#char:perry

[emberwood-if]

this new update just makes me love perry even more hahah

Sweet, sweet Perry. I feel bad for what I'm going to do to him.

[emberwood-if]

Is E’s lip twitch in that scene a good thing, a bad thing, or up to interpretation 👁️👁️

a good thing!!! (I'll make it clearer in the final round).

Here's more because I have some E brain rot (can I say that about my own characters or is that obnoxious?) as I'm reading and I think they've become my favorite RO...as of now at least (it fluctuates a lot lol)

(this is if you choose "early twenties" as an option + if you decide to work for E as an intern)

Emberwood is a drama, a romance, a thriller, a mystery but above all...it is a Comedy™

[emberwood-if]

“which makes him more emotionally available and just…a healthy person to be with…for now” WHAT DO YOU MEAN FOR NOW???? I JUST PEED MYSELF😭

All I’m going to say is that Perry becomes unrecognizable at some point. His character arc is drastic. I won’t reveal how soon that time comes or if it comes in Book 1 but yeah…good luck lol

:) have fun with that information lolol

[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]

How would Perry and E react to a MC in their early twenties being in love with them? How would they deal with the age gap, especially if they were on the younger side like 20?

GREATTT QUESTION because I’ve decided this will probably come up in-story (especially for E)

E’s arc has a lot to do with their job and what they do for work and how it impacts them personally, so dating someone younger would make them feel like they’re doing a disservice to MC by having MC focus on them. They’d think that they’re not worth MC’s affections or time. E especially doesn’t want to be the person who inadvertently breaks their heart by not being…around. One thing someone has to accept when they date E is that their job is their life. It’s who they are. They’ve lost friends and relationships due to how intertwined they are with their job. They’d fear MC is just the next in line, but they’d also understand: MC is young. E wouldn’t understand why MC would want to waste their time with a thirty-something who rarely ever has time to do anything.

Their thought process is basically, “you’re young, you can be with anyone, why me? Be with someone your age who can be there for you the way you deserve.”

This would apply to older MCs as well, but the worry of MC wasting their young years on E wouldn’t be there aha

A lot of it is E being miserable over having to choose between MC and their job lol

Perry: Perry would feel the same, but for reasons that lie more in the fact that he would question himself often lol. He’d think that he’s not actually as good as MC thinks, or that MC is just blinded by the circumstances. He’d think that serving as some sort of mentor for MC would confuse them into thinking that Perry is this amazing person and that eventually the other shoe would drop and MC would realize Perry is not all that cracked up to be. I can’t say much on Perry because it kind of falls into spoiler territory for their character arc but yeah

Perry’s arc digs deeper into the sense of “unworthiness” but we have to read and see!

thank you for the ask! 🫶

[emberwood-if]

Hello nicole just read the demo and I loved it! Not sure if you're taking ro asks but I would love to know how would the ros react to an almost kiss situation? Mcs all shy and glancing at their mouths? 👀

I'll answer this as an pre-relationship almost-kiss but not quite there yet shhshs

F: Would catch MC and totally try to lighten the mood in order to hide the fact that they’re nervous. They usually never get nervous so humor is their first defense mechanism.

“My eyes are up here, MC.”

And then F would definitely go for it (if you accept, of course) no matter what like even if you met them a day ago, F loves quick and loves hard lolol

Perry: he gets nervous at any sign that someone may be interested in him (even more if its someone he’s interested in). If he caught MC, he’d start awkwardly fumbling, trying to change the subject or do something to distract himself. He’s definitely the RO most likely to ask and have the “I would like to kiss you now” moment. 

Alex: try to act nonchalant about it, but fails and will just shift out of panic. Alex is usually indifferent to most things  but not MC, so they’ll def be like “what is happening to me right now what are these Feelings™” Especially if you have a bold MC, so something like:

“Your face is red.”

“It’s because it’s hot in here. That’s all. Don’t be weird.” And it’s definitely not that. 

Dani: notice you staring, get nervous, will get angry at themselves for getting nervous, and then say something accidentally rude that totally backfires and then will hate themselves for it and most definitely write about it in their notebook

N: they are a normally quiet character with very little desire to speak but when they’re nervous…oh can they talk, once they notice you they’ll start chatting away, in the midst of their blabbering they’d def be looking at your mouth too, evidently wanting to, but not being brave enough to go for it 

K: K is a mixed bag. they will never admit to anything that has to do with being vulnerable so they’ll totally just walk away. PLSHSHSH like literally just turn around and walk out of the conversation before they do something unwise a.k.a kiss MC when they’re not sure of how MC feels (getting rejected would be their worst nightmare) but if they know you're interested, they are quite a bold character, they're very sure of themself.

Eva/Everett: they are very polite and straight-laced, so they'd ask you straight up: “MC, are you…interested in me, perhaps?” and the rest is history 

F and K are the most bold in terms of their romances, which is nice. thank you for loving the demo and for the ask! <3

[emberwood-if]

Perry kinda reminds me of Steve from stranger things 😭

aka the mom friend 😭

[emberwood-if]

Can you describe the ROs romance route tropes? (friends to lovers, enemies to lovers etc) thanks!

Ohhhhh

So I have quite ambitious plans for the routes since I have a plan to have every romance (and the platonic) route have a main conflict that encompasses that route. I just feel like narrative romance is more satisfying/realistic with obstacles lol

I’m not going to put like actual labeled tropes for all of them mostly because I feel like they can’t really encompass it so-

Perry: friends to lovers/ hiding a Big Secret? Unable to be honest with each other

Alex: unable to open up, emotionally detached RO, struggle to come to terms with feelings, doesn’t like Feelings lol

Dani: enemies to lovers? Doesn’t know what they’re feeling/how to handle it. Wants to push MC away for MC’s sake because loving them is DanGeRoUs

E: relationship baggage, afraid to fall in love again, can they fit MC in their busy life?

N: hard to trust, can’t fall for MC in fear of getting distracted, afraid of leaving MC behind

F: too good to be true, afraid MC won’t take them seriously, afraid of getting left behind by MC/rejected by MC

K: not sure if they’ll scare MC away, afraid to show their true self, don’t want to be vulnerable/don’t want to show their feelings only to be rejected over it, never really loved before so unsure of how it all works

and that’s without their backstories/pasts getting in the way! 🫶 so buckle up kids this ride is gonna get ANGSTY