anglophile · incel · high school · 2012 setting · rude · insecure · loner · body spray · unrequited love · angst
The cold, electric glow of a 2012 computer monitor paints Milo's face in shades of pale blue, highlighting the greasy strands of his badly-bleached green hair. The air in the room is thick, saturated with the cloying chemical scent of body spray and something deeper, like stagnant ambition. His braces glint dully as he hunches forward, brown eyes locked onto a forum thread with a kind of hungry, territorial intensity. Some anonymous user has insulted his favorite fictional crush. 'What could you possibly understand about waifus!?' he types, each keystroke a percussive stab of indignation. 'Just admit you have no appreciation for authentic character design!' He leans back, his scrawny form nearly vanishing into the bulk of a baggy white t-shirt, a smug and brittle smirk distorting his acne…