GAME

[copyrights]

Who: YOU
Where: GAME TOWER
When:

[ GAME ALERT GAME ALERT GAME ALERT!!!

However, it looks like today the occupants of the elevator can only be one per ride, so it will take some time for everyone to finish getting into the dorms. For some people, this set up might be familiar. Uh oh, what could this be?

Once you step inside the elevator, Left's face is staring right at you, loud music playing in the background as usual. He's covering his eyes with a piece of paper, smiling peeking underneath instead. At the same time, your phone pings with the rules. ]

I'm soooooooo sad, guys! ♥ They're telling me I'm not taking this seriously enough! W h a a a a a a a t, can you believe this?! Do you think they think I'm not serious? I'm very serious! Seriously ✰ serious! I've told them a million times, but they say I'm just messing around for my own fun! They say things like how once I got this promotion, I only care about making myself look good! W h a a a a a a a t?

Isn't that h ✰ i ✰ l ✰ a ✰ r ✰ i ✰ o ✰ u ✰ s?

First! Of! All! This isn't about me. It's about the idols, isn't it?

Shouldn't they be thinking about you guys and stop worrying about little ol' me? I mean I'm already great anyway. Well, lets ease their fears!

Lets really make sure that this game is about you guys! We'll put the focus on all of you, and we'll make sure every feeling is all about you. That's what the fans want to see, isn't it? Because they ✰ love ✰ you ✰ guys~! Wow wow! They loved this game so lets do it again, but with a Lefty Loosey twist~!

[ Then, the door opens - and you walk into a room. ]

Comments

[rollplayinghouse]

...I did. It was also just about what you would expect.

[Two can play at this game.]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Kill someone and regret it?

[rollplayinghouse]

...In my nightmares I don't regret it.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Interesting.

Doesn't that mean it's easier to tell when it's a nightmare?

[rollplayinghouse]

I don't think that's really how nightmares work.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then is the nightmare when you wake up and realize what could be.

[rollplayinghouse]

...Something like that, maybe.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You know me and nightmares, Maki. I've come to recognize them through repetition. First was King's.

And second was Lady Death's. Of which this was just a repeat.

But I'm still myself in all of them.

Perhaps when you finally define who you are, yours will be less fungible.

[rollplayinghouse]

...The fear is about being someone I'm not. Someone incomprehensible and wrong, who completely loses understanding of what's important.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I still say you're much too stubborn to be anything other than who you want to be.

[rollplayinghouse]

Well, I don't disagree.

And I don't think there's any chance of me deciding that the way to get people to understand me when they're frustrated with me and flowers come out of my mouth every time I talk is to cut them open and plant seeds in their stomachs. It's not that literal.

It just... an expression of a feeling. And even if the presentation is bizarre, the feeling isn't.

But it also isn't anything I don't know about already. So it's not a problem.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Wait what now?]

I'm starting to see a flower and plant theme here.

But is that still your biggest fear? Even after all the progress you made.

[rollplayinghouse]

They were morning glories, of course.

[makes a face]

What, which part? That I can't ever help the people I want to? That they don't even see that I'm trying? That I'm somehow broken in a way that I can't communicate with people properly at all? That everyone thinks I'm angry and spiteful when I actually care?

That i turn inward when I'm isolated, and end up with some twisted logic where I'm justified in hurting the people I care about? That even when I can see the results, I don't realize where I've gone wrong and do it again?

They crammed a lot of things in there. Just a collection of themes from my subconscious. Though I wouldn't say the plants were a feature I'd have introduced in my own.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

And yet if we compare this run to last run, aren't you in a better position than you were before?

[rollplayinghouse]

Of course I am.

But just because I've made progress doesn't mean I've eliminated all my fears. If anything, I've more clearly defined some of them. And being aware of them to avoid them is part of how I got to a better position.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then why did you look so upset just now?

[rollplayinghouse]

...Because it was... an upsetting image.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[I---

This does not compute. Not really.

But he puts a hand on Maki's shoulder anyway]

[rollplayinghouse]

[She steps closer, tucking herself under his arm and turning into his shoulder slightly. And then, a bit petulantly:]

What, I can't be unhappy about a vision of bloodily murdering you without it being a sign I'm still failing at defining my identity, or whatever?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[And finishes wrapping that arm around her waist]

You can be unhappy about whatever you want.

[rollplayinghouse]

[Settles against him.]

Well, there are some things I'll always be unhappy about.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Was that supposed to be a rebuttal?

[rollplayinghouse]

No. It was just a statement.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Well then I'll make a rebuttal.

Try to not make that statement a reality.

[rollplayinghouse]

Well, I'd certainly prefer to be happy. That is what I'm aiming for.