WEEKS 9 & 10

[linkupmods]

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

[unweathered]

Mmmhmm. It is fun to rub it in the faces of supposed professionals.

[Ah, how funny it would be]

You seem better now.

[kandata]

Hubris always needs to be taken down a peg or two. How confident are you in your baking?

[Will it put these so-called professionals to shame, Schneider?]

I have gotten a lot of help recently. Despite that, I still try to help around if I see a way. Old habits are hard to leave behind.

[Won't be a maid anymore, but it's hard to shake off the helpfulness]

[unweathered]

I know what's good. [Pretty damn confident, even if she's not a professional. She has her specialty and nothing can beat home made bread ok]

Mmmm, well it's good to see you aren't committed to being a doormat for the rest of your life. That would be a tragic waste of yourself.

[kandata]

I think I want to try it for myself. While I have baked before, I'm sure my own work would be lacking compared to this.

[Although Kirumi is pretty confident her own bruschettas would be better than this city's so-called professionals! She'd be fine being second banana to Schneider on this.

What Schneider said makes Kirumi feel a tad self-conscious]

You're not the first one telling me that. I didn't know it was a widespread opinion.

[unweathered]

Oh? Maybe I have more in common with the people here than I thought.

[ Her comment is glib, almost flippant]

Life as a maid forever.... it is not 1850 after all.

[kandata]

Please be honest with me: did it seem like I was debasing myself by pursuing such a career?

[She definitely invites Schneider to speak up her mind without compunctions! Especially since Kirumi has permanently quit that line of work]

Could I have some bread? I'm growing curious of how good it could be.

[unweathered]

Yes. Servitude for life is no ambition at all. [ Schneider smiles and slides over a nice, fluffy warm loaf] You can give me your honest thoughts.

[kandata]

[Oh, the quality of this bread, from the first glance...]

The texture is good. It feels properly soft.

[That's an important component in any good bread! The taste, though, let's see...

......

Kirumi's eyebrows raise]

I think those so-called experts will be very upset. This is of great quality.

[Unless you pull the rug from under me and announce in the next tag it's awful, haha]

[unweathered]

[Schneider grew up with this stuff, but also, growing up on a farm means you learn to make a lot of your own food]

Oh, good. I was practicing for a bit to get it how I remembered it should be.

[She will concede it was not effortless]

[kandata]

Had it been a while since you tried baking?

[Been busy...weeeell...being an assassin?]

[unweathered]

I haven't baked since I turned...12? [Something something she found better stuff to do, yeah]

[kandata]

It may have been a while, but you haven't lost your touch. I even want to ask for baking advice after having tried this.


[Kirumi's baking is pretty good already! But part of her former philosophy was all about constant improvement. She may not be a maid anymore, but she sees no reason to abandon something that leads to self-improvement!]

[unweathered]

I don't think I did anything particularly special [ Which is why she was so mad about the bread] But mmm... I suppose people don't have patience normally.

[kandata]

Very few do. Something I have learned during my past work is that many want results as soon as humanly possible.

[And Kirumi had tried to achieve that!]

[unweathered]

Without the effort too, I imagine.

[Jumping to the finish line, no matter the cost...Schneider was familiar with that too]

[kandata]

...yes. That's right. Knowing anything you want will get done can bring too much complacency.

[Perhaps she should be glad almost nobody here was eager to have her deal with everything. Nobody got lazy]

[unweathered]

Mm... that's the fastest way to bring about someone's downfall.

[ Making them over reliant on someone's willingness to do something for them, getting them hooked on instant gratification...and then yanking the rug out from under them.

Hopefully there's coffee in these cupboards somewhere. Schneider needs it]

[kandata]

Even accidentally. In the memories I had, the first job I had ended with my master becoming too dependent on me to the point his life crumbled apart once the contract ended.

[Now she thinks that particular memory was a cautionary tale instilled onto her to ensure she wouldn't do exactly that, really.

Still, Kirumi said that as if she was talking of someone else instead of about her own past]

[unweathered]

What a pitiful man. [Schneider thinks. Well] It sounds like you aren't even sure those memories are yours though.

[kandata]

I had one of those palaces inflicted on me. Turns out the great majority of my memories before that bear's game were...fabrications. As much as it hurts to admit, nothing beyond the most recent month before that is relevant anymore.

[Kirumi seems pained for a moment, but she takes a deep breath]

But it's fine. I'm leaving all that behind and starting over.

[unweathered]

[Oh no]

I didn't realise...mm. [She looks at the bread and pushes some more over. Eat!] A new beginning? That is the best, isn't it?

[kandata]

It is, and I have to be honest with you: I can do it only because you and others have been with me.

[Kirumi just...she bows deeply]

Thank you. For having been here. I will repay you any way I can because I want to -- from trying your bread to being there if you need it. I know in the end I'm just a teenager in a world that isn't even mine, but I will do all I can.

[Schneider deserves the best efforts Kirumi can give, out of gratitude]

[unweathered]

[This kind of gratitude makes Schneider's skin itch, like she's not sure what to do or how to place herself. It is far easier to throw barbs at the likes of that stupid assassin man she did not care to know the name of or her ex-roommate's pretentiousness.

Pure sincerity like this?

Help]

...and yet you have done more than most. Age is only a restraint if you look at the law and let it stop you. [She huffs a little and goes to get them some coffee. Schneider is only 18 herself!!!] Then you can help me eat all of this because I most certainly made too much. And I rather the people I like get the best of it at least.

[kandata]

[The request to help eat all this bread gets a genuine laugh from Kirumi]

Of course. I'll help you with that anytime -- so please inform me if you make more some other day.

[She's so going to have as much of Schneider's homemade bread as she can. It's good!]