#olnf rambles

[that-culdesac-kid]

Tamarack the "I'll stand up for what's important to you and be on your side no matter what"

[hanniedraw]

Sooo...

MARIANA INTRODUCTION TIME !! :33

I'll do a Lucas introduction as well but lesbian first

-*———*-

Let's starts with the basics shall we? ; At 10 years old Mariana Martinez moved to Puerto Rico all the way to Golden Grove. The move was....something. Travelling to somewhere to a completely different continent, with a different language, different culture— just everything is different.

At least she has her Mama with her, despite not having the best relationship with each other, deep down Mariana really cares for her mama. She just has hard time expressing it.

In step 1, Mariana is a cis girl from all the way to step 4 and doesn't really care what pronous you use "You guys are obsessed, She..He..They. I don't care." she says

-Originally when I made her ; They were a transgender boy but I scraped it (and made another one that I'll introduce later cough cough)

Mariana isn't afraid to tell the truth, she's very blunt and so horribly honest. ex : Random "Hey! What do you think of my new hat?"

Mariana "It sucks."

So..yeah.. And because of this ; back in Puerto Rico she did not have that many friends. Some parents complained to Opal about it even but guess what? Mariana still doesn't care and continues on being 'mean'.

Fun fact while we're at it : Mariana has a bit of an accent in step 1, but by the time passes they manage to cover up the accent but it'll often come by from certain words. Especially the r's and the v's (pronounces the v = b's)

And the famous bilingual problem ; forgetting words. Both native and english, when people at school found out she was from Puerto Rico (which made her a bit more popular, bragging) people would often come up to her and ask him if their Spanish homework was good enough or what that word meant. She'd either :

A. Be blunt.

B. Knows what it says and capable of translating it but, just, can't.

C. Knows the word in Spanish but forgot it in English.

(^ mostly happens in step 2)

The relationship with the leads!!!

Whenever you would ask Mariana about love, she'd peek at Tamarack Baumann secretly and look back at you, plainly responding by "I don't do that romance crap."

In step 1 : When Tamarack popped out of the leaves, catching Mariana off guard, noticing how pretty Tamarack is.

She was hostile about her at first because of how her heart keeps fluttering everytime she'd smile. They're immediately and naturally close, without Mariana noticing much. And would defend Tamarack at anytime, Tamarack said you look like a broccoli because of your hair? Well she's right and she's being honest about it. Suck it up. Nevertheless ; while those two pining idiots goes trought the hardships of Tamarack not really feeling like a regular and Mariana being, her and confused about her feelings, in the end they could call each other's girlfriend's <3

As for Qiu Lin, ehh...they're neighbors all right. Mariana was ticked off by Qiu's charming personality and Qiu's being a people pleaser.

But in step 2, while Mariana is confused with her feelings and other stuff. Not wanting to bother Tamarack or her mama and on the other hand Qiu's confused with their gender. They'd rely on each other instead and give each other their shoulders to rest their head on to either ramble or stay in complete, comfortable silence. Then Mariana would maybe give a chance to Qiu. Despite Qiu giving up on befriending her, she'd try and befriend them.

And voilà !! All the main stuff you need to know about Mariana. Thank you for giving me your time to talk about her, of course if you have any questions about her or hell, another mc that caught your eye you can ask them away. And I'd cry. Have a wonderful day/afternoon / night!!

[rainyculdesac]

lowkey this is how i feel sometimes about tam and qiu

people criticizing tamarack for ignoring social cues and generally being put off by her behavior, not realizing that they are interacting with a heavily neglected child who was thrown in an environment that she never had a chance to properly learn! you think she would want to stay in the town where every interaction just seems to remind her how out of place she is? she tries to play it off and be as independent as she can - but when that knowledge finally catches up to her, of course she would be reduced to her 14 year old meek self. in the same way, people praising qiu for being such a good kid and ultimately just adding to the pile of expectations thrust upon him. because 10 year olds are usually not that perceptive and accommodating and don't take the effort to spell out their name to everyone they encounter. their burned out 14 year old self is a natural result of everything they are in step 1. if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? it's easier to be in the town where there are kids to play with and problems to be solved.

[iwrite-sinsandtragedies]

Day 1 — Soulmates ₊˚✧ ﾟ

Submission for @goldengroovy's @olnfweek2024

MC: Micha

Long ass ramble under the cut 😂

Okayokayokay SO-

I love soulmate au's. I cannot tell you how many fics I've read or how many prompts I've played with or media I've consumed or how many bullshit ideas I've come up with in my own head for them, I CANNOT.

It's just - hhhhhhhhhhhh- Soulmate au's and Time Travel au's are just the shit that gets me out of bed some days 😩💖my world weary soul drinks that shit like medicine, okay?

That all being said, it's probably a little ambiguous which au I picked to some, so let me explain: There are two au's I'm mashing up here really, both are from fics I've read back in the day. One being a Clack fic and the other a Thilbo one 🤷‍♂️kind of calling myself out here but w/e, they were good fics.

The Thilbo one is easier to explain - the concept is "Heartsong" which is, literally what it says on the tin. You find out who your soulmate is the first time you hear them sing (and no, that does not mean everyone is just a naturally good singer - they can be ass at music but, the point is, when you hear them their song is the perfect song for you and your heart knows that). There's a lot of little nuances to this one - things like you hearing your heartsong when you dream so you always know the moment you find them. Also people who have quiet dreams because their heartsong died, sometimes before ever even meeting them. etc etc. The heartsong also seems to expand, in some respect, to instruments (as Thorin plays his harp one night and Bilbo starts to hum without thinking about it because it sounds wonderful to him and that's how Thorin finds out).

Overall, it's a very soft and sweet concept to me and as someone who has a deep love of music, it's also one of my very favourites.

The Clack one is a little less easy to explain? I think. Maybe because it's nuances are so round about but I'll do my best. The concept for this one is "I Only See Colour When I'm With You" - anyone who knows how Clack fics usually go knows where this is probably headed 😂 and I am sorry to have hurt you but, overall, the idea is: You live in a noir-esqu world where everything is black and white. This only changes when you find your soulmate, of course, who brings the world into full saturation and lets you see colour for - possibly - the first time in your life (I say possibly because I genuinely can't remember if you start out colourblind or if it's an age cap thing).

Unfortunately, for as much as I adore this concept, it's been a long damn time since I read the fic and I don't even know if it still exists somewhere. So I can't actually recall if it was a 'you have to touch them' or 'you have to hear them' thing but the fic takes place with Zack on the cliff right before Midgar where he holds Cloud and looks at the sky - so I'm willing to bet it's a touch thing.

I also really loved this fic because it was the first one I'd read that brought in the concept of multiple soulmates to me - As Cloud later sits with Aerith and sees the colour he couldn't see with Zack, meanwhile Aerith only sees black and white, because she was only able to see colour with Zack (who was never able to see colour with her, because he needed Cloud for that).

Essentially, they all needed each other to see the world in colour. As a polyam person who didn't quite realise I was poly back then, it was a very comforting (and now dearly cherished) fic.

Anyways! Now that you have the background on the two concepts, you can kind of get what I'm going for with this piece.

Tamarack, Micha and Qiu are all soulmates in a fuzzy, desaturated world (I'm sorry, I'm not cruel enough to but them in complete greyscale LOL) and the way you find your soulmate is by hearing them sing and, when they do, your world is suddenly vivid and bright and beautiful. Suddenly, you can see things as they were meant to be seen and it's a permanent change (unlike the Clack fic) but things are always clearest and brightest when your soulmate speaks or sings 💖

I get a real kick out of the idea that Micha's known for fucking months that Tamarack is his soulmate (if not years) because he's always listening to her play but never says jack shit about it because he's emotionally constipated that way 😂Though genuinely, it's probably because he just doesn't think he's her soulmate and he's a bit against finding out he's right honestly.

Joke is on him, he's Qiu's and Tamaracks soulmate! And he couldn't have picked a better moment to grow a pair an take the risk 🥰

[rivvyribbons]

have some of the step 4 qiu design predictions i doodled!! yapping down below

okay okay so!! i think in terms of fashion, qiu would stay somewhat similar maybe? experimenting with different styles here and there but like.. i think i can only pry away that puffer jacket from their cold dead hands

their fashion is pretty consistent over all, actually!! dark jeans + sweater (in step 2 + step three, its a white sweater with a pattern thrown on) and that bomber jacket once more

i think the factor of their appearance that they experiment with the most is with their accessories and hair!!

their hair is very, very important to them. in all steps, it's never goes above their jaw. and in step 3, it even goes somewhat down to their stomach!! most of their hairstyles however are very low effort, something you can do quickly (high pony, low pony, half up half down)

i imagine in step 4, they'd try to change it up with something that takes a little more time. maybe pins, claw clips (inspired by this). i think it wouldn't be too far to say that maybe they'd dye it a lighter color, or add some highlights!!

honestly, their accessories seem pretty consistent too. fingerless gloves, chokers / necklaces, earrings! maybe they would borrow some of their mom's jewelries (she's seen wearing rings and earrings!!) her accessories are gold, which is nice because its their favourite, but i can see them leaning towards silver jewelry as time goes on!!

i can also imagine that they would try out riding a motorbike instead of their usual bike (inspired by this). black or grey helmet with accents of gold!! it just makes sense to me -- its a way for them to clear their mind without having to use their phone and its something they can do alone!

although gold is their favourite color, i thought it'd make more sense to add it little by little instead of putting it everywhere. less is more yadda yadda

i wanted to do tammy in the same post but honestly she is not as predictable as qiu </3 but i love her and i will struggle for her

[hawtastic]

Just replayed Our Life NF for the gazillionth time and words cannot describe my feelings whenever I replay that demo— It's not even finished and I'm already sitting behind my laptop squealing and biting my lip as if the most revelling thing just happened to me.

Truly a life-changing VN, I can't believe I'm allowed to lay my eyes upon such a masterpiece; just step1 alone captures the essence of childhood so well and I'm so happy I'm able to explore more mature themes with my mc aswell. Truly happy to be alive during the same time as this piece of media.

I need to draw my mc.

[citrusbuds]

something i'll never recover from when playing OLNF is just how america the school looks. like its comical; the checkered boards and the lights, it feels so TV set. so disney channel. like i swear a character from TAWOG is gonna appear on my screen.

especially considering how most schools in my country are so open for more air circulation. will never get over it. do schools actually look like this ??? i will never know....

[dreamtydraw]

To the bitch ass anon who sent me a « i like your art but why do you always try to start fandom drama » regarding me saying that sexualizing characters who are minors is Bad, turn off that thing and I’ll answer your ask publicly.

I’m at point where i’ll allow myself to swear on main but what the fuck is wrong with some of you ? I am not talking about people who can learn from their error or people who genuinely didn’t see the harm and are willing to understand I am talking about the morrons who think that pointing out an issue in a fandom means I’m insulting it. So i will repeat and keep repeating it again. Adults know better than sexualizing characters who are minors in a fandom full of minors. I saw blogs of olnf fans stating they were 14. Some players are the exact same age of the character you’re sexualizing and you’re exposing them to that because on top of being a weird person you don’t tag your shit properly.

I will call out the weird people making sexist comments, transphobes content and pedo artwork because I’m an adult who knows better and I want a better fandom space for young players who deserve to enjoy a wholesome queer game without being met with creeps.

If me wanting to do that makes you uneasy then start to heavily reflect on yourself.

Yes I’ll read step 3 qiu x mc smutt if the trope seems interesting you know what ? Cause smutt isn’t the problem, people being weird as shit about minors and not being decent people are the problems that why. Writte all the smutt you want to kinktober as long as it’s with adults character and well tagged to not appear on main tags between two fanarts of 10 years old tamarack playing with crayons.

[softplushiee]

aauuuuhh qiu’s reaction to the mc using ms and mr <333

he’s talking like there’s two lily seconds haha

[otomes-and-tears]

help Qiu and Tam are both such flirts but like in such different ways send help my heart exploded 😭

YES I love writing both because of it! They're both flirts in different ways and their behaviours change sooo much from step to step but you can still see echoes of their step 1 selves through it all!

[that-culdesac-kid]

So we talked about how Tamarack's color palette matches with her favorite colors before. And since then, I've been wondering if Qiu has similar explanation behind their color palette as Tamarack does with hers.

But unlike Tamarack, Qiu's favorite color is only gold, and they don't even have it in their color palette. I guess their sweater can kinda fall on the gold spectrum, but this still doesn't explain the green jacket, the red scarf, or the other colors in their outfit.

So... does this stop me from trying to find some secret explanation behind those colors?

*Puts on tin foil hat*

Nope! Quite the opposite actually, I'm taking this as a personal challenge.

Let's start with the green jacket. It's easy to miss this line, but if MC says their favorite color is green, Qiu will mention that they like green too—the darker kinds, like how their jacket is.

Earlier, we considered their sweater looking pretty close to gold, but it is stated in the game that their sweater is orange, which is the color that both Qiu and Ren like.

(I personally disagree and think Qiu's sweater is brown, but maybe it's just me )

And following that pattern, I think we can also assume that the red in Qiu's scarf and sneakers comes from the color that Ren likes too.

But if their close friends' favorite colors is the pattern here, then what about Baxter?

Well, Baxter's favorite colors are black and white.

And guess what the colors of Qiu's bike (and helmet) are?

Okay. Yeah. I know I'm going overboard with the color analyzing. This is the kind of stuff your brain came up with on 3 am when you thought you had a big epiphany but then realized how silly it sounds after you write it down.

But intentional or not, I still think it's interesting that Tamarack's palette is mostly formed of her favorite colors, while Qiu's palette has their friends' favorites but lacks the one color that they like the most.

(Interestingly, though... step 2 is the time where they actually have gold in their color palette, but the colors they originally had in step 1 seem to disappear in that stage)

[hanniedraw]

EVERYONE WELCOME...!!

LUCIA FLOQUET!!!!!!

I've been brainstorming for two days on how to word my thoughts out, specifically for step 2.......

At 10 years old Lucia Floquet moved to Golden all the way from France, she was skeptical with the whole moving out from the continent. But how much worse could it be? She barely bat an eye back in France, not having much friends, when people come up to her she ignores them. But she'll definitely miss the pastries, especially the mille-feuille. Those are her favorites. (Mille-feuille are French pastries that has three layers of puff pastry and two layers of pastry cream. And on top icing sugar or fondant. You can add jam or fruits.)

Lucia is a cis girl — but that's only in step 1. With a few doubts here in there still back in step 1.

If Lucia tolerates you enough, she can be a playful and teasing — if you're a girl. Lucia is the complete opposite. Hell, won't knowledge you once and if she did she'll just be plain with you. Even if you knew her since diapers she'll act as if you two are just neighbors, that's all you'll get.

THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LEADS!!!!!

Whenever you would ask Lucia about love, she'll look at you weird.

When Tamarack Baumann popped out of the leaves, Lucia was caught off guard was an understatement, but she tought Tamarack was so pretty, and so she blurted it out and quickly got embarrassed right after, but Tamarack just compliment her back plus her bow. Which Lucia complimented back with her hair tie.

They bonded very easily and attached to the hip! It was easier since they we're both girls, Lucia tought.

When she saw Qiu Lin up at his "hideout", she liked his hoodie, but quickly got annoyed by his personality and ignored him half the time. But as time passes she slowly started to tolerate him.

(

When I was making her outfit I found this one rlly pretty and it suited them)

Gender dysphoria warning!! Read at ur own risk.

Lu personality did a whole 180° when they stepped into teenage hood.

Lu is no more a polite person, barely talks and is biting in general.

Not comfortable being called a "miss" anymore and people calling them their old name just icks her, deciding to shorten it sound it doesn't sound too 'feminine' but that's not their government name, just a nickname. And in this step they go by she/they, but feels less uncomfortable with 'they'.

In their room, when they we're twelve they used to have a mirror in the corner but now it's covered, not feeling comfortable with their look and how their body looked, more specifically their chest and would only wear baggy clothes with two baggy sweater under their hoddie to cover it up.

Their hair was annoying too, it grown over the years and people would come up and braid it for fun and compliment it. Lu we're grateful and happy for the compliments but they found it annoying and triggering when their strand of hair would rest on the back of their neck, feeling like carrying weight on their back which is why they put it up in a bun or ponytail most of the time.

Once they were home alone they really could take it anymore and still in their mind, they decided to cut their hair and that felt like the weight was finally off their shoulder and they could finally breath in peace. And asked their mom if they could them dye their hair.

(their hair went trought it all)

They're still best friends with Tee of course, going on walks in the forest and Lu talking about their gender, talking about they don't feel comfortable with their own skin and not feeling like someone.

And with Qiu? Their relationship grew between their years, knowing Autumn can count on them and they can do in return.

(Also why do people think they're dating or or something??)

BUT THE RAIN DOESN'T FALL FOREVER BABY!!!!!!

Lucas can proudly call themselves a man with he/him pronous but won't mind they/them. After tough battles of the storm the clouds dissipate from the side and the sun shine. He finally feels comfortable with his own skin.

Relationship with Tee? Yeah uhm, they're siblings. Can't tell anyone or them otherwise.

And Qiu? Uhmm....

Yeah so, Lucas knows what he's feeling for Qiu, and what he felt when he still battling. He actually likes them. Like, a lot..a lot, lot. But is scared to commit, scared to destroy the friendship in between of them. Everyone has to suffer and often encourage the other to just give hints and confess but Lucas rather shit himself than 'ruin' what's good between them.

WHOOOOOHOOOO there he is!! Btw he's the mc that I was talking about when I introduced Mariana :3 Thank you for taking your time to read this and have a great day/afternoon/night!!

[onelastskip]

yoooo what up party people!!! I finished my essay and it's only 3am so it's a little ms paint chi aubade from my drafts, ain't she beautiful?

kinda just a little status update post coz I'm addicted to this app, but I got two more essays due soon— HOWEVER I WILL BE POSTING PERCY BIRTHDAY ART!!! (hopefully,,,)

[iwrite-sinsandtragedies]

OC x Canon Week 2025 Day 1 — Kiss in the Snow + (Monochromatic / "Promise Me")

Here's our first piece for @theocxcanonweek!

Game: Our Life: Now and Forever Characters: MC (Michael) x Baxter Ward

So, context: Micha doesn't do well in the snow, he goes hypothermic pretty dang quickly and prolonged exposure will lead to hospitalization. So, when Michael disappears mid winter and no one can find him? Well, then search parties are clearly in order.

Of course, Baxter finds him, since he had the best guess as to where Michael likely ran off to. Mainly because it was his damn fault Micha ran off in the first place.

Now, added headcanon context: Anyone familiar with this blog knows I simply love and adore Baxter, and so there was no damn way I could play another game with him in it without putting some kind of focus on him honestly 😂 So, despite not actually knowing anything about the later steps yet (since they're still in development) I have already built and rebuilt the relationship these two would likely have over and over and over again in my head already.

Honestly, I jump back and forth between the relationship being platonic or romantic - since Ai eventually ends up with Baxter and Michael has Qiu and Tama in the rings. I really do love them having an ambiguously close connection to one another though and, of course, I love the added drama and tensions it adds to their inevitable future. Especially with Micha's abandonment issues and Baxter's flighty nature.

They love each other, but they never really pick out exactly what kind of love that is. Eventually, they don't get a chance to, but for this moment right here? It's what drives them both from and towards one another - again and again and again.

A/N: If you want to see the full concept of Micha's face in panel 4, the link is right here!

[rivvyribbons]

while it feels like [step 2] tamarack and qiu want to stay out of each others way as much as possible, they both know that when it matters the most, they'll show up.

maybe its qiu at the farthest row watching tamarack play her cello during recitals. maybe its tamarack visiting qius next ballet performance. qiu glaring at some students who were tamarack a hard time. tamarack silently shielding qiu with her umbrella when they forgot to bring their jacket.

they are forever intertwined into each others life. not because they're neighbors, but because they're friends.

[hawtastic]

I'm so happy that my olnf mc can be almost entirely nonverbal. The fact we get options to have our MC spell out things with their fingers, write stuff down, and mime things out—it makes me so happy! It makes me feel so represented as an autistic person who hates talking, which I can, in turn, project onto my mc by having her be nonverbal.

On another note in that regard, I'm also glad that the other characters comment on it and do seem to struggle with it at times (in my opinion) but the realism of that frustration makes it so much more immersive. I love that it shows my mc can still make meaningful relationships despite not talking and being a messy crybaby tangled in her personal anxiety and issues.