✨ you only get one chance...

[liltuna]

THE FIRST IMPRESSION MEME   You only get once chance to put your best foot forward. Screw that up, and you'll be forever seared in someone's mind as the person who had spinach in their teeth, or worse! ✨HOW TO PLAY 1. Drop a top-level! 2. If you have previous CR with someone, you'll have to let them know what your first-impression of them was. If this is your first time meeting, you'll be compelled to share what kind of vibe they give off. It's okay to be honest! Are they gross? Do they seem approachable? Do you find them incredibly hot?  3. Find out if your first impression was correct! Maybe that strange loner actually has a heart of gold? You'll never know unless you talk to them!

Comments

[flamescion]

Well... we're still talking about a hypothetical fiction story, right? So of course it's going to have friendship. And found family! In fact... "I love you" doesn't have to come from the 'love interest'.

[I love you. Ich Liebe Dich. Her 'mom'...]

[cryptant]

We are. Please don't worry. [ He prefers the wholesome band-of-friends approach in fiction too. Like a RPG. But he has never played those. ] Found family? As a foster sibling?

[flamescion]

Could be! Or a mentor that becomes like a mother, a friend like a sister. Someone whose bond goes beyond explanation, but isn't romantic.

[Honestly, thinking about it makes her heart hurt. Cecilia and Himeko were both unequivocally kind. Kiana would not have been able to 'reform' after the 4th Eruption had it not been for both of those women taking her in; each in their own maternal way.]

[cryptant]

Are you sure? [ He blinks and nods along her idea. The "older" sibling figure, the admired senior, the teacher who guides the hero, those roles are common in films, however...] Being the protagonist's mentor is probably the most dangerous role in a fictional journal.

[flamescion]

You're right. But how are they supposed to improve and grow without a guide?

[cryptant]

Hm. Maybe we can switch genres. How about a comedy?

[flamescion]

...Do you really like this kind of thing? "Hypotheticals" and the crafting of stories?

[cryptant]

I hadn't had the time to do this before, but what-ifs are pleasant. Perhaps one of my friends rubbed off his love for stories.

[He has spent quite a time with Merlin in these spaces, although the Mage of Flowers would probably balk at the f-word.]

[flamescion]

No time? Why? Were you some big study nerd?

[cryptant]

Something like that. I spent a lot of my youth inside the halls of different faculties.

[flamescion]

Haha. I was never much one for stuff like that.

[History her worst subject of all! Honestly if something isn't 'exciting' enough to catch her attention she quickly loses sight of focus. Pretty much the same problem she has with cooking.]

[cryptant]

I am sure you are gifted in many fields outside of academics, Kiana.

[She's definitely more "street smart" than Kirschtaria. He can recognize this flaw of his.]

[flamescion]

Yeah, I guess you could say that. I could probably pick up ten of you just fine.

[Well, perhaps the weight of ten Kirschtarias. He's to tall for that many to be feasible as far as bulk goes.]

[cryptant]

I believe you. [ He assures her. ] I suppose I am not very heavy— for my height.

[ Before the Singularity runs his muscular mass was more normal. ]

[flamescion]

If that's the case we can probably increase the number. As a Valkyrie I can do much more that a normal human could.

[Technically, as a Herrscher, she can do more than a Valkyrie could. Though that comes with more baggage than the other.]

[cryptant]

Oh, you are a Valkyrie?

[ Kirschtaria asks, blinking and staring at her head with the suspicious lack of wing appendages growing out of her hair. ]

Apologies, I've seen a few of those, and they don't look like you, Kiana.

[flamescion]

[Then perhaps consider her Knight Moonbeam battlesuit.]

Oh come on, Valkyries are a cool enough legend that of course a bunch of girl-dominated groups are gonna take their names! In Schicksal the Valkyries are a collection of women who have been altered with Honkai DNA to save the world. I mean, the organization Shicksal is pretty shitty, but the Valkyries themselves are just trying to help humanity.

[cryptant]

[ Ah. Now that's the iconic Valkyrie look he remembers from the Norse Lostbelt Cryptercord chat with Ophelia. ]

So it's inspired. [ He hums. He is unfamiliar with "honkai". Nonetheless, he nods, thinking it must be similar to Lord Animusphere's Designed Children project which was a failure before poor Mash. It certainly revealed Marisbury's lengths to protect the future, even with methods Kirschtaria thinks a little too much. ] Forgive me. It wasn't too unrealistic for you to be a true Valkyrie from Norse mythology, considering this place.

[flamescion]

It's fine! Really. I actually didn't have to have my DNA altered since I was kind of born this way.

[Great cosmic power packed into one girl when she was not yet emotionally stable? Yep, great for the planet. Real great.]

[cryptant]

[ That confirms the design baby comparison. But Kiana's a great deal more expressive than Mash Kyrielight, or at least how she used to be. It gladdens him the girl shows more emotional range now. ]

I assumed that. Truthfully, one of my old teammates had special circumstances involving her conception.

[flamescion]

[Kiana became more like Mash the more Herrscher Cores she absorbed. Losing her range of emotion, her ability to feel pain, and her ability to taste — becoming less of a person and more of a vessel.

It wasn't until Mei took away the Gem of Conquest become the Herrscher of Thunder.]

Is that right? How is she now?

[cryptant]

Yes. Something of the like. [ Kirschtaria won't disclose Mash's or his teacher's secrets. Those are theirs to share rather than his. ] She was doing wonderfully the last time I saw her. [ Kirschtaria confirms with a thin smile. As good as the circumstances permit that poor girl to be after losing the only home she knew. ] She has a reliable senior with her, so I know she's in good hands.

[flamescion]

I'm glad to hear that. Being alone can be rough.

[She knows, after all. Kiana was alone from ages 12 to 16. And then after the fourth eruption despite her friends trying to contact her... Which doesn't even count the time she felt alone when she lived with her dad but he barely acknowledged her.]

[cryptant]

We can both agree that it is more enjoyable to do everything with friends.

[ He has experienced this in those Singularity runs. ]