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

[emptyself]

[ ah that's right, that is something that happens in the city. soujuurou mentally scolds himself for letting himself carry a wallet in a place that's so easy to snatch from, and makes sure that his wallet is still there and not on the ground.

hmph. an easy target? ]

Take that back, Haruka. I'm not.

[ he turns away from haruka with a huff and shoots the kids a glare, who look at each other and the two of them as if they were both growing second heads. ]

[townmusician]

Fine, fine, you're not an easy mark.

[He glances over at the teens, but ehhh. They're just some brats he doesn't need to worry about.]

Are you gonna teach 'em a lesson?

[He doubts Soujuurou will do anything to a would-be pick-pocket, because it's Soujuurou, but he's curious anyways.]

[emptyself]

Why would I do that? I’m not their teacher.

[ he looks at the kids, and shrugs. ]

They didn’t take anything from me in the first place. Nothing to be mad about.

[townmusician]

It's just a turn of phrase for when people piss you off or try to wrong you.

[Wow! Why does he have to explain anything?]

To keep them from trying it on somebody else. They didn't rob you, but what if they rob someone later? This could be just a practice run.

[emptyself]

But I wasn’t wronged. But it is troublesome when they steal from others so…

[ he turns around to face the teens, who return the look with an almost bewildered stare. ]

You won’t do it again, right? You’ll cause a lot of trouble to whoever you steal if you do.

[ the teens look at each other, and realize that maybe soujuurou has one too many screws loose for them to safely deal with. they decide it’s better to rob someone more normal, and turn on their tails with an annoyed huff.

soujuurou, in turn, looks back at haruka with a smile. ]

I think they’ll be okay.

[townmusician]

[Ah, there they go...]

I don't think your lecture was very convincing.

[But, well... There's no point in arguing with Soujuurou over the morality of pickpocketing or whatever. He's absolutely sure the teens are just going to find other people to steal from who aren't so fucking weird.]

But I guess whatever any trouble they get into isn't our problem.

[A beat.]

Were you heading to work?

[Since what else does Soujuurou even do with his free time...]

[emptyself]

[ soujuurou beams at him. certainly enough, whatever trouble they get into isn't their problem any longer. ]

Coming back from it, actually. I had an early shift, so now I have the rest of the day.

[ a brief pause, and then-- ]

What about you Haruka? Where are you headed?

[townmusician]

I was thinking about trying to find a gardening store.

[Not that he has to take care of the gardens, and it's not that it's particularly warm, but... Can't spend every day fucking around doing nothing with yourself!]

Maybe get something we can keep in the dorm that could get planted somewhere nice before we go home.

[emptyself]

Really?

[ well that's unexpected. soujuurou blinks, thinking about it. ]

There's a couple types of plants that are easy to take care of. Though I wonder who will take care of them when we're gone?

[ they're only supposed to have about a month left, right? how fast time flies. ]

[townmusician]

Depending on the kind of plant, it won't need too much attention once it's replanted.

[Though...]

But maybe Braphine will be nice enough to keep it alive, in our memory. Since we were brought here to work for her.

[emptyself]

That makes it sound like we’re dying at the end of this.

[ can’t he put it a little different? ‘as thanks?’ ‘in appreciation?’

soujuurou thinks for a moment, and then suggests with his usual deadpan: ]

I suppose we could grow grass.

[townmusician]

That's not what I meant!

[Though it is possible more people might die. Who knows!

As far as that suggestion goes, Haruka scowls.]

Why grass? Why not something cooler, or prettier? Like a cherry tree or something!

[He tilts his head, mulling it over.]

Actually, depending on how bad the winter gets here it would be the perfect time for us to plant a cherry tree.

[emptyself]

[ ................... ]

I was joking, you know. Why would we ever plant grass? It also needs a lot more upkeep than you might think.

[ anyways. ]

I think that a cherry tree would be nice. But it'll take some time for it to bloom, won't it?

[townmusician]

[(x)doubt]

Uh huh. A joke.

[Anyways! He nods.]

Yeah, it takes a few years before they bloom... But they're really nice, yeah? It can be an option, anyways, unless we find something even better.

[emptyself]

It was a joke.

[ hmph!

but the topic of time seems to settle soujuurou, who looks ahead, as if in thought. ]

I do think it's nice, but... mm... [ something about it feels a bit bittersweet for soujuurou. ] Hm. It's nothing.

[townmusician]

Eh? No, you can't just start saying something and then decide it's nothing. What's the problem?

[emptyself]

There's no problem.

[ he shakes his head. ]

It's just a little sad that we won't be able to see it bloom.

[townmusician]

...I guess so. But the tree wouldn't be for us, though. Maybe it would help people remember what's actually important, here, and this divine conflict shit wouldn't happen again?

But I dunno. It's just a tree.

[emptyself]

[ huh. haruka's right, in a sense. it is just a tree. soujuurou nods, seemingly in agreement with that. he figures the cherry trees in misaki town will bloom as well, come march. ]

If it's just a tree to you, then why are you trying to give it meaning?

[townmusician]

It feels less lame to pick up gardening if it's for a purpose.

[He shrugs one shoulder.]

Or, well. Less like something people would question me doing if it had a meaning.

[emptyself]

So does this mean that you’re embarrassed about having an interest in gardening?

[townmusician]

I'm not embarrassed!!

[HE'S NOT!!!!!!!]

[emptyself]

Then why are you yelling?

[townmusician]

I'm not yelling! I'm just loud!

[putting his years of vocal training to bad use]