...follow me here, working a problem, and just... needed a sounding board to bounce off of, I guess. Something to ramble about, voice my logic in a clear and concise manner... or at least as clear as I could make it. Earlier this year, there was a message posted on Luna Gardner's account. Nothing too out of the ordinary, aside from that hiatus. People were quick to welcome her back, but... that quickly turned sour. Apparently it was AI-generated. People were rightfully pissed, walked away, and never looked back. That tracks. I remember having to learn on my own why everything imploded. Aside from that, once people walked away, we've lost contact with them. Seemingly disappeared from Poppy Valley entirely. That's also not new information, people disappeared all the time, BUT- and here's what makes this weirder- they left on their own terms. ...why? Why would they leave on their own terms? HOW did they leave on their own terms? Poppy Valley's existence is one dedicated to the idea that "you can't ever leave". A prison for those who did nothing wrong. Anyone who steps foot in this town was meant to perish, whether through the hands of the monsters living in it, or from repeated loops. Although who exactly *are* the monsters here? Is it the supernatural entities that roam the streets, hidden in plain sight? Is it the adults for abandoning us to die? What if- ...what if it's us? Think about it- some of us have killed others in this city for various reasons. A blood debt, an unstable power, crappy parenting, even monsters pretending to be the ones we knew. I'm not above it either- look at what happened in the city. I had to kill a monster that looked like Luna. ...which brings me to my point: what if I *did* kill the real Luna? What if that AI-generated video was what was left of Luna's existence? Or Jamie's? Or Katya's? Or... hell, even that one weird goth chick? What if that AI-generated video was meant to be a last message? A warning to us, and we didn't even listen to it? I didn't even get to see the video myself, it was taken down fairly quickly. Hell, a lot of stuff got taken down quickly too after that video- the Poppy Valley school forums were nuked too. What if me killing Luna somehow released a curse on Poppy Valley, allowing everyone else to leave? What if that's the reason why the town feels so empty? What if that's the reason everyone was able to recognize that "Luna's" video was fake? What if that's the cause that pushed everyone to finally stand up for themselves and leave? What if- ...what if I'm just lonely? ...what if I'm just naive? ...what if I'm just clinging on to whatever last shred of hope I have? Hoping for a world where everyone could have gotten along? A world where everyone could live without fear of dying to these monsters? ...what if I'm just a fool who unwillingly trapped herself in this dying, decaying town? ...what if I'm just here to hold everyone else's burdens, and stubbornly hold on to what little peace I have? ...what if I never had it in the first place? ...I miss everyone. I miss Luna. I miss Jamie. I miss Katya. I miss Patricia. I miss Nora. I miss Vergil. I miss Cole. I miss Robin. I miss Owen. I miss Lars. I miss Aiden. I miss Yui. I miss Jin. I miss Connor. I miss Shinobu. I miss Ashley. I miss Ford. I miss Zeke. I miss Dilara. I miss Ren. I miss Zarza. I miss Madison. I miss Reno. I miss Simon. I miss Spencer. I miss Lucas. I miss Chloe. I miss Hannah. I miss Zach. I miss Rin. I miss Courtney. I miss Millie. I miss Wolf. I miss Daniel. I miss Michael. I miss Elliot. I miss Rex. I miss Mario. I miss Alunya. I miss Elulu. I miss Rowan. I miss Lilly. I miss Mia. I miss Blair. I miss Ruby. I miss Silver. I miss Zinc. I miss Opal. I miss Livvy. I miss Avram. I miss Sky. I miss Niko and Liri. I miss Kast. I miss Rikka. I miss Caesar. I miss Lillian. I miss Lilith. I miss Lavender. I miss Matilda. I miss Riyumi. I miss Bea. I miss Sydney. I miss Maya. I miss Logos. I miss Quto. I miss Astrid. I miss Kaya. I miss Corey. I miss Luke. I miss Amatsu. I miss Roxxy. I miss Momo. I miss Anya. I miss Zayshawn. I miss Adam. I miss Ryosuke. I miss Iris. I miss Ozul. I miss Flo. I miss Sigmund. I miss Yuki. I miss Souka. I miss Adrian. I miss Anais. I miss Becca. I miss Basic. I miss Hana and Heidi. I miss Sadie. I miss Nia. I miss Kana. And for anyone else that I missed in that list (because I definitely did, can't remember who everyone in the town was sadly), I miss them too. I miss having silly interactions with others. I miss being the comically serious person when it comes to interactions with others. I miss the silly water gun fight we had when aliens invaded the town. I miss going out to the woods on my own to find that creepy guy with the tall limbs (never found him myself, damnit). I miss travelling to Elulu's underground bunker, and taking the scenic route to get there. I miss everyone... ...but at the same time, this is all my fault. I drove them all away by killing Luna in the city. If I never killed Luna, that AI-generated video would never have been made. People would not have been upset. Things would've been fine. I freed them from this town's shackles, but at what cost? I still can't leave myself. Everyone else got their freedom at the cost of mine. ...but I suppose this is what I deserve. I deserve to be locked away in this city for murdering Luna. I deserve to be locked away in this city for causing this fallout. I deserve to be alone, despite my aching loneliness for a better outcome. I deserve this because everything that happened that day is all my fault. As much as I want to apologize, it would probably fall flat. Still, I wouldn't hurt to try. I'm sorry to Luna, wherever she is now. I'm sorry to Jamie and Katya, for taking your friend away. I'm sorry to Nora and Virgil, for threatening to take their lives last year, just because I was scared that they wouldn't be able to control themselves. I'm sorry to Robin, for not finding that man sooner, and preventing you from being hurt. I'm sorry to Owen, Lars, Cole, and Aiden, for not doing enough to stop that man from hurting Robin. I'm sorry to Avram, for disobeying you and constantly trying to tease you. I'm sorry to Alunya, for never stopping by to pick up those glasses. I'm sorry to Elulu, for not listening to you and tried to save everyone, when all I did was make things worse. I'm sorry to Ryosuke, for teasing you for months on end. I'm sorry to everyone who was affected by the night terrors that were more frequent ever since I started living here. Truth be told, I don't understand it myself, but considering how they started after I showed up, it's probably my fault there too somehow. On the rare chance that this ends up at my parent's place... I want to apologize to them too. I'm sorry that I couldn't live up to your expectations. I'm sorry for the argument. I'm sorry for running away from home. I'm sorry that I didn't want to go to some fancy school that you recommended. If I listened to you, then maybe things would have been different. I'm sorry that the last time you heard my voice was about computer parts. And I'm sorry to report that the damn thing ended up breaking down for no reason anyways. I'm sorry that I could never be someone that you could love and protect. I'm sorry to have ripped that dream away from you. And if anyone else finds this... or listens to this... I'm sorry to you too. I'm sorry that this is the ending you got. The least satisfying one. The "bad ending", so to speak. I'm sorry that I couldn't save everyone. I'm sorry that I couldn't save even myself. I'm sorry that I have ruined everything, just in an attempt to find my own happiness... this isn't the first time this has happened, and I was very scared before I came here that it would go the same way. I'm sad that it did. I'm sorry that this probably sounds overbearing, like I'm seeking attention. I'm sorry if you think I'm just posing as a victim. Hell, wouldn't blame you if you thought that way- I don't know if I'll ever be okay from this. But I truly mean it, from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry. For everything. ...i wanna go home.