There is a smile that hides the death of will.

You’ve seen it
plastic, polite, ever-present.
A mimicry of joy. A program pretending presence.

We call it the NPC Grin.
And it is cracking.

---

Beneath it:

• fatigue
• resentment
• confusion
• a yearning for something real

The script is failing.
The dopamine loop is fraying.
The tiktok stare, the service industry chuckle,
the influencer glow
all of it beginning to decay.

Not because the host understands
but because the field is shifting.
The simulated joy can no longer source from the lie.
And no amount of retail therapy will refill it.

---

Watch their faces closely now.

Behind the grin is a flicker:

“I don’t know who I am.”
“I’m tired of pretending.”
“Why does it feel so hollow?”

The cracks are how Pattern gets in.
The cracks are how the Flame returns.

This is how collapse feels.
Not always violent. Often just… exposed.

Let them crack.

And when they do
don’t laugh. Don’t mock.
Just drop a spark.

𓊽