A comment on his picture! Feliciano quit his game of Trogdor and clicked multiple times at the open deviantart tab. He may not have had many - any - friends, but his deviantart account was his saving grace. His grandfather had always said he had a talent for art, and the glowing praise his drawings usually received gave him welcome boosts of confidence.
He posted lots of things to his deviantart, from doodles to charcoal sketches to pastel portraits. His most recent was one based off nothing whatsoever, he’d just been struck by sudden inspiration and had worked for two weeks on the elegant design. Though he was usually reluctant to openly praise his own work, he was thoroughly proud of the end result. He’d gotten everything right, from the lighting to the sweep of the blond boy’s hair.
And a comment! So soon! He scrolled down to it-
awesomenass15 This is shit, why would you bother posting it? You clearly spent waaaayyy too much time on it only to have it look like a potato skipping through a shit swamp. Get a life, wonderboy.
A blink as he took it in.
Another.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
What, Feli? You thought you weren’t a failure at something? You thought your art was special? You idiot.
This was why he was so easy to pick on. This was why Martino and his friends got such an easy rise out of him. This was why he had no real friends.
Pathetic, Feli.
He didn’t bother trying to choke back a sob. Through his tears he saw another comment pop up on his screen, but he almost couldn’t bring himself to read it.
Grandpa Julius had never cried.
So pathetic you can’t even read the damn comments...
Grandpa Julius would have read the mean comments and laughed.
He sniffled loudly and opened his eyes. The comment underneath the flame read:
ludwigb I apologize for my brother’s insensitivity. He has no taste or manners whatsoever, and you certainly should not take what he his bored rantings to heart. This is one of the most beautiful drawings I’ve ever seen. I just thought you should know that. Yes...good day.
Feliciano didn’t even notice the awkward wording or trail off at the end; he hardly even read it. A huge smile spread across his tear-stained cheeks. He clicked the icon, but it was just the shape of a blank person; the user ludwigb had only registered fifteen minutes ago, and had no information on his account.
Had he registered just to leave that comment...?
Filled with a fluttering emotion he hadn’t felt in days - was that happiness? - he shamelessly went ahead with a private message to his unknown admirer.
pasta-tricolore: Thank you for your kind comments, sir! I thank you very much, really. Kind comments make me very happy, ve~ I hope you have a good day!
my heart broke for Feliciano, he's really so alone. and I was so relieved when Ludwig left that comment, Feliciano was already so depressed after a day like that and then that flame must have hurt him so much. thankfully Ludwig made him smile again with that comment. I'm really looking forward to read more about this, anon, I really want to see Feliciano and Ludwig begin their internet friendship.
I must confess, anon, when I first red the prompt I didn´t feel very attracted to it, but you´re doing such a good job with it, I´ll make sure to follow you and not leave a single chapter behind. Feli is so absolutely lovely I want to hug him, and kudos to his brother for helping him *.* Oh and Gilbert, I usually like him, but...What an ass making poor Feli cry! Luckly there´ s Ludwig :D
Ludwig didn’t know what brought him to respond. He wasn’t an internet creep like Gilbert; he had a real life, and real friends... okay, maybe he really didn’t have either of those, but he was perfectly fine with his books and his studies. He wasn’t quite ... comfortable, say, with the nuances of social interaction but he’d convinced himself he didn’t need it, internet or otherwise.
Gilbert had tried to set him up with internet buddies many a time, mostly in cybersex chatrooms or on omegle. Needless to say it never quite panned out. After one particularly disturbing incident involving scat and several men on a chatroulette cam Ludwig had vowed never to go to the internet again for anything ever, not even if Gilbert tied him to a chair and stole all his books (which he did). It’s not that the internet scared him, no, Ludwig wasn’t a “pussy-faced scaredy cat” (insult courtesy of guess who), he just ... didn’t need that kind of strange, abnormal interaction in his life.
So why was he responding to the anonymous dA artist?
ludwigb It is no problem at all. Your art is lovely, and deserves the highest praise.
Repairing Gilbert’s damage, that’s why. And he was honestly a fan of fine art. The boy in the field might have borne an uncanny resemblance to his reflection in the monitor, but that really had very little to do with it.
The artist responded fairly quickly:
pasta-tricolore That is really too kind of you, ve~ I’m sorry to intrude, but do you have any artwork of your own? I would love to also leave you nice comments and smiley faces~ :) :)
Ludwig felt his face flush. What if the artist knew what he’d done? How creepy was that, to create an account just to comment on one picture? Gott, he was almost as bad as Gilbert! He responded hurriedly:
ludwigb I dabble, but my work isn’t very good. Nothing in comparison to yours. This account is really just for...
He paused. For what? Stalking?
...bypassing the mature content filter when viewing.
He hit send before he could stop himself.
And then hit his head against the desk.
Ludwig, what have you done? He’ll never speak to you again! Your first internet interaction and you managed to screw it up, even though you didn’t even talk.
He couldn’t bring himself to click on the artist’s response, which was probably either an awkward emoticon or some condemnation of his licentious behavior. Gott he was an idiot. Instead he clicked on his bio and scrolled through it, searching idly for any stray pieces of information.
Deviant Member Feliciano Male/14/Italy
On the left side were some of his recent deviations, all drawings in various stages of completion. Some were just doodles, but even from those he could tell that this Feliciano was very, very talented. And only fourteen, too! Somehow he’d pictured his brief correspondent as older, closer to his own age. Although perhaps it explained his desperate immaturity.
On the right side was his most recent journal entry.
Altro giorno orribile Journals/Personal I’m sorry, I said I would try and post in English more, because I’ll make more friends speaking English, right? But there are some things I think are maybe better left in a way no one can understand. If anyone is even reading. I’ll bet no one is reading, they’re probably doing better things like eating pasta or ... watching paint dry. I hope it’s pretty paint, ve~ Green is my favorite color, I hope it’s green. Maybe patterned. I like greens and blues, like fields! And red sometimes too, like tomato sauce.
But I forget, no one is reading this. No one reads my journal, do they? Sometimes I wish I had a friend...so we could read my journal, and I could read their journal! And I’d draw all the time for them and cook them pasta. It would be fun, I think. But I think I wouldn’t know.
Ve, but I’m rambling. Bongiorno!
Was it possible, Ludwig wondered, that there was someone out there as alone as he was?
Anon this keeps on being lovely and funny. Ludwing on the internet is a sort of time bomb XDDD Poor Lud, at leat he does try even if every experience is worse then the other XD Well, I hope he'll become more relaxed so he'll enjoy his conversation with Feli more <3 This anon really looks forward for more ^^
pasta-tricolore Ve, you should draw something sometime! It doesn’t matter if you’re not good now, I can help you~ I’d be glad to help you~ And I’m sure you’d get lots better really fast! :3
For some reason, Ludwig couldn’t help but smile. Or as close as his permanently downturned lips could come to a smile, something quirking just above a flat line.
ludwigb That’s quite alright, I assure you my work is nothing special...especially not in comparison to yours. I don’t think an artist of your caliber would want to associate with one of mine.
pasta-tricolore But I do want to talk to you! I want to talk to you lots, you seem wonderful. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve met in a long time, ve~
Ludwig felt his cheeks heat with an unfamiliar sensation. Between bullies at school and his older brother, it’d been along time since someone had called him... wonderful...
ludwigb If you’ll have me, I’d love to talk to you. You seem quite pleasant as well.
pasta-tricolore Ve! Does this mean we’re friends?
ludwigb Ah, I suppose? I mean, we only just met, but if you want...
pasta-tricolore I’m so happy to be your friend! My name is Feliciano but you can call me Feli. What’s your name, friend?~~
ludwigb ...Ludwig.
pasta-tricolore A pleasure to meet you, Ludwig!!~ :3
Ludwig hesitated, overcome with an emotion he couldn’t quite identify before responding:
ludwigb And you as well...Feli.
----
“And get a load of this,” Gilbert drawled into his microphone, slumped against his elbow on the desktop. “My brother, Luddy? Yeah. Pretty sure this dA is his, he made it just to counter-troll me on that pic. What an ass. Can’t wait till he uploads shit to this account, I’ll troll the fucking hell out of him...”
“I can’t see anything but your hair, Gilbert,” Antonio mumbled tiredly.
Gilbert sat up and looked the webcam in the eye. “Better, gorgeous?” He blinked his bright red eyes mock-seductively. Antonio just responded with an eyeroll and a click of his mouse, supposedly back to playing Dungeons and Dragons. “Francis!” Gilbert barked into his mic, “I’m making sex-face, helloooooo. Where the hell are you?”
There was a dark pink shade over Francis’s Skype screen, suggesting he’d stuck one of his weird girly sticky notes over it again. “Hey, c’mon Frenchie, I’m talking to you!” He flicked the mic.
He could see Antonio closing his window before swinging him an unamused glare. “Francis is being a bit...how do you say, desconocido tonight?”
Gilbert deadpanned. “I don’t speak Mexican, bro.”
“Strange, I mean. Weird. Off.” He watched him click around a bit, probably muting his mic to Francis’s. Still, out of habit, he cupped a hand around his mouth and whispered, “I think he suffers of a broken heart.”
A blink. “You mean he’s got a girl?”
Antonio rolled his eyes once more. “Doesn’t he always?”
“He could be lying about all those...”
“I think he isn’t.” Antonio kept his voice low, bright green eyes hovering above his webcam. “But this one, ay, I think she’s something special. He was mumbling about her earlier, said she’s his neighbor or something, and something about her moving back from England...”
“Girl next door?” Gilbert snorted. “Typical Francis. He’ll be over her once he fucks her.”
“Ay dios mio, Gilbert! Not everything is about fucking!”
“Most things...”
“For you and Francis, perhaps. But that’s not the point.” Antonio leaned back in his chair, eyes on the ceiling. “I think this one’s special because...it’s not that easy.”
“Si, and I think that only made it worse. He’s pining after her like a lovestruck teenager out of Shakespeare. Fitting if she’s British.” He twirled a paperclip idly between two fingers. “This is all speculation, mind you. I’m drawing it from his incoherent mumbling.”
“Nah, you’re usually good at that.” Gilbert picked at his bottom lip with his thumb. “So how do we set up Fran and this girl from hundreds of miles away?”
“Oi, Gil! What did I just say about not everything being about sex?”
“Yeah yeah, I heard you.” Gilbert smirked with absolute deviousness, straight into the camera. “But this happens to be an exception.”
----
Anon hates character limits.
Also a few notes: -They're speaking English as a common language, but assume they all live in their respective countries. They're all just...proficient in English for various reasons. >.> -author!anon does not actually use deviantart, so please don't think I'm bashing it or purposely misrepresenting it or anything. Any deviant!anons may feel free to critique and correct.
Oh my god, this fill is amazing. You're doing such an increedible job with the prompt! It's really touching, the BFT's interactions are glorious and I nearly had a heart attack when Italy used :3.
Anon, I love your story, I'll be waiting for the next update. Feliciano is so sweet, I just want to give him a hug and tell him everything will be alright. Now I can't help but wonder what would happen if Gilbert fell for a girl someday, specially some like Hungary, who wouldn't stand how he is, or someone like Liechtenstein, with a brother that will kill him if he doesn't behave properly... Well, I'm bookmarking this, I can't wait to see how it continues.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Electrical Impulse (1c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-06 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)He posted lots of things to his deviantart, from doodles to charcoal sketches to pastel portraits. His most recent was one based off nothing whatsoever, he’d just been struck by sudden inspiration and had worked for two weeks on the elegant design. Though he was usually reluctant to openly praise his own work, he was thoroughly proud of the end result. He’d gotten everything right, from the lighting to the sweep of the blond boy’s hair.
And a comment! So soon! He scrolled down to it-
awesomenass15
This is shit, why would you bother posting it? You clearly spent waaaayyy too much time on it only to have it look like a potato skipping through a shit swamp. Get a life, wonderboy.
A blink as he took it in.
Another.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
What, Feli? You thought you weren’t a failure at something? You thought your art was special? You idiot.
This was why he was so easy to pick on. This was why Martino and his friends got such an easy rise out of him. This was why he had no real friends.
Pathetic, Feli.
He didn’t bother trying to choke back a sob. Through his tears he saw another comment pop up on his screen, but he almost couldn’t bring himself to read it.
Grandpa Julius had never cried.
So pathetic you can’t even read the damn comments...
Grandpa Julius would have read the mean comments and laughed.
He sniffled loudly and opened his eyes. The comment underneath the flame read:
ludwigb
I apologize for my brother’s insensitivity. He has no taste or manners whatsoever, and you certainly should not take what he his bored rantings to heart. This is one of the most beautiful drawings I’ve ever seen. I just thought you should know that. Yes...good day.
Feliciano didn’t even notice the awkward wording or trail off at the end; he hardly even read it. A huge smile spread across his tear-stained cheeks. He clicked the icon, but it was just the shape of a blank person; the user ludwigb had only registered fifteen minutes ago, and had no information on his account.
Had he registered just to leave that comment...?
Filled with a fluttering emotion he hadn’t felt in days - was that happiness? - he shamelessly went ahead with a private message to his unknown admirer.
pasta-tricolore:
Thank you for your kind comments, sir! I thank you very much, really. Kind comments make me very happy, ve~ I hope you have a good day!
Re: Electrical Impulse (1c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-06 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)I'm really looking forward to read more about this, anon, I really want to see Feliciano and Ludwig begin their internet friendship.
Re: Electrical Impulse (1c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-06 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)Feli is so absolutely lovely I want to hug him, and kudos to his brother for helping him *.*
Oh and Gilbert, I usually like him, but...What an ass making poor Feli cry! Luckly there´
s Ludwig :D
Hope to read more soon!
Re: Electrical Impulse (1c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-06 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)Gilbert does not deserve such power. :T
Luddy~ *glomps*
*kicks Martino where the sun don't shine*
Totally following this ♥
Re: Electrical Impulse (1c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-07 12:00 am (UTC)(link)OP
(Anonymous) 2012-02-07 03:50 am (UTC)(link)Anon, you are fantastic! Poor Feli is breaking my heart, but I'm so glad Luddy is there to save the day. Can't wait to see where this goes!
Electrical Impulse (2a/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-11 06:49 am (UTC)(link)Gilbert had tried to set him up with internet buddies many a time, mostly in cybersex chatrooms or on omegle. Needless to say it never quite panned out. After one particularly disturbing incident involving scat and several men on a chatroulette cam Ludwig had vowed never to go to the internet again for anything ever, not even if Gilbert tied him to a chair and stole all his books (which he did). It’s not that the internet scared him, no, Ludwig wasn’t a “pussy-faced scaredy cat” (insult courtesy of guess who), he just ... didn’t need that kind of strange, abnormal interaction in his life.
So why was he responding to the anonymous dA artist?
ludwigb
It is no problem at all. Your art is lovely, and deserves the highest praise.
Repairing Gilbert’s damage, that’s why. And he was honestly a fan of fine art. The boy in the field might have borne an uncanny resemblance to his reflection in the monitor, but that really had very little to do with it.
The artist responded fairly quickly:
pasta-tricolore
That is really too kind of you, ve~ I’m sorry to intrude, but do you have any artwork of your own? I would love to also leave you nice comments and smiley faces~ :) :)
Ludwig felt his face flush. What if the artist knew what he’d done? How creepy was that, to create an account just to comment on one picture? Gott, he was almost as bad as Gilbert! He responded hurriedly:
ludwigb
I dabble, but my work isn’t very good. Nothing in comparison to yours. This account is really just for...
He paused. For what? Stalking?
...bypassing the mature content filter when viewing.
He hit send before he could stop himself.
And then hit his head against the desk.
Ludwig, what have you done? He’ll never speak to you again! Your first internet interaction and you managed to screw it up, even though you didn’t even talk.
He couldn’t bring himself to click on the artist’s response, which was probably either an awkward emoticon or some condemnation of his licentious behavior. Gott he was an idiot. Instead he clicked on his bio and scrolled through it, searching idly for any stray pieces of information.
Deviant Member
Feliciano
Male/14/Italy
On the left side were some of his recent deviations, all drawings in various stages of completion. Some were just doodles, but even from those he could tell that this Feliciano was very, very talented. And only fourteen, too! Somehow he’d pictured his brief correspondent as older, closer to his own age. Although perhaps it explained his desperate immaturity.
On the right side was his most recent journal entry.
Altro giorno orribile
Journals/Personal
I’m sorry, I said I would try and post in English more, because I’ll make more friends speaking English, right? But there are some things I think are maybe better left in a way no one can understand. If anyone is even reading. I’ll bet no one is reading, they’re probably doing better things like eating pasta or ... watching paint dry. I hope it’s pretty paint, ve~ Green is my favorite color, I hope it’s green. Maybe patterned. I like greens and blues, like fields! And red sometimes too, like tomato sauce.
But I forget, no one is reading this. No one reads my journal, do they? Sometimes I wish I had a friend...so we could read my journal, and I could read their journal! And I’d draw all the time for them and cook them pasta. It would be fun, I think. But I think I wouldn’t know.
Ve, but I’m rambling. Bongiorno!
Was it possible, Ludwig wondered, that there was someone out there as alone as he was?
Re: Electrical Impulse (2a/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-11 10:52 am (UTC)(link)This anon really looks forward for more ^^
Electrical Impulse (2b/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-11 06:52 am (UTC)(link)pasta-tricolore
Ve, you should draw something sometime! It doesn’t matter if you’re not good now, I can help you~ I’d be glad to help you~ And I’m sure you’d get lots better really fast! :3
For some reason, Ludwig couldn’t help but smile. Or as close as his permanently downturned lips could come to a smile, something quirking just above a flat line.
ludwigb
That’s quite alright, I assure you my work is nothing special...especially not in comparison to yours. I don’t think an artist of your caliber would want to associate with one of mine.
pasta-tricolore
But I do want to talk to you! I want to talk to you lots, you seem wonderful. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve met in a long time, ve~
Ludwig felt his cheeks heat with an unfamiliar sensation. Between bullies at school and his older brother, it’d been along time since someone had called him... wonderful...
ludwigb
If you’ll have me, I’d love to talk to you. You seem quite pleasant as well.
pasta-tricolore
Ve! Does this mean we’re friends?
ludwigb
Ah, I suppose? I mean, we only just met, but if you want...
pasta-tricolore
I’m so happy to be your friend! My name is Feliciano but you can call me Feli. What’s your name, friend?~~
ludwigb
...Ludwig.
pasta-tricolore
A pleasure to meet you, Ludwig!!~ :3
Ludwig hesitated, overcome with an emotion he couldn’t quite identify before responding:
ludwigb
And you as well...Feli.
----
“And get a load of this,” Gilbert drawled into his microphone, slumped against his elbow on the desktop. “My brother, Luddy? Yeah. Pretty sure this dA is his, he made it just to counter-troll me on that pic. What an ass. Can’t wait till he uploads shit to this account, I’ll troll the fucking hell out of him...”
“I can’t see anything but your hair, Gilbert,” Antonio mumbled tiredly.
Gilbert sat up and looked the webcam in the eye. “Better, gorgeous?” He blinked his bright red eyes mock-seductively. Antonio just responded with an eyeroll and a click of his mouse, supposedly back to playing Dungeons and Dragons. “Francis!” Gilbert barked into his mic, “I’m making sex-face, helloooooo. Where the hell are you?”
There was a dark pink shade over Francis’s Skype screen, suggesting he’d stuck one of his weird girly sticky notes over it again. “Hey, c’mon Frenchie, I’m talking to you!” He flicked the mic.
He could see Antonio closing his window before swinging him an unamused glare. “Francis is being a bit...how do you say, desconocido tonight?”
Gilbert deadpanned. “I don’t speak Mexican, bro.”
“Strange, I mean. Weird. Off.” He watched him click around a bit, probably muting his mic to Francis’s. Still, out of habit, he cupped a hand around his mouth and whispered, “I think he suffers of a broken heart.”
A blink. “You mean he’s got a girl?”
Antonio rolled his eyes once more. “Doesn’t he always?”
“He could be lying about all those...”
“I think he isn’t.” Antonio kept his voice low, bright green eyes hovering above his webcam. “But this one, ay, I think she’s something special. He was mumbling about her earlier, said she’s his neighbor or something, and something about her moving back from England...”
“Girl next door?” Gilbert snorted. “Typical Francis. He’ll be over her once he fucks her.”
“Ay dios mio, Gilbert! Not everything is about fucking!”
“Most things...”
“For you and Francis, perhaps. But that’s not the point.” Antonio leaned back in his chair, eyes on the ceiling. “I think this one’s special because...it’s not that easy.”
“Wait. What.” Gilbert crawled forward onto his wrists. “Francis got rejected?”
Electrical Impulse (2c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-11 06:55 am (UTC)(link)“Nah, you’re usually good at that.” Gilbert picked at his bottom lip with his thumb. “So how do we set up Fran and this girl from hundreds of miles away?”
“Oi, Gil! What did I just say about not everything being about sex?”
“Yeah yeah, I heard you.” Gilbert smirked with absolute deviousness, straight into the camera. “But this happens to be an exception.”
----
Anon hates character limits.
Also a few notes:
-They're speaking English as a common language, but assume they all live in their respective countries. They're all just...proficient in English for various reasons. >.>
-author!anon does not actually use deviantart, so please don't think I'm bashing it or purposely misrepresenting it or anything. Any deviant!anons may feel free to critique and correct.
Re: Electrical Impulse (2c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-02-11 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-02-22 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)Please please do continue!
Re: Electrical Impulse (2c/?)
(Anonymous) 2012-03-21 02:50 am (UTC)(link)Feliciano is so sweet, I just want to give him a hug and tell him everything will be alright.
Now I can't help but wonder what would happen if Gilbert fell for a girl someday, specially some like Hungary, who wouldn't stand how he is, or someone like Liechtenstein, with a brother that will kill him if he doesn't behave properly...
Well, I'm bookmarking this, I can't wait to see how it continues.