August Event

[adsum]

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Please let August be better than July I'm begging

✽ Due to 10+ classes raising their ranks last month, ALL characters have access to the courtyard via the door in the locker area and the windows facing the courtyard.
✽ Characters with 1-10 tallies are not able to get any further past the end of the courtyard before they fall unconscious; characters with 10-20 can get halfway to the pool building before the same happens to them; characters with 20+ tallies can reach the pool building but unfortunately, the door is on the other side. There are no windows on the walls, but from the clocktower, characters can see that it has a glass ceiling, though they are unable to see inside.
✽ Outside, there is no breeze, and it occasionally rains ash.
✽ Characters going up to the 4th floor will feel that the door is warm to the touch, and will occasionally open (see: missions)
✽ The student store opens, with the door propped open with a doorstopper. The npc running the store is currently not interested in conversation, but may be available for threading in the future and is available for threading in the toplevel below. Please see the updated bonus activity page for more information.
✽ Posted on the bulletin board and also handed to each club president before break is the notice that proof of club activity is due at the end of break. Please submit these proofs in the toplevel below.
✽ There is another ad on the bulletin board advertising an exchange student program for the month of October. Applications will be taken until the end of August, and there is a 300 merit point fee. Sister cities include Death City, Devildom, Ishigami Village, Lanling, LazyTown, and Maiami City.

Comments

[commences]

...Why did you do that?

( a positive response, then the fall of a smile, it's bittersweet, and komaeda attempts to salvage what's there. )

You should smile, no matter the pain that comes from it... it's made you who you are today, isn't that what you said to me...

( happy memories, sad memories, the ones that'll give someone hope... it's needed to help them grow. a frown is nothing but a dead leaf attached to the tree, and it's one that komaeda wants to pluck off. he wants to see this become something more, using it to... smile for something. )

...Have you ever smiled and cried at the same time?

[adsum]

[ Do what— oh, the blender. They turn it off so they can hear Komaeda speak, finger hovering over the power button. ]

Yeah, I do that all the time.

[ Wanting to cry, and then putting a smile on their face so they won't, but sometimes they do. They've gotten very good at that, though. Almost no more cracks. ]

[commences]

You're pretty lucky.

( he says that, but he's reaching out to place his hands on both side of their face, pulling at the corner of their lips to bring upon a forced smile. )

You have to do it for others, because some are unable to do it... to smile for hope, to cry for hope, to do both... is a talent.

( his thumb brushing against npc-kun's cheek, and he smiles himself. ) It's not a bad thing.

[adsum]

[ Are they lucky...? They suppose so, compared to the alternative that is being genuine instead of knowing how to put on an act. Crying on cue is hard when the impulse is to stop, but smiling?

Smiling they can do, bright and cheerful, for the sake of putting others at ease. ]

I know! You don't have to tell me.

[commences]

So don't give up on it, because if you keep up the good work, I can smile too.

( as if komaeda isn't always smiling, as if they they're even genuine — it's just an expression he's molded himself into making. if npc-kun can bring out one that's meaningful, a little better than what komaeda can do. then it'll be fine. )

Oh, this means I can stop praising you now?

( literal... )

[adsum]

No! You have to keep praising me! Don't ever stop!

[ use your words!!!!!

This is a high maintenance hope ]

[commences]

You don't need my words when you have your own.

( like he's teaching them something, or giving advice. )

I believe in you, no matter what, and as long as you remember... it's like I'll praise you every day.

[adsum]

No! I want your words! From you! You have to be here to tell me every day!

[ Memories... sometimes they're not enough, when you go over them again and again until they're worn thin and threaten to fall apart, voices and faces fraying. Memories will be something they'll cherish because that's all that's left when people leave them behind, but until then, they want to hold onto the person as long as they can. ]

[commences]

Those are my words... If I tell you I'm proud of your hope, then that should carry on forever!

( happily, he claps his hands together to prove his point. that hope is the only thing yhay serves such importance and should be enough than words said every day, but he has a feeling it won't be that simple.

he watches them, staring for a moment, and then he nods: )

Because everyone is proud of hope, there's never a day that goes by, isn't it nice... universal praise, unspoken, because that's the way we live.

( how komaeda lives. )

[adsum]

[ ughhhhhhh it's like that whole "remember, God loves you" thing that people are so fond of saying but there never is any proof, no kind words, no smiles, no hugs, it's not enough. ]

It's nice, but I want yours on top of that. I want both.

[commences]

( OH SHUT UP IT ISSSSS SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP. and komaeda's religious i CANT. )

You'll always have my words as long as you remain hopeful. ...If you lose that hope, if you fail, and give up, I won't have anything else to say.

( so don't disappoint him... which he has a feeling npc-kun won't, because they're too goal oriented... focused on one thing, arata's have a tendency to never really give up. that's what makes them insufferable, they don't understand when they've lost.

...

that's not a bad thing. )

These are my genuine feelings, I want to see you prevail. If I believe in you, what will happen...?

[adsum]

[ Losing hope isn't ever a concern for them, because that's right: they're the best and so they cannot fail, and so long as they're alive they will not give up on their goal.

Which means... Komaeda will talk to them forever! Yes. ]

If you believe in me, I'll be happy! And ensuring my happiness if your utmost priority!

[commences]

...There are better people who can do that which isn't me.

( ensuring their happiness, that's something they can only do if they put their mind to it — interact with others, create bonds. )

To keep you happy, knowing someone like me... I'll disappoint you. People find it difficult to smile when speaking to me, they always seem disappointed, sad, and irritated... ahaha, I'm pretty pathetic, P-kun.

[adsum]

[ Ensuring their happiness is everybody's priority, so it doesn't matter if Komaeda is bad at it, he still contributes in his own way. Besides, they've never really been disappointed by him, or sad or irritated or anything like that and not immediately bounce back up.

All that aside—- ]

P-kun...?

[ Komaeda had bought their name, and they expressed not wanting him to use it. So it's Pebble-kun... ]

[commences]

NPC-kun seems rude, despite many people do play the side character, I think I can give you more credit than just that.

( p-kun has meaning too, it has pebble-kun, and there can only be one p-kun that matches rock-kun, and so there's harmony. it's quite funny how things add up in a way, the truth lingering around them. )

Unless I should call you something else that you like.

[adsum]

[ Thinks about it... K-kun from Keigo would make more sense but that's so awkward to say so they strike that out. There's always just Keigo... or their nickname... or the other nickname... ... ... ]

Shopkeep-kun is okay.

[commences]

Keep-kun?

( sounds long, maybe he should go back to p-kun which is easily said, and the p is still at the end which makes it a just as valid nickname. )

P-kun...

[adsum]

[ Oh so Komaeda just tossed their preferences out the window, why even ask ]

...Sure. What do I call you?

[ asks for Komaeda's name a cumulative 800 comments later ig ]

[commences]

As a shopkeeper, my name doesn't do anything for your sales, rather... it would do the opposite!

( so this means komaeda doesn't have to give away his name!! )

[adsum]

[ ...That's true. Komaeda's kind of weird, so if they mention him being a regular customer maybe people will start avoiding their shop. ]

Okay. I'll just go "hey you" then.

[commences]

...A general you, I may not notice...

( as if he's fishing for something specific, or maybe he wants to see how much his time is valued... or he just likes to see the other make demands, komaeda's always like dealing with bossy people. )

[adsum]

Not a general you. Yu.

[ Like the name, which they trace 友 in the air with their finger as one of the ways to write it.

"friend" ]

[commences]

( are they renaming komaeda, i am tearing up. but it does catch him off guard, staring in their direction, blinking... )

Really? Am I deserving of something like that?

( his parents didn't give him a nickname, hell, they didn't want to say his name if they could help it. the first time he got a nickname here was because of rika, and he took that pretty well even though it's different, just like this...

it always starts off different with him. )

[adsum]

Hm? You don't have to deserve things. Just say yes or no.

[ If he likes it, he's Yu-kun. If he doesn't, there's a thousand billion other names npc-kun can go through and they'll find something acceptable, eventually. ]

[commences]

( part of me wants to see what names they go for, just because that's cute. )

...You can call me trash, garbage, waste, cockroach...

( but he mutters "yu" to himself, seeing how the name plays out on his tongue. )

Does it fit me? ( "yu" but they can say trash does too. )