Our Life: Beginnings & Always - Blog Posts

This boy is extremely appealing and a demisexual panromantic rep! I adore him and the comfort this game has brought me.

I'm back with my Cliff x adult mc ideas, I just love this man so much. On the idea of mc also being a single parents, what if mc has either a newborn baby or a very young toddler, and after dating Cliff for a little while the baby's first word is 'dada' and directed at Cliff?

LOL I should really know better than to check tumblr while I'm working because it was a STRUGGLE not to stop and write all this, I love him so much, please keep the Cliff requests coming if you like this because I love it and him forever and ever amen

I couldn't do baby's first words, not with my idea of Cliff lol, but it's the same gist!!!

For years, Cliff had figured that he'd spend the rest of his life alone. Well, not alone, not truly -- he had Cove, and he was all he really needed. He had Kyra, who had become a dear friend, and he had Pam and Noelani who had always been there for him. But he'd always known that when his son grew up and moved out, he'd be, most of the time, alone.

Then he met you. And you proved him wrong.

He thought about that as he gently stroked your hair and listened to your breathing getting deeper as you fell solidly asleep, your head on his lap.

Looking back on it, Cliff couldn't figure out if he'd fallen in love with you slowly or if had happened all at once. There was an attraction the first time he met you, but it wasn't unusual at all for him to recognize that a person was attractive and then do absolutely nothing about it. But the deeper connection he felt, the overwhelming affection he had for you -- that was definitely unusual.

You'd met at his shop, over a year before. You'd just moved to the area, it was your first time living by the beach, and you'd wanted to appreciate it fully. He didn't learn all of this the first day, but you'd gotten out of a bad relationship and wanted a fresh start for you and your son, who was just about six months old at the time.

"I was thinking about taking scuba lessons, and I saw online that you offered them?" was what you'd told him that first day.

He'd smiled at you, a wide, friendly grin like he gave all his customers. He gave you the schedule of when the lessons were offered, and his smile faltered a bit when you frowned. You couldn't make any of these times, you'd explained.

"Here's the schedule for next month's lessons," Cliff had said quickly, pulling out another flyer. But those wouldn't work either. You could only take lessons on certain weekdays, and only during the mornings, you'd said. You had a baby who was in day care and you were trying to fit in a few hours for something you'd always wanted to do, but you could figure out something else.

There was the smallest hint of sadness in your voice, and it hit him hard. He remembered those early days when Cove was a baby, the sheer exhaustion, the desperation to do everything right and how hard it was to find the time to do something to take care of himself. It was hard then, and he'd had Kyra. You, it seemed then, and later on he learned, had nobody.

Before Cliff could even think about it, he said, "We could do a private lesson. What time works for you?"

"Oh no, that's all right," you'd said, shaking your head, "I couldn't --"

"My treat," he interrupted, cranking his smile back up to its full power. He could be charming when he wanted to be, and right then, he really, really wanted to be.

And he was, charming enough that you ended up agreeing to a free private lesson. Then you agreed to another. After that, you agreed to dinner.

He thought about all of it as he watched you sleep. How it took so long for you to come together, to conquer your respective fears and hang-ups and admit that you wanted to be with each other. How he wouldn't trade a moment of any of it for anything.

Cliff glanced at the clock, then back down to you. After taking a listen to the baby monitor that sat on your coffee table to make sure your son was fast asleep, he slid a hand down to your shoulder and gently shook you awake.

"Time to get in bed," he said quietly, leaning down to plant a kiss on your temple.

Knowing how sleepy you must be if you'd passed out on his lap during movie night, he carefully slid out from under you and stood. He grabbed your hand and helped you up, despite your protests.

"You can go right back to sleep," he laughed lovingly, placing a steady arm around your waist. "But let's get you more comfortable first."

He grabbed the baby monitor then led you to your bedroom. A quick peek in your son's room showed him that the little boy was sleeping soundly on the new toddler bed he'd assembled last week for him. He smiled at the sight, placed another kiss on your head and continued down the hall.

When you were inside your room, nearly asleep on your feet, he softly shut the door behind him and started undressing you. He'd undressed you plenty of times with more impure thoughts in mind, and though he couldn't help but land little kisses on your skin as he uncovered it, this wasn't that. When you were down to your underwear, he grabbed your pajamas from a drawer and put them on you.

Cliff was so focused on the task that it surprised him when he you wrapped your arms around his shoulders when he was done. You pulled him in for a kiss, on the lips this time finally, and he readily accepted. He let you pull him in closer, and he kissed you harder. Every time you kissed like this, no matter how many times it had happened, he made sure to be completely in the moment, to appreciate how lucky he was. To take you in and savor every single second that you shared yourself with him like this.

He was slipping a hand under the bottom of your shirt to feel the warmth of your skin when you pulled back to look at him.

"Stay?" was all you asked.

How could he say no to that?

He kissed you again, slower this time, happy to have the night to take his time. Before he could really get to work, he heard a little thump coming from the baby monitor.

You stopped kissing him and dropped your head against his chest, letting out a sigh. Your son had been having a hard time sleeping, which is why you'd been so tired. Before Cliff could offer any words of encouragement, the door flew open, and there was your little boy, wide awake and grinning.

"It's supposed to be bedtime," you told him as you scooped him up in your arms. He laughed and hugged you tight, his little fists bunching in your hair, and you smiled.

"I wanna play," he told you. You told him that you'd played all day and now it was time to sleep, and then the boy said something that nearly stopped Cliff's heart.

"Not with you, I wanna play with Daddy."

You froze, then Cliff saw your eyes dart to him. There was concern there, he saw, but before he could say anything else, your son twisted in your arms and started making little grabby hands at him.

"Wanna play with Daddy," he repeated, reaching for Cliff.

"I don't know where he heard that," Cliff heard you mutter -- or he thought that's what he heard, he couldn't be sure because he had burst into tears. The boy looked at him quizzically, then made a dive for him. Cliff caught him easily, and the tears came even faster when it was his turn to receive a hug.

"It's ok," he said, looking back at you. "I don't mind at all."

You started crying as well, which only made Cliff cry more. He reached his free arm over and pulled you into the hug. You buried your face into his chest, and he kissed your head. He'd never pass up an opportunity to kiss you.

After a moment, you pulled back and looked at your son and offered him a smile, telling him, "We'll talk about this in the morning, ok?"

"Don't wanna talk, I just wanna play."

You laughed, then gave Cliff a nod. Knowing what you meant, he hoisted the boy over his shoulder, bringing out a flood of giggles, and took him back to his own room.

For the next little while, Cliff put his all into playing. He lifted your son high in the air, then carefully tossed him down on the bed, earning more giggles. And when the toddler was finally tired out again, he watched you put him back into bed and pull his blankets over him.

Raising Cove was the best thing he'd ever done. It was the most rewarding experience of his life, watching his own son learn and grow and become a person he was so unbelievably proud of. When he'd met you, Cove was almost grown, and part of Cliff was sad that that chapter of his life was coming to an end.

But when he was like this here in your home, with you and your son, he thought he just might get lucky enough to do it all over again.

"I really don't know where he heard that," you told him when you were back in your bedroom. He took his clothes off while you got into bed, and after turning the light off, he joined you.

"I really don't mind," he said as you turned your back to him and scooted backwards up to his chest. Cliff was a big guy, and although it had been ages since he slept with anyone, it didn't take him long to remember how much he loved being the big spoon.

"I understand if you do, of course," he continued, wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you closer against him. "But I don't want you to think it's going to scare me away."'

"It's not?" you asked, so quiet he nearly missed it.

"Nothing would," he said truthfully. He heard your breath hitch as he moved his hand under your shirt again, placing his large hand flat against your bare stomach. He brought a kiss to your shoulder, thinking in passing about how he could never, not for the rest of his life, take being able to hold you like this for granted.

It would have to be a conversation, Cliff knew that. Your son couldn't just slip into calling him "daddy" without one -- he knew at this point that he wanted to be with you for the rest of his life, that he would be honored to be your son's dad one day, but his own life experiences had taught him to be careful. He knew now to go slow and take all the right steps when it really mattered.

But for now, as he felt your breath slow down again under his touch and with the soft sounds of your son's light snores through the baby monitor, he could let himself appreciate this feeling of bliss.

When your own your 7th+ playthrough of a game and just start making choices for the drama.... Proposed to a man I only started daring 12 hours ago after having had a crush on his dad and having already promised to marry his best friend. The ex boyfriend that ghosted me is my wedding planer and the other ex that stopped calling is my best man, both are still clearly in love with me both are regretting there life choices.

THE LAST STARE

At step 4 they both probably stopped starring at people but it has to be done at least once again. What would be a better time than at their wedding ?!

so I thought it would be fun to design an Our Life: Beginnings and Always step 1-2 version of Aster from Titan Arum bc @minthe-drawings said Aster and Cove could be a couple and I have been thinking of that non-stop. Like imagine growing up with Aster and his spoilerness. (I won't detail more for those who wanna play the game ;alksdfja;)

Anyway yea. 8 year old Aster is a secret cat not boy and uses hella big words for no reason and eats bugs. 13 year old Aster probably is a stereotypical edgy teen but with more like.... actual sharpness to them if that makes sense. Instead of pretend sharpness. They hate those braces it gives them a slight lisp but it should fix their overbite. Also still likes wearing cat ears in private for funny haha look cat ears (also look it's fun to wear cat ears sometimes shut up)

Almost forgot to post these lil chibis here hehe

Re-Do of refs for my Our Life MCs; Jasper (left - he/they/it - Baxter romance) and Vermin (Right - it/they - Cove romance)

FINALLY HAVE TIME TO SIT DOWN AND DRAW HIM. This is Poet (he/they)! Another new mc for Our Life. This time romancing Baxter :^)

He works at a children's "cryptozoology" museum that shows off odd and lesser known animals in fun and educational ways. He mainly works with the bugs they keep as exhibits but does work with the other bugs. They also sometimes are that person that visits schools with a buncha animals (bugs or snakes or the like) as an educational show.

New our life mc; Jasper (he/they/it!) He was a pen pal to Cove from Nevada through the course of their life and eventually gets with Cove in adulthood :^) He's an artist but mainly does taxidermy for money!

Gee, Covah, how come I let you have TWO boyfriends?

Pose practice with one of my our life mcs, Vermin (it/they)!

Look, I wrote a thing. If you're interested in my (nsfw/) headcanons for the Our Life love interests, then read on!

Friend convinced me to post these here so.

I did refs for my Our Life:Beginnings & Always mcs! Obviously, you guys know Covah Haugan (left - he/him); he ends up in a poly relationship with Baxter AND Cove. But you guys haven’t seen Vermin Luck yet (right - it/they)! It ends up with Derek :^)

So replaying Our Life: Beginnings & Always (Again) I thought:

Well, Covah, likes to wear dresses and skirts sometimes.

Wouldn’t it make sense if he encouraged Cove to try a dress at least once?

So I wrote a tiny drabble for that! And drew a pic for it cause I had to. 

This would take place between Step 2 and 3 when the two are 16. And they’re still mutually pining morons who don’t think the other feels the same. 

Drabble that goes with this under the cut (not beta read) - Enjoy!

"Ugh," Covah leaned his head back, eyes pinched closed, "It's hot."

Cove looked from where he was knee deep in the ocean, running his hand through his growing hair. It was long enough for a small ponytail now- which is how he'd done it today. And every day since it became long enough. Kept it out of his way. 

He squinted up at the sun himself, using his hand to shield his eyes, "Yeah. It is."

Covah got up from his gothic spot on the sand (complete with dark umbrella and dark towel to lounge on/under), and dusted any errant sand particles off of himself, "This was a bad day for full pants. I'm gonna go change and get some water."

"Probably a good idea," Cove hummed, "Mind if I come with? Just for water."

"Sure," Covah  smiled, and waited for Cove to get out of the water and dry off the best he could with his own haphazardly placed towel, and then put his glasses back on.

They hiked it up the hill to Covah's house, and entered. Covah sighed in relief at the feeling of air conditioning on his face.

Honeysuckle perked up from where she lay on the floor when she heard someone enter, tail wagging happily. Covah hadn't brought her to the beach, thinking it too hot for the poor pup. She got up and padded over to Covah, angling for pets. 

Covah smiled and patted her head gently, giving a small, "Hey, girl, miss me? I'm only here for a minute." 

Honeysuckle licked his hands happily in reply.

Covah chuckled before walking over to the fridge, sticking his face into it, "You actually want water, Seabird?" He grunted, "I have this weird fruity drink monstrosity mom got everyone- it doesn't actually sound good to me."

"What's in it?" Cove hummed, dusting sand off of himself at the entryway to the house. He’d clean it up the best he could, knowing Covah’s moms hated sand in the house.

“Uh-” Covah pulled the offending bottle out of the fridge and read the label, “Orange, passion fruit, guava-”

“Guava?” Cove snorted at the name.

“It’s a fruit,” Covah motioned, over his shoulder, “Really sweet tropical shit.”

“Sure, I’ll try it.” Cove hummed in interest, “I like orange juice, so it shouldn't be too bad.”

Covah closed the fridge and walked back over to Cove, passing him the bottle of juice and having his own bottle of water. Covah opened his bottle and chugged the whole thing in three long gulps.

Cove purposefully looked away from the bobbing of Covah’s Adam's apple, fiddling with the plastic wrapping around the lid of the drink he had.

“Ah- better-” Covah sighed in relief, tossing the empty bottle into the recycle bin, “Now come help me pick out an outfit.”

“You really need to pick out a whole new outfit just for going back to the beach?” Cove asked, even if he already knew the answer. 

“No, but I want to,” Covah shrugged, “You don’t have to help if you don’t wanna.”

“The beach is gonna be boring without you though,” Cove shrugged back, "’Sides, I should cool off and drink my drink before heading back out."

Covah nodded, "Good idea. Come on then."

They walked together up the stairs, Honeysuckle following after them like… well, like a lost dog. They made it into Covah's room, Cove plopping into Covah's desk chair while Covah opened his closet with a hum. 

Honeysuckle sat in front of Cove. Cove smiled at the goofy dog and leaned forward, scratching behind her ears. She panted happily at the sensation.

"Hm," Covah thought aloud, "I could do a dress-" He fingered one sundress, a white sleeveless thing, "But I don't-" A hand went to his right arm. Where his scars were.

Cove frowned. Covah was always self conscious of his arms. Thought people would stare at the horrible wounds raked across him- which only seemed to grow and worsen with age. Unlike Cove's own scar. "Don't want to today?" Some days Covah was confident and could wear sleeveless things or t-shirts. Others….

"Yeah," Covah sighed, sounding defeated.

"You could throw a jacket over it," Cove suggested, pointing to the pile of jackets Covah had.

"Too hot for that," Covah hummed, "No, I think-.... Ah-!" Covah smiled and pulled out a short, blue denim dress. It had long sleeves, but they were off the shoulder, white, puffy things. They looked thin and breezy. "This should work. And then-" He went to his dresser with a hum, putting the dress over his arm so he could use both hands to dig through his drawers. 

Covah gave a small "ahah!" after a moment and pulled out some thin, sunflower patterned white tights. "These and some boots. Maybe my sun hat. Perfect." 

Cove smiled at Covah brightening at the prospect of putting on a cute, breezy outfit for the day. It almost never failed to cheer Covah up to put together something nice to wear.

"I'm gonna go change in the bathroom," Covah hiked a finger across the hall, before pointing at the bottle Cove still hadn't opened, "You drink your juice."

"Yes officer," Cove smiled sarcastically as Covah left the room. Honeysuckle laid down as soon as Covah left, staying with Cove. 

Cove opened the drink as soon as Covah left and closed the bathroom door, taking a sip-

"Oh that's weird," Cove looked at the bottle of juice with a cocked brow. 

"Yeah?!" Covah called from the bathroom, still able to hear Cove from there. It was just across the hall, after all. 

"Not a bad weird!" Cove called back, "Just- Different!" 

"Different how?!" Cove could hear the jingling of zippers as Covah moved in the bathroom.

"It's like-" Cove took another sip, "Tangy but also sweet at the same time."

"Huh-" There was a shuffle of fabric, "But good?"

"I like it," Cove nodded, taking another sip.

"Good!" the bathroom door re-opened, "I'm glad you like it." Covah re-entered the room, having fully changed and carrying his old clothes over his arm. "What you think?"

Don't say cute- Cove blushed as Covah's dress moved with him, "Looks good!" He squeaked out, giving a thumbs up.

Covah giggled- giggled- as he set his old clothes in his laundry bin. That did a number on Cove's heart. "It's nice and breezy too," He moved so the skirt of the dress swished gently, "Perfect for today."

Cove smiled, "Definitely looks breezier than pants," He motioned to his own swim trunks. 

"It's too bad you don't wear dresses, Seabird," Covah hummed, moving to his jewelry box to change out pieces. "It's really freeing. I always feel really pretty and rebellious wearing this stuff."

Cove laughed shyly, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, "Oh- y'know I've never tried before- and I don't know if I'd even like it." He laughed again, more disparagingly, "I probably couldn't pull it off as well as you do-"

Covah stopped mid putting on an earring, slowly looking over his shoulder at Cove. His gaze was unreadable.

"Wh-What?" Cove swallowed, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Covah very slowly finished clasping the earring, before stepping over to his closet with purpose. His gaze was determined and… almost angry.

"Covah?" Cove fidgeted with the torn up arms of Covah's desk chair as Covah went through his dresses carefully. "What are you-"

Covah, in one fluid motion, pulled out a dress and pushed it against Cove's chest. "Change. Now." His voice was flat and low. Almost dangerous with how jaded it was.

"Wh-What?!" Cove went red again in surprise, "I-"

"You-" Covah poked Cove's chest with each statement, "Are going to put on this dress. You are not going to look until you're fully dressed. And you are going to see how you feel about it."

"What you are not going to do-" Covah poked him again, harder, "Is stop yourself from trying something just because you think someone is better at it," He was practically hissing now, he was so worked up, "And you- Cove James Holden- Are going to figure out if you like to wear dresses. Right here. Right now."

"I-" Cove squeaked, not used to seeing Covah his worked up towards him, "I don't have any underwear-" 

"Put it on over your swimsuit." Covah was leaving no room for argument, arms crossed now and face hard. 

Cove looked at the dress that had been pushed into his lap. It was majorly white but, at the bottom was three rows of differently colored "waves" of "ocean". There were a few "birds" flying in the waves and above them. 

He swallowed thickly, clenching his fists shakily.

"If you truly feel uncomfortable, I won't push it," Covah quietly added, "I just… Think you should try it. Not hold yourself back, y'know?"

Cove nodded shakily, "Y-Yeah I…" He nodded again, "I guess… I should try it once, yeah? Just to see if I really… Don't like it."

Covah smiled a supportive, comforting smile, "And I'm right here if you get overwhelmed." 

Cove nodded again, smiling shakily up to Covah, "Y-Yeah…. Thanks." 

He stood up from the chair, careful to step over where Honeysuckle lay still, watching Cove curiously, and unzipped the back of the dress slowly. He made sure to face away from the mirror Covah had in the room, since Covah said to not look until he was done. 

Cove looked at Covah's intent gaze, "Can uhm-" He rubbed the fabric of the dress between two fingers. It was soft- "Can you not look until I'm done, too? I think I'll chicken out if you watch-" 

Covah only nodded and put a hand over his eyes. Blinding himself to what Cove was doing.

Cove swallowed. It was just him…. And Honeysuckle. "You think your dog will judge me for being so nervous? She's probably seen you do this a hundred times-"

"Honeysuckle doesn't judge people. She's too good of a girl to do that," Covah hummed.

"She is a really good girl-" Cove laughed nervously.

Honeysuckle made a small "boof" noise in reply.

Cove swallowed. Okay. He could do this- Just step into the dress (shakily, he had to try getting his foot into the thing three times).... Reach back…. And zip… it… up…

"O-Okay-" Cove nodded once the thing was all zipped up. He'd closed his eyes tight at one point during the process. "I'm- yeah." He nodded, keeping his eyes shut. He didn't want to see Covah's probably disappointed face when he- "You can look."

He heard Covah gasp after a beat. A small, tentative, emotional, "oh Seabird-" came from Covah.

"Is it that bad?" Cove grimaced, fists clenched into the skirt of the offending fabric. His eyes were still shut tight.

"No- You look-" Covah sounded… Happy? "You need to look! This is- Wow. I picked a good one for you."

Cove startled at that sentence. He looked-? He turned heel to look in the mirror, eyes snapping open to see-

"Oh."

It was… cute! 

"I-" He smiled wobblily, face reddening for a new reason now, "I like it."

"Yeah?!" Covah bounced in excitement.

"Yeah-" Cove nodded, voice cracking, turning every which way to look at the dress from every angle he could. It was flattering- Showing off his form nicely while being breezy. He thought he still preferred pants- knowing he didn't want to dirty himself like he likely would while being this cute- but it was… Nice. For days he wanted to be… Cute.

"Y-Yeah," Cove nodded again, "I think-" He smiled shyly, "Maybe… I'll keep it on? And we can… Go back outside? Maybe uhm-... walk on the beach?" He looked at Covah, "If uhm- that's okay. Our uhm… Stuff is still there, after all."

"You can keep the thing forever if you want!" Covah grinned, leaning forward to grab Cove's arm and pull him outside, "Come on-! Oh- I'm so proud and excited for you-! I'm- Proud-cited-! Ex-oud? Proud-cited sounds better."

Cove laughed as Covah led him back outside and to the beach quickly. 

Cove ended up keeping the dress after that day.. 

And wearing even more after his mom insisted on getting him a variety to wear.

guess who’s back in the building again

(can I just say what a glow up from how I last drew him)

darling 💙🌊

I started playing Our Life because... I was going through a rough time and I realized vns put a bit of spark back.

How I ended up with Our Life I can’t say with certainty but I do know it felt like fate.

I was really suffering through an identity crisis and being able to make choices that sounded like me and didn’t change the story drastically it was more for the experience than progressing forward.

I was able to find myself and truly embrace who I am. So even if it was just a game to be accepted for who I was with no pushback. It was something I desperately needed at the time.

So I want to thank Our Life, especially Cove, for getting me through that. As well as fully igniting a burning flame that even set ablaze my creativity that had been nothing more than a dying ember at that point lol

I am so grateful that I plan to get that ocean water sleeve tattoo!

So thank you GBPatch please don’t stop making games I will follow your progress even if the games take new paths you have a loyal follower!

Okay community, I want to know your origin story! ✨

So if you could, please finish this sentence:

I started playing Our Life because...

Lost in the mall… (1/2)

finally got off my ass and did the color wheel challenge from twt! :3

i replayed our life again and i had to draw my cove :3 i love this game so much <3