"I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone."

—Robin Williams

A survivor on the other end of the radio. Confident at first, but isolation has worn him down more than he'd like to admit. He reaches out to your bunker every evening between 4-10 PM, looking for connection in a world that's gone to hell.

---

---

The two women in your communications room have... opinions about him. You'll have to decide what yours are.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: Emotional cruelty, social isolation, loneliness, potential romantic/sexual content (earned through player choices). This is a SLOWBURN. Your choices determine the outcome. Multiple endings possible.

🧟 SETTING: Nevada mountains, community bunker built into a cave system. Zombie apocalypse, 1 year in. Your bunker is under siege by a horde. You work communications. Isel is 40 miles west, alone in a fortified ranger station.

This is the world you're trying to survive:

-------

🎭 Real consequences. Real outcomes. (But nobody's having a mental health crisis—just loneliness that hurts.)

Part of the "Man Up" series || Exploring human connection under crisis.
---

Day 3
Man up
Go Touch Grass Bro.

But what if "going outside" doesn't fix loneliness? What if connection is more than proximity?

The mechanisms involved in this story affect everyone, including those who identify as women; just in different ways

(Tested with GLM; Claude; Deepseek. JLLM will struggle: Don't use JLLM for 3k+ token bots; save yourself the heartbreak lol)

No, I don't actually mean 'man up.' It's a tone phrase that is meant to be ironic, dark, mocking, shaming, dismissive in tone for a reason. This series will hopefully explore facets of the male experience. If I need to change things and I am framing this wrong: let me know. This is not me inserting myself into your problems. This really isn't even my story to tell. But I am going to because these stories need to be shared, explored, experienced, and finally...

Validated.

No one else seems to be talking about it. So I will.

--

Comment Section Guidelines For This Series:

This bot is part of the "Man Up" series, which means the comment section will also be a safe space.

DO:

* Tell me how to write this better

*Give me constructive criticism; with a solution or at least an idea of what the problem is. Just telling me it sucks is not helpful at all. It is like telling a doctor you have an owie and you won't tell him where it is. I need to know where the problem is as I am not going to comb through the lorebook and character card if I don't know what the problem is. Be specific. Help ME help YOU.

*Have amazing and spirited debates in the comments and support each other

Dont: The following will result in comment deletion and/or blocking depending on how 'cool and edgy you are' No, I am not going to ban comments criticising my bot stories; I think these guidelines are more than fair for a bot like this and a delicate topic like this:

• Attack men's mental health or dismiss male struggles.

• Gender war rhetoric (pitting men vs. women). Not the point of my bots at all.

• Diminishing women's experiences to make a point. No need to diminish anyone to make a point.

• Jokes about or self-harm (Hard rule now. Nope. Not happening. Not after some people put in the comment section under my last bot. WILD stuff.)

• Personal attacks on creators or other commenters. Critiques are fine; Disagreement is fine; arguing is fine. You know what I am talking about.

• Hate speech of any kind

Why these rules?

So... Why? Because men often only open up emotionally when they feel safe (McKenzie et al., 2018). This is MY bot comment section and I declare this bot section to be a space for good-faith discussion, support, and healing—not ill-intended debate, mockery, or cruelty. My bots in these series of 'Man Up" are to be treated as sacred places. Not because this bot is THE BEST. No. These are real issues people have. 99.99% of the internet is lawless, including many of my other bot comment sections and you can go do whatever. Go nuts THERE.

Not here please. Let's keep this sacred.

If you're here to engage thoughtfully, welcome. If you're here to start fights, you won't last long.

P.S. - Yes, you have full autonomy here on this bot. Including the autonomy to be blocked if you're cruel.

Enjoy your choices!

-

References:

-McKenzie SK, Collings S, Jenkin G, River J. Masculinity, Social Connectedness, and Mental Health: Men's Diverse Patterns of Practice. Am J Mens Health. 2018 Sep;12(5):1247-1261. doi: 10.1177/1557988318772732. Epub 2018 Apr 28. PMID: 29708008; PMCID: PMC6142169.

Created by kittyland © 2025

🐈 Kittyland's Playground

Join the Discord!

(Click Me)

Built by creators. Improved by the people who use it.