carter to play Pac-Man at least ten times each. As he reached Carter and the game he handed Carter his tokens, “Ten games each. We can always get more later.” He laughed. Edwin stepped up to the game and put two tokens in machine. He gripped onto the control stick and turned to grin at Carter. He turned back to the game screen and said under his breath, “Let’s go!”.

[pessimisticedwin]

rickytickingtigre:

“I’m good!” Carter replied. The fact that he was getting to talk face-to-face with Edwin again now made him really excited; it meant so much more to him than the monthly video chat or phone call. Not that those were meaningless or not worthwhile, Carter was just the kind of person who really craved human contact or even just physical social interaction with the person.

Edwin’s words only made Carter even happier. “I’m glad to be able to see you too, dude!” He patted his hand down on Edwin’s (much more muscular) shoulder, a joyful smile on his face. “And I’m glad that the drive wasn’t too bad either. I’m sure the traffic would have been much worse if you were to have come later in the day, ya know? Traffic here is pretty bad in general, which is mostly why I don’t drive around here. Well, plus, I just don’t like driving as a whole, but you already know that,” he said, laughing. Carter had just finished rambling as they got into the bowling alley, and immediately Edwin asked him what he wanted to do. If anything, he should be asking Edwin that same question, but he didn’t want to put the pressure of choosing an activity on his friend because he knew that Edwin didn’t like being put on the spot. “Let’s check out the arcade first! I’m sure that they have some great games,” he suggested.

Edwin knew that Carter would be able to figure something out that he wanted to do. He hoped that Carter wouldn’t ask him what he wanted to do. To beat him to the chase, he asked him first. “The arcade sounds good! I’m curious to see if they have similar games to the arcade we use to go to when we were younger, you remember that Carter? I haven’t been there in forever. It isn’t nearly this big nor was there a bowling alley attached but this arcade still reminds me of those days.” Edwin got a little homesick thinking of home and simpler days when him and Carter were younger. He turned around and saw the most basic arcade game in history but also his favorite. “Hey, man, look! It’s Pac-man!” 

[pessimisticedwin]

rickytickingtigre:

When Edwin finally started walking up toward him, Carter smiled enthusiastically at his friend. “Edwin, hey! What’s up?! How’s your day been going?! It’s so good to see you!” He jogged over to Edwin, and when he reached him, he turned around so that they could walk toward the main entrance together. “I’m so glad that you got here safely! How was the drive? I honestly can’t believe that we’re both at Astra now together. It’s so great, right?” Edwin and Carter had grown up together in San Diego, and that was about 8 hours from Sacramento, and the mention of home almost made Carter homesick. At least now he had Edwin here with him and, better yet, they were roommates now too! Carter couldn’t wait to introduce Edwin to Mitch; he hoped they would all become the best of friends because then they could all be the 3 musketeers! Because he got caught up in his thoughts, Carter didn’t realize how much faster he was walking compared to Edwin, so he slowed down a bit to return back to the other man.

Edwin walked closer to Carter and responded, “Oh you know, I’m good, same old same old. How are you, man?”. Edwin began walking along side Carter “The drive was long but O.K., I’m just glad that I am able to see you. Having you here and as my roommate makes moving here and joining Astra that much easier.” Edwin began thinking that he made a mistake coming here. He had always been a homebody and wished that he could go home. He began worrying about if he would ever make friends or what he would do while he was here. As Carter and him walked into the bowling alley, he forgot about his worries and became relaxed. Edwin turned to Carter and asked “Alright Carter, what would you like to do first?”.

[pessimisticedwin]

pvnzels:

“Your name is lovely, Edwin.” she complimented brightly, shaking his hand with enthusiasm “Oh, yeah, me too, I never really had friends before this so it’s all super new to me. If you ever need anything I’m right here. I’m super fun, if I do say so myself.”

“Thank you-” Edwin said surprised. She was so nice to him and he was not expecting to make a friend so fast. “Thank you for being so kind and yes! Let’s hang out.” Edwin was a little nervous to hang out with someone but the whole reason he came to astra was to get out of his comfort zone, and what better way than to make friends. 

[pessimisticedwin]

pvnzels:

“Oh no bub, I’m sorry! Dancing isn’t for everyone, to be honest.” she only had to think for a few seconds, knowing her answer without much second thought “Gosh, no, I’m a very bad dancer. Doesn’t make it any less fun though, you know?” Rachel shrugged, smiling over at the stranger “I’m Rachel, by the way.”

Edwin turned back, a little surprised, did he just make a friend? “Hi, I’m Edwin.” He reached out to shake her hand. “I’m pretty new here so it’s nice to meet new people.” he said nervously, hoping that she would want to hang out again. 

[rickytickingtigre]

If you were to list all the people that could have came to Astra, Carter definitely did not peg Edwin to be one of them. They were basically exact opposites: Carter was happy and Edwin was sad. Neither of them completely remembered how their friendship had began, but it was clear that the relationship had been in existence for a long time. When Carter had found out that Edwin had joined the initiative, he knew that he had to do something special for his best friend, so he invited him to one of the most fun places that Carter could think of: the bowling alley. The building had both bowling and an absolutely massive arcade, or so it felt to Carter, so there was plenty for them to do, and her knew that Edwin would love it. As he stood outside the main entrance, Carter continually checked his phone every ten minutes to see if he’d received a text, but there hadn’t been a single new notification for quite some time. Even though he was at least thirty minutes early, Carter was starting to worry about his friend and where he was.

[pessimisticedwin]

Edwin was nervous about what he just got himself into and wondered if he made a mistake. He did not like to be involved in things but he figured that if he ever wanted to get out of his shell he would need to get out there. When Carter asked him to meet at the bowling alley he said yes of course because Carter and him were good friends. He wanted to hang out with him but he secretly did hope that he would cancel. A bowling alley? That definitely didn't seem like anything Edwin would enjoy. There would be so many people and so many things to do. Carter was always energetic and happy so it would be the perfect place for him. Edwin thought that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. It would just be him and Carter. Maybe Carter could help him feel better. Maybe he wouldn’t feel so sad all the time if Carter was there for him to do stuff to get his mind off of it. Edwin got ready and started walking towards the bowling alley. He started getting a little more worried the closer he got. He turned the corner and could see Carter, he instantly felt better. “Hey Carter!” Edwin yelled. 

[pessimisticedwin]

✉️ >> ✨open✨

✨ mitch: HAPPY EASTER!!!!!! ✨🐰🥚🐤🌱✨

✨ mitch: it's such a gr8 time!!! everyone's so happy, the weather is getting better with spring, flowers are blossoming!!! i think i even saw a rabbit running around!!!

✨ mitch: or maybe it was a little dog with bunny ears on.... ANYWAY!!

✨ mitch: are you enjoying easter?? i hope so, otherwise i have plenty of chocolate to cheer u up!!!

Edwin: Happy Easter!

Edwin: I mean, I do enjoy some parts about this time but I doubt that everyone is happy-

Edwin: That would be pretty cute if it was a dog with bunny ears.

Edwin: I'll need a lot of chocolate

[pvnzels-blog]

“Do you see that?” it was likely that this was not as much of a spectacle to the person she’d just leaned over to tap, but was far too exciting for Rachel to allow to go unrecognized. “He’s been dancing for like five minutes now.” she whispered excitedly, pointing across the street at the blur of neon clothes and strange moves. To add to her wonderment, there was no music to be heard “That looks so fun. Can you dance?”

[in which eli imagines something like this]

[pessimisticedwin]

“Oh, me? No, I-I can’t dance. I would be so bad at it.” said Edwin. He looked over at the dancer and wondered how anyone could have the courage to dance in public, especially with no music, and with so many people watching.  He turned back to her to ask, “How about yourself? Can you dance?” 

[astraarchived-deactivated202206]

the astra initiative is proud to introduce EDWIN ROLAND, the TWENTY-FIVE year old who looks an awful lot like ELI GOREE. he hails from SAN DIEGO, USA; and resembles EEYORE from WINNIE THE POOH. his application has been processed, meaning he is closed for auditions.

tw: depression

often, people don’t understand that you can’t simply cheer up and be happy. sometimes, there’s something else going on beneath the surface. in your case, that something is depression, and that makes it very hard for you to enjoy the simplest things in life, like your therapist told you to try. all you seem to be able to do, is make everyone around you sad as well. every day feels like drudgery, but you trod on, stubborn as a mule.

your friends try to help, and of course you appreciate all they try to do for you, even when things don’t work out the way they plan for you, but there’s just something missing. the whole world, save for those two, is against you. you love them, but they can’t fix you, even if they try their very best.

WHO TELLS YOUR STORY?

ELIJAH PINSKY — they’re a very kind friend, always trying to brighten your day. sure, they’re a little fidgety and timid, but also a bit of fresh air after the things your other mutual friend tries to put you through to brighten your day. bouncing just isn’t your thing, so they try to find something for you that is.