Sep 1, 2017
The Beat of Variego’s Hearts 💞
“Life means nothing without people to care about.”
-Diego to Varyyn before their deaths in Diego’s idol scene
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The Beat of Variego’s Hearts 💞
“Life means nothing without people to care about.”
-Diego to Varyyn before their deaths in Diego’s idol scene
Do you remember that scene in ES when Craig was carrying Zahra bridal style? Do you? BECAUSE I DO! *swoon* And after last chapter and THE KISS I just had to draw them, I am such a trash for Namasiao 😭
This is my entry for choicescreates 25! Big thanks to @hollyashton and @meikah-the-sheep for hosting it!
❤
Only Human
Damn, it’s been a while since I participated in Choices Creates, but this week’s prompt really inspired me. Endless Summer is my favorite book by far, so enjoy this fic about an ES character who’s not an LI, because it’d be kinda weird if she was 😅😆
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I was 12 years old. I had just fallen and scraped my knee on the playground during recess. The nice boy with the light brown hair from the class next door had come running over to me. He was concerned and offered to take me to the nurse. We made small talk as he walked me to the nurse, and I found out his name was Everett.
I was 16 years old. Everett had turned out to be a wonderful person, and he had become my boyfriend after 4 years of friendship and hidden feelings finally turned into more. I didn’t know if he and I would last, but I certainly hoped so.
I was 19 years old. Everett and I had just gotten married. Many people had judged us, told us we were too young, but we knew we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives. If only we had known how short that would be for me.
I was 23 years old. Everett and I were still married, and despite the odds we were happier than ever. He had developed a passion for sailing, though it made me too seasick for me to join. I was happy to let him have some alone time doing what he loved.
I was 25 years old. Everett’s love of sailing had turned into an obsession. It was almost a bit suspicious, but I trusted him, having known him for over a decade. I was pregnant.
I was 26 years old. Everett Aleister Rourke Junior was the light of my life. Everett Aleister Rourke Senior was too busy on a boat somewhere in Latin America to witness the birth of the child who shared his name. I would not forgive him for that for a long, long time, if ever.
I was 27 years old. My husband had been acting shadier and shadier, constantly whispering on the phone and acting incredibly paranoid, disappearing to sea more and more often. Whenever I tried to ask him about it, he shut me down and dismissed my concerns with vague explanations. I felt as if I was raising my precious baby boy by myself.
I was 28 years old. I had begun to think of my boy as Aleister, for I felt the need to separate him from the man who shared his name, the man I was becoming less and less sure I loved. My darling boy was now two years old. I had become fed up with my husband, my Everett, and his constant secrecy. So the next time he disappeared into another room for one of his many suspicious phone calls, I listened in on his conversation, and discovered his plan to kill the inhabitants of an island he apparently owned, so he could turn it into a playground for illegal experiments. My husband was a monster. I barged into the room in anger and screamed at him, letting out years of pent up anger and frustration. It was the biggest mistake of my life, and it was also the last. At least there was a sadness in Everett’s eyes as he told me, “Oh, my darling. I wish it didn’t have to be you. But you weren’t supposed to know that, and I can’t allow you to live now that you do.” As the bullet from his gun entered my skull, I thought only of my darling boy Aleister, and my hope that he would grow up to be better than his father.
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I had been dead for nearly 20 years. Finally, the memories flooded my system. Everything that had happened during my life and since my life had ended was downloaded into my robotic brain. That psycho didn’t realize how much he loved and needed me until he had the audacity to kill me, and I was gone. Nearly driven insane with the grief, he turned me into the robotic hologram “Iris,” designed to be his personal slave, one who could never go against him. He brought me back without my humanity, he brought me back as a robot. A motherfucking robot. He had discovered and taken over a strange, otherworldly island, and had turned it into a garden of illegal and dangerous experiments fittingly named “La Huerta”. And he was manipulating a group of innocent college students who were painfully unaware of the power they possessed, Using their destinies for his own benefit. My precious Aleister had become involved with everything.
A rage consumed me, unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I was angrier than a robot could ever be, I was angrier than any other human could ever be. He tried to strip me of my humanity so I would be easy for him to love when he brought me back, for I would be programmed to never do anything his sadistic self didn’t approve of. But he couldn’t strip my humanity forever.
I am not Iris. I am Imogen Rourke. And I am going to take down the monstrosity that unfortunately is my husband. I am going to save those poor college students so that they never need to learn of their terrible power as well as their terrible fate, including my wonderful son, who thankfully has become everything I had dreamed and more. I am going to use my regained humanity to override the programming of this “Iris” character Everett thinks I am.
And I am going to get my revenge.
I’m Just A Boy
It was an Adele kind of day and this was slightly inspired by When We Were Young - “And I swore you moved overseas, that’s what you said, when you left me.” It doesn’t exactly mirror the lyric but oh well..
Summary: Daniel’s thoughts about Riley going to Cordonia
Word Count: 668
The truth was Daniel didn’t really have a date that night. He knew he couldn’t watch her tend to a bachelor party with three guys that were more in her league. The fourth one, the one asking for a wine list, Riley could probably kick his butt if she was given the choice.
Daniel had had a crush on Riley since the day she came in asking for an application three years ago. She really seemed to like him and he had planned on asking her out but right before he could, there always seemed to be some guy there taking her out.
There was just something about her that made all the men who saw her, want to do everything for her. He remembered a term he’d heard from a regular group of customers: Sphere of Prettiness. But these guys didn’t just want to but her drinks, they wanted to protect her and be with her and Daniel never felt he could compete with that.
When she called him in the middle of the night, he wasn’t sure what to expect but when she asked for a favor and mentioned showing someone the Statue of Liberty, he knew he had to help and so he called his brother. He had laid there that night wishing that he could be as confident as the guys who got her time. Later that same night, she had texted him thanking him for getting the boat for her and asked how his date went because that’s how Riley was, always making sure those around her were happiest. Then after he made up a fake excuse for his fake date that didn’t work out, she told him about that prince. He almost tried convincing her not to run off to some foreign country for a random guy but when she told him, he could just imagine she had that sparkle in her eye that could bring him to his knees.
Daniel had kept up with Riley through the news, watching her go around in those fancy dresses made him wish the media could see the real her, not this “pretty princess” version. He enjoyed the real Riley more, the Riley that could make a black tank top and jean look amazing, the girl that could stand up to a drunken biker and remain unfazed and who could lose her temper but still look beautiful. He knew she’d be loved by everyone there, what more could you ask for in a woman but he secretly hoped they wouldn’t so she could come back. Now, he stared at those scandalous pictures that were viral and had been plastered all over social media outlets. He’d give anything to go to her, protect her, to try to make it go away.
If you just told her how you felt, she wouldn’t be hurting like this!
Angrily he shook the thought away and tried to calm himself. He made that sponsor of hers –he never caught his name- promise to protect her. Clearly a man’s word didn’t mean much over there.
Breaking the silence of his apartment, his phone starts ringing. Looking down at it, he sees it was Riley.
“Riley!” He quickly answers.
“I know…I left…” She’s speaking through sobs, “I need a favor.”
“Anything.”
“Can you…pick me up…from...airport.” Her tears are causing hiccups in her question.
“Of course.”
There’s silence before he heard her trying to catch her breath, “Thanks, Daniel.”
“No problem, that’s what friends are for.”
After he gets more details about her flight, the call ends. He looks down at the notes he’s taken before sighing.
He had kept asking whatever higher power would listen, wished on every star, that Riley would come back so he could have his chance. He just never thought his words would be answered, let alone he’d get her back…in pieces.
I might never have been the one to break her but I’ll spend however long I have to, to make sure she gets put back together.
Bartender
Prompt: Any Choices character who is NOT a Love Interest for MC. This week’s host @meikah-the-sheep and the creator of choicescreates @hollyashton
Book: Hero
Summary: Just MC having feelings for her best friend Poppy. Having to show Poppy and Dax together. No Beta so, all mistakes are mine.
It was supposed to be a victory celebration but, I didn’t feel much like celebrating tonight. I just couldn’t say no to Poppy. I wondered if she realizes the power she has over me. What is the first one rule? Don’t fall in love with your straight best friend. Too bad I did fall for her not that I would ever tell her that.
I was in my world criticizing my love life or lack there of one. When a deep masculine voice announced, “That must be hard.” “What?” I asked him. “Oh, watching someone you love to go after someone else and not you,” He frankly spoke the words towards me. “What, I don't,” I rebuttal. “Come on, it is written all over your face,” He said.
“I thought I was better at hiding my feelings,” I mumbled. “Maybe, regular people wouldn't see it. I am a bartender I see everything in this bar,” He chuckled at me. “Thanks, can I get two more shots then? Drown my sorrows,” I said. “Am I coming to have to cut you off tonight?” He asked.
“No, this is it. I just don't know if I want to go back to my friends,” I said truthfully. “I don't think you want to,” He said as he looked over at the booth my friends currently occupying. My curiosity got to me as I look over at Dax and Poppy. Dax was holding her hand. I thought they worked fast but, in reality, they were taking their sweet time getting there. Well, at least Dax is a great guy. They both looked happy.
I finished my drinks and walked over to them. Poppy let go of Dax’s hand as she noticed me. She then asked, “What took you so long?” “It seems like you guys need some private time. I don’t want to be the third wheel, tonight,” I replied to her. They both told me that I would not be but, I injected that I was tired. I said goodbye to them.
I was walking back to my apartment wanting to get over her. I still want her in my life though as I guess being her best friend will have to do. If Dax so much has made her cry he will have to answer to me. I don’t think he would want to do that with my powers I recently acquired I would make him have payback for hurting her. I have chased off a few bad seeds in the past that wanted to hook up with her.
I made it to my apartment and was in my bed half an hour later. It is better this way now that I have the powers I should to just stay single. I need to try to concentrate on being the hero this city needs. Tomorrow is a new day full of possibles, especially how many bad guys keep popping up.
We endure
Take two because Tumblr decided to eat my post halfway through last time
So this is my entry for choices creates round 25, hosted by @meikah-the-sheep and @hollyashton. I’ve written stuff before but this is my first time posting. Additional note: Danni (MC) is nonbinary, however I am a cis woman so if I messed up anything while writing their character please let me know, thanks :)
Book: Endless Summer, I haven’t actually read any of book two yet so it takes place sometime in book one
Prompt: Characters that aren’t love interests (Honestly kind of bummed that Michelle fits this qualification. Let me love her!!)
Rating: G, they’re just talking on a beach
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Danni walks over to Michelle, sitting down beside her in the sand to stare out at the endless ocean. The water just barely laps at their feet as they both sit there together for a while in silence. It feels like a comfortable silence, but then again, Danni’s never been good at telling the difference before so they speak up. “I’m really sorry about Sean, if I had known-”
“I don’t want to talk about him right now.”
“Oh, okay. What do you want to talk about?”
Michelle looks over at them, a small smile playing on her lips. “What’s the protocol for conversations while stranded on a deserted island?”
“Who knows. At least we don’t have to worry about that chemistry test we were missing for this trip.”
Michelle laughs and Danni smiles. “That’s true. After all of this I think we deserve an exemption from all of our exams just to make up for the mental stress of all of this.”
“Makes sense, it’s about the same amount of anxiety and worry, they should cancel each other out.”
They focus back in on the water, watching as the sun slowly starts to sink beneath the waves, painting the sky all kinds of pink and purple.
Michelle takes a deep breath and Danni looks over to see her closing her eyes and lifting her face to the sky. “I missed moments like this when I started college. It always felt like I had to keep moving to stay afloat. I was always studying or doing things for the sorority. I couldn’t let myself take a breath at the risk of falling behind.”
She takes another breath before opening her eyes again and beaming at Danni. Danni doesn’t think they’ve ever seen her this relaxed. “I forgot what it felt like to just be. It’s nice. Does that make sense?”
Danni smiles and scoots closer to her in the sand so that they can rest their head on her shoulder. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
They watch the sky blend into a dark orange before fading to the dark blue of night, stars dotting the sky above them. They move closer together as the air gets colder. They both know that they’ll have to head inside soon but neither wants to move and break the spell that’s wrapped around them.
“Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” Danni’s voice is quiet as they utter the question they haven’t dared to ask even Diego. With so many people in the group looking to them for guidance, they didn’t want to make anyone lose hope. Yet, here with Michelle, they felt safe. She wouldn’t tell anyone what they talked about.
Michelle hums in consideration and Danni feels the vibration in their skin. “It’s hard to say. I want to be confident and tell you that we can do this without a doubt, but there’s so much we don’t know. We need all of the pieces of the puzzle before we can do anything.” She leans her own head over to rest atop Danni’s. “Once we do though? The world had better watch out.”
Danni snorts. “Damn, why aren’t you the leader? I’d follow you anywhere with that pep talk.”
“Well, I’m not the best at getting along with everyone, not like you.”
“Mm, that’s more of a developed skill. I show different parts of myself to different people, the parts they’d get along with.”
“Aha! I knew you couldn’t just befriend everyone without trying.”
“You caught me. I did mean my compliment when we first got here though, I wasn’t trying to manipulate you or anything.”
Michelle straightens back up and looks over at them, raising an eyebrow. “That’s exactly what someone trying to manipulate me would say.” She keeps her face serious and Danni laughs, groaning as they let themselves fall back into the sand.
As they drag their hands down their face, Michelle loses her composure and starts laughing. Danni joins in, the woman’s laughter was contagious. They laugh for a while before Michelle stretches and stands up. She reaches out her hand and helps pull Danni up. They walk side by side back towards the hotel.
Remembering a Mother’s Love
So... I’ve been lurking around the Choices fandom for a while after the app got me hooked a few months ago, but I haven’t posted anything until this week’s #ChoicesCreates prompt, which inspired me. Many thanks to @hollyashton and @meikah-the-sheep for this awesome community. Anyway, here goes nothing.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this fanfic. They belong to Pixelberry, the developer of Choices: Stories You Play, of which Endless Summer is one of its stories.
Rating: T for mention of a few words unsuitable for young children.
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Michelle fell on her bed and took a deep breath. That felt like the only thing she could do at the moment.
Tonight was quite an eventful night. First, the Watchers, for lack of a better term, attacked her and her friends by surprise. She knew this would happen, but the way they attacked still caught her by surprise. Someone should’ve stayed in the surveillance room and warned them in the first place. That could’ve bought them more time to prepare. At least almost everyone managed to survive relatively unscathed. Well, almost.
Diego’s abduction by the Watchers while everyone else traveled six months ahead of time was still fresh on her mind, and she could only imagine what Diego had to go through in captivity. Would they torture him, or worse kill him?
Perhaps what was the most shocking event of the night was Aleister’s dad, the mysterious Everett Rourke, right with them. He may be unconscious at the moment, but she wouldn’t go near him at any moment, considering the damage he wrought.
Why can’t this vacation be a relaxing one? On one hand, she wanted to just close her eyes and forget about this ordeal. It shouldn’t be hard to hope for a way out of the island and continue with her plan to go to med school and become a surgeon, right? Yet at the same time the thought of the dangers she and her friends had faced so far and will continue to face kept her from sleeping. Staying awake felt like the only thing to do in case the Watchers attack again. Even so, the mere thought of another danger was stressful enough that she wanted to take her mind off of it for a while.
She stood up and stretched her arms for a few seconds before opening her wardrobe. Out came the smell of fresh ocean breeze spray, which Michelle sniffed as much as possible before laying her eyes on a bright green ao dai with peacock feathers spiraling from the center. It wasn’t just any ao dai, but a gift from her mother on her eighteenth birthday, and she has worn it during formal occasions since then. She brought it to La Huerta just in case she wanted to wear it to feel good in times when she felt really down like right now. It was a relief that she also brought mothballs and freshener spray in order to keep the mold out and her favorite scent in.
She put on the ao dai, looked at her reflection, and smiled. As expected, it still fits her snugly and the smell of ocean breeze spray wasn’t going out anytime soon. Just by wearing it made her feel like a princess celebrating Tet.
It suddenly dawned on her. A princess was what her beloved mother would call her. The mother who raised her since her father left them when she was very young, spent long hours working hard to provide income for them so she could study at school, disciplined and motivated her to work hard in order to get what she wanted, sang her lullabies to sleep, took her to the doctor whenever she got sick, instilled her pride in her heritage, and, most of all, loved her.
In turn, Michelle resolved to show her utmost love for her mother by becoming the best surgeon she could ever dream of and take care of her now that she was getting older.
Tears welled up in Michelle’s eyes at these thoughts. The last time she talked to her mother was by phone right before the flight to La Huerta, where she told her to be careful and talk to her daily during her vacation. In response, she complained that she wasn’t a kid anymore and just wanted to have a stress-free vacation week. With no phone signal in La Huerta and this so-called “vacation” getting more bizarre at every passing day, she regretted that attitude. How could she display such disrespect to her mother who just wanted to check up on her daughter and make sure she was fine? Traveling six months ahead of time didn’t help matters either, leaving her wondering how her mother would react when they finally got the chance to talk. If there was one thing Michelle was sure about, it’s that once she gets off the island and reunite with her mother, she would tell her the crazy adventure she had during vacation, the friends she made, and any potential discoveries that could help her future medical career. It will be a story worth telling.
“Hey! You guys are gonna wanna see this!” She suddenly heard shouting downstairs that snapped her out of her train of thoughts. Sighing, Michelle quickly changed back to her shirt and jeans, hung her ao dai back on the wardrobe, and went to the first floor to see what was up. One moment she was enjoying her break from reality, and the next it was taken from her.
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Trivia: Michelle's ao dai was based on the one found here.