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

cw: reference to suicide

[fullmoonmutt]

I mean... I'm pissed at you, yeah, but I'm pissed at Izou, too? You're both idiots. Don't you ever try to off yourself like that again, you hear me? It ain't right.

[ Maybe he's got it wrong. Maybe he doesn't. He sees whatever this was as McGillis' insane attempt to suicide-by-friend and he hates it. ]

cw: reference to suicide

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis blinks. ]

That's what you took it as...?

[ It's not right but it's also not wrong, is it? He's aimless. For all he's thrown that word at Izou as an insult, it applies to him just the same now - all his lifelong goals are out of reach now, and he's still going, an empty shell of what he once was.

So he'd resorted to smashing it all. Including himself? He can't answer that one way or another. ]

[fullmoonmutt]

Am I wrong?

[ Eli, looking curiously at McGillis, wondering if he'll have his assumption confirmed or not. ]

cw suicidal ideation mention

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis considers this for another moment, silent. ]

... you are.

[ His tone is no longer defensive at all, a win for Eli. ]

There was a time when I considered ending my own life. This is nothing like it.

[fullmoonmutt]

Alright, then...

[ Look, Eli won't push his idea of why McGillis did what he did, but he will take a seat nearby and try, however hard it hurts his little doggy brain, to understand. ]

Will you tell me why?

[vogelfrei]

All I did was tell him the truth.

[ It's almost funny how people keep asking him for his motives in something so simple - something that would be recommended in most circumstances. 'Just tell them the truth', 'just be yourself'. ]

He might have found out sooner or later, so why not sooner?

[fullmoonmutt]

Yeah, yeah, okay... I get that. Are you happy, though? About what you did?

[ Not "do you regret it" or "would you take it back" or whatever. Just, is he happy about it? ]

[vogelfrei]

Here? Or back in my world?

[ STALLING. ]

[fullmoonmutt]

Back in your world?

[ NO STALLING. ]

[vogelfrei]

I was never happy about it.

[ It was satisfying in the moment, he won't deny that. But satisfaction is not the same as happiness, and after he'd only ever felt numb.

And here's a bit more talking because he's still lightheaded with bloodloss and painkillers: ]

Granted, he'd probably say I don't know what happiness means in the first place.

[fullmoonmutt]

Can't say if he would or not. I sure never knew him.

[ But if McGillis can't be happy about what he did... That's enough for Eli. Izou might disagree, but they — him, Izou, McGillis — come from very different places, even if they all came from dirt bottom (although it would help if Eli knew that, McGillis, gosh). ]

I get why Izou went after you. He's been the betrayed friend, the one who died. I ain't going to tell him he was wrong to be mad, but I don't think anyone here should be killing anyone else.

[ Even Fuyu, that freak. ]

I've seen... so many insane situations people have been put in. I don't think I can even get across how much fucked up shit we've come across back home. Everyone else is missing context on everyone else's life, you know?

[vogelfrei]

[ Huh. This is far more mature and level-headed than McGillis would have expected from Eli. He'd expected him to jump to conclusions and judge him based on an imagined background just as Izou had - in fact, he was pretty sure it was already happening when he called him 'rich guy' while breaking up the fight.

So to now be treated as a person with unknown complexities is... well, it should be basic human decency, but when is anyone awarded that?

There is a lot McGillis could say here, about making assumptions, about his own feelings, about where they stand. Instead, he opts to respond to the very first comment. ]

You wouldn't have liked him. My friend, I mean. Gaelio is as pridefully aristocratic as they come.

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Grasping onto the easiest topic here, we see. ]

Yeah, well. There's a lot of folks I don't like for lots of reasons. So that isn't a shocker.

[vogelfrei]

[ Well, yes. That was reason A. Reason B was that he actually does have a desire to talk about Gaelio, for sentimental reasons. And Reason C was him dropping a hint to Eli about his past..... ]

And yet you're sitting at my sickbed. Should I be honored?

[fullmoonmutt]

You should, but only because I could be eating pizza instead of talking to you.

[ Really, though... ]

I don't hate you, if that's what you're getting at. For someone who's supposed to be all a-wrist-ro-catic, too, you don't sound seem it much.

[vogelfrei]

[ Hearing the word pronounced this way is causing McGillis pain, which is amazing because he's already in so much of it to begin with. ]

You've been calling me 'rich guy' for weeks.

[fullmoonmutt]

[ suffer, fool. ]

What, rich boy? Yeah? I mean, I call Izou geezer... and that Aaron guy old man. Argenti is a tin can. You did say you were from a fancy house with a coat of arms and everything, you know.

1/2

[vogelfrei]

[ ..........................

................................................


................................................... closes his eyes. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ This makes a lot of sense. McGillis knows why he didn't take it that way when the words fell earlier - because Izou does seem to have a visceral hatred towards McGillis' perceived privilege and Izou and Eli are so similar in so many superficial regards. But they really are very different people, in the end. ]

Yes, the Fareed family is one of the seven oldest and most powerful families in the world. It is also a family I was adopted rather than born into.

[fullmoonmutt]

Eh? You were adopted, too?

[ Interesting... ]

So, a rich family adopted you, but... do you feel like a rich guy at all?

[vogelfrei]

That depends on who I'm speaking to.

[ When he talks to Gaelio, he feels like the dirt from the street is still clinging to him just out of sight. One wrong move and the house of cards will collapse. He's a perfect actor, but there's truth hidden below the boards of the stage.

But when he talks to people like Eli and cringes at their mispronunciation of 'aristocratic'... Well, it's hard to imagine he'd have grown up to do that if he'd remained where he once was. ]

[fullmoonmutt]

Hmm.

[ Eli isn't sure he gets it. How can it depend on who he's speaking to? ]

What? You mean, like, you don't sound rich to... rich folks? But do sound too rich to not rich folks?

[vogelfrei]

[ There is something endearing about the earnestness with which Eli is trying to understand this. It's also disarming. ]

The stigma of being adopted is never going to stop casting a shadow on how I'm perceived, regardless of how well I fit in. But that's not what I mean.

[ He performs status better than some people born into it, thank you very much. ]

I know where I'm from. I'll always be 'rich guy' to people like you, and I'll always stand to lose everything with people like Gaelio.

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Ah, so that's it. ]

You never forget, do you? Where you're from... and if everyone else knew, they'd never let you forget it, either. There's just no winning.

[ Eli has to wonder if this Gaelio would have accepted his friend regardless. McGillis will never know now, and that's his own fault. He'll have to live with it. Poorly, if the fight just an hour or so ago proves anything.

It also isn't something Eli wants to harp on about. ]

If you want a different nickname, you just gotta ask. You don't have to be 'rich boy' to me.

[vogelfrei]

[ There's no winning, indeed. He's an imposter wherever he goes, a wolf in sheep's clothing. It's less of an issue when he has convinced himself he is wholly solitary and needs no companionship whatsoever, but that belief is currently on very shaky grounds. ]

... I shudder to think what my other options are.

[ But he does look at Eli somewhat expectantly. Do your worst. ]