Sharp-O's One-Shots! "Anamnesis" 21/11/24

[Hoitash]

There's still stories to tell! I just can't leave these characters alone.

I know that feeling. Frailty, thy name is world-building!

That was adorable. Aunt Miki is awesome

[Sharp-O]

Thanks, Hoitash!

If there's one thing I love in fiction, it's the world-building. Minute details that can add so much to a character. Molly being British-Indian, Akio's humour, Taro and Miki bonding over their mirrored disabilities, just little things like that.

[Decadent Albatros]

Oh my god that was so fucking fun!
Miki the aunt is incredible, props to you sharp for another amazing work!

[Sharp-O]

Flicker

“Nice night for it.” My words swirl into the cool night air, a spectral mixture of smoke and vapour as the tell-tale crunch of autumn leaves underfoot signals the arrival of a friend.

“A bit too chilly for my liking.” She mutters, holding her arms tight. Her winter jacket looks plenty warm but she’s never been able to hack the cold. “Don’t suppose you’ve got one going spare have you?” She asks, tilting her head upwards, motioning in the direction of my hand.

“Thought you quit.” I smirk, fishing my free hand into my pocket and pulling out the packet and my lighter, holding them out for her to take in her fingerless-gloved hands. Her pale, slender fingers pluck out a cigarette as she steps closer to me.

“Yeah, like these will somehow kill me quicker.” She gives me a one-eyed glare before smirking a little, placing the cigarette between her pinkish lips. She hands the packet back to me and begins fumbling with my lighter. “Besides, today’s been hell.”

“Isn’t it always?” I chuckle dryly as the metallic clink of the lighter rings out and Rika’s pale face is illuminated by the flickering flame, her scarlet eyes reflecting the light beautifully. She snaps the lighter closed and hands it back. Her fingers slide around the cylinder in her mouth as she draws on it. A sharp hissing intake of breath follows before she closes her eyes and exhales with a satisfied moan.

“Now that’s what I needed…” She smiles to herself as she turns to rest her back against the tree I’m propped against. “Nurse was giving me shit again.”

“Man’s gotta do his job.” I shrug as I take another drag on my own cigarette.

“His job isn’t to pry into my sex life…” She sneers. I choke on a lungful of smoke, doubling over and clutching my chest as I cough and splutter before she finishes her sentence, smirking at me. “… Or lack thereof.” She snickers quietly to herself as I recover and throw her a filthy look.

“Bitch…” I wince and rub my chest ruefully. “Every time! The same damn joke!”

“Yeah, you’d think you would have learned by now.” She says with an unrepentant smirk. I pull another cigarette out of my coat pocket, my previous one having been thrown somewhere into the bushes by her shameless prank.

“And this why people don’t like you.” I mumble as I light the cigarette in the corner of my lips, snapping the lighter closed to show my mild annoyance.

“Oh please, people love me.”

“Okay, this is why I don’t like you.” I jab back with smile and she laughs hard, resulting in a snort. Her hand snaps to her face as if to catch the unseemly noise that escaped her mere seconds ago. I grunt with barely restrained laughter as her eyes narrow at me.

“You heard nothing.” She growls threateningly and I hold my hands up, shoulders quivering with inhibited amusement. She finishes her cigarette and tosses it into the brush, slipping her hands into her pockets.

“Thanks, Shinnosuke. I actually needed a good laugh… And a good smoke.” She confesses with a genuine smile and I simply shrug.

“Any time, Rika, it’s what I do.”

We stand and chat for a little bit, both agreeing to have one more cigarette each and discuss some tough assignment that she’s working on while I tell her the latest gossip from Class 3-3.

“I never thought those two would get together!” She nudges me in the shoulder with her free hand. “Seems like everything happens in your class!”

“Right? I can barely keep up with who’s dating who and who’s revealing what terrible secret this week…” I half-joke. “Honestly, it’s a little traumatising.”

“You know what traumatises me?” She asks and I already know the answer.

“Boredom?”

“Boredom. Why don’t we have wacky adventures and dramatic love triangles?” She asks laughing and I shake my head ruefully.

“Because you’re a spooky misanthrope with a shitty sense of humour and I’m a thick-skinned chain-smoking recluse.”

“I’m not a misanthrope!” Rika protests. “I hang out with you, don’t I?”

“Only because I smoke too.” I scoff.

“So? It’s kind of a big deal for me to be able to do this with someone free of judgement, y’know? You’re, like, the one actual friend I have here.”

“Oh.” Even with my scleroderma, that cut deep. I never really thought about it but she’s only really friendly with me from what I’ve seen. “Damn. Sorry, that was kind of dickish of me.”

“Don’t worry about it, Shin.” She smirks, tossing her finished cigarette away. “Besides, if I don’t forgive you, who am I going to bum smokes off of?”

Her sincerity cracks me up and we make our way across the track field and walk through the school grounds. We reach the no man’s land between the dorms as curfew approaches. I offer up the breath freshener I carry with me to her and she accepts gladly. I take a spritz myself and we say our goodbyes. I think better and call out to her.

“What are you doing tomorrow, Rika?” I ask as Rika turns, her eyes wide in faux-shock.

“Why, Mister Kyokan! Are you asking me out on a date?” She gleefully mocks. “Be still my beating heart!”

“Pfft, like your heart beats at all. I’m still not sure you’re even human.” I sigh but smile all the same. “I was just wondering because I’m going to head into the city to restock and thought you might like to tag along, that’s all.”

“Is that your subtle way of getting me to buy my own cigarettes?” She asks with a coy smile.

“At the very least, you owe me one.” I shrug.

“Well, I can’t be indebted to you, now can I?” She laughs, turning on her heel, her long white plait almost smacking me in the face as she does. “I’ll catch you after class, Shinnosuke!”

“See you, Rika.” I call out as I head towards the boys dorms to get some rest for tomorrow.

[swampie2]

“Thanks, Shinnosuke."

Nice little story, even if I don't like the grim realist type Rika.

[Sharp-O]

“Thanks, Shinnosuke."

HA! Kind of a happy accident with the new alternate full name since I originally named Shin 'Shin' in Foregone Conclusion because of what I imagined him to be and what I would have revealed in Fixers at some point.

Nice little story, even if I don't like the grim realist type Rika.

Pragmatism a perfectly good trait to have and I'd hardly call her grim

[Mirage_GSM]

Someday someone will have to write a Rika-story with a non-misantropic Rika who is actually likeable - even if I have to do it myself...

[brythain]

Someday someone will have to write a Rika-story with a non-misanthropic Rika who is actually likeable - even if I have to do it myself...

Wait a minute, I already have.

[Sharp-O]

A tongue-in-cheek tale of a disbanded club.

If It Ain’t Broke

I slip out of the classroom before I can be caught by the others, an elusive wisp of smoke and vapour.

There and then gone. Just like the club.

The others have been hounding me for three days and I’ve still got no good answer for them. A torrent of vilifying gestures still linger in my mind, echoes of a dressing down Shizune delivered to me. Each sharp, stinging wave of her hand killing a little more of what I… What we had built. Not that it matters anymore. The club is dead and a certain pink-haired Judas made sure of it.

I thought she left the group of her own accord, happy with the experience she had but when the oppressive boot of the Student Council came knocking, we put two and two together. She was sent to spy on us. A shrewd move, certainly; I’d expect nothing less than such a cunning Chess Mistress but it was still a cheap move.

[This club was not approved.]

[Disband immediately.]

[Any further activity from this group will be dealt with severely.]

Each statement delivered with a proud, superior smirk on her smug face. That navy-haired narcissist… Oh, forget it. She was right in some respect, we never really got around to registering the club properly. I didn't follow the proper procedure. Besides, it was a silly idea to begin with if I’m really honest with myself.

“Hey!” There’s always some other creative outlet I can pour my time into. Like the Theatre Club, that would make a good substitute. Or the Literature Club…

“Oi!” Maybe I can take up knitting. Or paint a mural like Tezuka did.

A sharp, swift kick to my lower back sends me spilling out of my reverie and onto the checker-patterned floor. I crane my neck backwards to view my attacker, only for a rather irate Molly Kapur to be standing a few feet away from me.

Clad in her usual black jumper and green skirt combination, she stands with clenched fists and a disapproving scowl on her otherwise adorable face.

“{What the bloody hell are you playing at?}” She demands in English, her UK accent only making her sound more threatening somehow.

“Can you try that again in Japanese please, Kapur?” I ask with an irritated timbre, dusting off my knees and elbows before standing, left-side facing her.

“What have you been doing the past few days? You’re in class but you haven’t {bloody} spoken to us, {buggering off} as soon as the day ends and then there’s the club room being locked… Just what’s going on?” Her angry tone soon giving way to a barrage of concerned statements and Briticisms.

“The club is no more. Officially disbanded. We’re done.” I admit grimly, much to her shock. The soft clink of her skeletal prosthetics jostling backwards makes a nice distraction from her big grey eyes, looking at me with confusion and sadness. “I’m sorry. I did the best I could.”

“And you couldn’t just tell us that?” She asks, shifting gears into annoyance once more.

“I was scared! Afraid to admit it to myself. I tried, I really did, but I just couldn’t get my wheels moving again once I stopped. Like I was stuck in quick sand.” I confess pitifully. Her hand brushes along my shoulder and down my back, which has a surprisingly calming really but then, she always knew how to make me feel better. One of my best friends.

“It’s okay… If the club’s done, it’s done. We’ll leave it buried, Rest in Peace, all that {bollocks} but that doesn’t mean you have to stop hanging out with us. We’re still friends!” She playfully punches my arm and I sigh with a soft smile.

“Yeah… Sorry. I’ve been kind of a dumbass by keeping you guys in the dar--What are you doing?” I ask as she whips out her phone and begins furiously typing.

“What do you think?” She smiles slyly, snapping her phone closed as mine buzzes in my pocket. I flip it open. A group text? No, a rallying cry.

[Avengers Assemble. Shanghai. 5pm.] Heh, cute.

-------

“Damn, that sucks! It sounds like we’d have had some really cool adventures!” The newly-joined Thief comments, the usually boisterous Beast resting quietly against his shoulder, silently taking in the information. She’d brought him in to play a character that was only ever to be an NPC when the Gunslinger left.

“I agree… I know I wasn’t much of a player but I did enjoy the interactions between our characters.” The Swashbuckler adds, her usual soft stoicism replaced with an unusual defeated demeanour. She seemed pretty interested in the scenarios I had planned out at the very least.

“Yeah… At least we can still hang out, right? It’s not the end of the worlds.” The weak-hearted Defender chimes in with an equally weak joke but it still gets a laugh. Especially from his girlfriend, the British Champion.

They all sit, packed into one of the roomier booths of the Shanghai as I sit on a chair on an edge to myself; much like how we’d gather to play. In place of dice and notebooks now various hot drinks, sandwiches and desserts sit. Yuuko is still working on my order so I excuse myself from the group and slip outside.

The metallic snap of my lighter opening and closing covers the approaching taps of a cane and I look to the corner of the building to see the blonde locks of the Swashbuckler, haloed by the magic hour sunlight.

“So here you are.” She wrinkles her sensitive nose in mild disdain and I stub out the cigarette, tossing into a metallic receptacle on the wall usually reserved for Shanghai employees.

“Sorry… Just needed to steady my nerves a little.” I smile weakly, not that she can tell. I fiddle with a small breath spray in my pocket, ready for my eventual return inside.

“It was quite the shock for all of us. I cannot believe we’ll never be able to hear the full story.” She muses wistfully.

“You’re just fishing for more details about the path Spectre and Swashbuckler were on.” I smirk and a coy smile plays across her delicate lips. The two characters had quite the chemistry going, thanks in no small part to the two of us playing the parts.

“Guilty as charged. I found their blossoming relationship to be quite charming.”

“I imagine they’d have gotten their act together eventually,” I admit with chuckle. “But not before a tragic stabbing, the Spectre revealing himself as a Shinigami and breathing fresh life into the dying Swashbuckler.”

“Oh my! That sounds like quite the tale of tragedy and romance.” She laughs airily before holding her hand out. “I would love to hear the whole thing, if you’d be so inclined to share it sometime.”

I look at her hand and think of the chemistry between the Spectre and the Swashbuckler, wondering how much of that was character banter and how much of that was us.

“It would be my pleasure, Miss Satou.” I say, taking on the character affectation I usually save for the game. Taking her hand in mine, our fingers entwine tightly and her smile grows brighter.

“As it would be mine, Shinnosuke.” She says, a rosy blush blooming across her cheeks.

“Please,” I encourage, leading her back towards the Shanghai’s entrance.

“Call me Shin.”

[Mirage_GSM]

Hmm... While Shizune might be able to close a club, I don't think she has the authority to prohibit the sudents from playing RPGs in their free time...

[Sharp-O]

Hmm... While Shizune might be able to close a club, I don't think she has the authority to prohibit the sudents from playing RPGs in their free time...

No, she doesn't and maybe they'll do just that eventually

[Sharp-O]

I didn't expect to get this done so quickly but I think a HanakoxRin story works surprisingly well!

Method and Madness

“Hello.”

The sudden advent of a deep voice behind me almost shocks me into a full-blown panic attack. I grip my chest tight, gasping for breath that my tight throat refuses to allow passage into my starved lungs. I grimace at the explicable thought of dying like this, frightened by an unseen person who is no doubt simply being polite.

Scared to death by a greeting.

“I forget to breath sometimes. Here.” The voice comments and I feel a soft, padded pressure on my backside. The intrusion of my personal space, let alone someone touching me, is enough for the girliest shriek I’ve ever let loose from my body ring out into the halls of the dorm. I collapse to my knees, quivering in shock as latches and doors sound off all along the hall.

Curious eyes are upon me and I could not feel worse. An unwanted touch and now the voyeuristic eyes of my dorm-mates… I almost wish the initial shock had killed me.

“Oi! What the hell are you doing, Tezuka?!” A gruff female voice demands and I manage to peer from my shield of hair to see a class-mate leap to my defence.

“Saying hello.” This Tezuka responds plainly.

“You attacked Hanako! I ought to break your damn legs, space-case!” She growls and I thrust a hand out, pressing against her leg before quickly retracting it.

“Puh-p-please… No… Sh-She r-r-r-really did s-say h-hello a-and I fuh-fuh-freaked…” I struggle with almost every damn word, rushing an explanation as quickly as my anxious mind and spastic throat will allow. The dark-skinned Amazon crouches down and offers her hand out and I shrink from it, glancing quickly at Miki’s sympathetic eyes, wrought with concern for me, before casting my gaze down once more.

“It’s okay, Hanako. I’m going to raise my voice once more, just to clear the halls for you. Okay?” She asks for permission and it takes every ounce of strength for me to muster a nod of compliance. She stands and her voice booms once more. “Alright, losers! Show’s over! Get back in your rooms before I start busting heads!”

The frightened scurrying and locking of doors makes me smile inside. God I wish I could be more like her… “You gonna be good now or do you want me to fetch blondie?”

I shake my head and Miki sighs heavily. “Okay… You, take a walk, will ya?” Her ire now solely focused on the girl behind me but barely raised above her usual cadence.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten her. It’s like tripping over. You never mean to do it but sometimes you do and you can’t help it.” The girl explains and I think I get what she means. It was an accident. She didn’t mean to do it. I finally have the courage to look over my shoulder at the girl behind me and see she’s wearing a boy’s uniform sans shoes, the arms knotted just above the elbows. I look at her face and her eyes catch me instantly. Two gigantic pools of verdant green, curiously staring at me, while her short and dishevelled auburn hair frames her pale face.

“Hello.” She repeats, now that I’m facing her. I flinch a little but she’s clearly harmless so I meekly offer a greeting back.

“H-H-Hello…”

“Can you breath now?” She tilts her with an odd expression, almost of surprise, as she asks.

“Y-Yes… Th-Thank you.”

“Good. I’m pretty sure you need to keep doing that. But don’t think about it, thinking about it makes it harder. Just do it.” She offers what I assume is advice and I nod cautiously. She stands looking at me for a little longer before turning 180° and walking towards the stair well. She disappears from sight and I breath a sigh of relief.

“You gonna be okay?” Miki inquires and I nod, rising steadily and brushing off my leggings.

“I a-am n-now. Thank y-you, Miki.” I bow politely and she waves me off with her right hand.

“No problem, kiddo. You take care and watch out for that one. She’s a weirdo.” Miki chuckles as she pats me on the shoulder. I smile a little and she walks in the opposite direction to me.

-------

Over the next few days, I learned more about my mysterious ‘attacker’. Her full name is Rin Tezuka and she’s best friends and class-mates with Emi Ibarazaki. It’s hard to think of them being friends. If she’s as much of a ‘space-case’ as Miki suggested, then it’s hard to imagine her keeping up with Emi.

Or maybe Emi spends her time chasing Rin around. The irony is pretty funny but not as much as the realisation that she’s much like I am. She’s the oddball friend to the popular one in the limelight. Not that Lilly would frame it that way but it’s hard to escape the thought sometimes…

That thought sticks with me as I watch Rin sit in front of her mural. Twenty minutes pass and I begin to wonder if she’s even awake. I creep closer and see that she certainly has her eyes closed but if she’s…

“A little to the left.” She says, seemingly to me since I’m the only one here and I side-step without a second thought.

“That’s better.” Rin leans backwards and looks at me, her world view undoubtedly upside down as she speaks again.

“You make excellent shade.” She smiles a little up at me and I furrow my brow in confusion before I realise she now sits in my long, slender shadow.

“G-Glad I c-could h-help?” I offer nervously and she returns her gaze to her unfinished mural. I frown at it. I don’t like it.

“You don’t like it, do you?” She asks, as if I’d spoken my inner thoughts out loud. Oh dear. I didn’t actually do that, did I?

“N-Not r-r-really, no…” I say and she nods along. “The t-t-talent behind it is ex-extraordinary but I th-think the imagery is h-horrible…” I critique quietly as the artist takes it in.

“You’re the first. To say that. Not the first to see it.”

“D-Do you think it’ll be d-done for the f-festival.” I ask, curious if one artist, no matter how talented, could accomplish such a thing. The festival is only a few days away after all.

“Hisao has helped. As much as he can anyway.” Hisao? The new boy?

“Th-That’s n-nice of him.” I smile a little. He does seem nice.

“He hasn’t got a problem with his tackle, which is boring.” She offers boldly and my cheeks burn red hot. Has she? Did he? Howwhatwherewhenwhy? “I’m Rin, by the way. Didn’t say it the other day.”

“I’m, uh, H-H-Hanako… N-Nice to m-meet you.”

“Ha-Ha-Hanako. Your name is laughing.” Is she making fun of my stutter? “That’s funny.” She turns her head to look at me with a cheeky grin and I’m sure I’ve turned as red as her hair.

-------

The more I interact with Rin, the more I feel she’s very misunderstood. Which seems par for the course, because I don’t think she even understands herself. I know that feeling. Well, not exactly but something akin to it.

We bumped into each other a bunch of times after the festival. I found her standing out in the rain, offering to share my umbrella with her. It was the closest I’ve been to another person other than Lilly.

Another time, she’d wandered into the library and plopped down in a beanbag beside me. It startled me, but not as much as her peering over my shoulder. It just had to be the day I got curious about that one romance novel in the library that’s supposed to be very lewd. It was and she grinned like the Cheshire Cat as she read over my shoulder, her close proximity and her hot breath on my neck paralysing me. All I could do is turn the page when she asked and feel my entire body burning up. I don’t think I ever wanted an ice cold shower before but it sounded like nirvana in that very moment.

-------

You sad, pathetic loser. Every damn year you do this to yourself. You could be out with the few friends you’ve made since Lilly left but noooo, you wanted to sit and dwell on the past. Hisao offered to hang out, Miki wanted to go watch a movie, even that sarcastic sass-hole Akio offered to do something with you but you pushed them all away so you could cry in your room…

Knock

What was that? Did someone actually come and see me? It’s odd that they only knocked once. Maybe someone just bumped the door. I cautiously slide open my door a crack, only to be met by a giant green eye that startles me, sending me back onto my butt.

“Hey Hanako.” The deep drone of Rin announces as she bumps the door open with her knee and enters without permission, closing the door behind her.

“Wh-what are y-y-you d-d-d-doing?!” I ask, exasperated that she just waltzed in.

“I came to say Happy Birthday. That’s something people do, right? Or have I got that mixed up with Tanabata? It’s hard to keep track of all those.” She furrows her brow at me, but I don’t think she’s even looking at me really. More into the middle distance.

“I d-d-d-didn’t want to s-see a-anybody today…” I grumble, getting to my feet. Rin stands there for minutes on end and I just get angrier that my brooding has been disturbed.

“Why?” She finally speaks and I narrow my eyes at her.

“Why wh-what?”

“Why don’t you want to see any bodies? Everyone has a body, even you. Do you not want to see yourself?”

“Sometimes… Y-Yeah. I think th-that would be easier.” I whisper and Rin continues to look at me quizzically.

“Why?” Again with the impertinent questions.

“Because.” I respond curtly, folding my arms tightly across my chest.

“Because?”

“Because I… B-because it’s h-hard! It’s h-hard every d-day but especially t-today and p-please d-don’t ask m-me why again b-because even if I c-could articulate the st-storm of self-l-loathing and d-depression ch-churning inside m-me right now, I d-d-don’t think you’d even understand!” I stammer and trip over my words as I pace back and forth, getting more frustrated with both myself and having to explain it to someone who just doesn’t understand. Could never understand.

“It’s b-better if I’m a-alone. It’s m-meant to b-be that w-way. I’m a-always alone.” I admit quietly as I come to a stop in front of my bed. “J-just leave m-me aloOOAH!” Somehow, Rin had closed the distance between us and pushed her body against me, sending us both tumbling onto my bed.

“Wh-what are you d-d-doing!?” I ask again, this time with a surprisingly heavy girl resting on top of me, face pressed firmly into my chest. I’d push her off if I wasn’t paralysed by the surprise human contact, yet another of my weaknesses I loathe.

“I’m hugging you, Hanako.” She states, her words slightly muffled by a face full of my night gown. What…?

“WHY!?” I almost scream but think better of it, only raising my voice slightly but still louder than I’m accustomed to.

“How many people are there in the world?” She asks with a curious tone. What?!

“Wha--”

“How many?”

“S-seven billion, give or t-take.” I say, a little bitterly. Just like always, I’m trying to figure out the muddled maze of her mind with little success. Where’s she going with this?

“How many people are in this school?” She asks another question and I think hard.

“A h-hundred or so, p-probably more…” Her thighs grip my waist tight, pulling herself up with her core muscles and straddling me before releasing her grip. She sits on top of me for a minute, peering through the dim lighting with her huge eyes.

“Who is here right now?”

“… You.”

“Are you alone?” Oh. Ohhhhh.

My cheeks burn as I stare up at the arm-less artist straddling me. “No…”

“See?” She smiles down at me and, whether she meant to or not in her own befuddled way, makes me feel more love and care than I’ve felt in a long time… I rise onto my elbows and then sit up, my face mere inches from Rin’s. Her gaze doesn’t falter, not even for a second. No avoidance out of embarrassment, no sly peek at my scars, her eyes are on mine and mine alone.

“R-Rin…” I reach toward her face tentatively and find her face to exude warmth in spite of her pale complexion. She doesn’t flinch at my touch, merely tilting her head into my hand.

I’ve never done this before. Thought about it once or twice, mostly out of curiosity. But right now; as I take her face into my other hand, heart-pounding in my chest and watching for any sign of hesitation on her part, I feel that I can. And I do.

I kiss Rin Tezuka softly and slowly, giving her a chance to pull back but she doesn’t. I break the kiss and lean back. She opens her eyes and stares blankly for a couple seconds before the edges of her mouth tug into a smile.

“Again.” She demands and I oblige with another kiss. Deeper, more passionate. Her short arms rest on my shoulders as my hands slide down her face and chest, wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer to me. She tastes of oranges. Why did I think she’d taste of paint?

Silly Hanako.

We break from the kiss, my breathing laboured, just as much as hers. As cool and composed as she normally is, she’s got a devilish twinkle in those beautiful green eyes now and I follow them down to her shirt and tie.

“It needs to come off.” She says, smirking ever so slightly. She’s right of course. It does need to come off.

Right now.

[brythain]

Something's been nagging at me for a while. Somehow, your characters seem to have inappropriate vocabularies. They sound as if they all had the same English textbooks. I'm not sure what it is. The stories are fine. The characters seem a little odd. Sorry I'm not being more constructive. I'm just... puzzled?

[swampie2]

He did it.

Given the incredible turnaround time this turned out pretty well.

[Sharp-O]

Something's been nagging at me for a while. Somehow, your characters seem to have inappropriate vocabularies. They sound as if they all had the same English textbooks. I'm not sure what it is. The stories are fine. The characters seem a little odd. Sorry I'm not being more constructive. I'm just... puzzled?

Yeah, I think see what you mean. The more I write, the more I find myself repeating phrases and using the same idioms... I tend to add flare when the characters themselves wouldn't do so as well.

For example: "character dialogue" they said, in a verbose way that doesn't quite match them.

See? I try to do it to avoid saying the same words over and over in a conversation but it comes off weird for characters... My greatest flaw is trying too hard not to be boring! But seriously, any ideas how to fix that would be greatly appreciated.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0e/c3/39/0ec33988149e77c41396b54f411dd1df.jpg

He did it.

Given the incredible turnaround time this turned out pretty well.

Thank you kindly *tips hat* It was just off the top of my head but I do think this idea has legs.