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]

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. ]

[emptyself]

Alright.

[ well, he's not laughing, but if mcgillis doesn't really care then... it's fine? soujuurou shrugs, taking a bite out of his pizza. ]

Let me know if you'd like any pizza. I can bring it over. There's also water and I made some tea.

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis could really use some water. But he's also not in the mood to accept any charity, so he's not saying so.... ]

I don't need anything.

[ ... ]

Should you really be hosting parties right now?

[ Speech still slowed and halting, but the question needs to be asked. It's ridiculous - everyone who hurts people here winds up having a dinner party afterwards (or dead, if you're Jordi...) but the hurt caused to people in their own worlds seems to hold a higher weight. Like it is 'real' and this place is not - a feeling that is easy to get. ]

[emptyself]

I’ve never had a party— is this what one’s like?

[ later on he’ll ruin one, but right now he’s still clueless. he had pizza that he needed to give, and figured that the best way to do so was by putting everyone together.

he talks softly, holding his cup of water in his hands. ]

If that’s the case, aren’t parties supposed to be about celebrations? I don’t think that there’s anything to celebrate here. I almost killed a few people yesterday. You and Okada tried to kill each other today. And then we still have two that are dead.

[ no, if anything, soujuurou is irritated about all the unnecessary violence. ]

But eating together always helped my roommates and I make up. I figured it would help here too. [ he considers mcgillis’ fucked up state, tilting his head. ] Though I think you could have stayed in bed.

[vogelfrei]

I wasn't given much choice in the matter.

[ HE'S BEEN PLOPPED DOWN HERE AGAINST HIS WILL... But he's also not protested too much, because he knows that this is the safest place he could be right now. Hopefully others will fully talk Izou down eventually, but until they do he'd prefer to not be alone in his room. ]

Though I doubt this specific case is going to be helped by eating pizza.

[emptyself]

Eating usually helps to keep the body energized. You’re using a lot of it healing your wounds, so even this should be worth something.

[ is it what soujuurou would have made for someone if they were that injured? probably not. but that’s also because he doesn’t know how to cook anything aside from onigiri and stir-fry.

if mcgillis had any other meaning beside that, they flew over soujuurou’s head. ]

Besides, I don’t want to waste this food.

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis definitely had other meanings, because he and Izou are currently engaged in an on and off staring/glaring contest across the room and the murder is very much only postponed rather than cancelled...

But that last line gets a firm nod. ]

If this commotion had made people throw out several perfectly good pizzas, I'd have been even more irritated.

[ DO NOT! WASTE FOOD!! ]

[emptyself]

Then we agree on that.

[ mcgillis gets a firm nod back, as soujuurou is happy that the two of them have found some sort of common ground to stand on. ]

What made that fight break out, though?

[ does this mean that soujuurou tried to choke a man without really knowing the why of the situation? that would be correct. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis raises an eyebrow. Soujuurou choking him out wasn't as shocking as it might have been because Celeste already warned him that the kid is terrifying. But somehow it had made him assume that he was in on the situation.........

Well, Soujuurou already know his dark secret though so he can cut to the chase here. ]

Izou decided I am an unforgivable individual and attempted to erase me.

[emptyself]

Well… I guess that makes sense that he’d do that.

[ soujuurou nods, saying it with little conviction in his voice. it’s not like it’d be out of character for him to do that. ]

Putting that sort of information really is dangerous, I guess. But still, murder is wrong.

[ maybe he’ll have to remind izou too, though he figures that something that’s been engraved to a level similar to instict is too difficult to change. ]

[vogelfrei]

Why is that?

[ 'Murder is wrong' is a perfectly reasonable opinion for a teenager to have, but Soujuurou is so weird that McGillis kind of feels like poking at this.

And also if he's poking at Soujuurou that means the reverse isn't true for the time being. ]

[emptyself]

[ why? why indeed. soujuurou’s eyes widen when mcgillis volleys the question his way, and he initially has no answer. he can’t even give a quick decisive answer, and something about that fills him with shame.

his issues would have never happened if he had done as he had been trained. if he had continued to treat life and death as nothing different, if he hadn’t begun wishing for a tomorrow.

he bites his lip, pushing down the emotions welling in his chest. ]

Life is precious. It’s a shame for it to end over something so meaningless.

[ and there is no tomorrow once you’re dead. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ The difficulty with which Soujuurou arrives at this answer seems at odds with how quickly he picked the 'correct' life-affirming moral stance a minute earlier. Like he's just imitating something. ]

Meaningless, huh? And what if there is meaning? What would that meaning need to be?

[emptyself]

The only meaning that would make it possible is if someone can't go on with their life. Like an animal that's been fatally crippled, for example. In other words, if death is the only option...only then.

[ whether it's out of imitation or not, soujuurou seems adamant about this answer. ]

Why do you want to find meaning in death, McGillis?

[vogelfrei]

[ With that answer, McGillis can easily understand why Celeste is unsettled by Soujuurou. It's reasonable on its face, but throwing things like the undead into the mix, it can easily become a very vulnerable matter of definition. ]

I'm just curious. You've been a bit of a puzzle to me for some time, and I missed my opportunity to dig into your psyche thanks to theater practice.

[emptyself]

So you're questioning me just because I'm a curiosity to you.

[ hmph. ]

Don't you know not to go prodding at a hornet's nest?

[vogelfrei]

That does appear to be what I am intent on doing today.

[ McGillis laughs. After getting almost killed by Izou, what's a little offense to Soujuurou??

His tone is quite friendly though. ]

Isn't everybody a curiousity to others though? I think the mind of another is always an intriguing mystery, and doubly so when we are all from such different walks of life and worlds. I'd wager I am also a cause of confusion to you in some regards.

[emptyself]

You don’t really confuse me.

[ or, well, mcgillis’ nature doesn’t confuse him. the words do, and he definitely had to take a moment to process them from gibberish. ]

You’re an opportunist, aren’t you? [ he doesn’t say it like a bad thing, it’s a simple comment from his end. ] Doing everything you can to survive. I guess the methods of surviving in the city are still confusing, but… this type of person isn’t that uncommon, is it?

[ soujuurou sighs, looking down at his cup. mcgillis is terrifying for soujuurou, but it’s less the man himself but the lifestyle that seems so common. ]

I don’t know how many have killed their friends, but someone I consider a friend tried to kill me once too. She was also the one who revived me. So maybe that’s just what modern society is like.

[ and without much trouble, soujuurou simply accepts that fact with a shrug. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ ... not entirely wrong about McGillis as a person, but also... ]

It really isn't.

[ Okay, no, he needs to back up here and go up from the basics. Over-optimistic dishonesty is not his style. ]

Certainly, it's a world of eat or be eaten, but in most cases the murder is systemic. Poverty kills. Unjust labor practices kill. Modern society is filled with corruption, but most often it allows the perpetrators to feel as though their hands are clean.

Outright murder is not the norm.

[ GET IT TOGETHER SOUJUUROU??? ]

[emptyself]

Oh, but that’s what I’m talking about.

[ soujuurou nods. what’s the confusion here? ]

Those things are still murder, aren’t they? Even if you’re not exactly facing down your killer, you’re still being killed.

[vogelfrei]

[ That is... Well, that's actually completely true and McGillis is not about to argue the point. ]

You're being killed, yes. By a thousand hands at once, tearing at you invisibly. There is no singular culprit in sight, just all of society bearing down on you and depriving you of what you need.

By comparison, a one-on-one murder is very simple - and more rare.