#char: andrei

[emberwood-if]

andrei after a minor inconvenience:

literally that man is dramatic as hell 😭

[emberwood-if]

👀👀 how would everybody in the crushing stage react if mc gave them a super thoughtful (and maybe romantic if you squint hehe) handmade gift like a scrapbook or painting or something? also how would andrei react? thank you! 💛

Since no explicit gender was established, I’m using gender neutral pronouns! I hope that’s okay!! ❤️

MC: “Here, I made this for you.”

Alex

Alex takes the gift reluctantly, unsure of how to react. “I feel like I haven’t been nice enough to warrant any kind of gift.” They look at you, quirking a small smile. “But I can’t say I dislike it. Now I have to think of something to give you.”

“You don’t have to—“

“If it means making you feel how I feel now, then yes, I do. I can’t let you one-up me.” Alex walks backwards, retreating to their room. The mischievous smile on their face is one you’ve seen often enough, but it holds a new sort of warmth that Alex has never shown you. They almost look…shy, but that can’t be, right? Alex doesn’t get shy—

Right?!

Perry

“Oh—“ Perry stares down at the gift, eyes wide. He takes it from your hand, his throat bobbing. “Thank you, this—is sweet.” He smiles a little, raising his hand to cover his mouth, almost as if he can’t suppress his happiness. “I don’t know what to say.”

His hazel eyes dim with an emotion you can’t place when he meets your eyes again. “I will treasure this. This is the best thing anyone has ever given me, thank you.”

Noah/Nora

N stares at the gift with wide, almost panicked eyes. “For me?”

You nod.

“But…why?” Seemingly realizing how that sounds, N shakes their head fervently. “Not that I don’t like it, I’m just—just surprised—ah, I don’t—“ N’s pale cheeks brighten into a flush so deep it reminds you vaguely of a tomato. “I don’t know what to say.”

You push the gift toward them and they take it cautiously, their lip twitching as if they’re hesitant to smile.

“Thanks.” N ducks their head, letting their hair fall in front of their face. It’s in that moment that N feels confident enough to smile. You suppose they thought you couldn’t see…

Dani

Dani looks down at the gift, staring at it. “What’s this?” It comes off almost suspiciously, but with a hint of nervousness that’s never been there before.

“For you,” you repeat, pushing the gift to their chest.

Dani swallows, grabbing the gift with delicate fingers. They let out a small exhale through parted lips. “For me? Why?”

You huff. Geez, can they just take the gift?

Fortunately, a second later they do.

“Thank you.” Dani shoots you a rare, reluctant smile. It brightens their whole face. “I’m grateful for it. I will get you something in return—“

“You don’t—“

“I want to,” Dani says, more firmly this time. They hold your gaze in a way that makes you warm.

Kade/Kiera

K’s brows shoot up in surprise, and they grab the gift. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“It’s not my birthday yet—“

“I know.”

“We’re not celebrating anything—“

“I know,” you echo. “I just wanted to.”

“You just wanted to…” K’s voice trails off. You catch them exhale slowly, before looking back at you with a smirk. “Is this your way of getting on my good side? Because…well, it’s working.” Their voice lowers into a mumble at the last word and they look up at you behind their lashes almost nervously.

Catching K off guard? It feels like a victory.

Finn/Fera

“For me!?” F takes the gift, their mouth shaped into a firm O of surprise. “Thank you!” F hurries to open it, and they laugh a little. “You should’ve told me, I would’ve gotten you something!”

F looks up at you, their toothy grin almost blinding. “I’m really happy.“ F looks back down at the gift, a secret smile on their face. “You make me happy, MC.”

Oof. Doesn’t F know not to say such things so casually?

Everett/Eva

E quirks a brow at the gift. “This is mine?”

You nod.

E laughs a little; a small, almost imperceptible huff of a breath. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“I just wanted to give it to you.”

E holds your gaze for a moment, their eyes darting around every inch of your face. You sense they’re searching for something, and it makes you fidget. “Careful, or I’d think you find me special, MC.” The teasing in their voice shifts into something else entirely: into something softer, heavier with meaning.

The cool expression on their face finally melts into a small smile. “Thank you.”

Andrei

The tears begin forming in his eyes, and he takes it with shaking hands. “F-for me?”

“Andrei, don’t make it a big deal—“

“THANK U SO MUCH I AM GOING TO FRAME THIS I WILL STARE AT IT EVERY MORNING.”

“Sigh.”

this was fun ahahahahhahaa 🫶

[emberwood-if]

I love that Andrei's two sides are literally just old man and completely fucking unhinged

I feel like this perfectly sums up his character lolol

[emberwood-if]

Let's say someone finds out they have a power but live outside the country or across the world. Are there divisions or other places that do what Andrei does?

Great question! I can't answer that! The answer would be very spoiler-y! But I promise there is an answer, I just can't say right now.

It will all make sense eventually.

[emberwood-if]

My MC with daddy issues is going to be so excited that Andrei views him as a son, even though Andrei is A Complete Mess

love that, Andrei is definitely a mess, and he only gets messier as the narrative goes on lmao I'm happy I added the option for MC to be sort of like Andrei, its been past due for Andrei to have a resident who encourages his antics rather than scolds him for it lol

Your MC will be having real bad daddy/mommy issues by the end of the book, trust me

[emberwood-if]

So besides training, what else does the Dufner house do? I'd imagine Andrei makes everyone (N excluded because they can just get away with not doing it) do 'group activities' like family game night!!!!

lolol definitely, Andrei tries to do “cleaning days” and such and makes even solitary activities into a group thing, most of the house groans every time he has a new thing to do but they can’t do much about it 😭

Andrei and Perry do a lot of ******** (spoilery, sorry!) that the other residents don’t know much about

In the first iteration of Emberwood, I was going to give them all part-time jobs and MC was going to have to do the same, choosing who to work with…im still on the fence about that because it doesn’t exactly align with the narrative I have in my head, we will see

But really they hang out, they go to town when they feel like it (rarely) and they kill time waiting for their sentence to be up…not at all like prison, but also similar :)

That’s on regular days, but in the story, MC starts to shake things up a bit, especially as the antagonist enters the narrative, so they’ll get pretty busy now…

[emberwood-if]

Illusionist MCs are gonna accidentally trap themselves in a mind prison that reflects their own inescapable despair, only for Dr. Dufner to fucking show up and say shit like "well gang, looks like THAT happened" and make a shit eating grin while doing so

This probably isn't an actual event in the story but Dr. Dufner is like the character equivalent of those shitty one liners marvel throws up in their movies, and it's both hilarious and deeply disturbing

HELP he would literally do that, the opening scene in chapter two is just so hilariously chaotic because Andrei is just so shshsjsjsj I love writing his scenes he’s a bit cartoony and it’s very much on purpose

Do y’all want to know a secret…Dr. Dufner’s personality is inspired by this guy:

Shigure Sohma from Fruits Basket (the original anime version) and if any of you have read fruits basket…then you are now officially a little bit in on insider knowledge that I can not talk about but am maniacally giggling over