Welcome to the party

Fun fact, Vincent and Clara met online. Vince messaged Clara on OKCupid back in 2013. Clara saw his message when she logged in to deactivate her profile (because she was trying really hard to date one of her IRL friends - obviously, that didn't work out). Although Clara lived in Illinois and Vince was prepping to move to Seattle, she thought he looked cool so she messaged him back. The beginning of their friendship consisted of Vince being Clara's hype man as she showed off the datable ladies in her life. Eventually, Vince convinced Clara to start playing Destiny with him on PS4. The two became inseparable to the point that all of Clara's friends started referring to Vince as her "Destiny boyfriend." When Clara decided to move to Florida to escape the frozen state budget in Illinois, Vince tried to convince her not to come. He flew up to Illinois to meet in person and - PLOT TWIST - they instantly fell into dating mode. A few months later, Clara joined Vince in Orlando, where she coerced all his friends and coworkers into playing bar trivia every week. They continued to play Destiny together for years. Destiny was a lynchpin in the relationship as it gave them an easy and engaging way to spend time together even through periods of long distance. Although they no longer play Destiny, their computers are set up side by side so they can backseat game for each other anytime they want, and their shared Steam library is almost as massive as their love for each other. ❤

Clara proposed to Vince over Christmas 2024 at his family's house in Clearwater, Florida. Vince had spent innumerable hours prepping to run a game of MÖRK BORG (our favorite dark fantasy TTRPG) for his family as a Christmas gift. He drew custom art of all the characters, hand-painted wooden meeples to look like said characters, and even designed and illustrated a movie-style poster to represent the game. He printed and framed a 24x36 inch poster for everyone in the game as a bonus holiday gift. When Clara saw this happening, she thought, "This is the moment." She named her character Pandora and told Vince that Pandora had a small box that she carried with her everywhere. Periodically throughout the game, she would check to make sure the box was still there, but would never reveal what was inside. Clara told Vince that her goal was to drive the other players crazy with hidden knowledge that literally didn't matter to the plot of the game. Vince approved the character concept and thought nothing of it. Game day arrives, and everyone is having a blast around the table. Vince's mom is abusing a spell that allows her to enlarge a dagger to superhuman size and levitate it threateningly anywhere she goes. Vince's dad hurls a grappling hook at his son's head (and it bounces harmlessly off). Vince's brother is busy being a badass samurai while his boyfriend spends his time brewing dubious potions and giggle-brews. At the end of the game, after the party reseals the doorway that will invite death and doom upon the land, Pandora kneels down in front of the door to conduct her own small ritual. She pulls the box from her satchel. At the same time, in real life, Clara pulls a small wooden box from the bag at her feet and kneels down on one knee as she says, "Vincent, will you marry me?" Inside the box is a black bracelet that she had spent hours picking out, because Vince despises the sound of rings banging against his drawing tablet while he arts. Vince's immediate response was "Are you serious?" because he couldn't tell if Clara (Pandora?) was doing a bit. But then he did officially say YES! Meanwhile, Vince's brother was snapping pics on his phone, his dad was laughing, his mom was crying in the corner - the scene was pure, beautiful chaos. Just the way it should be. According to Vince, Clara stole all his thunder and totally overshadowed his Christmas gift to his family - but he wouldn't have it any other way.