Week 1

[linkupmods]

WEEK 1

AWAKENING.

You were taken. That much is obvious when you come to your senses and see the world around you. You feel a little groggy – just how long were you asleep for? – but you should otherwise be alert, enough to realize that the surrounding area is unfamiliar to you. You are in front of what appears to be a modern dormitory (or, well, just a large building, for anyone who's never quite seen anything like it before). The area is decorated with balloons, streamers and other miscellaneous decorations with a giant "WELCOME" banner spanning across the front entrance.

You have a moment to look at the people around you. Strangers. No one here looks familiar to you whatsoever. Furthermore, it feels like there is something stirring in your heart, waiting to be brought to light, waiting to speak your truth...

You might need more time to let that sink in, but that time is interrupted by a voice.

"Oh wow it actually worked- Um, I mean! Hello!"

The speaker is a short, plain-looking young woman with dark hair in a bob cut, her hand raised to catch everyone’s attention.


"Welcome to Sunset City! The goddess Braphine needs your help, so she’s called all of you here to fix this place. Fortunately, it should only take about three months of cooperation, I think? Probably. So...

Welcome to your new home away from home!"

The young woman - Mina - goes on to explain the current situation: everyone here has been summoned by the goddess of community and connection, Braphine, in order to rebuild the connections of the people of Sunset City. Lately, the people have become more and more isolated from each other, getting into fights and arguments over the pettiest of details.

While Mina doesn’t know the details, exactly, what she does know is that the goddess instructed her to prepare these dorms for residents ("that’s you!") and to more or less act as her representative. Mina will also note that everyone’s dorm rooms have already been labeled with their names, and that the goddess has deigned to gift some in particular with the means to defend themselves - which is to say, when characters do eventually make it to their dorm rooms, those who did not arrive with one will find their gifted weapon waiting for them with their name handwritten on a tag attached to the item.

For now, people can use their phones to access an app that will allow them to see any currently open commissions - complete the commissions, and they will not only help the community, but also earn money and rewards! And if your character doesn’t know how to operate a phone, well... Mina will patiently guide them through the process, don’t you worry.

If your character has any other questions, they may talk to her at the party, or otherwise contact her via phone!

WELCOME PARTY.

After speaking with Mina, you may have an idea of what you're supposed to be doing here. Things don't have to be all work, though, because despite the state of the city, you are allowed to have fun and get to know one another.

Mina has graciously set up a welcome party for everyone, which will have refreshments inside and outside the dorm, and games available for people to partake in throughout the day at their own leisure! Indoors, there are a variety of board games for you to mess around with. Outside, there's a pool, basketball and tennis court set up with appropriate equipment. Of course, you aren't limited to just those, as there's a small open field at the dormitory where you can play ball in other ways, too. Interestingly enough, there are also some training dummies available for you to use...maybe to put your weapons to use?

Don't forget about the arts and crafts section inside, either, where nametags are laid out for you to create your own (or others')! You can also use this section to create decorations for the dormitory, your room, or even something to give to a fellow dorm mate.

EXPLORE.

You're free to explore the town, too, at your own leisure, to get used to your new home. The city is bustling with people, but for some reason, many of the residents don't have good vibes. They seem unsettled, unhappy for whatever reason. It's not pleasant, but nobody will go out of their way to bother you, unless you trip into them or initiate pvp yourself.…The random trash scattered around various parts of town might make it hard to avoid the former, though. Be careful not to trip on a banana peel, a stray canister, or even something as large as a throwaway tire on the side of the street. The residents will not react positively if you try to interact with them in any capacity.

That being said, for all that the city seems gloomy at a first glance, there is surprisingly an advertisement for a go-kart racing contest coming up in three weeks, and the go-karts are two seaters! The flyers posted around town read that this is a competition for pairs; the driver's seat (left) has a gas pedal, and the passenger's seat (right) has the brake. Looks like the events are being hosted by one of the popular arcades in town, too. Even so, there are prizes for first, second, and third place; the grand prize consists of a good amount of cash, a trophy, and one (1) free night at one of the hotels in Carnation Court for both people. Why not team up with someone and enter the competition, or just find some people to practice with?

(OOC: Please see our OOC section for sign up details.)

NETWORK.

So, about those phones...there's a non-zero chance that you may post your live thoughts onto the network without meaning to. Likewise, you may also unwillingly comment on someone's post with your thoughts while reading it. Yes, this phone grabs from your psyche, for better or worse! Well, mostly worse, but oh well. There isn't a fix for this "bug" just yet, but you can still use the network intentionally! Just don't be surprised if you get a bunch of notifications for a post you didn't even know you made.

COMMISSIONS

TOP MODELS

A local boutique is looking for people to model their clothing, but they plan on taking group photos instead of single shots. This will be a summer-themed photoshoot with summer outfits (not necessarily swimsuits!), and the photographer (who is cranky, sorry) plans on encouraging all kinds of interactions between their subjects for some unique photos. Participants will be able to keep the outfits they wore for the photoshoot! How nice.

CLEANUP

You've seen the questionable state of the city streets. Should you feel like doing your part by cleaning up some of the trash, you may find something valuable hidden in all the rubble. And who knows? Maybe some of the residents might actually respond kindly to your efforts... (Cleaning up can unearth things like jewelry; collector's items; small, old electronics -- just to give you an idea! Go wild.)

PVP ENABLED

Basketball, volleyball, soccer match anyone? Monopoly? Uno? Or, better yet, a sparring match with your fellow dorm mates…? Whatever you feel up for, Mina would like residents to get some friendly ("friendly") competition going in the spirit of getting to know one another.

LEAVE YOUR MARK

The arts and crafts area has a large paper canvas taped to one of the walls with a "DRAW ON ME!" post-it stuck to it. There's a lot of room to be creative with this, and yes, you will get paid for just decorating the dorms a little bit through this commission!

OOC

READ ME!!!!

• Welcome to your event log! Currently, Personas and Elements are NOT in play but you have your weapons with you regardless. These things will be unlocked when we introduce the Nekyia in Week 2.
  
• Please use the OOC PLOTTING POST for all plotting purposes. Please do not plot in Discord.
  
• If you would like to sign up for the Go-Kart Contest, please fill out the form and submit it here! There will be a follow up to this in a Week 4 mini event. :)
  
• Furthermore, we have a very big series of events we are planning to do in later weeks. We will OOCly give details and open signups early in Week 2, with the introduction of the Nekyia. Keep an eye out for that as well!
  

ic comm | inboxes | ooc comm | full nav

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Comments

[pharology]

welcome party - pool

[Where did he find swim trunks? Don't worry about it (actually he just ran out to buy them)-- he's just swimming now, and he's happy. The pool may make him itch a little, but he can indulge in swimming for the first time in his whole life, and... apparently he can swim! This is great! Jordi tries a few laps around the pool (more like little turns around and around the area rather than proper laps), before coming to a pause at the edge to watch party-goers, hanging off of it with a great big smile on his face like he's having the time of his life.

And, well, look at him. The scales on his cheeks are shiny, his eyes are bright. He's quite at home in the water.]

commission - top models

Oh-- [Jordi holds up his hands, as if ready to help out, but waiting for permission.] You can move closer, I don't mind.

One thing I learned when it comes to group photos is that the people need to seem comfortable with each other. Sometimes closeness helps with that. [Then he gives a sheepish little smile, embarrassed, and starts to pluck at the beach-themed cardigan he's been given.] It's just something I picked up in the past.

[And yet he doesn't look confident or conceited enough to be a model.]

commissions - pvp enabled

How-- how is this a commission? [How can they make money off of competing against each other? A prize pool? A secret betting ring??]

Er, anyway. I'm no good with sports, and I have never played any of these board games before. [Then he sighs, shoulders drooping.] I'm sorry-- I'll try my best with the sports anyway.

wildcard
[ bring your own prompt! if you want to talk first, feel free to hop onto my plotting comment first. ]

top models

[cirquedesang]

Are we not comfortable with each other?

[As if they hadn't just met moments before when the photographer decided they'd look nice together. As if Celeste himself isn't shirtless under the iridescent jacket he's been given.

It's clearly teasing - Jordi is right, seeming comfortable with each other is, basically, the way to be professional about doing this couples-modeling-exercise. And so, what better way to do that than to get right up close and personal?]

Ah- no picking, here, hands on me, instead--

[Almost as soon as he starts plucking at the cardigan, Celeste takes his hands and rearranges him a bit, tugging him closer and into a pose that would sell intimacy... but also sell the clothes.

Aaaand maybe he's seeing if he can get him a little more flustered, too. It's fine. Probably.]

[Quick refs of the vibe of the pose and also Celeste's fit!]

[pharology]

Ah--!

[Getting Jordi flustered is always easy, when he's never been the most courageous or stable Aegir out there. He's also not the most physically imposing, he's just small and lean, and easily yanked around, which is why all he can do when his arms are moved is yelp.]

Isn't this a bit too close?

[cirquedesang]

Is it?

[Bats eyelashes! He knows exactly what he's doing, Jordi, don't let him fool you.]

You did say we should get, what was it, close and comfortable?

[pharology]

[But this might be a bit too close...! Jordi freezes for a moment, looking like someone just shined headlights on him.]

But photoshoots usually don't need models to be this close...

[cirquedesang]

Don't they?

[Teasing aside, he is pretty sure he has seen some fashion spreads where the models are even more up in each others' business.

...He's been even more close to some of his coworkers for photoshoots, even, but they weren't advertising clothes, to be fair.

So he relents, and shifts them to be just a touch further apart while leaving the posing itself mostly unchanged. Still close, still intimate, but perhaps a little less likely to make his partner freeze. Or perhaps not. Only time would tell.]

Better?

[pharology]

[Jordi almost heaves a sigh of relief... but he reminds himself that that is rude, so he straightens out his soft, white cotton shirt that he's been given underneath the cardigan, and brushes his hair out his face. The audience really likes faces, after all. He's still bashful about this, but its importance has been drilled into him due to the photoshoot-turned-music video he participated in for Rhodes Island.]

Better, thank you. Shall we prepare now? I think the photographer is becoming impatient.

welcome party - pool

[umurice]

[Well... That's new. He's crouching by that pool, looking intensely at Jordi like a creep predator trying to assess its prey, but he doesn't make any moves to come closer.

He's also not really hiding the fact that he's really intently staring at him either. Sorry, Jordi.]

[pharology]

[Jordi thinks the back of his neck is burning with the attention. Or perhaps it's the chlorine he hasn't cottoned onto yet... But he does notice the staring, and he grips the pool edge so he can push himself up onto solid ground and look around for whoever is making him slightly uncomfortable.

Then he notes a young redhead, and then blinks quizzically. Then waves a little.]

[umurice]

[Oh! He was caught...

Hiiro looks surprised at being waved at for a moment, before he finally stands to his feet and goes around the pool to head to Jordi. Was he waving him over? Time to check.]

... Yes? Were you calling me?

[Give him a moment, he is still observing him intensely even up close.]

[pharology]

Mm, well... I noticed you were looking. [And, by the look of the people here, he's fairly sure that no one else is Terran. Or even a fellow Aegir, which is odd to think about. No feathers or fur tends to mean Aegir back at home... and yet none of them are his own kind here.

He's never seen anything like them-- which means they likely have never seen anything like him, too.]

I can tell you're curious!

[umurice]

Ah! Yes, it's because you're very beautiful.

[He says cheerfully, smiling brightly in response.]

I could see you glistening in the water, just like a fish! It reminds me a lot of my home.

[pharology]

[Jordi flushes a little at the compliment, and for a moment he thinks he's put into an awkward position where he must address that... before the young man mentions something else, something he can actually respond to without flustering.]

I've been called a fish before... it's not that inaccurate. Well, I'm still a person, first and foremost, but fish and I share a place of origin.

pvp

[drawnorigin]

Board games might be a better bet if you're not good at sports. Or card games.

[He tilts his head at Jordi, looking over at the games on offer.]

Learning rules is easier than dealing with an injury that could come from sports...

[pharology]

Hmm... If I still had my Arts, perhaps I could have been more brave, since I could simply heal something away. [But he doesn't. There are no telltale sparkles of his healing Arts floating about him, no matter how much he tries to summon them. That's how he knows he's in trouble.]

Well, it's not as if I don't have the ability to help even without them.

Speaking from experience however, setting a bone the normal way than with healing Arts is much easier, even if it's slower.

[drawnorigin]

[Arts...? A familiar word used in an unfamiliar way, but with enough context for Jeno to think he has an idea of what he means.

But he's sort of surprised that someone is so open about having abilities that sound... special? It doesn't sound like your run of the mill thing like luminatics.]

Are Arts something you would consider magic, or is it something more... innate?

[there is no time to worry about PVP, now, he needs to Learn]

Ah, if it's not clear—my race produces an energy known as lumina, and there are those who can master lumina to do a myriad of things, which at first blush sounds like what your "Arts" may be.

[A beat.]

Though they may be entirely different, of course.

[pharology]

[Well, they're talking about this now, are they? Jordi can run with it, since it's not anything physical. He's so bad at that.]

Mmm... I would say... it depends on the individual? The study of Arts is not my area of expertise. [And Jordi certainly does not know who is, among his coworkers in Rhodes Island.] But I have been able to do so?

At the very least, I had some ability, before I could actually figure out how to use it properly.

[drawnorigin]

[Pats Jordi (metaphorically)... It's okay, the only physical things Jeno excels at is circus nonsense. He's in company.

Jeno's head cocks to the side, considering.]

Unfortunate to be dragged away before you could master your abilities, then.

[Which is something Jeno finds frustrating, personally. He's yet to master everything he can do with the Origin, and now he's here with a silent deck of cards? This is going to be such an annoying setback...]

Though if it's something that's more mundane to you, I can understand not having an in-depth understanding of how it works. I would hardly consider myself an expert in lumina and luminatics, after all, despite growing up surrounded by it.

[pharology]

I wouldn't consider that a loss, really. Healing doesn't need so much training to master as combat Arts.

[Which is downplaying his experience, really. But that's par for the course for Jordi.]

What are luminatics, then? Would it be similar to... magic?

pvp - a late tag out to here since we are tagging out currently!

[idealitas]

[ Poor fish... He gets it though, as a commission in a vacuum, it would be a bit odd and maybe suspicious. ]

Perhaps they believe there is positive merit in competition to form those bonds. Thus... it should be encouraged with a reward. We are newly arrived visitors, so games are an approachable activity that requires another to play.

[ Yi Sang has procured himself a volleyball. The basic premise between even two players is easy when you just pass the ball until it drops, so it seemed the safest of the bunch. ]

I know this one. If this isn't enjoyable, I can teach you a board game later.

[pharology]

I suppose you make a point.

[As for the second comment... Jordi holds out his hands for the ball. He's willing to play with that too.]

[idealitas]

Keep it... Afloat.

[ He steps backs a good distances, and... Bop. Towards Jordi! Please don't get hurt. ]

[pharology]

[Realistically, Jordi knows that those words are a warning that he's about to start, but they didn't actually sink in until the ball is already in the air, and he scrambles to catch it. And he does! Barely.

It's only when he gets his bearings and rights himself that he tosses it back. Sorry, he can't actually spike it. Or... hit it the way the man did.]

[idealitas]

[ If it's an unfamiliar game, he doesn't blame Jordi at all for his reaction. Yi sang bumps the ball straight up in the air, then catches it. ]

You'll want to hit the ball with your arms or hands back at me, rather than catch it. That would be a penalty in a normal match.

...Try like this.

[ He'll serve the ball again, this time with a bump of
the volleyball against his forearms, making it arc higher to give him more time to react before it lands right in front of... Do your best, Jordi! ]

[pharology]

[No way, please have mercy on him-- Jordi tries to go for the ball, taking conscious action to not catch it but hit it back...

And fails miserably, he just misses the ball completely.]