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“Okay! You’re all set!” Ángel’s thumbs up appeared above the camera, giving Raquel the usual starting signal. A last look into the mirror behind the camera, a last check to see if her hair fell the right way, her make up was in place and the light supported her appearance. Go.
She looked right ahead, a genuine smile on her face. “Hello my beauties, welcome to another video. For today, I’ve kind of planned something different: You guys are my crux and you support me with all your heart, no matter what and I’m so incredibly thankful to have you. You’ve been with me through the good and bad times“ - at this point, she let out a humorous little laugh – “kind of like in a marriage. So, I wanted to give some of the love back that you show me every day.” With a suspenseful smile she reached behind her to pull her phone out of her back pocket. “Today, I’ll be reading and responding to some of your comments!” The grin on her face was as genuine as ever as she unlocked her phone, tapped on her last video and scrolled down to her comments.
“First up we have – and I’m sorry if I don’t quite get your name right – Nashua E. That’s a really cute profile picture by the way.” She paused to look up and wink at the camera before she resumed reading. “I clicked as soon as the notification came, and I liked your video before I even started watching. After finishing it I can only say thank you for another great video and I love your creativeness.” Raquel felt warmth and gratefulness flooding her. “Ahw, that is so sweet! Thank you so much for being such a great fan, the dedication you have is so uplifting and comments like yours truly inspire me. My creativeness comes from your love." She blew a kiss at the camera, then decided to go for the comment right underneath it. “Alright, this one’s from Julia Muñoz: I just tried the whipped coffee with the instructions from the video and it works! It tastes so good! Thanks for that hack.” The fact that people were actually trying the things she showed them at home was making her happier than ever. “Julia, I am so happy you tried it and even happier you liked it. I didn’t say this is the video, but here’s a super secret tip from me: Sprinkle some sweetened cocoa powder on it, it gives the coffee an extra kick.”
Ángel, fully immersed in keeping the camera steady and focused, smiled at what she said. He’d once told her he stuck around because she was a great advice-giver and a handywoman. She’d replied that he only said that because he wanted her to fix his broken bookshelf. “Onto the next one.” Raquel said, once again fully focused. It was what her fans deserved.
“Natalie Serquel with an exclamation mark behind it-“ She laughed a bit too enthusiastically, covering up the recognition of a tenacious so called “shipname” her community had for a guy she- enough of that. Her thoughts were wandering in a direction she really didn’t want to go. She caught herself, her hand shooting up to glide through her hair, setting a strand back to where it belonged. “Natalie says: Thank you for the subtitles, I’m trying to learn Spanish but it’s hard, so I really appreciate the effort you put into translating to English. Love your videos!” She grinned at the camera. “I love you. But actually, the mastermind behind the subtitles is mostly my dear friend and reliable cameraman Ángel though! Hi Ángel!” She waved at the man behind the camera and laughed when he awkwardly waved back. “Say something, they can’t see you dummie!” A shy “Hello.” came from him and she giggled even more. “So a big thank you to him for putting the real quality into my videos and translating everything. You’re my guy.” He flashed her a grin and murmured “Your videos are amazing without my work anyway.” She knew she’d definitely subtitle that later in editing.
She was about to scroll down some more to find unpopular comments when a white hook of a verified account caught her eye. Not even having read the name, she excitedly exclaimed: “Oh! Next up we have someone famous commenting on my video! Wonder who that might be.” She looked up to the camera, a secretive smile on her face, then looked back down on her phone. “Se-“ But she didn’t get any further. The smile on her lips turned into a thin line, her facial expression fell. She didn’t really trust her voice when she addressed her friend. “Ángel, could you stop recording please? We’ll cut it together later.”