Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Really?” Crow raised a brow when Penelope said her first arrow had gone into the ground. “I wish I could have seen that.” Despite his teasing, the story she told did make him feel better about his first try with the bow. He hoped it was a good sign that he had been able to shoot the bow already, even landing the shot on a tree, though it had been the wrong one. Maybe, if he put enough practice into it, he would be able to take down some guards at the palace with it. The thought made his heart beat slightly quicker. It was exciting to think that he would have his own weapon for the first time in his life—a weapon that he could actually use to fight instead of simply to frighten an enemy. It made him feel powerful.

He listened to Penelope’s critiques of his posture and nodded, “I’ll give it a few more tries.” He drew another arrow from the quiver and loaded it into the bow. Taking her advice, he focused on keeping his left index finger steady as he cocked the string back and tilted his head slightly so his chin was closer to his shoulder.

Almost as soon as he had drawn the bowstring back to his mouth, he let go, sending the arrow flying. It sailed to the left of the tree this time, as he had overcorrected from his last shot.

He clicked his tongue and drew one more arrow, ready to repeat the process once again. However, as he drew the string back this time, the muscles in his arm burned in protest. He ignored the pain and tried to force the bowstring to its full extension, but didn’t quite make it. As he loosed the arrow, it fell quickly and struck the base of the tree trunk, not even close to the ‘X’.

“Damn,” Crow cursed, shaking out his sore arm. “This thing is heavy.” He winced at a sharp pain in his hand and looked down to see a thin line of red soaking through the bandages. The exertion of pulling back the string had been too much for his injured palm. Feeling slightly sick at the sight, he turned to Penelope instead, “I think I reopened my cut.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I can definitely see William talking to Penelope about it privately
He'd probably be like "What do you think you're doing? You're better than this!"

Also, I probably won't post again tonight, but I have nothing going on tomorrow, so I'll be able to get more up then

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Anchor point, huh?” Crow echoed thoughtfully. He drew an arrow from the quiver on his back and loaded it into the bow as Penelope had taught him, balancing it on his left index finger so it wouldn’t fall. Even that was more difficult than he had been expecting. With nothing holding the arrow up except for his own hands, he had to focus hard on keeping them steady.

Once the arrow seemed stable, he pulled back on the string to test how it felt. The force it took to draw the bow was surprising to him as well. He remembered Penelope saying that the weapon weighed a lot, but he didn’t realize just how heavy it would be. After just a short amount of time, his arm began to strain against the tension, so he slowly released the string back to its original position without loosing the arrow.

Eye, nose, mouth, or chin, he thought for a moment, trying to decide what his anchor point would be. However, trying to choose one without practicing it first didn’t sit well with him. He preferred to let his instinct drive him, as he did with many other things. He looked at the bow in his hands and then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and drawing the string one more time. He cocked it back as far as he could manage and then opened his eyes again to see that he had reflexively drawn the bowstring to his mouth.

“Looks like that’s it,” he grinned at Penelope, letting the string return to its straight position once more.

“Alright, let’s see how your first shot goes,” she said challengingly.

“You mean: Let’s see if Collin makes a complete ass of himself,” he snorted, smirking at her teasingly. “I saw that look in your eye. You don’t think I’m going to do well, do you?” He turned back to face the tree she had marked. “I’ll try to exceed your expectations.”

His expression turned serious as he focused on the carved ‘X’. Steadying his breathing, he repeated the instructions Penelope had given him one more time. He positioned the arrow against his left index finger and drew the bowstring back to the corner of his mouth, holding it there for a brief moment before he let go with his right hand.

The string slapped against the bracer on his arm as the arrow flew from the bow. It sailed towards the tree… and then shot past on the right, striking another tree trunk deeper in the forest.

Crow looked back at Penelope, shrugging sheepishly, “At least I hit something. That counts, right?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I just got home. We played Super Fight for hourssss xD
It's my new favorite game lol

That all sounds great to me!

Also, I was wondering if we should have William know about Crow and Penelope's relationship when he's rescued or if they'll keep it a secret from him? I could go either way, but I kind of like the idea of them trying to hide it from him at first, but he finds out somehow on their way back to Brerra

I'll get started on my post!

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Okay! I'm hanging out with friends all day, so I won't be on again until late tonight too

I'm glad it helped!
We don't have to stick to real courting 100% since this isn't a real world, but I like to use it as a baseline :)

I can't wait to see him.
Crow is definitely going to hate him for a while (as long as Galvin is with Penelope, at least), so their interactions will probably be interesting lol

We can figure out how to include the gods when we get closer to it :)
I was also thinking about giving Crow an experience with Aeklora when he steals the staff, although I'm not sure what that will look like yet

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow stood back to give Penelope space as she readied herself to demonstrate how to use the bow. His eyes swept over her body analytically, and he took note of the way she positioned herself before shooting. Having never been so close to an archer before—they had always shot at him from a distance—he found the intricacy of it all fascinating. She looked graceful, yet powerful with the light weapon in her hands.

He watched as she loosed the arrow, striking the tree just above the ‘X’ she had carved into it. For someone whose weapon of choice was a blade, he found the accuracy of her shot impressive. He wondered how long she had practiced with a bow in the past to still be that good with the weapon, and if he would be able to reach her skill level before they reached the castle.

Maybe I could get even better, he felt a pang of envy as his competitive nature reared its head. Her talents lie with the sword, but this will be the only weapon I’ll learn how to use. I can put all of my attention into it. He let the feeling persist, deciding to use it as motivation to try hard at mastering the bow.

He held out his left arm as Penelope moved to tie the makeshift bracer to him, taking back the bow from her after that was done. She proceeded to guide him through a series of steps to prepare to use the weapon. He followed her instructions, aligning his body sideways and planting his feet about shoulder-width apart for stability. It was a strange position for one who had learned to be agile, never standing still in the heat of a fight. He hoped he would be able to do it when it really mattered later.

As she went on to explain the proper form of loading and drawing an arrow, he listened attentively, following along with the subtle nuances of positioning his hands and fingers in different places to set up the bow. “I think so,” he nodded when she asked if he was following along and then smirked. “I’m a pretty fast learner.” He leaned a bit closer to her, “So, can I shot it yet?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I probably won't get another post up until tomorrow afternoon, because I'm going to bed in a few
Just kidding, I woke up early again and got one done~

Awesome cx Courting is an interesting subject because it's pretty different than what dating is like today
Weirdly enough, dating was never really a thing back then, even for peasants. They had big events (I like to think of them as single-mixer parties) where men and women would meet and decide to get married. It was basically really short courting. They also weren't as "pure" as nobles (pregnancies outside of wedlock were really common), but they hooked up more than they 'dated' in the sense that you'd see today.
That's partly why Crow has such a hard time figuring out what to do with his relationship with Penelope xD He doesn't see her as a fling or a marriage prospect, and in medieval times, there wasn't much of an in-between. Also, his history with women was only ever one night stands because no one in their right mind would want to marry a thief, and he honestly never wanted to get married and settle down in the first place, so he never went to the single-mixers.
As for nobles, they were a lot stricter about relationships. They had rules about everything, because marriage was highly political. You can Google medieval chivalry and find crazy long lists of do's and don't's for unmarried men and women. Honestly, there are so many that I wouldn't bother trying to be historically accurate about it. It's too much of a hassle.
Anyway, the noble couple doesn't usually meet until after their parents arrange their marriage, and then they court as a formality to get to know each other before they tie the knot. Neither the man nor the woman has a say in who they're going to marry. Their parents decide everything.
Most courting happened in the presence of family members (probably to deter the couple from sneaking off to be intimate before marriage) and was really formal. I would guess that if they end up falling in love, they would find ways to get around that, though.
I never found anything about how long courting lasted before the wedding, so you can use your own discretion for that ^^
If you want to know anything else about it, just let me know!

I like that idea about Olivia! I could see her being in Crow's corner when the love triangle happens later.

Yay! I'm glad you like it ^^
I also really like the idea of having one or both of them interacting with the gods. Maybe the Brerratic god talks to one of them and the Younisian goddess talks to the other? I also think it would be interesting for Penelope to be the one they talk to if we have just one of them see the gods. She's a lot less superstitious than Crow is, so she'd probably get more freaked out than he would xD
We can definitely play with some different options there and with the war with the north (which we still need to name ^^;)

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Just tell me what you want to know, and I got you xD
I know about camping supplies, floorplans of houses and inns, noble courting vs peasant relationships, alcohol consumption by different social classes, recipes for some common dishes, and ungodly amounts more

I like it already!
I've been doing a lot of planning too. I was thinking that the first person Crow should run into after the time skip is Olivia, who would tell him that Penelope isn't dead (and also about the fact that she's being courted, because she loves chaos)

As for the thing with Crow's father, I still haven't worked out if it will fit in the story, but here's what I've been toying with:
I was thinking that during the war, the current king of Brerra would get assassinated by that group of nobles from way back in the beginning. However, instead of their plan coming to fruition, their leader is killed and they're stopped and arrested by the castle guard. The king, leaving behind no heirs, has no one to succeed him, so the throne is up for grabs.
By this point in time, Albin has been gaining favor among a lot of the nobles and knights in the inner kingdom (he's the one Crow got his silver tongue from), so he usurps the position of king with little to no resistance.
Later on, he reaches out to Crow via a royal messenger asking to meet with him. Reason being: he knows about Crow's reputation from gossip in the court and remembered the surname of the woman he had slept with in Myerfall. He put two and two together and realized Crow was his son, so he wants to meet with him.
During the meeting, Albin would offer Crow his old position as ambassador, since he heard about his son's multi linguistic talent from William. Basically, he doesn't want word to get out that he has a son who's a thief, because it could ruin the reputation he'd built up for himself. He wouldn't make Crow a prince because he's illegitimate, but he wants him off the street so he'll stop causing trouble.

Essentially, I figured this would be an interesting twist for Crow's character because he would be torn between holding onto the life he knows and accepting the position for Penelope's sake (he still feels guilty for dragging her down into the life of a criminal with him).

Very complicated and lots of drama ;) My favorite kind of plot twist
Of course, if we did put this into the story, it wouldn't happen until after Crow and Penelope got back together, because otherwise Crow would turn down the job on the spot

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow was relieved that Penelope was willing to stop and help him with his archery practice just then. Anything that would take his mind off of the nagging fears in the back of his head was welcome to him. Besides, judging by the change in culture in the Younisian town they had just passed through, he didn’t have long to learn how to use the bow. He wanted to get as much practice in as he could before he found himself in a real life-or-death situation.

He set down his things under a tree next to Penelope’s and turned to her, waiting for instruction. Though he tried to concentrate on the matter at hand, he couldn’t help noticing how her back curved when she stretched her arms. He smiled. She was beautiful even when she wasn’t trying to be. Gods, how did I get so lucky? he thought once again, his heart skipping excitedly in his chest as he watched her from a distance.

Once she had finished setting up a makeshift training course for him, Crow handed his bow over to Penelope so she could show him what to do. However, before demonstrating the proper technique as he had expected her to do, she launched into an explanation of what he should expect when using the weapon. He stared at her, trying to follow all of the information she was throwing at him. There was a lot more to the simple piece of wood and string than he had realized.

I guess it’s not just ‘aim and shoot,’ he thought, eyeing the bow with newfound interest. Unexpectedly, he found that he had a growing respect for knights. He was only learning how to use one weapon, and he was already overwhelmed. To train with many different kinds of bows and blades and whatever other deadly tools were out there sounded exhausting. He exhaled, resigning himself to his grudging admiration of the knights’ tenacity.

As Penelope went on to fashion a makeshift bracer, Crow took the bow back and stepped closer to watch. He found her process interesting. It definitely wasn’t something he would have thought to try, but it looked like it would work. He grinned at her when she finished, “Nice job, darling. You’re pretty clever.” He passed the bow back to her. “Show me what you can do.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I love it

If you want to know any random facts about medieval stuff, just let me know and I'll share what I've learned lol
I need to use my encyclopedia TuT

Ooh, sounds like an interesting character. How are you planning on bringing her in?
I have some ideas for new characters too, but I don't have anything set in stone aside from including Crow's father. I had an idea for him that I was gonna run by you later, actually. I need to figure it out little more to make sure it will work though first