(Click the thumbnails to see the larger images!)
We first spoke on the 18th of August, 2018. We'd been vaguely in contact via a public Discord server for a few days before that, but the 18th was the date of the first private message I sent to him. We hit it off pretty impressively well, chatting for a good long time about what we were up to, and our plans for the immediate and distant future. We were both headed off to college the next month, so there was a lot to talk about. We even spoke about art, and his desire to draw, which was only a dream at the time.
We continued to talk with each other both in private messages and on the server for a while, how we got along so well being a mystery to any outsiders. We became moderators on the server we met on for a bit, and spent much time goofing around in the staff chat, as well as in the server in general. Eventually, on the 1st of September, 2018, dcb and myself were invited into a private Discord server, the remnants of a dream, called Somnolescent. It was a special moment, both in the group's history, and for Cammy and I as a pair of spergs who had no idea just where this would all lead. Our contact with one another became more and more consistent and regular, and more personal. He learnt more about me, and I learnt more about him.
Late 2018 is mostly a blur to me at this point, I remember key details but not entirely in what order they occurred. Some important moments include the creation of Sebastian, initially as a mascot for a web project, and then as a full blown character. His initial design was created in a matter of hours, it was the first proof that Cammy and I are a powerful team when working together on projects. It was also the time where Cammy was designed, originally starting as a plain grey badger before I made him erythristic and his iconic boufy hair was added.
We also helped each other through a lot of problems, both online and offline, as it was a very stormy time overall. We became the best of friends, despite how rocky everything felt. The one person the other could always trust and confide in. u///u
Around November, I started having romantic feelings for him. It was a pretty new feeling for me, and I wasn't sure what to do about it, so I kept it to myself, fearing it would affect our friendship if he knew. I became very protective of him, and maybe a little possessive. Lots of "platonic" hugging and such,,, I later found out he was feeling pretty attached to me too by this point.
December 2018 and early January of 2019 were marked with several stressful moments that I won't go into here. In response to this, I started drawing Cammys. It started with a Cammy stepping across a fallen log across a stream, then a Cammy admiring a butterfly on the edge of a cliff, and then a Cammy poking around in a pond with a stick. The first one was especially important, as it took what had been a joke up to that point, a soft, flowery badger boy, and made it more genuine. It was almost a vent piece for me, drawing someone I knew was stressed out being peaceful and happy like I so desperately wanted them to be.
Thoroughly lovesick by this point, I continued to doodle his fursona and badgers in general for him. It was a comfy little distraction, and it kept us talking about something nicer than what we might've otherwise ended up discussing. I became more brazen and drew our fursonas together more frequently, outside of general group shots of our friends. In my head I decided I'd see how far I could go before he told me to stop.
My bravest drawing yet in that regard was the one you see on the left. A simple doodle of our fursonas, his sona's head resting on mine's lap, flower crowns on our heads and a little bit of blush on our cheeks. I drew it because I had "drawn too many hugs recently". That's the moment I got a curious reaction out of him. Not a "please don't", or a "stop", but a positive one. I also told him that I'd be drawing a larger piece of us two, which turned out to be the tree picture. It was a special moment for us both, and I still remember it fondly.
The next few days, from about the 15th until the 20th, were strange and exciting. Neither of us had really experienced this before, so neither of us really knew what to do about it. We were telling each other how much we cared for one another, and how much we wanted to see each other someday, live with each other, but we weren't calling it love yet. It was all horribly autistic, but that's what makes it so special to us, really.
Once I sent him the tree picture, the floodgates opened. We talked for a long time, expressing our feelings to one another, and started being a couple. It's funny, reading those messages back, because we still avoided any strong, definitive language. We didn't say love, we didn't say boyfriend or girlfriend, we just sorta,,, started dating? The 20th is just our best guess for when it started. We kept it secret for a little bit, figuring out what it all meant to us personally before we told people.
On the 25th of that month, Saint Dwynwen's Day, we announced to the group and to people in general that we were officially dating. For that reason, I find Saint Dwynwen's Day to be more special to me than Valentine's Day~
The three years since then have absolutely flew by! We've had our ups and downs, but it's all been so, so worth it. We become closer all the time, and we find new things we share in common time and time again. I cherish every moment and every memory. My days get better when I see him come online, not to mention whenever I hear him or see him.
Adding onto that, the fact we hope to make this the year that we meet in person for the first time, after the chaos that was 2020 and 2021. We've become fond of saying that we're making 2022 the year 2020 should've been. We're in a better spot than ever though to make that happen, and we continue to get more powerful each day >>:3c
Despite what others have said about us, and done to us, we came out stronger for it, and closer than ever. I wouldn't have had it any other way. The best revenge is to live well, as they say~
Absolutely a wonderful boy, whom I love dearly u///u
10/10, would smooch.
