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linkingup2024-09-28 11:14 pm
linkupmods) wrote in linkingup2024-09-28 11:14 pm
WEEKS 9 & 10
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.
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
NEKYIA COMMISSIONS
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.
for kaine, the reasons leading up to the 4am bruschetta making
And there is a little girl, with a striking resemblance staring back hollowly before she runs off into the dark]
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Hey - ! [The child is already gone, leaving her chasing after nothing. Kainé isn't patient enough for games like these.] Where do you think you're going -?! [Legs splashed by water until they're soaked, Kainé runs to keep up with the child, maybe too recklessly following through the storm and into emptiness.]
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[The little girl continues to run without a second thought, dashing along the dark paths until they slowly become dead woodland. Acres of burnt trees spread out into the distance but the little girl keeps running without a second thought. The rain continues, heavy and the wind picks up, tearing at their clothes, soaking them through. It's cold.
They reach an empty mansion when the little girl finally stops, panting, and looks back]
...did you see her? Marian?
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I haven't seen her. Is she supposed to be in the house?
[She looks up at the mansion. Looks can be deceiving, but if it's anything like it looks, then they're not going to find anyone here.]
I don't know if we're finding anything here.
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[ The little girl looks up and reaches up to touch the doorknob. The door swings open to a dark, dank place despite the dull shimmer of gold along the doorknobs, the chandelier.
Money lays scattered across the floor with odd tears in it that looks like teeth ]
So why isn't she here?
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Bending down to get a closer look at the destroyed money, Kainé doesn't end up liking what she finds when she kneels. Maybe it should serve her right for sticking her nose in further than it probably belongs.]
Saved from what? [she probes.] Something was here. Maybe she went looking for you.
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[ The little girl looks down at the piles of money, the wasted splendour]
I was suppose to keep her safe. She's my older sister. She wouldn't have left the protection of the potion maker...that little girl, and her friends.
[It must have been an impressive place, once upon a time. Warm and inviting. But with the storm and the remnants of something, looming had chased away any sense of home this place once had. She kicks over a solid gold bar and moves deeper into the shadows of the mansion, following the faint tinny sounds of a radio]
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Isn't it the older sibling who's supposed to be keeping the others safe? Expression furrowed, she follows. It beats sitting around and waiting for something to happen.]
Quit running off alone. You don't want to get eaten, do you? Monsters don't care how strong you are.
[With the way things are outside, it isn't like they can turn around and go back. She strains to hear the radio, thinking, at first, that someone must be in the house with them.]
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[The girl looks up, her familiar red gaze a little sardonic. As they walk down the hall, her shadow casts a shadow much taller, and the flash of lightning that briefly illuminates the hall shines a brief reflection of an older, familiar person to Kaine...
But the little girl doesn't notice, jogging down until they reach a dining room. On the table is a feast of gold and cold, hard cash, stuffed into the vague mockery of a roast goose and god knew what else. The girl looks at it, and then away, single-mindedly focused on the radio in front of them.
"xxxx citizens across chicago reporting strange, bizarre symptoms... devouring cash, gold, any valuable in the name of sustenance...state of emergency...all hospitals...." The girl twists the dials until the tinny voice becomes clearer.
"A refuge has been set up at xxxx. All citizens are to evacuate to xxxx before the storm comes. I repeat. All citizens--"]
...I wonder how we can get there. I'm too small to drive.
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She's listening to the droning explanation from the radio, but her attention is focused on the mockery of a feast spread out on the dining room table. Kainé is no stranger to odd appetites, but she doesn't want to have to wrestle the other girl away from trying to eat money - maybe that's the source of her relief when she ignores it.]
How hard can it be? [She's never driven, but rashness makes her confident.] Unless there's some other way.
There's nothing you wanna grab from here, right? [The place already isn't a home. She doubts there are things the girl can't stand to leave behind.]
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This isn't my home... maybe if we had this much money, I wouldn't have---never mind. Forget it.
[ Schneider mutters, rummaging through the drawers for a set of keys. Aha. They always were in such a convenient place. In the dark, there are different footsteps now and Schneider tenses.]
...again? Them?
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More friends of yours?
[Her hand looks for the hilt of her vicious sword, and Kainé takes the slightest of steps in front of her, body angled between her and the darkness. Now that's a familiar battle; her own blood thrums with anticipation.] You're a popular pipsqueak. What've we got here?
cw: body horror stuff incoming
Of course this fucking world would bring Manus Vindictae puppets here to play, and--
[Schneider's voice goes quiet and very small when a more familiar man stumbles out of the hall with an odd hand-like mask attached to his face]
...Tommy? Why? You fool, you're not even an arcanist, why would you--
[Hysterical laughter erupts from the man.
"Boss...b̴̺͖̰̝̟͕͖̼̘́̿͊̌ö̵̧̧͇̙̆̚ş̵̣̜͈̝̗͚͋̔̽ş̶͖͇̦̼̩̝̮̼̎͛̈́̓̔͝͝...we're all gonna die, aren't we? So why not? Why not join the winning side this way too?"
He takes another step towards them and his body twitches, odd misshapen lumps moving under his skin]
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Stay back. [It's a warning to the girl, not the man. She can hear the waver in Schneider's voice, which stands out because it's so little like her. She knows the deal with these weird in-between worlds by now: Even if there isn't much she can change from happening, what would be the point in just sitting back and waiting?] Don't listen to the crap coming out of this guy.
[Of course, the easiest way for Kainé to deal with things, including her feelings, is through violence. They have that in common. That isn't the only reason she's so quick to tense up against "Tommy's" frenzied approach, however.]
... I don't even think he's human anymore. [Her gaze trawls his skin, waiting for whatever's lurking there to truly show itself.]
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...he was one of my people.
[Is this what happened to all her men? Even they weren't turned to dust, how many of them were driven by desperation to live, to reach for that damn mask as if it would be their saving grace.
The monster that emerges from the splatter of blood and viscera is a black skeletal-like creature dripping with ooze. It turns to them both and roars, lunging to attack]
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[The scowl on her face only deepens when the monster bursts out from inside the henchman's body, nothing but viscera and slime. It's ugly, but she doesn't flinch. She just moves a little closer to where Schneider's frozen in the familiar panic of watching something unstoppable and horrible happen, helpless as the child she looks like.
When it lunges, Kainé's ready to receive it, sword up with a sign strong enough to both block the initial attack and send it flying backwards a short distance (18). She snaps over her shoulder.]
Hey! Keep moving. You figured out how to get us out of here? [She isn't gentle; she doesn't let Schneider dwell on what she's seeing or feel sad about what's in front of her. The focus is on tearing a path through and getting her out of here.]
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It's outside. [She thinks. But it's her nightmare and she thinks she deserves to have some control over it. A glance and maybe Schneider is a little older again. Another glance and she's trapped in her childself's body still]
This way--
[ More slime monsters burst through the wall though Schneider refuses to look to see if it was the remnants of her people]
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Kainé tries to cleave through the monsters she doesn't know, ignoring any remnants of humanity there that might try to trick or betray them, but each lunge becomes more difficult to deflect (for the record: 13, 10, 8).]
Let's hope that car's enough to keep these assholes off. [And that there's more of a plan that she hasn't considered yet. It's not really her focus right now.]
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Drive-! The refuge camp. I need to get to her. Marian-!
[It's not real. She already knows Marian is...
not here.
But if she can turn it around, see Marian properly one more time...]
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I'm working on it! [Kainé has no fucking clue how to drive a car, but it's Schneider's nightmare, and maybe she deserves to have a little control over it. Her usually brash hands are uncharacteristically clumsy as they search for the right controls, bashing against button and lever until Kainé finds the thing that will make the vehicle go. She's about to become the most reckless driving savant this collapsing world has ever seen, with the storm making the road even more perilous.
She feels like she knows exactly where to go, but maybe there was only ever one place to go from the beginning. So she drives, aimlessly, but the car will move according to what needs to happen. Even if she's behind the wheel, she's kind of just along for the ride, isn't she?]
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They drive recklessly, careening through the dead woods as the rain crashes down on the car and the monsters crash down from after them. It vanished into the void and there's only one way forward now. Kaine is here. It's a difference. It should be different. So much is already and yet--]
There. There!
[They come to a camp and Schneider throws herself out of the car without waiting for it to roll to a stop. All around them are people, screaming and crying, some desperately pulling at restraints as they cry for food-- gold bar, a coin, cash, anything-- while doctors run around, trying to stop people from ingesting anymore]
Kaine, do you see her? Marian! Marian! Please, mia soretta! I don't want you to disappear again!
[ It's a child's cry, desperate and broken and lost in the crowd as the rain comes down, a gentle patter now. But Schneider is no longer a child. She's a full grown woman, staggering around, looking desperate.
And there's a woman there, surrounded by attending nurses, with a striking resemblance to Schneider. Older. Taller, healthier looking even. And she's holding a bible to her chest, chanting frantically]
no subject
She doesn't need to know a lot of families to spot the resemblance between the two of them. It might look bad, but Kainé inhales before looking back over her shoulder at Schneider - grown again, but just as lost as a child.]
Here. [Her voice is a register deeper than usual, quiet and low in contrast with Schneider's desperation.] Over here. Hey, make some room, her sister's here.
[But when Schneider comes close, Kainé will also drop her hand to her shoulder, almost without thinking. She doesn't know if what she sees will be what she wants, and she'll hold her back before she throws herself away for something stupid.]
cw: emetophobia 1/2
Sister. Dear sister. This is not how it ends. It was...kinder. You had one last wish, yes? A big dinner, with everyone because you always loved family the most.
[Marian's eyes flicker open and she turns over, mouth opening but words not coming out. There's a rosary and cross clutched weakly to her chest, and her mouth keeps opening and closing, as if chanting an unknown prayer. Then she turns over, gagging and retching and Schneider draws in a sharp breath as black viscous slime splatters on the dead burnt out grass, bits and pieces of green paper coming up with it]
Ah. No, no.
[I'm sorry. Good bye. Marian seems to say, her eyes lingering on her sister and than on Kaine behind her. Lightning crackles across the sky followed by an explosion of thunder. Then they blink and there's nothing left of Marian anymore but a pile of clothes, dust and a rosary that Schneider hated deeply.
Then there's nothing around them but piles of dust and clothes, drifting with the wind that blows into the tent]
2/2
Then she turns to Kaine, smiles and throws her arms around this oddly gentle person who masked her kindness with aggression, as strength finally gives out from her, leaving Schneider coughing hard and panting for air]
This is it again, I think. The same ending. Over and over. But...this time, you are here.
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[She actually recoils as Marian convulses, but when the girl disappears, it just shocks Kainé into stillness. It just takes the same time as a strike of lightning. There's nothing gory or prolonged about it, but does it matter? This is where the nightmare ends up anyway, no matter how long it takes to get here - why should that part matter to Schneider at all?
When they're the only ones left, she catches the other girl with grim, solid arms. Hearing the depth of her cough fills her with the same inevitable sinking silence Kainé felt watching people succumb to the Black Scrawl.]
You asshole... what do you mean? I'm here, but I'm not... [She wasn't able to fix or change anything. It wasn't even kinder like Schneider said it could have been. She's been too tight and still in Schneider's arms for a while, but now she presses one hand against the small of her back and the other beneath her shoulder and holds. Why the fuck is she smiling?] ... You can't. Not you, too.
(no subject)