WEEKS 5 & 6

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WEEKS 5 & 6

THE CALM BEFORE...

The city has more or less bounced back after the disastrous Go-Kart race. While there are still some people recovering, no one’s hospitalized and there were thankfully no casualties - although there were more injuries than might have been expected, on accounts of some brawls that broke out among the competitors and the audience.

In spite of that, the Shopping District is feeling distinctly friendlier these days. Shopkeepers will take notice of repeat customers and be openly happy to see the better-behaved ones. They may even cut characters a discount on the sly for their patronship!

Perhaps as a result, the Nekyia Shopping District has become clear of haze much like the Nekyia dormitory started. While Shadows still lurk there, they are much fewer in number. Should characters choose to explore some more, they will find that the haze has become thinner in the Nekyia Entertainment District, allowing them to work on cleaning out the various Shadows that reside in that area.

WHAT THE FLUFF.

Meanwhile, back at the dormitory…

…trouble is amiss, but the fun kind of trouble.

On Sunday, September 1st, it seems like there's an event for pets being hosted at the parks near the dorm! That's fine and dandy, but the trouble comes from owners being careless and letting their animals run loose. That's right, some of them have been given free rein to explore, and a number of them have taken a liking to the dormitory!

You might be able to blame Dawn – that cat from the Nekyia who also appears to give you strange items! – because she's got bowls of cat food around her that she's feasting on. It's attracted some pet cats and strays alike. As for the dogs, well, they like people. Enough said.

Why not treat yourself to some animal therapy while you can? And if not, wrangling any animals that manage to get free works too!

SUMMER DAYS.

As summer break draws to a close, the Arcade is desperate to not only redeem its reputation, but also squeeze the last bit of pocket change out of people while they’re still on vacation. As a result, there is an ongoing discount on point cards allowing people to play competitive arcade games - Classics like Mirmo Kart and Street Slayer, as well as shinier rhythm games like Dancerun Stardom and LaiLai Universe Plus!

Of course, the hope is that characters drawn in by the arcade games will stick around for the other offerings - karaoke, bowling, ufo catchers, and even a bar (for those 21+!) And if none of these attractions are enough to catch a character’s eye, there’s plenty of other activities to be found in Carnation Court. Besides the restaurants and bars, there are many themed pop-up cafés and events, and even a few empty buildings with a very reasonable lease fee, should someone want to run an event of their own...

While the mood isn’t as open and friendly as the shopping district, it’s still worth a visit to relax and unwind a bit, preferably alongside Braphine’s other chosen. After all, there are Shadows looming on the horizon...

MESSAGE FROM YOUR RA!

Huh...? That's weird. It looks like a really big Shadow took up residence in the Nekyia. Hold on, I'll set things up so the app will give you the coordinates! Could you please check it out?

COMMISSIONS

NEKYIA COMMISSIONS

FETCH QUEST

I messed up…Mom's gonna be so mad at me for losing track of her dog at that event…

There's a shadow in the Nekyia that's taken the form of a Level 25 Nue. It seems to be growling in despair, and echoing the thoughts of this commissioner. Apparently this person lost his mother's dog at the event and hasn't made an effort to find it yet. Fight the Nue and try to knock some sense into this guy, either by shaking some sense into him or by defeating him; they've got a dog to find, after all.

YOU KNOW THAT WE'RE TOXIC

Leave, Braphine. Leave this world to the people. We don't need anyone. We've only got ourselves.

Seems like someone who might be involved with the vandalism incident might have a shadow here, too, in the form of a Level 24 Mokoi. She sounds like she's going to do something more extreme to the place if she isn't stopped. However, be careful… characters hit with Dazzler from this particular Shadow cannot be cured with magic, and must instead be healed by another person’s touch. It’s time to get cozy with your companions.

GET HEE OUTTA HERE

A powerful Shadow has appeared in the Nekyia and needs to be eliminated asap! Black Frost is a tenacious (if cute?) little guy, and can only be fought after taking down three Level 28 Jack Frosts beforehand. Make sure you ration out your spiritual energy and healing spells, this little Shadow can pack a real punch, being at Level 30! That said, for those who manage to defeat him, he should drop a mascot trading card. Turn this in to the priest or priestess at the temple to unlock a bonus new skill for your Persona!

(OOC: Please turn in your threads for this commission on the rewards page to unlock the new skill, which is separate from your leveling skillset! You may select one elemental skill for light damage to apply permanently to your character's persona. When turning in the skill will be effective immediately once rewarded.)

REAL WORLD COMMISSIONS

FINE DINING

Various restaurants, from fast food and fast casual grub to the fine dining establishments in Carnation Court are trying to outdo each other in terms of promotion, and as such are on the prowl for any free hands to help entice potential customers with free samples and food challenges galore. Grab a buddy and help hawk some bite-sized treats! Or maybe try to beat the record for the biggest burger ever eaten, if you dare.

ALL HANDS ON STAGE

A number of performers were involved in the Go-Kart incident and have yet to fully recover enough to do their parts for the show! For the next two weeks, the Sunset Grand Theater is looking for understudies for roles, as well as stage hands who are willing to ninja around and maneuver props and sets for the actors. The production is a fanciful tale of starcrossed lovers, evil stepmothers, political feuds, and for some reason, a dragon.

PREPARE THE PETS

The pet store in Vermillion Village is looking for some volunteers to help socialize the pets through playtime, as well as feed some of the more persnickety ones. Those who want to pet some adorable balls of fluff and energy can work with the kittens, puppies, and bunny rabbits, while those who are brave enough can try their hand at feeding the reptiles their meals of live crickets and frozen rats.

OOC

READ ME!!!!

Welcome to your log for Weeks 5 and 6! Feel free to use this log for any developments that happen during the next two weeks. There will be no log next week, but we will still be posting a small mini-event on Saturday.
For plotting, please feel free to head over to this post on the OOC comm to post your plotting top levels.
For Nekyia commissions, you can assume that the Shadows will respawn until they've been beaten enough times to go back to normal.
Palaces start this week! Please refer to the Palace schedule here and sign ups for this week's capped Palace here

ic comm | inboxes | ooc comm | full nav

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Comments

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis is here. This is mostly involuntary - the fact of the matter is that his right arm is freshly sutured and he has lost a whole lot of blood. His chest wound has healed up fairly well thanks to repeat Diarama, but it's still bandaged and uncomfortable. He's... really not in a position where he can protest much to wherever people carry and dump him.

So he's laying on a common room couch and unfortunately (for himself), he is awake and alert. He absolutely does not want to see anybody right now, but here he is. A novelty conversation piece at a party.

The good news for other people is that he's docile due to the injury and a bit loopy due to the lack of blood - and also potentially heavy duty painkillers if anybody was so kind as to provide any. This might make him easier (???) to talk to. ]

[cirquedesang]

[No, Cutoutgillis is the novelty conversation piece.

Anyway, Celeste is absolutely going to perch on the armrest of the couch behind McGillis's head, just to head off any barking that may happen.]

[vogelfrei]

[ Hi Celeste... He doesn't really know what to say to you right now, so for a good long bit he says nothing and just lets Celeste stand over him like a vampiric guardian angel. It's not comfortable silence, but it doesn't become oppressive until a good bit in either.

But eventually he wants to know. ]

... no commentary on the matter?

[cirquedesang]

[It's not comfortable silence, but it could be worse. Much worse. And so he stays, and observes the party, but his attention is easily diverted back to McGillis when the silence is broken.]

You provoked him.

[A statement, not an accusation.]

Unfortunately for you, not everyone is so easily pushed away.

[vogelfrei]

Unfortunate, is it?

[ McGillis doesn't really know anymore. What is pushing someone away and what is pulling them closer? What Gaelio did to him was both at once. What is happening here in Sunset City is... nebulous and undefined and in shambles, but it's ongoing.

McGillis had a frustrating, unsatisfying, climactic, perfect conclusion to his life - and then his world kept turning. ]

[emptyself]

[ soujuurou looks at mcgillis.

then he looks at hte paper cutout.

then he looks at mcgillis again. ]

Wow, did you help them make that? [ he looks a bit troubled, however. ] The eyes... they don't really match yours at all, though. Wonder why they chose that?

[vogelfrei]

To make fun of me.

[ If he didn't know better, he'd think Soujuurou was being facetious to rub it in. But knowing the boy a bit better, that seems unlikely. ]

I had no hand in this.

[emptyself]

Do you want me to take them off?

[ soujuurou didn't you just strangle this guy earlier. ]

[vogelfrei]

Doesn't matter either way.

[ He's laughingstock either way, damage done. ]

[bloodweapon]

[Fray is not here for pizza. That would involve taking off his helmet around other people, which he is continuing to refuse to do, so. Instead, he's here to make sure there are people looking out for McGillis and also...]

Care to tell me what happened, exactly?

[He was a bit busy talking with Sayaka so he kind of missed the blowup on the network post.]

[vogelfrei]

You're better off asking Izou, but I can also answer.

[ His speech is a bit slower and more halting than normally, but nothing will stop McGillis Fareed from talking if he has decided to do so. He's tenacious, always has been. ]

He's decided I am unforgivable and need to be removed.

[ He's not really looking at Fray as he says this because staring at an iron mask while talking about this matter is a little much. ]

[bloodweapon]

[You're so valid, McGillis. Fray will remain where he is, so it's not like he's going to force you to look at him.]

I see.

[He stood by and let Argenti make that decision the first time, so he hardly has any room to say that it's unacceptable. Still, he pauses for a moment as he considers.]

May I ask what led him to that decision or would you prefer not to talk about it?

[McGillis has answered Fray's question; anything else is information he doesn't really need to know. Still, curiosity compels him to ask regardless.]

[vogelfrei]

[ The information is certainly available to the public should Fray want to play at a little detective work, and McGillis knows this. Denying it all is useless - he used Izou's name on the network and less than an hour later, Izou was at his throat. Hard to disconnect these things, especially when both Soujuurou and Aubrey can confirm he did murder his best friend.

Still, being given the option to be cagey for a moment longer, McGillis does take it. ]

What would you do with the knowledge?

[townmusician]

[Haruka approaches, with a gift of... juice and cookies.]

Since you lost so much blood, I thought this might be more fitting than pizza.

[vogelfrei]

[ That is... actually really reasonable, and also... appreciated? He hates being taken care of, but he does really want cookies, so. Huh. ]

Yeah, I don't think I could handle pizza right now if I tried...

[townmusician]

[Be free, enjoy the cookies.]

It doesn't even seem like good pizza, anyways, so that might be for the best.

[vogelfrei]

[ Yeah, he's going to be nibbling on these cookies like a petulant child all evening. ]

Food is food, it doesn't need to be perfect to be worthwhile. Most people here seem to be enjoying it anyway.

[ And good. Wasting food is a sin. ]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Eli only approaches after a long time of watching McGillis with all the wariness of a dog that's been hit before. He has a better idea of what was happening now, and what the hell, man? What the hell... but... He does, inevitably, skulk up to stand alongside him. ]

...I left you an apple in your room for you.

[ This line is delivered with absolutely zero explanation. Eli, please. ]

Like, in the nightstand drawer, wrapped up so nothing gets on it.

[vogelfrei]

[ Eli is among the people that McGillis fully expected would not speak to him again. That'd have been... fine. Within expectation. It's surprising, this, when Eli approaches and... ]

... of all things.

[ An apple. It just had to be an apple. There is no way Eli could know what this signifies to McGillis, and yet it's an apple.

The look McGillis gives Eli is.. completely dead inside, for lack of better words. Hollow. ]

Why?

[ Why an apple? And why approach him again at all? ]

[fullmoonmutt]

What? Why? 'cause...!

[ Eli, please explain the things that you give to people with your words, not vague gestures in the air. He lowers his voice a bit, though, since Celeste is in the room, after all. ]

...it's spirit food, you know? I asked Eyebrows if she could get me some spirit apples for Celeste, since... since that's his favorite fruit and he can't eat them anymore? Normally? But I know they help with healing, and your arm is fucked. So, I dunno, just pop into the Nekyia and eat it when you can, maybe it'll help.

[vogelfrei]

[ This does answer the 'why apples' part of the question, at least. Of course it's because of Celeste somehow, because why wouldn't it be? Why wouldn't this be another strange tie between their lives? ]

... I see.

[ He hasn't really eaten apples much since childhood and he's not looking forward to doing it, but maybe it's not a bad idea. He does want his arm back. Whether or not the taste triggers is him is going to be a problem for future McGillis to handle entirely on his own. ]

I thought you'd be giving something like that to Izou instead.

it's one more thread with luna, michael; what could it cost? $10?

[moonshaded]

You look like shit.

[The local dorm cryptid is here, ready to drag a pizza box back into the wilds with her teeth (no) (maybe). But before she sneaks off with her prize, she leans against the back of the couch, only partially facing him, the mostly empty box dangling from her hand. Yes, she is planning on walking out with the whole container.]

...Can't really take a hit like you used to, can you? [It's something that most of them have gotta get through their heads, as thick as they might be. Even in the Nekiya, strengths and weaknesses are different.] Sucks.

it might even be free!

[vogelfrei]

My arm wouldn't be immune to sword hits regardless of where I am.

[ He's aware that abilities are different for a lot of people here, but McGillis is a regular human being. Steel would still cut him, no matter where and when. But the circumstances for that to happen might not arise to begin with. ]

If anything, I'm fortunate that the Nekiya can mitigate some of the damage here. The medical technology of this place is far behind what I am used to.

[moonshaded]

[It's possible she was being a little shirty based on previous conversations within the group about damage mitigation and making difficult calls, but she's not the kind of person to chase her snark. Kainé's comments come out and then float or fall as they may.]

Without it, you'd probably be shit out of luck. Too bad all the magic is tied up in all the other garbage. [She crosses her arms. Others might be prepared to dwell on dissecting the implications of shadows, Personas, and spells all existing under the same void-touched conditions... She is not the person to have that conversation.]

Are bad boys banned from pizza, or what? [Her guess? He's being a stubborn little shit on a hunger strike.]

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis blinks. ]

'Bad boy', really? That's a new one.

[ It feels like all the other actual bad boys in the group would wildly object to having McGillis lumped in with them.

But fine, Kainé asked an actual question and he doesn't want it to look like he's dodging it. ]

There's something about nearly losing an arm that curbs appetite.