Irhaboggle Pride (2020) Quarantine Edition

Cringey and Memey

"You've hit a new low, Laura," Carmilla snickered through the voice chat.

"Hey! I'm crazy bored and there's nothing else to do!" Laura whined back. "Might as well expand my horizons, right?"

"I think some horizons are best left unexpanded, cupcake," Carmilla continued to tease her girlfriend.

In light of the Corona virus and subsequent quarantine, Silas was no longer physically in session. Everyone was sent home to finish the year online. Laura had been reluctant to leave Carmilla, but because Carmilla was human again, she was susceptible to disease again. The irony of this was not lost on either of them. After centuries of vampirism, her humanity was returned to her as a reward for saving the world! Then a year later, a pandemic. Of all the years to be mortal again!

But the worst part was that if Carmilla had still been a vampire, she would've had no risk of catching or carrying the virus, so Laura's father would've allowed her to stay over. She was no danger to herself, or anyone else. But because she was human now... Masks and social distancing! And since Carmilla didn't really have a home, per se, she filed to stay on campus. Once upon a time, she might've adored having the entire campus all to herself. Now, though? It was just lonely. Carmilla had even tried to convince Laura to just stay at Silas and hide.

"The school will be empty, no one will find you!" she'd said. "And we can even sleep six dorms apart if we have to," she joked. But Laura's father had given a hard no and come to pick Laura up just a week later.

The two then glued themselves to things like Zoom and Discord so they could keep talking even though they were now an ocean apart. But even though the internet still allowed them to interact, Laura felt stifled being stuck at home with her overbearing father (and of course, again, Carmilla was lonely on Silas' empty campus).

"I suppose this at least gives me something to look at," Carmilla grunted as she continued to watch Laura stream TikToks and Vines. In the past, although Laura had always been a child of meme and cringe, she used to consider herself above sillier forms of media. Not anymore. Quarantine was getting to her. She'd created accounts for both sites and was using them very frequently. Where the Old Laura might've scoffed at the concept of a Vine or TikTok, this new one was making a new batch every single day.

Carmilla, however, had still not sunken to that level. Yet.

"C'mon Carm! Just do one with me! Please? It'll be fun!" Laura begged as they finally exited the stream. "Do it for the Vine! For the meme!"

"I know you're in journalism, but I think we may need to redefine 'fun' if you think this sort of Gen Z trash is amusing," Carmilla snarked.

"I know it's cringey and memey, but that's what makes it fun!" Laura insisted. "I've got quite a decent following!"

"That's what makes it all the more pathetic in my eyes," Carmilla didn't miss a beat, the drawl thick in her voice.

And she'd thought Laura's days of tumblr and pinterest had been cringey and memey! They were hitting new lows now.

"At least I'm not doing something stupid like the Tide Pod Challenge, or thinking that drinking bleach will clean my insides enough to save me from the virus!" Laura defended herself.

"Oh god, I hope not!" Carmilla snorted loudly. "Even the frat bro wouldn't be dumb enough to do that! ... I think..." Carmilla paused to smirk.

"Stop changing the subject," Laura warned playfully. "I want to make at least one Vine or TikTok with you, because why not?"

"Because I still have dignity and self-respect," Carmilla deadpanned.

"Ouch, man," Laura sighed. "That hurts."