banjoanjo

Lostman Grafitti

-Takamagahara is Central, Tenoroshi Docks is Eastern, Takamagahara is Central.
-I'm cool with discussing pre-existing relationships, but people are unlikely to have ever seen Miyane in person unless they spend a considerable amount of time trying to sneak onto the filming set at the Docks. Or hang out way too much at local karaoke joints.
-Not particularly for or against a Discord, though personally I don't think a group of this size would really need one.
-For Miyane's sister's hider, it should read 'Sou *Miori'

Otherwise, it's time to chiiilllll

Lostman Grafitti

Miyane Sou

_Credit

Identity:
- Miyane Sou (莊 美夜音 Sou Miyane). 서 미아. MiA. She'll respond to all of them with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
- 32 years old. 14th year as a member of legendary idol group, 8team (currently on hiatus). 3rd year since Japan debut.
- Hobbies include spilling lives on hit mobile game, Lolly Lobber, building figurines, binging local dramas, karaoke, piano, drinking with her ex and manager.
- Currently occupies the 5th floor of Hanshin Building of Tamagakahara.
- 163cm. Not allowed to weigh more than 50kg. Pale skin, well-maintained. Long, natural hair, unkempt these days. Usually barefaced. Dresses richer than you (when she actually goes outside).

Psyche: She considers herself rational.

Elegant under pressure. Charming, maybe. They called her 'fatal' back in her prime. Those years of media conditioning classes had railroaded her into playing the ice queen of the group, but that persona wasn't completely unfounded. Miyane deems most things not worth emoting, to the dismay of many.

Beneath all that, she's exhausted. She's got her reasons, of course, but most social obligations seem to tire her out to a more severe extent than most people. If you're a stranger (or... anyone, really), the most you can expect from her is an autograph and a withering smile before she conjures some flimsy excuse to leave. There are only a handful of exceptions to this rule.

She's tired. So she hides. She's tried the resurrection thing and that only panned out mildly well. Knowing the feeling of having the world in your hands isn't all it's cracked up to be. Any middling success that comes after might as well be a failure if it's not breaking through all the ceilings.

So yeah. Miyane considers herself rational. Because the only other word she could use is 'cowardly'.

Background: They called them the nation's girl group.

Not her nation, exactly, but they welcomed her nonetheless. She was too young to realise the significance of it all when she passed the overseas audition.

It only took that one song. One smash hit and success erupted like an atom bomb. They became legends, transcended to previously inconceivable levels of cultural significance. They weren't just another throwaway idol group. They represented an entire continent.

Miyane, or 'MiA' as her stage name dictated, always felt like the ugly duckling of the bunch. She struggled with the language longer than she liked, was a bit too serious on their TV appearances. Too stiff, too foreign. The girls loved her nonetheless, and she loved them back. Maybe a bit too much.

Because when that stupid, bullshit scandal hit, she didn't know what to do. She hid. Then she ran. Real quick too. Didn't stop to even look back and see if they forgave her for taking off.

There were a lot of scrapped ideas. Plans that fell through. She recycled them for their own purposes, trying to reclaim even just a fraction of what she had in Korea. And it worked, to some extent. Her name re-emerged in Japan, risen like a phoenix. There was talk of 8team's next big soloist. Then the usual vitriol caught up and she went back into hiding.

Now she keeps to that barren apartment. Shuts the sunlight out and just... waits. Patiently too. She waits to be forgotten; waits for the end, and with it, sweet release.

Quirks:
- Tugs on her sleeve when stressed. Sniffs the scent of fabric softener from her sleeve when even more stressed.
- Fluent in Japanese and Korean. Speaks enough basic English and Chinese to hail a taxi in their respective countries.
- Theme

Lostman Grafitti [Character Driven Urban Fantasy]

I did have one in mind, but I think it'll be more fun to have you make it up to see what I can improv around it.

Cos I based it around the Korean idol industry and the wacky real-life scandal stuff that comes out of it ranges from "slept/smoked pot with an underage trainee" to "bought real estate one time" to "is an actual pimp, also evaded a shit ton of taxes" to "accidentally used the Imperial Japan Snapchat filter on Korean Independence Day" to "was exposed using legally prescripted anti-depressants for professionally diagnosed mental health issues, how immoral" to "straight up sexually assulted someone" to "stared too long at another idol".

So feel free to shop around.

Lostman Grafitti [Character Driven Urban Fantasy]

@ERode

Hi. I haven't proof-read this.

Her Lostman power. Miyane's biggest and most present wish is to be forgotten by the general public and to have her name vanish from the public eye. She has skewed views about how society receives popular media so her power grants her the ability to detect and manipulate people's sightlines. Because clearly, the only way to stop being invested in something is to develop a fixation on something else.

She views the sightlines as similar to cones of visions in video games. Miyane can force beings to 'fixate' on entities of her choosing, focusing their visual acuity. Trying to look away results in rapidly blurred vision or a sudden migraine until they return their gaze to the entity. It is merely a sight-based fixation, their thoughts are still free to roam. Basically a variation of Momo's power from KagePro.

The Ex-Expat

I can't be bothered resizing this, lol

_Credit

Character Sheet

Identity:
- Miyane Sou (莊 美夜音 Sou Miyane). 서 미아. MiA. She'll respond to all of them with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
- 32 years old. 14th year as a member of legendary idol group, 8team (currently on hiatus). 3rd year since Japan debut.
- Hobbies include spilling lives on hit mobile game, Lolly Lobber, building figurines, binging local dramas, karaoke, piano, drinking with her ex and manager.
- Currently occupies the 5th floor of Hanshin Building of Tamagakahara.
- 163cm. Not allowed to weigh more than 50kg. Pale skin, well-maintained. Long, natural hair, unkempt these days. Usually barefaced. Dresses richer than you (when she actually goes outside).

Psyche: She considers herself rational.

Elegant under pressure. Charming, maybe. They called her 'fatal' back in her prime. Those years of media conditioning classes had railroaded her into playing the ice queen of the group, but that persona wasn't completely unfounded. Miyane deems most things not worth emoting, to the dismay of many.

Beneath all that, she's exhausted. She's got her reasons, of course, but most social obligations seem to tire her out to a more severe extent than most people. If you're a stranger (or... anyone, really), the most you can expect from her is an autograph and a withering smile before she conjures some flimsy excuse to leave. There are only a handful of exceptions to this rule.

She's tired. So she hides. She's tried the resurrection thing and that only panned out mildly well. Knowing the feeling of having the world in your hands isn't all it's cracked up to be. Any middling success that comes after might as well be a failure if it's not breaking through all the ceilings.

So yeah. Miyane considers herself rational. Because the only other word she could use is 'cowardly'.

Background: They called them the nation's girl group.

Not her nation, exactly, but they welcomed her nonetheless. She was too young to realise the significance of it all when she passed the overseas audition.

It only took that one song. One smash hit and success erupted like an atom bomb. They became legends, transcended to previously inconceivable levels of cultural significance. They weren't just another throwaway idol group. They represented an entire continent.

Miyane, or 'MiA' as her stage name dictated, always felt like the ugly duckling of the bunch. She struggled with the language longer than she liked, was a bit too serious on their TV appearances. Too stiff, too foreign. The girls loved her nonetheless, and she loved them back. Maybe a bit too much.

Because when that stupid, bullshit scandal hit, she didn't know what to do. She hid. Then she ran. Real quick too. Didn't stop to even look back and see if they forgave her for taking off.

There were a lot of scrapped ideas. Plans that fell through. She recycled them for their own purposes, trying to reclaim even just a fraction of what she had in Korea. And it worked, to some extent. Her name re-emerged in Japan, risen like a phoenix. There was talk of 8team's next big soloist. Then the usual vitriol caught up and she went back into hiding.

Now she keeps to that barren apartment. Shuts the sunlight out and just... waits. Patiently too. She waits to be forgotten; waits for the end, and with it, sweet release.

Quirks:
- Tugs on her sleeve when stressed. Sniffs the scent of fabric softener from her sleeve when even more stressed.
- Fluent in Japanese and Korean. Speaks enough basic English and Chinese to hail a taxi in their respective countries.
- Theme

Relationships

Hyejin Kim – Manager. Unfulfilled workaholic. The closest thing Miyane has to a friend who doesn’t double as a fuckbuddy because “professionalism, Miya-ssi!” Was employed as 8team's manager around their 10th anniversary but made the valiant choice to break off and assist MiA in her solo efforts once the scandal hit. With the power of contractual obligations, Hyejin is one of the only people alive that can drag Miyane out of the apartment. Most of her work consists of negotiating minor endorsement shoots, supervising hair and makeup, and convincingly parroting to people that "why yes, MiA-san is hard at work on her next album, please show your support when it comes out!" Follows the English Premier League in her (extensive) spare time.

Daehyun Kang – Labelmate. On-and-off boyfriend, currently (and solidly) off. Steadfast comrades in the relentless warzone that is the idol industry. Because whether you like it or not, you need something to cling to, something to drag you breathless back to the surface when you're living this cutthroat life. They tried the co-dependency thing some years back. They both agreed it wasn’t MiA’s style. After what seemed a lifetime of hoarse arguments, thrown plates, press rumours and bitter vows to never speak to each other again, over the third course of a company event dinner, an awkward (and quite inebriated) conversation led to the realisation that frankly, they were too old for this shit. At present, the lead dancer of Lustro is contracted to film on location in Tenorashi for the highly anticipated action-thriller, Father Crime. The Japanese market has been clamouring for his local debut for a while. When he’s not filming or working out, Daehyun can generally be found enjoying an ice-cold beer on the loose mattress in Miyane’s guest room.

Miori Sou – Older sister. Distant. Vaguely disapproving. Bah, what does she know? She should come back when she climbs the three income brackets between them. The days of joyful homecomings and concert tickets in the mail have long since passed. Miyane likes to think of it as an 'inevitable compromise'. Miori refuses to comment. ("He's family, Micchan." "Only in name." "I don't know why you have to be so unfair." "Oh, cos you're such a shining beacon of virtue." "I'm just trying to be considerate. Which you could also fucking do for once, using your money to help our father instead of acquiring another pile of--" "That's right. My money. From my work." "Your selfishness is going to bite you back someday." "...Yeah. I'm selfish for trying to stop my deadbeat sister from getting sucked dry by an asshole who only swings by every few years. Fuck you.") She and her boys drop by every week for a quiet dinner, providing a regular spark of activity in Miyane's otherwise uneventful routine.

Locations

Tamagakahara - An apartment complex on paper, though it would be more accurate to call it an apartment district. 550 units in 31 buildings, fully operational facilities such as a gym, an Olympic pool, a golf range, and much more. All of it is guarded by one of the country's leading security contractors. Like its namesake, the complex houses many of Japan's modern deities. Real estate moguls, executives, politicians, socialites... fallen celebrities. It is truly a castle in the clouds. Miyane's unit takes up the entire floor of the third building. The furnishing is sparse, desolate even, the only places looking lived in being the kitchen and Miyane's bedroom. Funnily enough, the largest room in the unit is never opened. If one were to peek inside, they would find a space consciously darkened by drawn curtains. Cables thrown haphazardly across the carpeted floor, strange padding on the walls. Instruments and microphones leaned against the back wall. The whole room is covered in a thick layer of dust, except for noticeable spot on the piano stool. The keyboard itself remains closed.

Tenoroshi Dock - The filming location for the hideout scenes in Daehyun's upcoming blockbuster. Though its feature in the movie is sure to bring in future revenue, the area has long been a tourist attraction in its own right. Past the maze of shipping containers and notable fish market, Warehouse 14 stands as the dockyard's shining jewel. The structure was uncovered at the turn of the millennium. Instruments of torture, drug paraphernalia, documents explicitly recording the illegal shipments that came in. The warehouse had been a major Yakuza den during the Showa Period, abandoned for some reason or another. Despite the local police stripping the place clean, it is still a must-see for crime-history enthusiasts including the likes of Father Crime's screenwriter, though there has been a recent rise in public disputes between the filming crew and dock workers over interference in each other's work.

KonKon Karaoke - A hole in the wall. Discreet. Uncomfortably sticky. Solid walls, at least. Microphones work fine too, so the joint serves its intended purpose well enough. Miyane's go-to place to blow off some steam cos singers gotta sing, right? No, there's nothing wrong with her in-house studio, karaoke places just... have a better atmosphere. When the owner of the business barely raised an eyebrow at the idol's first booking, she knew this was the one. She's been a regular ever since, her song selections usually indulging in heart-rending ballads and the Lustro songs the company always deemed too 'hardcore' to give to the girl groups. Drinks and snacks can be ordered via the static-y booth phones. Rather subpar offerings, except for the coffee which boasts rather sumptuous notes. A very luxurious bean brand, permanently stocked after a month of Miyane's persistent nagging.

Lostman Grafitti [Character Driven Urban Fantasy]

Sweet. I'll give it a go soon.

Lostman Grafitti [Character Driven Urban Fantasy]

Whew, this intchk has been busy. Any slots left?

Zameen (High Casual, political RP)

Yes, hello, am interested.

World's End Online

Wendel & Sunny

_{Collab with @Diggerton}

Into The Woods

Sunny scanned their new surroundings. It was no sunflower field, but it was nice enough. She looked the (apparent) NPC up and down. He seemed interesting, at least, but not comfortable with a group this big... and they were a big group. No reason for them all to crowd one NPC, right? She decided it'd be better to leave the others to bother him, so she tugged on Wendel's sleeve, giving him a grin, "Hey, wanna look around?"

Wendel stared curiously at the hand on her sleeve, her attention stolen from the incredible forest scenery. An eager nod followed, and her smile returned more easily than before.

Sunny glanced around, picking a direction to go. By the NPC's house was... a car? She hurried towards it, glancing back at Wendel, "Woah! Look at that. Is that a car?!"

That was weird. The swordsman pressed both hands against it, trying to peer in through the murkiness.

Sunny peeked in over Wendel's shoulder, laying a hand on his back as she tried to look over him. There wasn't much inside, besides what you would usually expect from a car. "Huh... that's weird, isn't it? Isn't this a fantasy game?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Wendel blinked at the sudden contact on her back but ultimately shuffled so Sunny could get a better look, "Reminds me of those post-apocalypse movies a little."

“Huh. Yeah.” Sunny said simply, backing off, “Zombie movie vibes for sure…" Sunny paused for a moment, "Maybe... wanna break in?"she said with a grin.

Huh?

"I mean...yeah, that sounds pretty video game-y." Wendel glanced nervously over her shoulder. The NPC seemed preoccupied with some others. "It's just..."

Sunny followed Wendel’s gaze. She almost forgot about the NPC… “Oh yeah… I mean… maybe we can just, like… hey, did you try opening it?”

Wendel tried the door handle. The door opened, to her thankful surprise. A quick look around provided exactly nothing.

"Not so video game-y after all," she chuckled.

Sunny laughed, “Yeah.” Sunny leaned over Wendel, peering into a car, “Well, it’s a car alright.” she observed helpfully, “No loot, though. Maybe we should check out the rest of the forest?”

Wendel made sure to shut the door properly. "Okay."

Sunny turned around, peering into the forest. It looked peaceful enough – there were the… fairy things, Sunny wasn’t sure exactly what to call them, but they didn’t look like much of a threat. There were no obvious landmarks besides the house, so she set off in the direction she was facing.

She glanced towards Wendel as she did. It was a lot more fun to walk and talk, she decided, “Hey, I told you about my job, tell me a little about yourself.”

Wendel would have preferred talking about those fairies. Were those...normal?

"I deliver pizzas. And I'm living with my sister right now, since we're probably the only people in the world who know how to put up with each other. Aaaand...my favourite movie is The Princess Bride."

“Pizza is good,” Sunny said, “So is Princess Bride. That one is def up there, but if we’re talking favorite… hmmm… you ever seen Amélie? It’s, uh, a French movie.”

"Oh yeah," the swordsman's eyes brightened, "The soundtrack was really pretty."

“Yeah. Real good. I just connect with it.” Sunny could’ve kept talking, but instead she circled back to pick up on something Wendel said earlier, “You live with your sister? That’s cool. I’m an only child, and, uh, live by myself now.”

"She's fun, yeah. So's my brother. He spends so much time around the apartment that Joy tries to make him help with the rent but it hasn't worked so far." Wendel smiled fondly.

Small talk aside, she had a feeling she knew what Sunny meant by connecting with it. Wendy didn't want to talk about that.

"I can't imagine being an only child. Getting dragged around by my siblings took up a lot of time back in the day."

“Heh… yeah.” Sunny kept smiling, “I always thought it’d be cool to have, like, a sister or something. But being an only child has its perks, I guess. Don’t have to share, even if it gets a bit lonely sometimes.”

"Did you have any pets?"

“Yeeeeah,” Sunny smiled at the memory, “I have a chubby little corgi back home, name's Tulip. And I’ve got a turtle that I took to my apartment, Buttercup."

Woah. That's...

Wendel couldn't help but laugh. "That's cute as. Did you name them yourself?"

Sunny beamed, “Yep, I did. They’re very cute. My lil’ flowers. What about you, any pets?”

"A Russian Blue called Reggie. Lucas named him."

“Ohhhh. Those look so cute!” Sunny grinned. It was almost easy to forget that she wasn’t really talking to Wendel, “You like music?”

"I guess?" Wendel frowned, "I listen to the radio when I drive. That...doesn't really count, huh?"

Sunny nodded, “Heh, I mean, as long as you enjoy listening to it. Before I picked this up music was pretty much how I used all my free time, so… not exactly the same.”she said with a small laugh.

"You must be a pro if you've been playing since forever."

“H-heh, I’m alright, I think.” Sunny blushed a little, glancing away, “I mean, I’m far from a pro. Maybe someday, but…” she trailed off vaguely, not finishing whatever thought she was trying to from.

Wendel looked back at her companion, waiting for the sentence to finish.

Sunny’s pause continued for a moment longer until she realized Wendel was waiting for her to finish. What was she trying to say again? “Well, I haven’t had as much time to play since I moved… and it’s a little weird to play without the band, y’know?” Sunny said with a small chuckle.

"Wow," the swordsman was genuinely impressed. "A whole band?"

“Not anymore.” Sunny said with a sigh. For a moment her smile disappeared, but she recomposed herself, “Going solo isn’t as cool as the greats make it look. It was fun playing with them, even if they were goofballs, y'know?”

Wendel caught that. Probably best not to mention what she left behind.

"...Can I listen to your stuff sometime?"

Sunny let out a slightly nervous chuckle, “Uh, if you want, sure!” She agreed happily, “I mean, meter your expectations. W-we’re not that great, probably. We were kind of, uh, locally popular, but it wasn’t a big town.”

She paused for a moment, suddenly looking down before laughing a little, “I guess I’ve gotta warn you first, I didn’t pick the name. We voted.” she was about to speak, but cut herself off, “I feel dumb just saying it.”

"Aw, it can't be that bad."

Sunny gritted her teeth. It took her a few more moments of thinking to work up the courage, but eventually the dreaded words came, “Dandelion Blowjob.” she admitted in a near whisper.

Wendel stopped in her tracks. Froze. Apart from the myriad of emotions flashing across her panicked face, she was completely still. What...how was she supposed to respond to that?!

Sunny stopped too, giving Wendel a barely restrained smile, “Yeah. Yeah. It’s that bad. Imagine getting up in front of a crowd and saying ‘Dandelion Blowjob’... and also your mom is in that crowd because she really wanted to support your passion.” she sighed, “Like 75% of the reason they picked that name was to embarrass me.”

A muted nod in response. "I, uh...yeah, I can imagine."

Some silence passed. The Joy in her head berated her for not continuing.

Reuse the last topic, dummy!

"So is the dandelion the one giving the b-blowjob or..."

Sunny blushed, running a hand through her hair, “N-no, please, the blowjob is when you blow on the dandelion. Like for luck. Not… an actual…”

Another silence as Wendel looked around the forest, contemplating which tree she was going to use to bash her fucking head in with. Hah. It had been a fine while since she'd felt this level of raw embarrassment. A nauseous grimace surfaced, the product of the conflicting desires to scream in horror and/or crawl in a hole to die.

What a shame, too. Sunny seemed like a really nice person. Now Wendy could never show her face again. She pointed vaguely back to the portal.

"H-hey, I think...fairies...doing a thing..." And without another word, she dashed back the way they came, sprinting at full speed.

Sunny watched as Wendel ran away. That was… really, really embarrassing. Why did she decide to bring up ‘Dandelion Blowjob’ with someone she just met? She paused, but ultimately jogged after the fleeing Wendel.

Not far ahead Wendel caught sight of a small group of fairies in her path; they had been playing much as children would, but Wendel’s quick approach drew their attention. Now they turned, a distinctly displeased look on their collective faces. The swordsman halted immediately.

"Oh. Uh..." She took a step back, hand wavering uncertainly by her weapon.

Now that Wendel stopped it was easier to pick out the details of the situation. There were five fairies, and they had been lazily meandering towards the house the group had first appeared at. They eyed Wendel cautiously, whispering amongst themselves for a moment.

It seemed that they came to a conclusion quickly. The three closest to Wendel flew towards her, charging. The two in the rear raised their hands, faces flushed with concentration, spheres of green energy beginning to materialize in front of them.

Ah.

With a precise movement, the sword was whipped out, its tip charging with blue energy and pointing right at the two in the back. Energy pooled in the balls of her feet, the tension in her legs, and she dashed forward right through the pack with a measured exhale. As the fairies got locked in the dumbfounded gape of the 'stun' animation, Wendel slashed at the two mage enemies.

The fairies had no response to Wendel’s sword, her strike flying clean through. In spite of the attack’s success the pair of fairies merely fell to the ground, seemingly stunned rather than killed, remaining in once piece.

Meanwhile, an arrow landed inches in front of the stunned group of fairies, Sunny suddenly appearing right on top of it. Wispy blackness surrounded her as she seemingly phased into existence, quickly dissipating into the air. As soon as she appeared she nocked an arrow and launched it at the fairy directly in front of her, leaping back evasively as she did. Similarly, it fell to the ground, unconscious but not dead.

Wendel watched with dread as her partner materialised. Oh, right. She was fast too.

Any finesse the swordsman possessed earlier began leaking from her posture as she took another step back. Pulling out her shield, she gazed warily at the scene.

Sunny barely registered the wide-eyed Wendel; the glazed over look of the fairies had disappeared, replaced with anger. A spear made from rock appeared in the hand of one, which it quickly tossed at Sunny. The archer was too slow to dodge, catching the spear with her shoulder, knocking her off balance. She moved to pull out another arrow, but was too slow, the other fairy summoning its own spear. It lobbed it at Sunny, catching her in the knee and sending her tumbling to the ground.

The effect on her health was marginal. The fairies were trash mobs – not a significant threat to Sunny and Wendel. The danger now was follow-up, the pair summoning another volley of spears. Sunny was scrambling to recompose herself, but knew that she would be seconds too slow.

A stab of guilt rang through Wendel. Though the damage being taken was negligible, the swordsman didn't notice at all. All she knew was that this was her fault and she needed to fix it. Fast, really fast.

Panic and haste didn't make for smart decisions. Taking cue from the very enemies they were against, Wendel flung her sword at the closest one before shouting a determined "H-Hey!" to get their attention.

Unfortunately, swords were not made to be throwing weapons. It was easy for the fairy to dodge the clumsily flung weapon, the sword landing uselessly in the dirt. Fortunately, Wendel did prove enough of a distraction to draw the fairies’ attention away from Sunny.

She used the moment Wendel gave her to pluck an arrow from her quiver, landing a shot on one of the distracted fairies. With the speed of her shortbow she was able to let loose another arrow at the fairy’s partner.

Sunny’s aim proved true, both of them falling to the ground unconscious. Sunny pulled herself all the way up, giving Wendel a smile, “Hey, nice distraction!” she called, evidently unaware of Wendel’s perceived wrongdoing.

A stiff nod. "...Thank you."

It was probably a bad idea to try fleeing agan. Luckily the small battle seemed to have eased Wendel's nerves. She remained where she stood, looking over the unconscious fairies. Were the death mechanics different in this new area?

Sunny carefully stepped towards Wendel, glancing at the fairies as she did. Not dead, unlike in the regular campaign… interesting, but she wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that. Sunny gave an exaggerated pout, “Hey, you really shouldn’t ditch me like that! We’re a team.” she gave him a light punch on the shoulder, “Good work though.” she added, reverting to her usual smile.

"Sorry. ...Thank you."

It appeared that Sunny was willing to overlook the swordsman's earlier embarrassment. Thank god. Wendel turned away. "I need to get my sword."

Sunny nodded, “Yeah, of course.” she glanced back in the direction of the house, “You think the others are doing alright?”

Wendel brushed the dirt off her weapon. "That NPC seemed friendly enough. Do you think we should go back?"

Sunny shrugged, “I mean, hanging out with you is more fun than with the others. But…” she paused for a moment, thinking, “Well, you’re right about the NPC being friendly. They probably won’t be missing us if we stay out here, right?”

"I..."

And with that first statement, Wendel completely short-circuited. She was...fun? Even after she tried to run away from them, someone liked hanging out with her? A pleasant, bubbly happiness rose in her chest and Wendel's thoughts raced too much for her to repress the small smile building on her face.

"Y-yeah. There are so many of them back there and...I mean, might as well see what we can find without the others. It's a whole new area."

Sunny grinned, “Yeah! Maybe we’ll find something cool before anyone else does. That’d be neat, right?” Sunny looked up in thought, “We could totally, like, put our names on it or something. Be semi-famous.”

"Famous doesn't sound bad," the swordsman chuckled, "Lead the way, Sunny."

“Alright…” Sunny looked around. Which way should they go? She shut her eyes, spinning around on her heel with a finger outstretched before suddenly stopping at random. “We’ll go this way!” she decided, marching decidedly towards her new destination. With one more laugh, Wendel followed eagerly after.

World's End Online

Wendel & Sunny

_{Collab with @Diggerton}

Sunny is a menace.

"--and she doesn't even know Kevin so it's like what, Jess' boytoy gets an invite but I don't? Like, if the bitch has so much beef with me then she should just fucking say it."

Wendy fiddled with the straps of her headset, listening attentively with legs half-crossed over the couch. This happened a lot. Joy continued fussing by the hallway mirror.

"She totally could have privated her snaps too. She's provoking me, I know it." The statement was punctuated by the closing snap of her handbag.

Wendy tried the headset on. Hm, still too loose. There was a joke about Lucas and his big head somewhere in there but...

Joy frowned. "You're playing again?"

"Uh...yes." Wendy removed the device. Because eye contact. "Just a little, though. Doesn't this mean you don't have to play nice with her anymore?"

"She's still in 'the group', hellbent on stealing everyone I fucking breathe at. God, she's gonna be there tonight too."

"Yeah, but..."

Wouldn't it be a relief, not having to force herself anymore? It wasn't an option, apparently, but it didn't sound too unreasonable for Wendy. She stared down at the straps of the VR device, unable to come up with anything. Joy didn't waver a bit.

"I'll probably be at Steph's so you shouldn't wait for me. Casserole's in the fridge."

Only a nod in response, and a slightly frustrated huff. Joy observed with a small chuckle.

"Lucas' head?"

"...Yes."

"Spent so much time with the thing that it stretched out. Don't end up like him, yeah? There are enough weirdos on the internet."

Wendy twitched. It wasn't like she'd been planning to tell Joy about it, but having the option suddenly erased like that was jarring. Sure, it had only been one day. That Sunny girl had been so friendly though. She totally counted as new friend, right? It was only sensible to tell Joy about the people she met. Even if it had only been one party session. And the fact that she only knew Sunny's screen name. And the fact that she had no idea how old Sunny was. Or if she was actually a he. Or if she had a criminal record. Or if Sunny actually planned on meeting again or if she was just being polite...

By the time Wendy came to anything resembling a decision, the door had already slammed shut behind her. Seconds passed in silence before Wendy sighed, waved a customary goodbye at the apartment entrance and logged into World's End Online.

By now, Sunny had been playing long enough that she would probably be embarrassed if someone asked. God, it’d been… hours? She wouldn’t really consider herself a gamer by any stretch of the term, but the idea of VR was always kind of tantalizing, and now that she had moved away she didn’t have to worry about her parents scolding her. She could practically hear their nagging already, even if they weren’t there.

Maybe they were right too – the game was addicting as hell. But it wasn’t exactly like she had much else to do. She’d been uncharacteristically reclusive since she’d moved. Maybe she was just enjoying her new found personal freedom, or maybe there was something different and intimidating about city people, or maybe she just needed to mellow out for a bit. Either way, the game was a good way to pass the time, especially with the welcome distraction of other people. People like Wendel – her parents put her under the impression that strangers on the internet were scary, but that wasn’t the case.

Or maybe it just looked that way, all she knew was that Wendel seemed pretty alright.

Sunny had been sitting in a virtual tavern drinking a virtual beer as she was contemplating this, something that had seemed way too surreal for someone like her. She was knocked out of her train of thought by a sudden vibration from her pocket. She pulled out the pocketbook that the game used as a friends list, flipping it open.

Wendel was online! She was a little excited, but quickly stymied the feeling. It was a little embarrassing, after all, Wendel was just someone she met online. But still, she tugged on the page, expanding it and pulling out a pen to write. She quickly scribbled, her handwriting as sloppy as ever.

Heeeeey! How’s it going?

'Wendel' jumped with the vibration. The sensation of occupying a new body was strange enough without the sudden notification. However, she couldn't help but feel a bit of relief when she saw who kept yesterday's word.

It's going good-- Exclamation mark? No, full stop. No, what was this, a dissertation?

It's going good

!

Jesus Christ.

Have you been on long?

Also how are you?

Wendel let her face flop into her open palm with a groan.

Sunny did a bit of a double take at the message. Did this guy read her mind? If Wendel fumbled his message, Sunny was too busy thinking about the embarrassing amount of time she’d spent on here to notice it.

Uhhh, a couple hours.

She quickly scratched it out. No, no, she didn’t want to sound like a loser.

No, not really.

And fantastic!

She underlined for appropriate emphasis. Because she was, as always, doing fantastic.

Wendel grinned at the underlining. Yep, that matched up with the Sunny from yesterday.

That's good

to hear.

A noticeable silence.

Do you feel like meeting?

Sunny took a long sip of her beer, finishing it in record time. She stood up, collecting her (few) possessions, slinging a mostly empty backpack over her shoulders and repositioning the book and pen in her hands so she could write while walking.

Yes please! I’ve been boooooored. :P

Her handwriting turned notably sloppier, unsurprising as she no longer had a table to write on. She also already regretted using the emoticon. Who writes emoticons?

The scarred swordsman cocked her head to the side as she read. Bored? In a video game?

...Eh, it didn't seem polite to question it too much.

Okay

!

A rudimentary scribble of a thumbs up gesture followed.

Let's meet at Prontera.

She hurried to the waystone with an eager smile, almost missing the peculiar blank slot in the locations list. A pause, her finger hovering over the oddity before selecting her initial intended location. Probably just a glitch she'd report later. It didn't seem polite to keep someone waiting, especially when she was the one that proposed moving.

Wendel's head started bobbing around, searching as soon as she rematerialised on the other side. She did her best to not let the crowd unnerve her.

Sunny smiled a little bit at the thumbs up. She wrote her own back, but it was almost illegible. She wasn't much of an artist, unfortunately. With that she snapped the book shut, returning it to her pocket, and headed towards the waystone. She was already in Prontera, she was just looking for Wendel. He didn't take long to find, even as a new player his appearance was pretty distinctive - tall, with all those scars on his neck. It was a little weird looking but Sunny didn't mind. Instead, she hurried towards him, giving him a short wave as she made her way past the crowd around the waystone.

"Hey!" she called out as she made her approach, "Nice to see you!" she said with a grin.

Wendel nodded quickly, waving back.

"You're--yes, it's nice too," she managed, her hand still swaying in the air for some reason. Was the swordsman going for a hi-five or...?

Sunny kept on grinning, eagerly giving Wendel a high five. “So, what’re we gonna do?”

Oh. Right. Hi-five was definitely what she was going for there.

Wendel quickly whipped her hand to behind her back. "Uh, there's that quest line I've been putting off. Not sure if you've already done it but..."

Hm. Actually.

"Hey, did you see something weird on they waystone list earlier?"

“Huh…?” Sunny gave an exaggerated look of thought for a moment, bringing her hand up to her chin and looking down. Actually, she did see something weird… “Yeah. There was like, a spot where nothing was there. Is that what you’re talking about?”

Another nod. "Might have to file a report before we leave." Wendel was already pulling out one of her books.

Sunny raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t we see where it goes? Maybe we’ll find, like… I dunno, some neat glitch. Or maybe our games will just crash.”

Or they got stuck in some blank white space, forever falling with no one to ever find them until their bodies finally broke down beyond human recognition...

Yeah, Wendel wasn't going to voice that thought like a weirdo any time soon.

"Glitch sounds good," she squeaked, "Lead the way?"

“Yep!” Sunny chirpped eagerly, popping open her book and quickly placing her and Wendel in a party. “Hopefully it doesn’t mess us up too hard." She opened the locations list on the waystone, picking the peculiar blank spot and confirming it as their teleport location.

And suddenly they were in front of the gate with the others. She took in the location before giving a glance to Wendel, “Woah. Where the heck are we now? You seen anything like this?”

The swordsman glanced around. "Sort of. In an ani--" Noooo. "Uh, in a cartoon a few times. I think."

Sunny gave him a wry smile. "In a what now?" she said teasingly, giving him a slight nudge with her elbow.

"Ani-animation. You know."

Sunny narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t watched a lot of anime and didn’t have much of an opinion on it, but this was funny. “Oh yeah? Anime-tion? Huh, what sort of cartoons do you see all this Japanese stuff in…?"

Wendel squirmed, made a series of helpless muttering noises before gesturing to the NPC and the scrolls in front of them. "H-hey, what's up with this contract stuff? Wouldn't they have sent a notice if new DLC was out?"

Sunny shrugged. “Maybe they wanted to do something different? Some kind of hidden event for new content?” she hit the accept button without hesitation, taking barely a second to read the EULA, “Seems interesting though, doesn’t it?”

The swordsman watched with dread as Sunny accepted the scroll with barely a glance. Great, now she was going to look like an idiot if she took the time to read it. Normally, Wendy never even used wi-fi hotspots without at least skimming the Terms and Conditions.

"Yes, it doesn't really seem like a World's End aesthetic," she said as she skim-scrolled through the EULA, trying (and most likely failing) to look as nonchalant as one could, "It might be another crossover event. Or something?"

“Yeah. They had a tie-in anime, right?” Sunny said with a half-smirk, trying to suppress a chuckle.

Wendel tapped the 'Accept' button with a deep grimace.

"L-looks like we just wait here," she blatantly ignored that last comment.

”Guess so.” Sunny said, stretching her arms upward and yawning, ”So… like… what do ya do besides video games?” Sunny said with a smile, trying her best to start up a conversation so they didn’t just stand there like dopes.

Ah, yes. Small talk. Wendel mentally ran through the tips Joy had given her as she spoke.

"Not much." No, wait, she wasn't supposed to do that. "There's a nice reserve nearby. I go through--jog. I jog around it. And through it. Uh, besides video games? I watch movies with my brother sometimes. And friends." Because she was a normal person that talked to people outside her immediate family, yes.

That went about as well as it could have. "Uh, you?"

"Oh, around it and through it." Sunny teased lightly with a grin, "I, uh, play guitar. And sing. And write songs, I guess, but I've been uh... I guess I've been kinda busy and haven't been doing that so much lately. Work and stuff." Sunny said with a shrug, "I knit, I guess" she added on nonchalantly.

"Oh, that's nice."

And it was. Sunny seemed like an interesting person, way more than Wendy. Wendel (unwisely and to Joy's instinctual frustration somewhere in the city) decided to leave it at that.

Sunny smiled. For a moment she waited for Wendel to continue, and then realized that he wasn’t going to. That didn’t deter her, however, “I work as a barista. At one of those hipster coffee places, so I guess that’s a hobby too. There’s a lot that goes into that stuff… y’know, like, grind size, uh, roast, they’re even kind of particular about the kind of water we use.” she said with a small laugh.

Wendel blinked. Shit, yeah, she was meant to grab onto those conversation threads. A tinge of relief filled her when she realised what Sunny did. "Huh. I guess tap water's not an option?"

“Heh. No, certainly not. They have us, like, filter it and then add this chemical solution to it. They’ve got a recipe for water, believe it or not. Guess that why it’s four bucks a cup…” Sunny laughed again, running an idle hand through her hair.

"I hope your cafe's not situated anywhere near a drinking fountain then," Wendel allowed herself a chuckle too.

“No, it’s not. Good thing too!” Sunny said, laughing a little harder. There was a slight pause, “Man, I wish this show got on the road already! I’m interested in seeing what’s behind that big gate.”

"Yeah," Wendel glanced at the gate, "I have a feeling it's going to be something nice."

Sunny nodded before continuing to chatter away about her job, because Wendel seemed interested in that.

World's End Online

Wendy Douglas

"Should we, uh... Do you want to be friends?"

Age: 23

Gender: Female


Credit

Appearance: Presentation is something that Wendy lauds with much thought but little effort. She's 5'7", fit, dresses vaguely sporty with that casual sweatpants look everyone's doing these days. Wendy can almost always be found with a distant, thoughtful look on her face. Recently some bags have been growing under her eyes ("Wake me at 3 again and I'm throwing the router out the window." "...").

Personality: Aloof, quiet, sometimes so awkward it makes you wonder why she even left the house that day. Even after a brief conversation, it's fairly easy to tell that Wendy isn't the most socially competent person. It's something she's been trying to rectify over the years, with encouragement from her siblings and varying success. It gets really hard sometimes. She wouldn't deem herself uncomfortable in most social situations anymore but there are definitely times when she zones out and thinks of all the other things she could be doing instead.

Like grocery shopping. Or walking through the park. She likes the park.

Background: Wendy was born the youngest of three. She grew up in an uneventful suburb. Not quite savvy enough to join the middle-class cliques but not enough of a pushover to get properly picked on, she found herself in a strange void in her school years. Friends were few and far between. Hobbies swinging between nerdy and sporty came and went. The only real constants she had were Lucas and Joy, who were always more than willing to dote on their youngest.

College passed in a similar manner, and it was there where Wendy knew she had to step out of her comfort zone. It worked, somewhat ("Mm." "Getting there, kiddo."), but those days seemed to go by in a flash. Employment was the next big step, or at least the plan. Employers didn't seem to be interested in newly-grads who clammed up after a few sentences.

Wendy currently works as a pizza delivery-driver, courtesy of Lucas' friend's friend, and resides with Joy in an apartment close to the city. World's End Online was a hobby she'd picked up from her brother, the remaining sibling occasionally joining their party despite her claims that she'd "grown out of it". Though other VR games provided the superhero experience she and Lucas prefer, Wendy found herself drawn to the quaint aesthetic of the medieval period, as well as the calm she found in the grindier quests.

---

---

Ingame Name: Wendel Douglass ("You're not smart, Lucas." "Yer nert shmert, Loo-kuhs." "Ugh.")

Ingame Gender: Uh. ("Should we flip a coin?" "Oh, there's a third option.")

Ingame Appearance: Wendel's appearance is based on her real self, apart from some very noticeable changes that make her look more androgynous than her standard fare. An almost comical array of scars adorn her face and neck ("How many do you need?" "As many as we can get."), accompanied by an equally vast collection of ear piercings. ("How many do you need?" "At least these ones make sense, asshole.") Her jaw is considerably sharper, more masculine. ("Woah. Should I grow my hair out?" "I don't know what Kim sees in you.") In similar trains of thought, she also sports a virtual height of 5'11" and a significantly more muscular body. ("I like it." "Yeah, can't blame you there.")

Ingame Personality: Her strange fascination with the scenery is magnified tenfold. Pretty much the same as real life, except now that she has the luxury of literally frolicking away from her anxieties, she's likely to take it. The virtual world is nicer like that.

Class: Swordsman ("They look big." "Huh?" "Just let her be.")

Notable Skills
("Non-confrontational as ever, hey?" "You think so?")

Thunder Stroke: Wendel grips her sword by the blade and swings it in a wide arc, inflicting damage and a significant knock-back effect on any enemies caught in her path.
Blade Dash: Wielding her weapon in a fencer's stance, Wendel surges forward with supernatural speed. The damage inflicted is negligible but enemies in the line of fire are left stunned for 5 seconds. She mostly uses this skill outside of combat to traverse large distances faster.
Pack Mule (Passive): Wendel likes to hike. Movement speed remains unaffected by bag weight. Immunity to stamina-based debuffs.

Equipment: Knightly sword, heater shield, armor, Adventurer's Kit with extra comfy bedroll.

Others: Lucas is 28 and set to wed next Spring. Joy is 24 and "too fuckdamn good for the bitches in this dagshit town". ("Drink some water. And please stop coming back so late.")