Face Reveal

 

@EliottSm00che 20 minutes ago
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*foams at the mouth*

Also is it me or is your skin different in the last frame with everyone’s silhouettes? Are we getting a new skin for this series?
Also also I was wondering if you planned on doing livestreams again? I haven’t seen one in a month!

▴ 4 replies
@WharfingOut76 18 minutes ago
lol

@sockie? 10 minutes ago
Screw mentioned taking more time for himself in his last news video
do not expect a come back that soon

@sonicScrew 8 minutes ago
For the skin, I shan’t reveal my secrets!!
As for the livestream, I have planned doing one tonight to wrap up some projects on the modded series.

@EliottSm00che 3 minutes ago
oooh nooo i forgot it’s nearly the end of M&S’s :((((( Excited for the return of streams tho!

 

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It had taken me a few days, but now I was ready. I knew how to proceed going into this new season. I needed some kind of safety, and for that I had to establish a strategy, some boundaries, some ground rules.

I thanked the cashier, then lifted my bags of groceries with a breathy grunt, shaking my head. Coming out as a girl to anyone — save the GayvenCraft group chat, because they knew, and maybe 40, because he seemed safe — would be an ill-advised idea. The topic should remain private, not only because I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about it publicly, but also because CovenCraft had proven to be a place where it could go very south very quickly. And to top it all off, I should at least wait before I’m somewhat established on the server before doing anything reckless. I had to secure my position. So it was out of the question, for the time being.

I checked my left, then my right, before crossing the street, looking up at the covered sky.

The same applied to my bond with Mandel, of course, and keeping that secret required me to be a bit less clingy around him and open up to the other members, so as to help dodging all the allegations in our comments and the ire of some of our colleagues. Fortunately, that part of the plan didn’t seem as scary as it once had been a month ago. Now, I had friends I could rely on, like Glob or Skel, and acquaintances I knew it would be safe to work with, like 40, Sam, and Alex — I had bonded with those two through the week, mainly exchanging cursed Minecraft memes, sharing shows, music, and stories, or discussing LGBT subjects. They’d asked a lot of questions about my experiences as a girl, because ‘they needed more input from a girly girl’ to help them build their decoy girlfriends, Amy and Alessia. Skelegal was apparently ‘no use’ when it came to that subject, as she'd admitted herself.

All of those people constituted a network of YouTubers and streamers with whom I could safely shoot future videos, and that was all I could wish for.

So those were my rules: no coming out, and strictly sticking to the people I knew best. Play it safe. Then just… continue making videos. Keep up the good work.

Still mindlessly staring at clouds, I made my way to the old, broken car that was blocking the entry to the quiet alley that led back home. It had been left rotting there for many months now. Though surprisingly, when I looked down to check its precise position, the car wasn’t there anymore. I chuckled. In the end, someone had taken care of it.

Thus I cut through the now-empty driveway, probably gaining a tenth of a second on my estimated time of arrival, then took my phone out and stared intensely at the clock. I had to pause and rest on one side of the alley, one foot up against the brick, when finally the 15:59 turned into 16:00.

The CovenCraft trailer was out.

Since the start of the week, I had spent a few days working with 40 and Skel on some shots for the trailer. And given that I was kind of renowned as a Minecraft cinematography expert, it made sense to ask me for a bit of help, which I joyfully provided.

It started with a rapid montage of some beautiful Minecraft terrain that had been scouted by Gidon_san, one of the more quiet members of the server and an expert at finding the game's best landscapes. The selection didn’t reflect the actual place we would settle in since we hadn’t yet chosen the seed. It was followed by one shot for every two members of the server, presenting the cast for this season. Some of us were staged descending a steep mountain and chased by goats; others fighting a bunch of zombies at night, with one of them, 40bees, being exploded by a creeper; and others still were shown building a starter automatic wheat farm and making a loaf of bread out of the first harvest. We had put every member in a situation that best reflected their playstyle, giving an introductory look at each of their personalities.

For the start of the season, we had also decided to pair every member with another — ‘ideally with someone you haven’t worked with yet,’ RockDivine had insisted. But don’t tell him, I’d actually decided to spend that phase with Skel, and Mandel with Glob, since no one knew we were already acquainted.

Sticking to people we knew best.

Oh gosh, that’s a lot of viewers, I thought, laying my eyes on the video premiere on my phone. And very quickly, a gleeful smile formed on my lips as people started virtually screaming their excitement in the chat.

TheBigMoonFae.h14j oooh youtube premiere
TheBigMoonFae.h14j omfg just saw the title
Francis Gent Hello!
TheBigMoonFae.h14j giddy af
powerza insane
plutocracyftw0 it
CraftCraftees Hello everyone!
plutocracyftw0 Knew igt
deatpenalty9283 OIHLZJEGKFUWUBIGZELFBEFHUALERTEAMALIBUUYOEAGRGA
Denim78 🎉🎉🎉
HubbleTea2080 Yoooo
pillowman cool
Oakachu1 🎉
Jane 🎉
TheBigMoonFae.h14j 🎉🎉
powerza 🚶🏻🪈☮️🌅🪅🥴
TheBigMoonFae.h14j what
TheBigMoonFae.h14j why powerza, why..
plutocracyftw0 knez it
Denim78 Tw Glob
Elliot omfg
deatpenalty9283 IS THIS REAL‽
Denim78 Why him again
sockie? niiiiiiice
TheBigMoonFae.h14j the music is cool 😌
deatpenalty9283 OMG CHECK THE OTHER CHANNELS ITS REAL FAM
deatpenalty9283 Truly, we are blessed.
HubbleTea2080 Teams?
Jack HonkHonk Oh interesting !
HubbleTea2080 So their doing teams, that’s neat
Denim78 they’re*
plutocracyftw0 Knew it
Sarah B Screw and Skelegal?
Denim78 Who’s Skelegal?
TheBigMoonFae.h14j oh look at who made the musicc

I closed the live chat section, rested my phone on my chest, and bopped my head left and right. Most of my lingering fears about the quality of the trailer, the necessity of the announcement, and the decisions we had taken for the season were washed away, leaving room for a brief moment of bliss. I would never really get bored of the rush of publishing a video.

Within two minutes, the trailer was properly published on every member’s channel, and comments poured in by batches of dozens. I stood up and continued my way towards my neighbourhood, checking every now and again what people were saying. 

Some of them were gushing about the music and had rightfully noted that Mandel had been the one composing it. I couldn’t help but feel a little proud of him. There were comments about the pairings, lamenting our separation, but curious nonetheless as to what Skel and I would offer. I had to tweet to reassure people that, no, ‘the pairings won’t mean much in the long run. It’s just for the first few episodes.’ But those reactions were a minority in the sea of excitement at the reveal that, yes, I was now a member of CovenCraft.

As I approached our building, I thought about him. I bit my lip and tried to play with a now-absent strand of hair on my shoulder. I reached higher to find a suitable curl and started rolling it around a finger. He was just there, on the second floor, but I hadn’t seen him in days now. I had even watched the sequel show without him (and it wasn’t as gay as expected, unfortunately).

A few years ago, only a couple of months after meeting Mandel, I remembered sitting in my room, struggling to understand how to use nested sequences on my editing software, and being interrupted by an email notification — I still had those on at the time. It had been an invitation to a small YouTuber Minecraft server. I think its name was something like Ruby, Sapphire, or some other shiny rock. They had done several seasons, each with a different gem name. It was composed of a few small creators, no one with more than a few hundred subscribers.

In the end, I didn’t accept the invitation. The excuses had continued to creep out of my mouth each time I’d been prompted about it: “I’m not good enough” (classic), “I’m not a good match for the server’s lineup”, “I don’t have the time”, “I think there are creators who are more deserving…”

I reached the first floor, his floor, and I paused. There was a rare occurrence of noises coming from people going up the stairs a few floors above, but that wasn’t really that much of a stress for me anymore. What caught my eye was just his door and who might be behind it. The curtains were closed. There was no sign of life.

Mandel had joined that server, I remembered; he’d received and swiftly accepted his invitation a few weeks after me. He’d shot a whole season on that server, which had been quite enjoyable. I could see they were all having a lot of fun. I recalled watching his videos in my free time and feeling a tinge of envy. But now that I finally had the opportunity to join such a server, to give it a go, to try and play with people, it wasn’t really with him. He wasn’t by my side.

I continued to my flat, already searching for my keys, then I frowned; my attention was elsewhere. What was he thinking? Why had he been so absent this week? What was it that had troubled him like that?

Give it time, I repeated to myself, it’s not the end. 

It was maybe sort of a break? Was that how breaks worked in a relationship? Was it different when the relationship was gay? Were we a straight couple now? Was I a straight girl?

“Erm, I doubt so…” I snickered sapphically and turned the key to unlock my door. And our relationship was nothing I could resolve now. 

I sighed, then made the mistake of looking up.

To understand what went wrong, it’s necessary to explain the following: when I edited videos, I'd always tried to find new ways to create visual storytelling. I had a method. I would learn one technique at a time. Each video, each timelapse, each segment, would be focused on one effect, and I would iterate upon it until it felt like I had a good grasp — so as to not overwhelm myself and bloat the video with hundreds of unrelated ideas. I’d learn my craft, one thing at a time. 

But as soon as I’d lifted my head to open the door while taking the keys back, I caught a glimpse of my reflection, and all of that learning philosophy of mine fizzled right out of my mind, and I froze.

I clenched my fist, my keys imprinting themselves on my palm.

The first thing I noticed was that I dressed like a guy, but I had no idea what that actually meant or how to fix it. The sweater rested so uncomfortably on my body, springing weird lumps and twists at my midriff. My jeans hung so stiff and square on my hips; I felt like I had Steve legs. There were still so many codes, gestures, and rules to learn. A nasty part of me whispered in my snail that I would never look like myself. Even worse: that this guy was myself, and no amount of effort or goodwill would ever change that.

With calculated breaths, I steadied myself and delicately loosened my grip. Without looking away from my reflection, I slowly deposited my groceries on the ground, took a step to the right, came back to my original position, then took a step to the left and rotated my body slightly on itself, testing different perspectives, until finally something fell into place.

The second thing I noticed — and thankfully, this one was more comforting — was that hair can actually do wonders for the overall perception and shape of a person. Not that tall, mid-length black hair, brown eyes, absent sense of style, and wow, those eyebrows are kind of a catch! I feared I had lost her, but there she was. 

I knew how to do my hair in a way that pleased me; I was able to do that now. That was progress. Even though there was a lot to learn, I had time, and I had a method. Just like my editing skills, I could work on one area of my life at a time and iterate upon it until it felt like I got a good grasp on it before treading new ground.

My mood brightened as I released the tension in my chest with a giggle and picked up my bag. I could take care of myself, one facet at a time.

In a few minutes, I had sorted all of the items I got from that grocery trip — most notably, flour, milk, sugar, and eggs; all the essentials to bake. I would shop for more specific ingredients as soon as I knew which recipe I’d end up going with.

The door clicked as the key locked it again, and I pivoted towards the stairwell. My ass knew better than to stare at a statistics screen all evening, it would rather prefer a bit more fresh air. And I’d been meaning to go back to the rooftop. It was a quiet place, and I was curious as to how the scenery would look in the daytime. Luck was on my side, as the overcast weather and the leftovers of that morning’s fog meant I could go up to the secret hiding spot discreetly, without the fear of being caught by the landlord. There, I would be sure to be left alone for a good whil—

“I’ll join you in a minute. Go on without me!” I heard Zee’s cheery voice call from afar.

Then, as I stepped on her floor, I heard hurried steps, and someone nearly tripped and fell onto me. Without thinking twice, I quickly grabbed their arms to stop them — and me, by the same token — from ragdolling down the stairs. "There, I caught you," I said with a nervous laugh. When we both found purchase on the ground again, our feet stable and our clothes straightened, I looked up at... her. She was wearing a black and red knee-length flannel skirt and a cream sweater, and she wasn’t Zee at all. As my eyes fell on her face, warmth rose in my cheeks. She had long, curly black hair, and she wore basic make-up with lots of blush — or was it the cold? — and worst of all, she was adorably cute.

Crap. I averted my gaze, putting a hand on my mouth to hide my reaction. First Zee, and now this random girl; I kept being attracted to other people. I had a boyfriend, for fuck’s sake, I should keep it together.

Her sweet scent of raspberry tickled my nose, and an unfinished thought finally clicked at last. I knew what I could offer Mandel to make him feel better: I could bake him some waffles, but not any cheap waffles! Luxurious, high-quality ones, with syrup and fruits, and an ungodly amount of sugar! Something to remind him of our first meeting. I couldn’t see a way for him to dislik—

With a croaky cough, she snapped me back to reality. We were still blocking each other’s way. With unrest growing in my legs, I made a poor attempt to adopt a more feminine voice, still dodging her eyes. "I'm— Um, I'm going up." And I lifted my index upward, emphasising my point.

She shuffled to the side without saying a word. She was probably still under the shock of the collision.

As cheerfully as I could manage under the embarrassment, I thanked her. But I caught myself before continuing my ascent. She was one of Zee’s friends, right? She was cool and safe and nice and pretty. She had to be! It was the perfect opportunity to put into practice the voice training tips I’d recently learned. Plus, I still had a really important question for which I craved an answer. Okay, new year, new you. You can do this, relax. Just try not to be too awkward! I silently raised my larynx, then spoke again. “Um, sorry if this is weird, but can I ask you for a bit of advice real quick?”

At first, she only hummed, tilting her head, which was so preciou— I stared intensely at a nearby rack of dead plants in front of Zee’s door. Winter had been rough for them, the poor little things. Then, in the tiniest voice I’ve ever heard, she whispered, “Okay.”

Great, I was making her uncomfortable. Oh, new year, shut the fuck up, me.

I closed my eyes briefly. Alright, get a grip. How would I get through this situation? What would a normal person do? What would Zee do? I heard her voice of wisdom ringing through my head: “You can do this, Screw, you have more balls than the Atomium!” She flashed me an imaginary thumbs-up, then added, “For now, at least…”

Yes! You’re right, inner Zee. Now that I was engaged in a conversation, I had to finish it.

“Well,” I managed, “I’m having a bit of a, erm, let’s say ‘downtime’ with my boyfriend. He feels… a bit distant, you know?” I scratched the back of my head. “Do— Do you think homemade waffles with, like, syrup and all that jazz… Do you think it’s okay to bake that for him at a time like this? As a gift. To cheer him up?”

“A g— gift!?” she exclaimed, her voice faltering. She seemed flustered at the thought and hid her face behind her hands.

A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead. Crap, that was the most awkward thing I’d ever said.

Before finally answering, she did some clicks with her mouth — perhaps she had some kind of speech impairment? “I—” she started, then furrowed her brow, paused, and breathed. She glanced to the side for a moment, with a fake smile going all across her face. I could almost perceive the outlines of a Minecraft polar bear playing cymbals through her forehead. In other words, she seemed like she was frozen in place by fear. 

Fuck. I kept looking at her.

“Yeah, I think it’s a wonderful idea!” she said. I could catch her nodding in my peripheral vision.

Still a bit frazzled by my suddenly being bold enough to ask this of a total stranger, I stole a last, hesitant look at her. She had put her hand on her mouth, like she had just blurted something deeply embarrassing. “Thank you!” I said as warmly as I could. “And sorry. For the weird question. Um. Okay. Um. Thanks again. And… And have a good day!”

Our gazes met, and my eyes widened by a small amount. She shook her head and ran downstairs, nearly tripping on the last step and ending up flailing her arms around like a bird trying to take off, somehow.

“Screw? Is that you?”

I snapped around towards the voice. It was Zee. She was standing in the middle of the balcony, her face pale. “Oh, hi!” I said, giving her a warm smile and a curt wave of the hand.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just taking a breather!” I said, closing the gap between us.

“Right…”

“I wanted to try and go to the roof again, but I ran into your friend, and we talked a bit,” I explained, growing unsteady. Was something wrong? Wasn’t the stair girl her friend? Maybe she was a sworn enemy of hers, a creditor to whom she owed big money, prying for any bit of information that could make her fall, or a secret lover.

She frowned.

“N— Nothing weird,” I continued, lifting my hands defensively. “I promise. Though she felt familiar, now that I think about it.” One of my fingers found its way to my chin.

“You… know her?”

“No, not really. It’s more like…” I trailed off, then hummed while scouring the mental list of all the people I knew in order to catch who she was reminding me of. My mind finally stopped on Mandel. I knew she couldn’t be him because he’d said he wasn’t trans multiple times when we were at the Gayette, and I wanted to respect that, but maybe…

Did Mandel…

“Ah, I know!” I snapped my fingers. “Wouldn’t she happen to be, like, Mandel’s sister?”