Link Up! Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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linkingup2024-08-08 07:00 pm
linkupmods) wrote in linkingup2024-08-08 07:00 pm
Week 2
WEEK 2
WAKE UP, GET UP, GET OUT THERE.
- Saturday rolls around and characters may see that there are notices from Mina, saying that everyone will be taking a trip at noon sharp on Saturday, and to have their weapons. Whether characters pay this heed or not, they will in fact hear a ding from their phones at noon, their screens glowing a sunset red with the word "TRANSFERRING..." the only thing to be seen. And then, just like that –
You all enter.
The new world before you can be described in one word: twisted. It doesn't feel great, but it doesn't feel extremely awful, either, depending on how you look at it – it's a distorted version of the already grim city that you've been brought to, and you are specifically in the shopping district. Everything seems to be darker shades of red, yellow, and purple, if you can see it through the haze ominously floating about.
That feeling of something stirring in your chest seems to grow stronger, more potent, burning with the desire to be let free…
…and you, all of you, are surrounded. Various monsters and demons are threatening to attack you, looking at you like you are their prey. That's because you are…but you don't have to be for long. The moment that you engage in battle with them, no matter who strikes first, is the moment your emancipation begins.
Welcome to your awakening.
You feel a surge of energy rush to your palm – for some, it burns like a fiery blaze. For others, it sparks with electricity; perhaps wind circles around it, or a mysterious frost begins to blanket it. Maybe you have a mysterious pink aura around it, or a bright turquoise light; a dark, sinister glow or a calming light. Whatever the case may be, it drives you to place your hand over your heart.
You latch onto something. It is not your chest, it's not your heart, but it's something deeper than that, something from your being. You pull, you drag it out, and there is no bloodshed or any sort of pain, only a very bright light and some struggle as you unearth what is within. You finally, finally feel free as a new part of you literally stands before you. Say hello to your new friend: Your Persona.
Your new skills feel intuitive, and you feel like you can navigate them well enough to at least try to survive. You don't need to question how or why you understand them just yet; all you need to do is let yourself experience your power, and you'll stand a chance.
And with that, it's time to fight.
(Note: Weapon attacks will always deal Phys damage, but Phys spells will naturally do more than just whacking enemies with your weapons. Go wild, dodge, parry – combat is more freeform here than it is in Persona, so play this out however you'd like.
Furthermore, you'll be able to see everyone's cool Personas! You just won't be able to really interact with them directly.)
???
- (Picrew by ~danidoninha!)
After the battle, there's the sound of a whistle. Turn your heads towards the source, and…huh? A cat?
"Alright, newbies, it's time to roll out."
…And it talks???
She says it with a scowl on her face, and soon, she leaps up – poof, and suddenly, there is a cat train in front of you. Weirdly enough, this cat is the one driving it. How did she summon the train…who knows.
"Get in, unless you wanna get your asses kicked!"
And sure enough, she's right, because there seem to be more enemies flocking towards you. She will drag you all in whether you like it or not.
SAFE AREA.
- And, after a quick ride on the cat train, you find yourselves back at the dorms! ...Kind of. Much like the rest of this alternate world, it’s distorted in shape, though there’s none of the haze you saw when you first arrived. It seems this area, at least, is safe - characters would be wise to note it as a location to base any Nekyia operations out of in the future.
Mina is also here! She looks, quite frankly, relieved to see everyone show up alive in the train. The train, by the way, is gone, because it seems like your mysterious cat friend is now back to her…first…form? And seems to be on her way out. Back to Mina, though:
“Thank goodness... Okay, um, app hiccups aside...
Welcome to the Nekyia - the world of the unconscious. As you can see, the unconscious version of the city is, um... Very, very messed up. The more commissions you complete, the more connections you forge, the more bonds you repair, and the more Shadows you take out will help return the Nekyia to normal - and with it, the real world!
The people of this world don’t have the power to summon Personas... You’re the only ones who can save this city from the influence now. So please...
Help me fix this city from the inside-out!”
Mina has also set up a folding table set up with divinity cookies and water bottles from “Ambrosial Water Co”, judging by the labels. Characters who partake in these proffered snacks will find them rejuvenating - literally. Using a Persona’s abilities takes spiritual energy, but these snacks replenish one’s energy to full again with a single bite or sip. Any characters who want to try venturing back into the thick of the Nekyia today are free to take some with them, but do take care! Mina is only providing snacks for today, and after this characters will need to monitor their energy levels on their own.
Characters with further questions may ask Mina and she will do her best to answer! You can also try to catch the mysterious cat from earlier, too.
To go back to the real world, all characters need to do is press the "RETURN?" button on their phones. Much like the "TRANSFERRING..." message, this is the only thing on their screen.
All phones will now have a Nekyia app that will enable them to come in and out of the Nekyia at will.
OOC
READ ME!!!!
- Welcome to your Week 2 event log!
- Here is your promised Persona debut. Fighting is very flexible, so please just thread the fights in whatever format you'd like.
- A reminder for those of you who have gotten their Level 10 skills: These do not unlock ICly until Week 3, starting on 8/17.
- As always, please let us know if you have any questions! Enjoy!
no subject
Your secrets are safe with me, Maizono. Whatever you have to say will not leave this room.
[She doesn't want people to worry, so he can avoid worrying about her. Easy, he thinks, because he doesn't actually know what it is she's going to tell him.]
no subject
[It comes out so sincere, and Sayaka doesn't know how to think of that. If she thinks about it for too long, she'll lose her nerve, but...]
...I was originally supposed to be going to a school, not unlike this place. But it was supposed to be this fancy school that had many talented people graduate from it--and it was said that if you succeeded there, you'd be set for life. They scouted me, out of everyone in my group, and I wanted to make the most of it--if I could secure a future for myself, it'd...help, I think.
[Sayaka's hand goes into her hair. Running up and down it like a nervous tick, or something to center herself.]
Once we got there, I must have passed out...or something like that--I woke up in a ruined classroom, and woke up to find the rest of my classmates just as confused as I was. We didn't know what happened to the beautiful school that we were supposed to be going to, or just what had happened. There were...weapons, everywhere, everything was sealed so tightly with metal and welding that we were all alarmed at what was going on.
But...once we finished introducing ourselves, we got called into the auditorium, where a weird, robotic bear introduced himself to us.
[She tenses. Her grip tightens in her hair briefly, and her eyes go downcast, almost shadowed.
Don't lose your nerve now. You've come this far.]
...He said that...we were going to be stuck there. Indefinitely. And that the only way out...was to kill another student--a fact he seemed outright excited about.
I don't...if this places ends up like that...if we have to do that again, I...
[Aaaaand the anxiety is creeping up, but she stops there as she tries to get herself together. Give her a moment.]
no subject
And given what she has to tell him, that makes a lot more sense. A group of strangers trapped in an unfamiliar place and told that the only escape was to kill... Well, the connections to this place are obvious, and Sayaka's concerns are even moreso now that they've seen the Nekyia. It's cast doubt on the goddess - even more than they already had - and assuming that it was malice that kept the goddess quiet makes perfect sense. Sayaka expects this to go the same way it did back home.
Right, well, he's been absorbing this for entirely too long, so let him start with the most pressing.]
As I said, this won't leave the room. I won't speak of it with anyone. Should you wish to discuss it with anyone else and you'd like to have me present with you, I would be more than willing to do that.
[In case she fears for her life. In case she doesn't know how to express it and needs someone else to give her a push to say it. For any number of reasons, really. But that's just the most practical side of him speaking, the part that's easier to address than the emotional aspect. How would the Warrior of Light handle this?]
...I'm... sorry that you had to go through something like that. Truly. Words cannot begin to express my shock and anger at your situation - and how it is mirrored in some ways here. If anyone deserves an explanation, it's you.
[And McGillis, who was brought back from the dead. But surely that's not... what happened to Sayaka... ohhhh god is that what happened to Sayaka?? He can't very well ask, now can he?
No. Better to keep that thought in his head where it belongs and focus on this right now. This is more important.]
no subject
Sayaka is trying so hard not to cry at that.
The way Fray speaks with so much conviction and promise...it's genuinely enough to fill Sayaka with some sort of emotion and trust, and were she better at processing such things--were she better at feeling, maybe she'd give into it.
But it's not fair to Fray. It's not. This emotional burden is enough, and though Sayaka's eyes look misty, she tries her very best to compose herself.
...
(roll will: 4)
...Yeah no, she's crying despite herself and trying VERY hard to keep composed and just. Failing.]
...T-Thank you. Thank you, I was--I was worried no one would believe me--but I--
[...She has the basic decency to look away while she gets composed at least.]
Thank you, Fray-san. For...for all of that. I just--I want to know that if I fail, I'm not going to have to go back to that. I can't. I can't do it, but it's--I--
...I've had enough with being shoved into things and being told to sink or swim on fear of death, you know?
no subject
Of course. It isn't fair to expect such things of anyone, much less twice in a row. Perhaps we can find a way to get in contact with the goddess, and when we do, there's much I'd have her answer for.
[This especially. His own circumstances are unique, but not nearly as pressing as what Sayaka's been through. As for returning to that... well.]
Assuming that the goddess does intend to return us to our homes after all this is over, you are welcome to come to Eorzea with me. I cannot guarantee that it will be entirely safe, but it will certainly not hold any death games.
[At least not so far. Maybe we'll get murdergames in a future expansion???]
no subject
[just wait until the palaces, honey!!!
...Of course, the invitation gets Sayaka to actually pause, and for a brief moment she feels anxious again. Fray doesn't know. Fray doesn't know she's bad, she's terrible, she's an awful human being, she's the worst that's ever existed and she probably deserves this and--]
...You...mean it? I mean...you don't have to, we don't know if that Goddess can but...?
[He'd trust her with his home so easily, despite not knowing her so well. What the fuck.
...
also if ffxiv gets murdergames i WILL die laughing]
no subject
Of course I mean it. You don't want to return to that world and it would be cruel to force you to do so. If the goddess can take us from our worlds, then surely she can send us back to different ones.
[Admittedly, he doesn't know that for certain, but it makes enough sense. Besides, right now, what Sayaka needs is hope. Hope for a better future once this is over, even if it may not be possible. Something else to ask the goddess about.]
Eorzea is a land of many different cultures, peoples, and ideals, and while they may not always be the greatest, there will undoubtedly be those who would accept you with ease. Your talent for singing would not go unnoticed. You'd be able to live a different life there, but one that would be free of such cruelty.
[Not to say that there's no cruelty in Eorzea, because that would be a blatant lie, but it certainly isn't the same brand of cruelty.]
no subject
...
But even so, the icy dagger of doubt still lingers in her heart. It's not that she doesn't trust Fray, at least right now, because she does--it took a lot to trust him with her circumstances, a lot to be able to open up about that at minimum. But even now, she thinks about joining the idol industry in the first place, about accepting going to that school, and what if it all turns out like that again--
Sayaka's posture goes rigid and she finds herself turning away, pausing a bit before...]
...I...I hope she can. But...please, will you allow me some time to think about it?
[There's a brief panic as Sayaka lets that out, her hands going in front of her and waving desperately--]
I-I promise I'm not saying no. It's just. It's a lot to consider, I think, and I...I want to give it the amount of consideration it needs. But...please know that I appreciate it, more than I can say.
And, um. If you ever need any help trying to talk to the Goddess...let me know if there's anything I can do. I think we all have plenty of questions, but you've been...really helpful. I appreciate it.
no subject
[Ah, it is a little much to spring on her so suddenly, isn't it? Eorzea is his home and a place he can vouch for with ease, but she knows next to nothing about it. It would be uprooting her entire life as she knows it, for a place where she only knows him - and even then, does she really know Fray at all? She doesn't know the truth about him. There's so much she doesn't know, and it's a decision that cannot be made lightly.
Perhaps it was foolish to jump straight to that, but even if it was, Fray has no regrets. He meant what he said - Eorzea would accept Sayaka, he has no doubts about that. But even so, she deserves to have all the time she needs to come to a decision.]
Take all the time you need. My apologies for springing this on you so suddenly.
[Even if he isn't sorry, he can acknowledge that this is A Little Much.]
Of course. We'll have to find some time to attempt to communicate with her and see if that will catch her attention.
[But there are other things to worry about now, so it isn't something they need to attend to immediately.]