WEEKS 9 & 10

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WEEKS 9 & 10

AS YOUR BONDS DEEPEN...

The charity event and the dreamscapes have come to an end... and the Fashion District seems a little better than it once was. Your efforts are being recognized, acknowledged by the environment and by Braphine herself. There's still work to be done - the thinning fog allows you to venture even further into the Office District, where there are stronger foes lurking around the corner and in dark alleyways.

Speaking of Braphine, she is pleased by your progress as a group thus far, and has given characters a little blessing: If there is something you've always wanted to tell someone – whether it be how you feel about someone else here, someone at home, a secret you've been holding in, or something else entirely – but have lacked the courage to do so, you may find the strength to say it now. While the God of Conflict forced ugly truths out of you, Braphine would like ones that come from a place of willingness without fear. This sensation will last until the end of your stay here.

How nice, isn't it? To feel like you're finally starting to get somewhere with your fellow Chosen.

The God of Conflict, however, thinks otherwise.

A LOOK IN THE MIRROR...

The world around you has seen a few changes. There are the positives, thanks to your efforts in completing commissions and forming connections, both of which aid Braphine.

However…

If you look in any sort of mirror, window, puddle that will give you your reflection, The God of Conflict is there, looking back at you, gazing at you eerily, freezing you and holding you in place.

"Well, well, well. Fancy running into you here, Chosen. Tell me…do you really believe that you're aiding Braphine in her mission? Do you really think any of the bonds that you've made here matter all that much, so much that it'll stop me, in the end? Don't make me laugh. We'll see how much your flimsy little chains hold up in time."

And then, just like that, he's gone…not without another little gift, though. You will be surrounded by 2-3 Nekyia Shadows once he disappears…in the real world. The Shadows, notably, will not attack unless provoked, and the locals will not be able to see them. As always, the only way you can attack them is through using your Personas; as soon as you engage in combat, you will also disappear to the locals like the Shadows.

For those who decide not to fight them, they will simply stare at you as you leave... but they will each briefly flicker into another form: The God of Conflict. But before you can say a word, they’ll disappear.

However, should you choose to engage in battle with them, any harm done to the environment or the locals themselves through the battle will be tangible. If you slam a Jack Frost into a building, it will leave a dent, in other words. The locals will not be able to see the actual fight, but they will notice the weird explosions and damages happening to them and around them. An important thing to note is that, being outside of the Nekyia, you will drain energy faster as you fight them, but you can defeat them with your Personas as usual otherwise.

THE DARKEST BEFORE DAWN.

So, maybe you didn't spawn a Palace, or even create a weird Nekyia environment like Soujuurou and Joshua have. That, however, does not mean you are free of your Shadow selves.

However, you are trapped with them. If you venture into the Nekyia, every so often when you look over your shoulder, they may be there, watching you, taunting you, following you around, even interacting with people (yourself or others) as if they were corporeal-- blink and you may miss them hovering over your shoulder, and turn the corner and you may just see them in the distance.

What follows your Shadow selves even after you return back to the safety of the dorms are the nightmares... which you find yourself having a little more often than normal. If you happen to stumble into a shared dreamscape, it looks... slightly different from when you last saw it. The nightmares always end the same way, though, even if the dreams are different: your Shadow self is staring back at you, haunting you before you wake up.

For anyone who has already confronted their Shadow selves, however, there is a glimmer of hope. In the Shadow's place is the best version of yourself, reminding you that although this is a nightmare, it does not have to continue forever. You have changed thanks to the people around you. Perhaps this is Braphine's reminder to you that she is still here, and despite her quiet, she's still watching.

Speaking of quiet, though…

…Has anyone checked on Mina lately?

And why does a certain brown cat keep on pacing in the dormitory hallways?

( OOC: A few limitations to keep in mind regarding this prompt:
• Shadows can now appear exclusively in nightmares, in the Nekyia, OR BOTH.
• Since the Dream King has not been vanquished yet, those who want to continue the dreamscape prompt as your nightmares are free to do so (this is optional though). Your Shadows are going to be here regardless!
• In this prompt, Shadows are NOT going to possess any characters. They are haunting you in the Nekyia (and may engage with other player characters, should you desire to go that route)!
• On that note, you can let your Shadows manifest however you'd like – they can yap, they can be completely quiet and stand menacingly, they can appear in quick glimpses and jumpscare you or linger for as long as you're in the Nekyia. They can stick to you or talk to others. Either way, everyone will see each other's Shadows.
• At this time, Shadows cannot be defeated outside of Palaces and mod-run mini-events.
• The same limitations apply to those seeing their best selves over their Shadows. )

WEATHER FORECAST

Balmy weather with a light breeze. Weather looks fair and comfortable for the next two weeks but don't forget to wrap up warmly or risk catching a chill! You wouldn't want to fall sick, would you?

Characters who journey into the Nekyia when it is getting chilly may find that Shadows in combat may be randomly afflicted with Freeze during combat.

COMMISSIONS

REAL WORLD COMMISSIONS

NO HORSING AROUND

The zoo is looking for volunteers! They need hands available to feed and clean up after the petting zoo animals in particular. You won’t be dealing with lions on this job, but you will be face to face with goat kids with a penchant for headbutting, so do take care while you work!

ONE FOR THE BOOKS

A new writer is in town to promote their book at the library! The problem is... very few people signed up for the meet and greet. Library workers are looking for volunteers or, really, anyone off the street who can be convinced to at least attend the poor author’s reading and fill out the room a little. Those who do end up attending will be treated to a reading of a high fantasy tale with romance, trysts, and a surprising number of werewolves, but those who manage to stay attentive may just notice a suspicious individual slipping in partway through... A disgruntled netizen has decided to make a mess of the author’s first meet and greet, and will get violent unless someone stops them.

DABBLING IN DELINQUENCY

Some of the students on the island have decided not to return to the classroom after all - instead roaming in packs around the city and causing general mischief. Try to turn them back on the path of decency! Especially when the boldest of them decide you’re a prime pickpocketing target...

NEKYIA COMMISSIONS

FANDOM WARS

“Disgusting... Anyone could pick up that slop and read all kinds of depraved things... People who write that stuff should just die.”

It seems someone got a little too into fights online about books - because their gripes about today’s tales has created a Shadow in the form of level 39 Thoth in the Nekyia. Worse yet, those who are inflicted by Rage by this Shadow cannot be cured with a simple spell - instead, those afflicted will find themselves venting out their frustrations for their battle companion to hear. The effect ends once the battle is completed, or they finish getting everything off their chest, whichever comes first.

KILL THE LIGHTS

“Don’t they see? There’s so much money to be made! If we just expanded our influence...”

A crooked politician trying to drum up support for military activity has generated quite the shadow. A level 40 Eligor can be found deep in the Nekyia’s business district, muttering to himself about all the profits to be had with a little conflict. Needless to say, things will get very, very bad if he goes through with it - take him down before he can start anything!

HORSING AROUND

The Nekyia business district is overrun with Unicorns teaming up with Ganesha to make quite the formidable team of a fierce fighter and a powerful support. That said, those who defeat the pair may just find that their foes have dropped quite a useful healing item...

(OOC: Please turn in your threads for this commission on the rewards page to receive a Bead Chain, which fully restores HP to all allies (maximum 4 including the user) and is valid for one time use during any battle. This is only valid for the first turn in of the commission.)

OOC

READ ME!!!!

Welcome to your log for Weeks 9 and 10! Feel free to use this log for any developments that happen during the next two weeks. There will be no log next week.
We're heading into endgame and AC is due 30 September, Monday, at 2359 EST! The boon for this month's AC has been updated as well - please have a look!
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 are still going strong - sign ups for Atem (here) and Kirumi's (here) capped palaces are still open, and sign ups for our FFA palace will be going up later today.

ic comm | inboxes | ooc comm | full nav

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Comments

[speedingticket]

[ There comes the low roar as the water's set and begins to heat, and Rutile begins opening cupboards, looking for the tea and the mugs. He definitely opens the mug cupboard at least once, but his drowsy brain doesn't seem to register it. ]

Tea. I thought I saw some nice chamomile somewhere in here, or maybe I dreamt it...

[ He stares at the frying pans before giving up and closing the door, and turns to face McGillis. ]

You must be really busy, then. What sort of job do you have that keeps you up all night?

[vogelfrei]

I've taken up acting at the local theater last month - turns out that you have a lot to catch up when you're suddenly joining a cast of professionals.

[ And this much is totally true, even when it's absolutely not the reason he's staying up all night.

For a bit, he watches Rutile's rummaging silently - honestly too tired to even give alert fast enough when the mugs appear and vanish again. But he has lived here far longer, so when his sleepy brain catches up, he points at the appropriate cupboard. ]

The tea should be there, if nobody's moved it since last breakfast.

[speedingticket]

—Oh, thank you.

[ He goes back to that particular cupboard and successfully pulls out the tin of chamomile (and not...anything else, thankfully). The water's still boiling, so back to waiting he goes. Until he remembers he needs a mug. ]

Oh my goodness, you're an actor! That's so cool. [ He puts a hand to his cheek and looks up at McGillis in admiration. ] I'll have to see your play. What is it about?

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis doesn't actually want to remain an actor for his main line of work, but that doesn't mean he isn't still pleased that it's so well-received. His stage career has been a very fun diversion. ]

The theme this season is fairytales. A prince, raised and influenced by an evil stepmother. A princess, protected by a ferocious dragon. Their kingdoms in a precarious stalemate after decades of war. Naturally, as it must be, they fall in love...

I played a variety of roles when there was a shortage of actors due to an incident in the city, but I'm now the princess' head of guard.

[speedingticket]

[ For how sleepy Rutile looked earlier, he seems positively enraptured by the gist of the story. Princes and princesses and kingdoms at war and dragons are (kind of) common hat where he's from, but that doesn't seem to matter. It's the romance of the story! He puts a hand to his chest in delight, and he's about to say something else when McGillis reveals what role he has.

Rutile gasps! ]

You're a knight! [ That's not exactly what he said but that's what he is now, in his mind. ] Are you going to have a sword on stage? Are you going to cut down bad guys like—

[ He whips his arm out in an imitation of someone drawing a sword, except he's a little too clumsy. His arm crashes with the tea tin and knocks it over, scattering chamomile leaves all over the counter and the floor. ]

...Oops.

[vogelfrei]

[ ... ah, there it goes. McGillis just blinks down at the mess for a moment, because that's the level of 'tired' we're all operating at. Processing speed isn't at its best, please hold... ]

Hold on, we have a dustpan somewhere around here.

[ Let's see, that should be somewhere in the lower closet doors... ]

Not quite as cool to wield as a sword, but more useful here. I do have a stage sword - taking fencing classes as a child paid off unexpectedly.

[ And because he's a nice guy (CITATION DIRELY NEEDED), he'll actually clean up the mess on the floor, leaving Rutile to deal with the counter. ]

[speedingticket]

Gosh, I'm so sorry...

[ He's right! Definitely nowhere cool as a sword but definitely more practical, realistic, even.

Rutile just stares at the spilled tea to begin with, hand pressed to his cheek in surprise. He'll jump to life when McGillis speaks again, tearing a few squares of paper towel to clean up the counter. What good would the tea have done anyway, now that the adrenaline is doing a very good job of waking him up. Oh well... ]

Wow, you took fencing classes? [ Scoop, scoop... Is this tea any good still? Can he drink it anyway? ] Are you nobility?

[ anyway rutile thinks he's nice so, ]

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis glances up from where he is crouched on the floor swiping up tea leaves - surely the most noble pose of all, look how noble he looks down here. ]

Yes, actually. Or at least, my world's closest equivalent.

[ At least the mess is a dry mess, so it's taken care of pretty quickly. ]

Something as antiquated as fencing is a dead give-away, huh? It was even mandatory in my elementary school education.

[ Which yeah... go figure, the super rich enjoy some useless aesthetics. ]

[speedingticket]

[ Oh, that makes sense! Rutile gives a satisfied nod. ]

I wouldn't call it antiquated. [ Not that he knows about the time difference thing yet, just that he operates generally on his late-19th-century-equivalent knowledge. ] Where I'm from, the ones that take up weapons do so because they need it to make a living, either because they're a soldier or a knight. Only a noble's education would require a child to take lessons, but not require them to continue... Not many can afford that.

[ In both the money and necessity sense. So not quite what McGillis is thinking, but they reach the same conclusion anyway.

Rutile smiles as he scoops up the last of the spilled tea and crumples up the towel. ]

Thank you for helping me! And I'm sorry for spilling it everywhere. [ He's sneepy. ] May I have your name?

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis is at least well familiar with children picking up weapons to make a living - it's just that swords are useless in day-to-day warfare and have been for centuries. The world is ruled by guns and machines now.

But McGillis is also very well aware of the time differences, so the fact that swords still hold relevance in warfare for Rutile doesn't surprise him. ]

McGillis Fareed. You can just call me McGillis.

[ He dumps the floor leaves in the trash and puts the dust pan back to where it was. ]

Honestly, the mess helped wake me up, so maybe I should be thanking you instead.

[ He's still going to go back and sip his coffee though. ]

/3

[speedingticket]

[ There are guns, but they're rare.

Rutile does the same, depositing the spilled leaves into the bin. At least there's still some in there for him!

The water in the kettle begins to boil, and he glides back to it with a little giggle. ]

I'm glad I helped! My name is Rutile, I only got here a few days—

[speedingticket]

[ WAIT A SECOND— ]

[speedingticket]

[ Rutile whirls around, and they're both pretty lucky that there was nothing else around him for him to knock over in the movement. His eyes are wide, shining almost. He clasps his hands together in front of his chest. ]

McGillis! You're—I heard about you! You're the one in love!

[ Did you see the internet post? Rutile did! ]

That's wonderful, I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!

[vogelfrei]

[ There was really no way for McGillis to predict how this introduction would take such a sharp turn. He pauses in the middle of taking a sip from his coffee and only very narrowly avoids the cartoonish spit-take in favor of some good old-fashioned choking and coughing. ]

I'm-- Excuse me--

[ Okay, coughing finished. Time to carefully put his cup back down on the counter so he doesn't accidentally spill it with shock over whatever revelations are about to be bestowed on him. ]

I think there's some kind of misunderstanding here. I'm in love? Who told you that?

[speedingticket]

Oh, you're not?

[ Rutile seems vaguely disappointed by this. ]

It was a topic of conversation on the, um, the device, at the ball! [ He isn't glued to his phone, so he doesn't have it with him—he just mimes tapping a screen in his hand. Still! He's smiling, hopefully his explanation can clear things up. ] I know it was probably a private moment, but someone saw you and... Oh, I can't remember his name. It started with an O?

[ Pauses to think... Hmm, never mind. ]

Either way, that was my second day, so it left quite an impression. I was excited to meet you and your... Oh, I suppose he's not really your partner then, is he?

1/????

[vogelfrei]

[ Okay, someone saw him and Izou. That's fine. He expected it would catch some glances, they did do this in public and all. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ ..... except for the part where it was a topic of conversation on the Device(TM). That's unexpected. That's unexpected and alarming.

How has he not heard of this? How did this group of absolute morons manage to coordinate well enough that McGillis has not caught wind of internet gossip about himself?! ]

[vogelfrei]

[ He's going to kill whoever made the first post. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ And finally, after a moment of stunned silence in which his face went on a subtle but still very notable journey... ]

His name is Izou Okada.

[ No use hiding it when Rutile could apparently just as well ask any of the others?? ]

And he's-- he's not my partner. We certainly had an... encounter at the ball, but we are not a couple.

DONE

[vogelfrei]

So... Do you mind sharing a little about that conversation with me? I must have missed it, it was such a busy night.

[speedingticket]

[ Rutile truly just watches his face go through microexpressions and he thinks absolutely nothing of it. Only that...hm... Maybe he wasn't supposed to share that? He still wanted to give his congrats? Oh no.

Thank you for the perspective, because he's understanding the bigger picture a bit better at this point. ]

Oh, I'm sorry. That's a little awkward. [ oops... ]

Um, well, someone thought you two were fighting, and others explained to him—rather unkindly, I might add—that you were kissing. He didn't seem to understand that romance could be had between two men, so I told him that it could...

[ A beat. ]

Then he deleted it. Um... Did no one really mention this to you?

[vogelfrei]

[ Even without naming names, this description identifies Soujuurou clear as day - which is a little sobering to his anger, because if it was that boy then the whole incident was probably started out of genuine cluelessness rather than malicious gossip-mongering. ]

No, they did not.

[ Another moment of pause, because McGillis needs to take a deep breath here. ]

And you did good explaining it to him. He does not understand very basic concepts. It's unfortunate that you were mistaken about the two of us, but I cannot blame you for that.

[ If you only have passionate makeouts to go on..... ]

[speedingticket]

[ Rutile tilts his head, eyes wide and still a little apologetic.

He feels bad for mistaking their relationship like that but people don't usually kiss if they're not—oh who is he kidding, it definitely isn't himself.

Wrong idea aside, Rutile is more impressed that McGillis seems to have pegged OP somehow. ]

I didn't even give his name... You know who it is from what I said alone?

[vogelfrei]

There is only one person here who is so lacking in common sense that he'd mistake a kiss for a fight.

[ And McGillis would at the very least hope that Rutile also doesn't know a great many people such total cluelessness would apply to. ]

If you meet him and speak to him more, you'll quickly find that such bizarre points of confusion are not isolated incidents.

[speedingticket]

[ Rutile doesn't say anything for a brief moment; he minds his tea, filling his mug with the water and setting the steeper in, watching the water color as the it takes the flavor of whatever's left of the camomile. In the meanwhile, he looks for the words he wants to say— ]

I sort of got that impression. [ Not knowing that men could have romantic relations, not understanding a basic euphemism such as birds and the bees...

He leans against the counter, cupping his hands on his, well, cup. ] But I also was under the impression that wasn't really his fault. It sounded as though he didn't have anyone at home to teach him. [ It wasn't Riquet's fault that his cult never taught him how to read, or ever fed him a warm meal, was it? ] Yelling at him and calling him names for something out of his control did not seem very kind.

[ To his credit, he did delete the post...

... ]

Please don't yell at him.