#i'm making denizen despair a thing now

[nerdynanny]

"Sure the Denizen Despair games aren't my thing but Elon Trembley? Oooh man." She knows what she likes-- and honestly it was better than her peers. Most girls were into that werewolf romance novel, Moonlight.

[morgana-ren]

Bailey, Leighton, both weak spots for me. If you wanted to share any thoughts, any lewd disgusting thoughts or random ideas you'd had about those two I'm more than willing to listen

Oho-ho, you came to the right place.

So here's the thing:

Bailey and Leighton are both absolutely repugnant, reprehensible characters. Most people in this game are abhorrent, yes, but these ones strike a special note with me for a few reasons, namely authority-- and the abuse of it.

Bailey's label is 'Caretaker.' He's the closest thing to a father that you have, presumably raising you since before you can remember. He's a dark mirror into what a parent should be. Where there should be unconditional love, affection, and trust, he provides exploitation, cruelty, and despair. He has absolutely zero qualms with quite literally selling you and your fellows to the debauched denizens of the town and subjecting you to one of the worst experiences that a human can physically go through, and he does it on a dime. Even other terrifying people in town seem petrified by him, and that should give a clue to how awful he really is.

Leighton is the 'Headmaster.' He is charged with your education and safety during the mandatory hours you attend his institution. He is arguably responsible for the success and the happy-ever-after of every student under his charge. Instead, he uses this power to sexually exploit the defenseless people under his care. There are multiple people over town with lingering trauma from his actions, including Daryll, and even Mickey, who has become a paranoid recluse largely in part to these actions, and has you get rid of the evidence of this abuse.

It makes these two particularly disturbing. Remy, Briar, all of the rest of them are disgusting, but they aren't beholden to you in any manner. I suppose it could be argued that Harper, as your GP, is also doing this, but it doesn't quite feel to the same degree to me.

Now, in reality, I can be counted on to be a thorn in the side of any authority figure. I have a real issue with it, and I do not like being controlled or told what to do.

In a sexual sense though?

Listen, something in my brain must've gotten twisted up along the way to adulthood because nothing gets my engine going quite like someone abusing authority. Fucked up to say, perhaps, but it is what it is. Maybe it's part of being the world's biggest brat, but who knows.

There is something enticing and utterly terrifying about it.

Bailey has access to you at your most vulnerable. It is only through him that you have a roof over your head, food to eat, and a bed to sleep in. He's a stern man who brooks no argument. You could say he's mostly the main antagonist; the one keeping you from any semblance of peace or happiness in this town by seeking you out and keeping you on a leash that he's got firmly wrapped around his hand. He isn't openly lustful-- quite the opposite, in fact. He probably has a 'I will not fuck my ward, I will not fuck my ward' mantra he repeats in his head.

Your presence is required at school, and Leighton will use any and all opportunities to exploit that, and he isn't shy about telling you. While not as much of an active antagonist as Bailey, he certainly is as evil. He seems to revel in using his position to meet his own.. uh.. "ends" and you aren't his only target in doing so.

Bailey is more difficult to provoke than Leighton. It requires a high ass seduction check to even get into the position of seducing him, and even higher skills to get him off. He wants to see you first and foremost as a cheque to be cashed, and he makes a point not to muddy his hands in the goods if he can help it. However, if you squint, all the signs are there that he isn't immune to your siren's call.

When you call, he comes running. Scream in the bathroom? Oh, he's fuckin' there. Disappear for a little bit too long? He seeks you out. You're a grown ass adult and his method of punishment is... bending you over his desk to spank you? If you do manage to seduce him, I think he lets a bit more slip than he actually intends to, saying things like "You've always belonged to me" and other possessive sentiments (most especially if you lose your virginity to him) that sort of give away that he's clearly thought about this more than once and is seriously going to indulge now that he finally has you.

Leighton on the other hand? Leighton wears his lust on his sleeve.

If you step foot in the brothel (whether to work there or just to get yourself a shiny fake ID,) Leighton is fuckin' quick on the draw to grab you, which tells me he's had his eye on you for a while. If you proceed to work at the brothel, he hires you the moment he sees you. Annoy him for even a second at school? It's spanking time. Be a little bit of a rascal at school? Get your tits out and lather 'em up! You're washing his car while he watches and twitches because he can't openly attack you here. Try to defend Sydney and say you'll take a part of the punishment? My man practically crawls out of his skin right then and there.

He has a high level of self-control, but it is easily possible to drive that man up a wall with the right actions, and it's pretty apparent from the get-go that he has his sights set on you in less than appropriate ways. Thing is, he really won't act outright similar to Bailey. He's more a voyeur than anything, preferring to watch and document rather than actually take part. It seems like a control thing for me, and also probably so he has dirt on everyone else while keeping his own hands relatively clean, but like with most things, I bend parts of the character in my mind to suit my tastes.

They're both difficult to outright seduce. They're both controlling, hideous fiends that abuse their vulnerable charges. They're monsters. Powerful monsters capable of foul, dastardly things.

Can you imagine being the weak point of that monster?

[cyvonix]

Cyv Reads Homestuck - Act 3 Wrapup

where doing it man

where MAKING THIS HAPEN

Holy SHIT, where do I even begin? Act 1 was fun. I enjoyed it. Act 2 intrigued me. It kept me wanting more. Act 3, by all accounts, has latched its hooks all the way into me. I am IN, dude. While this act retains the quirky and random interactions that made the previous ones so casually enjoyable, the astonishing leap in the density and frequency of narratively interesting content here is undeniable. And now, at the end of it, I'm the most excited I've been to see the next turns these insane plot threads will take, and how these characters, who have fully endeared me by this point, will develop.

All of the characters have been left in a place that leaves the story ripe to explore so many things. Starting with John, who has now reached the first gate. I have no idea what that even means for him. I know that it was the goal, and that apparently each will be more difficult to reach, but we haven't been told in any way what the journey to those other gates will actually entail. The side story with his dad trapped in the dark kingdom has also been fun to witness, and I'm sure we'll be getting more of that soon enough.

With Rose, it leaves the most obvious cliffhanger. Now that she has also entered the Incipisphere, what happens? We've only seen one character in this environment thus far, so who's to say what adding another one to the mix will even look like? Dave has obviously been tasked with being Rose's server player (the ways he fucks with her game even in the face of imminent despair was absolutely hilarious) so that leaves me to wonder if he will also be transported into this world at some point, but also how Rose will be able to simultaneously manage John's game now that she has a client world of her own to take care of. The other interesting thing with Dave is his relationship to his brother, which clearly hints at the parental figures in their lives being absent in one way or another. With Dave also so clearly seeming to look up to his brother in an immense way, I think that could lead to some really great storytelling.

And then, there's Jade. Oh lord. What can I even say about Jade Harley, other than rambling off the many ways in which I was bewildered by her constant disregard of every "normal" aspect of the three other kids. My point being that she is a total and complete mystery. She seems extremely sweet, and almost aloof, but has by far the most compelling narrative implications of any of the cast. Not only does she not have surviving family at all, instead being cared for, or at least assumed to be, by some sort of magical dog creature of unknown origin named Becquerel, but she is also living on some sort of secluded island littered with ruins that seem to beg the reader to ask their purpose. As if that weren't enough, we now know that she is capable of using her dreams to see into both the past and future, to reasons that are unknown even to her. And as we've already seen how this can drastically affect the events of the story, including in the thread we've been following surrounding the odd denizens of the post-apocalyptic future, I have no doubt that this will play a large part in things going forward.

Finally, the mystery of Sburb continues to deepen, as several of the characters keep finding control rooms, symbols, and various other interfaces that so clearly resemble the iconography of Sburb. Just what the hell is this game? What is its true purpose? How does it tie in to the overall balance of light and dark in the world that has been proclaimed to us? I have a feeling that these questions will not truly be answered for a long time, but the breadcrumbs are enough to keep me fully engaged. Even the lore of this world itself, the idea of the Incipisphere, Skaia, and the two kingdoms in constant conflict for eternity, and all the things that this cosmology implicitly allows the exploration of, is so exciting to me.

Whew. So yeah, I guess that's about as condensed as I'm going to get my thoughts on this one. What a wild ride. I guess here are some other miscellaneous things to mention:

I read the entirety of Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. What a horrid, crusty, amazing archive of media.

Of course I know that the trolls will eventually enter this story, but I have zero spoilers for the context or even who they are as character; just that they exist. Thus, I've kept track of which trolls have appeared in Pesterlogs so far, and those are: carcinoGeneticist, grimAuxiliatrix, and adiosToreador. So we'll see how that goes in the next act.

The concept of Jade's dreaming mind/dreambot and the golden city, including the sleeping John Egbert, is clearly important. And clearly has something to do with whatever species is roaming the deserted future. But I have such little idea of how to begin parsing that at this point that I don't have much to say about it. But I am absolutely keeping it in mind

If you actually read all of this: Damn. Thx for inexplicably caring what I have to say despite being an irrelevant poster and like a decade late on this shit :P More (much smaller) updates to come soon as I move forward with this story

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for not reacting positively to the departure of my beloved wife?

Salutations to the users of this "website". I (middle aged, NB) am the permanent resident of a province of sorts dedicated to the research and archival of information and culture. I also happen to inhabit a fairly important position within the inner workings of this province.

I have lived in this place ever since I was young. In my student days, I became infatuated with an exchange student (middle aged NB) from a neighboring province. Their intelligence, magical ability, and the bodacious curves of their body entranced me from the moment that my eyes were first graced by their magnificent presence. I was truly fortunate, since as we began to know each other more intimately, they returned my desires and before long, we were in a relationship.

However, tragedy struck. Over the years, me and my spouse began to drift apart, and one devastating day I returned from my work to find that our home was empty. The only remnant of my beautiful spouse that I would ever see again was a note, describing how they had found love with someone else. I was left mourning our relationship and their glorious... assets, as well as coping with the newfound knowledge that the spouse I had adored and cared for so much was a harlot. I am only grateful for one thing - that we never produced the children they had begged me to raise together.

This betrayal not only dealt a powerful blow to my personal life, but my work life as well. Many of my coworkers already treated me as an outcast since I am naturally smarter and more talented than them. When they learned of my misfortune, they wasted no time in making snide comments implying that it should have happened sooner and, furthermore, that they missed my spouse dearly and wished I had left instead of them. Over the course of time, this and the weight of what happened to my first and only love began to weigh on me heavily. As an example, I attempted to avoid encountering denizens of the province where my spouse had been from to avoid being reminded of them. My coworkers also acted as if my distress affected my work and how much they could tolerate me as well, but I don't believe them. It's more likely that they were simply looking for an excuse to be vicious to me on account of their jealousy.

A short time ago, the world outside my province began collapsing. This was the result of poor decisions by our neighbors, as they decided to start an entire war over a matter that could have been solved with negotiation. This war led to disease, famine, and of course, violence, and the leader of my province and a number of my naive coworkers decided to let many refugees from my spouse's home province into our sturdy walls. I attempted to warn them against such a mistake to no avail. Disease spread throughout the place I called home, even felling one of my coworkers. The quiet and peaceful haven I had once appreciate was now crowded, noisy, and choked with viruses of all kinds. Our food supplies were drastically reduced as well. Worst of all, I'm reminded of my spouse wherever I look...

However, whenever I try to protest this, my coworkers call me cruel titles ranging from "little bitch" to "xenophobic asshole". My job requires me to have compassion for others, but that doesn't mean I have to be blind! But as a mathematician I recognize that there is a fraction of a chance that my despair and intelligence have caused me to perchance be perceived as the "asshole" (what a crude word) and I hope that this statement will put that ignorant sentiment for rest once and for all.

I miss my wife...

[vampirecatprince]

I'm having feelings about Lucy in my gameverse and I just.... Ugh-

Like, imagine you're young and dumb and the the second highest ranking celestial being in a Very, Very strict hierarchy. You love the one who created you like a father, but you're basically the equivalent of a roudy teenager with godlike powers and you're questioning the strictness and the harsh rules.

So, you have an equivalent of a rebellious teenage moment. You question your strict Father, along with friends you brought along for support, only for all of you to be immediately violently thrown away for daring to step out of line. You're replaced. Your friends, who were supporting you, are also damned- simply by association. So you violently lash out, instinctively trying to protect yourself and your friends and new family, because that all you know and all you've been taught. You've been nothing but a weapon since the day you were made, after all.

You were your father's right hand man, his trusted companion. His favorite.

How DARE he throw you away at the first sign of questioning him?

And then you discover what his punishment really is. You're a demiurge now, responsable for the souls that didn't obey his rules. You're given instructions to punish those who are just like you. Other creations of his that questioned his rules or fought against him.

And something in you just..... Breaks.

He... never actually loved you, did he? You were his favorite simply because you were the strongest and the most beautiful. He didn't love you. He was only proud how well he made you. You're pissed. You're angry. You're more than just good craftsmanship, you're a living fucking being. So you keep lashing out and hurting the souls sent to you in your anger.

And the centuries wear on and eventually all that anger and indignity just slowly..... Burns out. It does in all of the ones who were cast out with you. And you all look at what you've done and the little pocket world you've been given and decide, maybe all this constant hate and pain and punishment and torture isn't.... Good?

Why are we doing this? What do we even get from treating our human denizens like this? Why are we copying the behaviors of our abuser? Why are we still spreading this pain?

So you and your trusted second-in-command decide to try to fix things. And it's slow and it's not easy, but you slowly turn this first pit of despair into a place that those who made simple errors in life can at least rest... mostly peacefully. You still punish those who were truly heinous, but instead of marking them as 'permanently tainted' you make it a goal to rehabilitate them the best you can.

And the whole time you're turning your supposed punishment on its head, everyone is terrified that He's going to notice. Your Father is going to come swinging in and with the same violent furvor as before ruin all your hard work.

But it never comes.

And you realize.... No one's heard from Father in.... centuries.

And you realize with a sinking feeling in your gut- that maybe he just got bored and.... Left this whole project of his, with millions of living souls, on autopilot. And now... You're the most powerful one left. And you never wanted all this, but fuck. You're mad again, but not at yourself. Not at your situation. No, you're mad at him.

And then this knowledge, alongside new human innovations and weapons slowly trickling into the afterlife, triggers a civil war. Most of the people in charge, your friends, scatter or go into hiding or are killed and you lose so much. Again. But you refuse to become bitter again. Because, you still have a few old friends after all. So you rebuild again. Make new friends. Fall in love for the first time. You find a form that feels.... Comfortable for the first time. It's been less then a century since it all ended last and you almost feel.... Happy?

But- you're gonna do anything you can to prevent from becoming like your Father again.

[goji-pilled]

welcome to part 9 of "Tomura Makes a New Friend!"

where i weite more pain! now with an added guest star and my lowkey stupid headcanon involving said character!

---

In the Kaname Household it was silent, the denizens of the home all asleep. The parents had done their best to stay awake to greet their adoptive daughter, a foreigner with blonde hair and eyes tinged blue with a rings of pink. They couldn't stay awake long and so they went to bed, worry in their hearts but held hope that their daughter was alright.

It was around one in the morning when their daughter was brought in by a girl with long black hair, a frown etched onto the shorter girl's face. Akemi Homura had carried a groggy and battered girl in tatters on her back, an act of kindness she thought she'd never perform. Homura slowly and quietly brought Aingel to her room upstairs, and set the girl on her bed.

The bruenette then went about grabbing all the necessary supplies to clean and dress the wounds all over her friend's... the anamoly's body. She had removed the bloodied shirt and loosened the ruined skirt, granting easier access to the marred flesh underneath. It had been a long process, Aingel wincing and groaning every so often, yet it was necessary for them both to be quiet. Once all the glass and stone had been removed it was a simple procedure of rubbing alcohol and bandages for the other minor wounds.

Homura had performed with an almost uncharacteristic level of tenderness, as if the girl before her was made of the most brittles material in the world. Were Aingel not so wracked with anxiety and grief, with despair, she would've been quite touched. But Aingel knew that this was just Akemi-san being Akemi-san, not as Homura.

When all the bandages had been applied the bruenette had made to escape in the void of frozen time. A weak hand had grabbed her sleeve, a silent plea. Homura already knew her answer.

It was around two in the morning when the front door was slammed open by Sakura Kyouko, tear tracks having marred her face, and a lump carried in over her shoulder. The redhead was acting on instinct she would say, to get back to her home, her safe haven. That was why she brought the cold body of one Miki Sayaka here with her, laying the blue girl ever so gently on the couch of the loving room and hovering her darkening Soul Gem over her.

It would be morning when the Kaname's and two other children would have finished mourning the lose of someone they all held dearly in their hearts.

...

...

"This is weird. Something isn't right man."

"I know, there's something fishy going on. First Miki-san, then both the transfer students?"

"Think they're just playing hooky out there? It'd be the best case scenario, I think."

"You're such a perv! Why is that the first thing boys' brains go to with girls?!"

"It wasn't! It ain't! I'm jist saying, compared to literally anything else that these morons are sayin'-"

"Hey, you're the one that started this whole speculation group, don't just toss us under like it's our fault!"

"Sorry if I wanted to find out what happened to my best bro's best friends! None of you had to humor me and go out searching for-"

"Nakazawa-kun."

"Ah! Shizuki-san! Uh, what's uh *cough* s'up?"

"Please, tell me, do you know anything about Sayaka-chan? About Shion-chan? Akemi-san?"

"..."

"... I see... I'm sorry... can you give Kamijou-kun my..."

"... yeah... I will... it's not your fault."

"..."

...

...

"Let me go with you!"

Aingel was currently tied up by a very mournful Mami, yellow ribbons wrapped around the foreigner in the same lock that Homura found herself in earlier this Spring.

"We ain't gonna let you go on a suicide mission, Lilith. It's about time that we attone for our mistakes, suffer our consiquences and that." Kyouko had pulled out a take out box of takoyaki, shoving one in her friend's mouth before eating the rest; Mami snatched one before they vanished.

"Kyouko-san is right Frieda, our actions, our very presence to you and Sayaka-san have led us all to this point. It's only right as Magical Girls, as your friends, to clean up our mess." Mami had turned to face the labyrinth, located just high enough in the rafters of the train station to be out of sight of everyone on this lazy Thursday.

The Sharpshooter faced the portal, dormant as the apparition of a melodious Grief Seed floated in the air. As Mami approached the portal a shriek of lighting roared throughout the station, reality shattering like glass before her, a visage of a heart surrounded by blades and notes appearing; they didn't even need to expose their Soul Gems to break in, she was waiting for them.

"Well, this is it Lil', we'll be back before ya know it!" Kyouko's smirk still held that arrogant aura, confidence dripping off her words. Those apple red eyes were filled with dread and acceptance.

"I made a promise to both of you, my juniors. That I would never put on an air of superiority, of professionalism born from fallacies. So don't worry Frieda," Mami's voice hitched, her shoulders trembling as she faced the portal. Aingel saw tear tracks on her senpai's face, a brittle smile threatening to break under golden eyes filled with that same acceptance in Kyouko's own. "We'll be with you."

At that the Crimson Lancer and Golden Sharpshooter shifted into their uniforms and walked through the portal, their backs being the last sight Aingel saw before the labyrinth sealed shut. That Grief Seed covered in musical notes and water aesthetics taunted the foreigner.

Homura sat on another part of the rafters, keeping watch for when Aingel inevitably breaks herself free.

...

...

"I know we- tch, didn't along all that great Sayaka! But did-cha hafta ta make us fight literal Cherry Bombs?!"

Sakura Kyouko was currently surrounded by a veritable hoard of Familiars, all of them sporting appearances of very familiar people that the redhead's gotten to know.

Those Cherry Bombers were obviously suppossed to be her, launching spear after spear with every explosive burst of flame. Mami was dealing with her own brand of Security that kept on taking themselves out trying to nab the blonde.

There were some seaweed head dancers that just kept on getting crushed by railroads and wheels, leaving behind their tall and lanky purple partners; yeah, makes sense Sayaka didn't think Homura gave a damn. Surrounding them all was an entire orchestra of the same violinist Familiar, all playing different instruments perfectly to a very loud and angry song.

Don't know what was up with those damsel familiars drapped over the throne though, they kept gettin' hit too.

The Mermaid Witch - Sayaka - had left them a path that lead right to the center of the labyrinth. Mami thought that it was just a sign of a freshly hatched Witch making sense of her labyrinth, Kyouko said it was probably she was getting it over with.

"Kyouko! Any progress through the masses!?" Mami was trying to provide covering fire for her partner, but she kept getting surrounded by the Familiars. More and more distance was kept between the two veterans, their battles with the Witch still yet to begun.

"Not yet! Still up to the pits in narcissism over here!" It felt like the Familiars were thinning out, but Kyouko kept seeing two more take the place of every one she speared. "Damn it, Mami! Catch!"

It may have been a year but Kyouko knows how sentimental her ex is. Launching a spear coated in flame out of her hand, Kyouko summoned another spear in her off hand. The flaming bolt had cut a sizeable chunk of the yellow Familiars around Mami, opening up a path between them.

As the spear soared closer to the Sharpshooter the girl raised her hand above her hand and waited. A moment, and Mami clenched her fist around a red bolt of flame. She let the spear carry her with its momentum, spinning in place and slashing through the enemies around her. Without any hesitation Mami ran through the new opening, reuniting with her partner.

"It's only a matter of time, just wait for us Sayaka."

...

...

"Shizuki Hitomi, I kindly ask that you do not free Aingel from her bonds. She is kept there for her own well-being."

Homura had many thoughts about this timeline, many of them around the anomoly that was the foreigner Aingel. Some of them were from depressive spirals that the blonde couldn't bring her out of whenever they occurred during a "hang out" session. They all held the same key factor of being about her friends.

Shizuki Hitomi was, and is, a friend of Akemi Homura. But she was so often forgotten or ignored in the wake of everything involvong Magical Girls.

"Akemi-san, please explain to me why I should abandon my friends? Abandon Sayaka-chan?!" The emerald haired girl had on hand clenched tightly around the giant lock keeping the ribbons taut. Aingel's frantic trashing did little to upset her friend's hold.

"I know... that the three of you have been caught up in something... something that got in the way of your normal lives. I had ended up being a key part in Sayaka's disappearance, no doubt. Is it true Akemi-san, that I caused her to..." the aristocrat was trembling, shoulders shaking as her breaths became hitched. Sobs escaped the girl's mouth, a hand raised to futily silence herself.

"... Your silence is more than enough, Homura. So please forgive me, but I must...

"I must atone for my betrayal!"

With a ferocity that Homura has never seen before, Shizuki Hitomi ripped the lock off the golden bindings. The ribbons faded to nothingness and Aingel fell to the floor.

The foreigner immediately scrambled forward to the apparition, ignorant to her friend's actions. Homura knew what she had to do.

Aingel felt a pressure in her gut, the bruises from the other night weeping in agony. Were she to check no doubt the gurl would see opened wounds and blinding bruises. With a cough the blonde slumped over, a trickle of blood and spit escaping her mouth.

Homura laid her friend down to the metal floor, rested on her side just like she had found her before. Now to handle-

The girl that just launched a goddman haymaker right into Homura's face, ow!

"Akemi Homura, I consider you my friend. You are one of several people I hold dearly. But... I can not excuse what you have just done to Shion!" Pulsing magic to heal the bruise on her cheek, Homura face the Emerald Aristocrat. Hitomi had a fire burning in her eyes, the sleeves of her shirt rolled up slightly. Her hands had clenched into two fists, one close to her chest and the other held forwards, wearing a set of knuckles. It was at that point Homura noticed the lack of school uniform and saw the slacks that most likely carried the weapons on her friend's legs.

Shizuki Hitomi didn't go to school today. She followed them.

"I'm so sorry, Hitomi, but I must beg for your forgiveness another time. What I do, it is to protect you all." Homura knew of the anger, the rage that burned beneath the rich girl's calm demeanor, how Hitomi confided to her about her more "shameful" desires and practices. To be less a dainty lady and be a woman like Kaname Junko.

That included having the strength, the power, to fight for the people she loved.

"I do not wish to hurt you, by I will stop you from helping Aingel in her suicide quest."

"Sui-... No! I won't falter now! I can't! Sayaka needs us, and I need to make things right between us!"

...

...

"HurACK. Guh... damn it... I don't think I'm gonna make it outta her Mami..."

"Don't... Don't say that. We have to keep trying... to make it through to..."

Kyouko was currently being shouldered by Mami, blood covering the both of them as they take cover in a failing latice barrier. The gem on the Lancer's chest was losing its shine, the barrier waning along with it.

"Get outta her Mami, I'll- I can buy you time to get outta here." That was close, she almost let slip her plan. If she told her ex about that then...

"No, Kyouko. I made a promise, to stay by you and her.

"... we shall go together."

Ah... that's her Mami, always one step ahead of Kyouko.

"Feh, alright. How big a gun can ya make? Need ta know how big the bolt's gonna be."

"You know as well as I that the size never matters, I'll be doing all the hard work as always anyway."

"Ha! Fair enough."

Lifting herself off the Sharpshooter, Kyouko palmed her Soul Gem before unlatching it from her chest. She freed her ponytail and tied the ribbon to a much smaller spear. It was more a toothpick than anything else. Mami handed over a flower pin to the girl, the gem removed from its center. Launching the spear out of the labyrinth together, they got to work.

Sakura Kyouko took a prayer stance, a much larger spear growing in size above her. Tomoe Mami held out two cannons in her hands - her signature Tiro Finale weapons - before shifting them together.

The spear soon grew a sleak and slender bolt head, the cannons unraveling to form a new cannon together. Kyouko placed a kiss on her gem, launching herself upwards to attach it at the bolt's point. Mami had her gem be used as a fuse for her weapon.

"Kyouko! If there is a God out there... why don't we find Them, in the next life, together?!"

"Yeah, and give 'Em hell for all the shit we went through!"

Oktavia von Seckendorff had yet to finish her onslaught on the barrier, either ignorant or uncaring of their finale attack. The barrier was slowly fading away.

"Don't worry Sayaka, me an' Mami will be with ya every step of the way. If you'll have us."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't live up to your ideals, but if you'll allow it, I can atone for my misdeeds."

"And don't worry, Sayaka. I-"

A blinding light. The sound barrier ripped in twine. Flames swallowed the world.

...

...

A lonely girl, all alone, lost in the world.

Two girls, red and yellow, extend a hand.

Blue is loved. Blue is not alone anymore.

...

...

"Let go! Let go! I hafta save Sayaka! I have to save her!"

"Just stop, Aingel! It doesn't matter, it'll be over soon."

"No! No it's not over! It's never over! S'long as the labyrinth's up I can-"

"ACK!"

"Homura-chan!"

"No... why... where is it..? Where is it!?"

"What... what hit me Hitomi-san..?"

"I-I don't- I think it was a spear or stick!?"

"Mami... Kyouko... Saya...ka..."

"Wait, these are...!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"

---

it took th lives of two (argueably three) main characters to add two small parts for one new/side character. maths!!! tune in to part 10 and eventually part 11 of "Tamura Makes a New Friend"!

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼