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adsum ([personal profile] adsum) wrote in [community profile] yogen2021-10-02 07:12 pm

October Event


10/02 06:12

✽ Silence lifts at six in the morning, and there is still quite a bit of time before classes start. Early risers who decide to return to school from the dorms cross the courtyard and open the double doors and—- something cold and wet drips down onto their head: old blood from the torso of a student(?) bound by rope and strung up above the doors to the courtyard, body burned black and cut in half at the waist.
The air is heavy, and the entire school smells of blood.

Hope... month...

✽ A large poster advertising the student store has been tacked up on the bulletin board. For October, store hours are now 6AM to 8PM Monday to Saturday, and noon to 4PM on Sundays. Outside of those hours, the shopkeeper is occasionally in the shop and will leave the door propped open if they are, but more often than not, the door is closed and there is no answer when knocking on the door. Laundry tokens can now be purchased at a reasonable price. The rock gacha machine is now located just outside the door so it can be played at any time. Please continue to spend your hard-eared points on plain boring normal rocks.
✽ In the dormitory, the construction paper covering the oil paintings start to soak through with blood, causing the papers to grow heavy and fall. The distorted faces in the paintings seem to be bleeding from their open wounds, the canvas wet to the touch and smelling of blood. Blood dripping down the walls and on the floor do not cause the dorms to change, nor do the splatters of blood seen on the glass over the star dormitory rooms occasionally throughout the month, as if it had rained blood in the darkness and silence of night, although no other evidence is seen elsewhere in the courtyard.
✽ The wisteria tree slowly continues to lose its petals, and the area roughly ten feet around the trunk of the tree has become completely dead and barren, leaving dry dirt underneath. Despite shedding its petals, new buds are becoming noticeable now too. The spider lilies that bloomed during the autumnal equinox remain, still covering the rest of the courtyard and extending into the forest surrounding the school. Outside, the air smells faintly metallic at all times.
✽ Occasionally throughout the month and increasing in frequency and intensity towards the end of the month, characters with 13 or more tallies will find themselves sensitive to sunlight and loud noises, prone to vertigo upon standing or turning too quickly, and suffering ice pick headaches throughout the day.
✽ Characters with 5 or less tallies will hear faint white noise during the normally silent hours of midnight to 6AM, but no other sound.
✽ The class roster on the bulletin board acknowledges class 1-D for leading the rest of the classes in rank, being the first to reach 100. All characters in first year classes and #-D classes will receive 500 merit points and will be able to exit out the front door to the school. They will be able to make it up to the front gate, but will find themselves growing lightheaded and about to pass out if they try to squeeze through the bars or climb over the gate itself. Please contact me privately if they would try to get out anyways.
✽ The void in the auditorium continues to grow, and (pending character interaction) by the end of the month will encompass the entire right wing of the first floor past the lockers, the home ec cooking room on the second floor, as well as the art club room on the third floor.

Exchange Program

✽ On October 11, students participating in the exchange program are given one pocket knife each and sent out the front doors, upon which they will find themselves in that canon location as if they had stepped out of any normal door in the area. For characters who visit their own canon's location, they will find all their friends and family alive and happy— except for the one person they are closest to, who will be absent. Nobody there will recognize your character or the person they are closest to, regarding both as complete strangers, as if neither have ever existed in the first place. But otherwise... think of it as canon good end, in contrast to elevator bad end.
✽ There is no bus to take them back to Yogen and they can stay as long as they'd like, even forever if they feel like it. If they wish to return to their real home, though, they would have to first return to Yogen and figure things out from there. The first time they open the pocket knife, they will find a piece of paper tucked between the blade and the handle reading "Use to return." If they use it on other people, that's the local law enforcement's business. In order to return to Yogen, perhaps remembering Natsume's presentation mentioning how they got there in the first place, they will have to use the knife on themselves, or otherwise die by happenstance or, eventually, old age. Two weeks after their return to school, they will find one additional tally on the inside of their wrist.
✽ In return, Yogen receives three exchange students: two familiar and one not.

OOC

✽ The first prompt leads into this month's mini-event, which is becoming a misnomer, maybe they should be called murder events instead.
✽ All students leaving on the exchange program will icly be gone for at least 10/11 - 10/17, although they will be able to return at any later date in October, at the player's discretion, regardless of how much time they experienced on their trip. Just like in the bad end elevator and the void school, nothing physical can be taken back from the exchange trip, but characters can at least drain their bank accounts eating good food and exploring town before coming back.
✽ The new exchange students are former npcs Kouji Seki and Chiaki Kudo, as well as a new student ???. They can be interacted with in their corresponding toplevels below, after 10/11.
subtract: a system shut down (Y-0211)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-07 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[He was trying to ignore Komaeda, but then there go the lights. He sighs loudly, slamming his book shut.]

Stop harassing Massacre. [it guards his stuff? it's doing a great job?? please,]
commences: (pic♯15047356)

[personal profile] commences 2021-10-07 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Massacre?

( that's... it's name. hm, not too bad, but komaeda looks towards add's voice as he tries to find where he is — does his eye glow in the dark, little things to know. )

Ask if it'll turn back on the lights... my arm doesn't work.

( he tries to move his fingers, but nothing!! he could be patient, but this is the quickest way to get add's attention. )
subtract: as you stand in falling rain (Y-0327)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-07 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, Massacre. I can't just call it "it". [Massacre is a cute name... though maybe he can still experiment with it a little. Destroyer? Executioner? Homicide? Hmmm.

but anyway, yeah, his eyes totally glow. He basically has his own built-in nightvision. He swings his legs over the bed so he can walk over to where Komaeda is, crouching down next to the weird cat-bear-head-bot to... gently scritch it behind its metal ears. It responds with another weak flash of electricity, which doesn't turn the lights back on but does make some of Add's hair stick up.]


... poor electrical insulation, noted. I'll ensure that issue is taken care of. [aka "sounds like a you problem"] Electronic signals exchanged between machines are not unlike a form of communication... think of it as Massacre's way of saying "hello". It only went this far because you were prodding it.
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-09 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
So it likes me? Does that make us parents?

( he asks, jumping all hoops and hurdles as he looks towards add's voice for confirmation — komaeda can't see like he does, not as clear, but closing his eyes tightly, before relaxing, and steadily opening them will reveal his own red eyes — glowing in the dark, giving him a little bit of leverage. it reminds him of the times of making his way through the underground of towa city, and if he concentrates... he can see better than when he isn't trying.

though, that part of him is short-lived, his eyes dying back down to their simple shade of green, no longer that blazing warm color. )


I'm already a father, but I'll share custody with you, Add-kun! That makes you my wife, so please take care of me.
subtract: oh, only silence can restore (Y-0380)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-09 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
[well that's fucking weird??? okay, sure. he'll raise an eyebrow at the glowing eyes but he's pretty sure they're not cybernetic so that ain't his business.

picking up Massacre to cradle the cutie lil menace in his arms... adorable. unlike the nonsense Komaeda is spewing again.]


That's not how anything works. I want a divorce.
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-09 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
( call it tweaking the vision, but despair mode, but that's all it is. gives him enough leeway to kneel down next to them both, and he uses his organic hand to keep to himself... he was going to reach out and pat, but what if he ends up touching not massacre? )

Hm? You have to pay for a divorce, don't you know how this works?

( "that's not how anything works" but also "i want a divorce" priorities. )

It's fine, Add-kun... a family can be two people and their electricity inclined robotic bear-rat! Besides, you're doing a great job already.
subtract: to be nowhere (Y-0394)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-12 11:49 am (UTC)(link)
Mariticide is also an option, if that's what you'd prefer. [don't say yes you weirdo

anyway, lights... the lack of lights is annoying. Add glances over at Dynamo, sending a silent signal to the drone so it can zip out of the room and figure out where the circuit breakers or whatever are in this building. Dynamo is a smart, it can figure this out on its own, probably.

And Massacre can stay in his arms, because Massacre is a perfect bot who has done no wrong, except electrocuting everyone it touches. Add carries it over to his bed so he can flop down and stare at the skylight. If it's dark then I guess it's nighttime, maybe they have pretty stars to look at.]


... The view isn't so bad, at least. Like camping without the hassle. [and the sigh that comes after is a bit wistful, like he doesn't entirely hate camping... maybe it's just the nice memories that come with it.]
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-12 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
( he wants to say "me or yourself", he remembers the conversation they had last time, how add's feelings played a hand in his actions. there's no reason to push it, but it stays on komaeda's mind when he sees add, and between the two of them, someone could wind up dead depending on their actions.

he glances towards the light switch once dynamo floats over to click it on, and with his eyes, he follows add to see where he goes. as soon as he makes himself comfortable: )


Hm... You think so... It'd be the best place to watch fireworks without being in a noisy place.

( holding his mechanical arm, he crawls over to the bed, back pressed up against the side, and he lifts his head to watch the stars as they shine above. he's silent at first as he can hear the small buzzing which comes from massacre, enjoying the small sound until he manages to form his words that's engaging to add's sigh. )

Do you have a favorite?

( sky, that is. he's a time-travaler, and so he must have seen many different ones. he should comment since the other can't read his mind. )

Sky, that you've seen throughout your years... which one would be the best to camp under?
subtract: the will to hold on (Y-0252)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-12 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[Simple questions with simple answers. His reply comes without hesitation:]

Mine.

[because it's the only sky worth remembering, to him. maybe other skies are prettier, or brighter, or clearer, but they're not the ones that are important. there's only ever been one world he wanted to stay in.

(but maybe that's no longer true... and that's the thought that scares him, that he immediately buries at the back of his mind. not right now.)]


... differences between adjacent timelines are usually minor, anyway. This one is... [hmm] Ursa Major is out of alignment. Visible distance to Polaris is a bit wider... maybe the angle is different...?
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-13 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
Let me take a look...

( because he's not in the same position as add, he won't be able to see what he sees, so he turns around where he sits, and he places his hands on the edge of the bed to lift himself up. eyes stare up at the window above them, the stars twinkling and glittering, and every so often they wink at them as their light disappears, and then comes back. as he looks at this dark, but blue sky filled with little, tiny lights — he can only remember the red sky back home that covered the stars, almost like a blanket of blood that reflects all the lives lost to despair, and how suffocating the air was around them. )

Back home, our sky didn't have these anymore, but when I was younger... I could see it all. ( he points to where he thinks the ursa minor is, and if polaris isn't in the correct spot, this makes it a little tedious. )

It always seemed like the Little Dipper poured a river of stars into the Big Dipper... as for Polaris, he's respected amongst many astronomers and travelers... How it represents guidance, hope, luck, freedom, constancy, and even life's purpose... I wonder if that's why people lifted their heads to the stars when they had nowhere to go...

( maybe that's why his stars disappeared back home, because that freedom was taken from them such a long time ago. he knows that add probably doesn't want to talk about those pieces of symbolism, and so he continues: )

What was your sky like?
subtract: the sense of place I had before (Y-0381)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-15 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's a poetic description, and of course he finds a way to connect it to hope somehow... it's the first part that catches Add's attention, though, as much as Komaeda tries to sweep it aside. Back home, our sky didn't have these anymore.

What sort of tragedy befell his world...? Add wouldn't know. He's never really asked, never really tried to care, but... it's an idle curiosity. What kind of sky did Komaeda look up to, devoid of the hope and guidance of the stars?]


... Not much different from this one. I'm an engineer, not an astronomer. [what little he knows about the stars is mostly just for navigation purposes, little tricks he picked up from his travels. he's fond of the night sky, and his memory is sharp enough to recall it in detail, but pointing out the specific movements of stars between two reference points wouldn't be much of a conversation.]

Tell me more about yours. Event that removed stars from the sky, or otherwise caused them to no longer be visible... Elrios also underwent various cataclysmic events, so I'm curious if there are any similarities.
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-15 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
( komaeda doesn't say much about his word because of the few people that are here, those that also reside there but don't have the knowledge of what really happened. he remains silent as he watches the stars, the tiny dots in the sky blinking every moment, and the moon accompanying them side by side. it's easy to become lost in them despite their use is for a person to find their way north or home, and his mouth parts with a small sigh as he looks down towards add now. he glances back towards where hinata's bed is, seeing that he's not here, and komaeda weighs the pros and cons of saying anything. )

...The world lost hope.

( as simple as that, because despair reigned supreme, and a worldwide tragedy was caused that plummeted everything that they knew into the darkness, never to see the light of day again. )

The sky an angry red, air so polluted that it became unbreathable... the world wasn't inhabitable anymore, and so the dark sky swallowed up everything, and so... despair destroyed what it could touch. That's some of what came from The Tragedy back home...

( isn't funny that it's actually called the tragedy? either way, komaeda manages to keep a smile until he turns away from add to sit back down, facing the opposite wall like before. his head no longer looks up at the sky, and a sliver of a frown manages to creep on his face in thought — that world that he had taken part in to destroy, the starts aren't visible because of the hand his class dealt — it was their job as ultimate despair to cover the world in it, take away hope, and gain a high off those who suffered through horrible means. he remembers mahiru calling them all "sinners" who needed to repent. )

Heh, heh... even the stars couldn't avoid despair's reach.
Edited 2021-10-15 17:55 (UTC)
subtract: and we get so scared (Y-0393)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-16 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
[The glance at Hinata's bed doesn't go unnoticed—he'll connect those dots later, though. For now his attention is on Komaeda, the wistful way he describes a world without hope. It sounds metaphorical, but for all he knows Komaeda is being literal... is there a world where hope and despair, concepts that should only exist in the human mind, can have a tangible impact on the environment as well?

Maybe... he still doesn't really know what that word means to Komaeda. But it's not a topic he wants to broach anymore, at least not directly. He listens in silence, watching from the corner of his eye until all he can see is the back of his komaheada.]


Balancing force that's lost or destroyed, leading to the onset of chaos... events like that don't exist in a vacuum, though. If it was lost, then there was a flaw with it to begin with.

[besides... chaos also serves an important role in the world. upheaval, the driving force of change, to be pushed out of comfort to carve your own future... or to reset everything back to zero, start again from the ashes left behind. if order was never challenged, what reason would there be for ambition? why would anything have to change or grow? what would happiness mean if it was unearned?

maybe that's what "hope" is. he mulls on it a moment longer, sighing softly.]


... stars are too far away to be affected by events on the planetary scale. They haven't gone anywhere, so...

[they'll come back, just like hope will.]
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-16 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
( he thinks about it, the sky above that's colored red — maybe a memoir to all the lives lost during the parade, and then the worldwide tragedy. that could be it, but truth be told, it can be written off as global warming as to why they can't see the stars. despite despair taking a bite out of everything, he does manage to hold a smile, don't worry, komaeda's the king of upholding hope no matter the situation. )

Lack of hope seems to destroy from the inside out, and that's why the entire world has a wound on the surface...

( and add's right, the stars are too far away to be bothered by what happens on a simple planet — how despair can't reach that far and wide to crush them just like that, those little specs of hope and guidance still exist, just covered by a blanket that stands between both parties. that's how it should be, actually, and komaeda thinks of that sky, and compared it to the sky within the simulation, and then to the sky made in purgatory. the simulations were made to be so bright, almost too good to be true, and maybe he's glad that was an interaction before the sky was lit ablaze. )

If they lost their stars ( because komaeda is no longer there, those aren't his stars anymore ) what you're saying is that hope will grow from the roots, and blossom anew... the world will heal itself, and the stars will one day come back for others to look up to?

( he bends his legs up against his chest, arms crossed over his knees as he lays his head down. once they're free again, once the despair removes itself, and their beauty is shown once more... nothing is truly evil unless it's wholly despair itself. maybe that's why he has such high hopes in add, for him to even say such a thing — or close to it — someone who acts like a dark smog cast upon others with painful words and actions, but behind them comes such sincere gestures, and that's why so many people like and rely on him. there's something blinding about add, even if he doesn't show it to them — it's that little hope that he has hidden behind the smoke. )

You're right; that hope is always there... ( he turns to look at him with this dumb smile, satisfied as if it relates... and there's a brief moment he wants to look into the other's eyes. ) even if it's not visible.
subtract: there's nothing to plan (Y-0376)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-18 10:27 am (UTC)(link)
[He's still watching while Komaeda speaks, up until he turns to give Add that weird smile... and he starts to feel embarrassed for some reason. It's not like he was trying to cheer Komaeda up or anything, he was just stating the facts. Maybe it's because of all this talk about healing and growth and invisible hope...

Ugh. He sits up, trying not to show his face anymore in case its flushing. Not that it would be.]


You're always talking nonsense... hope or despair or whatever, there's likely a scientific explanation for any physical phenomena.

In Elrios... about five hundred years ago, there was an explosion that destroyed the world's primary source of El. [has he ever bothered to explain El to Komaeda? whatever, it's fine, sometimes your world is just powered by a giant life-sustaining space crystal] Severe earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters followed, which many attributed to the wrath of the gods... but the more logical explanation is that the sudden burst of energy, followed by the uneven dispersal of El throughout the continent, placed the environment in an unstable state that it had no choice but to adjust to. Disasters reshaping the continent and even splitting it in two had more to do with the balance of elemental energy being redistributed than anything "divine" in nature.

I don't know if "hope" actually has anything to do with your problem, but it's difficult to destroy a world to a point where it can't be recovered. That's all I was saying.
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-18 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
( the talk about hope beneath the conversation is the root of everything, and when komaeda thinks back on his world, he believes the step moving forward would have involved it. despite what happened to the world, it's not like komaeda lost all hope, it's the opposite actually, even while he drowned in despair, he still fought for his beliefs — even if his actions meant to allow despair to grow, cover the entire world, then burn it down so that only hope remained so it's roots would grow, and the seedlings can push through the earth. )

That's the type of planet you come from...

( he's heard about it in books, or typical science jargon where a certain amount of energy keeps the product running, and it's the same concept that he can apply here. just like hope kept his world running, the concept of el did the same thing for add's world. well, the other's world is more fantasy than komaeda's world, but the base is that it all ran off something for the state of life to go completely unbotbered until that specific source was taken away. )

If an explosion could cause that,  I'm guessing El came from something specific than being the natural flow within the world... because then whatever caused that explosion would have removed it entirely...

( he pushes himself up on the bed, sitting down properly as his legs press together, and hands rest on the seat of his lap. he keeps his eyes up on the stars now given the back add turned away from him, and because of the moon's glow, there's something about them both covered in its cool warmth that expresses the make-up of their appearance. or so, komaeda thought when he watched add lay down, and for the other to be closer to the light, maybe he could have gotten a better look. )

Is that why you became a mad scientist, or, no... what's your exact profession?

( because add won't talk about himself freely, and it's these moments to learn when he can. besides, it takes pressure off of admitting what's entirely wrong with his own world. )
subtract: the way back in (Y-0322)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-26 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
I'm an engineer, not a mad scientist. You read too many ridiculous stories... [just don't ask him about his secret underground lab where he keeps samples of toxic robot-controlling parasites and experimental weapons, he is a very normal engineer]

The El Explosion is just an event, it has nothing to do with my goals. Lack of El is a nuisance for my research... but someone else is taking care of it.

[That's... not exactly right. The El Search Party is taking care of the El—restoring it, protecting it, travelling as far as the Demon Realm to stop the people who want to destroy it... and Add did help them, for a time. But he knows if he tells Komaeda he helped with restoring something that important and world-changing that he just now compared to hope, he's going to hear something really annoying in response. So maybe he'll just keep pretending he has nothing to do with any of that.]

Saving the world or whatever... tch, only idealistic little brats have goals like that. I'll reshape the universe to suit me, but a change like that is too much work for how little I'd benefit from it.
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-26 05:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Change the world, huh...

( luckily for add, komaeda won't pry into who are the people fixing the lack of el, and instead he'll think on how it's limited the other so far in his research. he's sure that even so, add must find a way around it, and that's what makes him amazing in a way — )

What's your ideal world, Add-kun?

( no, that's not right, anyone could have an ideal world, but that wouldn't be the world that he'd compose off his own merits, perhaps someone else's. he turns around, keeping his hands in his lap as he stares at the other in interest. )

I want to know the type of world you'd make in general... we can go back and forth too, if you want.
subtract: if you'd only break the walls within (Y-0335)

[personal profile] subtract 2021-10-30 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
[His ideal world...? It's a logical topic to shift to, but it still seems to catch Add off guard. He briefly meets Komaeda's gaze from the corner of his eye before looking away again, scoffing.

they've discussed something like this before, haven't they? to erase the mistake that created my existence... but he never explained it fully, since the situation got out of hand. bringing this up again, like he's expecting some "hopeful" answer...]


... You ask too many annoying questions. You go first. [and then he'll decide after if he feels like sharing or not]
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[personal profile] commences 2021-10-30 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Me first?

( he asks, making sure that add really doesn't want to take his turn at the start. if he went first, that means he could get it out the way, and the last person to explain would feel pressure — not knowing if they should feel good or bad, but if add's honest to himself it shouldn't matter. with the spotlight on komaeda, he thinks about what would be an ideal world: the world that he's always hope for — nothing like the one he dreamt.

the dream of where hope didn't exist, where he was just an ordinary person with no talent and experience the worst of bad luck, where he had friends that cared for him and he them, how he was a protagonist, and that life wasn't fit for him. komaeda doesn't understand that world was his coping mechanism, what kept him holding on, and as his mouth parts. )


My ideal world is a hopeful one, where the majority knows their place, and believe in hope that's before them. ( he stands up, walking over so that he can stare in the center of the room, as he looks up through the window. ) Where those with talent lead, and because of their magnificent abilities, the lesser people can finally work on their own than leeching off the strength of others.

( his arms extend like a puppet, held out by his sides as he presents his idea. it feels right to him, obvious of how the scene should go, and he continues, his voice low... strained almost like it's hard to speak of his failed accomplishment, and maybe he hopes add can't hear him at this point because he's rambling about nonsense the other has never cared for: )

I wanted to be Ultimate Hope, I wanted to mold the world where...

( people would respect him, look up to him, and praise his accomplishments because of how he bettered the world. that was what he wanted when he was young, maybe that selfish acknowledgement of being someone's hope, but he's not like that anymore on the conscious side. his voice lifts up, inhaling as he speaks: )

I want the world covered in hope, to realize Ultimate Hope... ( he doesn't look towards hinata's bed, but he drop his arms down by his side, touching at the arm that was crafted for him. ) is there for everyone... where despair can no longer harm anyone, because his hope trumps all negativity. I want to see people excel by their own abilities... ( he inhales, arms not wrapping around his own waist as nails dig intonthe fabric of his attire. he feels hot here, his body practically burning up, and he's doing everything in his power to swallow down his saliva. )

...No longer seeing people stand confused of what to do, and instead they're nutured like plants that grow strong, that can aim to greater heights! For them to overcome their hardships, to see that they're no longer afraid of what's before them and face it head on! Even if it's through inhumane means, even if they can no longer be happy at the end, as long as that hope is there... whatever they must do to come to a spectacular outcome! I'll die for that! Ahahaaaaah! That's the type of world I'll work for, I'll do anything for...

( even if he's not there to see it, he hopes that the world will enjoy it as much as he would. )
Edited 2021-10-30 18:33 (UTC)