#klug's writings

[catboyklug]

Regaining Morality, or something to that effect

summary: Based on the famed epic "Max has a kind of weird but mostly pretty good day and has thoughts about it" characters: Sam (he/him), Max (he/it), cyber-grandma (she/her), convenient crook (he/him) warnings: doggy dementia; extremely vague, canon-typical violence note: wahoo

---

Another slow day at home.

The office was down for refurbishment still, so Max was stuck at home. Cleaning. Again.

Though he hated it, they definitely didn't have enough money to hire a maid (or maidbot or whatever), especially considering the lack of cases as of late.

The Freelance Police's reputation took a bit of a hit after...

After everyone found out what was wrong with Sam.

It's not that they suddenly became infamous, just... everyone they met seemed to pity them.

Though, to Max, that was definitely worse.

He didn't exactly enjoy the constant reminders of his friend's condition. Especially considering that, with that condition, his friend couldn't retort along with him. That his friend had no idea that so many people looked down on him, how they acted like his continued existence was such a tragedy...

Max had, admittedly, mellowed out a lot over the years. But if he hadn't, and if he were even half as energetic as he used to be, he'd do unspeakably horrible things to everyone who treated Sam so terribly.

He wouldn't just sit idly by and let these people patronize his sidekick, he'd get up, grab 'em by the neck and-

The sound of a familiar hoverchair stopped Max's thoughts in their tracks, causing him to swivel his head around, ears bobbing as they tracked the noise.

"...'Morning, Sammy!" Max grinned, "You should really consider letting me put a bell collar on you sometime, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

That was so far from the truth he wanted to grimace in pain at his own selfishness. Really, the only reason he said that was to try and prompt the call-and-response he had gotten so used to before Sam's... withdrawing.

...But, something seemed different today.

"Max,"

He felt his heart skip a beat.

"...What the hell are you wearing those cheesy sci-fi glasses for?"

His chest practically fluttering, Max took a step back...

...Then took a running leap at his best friend, nearly barreling him over and off his chair if it weren't so secure.

"SAAAAM!!!"

"Hey, little bunny," Sam chuckled, quickly recovering from the attack and putting his hand on the entirety of Max's melon-shaped head, "You're acting like you haven't seen me in weeks."

"That's 'cause I-" Max begins, then suddenly shakes his head, "Awh, who CARES! I missed you, Sam!"

"Well, if you missed me, I probably missed you, too," Sam hums contemplatively, "Unless I ran off to get away from your annoying but ultimately endearing voice and distasteful, tactless jokes, that is."

"You'd never! As in, never run far enough to escape me," Max giggles

"Adorably ominous as always, little buddy... Never change."

It's obvious to the both of them that he has changed, though. Even ignoring the stupid sci-fi glasses he wears to hide his cataracts, the way his fur's gone from fuzzy to scruffy, the slight discoloration of said pelt of fur.. He's more mature, somehow, even if he is the same Max.

He holds himself differently, even. Not as straight. The years of odd loneliness have rounded out his grin into what only those close to him could recognize as a frown, so it seems even more strained than usual when it's genuine.

But, in this moment, they both choose to ignore that fact. All the little differences that pile up, all the years since their last conversation, seem so tiny in the face of the affection they give to each other now.

"Now, wanna catch me up to speed on why we're sitting at home and not either solving a case or watching television, little pal?"

"Oooh, well..." Max hisses a bit, moving to sit on the dashboard as he prepares to explain, "Another jackass crashed their stupid spaceship into our office, so it's down for repairs... I've taken the time to clean our house, so we don't get black mold mixed in with the asbestos."

"You, cleaning..."

"I know, right?!" Max huffed, "There's so many rules, like 'don't mix peroxide with vinegar', 'don't mix bleach with ammonia', 'don't mix bleach with...'"

"I'm going to assume you skipped the 'research' part of figuring these things out and went straight to 'development'..." Sam hummed, putting his hand to his snout in thought of the wonderful sight of the lagomorph experimenting with deadly chemicals.

"Well, without much in the way of cases, what was I supposed to do?" Max huffed, "The Commissioner, damn fed that he is, hasn't called us since we dismantled Stinky's empire, and I've been too busy twiddling my thumbs and cleaning to go out and catch some Freelance Deed-doers!"

"Freelance deed-doers..." Sam thought for a few moments.

"...If the Commissioner's all but abandoned us--" "DEFINITELY abandoned, no 'all but' 'bout it!" "--Quiet, Max. If he's abandoned us, and you're suddenly free, why don't we make like freelancers and find our own work again?"

"Oboy! Can we, Sam? Can we?!" Max pleaded, full of glee at the prospect of pummeling someone again.

"Can't see why not," Sam shrugged, "Might as well start in the most crime-ridden place we know (outside of our own office) - central park!"

---

"Well, here we are at central park!"

After Stinky's swift and cruel elimination, a group of hippies had managed to start planting trees again, and the fifth-best example of the newfound greenery was central park.

When it wasn't so early spring not a single tree had leaves yet, that is.

It was practically empty, now, most people enjoying their living plants at home, and completely devoid of obvious criminals doing criminal things like networking and taxes.

"It's quiet," Max growled, "Too quiet. I think we missed all the perps, Sam."

"If that's the case, we might as well wander around aimlessly until we find someone to arrest, right, little pal?"

"I suppose so..." Max sighed, the only thing staving off the boredom of wandering aimlessly when there are better crime wells to search being the sheer joy he felt at seeing Sam again.

So, the two set off, walking - or, er, hovering, - through central park, not doing anything much other than enjoying their time together, like some mushy, permanent-honeymoon-phase old couple. Which, admittedly, they kind of were.

After a long while of walking past bare trees and frosty grass, Sam had a thought. Surprisingly.

"Hey, Max.."

"Yeah, Sam?"

"...Wanna try that 'nostalgia' thing again, now that we're a bit older?"

Max can't help but chuckle, the concept of even considering that being somewhat hilarious to him. Though, practically anything could be funny to him, now that Sam's back.

"As long as I get to go first!" he grinned, "Lemme think... Ooh, remember that time when we wildly accused half of our associates as being part of the reformed sect of Prismatologists bothering the neighborhood?"

"I remember you accusing one of our associates, and a member of the freelance police," Sam shook his head, "For shame, Max."

"What can I say? The rookie's hilarious when they're scared!" Max giggled, then let out a happy sigh, "Those panicked hand gestures will live in my heart forever..."

"You really are one sick-and-twisted lagomorph... Anyway, I think it's my turn."

"Do you remember... When we fought that one country-pop music star in a bit to end her plan to poison the Earth's soil so she could entirely reinvent 'country' as a genre, and actually came out victorious?"

"Lemme think..." Max hummed, lost in thought as he tried to remember all the country-pop singers they had ended the evil schemes of over the years, "OH! That was good ole' T. Speedy, right?"

"Right on the money, little pal," Sam grinned, "I remember... didn't you use one of her own privates jet to bring about her untimely but lucky demise?"

"One of the proudest moments of my career!" Max nodded, "I was kinda disappointed that I didn't get to properly torture her, but rolling around in all that money of hers once the case was closed was payment enough!"

"Shame we didn't get to keep any of it..."

"Whatever, it was totally worth it!" Max retorted, though it was clear he really wanted to keep at least some of the bounty...

"Now, it's my tu-HU-HOOOOH!"

"SAM! PERP AT INTELLEGIBLE-24-HOUR-TIME!"

Right where Max vaguely said and pointedly pointed he'd be was an incredibly convenient thief, running from a cyber-grandma waving her fists and angrily complaining about her lack of lazer eyes.

"Seven feet and seven-leagues, you're right!" Sam gasped, "...Seems I forgot my gun at the dry-cleaner's again, though."

"Oooh, ooh, ooh, Sam, say it!" Max begged, "Please! Tell me to do the thing!"

"The... Oh, right."

"SIC 'EM, MAX!"

At Sam's command, Max was off, putting his dorky but oddly tasteful hoverboard at top speed as he approached the villain.

Right before the board would hit the lawbreaker, he jumped off, allowing it to jab into his stomach and send him flying into the wall.

The crook now completely at his mercy, Max stood over him, and...

Well, a deed certainly got done, all right.

In all the carnage, the purse (now slightly bloody) had fallen to the ground, and it was now Sam's job to pick it up.

...Hm...

Maybe if he tries to get off his hoverchair like-

No, that's no good. Alright, what about-

...Nothing doing. Fine, that's alright with him. So, he checks his inventory..

Huh.

Well, that's interesting..

After a while of sifting around, Sam managed to find something useful - a trash grabby thingy, or "trash grabber" to the unamused.

Carefully, he managed to trash-grabby the handbag with only minimal added dirt to it, and dilligently returned it to its owner.

Meanwhile, Max finally finished his havoc-wreaking, and trotted over to Sam, carrying his battered hoverboard, and obviously covered in blood.

"That guy tasted horrible, Sam!" Max complained, "Can we go wash it out with something wholesome before I puke his blood out everywhere?"

"Sounds good to me," Sam nodded, pretending to ignore the amused look of the cyber-grandma as she went on her merry way, "How about icecream? It should be tastefully underpriced, since it's so cold out that nobody else would want it."

"...I love you, Sam."

...

For a moment, the two stood awkwardly in silence.

Max didn't mean to say it like that. Not at all. It was rare that he was so direct with his affection, and rarer still that he

And Sam, not having heard those word for several years, had no idea how to respond.

After several more seconds, Max opened his mouth, ready to offer a horrible joke to brush it off with, or a thinly-veiled apology beneath one, when-

"I love you, too, little buddy,"

Moving a bit closer, Sam pat his pal's scruffy little head, and smiled at him.

And Max gave an odd, yet not quite crazed, smile back.

---

After several more hours of gallivanting across NYC, buying tastefully underpriced icecream from every establishment they could fit Sam's hoverchair in, the two had arrived back home.

it was almost dark now, and Max suddenly acquired a craving that definitely came with age - a deep desire to eat actual, healthy food.

Trying not to be mortified and horrified by the development, the lagomorph had dragged Sam into the kitchen to watch him work.

And...

"...Max."

"Since when can you cook?"

Grinning, Max flipped a pan entirely full of various vegetables - and sticks the landing, not dropping a single one.

"Since a certain somebody insisted that cooking your own food was a hundred times cheaper than ordering takeout, apparently!" he responded. And that mysterious somebody stopped being able to cook for himself, he refused to add.

Sam simply gave a "hm" in response, too intrigued by Max's intense cooking skills to really think of interrogating him at the moment.

Actually, Sam seems distracted by more than just Max's awesome cooking skills...

Trying hard to focus on the food, Max ended up sort of ignoring him, but he could feel the intensity of Sam's loving gaze burrowing deep into his skull and causing his neurons to misfire until some part of his body signalled for him to blush.

Which he did.

Intensely so.

He missed this attention...

By the end of his insane cooking spree slash bid for attention, Max had made an entire feast for the two, with vegetables, meat, tubers and grains abound.

Even with its terrifying healthiness, everything Max presented, from the tiny stuffed potatoes to the massive pot of stirfry, looked incredibly appealing...

So, without even a modicum of restraint, the two dug in.

It took about an hour and a half for them to eat their fill, and even after all of that there was a massive amount of leftovers.

"Looks like we won't have to cook for the rest of the month, little buddy," Sam remarked, clearly impressed, "Maybe we should listen to our souls for once and try donating this to... someplace."

"Wuh... Could you repeat that, Sammy?" Said Max, obviously incredibly drowzy.

"...Nevermind, little buddy," Sam sighed affectionately, shaking his head.

Against his better judgement, Sam decided to clean up at least some of this by himself, putting the food in various containers and shoving those in the fridge, and placing every unused dish into the sink - which was miraculously clean, much to his surprise.

Once he was finally done, he adjusted his seat to put him in a slightly lower position, and hovered his chair over to the half-asleep Max.

"Adorable..." Sam hummed, gently picking the lagomorph up in his arms and practically cradling it, which it didn't even think to protest at.

With it in his arms, he thought for a moment.

He couldn't even begin to imagine how long Max has been caring for him. He remembers the date of the timecard from that case oh so long ago... but, not having seen the office, he can't tell if that's now or even later.

Either way, this tiny bunny's been keeping itself and him alive, probably for years now.

And there's no way for him to repay it.

...If he had a choice, he never would've left.

...

Holding the rabbity thing a bit closer to himself, he hovers over to their bedroom, and gets ready to sleep.

---

The morning light takes a while to reach the windows of Sam & Max's bedroom, but once it finally does, the golden rays of sun flood the living space, bathing everything in light orange.

...And giving Max a rude, groggy awakening.

He blinks, rubbing his eyes with his free hand -

...His free hand?

He rolls over a little, just to come face-to-face with the biggest, wettest nose he's ever seen.

...Sam went to bed with him.

Suddenly, all of yesterday comes back to him like a tidal wave, filling him with an undeniable sense of disgusting warmth and abhorrent joy.

And, despite himself, despite every facet of who he is, despite every action he's taken before now,

He cries.

His crying awakens the dog whose arms wrap so warmly around him, and, just as sleepy as he was a moment ago, Sam simply lets out a curious, concerned whine at the sight.

"I-" he sniffs, "I'm okay, Sammy, I'm okay,"

Not quite satisfied, Sam curls up closer to him, placing his head in its arms in a show of dogged affection.

So, even though the emotions haven't dried up one bit, Max stops with the uncharactaristic show of them, drying his eyes on his scruffy arm and using his dry hand to pat Sam's scruffy, rounded-triangle head.

...Yesterday was nice.

Today might be as well.

But, for once in its entire life, Max has realized something.

Even if Sam forgets all of this, even if he goes right back to being in his own world...

His love for the lagomorph never really left, did it?

...

Today's going to be a good day. Max is sure of it.

[descendant-of-truth]

*grips Klug by the shoulders* what is going on with you in this game

I really thought I had it all figured out in my last post, where I determined that Klug is still very much aware of the demon in his book, and that it has some sort of connection to Sig. I even thought it was safe to assume that he still remembered being possessed by it back in Fever 2, because it was the only time it happened where he wasn't confused afterwards.

But then that scene in Schezo's story happened and I have so many more questions. Because this really sounds like someone who doesn't even know that there's anything IN that book?? Which he very obviously does???

I'm not even talking about previous games at this point, because there's been weirder cases of amnesia in this series before; Klug repressing the knowledge he has of his book isn't a farfetched idea. But the problem with it is that this is the only scene (so far) where he's this clueless, and it happens later in the timeline than this one in Risukuma's story (if I've been tracking it right):

Klug's reactions here when Risukuma seems to be on the trail of What's Weird About the Book are absolutely about him wanting to keep Ayashii (whatever he remembers about it) a secret. I mean, would he really be that nervous if all he thought he was going to say was "it's got powerful magic inside of it"? He never really tries to hide that part, seeing as he casts spells with it.

It's even less obvious where in the timeline Accord's conversation with him happens, but he directly references "the tome" being ill at ease, once again suggesting that he at least sort of knows what its deal is. Plus, he says this to his teacher, so the idea that his book has feelings isn't even something he's concerned about keeping a secret.

And lest we forget, he even gets in an argument with it off-screen. What's up with this "how can a book be fussy" nonsense?? He's not even saying it to cover up Ayashii's existence to other people, he's saying it to himself.

What changed? Is this just some accidental inconsistency, or should we be expecting a scene in a future update to explain it?? I'm losing my marbles over here

[dogboyklug]

klug's sam & max au full entire whole

i am so tired

this is more an extensive collection of hcs than a fully-fledged au but yeah

this is also th basics of my entire. fanfic story im making ig. fun times.

enjoy

when sam was a child, he was heavily traumatized by the general environment. his parents put a lot of pressure on him, and a majority of his relatives (extended or not) were cruel towards him due to their military histories. sam is a transgender man, and he was allowed to partake in more "masculine" activities solely due to the hope that he might join the military once he was older

max had a similarly awful relationship with his family, being almost entirely starved of both attention and praise for all of his childhood. many of the women in his family were alcoholics, which was joked about and normalized even when that alcoholism led to violence. he's also a trans man, but his family are so apathetic they didn't give a shit and just let him dress and act however he wanted

the two met by chance in school and ended up immediately bonding. the two were basically inseperable throughout their shared childhood, relying on each other for basically all warmth and support - especially considering the two were prime targets for basically every bully in a five-state radius, being obviously queer (especially bc max kept screaming joyfully abt how him wearing dresses was crossdressing) and (equivalent of) black and mixed respectively in a predominantly white town in the 60's

being autistic, sam had a lot of special interests, more specifically noir detective films (which he dissociated from cop shows for years, somehow...) and computers/robotics/machinery in general. he made some of the most advanced videogames at the time everywhere he went, leaving bits and pieces for other people to find and put a patent on while he stayed entirely unaware.

max, meanwhile, didn't give half a damn about anything but himself, his best friend, and proving to the whole wide world that he was a boy. though being significantly less violent than sam was (thanks to all those damn noir films sammy watched i'm sure. kids those days), he defintiely wasn't above using his AWE-INSPIRING MANLIKE STRENGTH to beat up bullies who didnt immediately confess and repent for all their sins. he also read a LOT of comics (and ripped out all the oversexualized caricatures of women that were put together with the leads [and replaced them with himself])

once the two were teenagers, sam decided to go on a diet in the hopes that girls would like him more, styling his naturally coily hair into a very unnaturally-colored tiny afro to seem Hipper and Cooler while ending up just looking goofy. around this time, max realized he was near-sighted, and (due to sensory issues) decided to get perscription sunglasses instead of contacts

during highschool, sam was still studying engineering despite his future self's best efforts. though the highschool they went to didnt have a computer lab or anything, he taught himself everything he could about computers, learning from library books and "learning" from comics. max, however, Still didn't give a damn about any sort of schooling thing, only going to stick around with sam. he picked up a lot of random tidbits of information, and started becoming more perceptive (mostly to avoid bullies)

once max graduated, he immediately went on the road, roadtripping across the country in an attempt to leave everything about his past (sans sam, who he occassionally called) behind.

sam ended up getting a job (probably in computer repairs?) and detransitioned due to a do-goodery belief that him pretending to be a woman would somehow help fix sexism (while feeling a lot of guilty pleasure after finding out he was seen as " one of the boys " in his class)

in max's absence, sam ended up incredibly depressed, refusing to cook or clean for himself, overworking himself both as punishment and as an excuse to further avoid responsibility for himself. only after he got a health warning from the landlord did he clean up his apartment, which he ended up having to call max to help out with (which s a fic m actively working on actually)

though max only stayed in sam's apartment for a while, he ended up deciding to end his roadtrip prematurely, and started "stalking" sam around the campus out of a twisted desire for human[oid] contact with a dear friend. sam knew and did not care, especially when max later snuck into his graduation ceremony and screamed his praises so loud everyone near him ended up with tinnitus

honestly im not sure what happens in between then and them deciding to become cops. probably max suddenly forgets all he learned from travelling w a buncha hippies and anarchists and sam gives up becoming a computer scientist or engineer due to the toxic and constantly shifting environments ... and they needed an excuse to work together of course considering max is a bit less than qualified to work with computers

while searching for an office, the two saw flint paper throwing several men out his office window and immediately begged the landlord to set them up so they would be right next to him.

personally i think both of them have NPD, so the reason that the comics feel like they have more 'npcs' is because neither saw people (other than themselves, each other, and flint paper) as people, just background characters in their story

anyway i dont rlly have any changes from this until telltale. EXCEPT FOR ONE KEY FACTOR.

around 2009, much to their shared horror, sam & max found out (/fully realized) they were disabled. not just in mind, but in body too. crazy that.

turns out max being extremely stretchable without any real Training was a symptom of hypermobile joints, and sam's aching back, frequent migraines and near-constant Agony were signs of arthritis and fibromyalgia. who knew!

anyway, final note is that altho i havent played tdp i do know how it ends and im gonna say that after that, Somehow, sam & max recieved their respective past & present selves's memories, allowing past max to 'remember' 305 and for sam to 'remember' how tdp went in the past timeline which explains that one weird line in ttiv.

Also. Sybil moved and has divorced abe. superball prolly has a job woodworking and training interns. bosco found dead in miami. ms. momma bosco is thriving. and sam & max are gonna have kids at some point in the timline. cya

[klugami]

Hello everyone, welcome back to KlugAmi, the blog where I sometimes poop out content. Today, I’m writing an essay, since I believe some may be confused. After all: why ship this? There are better options for both of them, same sex, different sex, in school, and out of school. And even if we multiship, there’s not much these two have. In such an expansive cast, this could feel like the ‘Durr, Girl and Boy were classmates!’ that someone made up in Fever 1 that they stubbornly refuse to let go of.

Well, for starters, awesome, I like other Klug and Amitie pairings too, because that’s just natural. Secondly, I mean, there is SOME stuff these guys have. Some. These two have. That’s why we’re here! I guess we could call it “Why I like this pairing”.

As You may have gathered, “KuruAmi”, otherwise known as “KlugAmi”, “AmiKlug”, “AmiKuru”, or “24manzaishipping”, is a pairing that features Klug and Amitie from Puyo Puyo Fever. When we go to their debut, it seems pretty promising— he’s the only male who’s of a similar size to Amitie, and he interacts with her in a funny cutscene (though arguably the Raffina version is funnier) so it’d be pretty easy to go “Hey, I can work with this!” And work people did, as even as early as 2010. But wait! Didn’t Puyo Puyo Fever 2 release by then? And you’re right! It did! By that point, so did 7. But Fever 2 is important.

How, you may ask? Why, it gave us a whole extra interaction!! Multiple, in fact. If you will, Amitie is the only person to immediately (kind of) tell that Klug isn’t himself. By something minuscule. And from Klug’s end, he specifically wanted her to battle him again after his possession. So what does this mean for us? It means that Klug wanted (to beat up) Amitie. Ok, that’s not a good start. But they share a classs! That’s something!!

“Ehh? This is just a history lesson!!” You may ask. That it is! But if I listed every interaction we’d get really bored so we’re going to say that they’re canonically friends. That doesn’t say a lot for Amitie but it says a lot for Klug who is generally repulsive (affectionate)

So naturally, their dynamic is of an energetic if airheaded girl and a serious but almost foolish boy. Really, Klug has his moments where he is stupid, and Amitie has her moments of brilliance. By cranking it upward, you can almost craft a romantic dynamic out of this: if you wanted to, you could read Klug as “Tsundere”, and the Girl of Love incident helped matters none. And Amitie, being Amitie, is the type of person someone like the serious Klug would end up falling for.

Now that we’re out of canon, we can dip our toes into Fanon some more. Recall our friend Klug is a bit serious. He wouldn’t let his emotions show if it didn’t make him look good. And what would make him look lamer than being in love with Amitie? Precisely! He must hide it. Like a Moron. What of Amitie? As usual, she’s usually oblivious, but other times, the Magazine Incident side of her is brought up, being a sort of “Teasing Type”. You’ll find work where she’s the butt of the joke at times, so this can really go either way. Sometimes, fanfiction takes the approach of Amitie’s antics softening the boy up, be it intentionally or otherwise. Either way, it is his feelings that come first.

Now one must consider this fact: back in the day, there were fans of this pairing. Well, more fans than today I mean! If you search it up, you’ll get most results being OLD, with the first picture on Pixiv being 2009, and the first novel in 2010. That’s older than some Puyo fans as of today, and that’s not even counting anything sold at conventions back in the day that could predate Pixiv itself (2007). Of course, given that a majority of it is in Japanese, it’s very hard to make big gauges- in fact, of the fanfiction there is, my info is sourced from maybe… less than five of them! Well that’s why there are drawings, which have a similar idea- Lame Boy Klug! (Affectionate)

You may notice this section is rather short! That’s pretty easy. Let’s briefly mention that searching this pairing up may result in an unwanted, sinister option— that being Ayakuruami: the pairing of the Crimson Demon and Amitie (usually her 20th alt costume). This makes searching up difficult, especially if you’re using the JP name. However, if you brave yourself, you’ll find the normal works soon, so don’t give up yet!

As you know… this is a Klugami blog hell yeah!! We <3 KuruAmi!!! But I never really mention the exact dynamics I like… well, it’s complicated!

To start with, I think KuruAmi is most interesting to think about when it’s unrequited Klug → Amitie. This isn’t the most “canon” outlook, fuck, there’s no canon outlook, but I think the appeal is best to have a Klug go through the motions of romance while Amitie has no idea. Maybe she’d make fun of him, but she does not reciprocate.

This leads into my next favorite idea: KuruAmi becomes “real” when they’re older. What does this mean? As it is on the tin! Once they grow out of being dumb little tykes, we can then use their changing responsibilities (and the potential Tragedy that is Klug’s own Downfall) to really get into the juice of things.

We can go beyond the silly childhood romance we must get into the romance that would be overt. Imagine the Klug getting more desperate to become the greatest because he’s getting more aware of his inferiority because Amitie is just so cool. What if it’s because he wants to be on her Level. Do you know how crazy that’d be alongside the romantic baggage.

Amitie trying to become even closer, she already can tell when something is wrong, so what’ll happen if she realizes that Klug’s worsening himself because of his feelings for her? Even if she knows it’s mutual affection because she too loves him, what if this alone can’t save him? What if she would try anything to deter Klug from his tendency to draw ever closer to the End? Beautiful. Perfect.

But even ignoring the tragedy, this can still be fun. Amitie’s still Amitie, and she’d probably be excited about the idea, but once they actually go out, she would have no idea. In a way, Klug’s the same, but he’d put on a brave face. This can be at any time! So cool! Two inexperienced people who have their cards to their chest, but while Klug would play it off as if he’s got a good hand, Amitie is playing Go Fish. I guess that’s the metaphor.

What? Why should you ship it? You don’t have to, but it is quite funny. If nothing else, I urge you to give this pairing a spin- maybe one drawing, one Drabble, one thought in your head. If you don’t like it, that’s alright! There are probably more ships that are more interesting, or maybe you just don’t like these characters, or maybe you think they have a more platonic dynamic. Which is pretty cool, too, I think they could be funny friends if Klug did not tragically die in Los Vegas.

Whatever the case, I wanted to get my thoughts out. Uhm. This wasn’t. Really a conclusion.

[nevasarini]

*sneaks in*

I wrote a thing for puyotober (day 9 - crossover)

It’s a crossover with Kirby’s Return to Dreamland (one of my favorite games :D ), swapping in the Primp students for the Kirby characters at the end of RtDL

[klugpuuo]

anyway lois buhalis's work with lettering the s&m comics is so fuckinggood. it's so fucking good. It's so good?

[samsbigkill]

Gold

summary: the curse is lifted characters: the saint (he/she/they/it/ze/xe/sie/etc.), others warnings: mentions of death, the divider is a gif i don't know if that's a problem or not

It was so painful.

Killing mother.

The dream.

Seeing a window into timelines fractured by my reckless actions, held together by the strings of fate left by those with so much more impact.

I lay here at the starting point of my last journey. The dream has become a part of me, now an echo cursed to remember forever. I know that there was some truth to it, divine or more common I do not know, but.

"It hurt to live, and now that it is over it hurts all the more."

The impression of those words fell gently on my mind, from where they came I am sure.

I lay here, now, and I can hear the snowstorm approaching. The end of this sorrowful existence is forever out of my reach. All hope is forever lost.

And yet, if I listen closer, I can hear the sound of gold.

...Gold.

The pure euphoric sound that filled the void. An assurance that it would all be okay, that it would all end. I was sure it had been stolen from me. Why can I hear it now?

I open my eyes.

Open? Opened? If I were an echo, my eyes would never be closed; suspended forever in constant knowledge of the land I left behind.

I look around, slowly

Getting up, which would be even harder. Suspended in animation forever, and yet, and yet I could move!

I turn my head towards the sound

My thoughts race and shatter, I can hardly keep up! Not an echo, not destroyed, my body is mangled how I don't know but I have a body!

And I see gold!

I ran, quick but not too much. As a child slows down for her much smaller friend, a brother speeds up to catch his elder sister, a fish who befriended an ancient stops so the little one can catch up; friend and family and predator and prey in harmony and we run together.

The gold is leaving this earth. It is saying its last goodbye. And I will see it off.

I run, and the ground cracks beneath my feet, but I do not fall. I hear crumbling behind me, but I am safe, even without the half-powers in my dream.

I pass a group of scavengers, bandaging the insignificant wounds of the brave few who touched the gold and were burnt. I pass the lizards, who are in equal parts afraid and aware. I pass the snow and it does not touch me, the gold carefully separating to cover me as it slowly makes its way upwards.

Climbing through the small, unmarked pipes, running through the sparse plants, I make my way to the summit.

And there I see it.

The great sea.

"I am sorry,"

I feel the impression on my mind. It is not words, not quite a feeling, but I understand.

"A long time ago," The impression begins, in a way, "I was the Guardian of these lands. I provided my children the life they desired, and bade them rest when they wished."

"They are long gone now, and those who took their place slowly began to see what I thought was my protection was in fact a curse."

"I was unaware, perhaps I simply wished to ignore it, but over the ages I could not help but feel their pain. Then I met you, a beautiful speck in this world."

"I gave you the dream so you could see what I did, you lived the dream and showed me what the world meant to you. Love and hope and kindness, even in fear."

"I cannot stay on this world. I will search for those who require my assistance, and give them just that, leaving when they do."

"There are so few who wish to return to these lands, little speck," The impression was like a whisper, "But I implore you to stay for those who do."

I want to say something, in this moment. I want to impress something on it as it did to me. What would I say?

You are forgiven, thank you, and goodbye?

I can only hope, as the void sea continues its way upward, leaving those who wish to live anew and cradling those who wish to join it, that if it can feel like us, it would be happy.

[makeitlookdecent]

srry homie for what im boutta do

for the au[other colors] i thought it would be cool to have klugs parents show up for a couple scenes, but for the timeline of the major events i needed them GONE and UNRESPONSIVE.

hes smart so i think, even at a young age, he gets that they're busy with work and all, and he's not alone per say- his friends and teachers and everyone in primp would definitely look out for him, but ive just been thinking. because like, i thought itd be cool if it was almost like strange also helped raise klug. as a (malicious) mentor of sorts. after they made truce (that they both keep breaking)

i imagine klugs parents are probably good people, but are horrible as parents. like they just keep doing their own thing and just let the village raise him.

but then that got me thinking, in this setting, do you think he would unknowingly (or maybe knowingly but trying not to think about it) resent them for not being there for him growing up?

[nenilein]

Hello, I am awake now, so it is time for

THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF KLUG PUYO PUYO (Part 2)

-An Essay

NOTE: This is the second part, aimed at people familiar with the basics of the character. For part 1, which mostly deals with introducing the character to newcomers, please go HERE.

Now, without any further ado, let's get straight into:

Chapter 3 - Why is Klug?

-From the official Novel "Amitie and the Girl of Love", Chapter 3

I think if one thing has become fully apparent by now, it is this:

Klug has issues.

And a lot of comedy properties would leave it at just that. Show a character has issues, but never forcing them to confront them. Play the joke of how pathetic they are exactly the same every time, with little alteration. And for a while, that was just what the Puyo games did: Klug would show up, start bragging about his superior InTeLlIgEnCe, receive swift karmic punishment and the plot would move on, not giving him a second glance.

But then something happened. We started seeing the cracks in his mask.

Okay, some context: In this scene, Klug is blackout drunk.

He's, in fact, drunk for the entirety of his own story route in "Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary". Don't worry about where he got the booze from. A witch did it.

Anyway, upon first read of this scene, you might be quick to agree with Amitie: Klug starting his alcohol-induced rant by hounding himself with the same insults Raffina usually throws at him, only to quickly pivot to bragging about his intelligence again seems nonsensical.

Then you remember what happened at the pivot point: Amitie was pitying him.

And this is actually not the only, let alone first time he quickly pivots back into bragging right after Amitie said something like that.

This scene is from the ending of Amitie's story route in Puyo Puyo Fever 2. It's right after Amitie breaks the spells and returns Klug to normal.

The Solar Bookmark is a magical artefact, that in gameplay increases attack power. Though his quick pivot says otherwise, the voice acting in this scene makes it very clear Klug, in fact, meant it to be a genuine thank-you gift to Amitie for saving him. But he can't admit that, neither to himself, nor to Amitie, so he quickly pivots to calling it "trash".

This becomes even more obvious in the novel "Sig's Secret":

The first line of dialogue in this excerpt is Raffina. The second is Klug. Yes, these two are actually having a conversation without ripping each other's hair out here. Because they're both genuinely worried about Sig's health.

Then, in the book's last chapter...

I think something should have become very clear by now. Klug (and Raffina, but this essay isn't about her) is a textbook Tsundere.

But his Tsundere-ness isn't just there as a quick trope. It plays directly into his insecurities: He cares about his peers, but he doesn't allow himself to show it outright, because he thinks it makes him look soft, and if he looks soft, he doesn't look like a "strong and superior dark sorcerer".

The lyrics to his character image song, "Nebula Step" (Yes, Puyo characters have character image songs. Why are you surprised?) make that even more obvious:

I marked the parts that make me worry about this boy's mental health. You're welcome.

From this song alone, it seems Klug does REALIZE that he has issues on some level, but he can't help himself but act like that. He's too scared of not making it anywhere in life if he doesn't keep up the "genius sorcerer" act. That's strangely relatable, isn't it?

The closest he ever comes to admitting how much he really cares is in Drama CD 7, when thanks to Klug's and Raffina's bullying Amitie almost loses her soul to a living doll monster (long story). Amitie's peers appeal to their appreciation for her to snap her out of it, and this is when Klug says this:

Klug: "T-That's right, Amitie! Um... Eh... I-I! I... I think I... maybe... always relied too much on the fact that you'd just forgive me with a smile, no matter what horrible things I say to you..." Amitie: "Klug...?" Klug: "B...but... M-Maybe that's just what makes you amazing! You never let anything get you down for long, you keep your spirits high! Y-You're the one who keeps us all centered!!"

But, of course, opening up like that isn't something he can bear for long, so just seconds later he curls up on the floor screaming this:

Klug: THIS WAS SO EMBARRASSING, I FEEL LIKE MY FACE IS ABOUT TO BURN OFF!!

Right after Amitie is released from the doll's control, Klug is the first to rush to help dig her out from under the pile of Puyo she ended up buried under, loudly screaming her name. It's not just a bit. This is how he really feels about his friends. Even though he usually can't even bring himself to call them "friends".

But even so... slowly but surely incidents of Klug being less antagonistic and even outright feeling bad for others are becoming more and more frequent and apparent as time goes on.

Chapter 4 - Where does Klug go?

Compare this scene from Puyo Puyo Quest, set shortly after the events of Puyo Puyo Fever 2:

to THIS exchange in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (the currently latest point in the timeline):

No complaints. No snide remarks, no "Oh, NOW you trust Lemres, clearly you have finally learned about his brilliance!" And this just a couple minutes after Raffina was actively bullying Klug.

Klug knows sorting out the apocalypse-of-the-week is more important than beefing with Raffina, so he puts all the usual nonsense away and just cooperates without fuss. This is NOT something he would or even COULD have done back in Fever 2, but he's changed since then.

In fact, even complete strangers, such as Atari (a new character in Puyo Puyo Quest) notice how well Klug and Raffina work together these days, despite their protests to the contrary:

He's grown. He trusts his peers - his friends - a lot more than he used to, and the feeling is mutual. Even though he still feels the need to show off at any given occasion, he's far less aggressive about it now, too. His progress is subtle. It's natural. It's oddly realistic for a comedy series about magic puzzles.

A big part of this might be that Lemres has been visiting Primp Town very frequently ever since the events of Fever 2, meaning that to Klug Lemres no longer exists just as a distant idol he's proud to have known in his childhood, but a very active influence on his life. And Lemres is a GOOD influence, because, unlike Klug's ideal of the "evil, powerful, cruel dark sorcerer", Lemres is the kindest, literally sweetest person you'll ever meet.

There's another scene here I'd like to share, but that's purely in the audio, so alas. Basically in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 there's a scene where Lemres shares cream puffs with Klug and Sig. Klug is so overjoyed, his Japanese voice acting has him squeeing like a normal, little kid and for the rest of the scene, there are chewing noises in his dialogue. It's adorable. <3

Klug wants to be just like Lemres, and more and more he realizes that Lemres is just NOT like his picture-book fantasy of a powerful mage at all. So perhaps that has caused Klug to reevaluate his own demeanor just a little.

Also, Lemres might've grown up in a household of dark sorcerers (which was probably what drew Klug to dark magic in the first place), but these days Lemres considers himself a light sorcerer and wants as little as possible to have do with his family's dark magic legacy. This actually might also slowly be influencing Klug's ambitions as well, as as of late, he's more and more been dropping the term "dark" from his bragging about how he will be a powerful, famous sorcerer in the future, and Puyo Puyo Quest actually features alts that have him dressed as BOTH a light and a dark sorcerer!

Notably, the Light Sorcerer alt is SIGNIFICANTLY more powerful than the Dark Sorcerer alt (though that might just be owed to gacha power creep, admittedly.)

Oh, and speaking of Klug's "future":

In Puyo Puyo 7 (which was fairly early in the timeline at this point) most playable characters have "Mega" and "Mini" forms for the Transformation Puyo mode. The Mega forms of each character seem to reflect their wishes and ambitions for the future 100%...

Except Klug gets... this...

Maybe this plays into his image song. Despite how much Klug brags about his future, he can't actually imagine it clearly. Maybe meeting Lemres again threw him off enough to not HAVE a clear idea of where he's going. So when everyone else gets to be their ideal future self in Mega Mode, Klug just... gets possessed again.

But he's growing. He's learning more and more, about Lemres, about himself, about what other people can add to his life and what his academic talents are ACTUALLY good for. He's far from there yet, but he's finding his way, little by little, with every single new story featuring released into the franchise.

And I, for one, will be supporting him the whole way through.

Favorite Sega Character: Losers Bracket Round 2

[new-squidbeak-gaytoon]

i had a dream

"Hurt me"

Dream you begged/confessed/whispered/sobbed

Whatever I wanted to believe

Whatever I wanted

I put my arms around your neck

You smiled and I felt sick

I gripped

You didn't even bother to struggle

I gripped tighter

And I felt something puncture under my unkempt nails

Blue gushed out from the wound and flooded the room

But you didn't move or make any sound

You just kept staring, smiling at the ceiling

Until there was too much blood and I couldn't see any more

[catboyklug]

sam & max hcs

title

this is specifically for sam & also max bc im most confident w my interpretations of them but once i play & finish tdp i'll make a post for every single other character .

quick disclaimer that this is for my sorta-AU thing where i make sense of the games and cartoon and comics by saying that each was an autobiographical (or just biographical) piece of media that they signed their rights away to. the comics were more or less exactly what happened, the cartoon was scripted half the time (with the bad day on the moon episode actively having been staged) and the games are more or less 1:1 to what happened except for the occassional references to them being. games.

also this isnt a totally exhaustive list

sammy

canon to get it outta the way: he's black, bisexual, autistic and might be trans & objectum (i hc him to definitely be the last two lmao) . i hc he has Narcissistic Traits tee em and also might have OCD

he started developing arthritis in his 20's, which was made only worse by his horrible posture due to his career path of Massive Fucking Nerd. though he fixed his back posture-wise by the time he formed the freelance police, he still is in a lot of pain near constantly.

even when he makes jokes, he wants to be taken seriously at all times. he wants you to laugh at his cleverness, not at the fact that you find him inherently funny. he tends to take this a bit far sometimes, which is part of one of the many reasons as to why he treated max so terribly in the early telltale games

since he was a pup he's tried to hide the fact he's bisexual, even if he's completely normal abt max being out as gay and doesn't see an issue with it in any sense of the term

he really wanted to be an engineer for years, but the intense sexism of the field, a desire to stick around with max, and the fact that other jobs would pay him better lead him to abandon the thought

though he wouldn't mind having children, he doesn't actively want them as much as max does. this doesn't mean he dislikes children at all, though - he actually likes them more than max does, at least conceptually

not too long after the cartoon's release, he lost contact with most of his family, excluding ruth. this was fully intentional on his part: max's refusal to talk to his family except at gatherings he stole food and drugs from inspired him to take more control of his life and contact with people he's related to

he sort of wants to grow his hair out again, but isn't sure what style to get... (i like drawing him w afros though)

completely opposite to max's feelings, sam feels a strictly familial or platonic attraction to lumpy. and platonic being based offa that plato fun fact is very very definitely relevant here i think (im sorry)

if he went with any other job, it'd have to be letterist, full stop. he has several styles of handwriting and they're all gorgeous

he's a super sweet, incredibly silly drunk, and lets himself relax and show more of his dog mannerisms when drunk enough (thank you celebrity poker 2 i love you)

maxamillion

canonically a narcissistic psychopath who might have schizophrenia. its ok i can reclaim him<333 (no i cant but my partner can) he also has a horrible family life but his family stuck together out of mutual hatred and a desire to reap society's rewards for the nuclear standard

this horrible shithead has prolly claimed to have every physical disability at some point but he's only been diagnosed w/ hypermobile joint disorder / ehler-dahlos

in the more modern time of 2024, he usually sticks to only mocking people for things that are a. traits he shares with them or b. actually disturbing, inhumane or generally Yucky

he's wanted kids for years, which is why he's constantly not-so-subtly mentioning it.

he's a deeply unprofessional drag queen AND drag king and loves playing around with both sides of the coin. he also does drag creature stuff but that's just how he normally looks so!

thanks to the autism and schizophrenia he's very touch averse. the only people he really wants touching him are sam (and sometimes, maybe, rarely, flint paper)

to say that he doesn't have any familial affection for lumpy is understating it. he uses lumpy as his personal (and fully consenting) stimtoy whenever he feels like it, regardless of where or who might see 'em.

he sometimes pretends he's still president to make people do stuff for him. this only works on sam though

though he's physically capable of handwriting so gorgeous it rivals sam, he saves that for the disgustingly cheesy, 'anonymous' love letters he sends him every year or seven

he's a mainer. a mainiac if ya will. grew up closer to the south and he's got some relatives from mass so he's got that masshole/bostoner accent. he's usually good at hiding his accent, but it's obvious when you ask him to say shit like "clam chowder" and "lobster" and "fish"

though he hates most country music, he still loves johnny cash

HES A SYSTEM BTW!!!!

botha them

they invented paralell play. sam w his computers and his papers and max with his drawing and stabbing the desk until it looks like a modern art piece

they're both extremely jealous of other people, but somehow have both missed that. sam's worried he's too jealous and overprotective, while max thinks he could stand to be a little more obsessive

one of their favorite things to do together is go to the comic book store and laugh at how horrible their childhood favorite comics have gotten (or always were)

every wedding shown is canon in some way, but around the telltale games sam started thinking they were just 'ironic' and 'a joke' and etc. despite the EXTREMELY high budget each had. he knows better now

max's whole "not making fun of anyone unless they're enough like him (or suck)" actually extends to sam as well. he's more than fine with making fun of someone bc they're fat or whatever despite the fact he clearly isn't. this is MOSTLY because he keeps forgetting he and sam don't share every single experience.

though sam is against drinking as a whole, the two sometimes go out to horribly shitty bars to get the worst in junk food & beer. every time they do, max happily proclaims that it was the best date EVER.

max almost likes sam's singing, sometimes, but this is usually only because he just really likes sam's voice

neither of them know how to use modern technology. when one finds out a single way a single program or feature works, they excitedly show the other like they just found the missing link between humans and neanderthals or whatever

sam helps with max's injections since max really seriously can't handle needles. it's the worst for the both of them, but the treats and snacks and ten-hour-long movie binges after help with the fear

generally speaking, max can get up and out of bed any time from around 6 to 13. sam gets up at 6:30 or 7:45 exactly every day, which means he usually makes breakfast if he feels up to cooking.

other than the aforementioned horrible bars, they have a lot of 'weird' date locations, like the dog park, the local sewer system, hell, etc.

yeay

[dogboyklug]

does max ever get any extreme pain while on the case due to his hypermobility?

absolutely, without a doubtedly, but he feels pain so often he just ignores it usually

really only brings it up if it'd make sam laugh (ie him saying, while covered in blood [mostly his], "sam, i think my joints hurt a little!!") or he's concerned that his apparently solid bones might break on him (which he just jokes about and then whines about until sam lets him sit in the desoto for a bit)

AFTER cases, though? when the adrenaline's worn off and his nerves remember they're screaming in pain? 10 hours in the freezer to get them to shut up . or if someone gets to him first then he rests a bit until they stop aching and he forgets how painful walking is and the cycle of violence continues

[closedrop]

IT'S FINALLY HERE!! I'VE FINISHED IT!! I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY :D

Y’all I was gonna post my fic w this too but I’m not finishing it for a while so until then you get my art

I love them sm

[klugami]

Amitie the idol?! New conflict. I’m done. Anyways I wish I had a boyfriend but more Klugami soon. Or not. It took like half a year for this one hehe

Isolation.

For a city with such a colorful cast, everyone blurs into the same shade of brown. Browns, purples, reds. No matter what you do, you’re just another hat in a crowd. Embracing yourself might be fun, but in the end, you’re still a nobody. Faceless, perhaps. Why pretend you exist? Occupy your niche, pretend it’s all fine. Aren’t you happier like this?

Why do you want to be unique so badly? Is it truly unique, or do you just want to feel loved? Do you even want to be loved, or are you so desperate to have acknowledgment? To be something more than one brick in the Great Wall of society.

Perhaps.

Sig looked at the window, from behind the counter. Orange lights, a sight that he’s grown tired of. In the past few weeks, or maybe it was months, it feels like he’s seen Klug less and less. Raffina told him that this was normal, but… no, it’s probably fine.

Besides him, Raffina and Lidelle seemed to be more consistent customers. They’d chat about the happenings, usually that nothing new happened. Amitie was usually there too, but today she was not. Sig never talked to any of them outside of orders, anyway.

He still comes by, every now and again, though he’s grown a bit stranger over time. Now, Sig always felt that Klug was kind of the hiding type, but it feels like whatever Klug was hiding got bigger. But at the same time, he smiles more. Was it genuine or not? Sig didn’t know.

As the door chimed, Sig immediately looked to see who came in. Disappointingly, it was not one of his friends, but rather a papergirl. This is odd, Sig thinks, as usually letters are delivered straight to his home. “Is it urgent?” He asked, now looking at the bread he had for sale.

“No, no!” Ally tried to explain. “I’m not here to deliver anything. Ooh, but your bread looks super good! I insist, Mister Sig! I want to make a purchase!” She looks at many loaves of bread, pointing out each one’s qualities to her like “oh! It’s so cute!” Or “I really like that bug!”

Ally fawned over all the bread, before lightly smacking herself to remain focused. “Ok! I’ll have.. whatever’s cheapest!” She decides.

Sig looked behind him, then grabbed a loaf of bread. The plainest one he had, as per Ally’s request for something cheap. At least he wasn’t parting with something more extravagant.

“Here it is. 5 silver coins.” He recites, putting the bread in Ally’s hands. “I thought you had letters to deliver?” Sig said, offhandedly, as he went to go bake a replacement loaf.

“There’s no need to worry! I’m off today!” Ally said, as she sat herself down to eat her bread. Though before she could even get started, the door swung open again, seeming out of breath

“Puff… Baker! Baker! I’ll have the usual!”

Amitie waved from the door, upon seeing everyone present. “Oh! Raffina, and Lidelle! The whole gang’s here!” She grinned, as she scuttled to the front. “Y’know, I didn’t expect everyone here! Usually we’re all too busy to meet up!”

Lidelle turned over, excited to hear Amitie’s voice. “Oh! Ami! I-It’s been a while since we’ve talked… you’re alone this time. W-What happened to Klug?” She asked.

As Amitie waited at the counter for her usual order, she contemplated what she was going to see. “Well uh— how do I put it.. I haven’t the foggiest clue what happened to him!”

“He’s dead?!” Lidelle gasped.

“What? No, of course not!” Amitie reassured her. “But like… he’s been all cooped up in his house, and he won’t answer the door. I don’t think he’s left it since we talked about the thing..”

“The thing?” Raffina asked, now also invested in the conversation. “Amitie, what on Earth is the ‘thing?’”

Since she was going to be here awhile, Amitie sat down near Lidelle and Raffina. “So, like, the short of it is that we were at his place talking but all of a sudden, he got mopey. And then he told me I should leave and that we—“

“But why were you hanging out together? No, why were you at his house? What happened before this?” Raffina interrupts, suspicious. “What was so important that you had to tell him something at his place?”

“Well, I should probably explain the rest of what happened before. Okay?” Amitie said, as she leaned back on her chair, nearly falling, but that’s per usual with Amitie.

…

So like, before we talked about it, it was actually really normal! I had actually gotten a meeting with a company! Like, a real idol company! The actual meeting was super nerve-wracking though, because there was this tall mysterious type!

I remember giving them a demo of one of my songs, and some long questions, but only one I really remember! “Why do you sing?” He asked me, his aura actually freaking me out. “What inspires you to perform?” Well, that question was the most important to me.

Really, I knew this answer already! But it was the only answer that I knew! From the get-go! “I perform to make people happy! To make the world I live in better, even if it’s just one person who smiles!” I told him, pep and all! And I think this was the ticket, because I got a card after!

The interviewer even seemed to be smiling, but I couldn’t tell. “We’ll arrange for an audition. We can talk further on the phone.”

I was stoked! It was absolutely incredible that I could have a chance! And of course, the first thing I had to do was tell Klug about it. But as I got up to leave, they told me something else.

A few things, actually, but most important was that they’d end up… taking me to another city. One that was far, like, somewhere I don’t know the name of.

It’s scary, right? I think it is…

But, this is something important, still, so I had to tell Klug! After all, he’s my closest friend—

…

“Aren’t you two..?” Lidelle interrupted. “I-I thought you guys were.. and… did you two…?”

“Well, yeah, we are dating, but that doesn’t make him not my friend! This story isn’t about us splitting!…I hope.” Amitie explained, before returning to the story.

…

After all, he’s my closest friend, and I can’t just leave him in the dark of such an important decision! Now, I know his schedule like the back of my hand, so that day, at that time, he’d be at the top of the hill that overlooks the clo—

…

“Clock? Klug? The same Klug who adores exhaust pipes?” Raffina interrupted immediately after.

Amitie frowned, but ignored that entirely.

…

The Hill that overlooks the clock tower! It’s actually a really nice place! That’s where we hung out and made advertisements. And he was still there, probably drawing the same clock tower again. I could probably look at him draw for a while, super mesmerizing!

Well, I wasn’t there to go just admire, I was there to talk! So I tapped him on the shoulder, which surely got his attention. “Hey, Klug! I’ve got the best news of my life today! I need to tell you!” I told him, loud and clear.

“Is it something that you have to spend money on?” Klug retorted, as per usual. Sometimes we end up spending a bit of money on shopping, but I don’t know why he said that like I do it DAILY! It’s kind of rude of him to speak like I do it often.

Well, anyway, I tell him “What makes you think that? What I’ve got to tell you is something so important that…” And then, I had the perfect idea! “Oh! Actually, let’s go somewhere!” I said, as I grabbed both of his hands, which is probably why he was in a sour mood later, as it ruined his canvas or whatever.

I mean… maybe if I told him then… then he wouldn’t be so…

Whatever! That’s not the point right now, right now I’m just telling what happened, and what happened was that I took him all around the Primp District! I took him to the train station, then I took him to the restaurant we ate at, even this very bakery! It was like.. like hitting him with all the good memories so that I could soften the blow!

Because, like… well!

What was I talking about? Oh, right! So, it was at one of these places that I decided to tell him about what happened! I forgot where exactly, but I basically just told him something like “I have wonderful news!! I’m going to be a real singer! For real!”

And he wasn’t shocked or anything. If anything, he seemed happy for me! “That’s… that’s really great, Amitie!” He said. “Your dream is coming true before your eyes. That’s amazing!”

“Yeah! Yeah it’s all great! I’m thinking about packing soon, cuz there’s gonna be a LOT of train rides! That’s traveling! Isn’t that exciting?” I said, and it was then that his happiness got kind of … sad.

He didn’t say anything that seemed envious or anything. He just went “Oh. Well then, if that’s what you must do for your dream, then you should go for it.” And “But if it’s hell, it’s what you wanted after all.” Actually, maybe that last one was a bit envious. Whatever he felt, he left for a bit. I didn’t see him until—

….

“Your order’s ready” Sig called out, and Amitie stopped her story.

“Ooh! Delish!” She chirped, as she took a large bite out of one of the loaves given to her. It seemed whatever sadness she had reminiscing was going to be buried under delicious bread.

Raffina watched as Amitie had stuffed herself full of bread. That story seemed kind of…unfinished. “None of this mentions the…‘thing’ you two talked about though…” Raffina thought aloud.

“Well— uhm—“ Amitie stammered, but swallowed her words. “It’s actually—“

“And if there’s no mention of the ‘thing’…” Ally finished her plain loaf, adjusted her bag strap, and clapped her hands together. “Which means that we should go and ask for the other half of the story!” She chimed in, happily. “These two happy lovey-dovey friends…we have to fix this!”

Raffina didn’t share the sentiment, but it.. was sort of her job to keep peace. This sort of falls under that. Technically. Maybe it’s a thinly veiled excuse to verbally attack Klug. “Well… if it’ll help us figure out what’s wrong with that guy...” She reluctantly agreed, to Ally’s cheer.

“Wonderful! This story is so exciting, my heart may burst!” Ally cheered, as she went to the door with Raffina. “Miss Amitie! We’ll be off! We’re going to find out what exactly happened”

“U..uhm… Good Luck, Guys!” Amitie wasn’t too sure why they were talking about this. But if it meant things’ll get better, then it was fine. Right?

~

The most obvious place to look would be his house, of course. Ally knocked on it, but there was no answer at all. She knocked again, but no answer. “Phew.. there’s no response. He really is cooped there, how lonely…” Ally lamented with a frown.

But while Ally was knocking, Raffina had managed to open a window.. Well, it wasn’t really that hard. Especially for someone like Raffina. “Don’t give up so quickly, look! Damn it, a door lock isn’t going to stop anyone if you leave your windows open. Come on, we have a talk to have.”

The two girls climbed into the house through the window, only to find Klug was sitting there, idly, almost lost in thought. Ally tiptoed over, and waved her hand in front of his face. As expected, he made no comment nor even reaction.

“…it’s so scary..” Ally whispered, as she retracted her hand. “It’s like he’s devoid of anything…Mister Klug, can you even hear us?” She asked, tilting her head slightly. “You’re ok, right? …Right…?”

Klug blinked, then looked straight at Ally, then Raffina, then at the open door. “…Ah. Salutations, Raffina, Orange Hair Girl.” He mumbled. “You broke into my house… Is there an evacuation notice?”

“Of course there is no- have you really sunk so low as to be unaware of what’s outside?” Raffina gasped, in disbelief. “No, we’re here on the grounds of where in the hell were you for the past few weeks! Locking yourself in your home is a safety hazard, as well!”

He sighed, now falling onto the ground. “You worry too much. I suppose Amitie sent you on this little quest. I’d tell you to tell her I’m alright, but it wouldn’t matter.” Klug said, his voice with a pinch of regret.

Struggling, Ally tried to pull him upright, but this only resulted in her dropping him on the ground a few times, so she left him as is. “Amitie actually told us you were locked here, but she never sent us on a fetch quest. We actually came here to find out why you’re so sad and lonely!”

Hearing that, Klug stood up, and tried to walk elsewhere, but Ally stopped him. “No! You can’t keep hiding, we’re here to help you! It’s for love’s sake!” She assured, almost shaking him.

“If I tell you what happened will you two leave me alone?” Klug asked, to the two of them nodding yes, almost rhythmically. It wasn’t the answer Klug wanted, but he wasn’t a guy who’d go against word. “..Alright, alright, so.” He sat down.

…

This couldn’t have been any more than a few weeks or a month ago, so it’s still fresh in my mind. Amitie must’ve told you that she had landed some sort of acting gig, and that’s true.

I don’t actually mind her pursuing her career, but her immediately saying that she was leaving town did make me feel sad. If it was Raffina, I wouldn’t really care that much, but having to say goodbye to Amitie for a bit was actually disheartening, to say the least.

After the conversation ended, I chose to mull it over, maybe pick up something to make it easier on me. So, I chose to take to what made me the most clear minded— painting.

You surely must know that I enjoy putting what’s in my thoughts and in my eyes onto a canvas, and that’s precisely what would save me from mental confusion! I sat down, propped my canvas against myself, and took to still life drawing.

And it was while illustrating one of the most beautiful lamps I’ve laid eyes on that I was finally thinking— Why should I have to say goodbye to Amitie? Surely, someone as simple-minded as her would likely realize that leaving Primp won’t be as cracked up as she thought! Hm.. that sounds more like something you’d say, Raffina.

Regardless, the gentle orange glow that the light gave off was just enough for me to get my thoughts in order. At first, I thought of going with her, though if I left Primp District, who would be here to preserve its rich culture? I couldn’t do that. So I thought about keeping Amitie here, though I couldn’t go out and just marry her. Thus! I settled on the idea of convincing her.

With what money I had, I knew I’d be able to give her some sort of big reason to stay. I even planned out a day and everything! No, it was a week! A week that I’d finish off with a grand hot air balloon ride, a so perfectly Amitie-like activity!

…

“Ahh! A week of just the two of you!” Ally gushed, her eyes practically full of hearts. “That’s so romantic!”

Klug froze in his storytelling, and held his head down, as if disappointed, or even upset. “… … I guess it was romantic.” He finally continued. “But you came here to figure out why I’m ’sad and lonely’, correct? Let’s skip ahead.”

…

The sixth day is when things went downhill. I decided to close the day off with a sleepover, something that Amitie and I haven’t done in a while. That, and it would have been a good way to wake her up early for the balloon trip. Getting her to agree to staying over was easy, no surprise there.

Of course, now you two are here, and if you glance at the couch, you’ll notice I even moved the cushions around. Yes, Amitie was to sleep there, but she never did, because we never got to sleep in the first place.

In fact, we spent almost all night just.. talking. I was hoping she’d try to practice her dancing — preferably, not around any of my valuables. But within an hour, she was seemingly already tired, and she mumbled about how she was excited about her new “totally-amazing extra-wicked new life” or whatnot.

Yes, it was then I decided to reveal my plan, and so I got up and told her that she should come with me to the living area. And it was… THERE, that everything was to fall apart! Oh, the minute I started talking about how much I would miss her… the girl would interrupt. I remember it well. Saying things like “Ooh, but imagine how many people I’d meet outta town!” And the like..

Eventually, she told me the worst of it— it wasn’t simply leaving for a bit, but that she might never see Primp District again. She’d never be back.

“But, But Amitie! To leave Primp District forever?! Doesn’t that sound hasty?” I cried out, now in a desperate plea to change her mind. “I only just finally got to see you again, and you’re going to leave me and the others…”

“I’m not a kid! I want to go after my dream, I can’t standby.. I can’t just say no! I wish I could be here forever!” Amitie yelled. Her yelling was so.. abnormal. She almost never did that. “But I wanted this for years! I can’t back out now!”

It was a whole thing. It felt like a betrayal, even.

I think she knew I was upset, and she tried to comfort me. She gave me a hug. She held my hands. She left a kiss on my left cheek. She apologized about having the outburst. “I didn’t mean to hurt you” and “I could’ve said it better!” But if she was so worried about me, why was she willing to leave so suddenly?

I couldn’t convince her to stay, I realized, and so it was pointless to continue! “No, it’s nothing for you to be concerned about!” I told her, regaining my composure! “Well, I doubt you have time for tomorrow, so how about you go home?”

And she stammered! Amitie stammered, like she usually does, but it wasn’t her usual tripping over her own words— she sounded kind of.. shocked. And that was strange. She babbled about something, but I can’t recall. And after that, I told her again to leave, and she did.

Hm.. come to think of it. I wished she’d stay. But, as she so clearly has her life figured out, I can’t hold her back! But.. but I..

…

“Alright, alright! Hold it.” Raffina interrupts, though this wasn’t so much an interruption and more an after-examination. “You’re saying that.. the reason you’re upset.. is because Amitie’s successful? That’s a pathetic reason, isn’t it? Do you really want her to stay or do you just want someone to like you!” She crossed her arms, as if restraining herself.

Klug stared upwards, the faint light reflecting off of his glasses. He didn’t have an answer, nor did he want to know the answer. “I wish she’d stay. Or at least, I’d wish—“

His line of thought was interrupted as Raffina (now free of her self imposed restraints) picked him up off the floor and held him up as if he was an easily throwable plush doll.

“Kch. You’re so annoying, sometimes! You wouldn’t be here, and you would’ve been happy, if you just.. spoke up!! You’re the furthest thing from perfect I know, stop trying to be that, because it’s PISSING me off!” Raffina shouted, before running out of steam. She dropped him, took a breath, and simply unlocked the door, and left.

Ally, meanwhile, stayed a little longer. She dusted off her dress, went towards the door, but paused. Looking back at Klug, even if he’s dazed, he really does look pathetic. Not even in a sad way. He just looks so lonely. “…I promise you that we’ll fix everything! For the sake of love.” She told him, under her breath.

~

Ally went scrambling back to the bakery, Raffina’s (unwilling) hand in tow, and bursted the doors open. “Alright, Baker! Miss Lidelle! Miss Amitie! I have a—“ She stopped midway, upon realizing that Amitie is missing. “Ah. Miss Lidelle, any idea where Amitie is?” She asked.

Lidelle turned her head towards the door, then back to Ally. “Uhm.. Ami said she had to catch a train tomorrow, so she, uhm, she went to her house…” She answered. “Do you want her for anything? It’s really late..”

Ally then grabbed Lidelle’s sleeve, pulled her out of her chair, and bolted out the door again. “Alright, alright! Let’s go after her then!” She announced, now with a party of 3 (and Sig, who followed after.)

The 3+1 of them had scrambled to Amitie’s house, though none of them really knew what Ally was planning. Ally knocked on the door with a simplistic rhythm, and a mere two seconds after, the door opened.

“Oh! Raffina, Lidelle, and Sig! What’re you guys doing here!… and uh— what’s your name again? I forgot..” Amitie chirped, with a wide grin. Her smile faded as she saw the determined face Ally was making.

“Miss Amitie, I have a plan to get Klug out of the house! It’s going to need you, so forgive me for bothering you, but come with us!” Ally told her, extending her hand for Amitie to take.

Seeing as Amitie valued her friends, it was an easy choice. She took Ally’s hand, and gave an affirming nod. “Alright! Let’s do it, then!” She agreed.

The 5 of them, now complete, had begun the march to Klug’s house again, though none of them knew the plan at all. In fact, when they arrived, Raffina nearly opened the first floor window again, before Ally stopped her.

“We can’t break and enter again! That’ll just make him worse!” Ally scolded, before she turned to Amitie. “Miss Amitie, which window would he be near at this time?” She asked.

“How would I know that! He could be anywhere! Uhm.. it’s uh.. it’s night right now, so he might be going to sleep, which would be…” Amitie looked around the outside of the house, before pointing at a higher window. “That one!” She exclaimed.

The five of them looked at the general height of the window. It’s not exactly too high, but it wasn’t gonna be reachable with just a short hop.

But Ally had a look in her eye, as if she expected it. “Perfect-o… so! Here’s my plan. We all stack up on top of each-other, having Miss Amitie knock on the window as if she’s an angel from heaven.. surely, this’ll allow them to reconcile..”

Sig kept looking at the window. “…and if Glasses doesn’t open the window?” He mentions, taking a bite out of snack food he brought.

“Then we’ll try a different window! And again. And again! That’s the power of Love, Mister Sig!” Ally assured, with a wink. “Miss Raffina, I want you to pick me up, as high as you can! After I pick up Miss Amitie!”

“Doesn’t this idea sound a bit foolish?! Ally, you can’t possibly be serious— we have better hopes of having Amitie just knock on the door!” Raffina argued, as she effortlessly lifted Ally upwards (who was, herself, struggling with Amitie)

But Ally just giggled at the retort. “That’s why Miss Lidelle and Mister Sig will be on standby, in case something happens. Like a human ladder!” She explained, as she wobbled slightly. “Ok.. Miss Amitie, can you reach the window?”

Amitie reached her hands to the windowsill, grasping on for dear life, and pushed her face against the window to make a knock. “I’ve knocked on the window, but I can hardly hold on!” She exclaimed, her hands trembling.

She peered through the window, and while Klug was there, he seemed out of it. Just sitting in the middle of the room. Not sleeping. Just.. nothing. Was it a depressive spiral? She knew he got mopey sometimes. But that just meant she had to try harder.

Trying her hardest to still her movements, she knocked on the window again, and again. And again. But it felt like he couldn’t hear her. If a knock wasn’t going to do it, she had to try something else.

“… Everyone, time and time again, can feel that they’re all sad and hopeless.” She sang, trying to project her voice as loud as she could. Amitie wasn’t really the best singer, but she knew that he couldn’t ignore it.

Seeing as Klug perked his head up to the window, it just meant Amitie had to keep going. “It’ll be fine! Let’s cheer ourselves up!” She continued, now smiling. Even if she wasn’t believing in her smile, it’s what a true idol would do.

And it’s a true idol’s job to make others smile, too.

Klug looked out the window, and was somewhat shocked to see that Amitie was literally right there. “How on.. How on Earth are.. Amitie, get down from there, you’ll fall.” He told her, pointing downwards.

“Let me inside! I want to talk with you! About— uhm.. What was the plan, Ally?” Amitie asked, looking at Ally. As the window was opened (nearly smacking Amitie in the face), Amitie never got a response from Ally, who simply just smiled.

Just the two of them now, Amitie thought. She.. didn’t actually know what to say. The few times she was at his house, she had friends with her. And the time she was alone, it only resulted in her getting kicked out.

“So, why are you here? Don’t you have a magical fantastical job to do?” Klug remarked, moving stuff around to appear tidier. “I thought you had to leave. I thought you were gone, even.”

Amitie gulped in nervousness. She was trying to think of what to say. “Uhm.. uh.. I leave tomorrow, actually.. but— but that’s why I’m here today! I’m here to— I’m here to at least see you one last time for a long time!” She finally decided, trying her best to remain positive and chipper.

Throwing away empty paint bottles, Klug tried not to look at Amitie. “You know, I’d rather you have not come back here. It hurts me too much to look at you.” He told her, now walking away. “I’ll let you out the house, just—“

“But— but I don’t want to leave!” Amitie called out, freezing Klug’s movement. “Believe me, I wish— I wish I could see you and follow my dream.. but— but I’m not…”

She stopped talking. She said something like this last time. That resulted in a fight.

“I really wish I could see you when I leave. I wish you and Raffina and Sig and Lidelle would all follow me.. but, you guys also have dreams.” She explained, starting to cry. “And.. and that means I gotta go places. And I gotta say goodbyes… but that just means you can focus on your dream too, Right?”

Sniffling turned to sobbing, to Amitie loudly crying. She was the emotional type, still, even now. “I’m.. I’m sorry! I’m so.. I’m so sorry!” She kept repeating. “I’d miss you, and everyone, and Primp… but.. but..”

At this point, Klug turned around. Watching and listening to Amitie wailing was hurting him. Hearing her say what she was saying was breaking him. He still, of course, was her friend. And the best thing he could do as her friend was to give her a hug, like last time.

The simple act of a warm embrace wouldn’t make Amitie stop crying, but the acceptance of her speech was comfort, too.

“If it’s your dream, you should go for it. Don’t.. don’t worry about me or the others.” Klug told her. “I don’t want you to worry, and I’m sure we can still keep in touch. I’m pretty sure a mailwoman even visited my house earlier, we can send eachother mail. Weekly.”

A loud sniffle, and Amitie stopped crying as much. “Re-really? Would you promise every week?” She asked.

“I promise.” Klug affirmed, wiping away one of Amitie’s tears with a swipe of a finger. “So you leave tomorrow, huh… you better get to sleep then. Do you want to— uhm, stay over? I live closer to the train station anyway.” He offered.

Amitie flushed red, but she tried to steady herself to be calm. “I’d.. I’d like that, I think. We never finished the last one… but I’m tired already.. I’ll see myself downstairs.”

“No, no, you need to rest easy, you can just take the bed here. I’ll sleep on the couch.” Klug insisted, pointing. “You could- er.. you could borrow a shirt from the dresser, so you don’t mess up your own clothes! I’ll get out now, even.”

Closing the door behind him, Klug went downstairs, and simply sat on the floor. He still kind of wanted Amitie to stay forever, but just knowing she’ll speak to him every week is fine enough.

He wanted to go back and tell her something else, but he couldn’t bring himself to go upstairs. Not right now anyway. He stared upwards at the ceiling, thinking about the time he had spent outside, not just with Amitie, but with the others.

Wanting to thank her, Klug went upstairs, and gently opened the room door, cracking it open to make sure Amitie wasn’t busy. Turns out she already was out like a light. Delicate and smiling, as she usually is when awake.

“Ah, Amitie… Thank you, for everything. I love you.” Klug told her. Gently brushing her bangs out of her way, he lightly kissed her on the forehead. It was the least he could do. The littlest of a last memory before she went on to the rest of her life.

~

The smell of baked goods filled the air, and the world was still as bland as ever. But this time in the bakery, it was lively. Raffina and Lidelle were here, of course, and just a few minutes ago, Klug came by for an order.

“You know why I need plain bread! I can’t use a loafy bug as my model!” Klug argued, frustrated. “Sig, I’ll pay you extra, I just need a standard loaf!”

Sig blinked flatly. “There’s only bugs here. If you want bread, you go somewhere else.” He answered, tired. “Do you ever even eat the bread you order? Food waste.”

Slamming his hands onto the counter, Klug gave up. “Damn! You’re so difficult, refusing the customer won’t give you any money!” He told Sig, before his frustration melted away. “…but, I guess I’ll have the one that looks like a ladybird.”

“Coming up.” Sig said, leaving for his work. Mild banter like that was usual, and while it did annoy the customers, Sig didn’t really mind that much. Klug’s his friend, and he’s just ok with the fact that he’s actually here.

And then, suddenly, the door opened with the chime of a bell. Curly haired and red all over, it was an exhausted paperwoman. “Excuse me, excuse me!” Ally called out. “Is this a Mister Klug here?”

Klug turned around, his eyes lighting up. “Oh. Letter. It must be from Amitie.” He remarked, as Ally handed the letter over. “..She sure writes fast. I wonder if it’ll even be legible. Raffina, Lidelle, you should come listen too.”

Confirming his hypothesis, the words themselves were scratchy, but at the very least, they were readable.

“ ‘Hello from the distant land of Lyla! It’s Amitie! It’s really great here, though there’s not a lot of people. I’ve been kind of busy preparing for the audition. It actually went super well! I got to write a contract and everything♥︎ I’m gonna try my best on my first album, and I’ll invite you live to my first concert! Isn’t that exciting? Best wishes, Amitie!’ “

“It seems like Ami’s got her life together…” Lidelle commented, in awe. “We should go see her soon, maybe we can surprise her..!”

Klug put the letter down, and shook his head. “I want her to focus on her career right now. We’ve still got lives too, Lidelle.” He said. “I’ll write her back after I finish my next masterpiece, I’ll even invite her back here for when she’s free! We can even pay for her train ticket.”

Sig came back, ladybird bread in hand. ”Alright. Got your ladybird. 7 bronze coins.” He informed Klug, who paid nearly immediately. “Oh. Ami sent you a letter, huh? Is she doing ok?”

“…Yeah. She’s doing alright.” Klug nodded. “I think that her dream is finally coming true.”

[klugpuuo]

IM WRITING IM WRITING!!!!!

[eway]

You know, I love the mini versions of characters in Puyo Puyo 7. I mean for the Compile characters I don't accept the mini versions as their canon child selves, I mean Arle already has a child design.

But for the Primp and Suzuran characters? Those are totally their child selves! And look at them!

Look at Tiny Sig!

Look at Mini Raffina

Look at Young Lemres

LOOK AT LITTLE KLUG HE LOOKS SO SHY IN THE FIRST IMAGE!

Look at Feli before she became the creepy yandere that's really hard to write with

Look at Amitie and the oversized magic red puyo hat!

And look at mini Ringo!!!