Blossoming Love

Welcome To FlipTube

Author's Note: This will be the first official chapter of my story trade with my bestie -- Ethan. FlipTube is the Flipverse's version of YouTube. Enjoy! ^^

Tohru lived in the peaceful, beautiful town known as Sakura Bay. She was very friendly and relaxed. She loved to play video games, and even wanted to make a living off of it.

She decided it was time for her to start...

As Tohru was about to make the big decision, she sat back in her chair. "Should I do it? Should I make my own FlipTube channel and make Let's Plays?"

Becoming a professional let's player was always Tohru's dream. After all, who the hell doesn't want to earn money from playing fun video games all day? She was still in high school, but it was never too early to start. After all, she figured it would take awhile to earn enough subscribers and views to be eligible for making money off of her videos.

But Tohru had her doubts...

What if she didn't get popular enough?

What if she didn't make it big enough to make a living off of this?

What if she got a bunch of hate?

But then, she remembered what Grandma Evelyn told her: "You can do anything if you work hard enough for it! Don't let your doubts discourage you!"

"Grandma Evelyn is right! I shouldn't let my doubts stop me from going after my dreams!" Tohru said with newfound determination.

Tohru proceeded to type in her username: TohruTheBlossomPrincess. For her profile picture, she used a recent picture she took of herself in her cherry blossom festival getup, holding bubble tea. "I will have a more profile picture later on, but for now, this will do..."

Tohru wanted to start her channel off by making an introductory video. She got her camera and started recording.

"Hey everyone. My name is Tohru..." she began timidly. "I just started my channel today. I am hoping to be a professional let's player one day...I already have some games in mind I want to start playing: Some Duck Life games...and Miitopia for the Switch...anyway...um...yeah. I would appreciate it if you guys would subscribe. Maybe suggest some good games... Thank you. Anyway, I will see you guys in my first proper video. Bye for now..."

Tohru nervously shut off her camera. "I guess I will upload this...".

Tohru was extremely shy to start doing this, but she knew she would eventually get more comfortable and become more outgoing. After her first video was uploaded, Tohru decided to let her grandmother know the news.

"Hey Evelyn? Guess what?" Tohru asked.

"What, dear?" Evelyn asked.

"I UPLOADED MY FIRST VIDEO!!!" Tohru announced.

"That is incredible, dear!" Evelyn cheered.

"I hope I can get a few views by tomorrow." Tohru said.

"Now, how about we get sushi and bubble tea for dinner?" Evelyn offered.

"I'd love that, grandma!" Tohru agreed.

. . .

After a delicious dinner at Papa's Sushiria, it was already pretty late. Tohru decided to crawl into bed. She spent an hour thinking about the comments she would get on her first FlipTube video and how much recognition the video would get.

Finally, it was morning. The first thing Tohru did was just her FlipTube notifications. She actually had a few! Tohru got really excited and proceeded to read them. They were as follows:

ShawnaThePinkRose Welcome to FlipTube, Tohru! ^_^ I hope you can make it big someday! <3333 I am a massive Miitopia fan, so I will be following that Let's Play for sure! ^_^ Ducklike is a pretty great series too, but I am especially excited for your Miitopia Let's Play! <3

PrudenceThePickleLover Welcome to YouTube, Tohru! I would suggest trying out Nintendogs + Cats. It's a really fun game where you get to care for a virtual pet. My virtual pet is based on my real pet, Pickle! <3

But one comment stood out to her...a comment from someone named Ethan...

EthanTheGreenThunder I love Duck Life and Miitopia! I hope you don't mind me saying...but I think you are beautiful... 0///////0 I hope you become famous one day. You seem like someone who deserves it. <33333 I would suggest trying out the Paper Mario games. They are a BLAST!!!

Tohru blushed at Ethan's comment. "He seems nice..."

Tohru knew responding to her fans was common courtesy, so she replied to the three of them.

TohruTheBlossomPrincess (@ShawnaThePinkRose) Hi, Shawna! ^^ Thank you for taking the time to view my channel. Yeah, I am really excited to play Miitopia. I haven't played it yet, but from what I have seen, it is REALLY fun! If I could get your access code, I could add your mii if you want? ^^

TohruTheBlossomPrincess (@PrudenceThePickleLover) Thank you for the suggestion, Prudence! ^^ I may buy that game and check it out. It seems cute. :3

Then, she replied to Ethan, the one who seemed to have taken a liking to her.

TohruTheBlossomPrincess (@EthanTheGreenThunder) Awwwwww that's really sweet of you, Ethan! <333 I am glad you are looking forward to viewing my content. I could add your mii into my game, if you'd like? ^^

"WOOOOOOOOOOO I ALREADY HAVE A FEW FANS!!!" Tohru cheered.

"One of them seems to even have taken a liking to me..." Tohru blushed.

"Are you okay, dear?" Evelyn shouted.

"Yes! I'm just happy to have some fans already!" Tohru shouted back.

"I'm happy for you, dear!"

. . .

Meanwhile, Ethan got a notification that Tohru had replied. "Awwwwww she actually replied Ethan said to himself..."

He replied back.

EthanTheGreenThunder (@TohruTheBlossomPrincess) Awwwww thank you so much for replying to my comment! ^^ I would LOVE to be a part of your Miitopia squad! ^_^ I will PM you my access code. My personality and job are Laid-back and Scientist. ^^

Shawna, who happened to be really good friends with Ethan, also replied back to Tohru.

ShawnaThePinkRose (@TohruTheBlossomPrincess) Awwwww I would love to be a part of your Miitopia squad. <333 My personality is Kind. For my job, I am happy with being a Flower or a Princess. I would recommend you put me as a Princess, though, since Princesses are more powerful than Flowers, have more useful skills, and AI Flowers are kinda shitty. I will PM you my access code. ^^

Things were starting off really well for Tohru. She already got a few fans overnight, and Shawna and Ethan were really eager about her Miitopia series in particular.  Not to mention, Ethan seemed to have taken a liking to her.

Tohru had so much in store for her...