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TDM #4
Welcome! Everything is fine.
Uploading. . . Complete!
The Lobby.
- When you open your eyes, there is quite a lot of beige to take in. The unassuming walls of the room you've found yourself in are barren save for a single motivational poster directly in your line of sight. An illuminated sign above an open door on the far wall reads 'lobby exit.'
"Welcome," chimes a polite, synthesized voice. "I'm happy you're here." A moment later comes the clarity of the situation: you have died and so has the world you came from. "This is Amani, your new reality," continues The Peacekeeper. "Everything will be fine."
At least you aren't the only one here, you'll soon find out, as others who are just as confused and concerned as you are mingling on the main hub's first floor. Hopefully, you find a familiar face among the crowd. If not, that's all right. You'll get to know quite a few people very well soon enough.
- If you're one of the unlucky few whose death required a bit more intensive re-coding to maintain stability in the simulation, you'll instead awaken on a bed in the infirmary. Everything is strikingly white save for the occasional string of vines with lavender growing in bursts to help keep people calm. Whether or not it works seems to be on a case-by-case basis.
While there is no active medical staff, the voice of The Peacekeeper is there to explain the situation in a more delicate manner to these individuals. It's already stressful enough having to have gone through such a violent death, after all!
If characters want more questions answered, they'll need to speak to The Peacekeeper directly. But first, it will encourage socialization in the main hub and hopefully, you'll find someone you recognize to make taking things in a little easier.
WHAT
The fourth Amani TDM!
WHEN
April 21st, 2022
KINKS OF THE MONTH
★ Tickling
★ Facials
★ School Uniforms
★ Sharing
★ Hurt/Comfort
★ Facials
★ School Uniforms
★ Sharing
★ Hurt/Comfort
WELCOME
Throughout the main hub where everyone congregates, a light chiming echoes through the first floor. "Hello, everyone," comes the synthetic voice from when you first arrived. "Please, watch your step since there's quite a few puddles around. If you'd like, there is cake, some refreshments, and some eggs for you in these trying times. If they feel warmer than usual, that's because they're going to hatch soon!"
While the Peacekeeper doesn't elaborate, as usual, simulation inhabitants are free to notice the eggs that either they gathered or are still littering the simulation are now warm to the touch, give off a faint glow, and may even move subtly now and again if watched.
Dark, ominous clouds begin to gather over every piece of sky in the simulation and before long blot out the sun. Sheets of rain begin to pour down almost without warning. Hopefully, you've managed to fix those leaks in your house! Or maybe you're finding new ones...
Lightning splits the sky with a dramatic crackle and thunder booms not long after it. The wind howls and the worst of the storm won't relent for a few hours at the least. Even after, the rain will linger for days on and off to varying degrees of severity.
While the weather has taken a turn for the gloomy, that doesn't mean that simulation inhabitants have to be! In fact, it may feel somewhat refreshing as if the rain is washing away any negativity lingering after The Overseer's masquerade. Whether by her design or not, she - nor The Peacekeeper - will say but it does seem that she wants to keep relations as peaceful between the simulation inhabitants and creators as she can.
Of course, your buckets might not just be catching water. With the rising water levels, the fish that inhabit the simulation's waters are just as confused as anyone else. Even more confusing is the glitch causing them to transform once they find themselves on solid (mostly) ground.
Thankfully, they don't change into anything harmful. Well, maybe to your teeth since an abundance of sweet treats is bound to cause a cavity or two... Not to mention the other odd effects that food here is known to have.
If the party and its cake don't appeal to you, that's perfectly fine. This is the perfect time to configure your Digitized Technical Friend or your DTF status. A DTF is similar to a dæmon from His Dark Materials in that it is connected to and a reflection of a character's soul. These DTFs take shape accordingly and are projections similar to the NPCs. Think of them as your own personal Clippy except less annoying. Hopefully.
Once that's set-up, there are other locations of the main hub to investigate! You can still find an (off-key) instrument to play in the music lounge or check out the (algae-ridden) pool.
You can even visit The Peacekeeper themselves on the second floor. They're always happy to have visitors! They're also conveniently where you might place a complaint about that status of the main hub and its amenities.
While the Peacekeeper doesn't elaborate, as usual, simulation inhabitants are free to notice the eggs that either they gathered or are still littering the simulation are now warm to the touch, give off a faint glow, and may even move subtly now and again if watched.
APRIL SHOWERS
Granted, there are bigger things to worry about such as the storm that's rolling in.Dark, ominous clouds begin to gather over every piece of sky in the simulation and before long blot out the sun. Sheets of rain begin to pour down almost without warning. Hopefully, you've managed to fix those leaks in your house! Or maybe you're finding new ones...
Lightning splits the sky with a dramatic crackle and thunder booms not long after it. The wind howls and the worst of the storm won't relent for a few hours at the least. Even after, the rain will linger for days on and off to varying degrees of severity.
While the weather has taken a turn for the gloomy, that doesn't mean that simulation inhabitants have to be! In fact, it may feel somewhat refreshing as if the rain is washing away any negativity lingering after The Overseer's masquerade. Whether by her design or not, she - nor The Peacekeeper - will say but it does seem that she wants to keep relations as peaceful between the simulation inhabitants and creators as she can.
ONE FISH, TWO FISH...
The constant rain brings water levels of the rivers and eddies up at an alarming rate. Flooding is inevitable and, hopefully, the place you've claimed as your own isn't in the way. If it is, you might want to get the buckets ready or consider a relocation!Of course, your buckets might not just be catching water. With the rising water levels, the fish that inhabit the simulation's waters are just as confused as anyone else. Even more confusing is the glitch causing them to transform once they find themselves on solid (mostly) ground.
Thankfully, they don't change into anything harmful. Well, maybe to your teeth since an abundance of sweet treats is bound to cause a cavity or two... Not to mention the other odd effects that food here is known to have.
- ★ Taiyaki » Despite having just jumped out of the chilly waters, these tasty treats will be warm to the touch and generate steam. After biting into one, you'll radiate warmth no matter what for a brief period of time. Being a walking furnace sure is nice with this damp, cold atmosphere... Maybe you'll find a friend or two to huddle up with and keep warm.
★ Swedish Fish » Eating one of these stretchy, gummy candies will increase your flexibility. Literally and metaphorically! It might be easier to be convinced to do something you wouldn't have before and now you can bend just the right way to make it extra fun.
★ Hard Fish Candy » These tart candies will render someone unable to speak until it completely dissolves. This can take a while, too, since they seem to be persistantly stuck to the roof of your mouth! Yet, don't underestimate the power of body language to speak your mind.
★ Chocolate Sardines » Eating one of these rich bite-sized treats will make you sweeter. No, really! Candy kisses isn't just an expression after eating these fish. You taste delicious. Maybe too delicious... Be careful! Once someone gets a taste of you, they might not want to stop anytime soon.
WHAT'S YOUR DTF STATUS?
If the party and its cake don't appeal to you, that's perfectly fine. This is the perfect time to configure your Digitized Technical Friend or your DTF status. A DTF is similar to a dæmon from His Dark Materials in that it is connected to and a reflection of a character's soul. These DTFs take shape accordingly and are projections similar to the NPCs. Think of them as your own personal Clippy except less annoying. Hopefully.
Once that's set-up, there are other locations of the main hub to investigate! You can still find an (off-key) instrument to play in the music lounge or check out the (algae-ridden) pool.
You can even visit The Peacekeeper themselves on the second floor. They're always happy to have visitors! They're also conveniently where you might place a complaint about that status of the main hub and its amenities.
RAINING CATS AND DOGS
While the fishy foods are odd enough as is, another glitch appears to be occurring throughout the simulation but this time originates not from the rain but The Peacekeeper's humble musings. "Did you know," speaks the resident AI, "that there is an expression called 'raining cats and dogs'? I think that's such a curious saying! It made me wonder what it might actually look like..."
Following the strange, unexpected 'announcement,' inhabitants may begin to notice large globs of water falling periodically from the sky now amidst the regular rain. When they hit the ground with a large splash, nothing is there... at first. The water will burst apart only to reassemble into a canine or feline friend. Well, it's shaped like a dog or a cat.
Due to the sudden nature of their spawning though, some things aren't quite right. Perhaps that cat has only three legs instead of four; a dog may be missing an eye, an ear, or even its tail. And those are the more tame oddities! While the unique animals aren't overly abundant there are still a good number that spawn across the days of rain. Don't be surprised if a dog takes up shelter from the storm on your porch or you come home to a cat you don't own having climbed through a loose window.
While this might be exactly the addition to your home that you wanted, it doesn't change the leaky roof or broken window in your new place. Or, unfortunately, the fact that there's no extra space for a pet yet. No, unfortunately that will still need to be fixed the peaceful way. If you'd like more lighting or even cozier clothes, simulation inhabitants are reminded that 'peaceful interactions' are very important!
It might be a good idea to stick close to someone you know, for now, since even the smallest amounts of intimacy might see subtle changes occurring where they're staying. Perhaps that broken window is now fixed, the grime and dust seem a little less, or the floor doesn't creak quite as loud.
Larger changes, however, will only come after demonstrating the more powerful peaceful interactions. If you want new hardwood floors or a fresh coat of paint on the walls, you're going to have to demonstrate how well you 'get along' with others against them first.
Following the strange, unexpected 'announcement,' inhabitants may begin to notice large globs of water falling periodically from the sky now amidst the regular rain. When they hit the ground with a large splash, nothing is there... at first. The water will burst apart only to reassemble into a canine or feline friend. Well, it's shaped like a dog or a cat.
Due to the sudden nature of their spawning though, some things aren't quite right. Perhaps that cat has only three legs instead of four; a dog may be missing an eye, an ear, or even its tail. And those are the more tame oddities! While the unique animals aren't overly abundant there are still a good number that spawn across the days of rain. Don't be surprised if a dog takes up shelter from the storm on your porch or you come home to a cat you don't own having climbed through a loose window.
While this might be exactly the addition to your home that you wanted, it doesn't change the leaky roof or broken window in your new place. Or, unfortunately, the fact that there's no extra space for a pet yet. No, unfortunately that will still need to be fixed the peaceful way. If you'd like more lighting or even cozier clothes, simulation inhabitants are reminded that 'peaceful interactions' are very important!
It might be a good idea to stick close to someone you know, for now, since even the smallest amounts of intimacy might see subtle changes occurring where they're staying. Perhaps that broken window is now fixed, the grime and dust seem a little less, or the floor doesn't creak quite as loud.
Larger changes, however, will only come after demonstrating the more powerful peaceful interactions. If you want new hardwood floors or a fresh coat of paint on the walls, you're going to have to demonstrate how well you 'get along' with others against them first.
SEEING PINK
ear the end of the week, the rain finally relents and temperatures continue to gradually increase. Those May flowers can't quite seem to wait though since several of the trees lining the edge of the forest bloom brilliant pink blossoms that a DTF will be able to identify as love blossoms. While the blooms won't last very long, they certainly are using all the time they have to take over.
The pollen is one thing. It may start out as just a tickle in your nose or stuffy head but eventually turns into something much more lovely. You're tickled pink about almost everything, it seems, and want to share that happiness with others. And who needs rose-colored glasses when almost everywhere one looks there's a string of love blossoms blooming?
These invasive flowers are in your garden, along the vines in the city, and even sprawling through the main hub! It actually seems almost impossible to avoid them. The Peacekeeper assures inhabitants that it isn't purposeful and just the natural cycle of the love blossoms.
Enjoy the mood-lifting and groin-tingling effects while they last! The love blossoms will only linger for a few days, at most, before receding back to the forest line and eventually falling dormant again until next spring.
The pollen is one thing. It may start out as just a tickle in your nose or stuffy head but eventually turns into something much more lovely. You're tickled pink about almost everything, it seems, and want to share that happiness with others. And who needs rose-colored glasses when almost everywhere one looks there's a string of love blossoms blooming?
These invasive flowers are in your garden, along the vines in the city, and even sprawling through the main hub! It actually seems almost impossible to avoid them. The Peacekeeper assures inhabitants that it isn't purposeful and just the natural cycle of the love blossoms.
Enjoy the mood-lifting and groin-tingling effects while they last! The love blossoms will only linger for a few days, at most, before receding back to the forest line and eventually falling dormant again until next spring.
SEXY STAMP CARD
If you're wondering about these 'peaceful interactions' that keep being mentioned or what the kinks of the month are for... Here's your answer! Upon arrival, all characters will receive a digital copy of their very own sexy stamp card.
Completing peaceful interactions (i.e. kinks) will reward characters with stamps that they can turn in for re-gains and many other things! While the example one here is the standard issued card by The Peacekeeper, players are more than welcome to customize it how they see fit. Have fun with it!NOTES
Completing peaceful interactions (i.e. kinks) will reward characters with stamps that they can turn in for re-gains and many other things! While the example one here is the standard issued card by The Peacekeeper, players are more than welcome to customize it how they see fit. Have fun with it!
★ The kinks of the month have changed! Be sure to check this post for what the new ones are. Also, give a congratulations to Corrin (
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fatefulprince) as the as the new leader of the sexy leaderboard! 🎉★ The effects of the strange fish candies can, as always, be as heavy or light as you'd like! It can be chalked up to differences in resistance, non-humanity or not, etc. etc. Also, they can mixed-and-matched! Have fun with that.
★ The flora and fauna page will be updated. It's also still open for player suggestions! All you need to do now is link your check-in (or player claim) comment to make a submission!
★ Make sure to dunk your questions/feedback in the thread below!
NAVIGATION
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"Indeed. Genesis Rhapsodos, SOLDIER 1st Class." He finishes the rest of his drink, and nudges it aside. He'll wave down the bartender in a moment, but for now, his focus seems to be on Cloud's expression.
"I knew you once, briefly, as a cadet. And then much later." Genesis isn't sure how much is proper to give away, but he's seen what Cloud is capable of. To say he wasn't good enough feels... odd. "Tell me, Strife, what do you remember of our world?"
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Cloud winces with a faint grunt of pain. Indistinct, distorted memories filter through his mind in bits and pieces; Zack fighting this man, or...something like this man, at least. Did Cloud fight him too? He can't remember. Was he sent by Shinra to track them down, or...?
"Nngh." He blinks his eyes open as the pain dulls and starts to fade. "Wait. Much later?" Is he like Sephiroth, having come here from some time Cloud hasn't lived through yet?
"I remember..." fire and death and rain and blood
"I...I don't..." He shakes his head. "Nibelheim. Sephiroth...and then I was with Zack, and he...he died."
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"Easy now," Genesis soothes, voice softening. He extends a hand to rest on Cloud's shoulder, the sheer warmth of his natural body heat seeping through even the leather of his gloves. "I hadn't meant to stir up a bad memory. I remember Nibelheim as well, though I suppose it meant much more to you than I."
Genesis takes a moment to parse through what little Cloud had managed to say.
"I've heard Fair is here as well. We're all dead, as it stands. But it seems you knew of his death even before coming here. Is that right?"
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"...that's right." Again, he would have left it there, but his mouth just keeps running. "I couldn't fight. He died protecting me." Even if Zack claims it didn't happen...well. Sephiroth and now Genesis both believe they're all dead, so maybe he just has to accept that Zack is wrong.
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He's been aware of Zack's death for quite awhile, but it still leaves him with something akin to resignation. Another one lost to ShinRa's horror.
"A noble cause, something I'm sure he'd promise he doesn't regret." Genesis draws in a breath, thinking back to the selfless SOLDIER he'd antagonized for years. "Though I doubt it eases your heart in any way to hear such. Fine seems very off-base here, Strife. Have you even spoken to him on such a matter?"
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Zack's plan. It's hard to remember details, but Zack talked about it so much during their year in hiding that it filtered through Cloud's catatonic haze. They were going to become mercenaries. They were so close.
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"Broad speculation," he says, "based on arbitrary guesses. Would SOLDIER truly have saved you both? It didn't save most of us, you know." In fact, it'd doomed the vast majority of their number. "A den of monsters, really."
He takes another sip, feeling his tongue loosen more.
"Try not to let the survivor's guilt eat you alive, Strife. It's not worth it. Especially not anymore."
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He takes another drink. He would normally drink more slowly than this, but something about this place - or maybe this conversation - makes him want to be a little more liberal with it.
"What would you know about it?"
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"You now have the strength to pay it back, I suppose is the silver lining here. You need only grasp that power as rightfully yours." Genesis gives him a half shrug, and watches the dim light reflecting in the glass.
"What would you know about it?" plays in his head until it gets a mirthless, bitter laugh from him. Genesis doesn't look up, but shakes his head.
"Like you, I was far too weak to handle myself. And like you, I watched my dearest friends slip through my fingers. Only I was the instrument of their fall. And yet, fate deigned me to live on instead of them. Far more deserving people, people with lights far brighter than mine, were snuffed out thanks to me. I live, or rather, unlive now, with that."
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"Sure. I have the strength to pay it back now that we're all dead anyway."
Cloud sips at his drink while Genesis explains. His brow furrows. "But you're SOLDIER. First class. How can you be too weak for anything?...what did you do to your friends?"
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"I abandoned them, betrayed their love in favor of trying to do it all my own. For what ShinRa did to me, I was bitter and hurt, lashing out in my rage. Naturally, those closest to me were caught in such crossfire. Eventually, I pushed a horrible truth on my dear friends that they could not, and should not, have ever been made to handle. To disastrous consequences. You know them: Zack's mentor, Angeal, and Sephiroth."
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But there's more. Genesis keeps talking, and the more he says, the more dread seems to weigh heavily in Cloud's stomach, until finally he drops the important part. And Sephiroth. A horrible truth Sephiroth couldn't handle, with disastrous consequences.
Everything that happened in Nibelheim that day, and the five years that followed...this man started it all. Cloud turns to stare at him, and he's standing guard at Shinra Mansion, listening to the sound of Sephiroth's pacing behind that door, listening to the indistinct words of his muttering. And he's frantically firing his rifle in the stifling heat of the flames, he can't let Sephiroth get to Tifa, he promised he'd save her, and--
Cloud takes in a shaky breath, one hand clutching the bar in front of him, and he shouts Sephiroth's name, but the man ignores him, speaking instead to the monster called Jenova. He's picking up Zack's sword and running, pure adrenaline and rage making up for the massive size of the blade in his merely human hands. A cold, piercing pain as Sephiroth's blade dangles him over the void--
Cloud doubles over with a gasp, one hand clawing at his chest, but there's no blade, no wound. There's just--
"Genesis." Wild eyes find Genesis' gaze and hold it. "It was you. It was you, you bastard--"
Cloud launches himself off his stool and lunges at Genesis, swinging his fist with his full strength behind it at the man's face.
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The wild, haunted look catches him, and in that split second, he sees the punch coming. With reflexes like his, he could very well duck this. He could push himself from the bar, and be half way across it with the coiled strength in his legs. Except no. No, Genesis has earned this, hasn't he?
Instead, he tilts his chin, and takes the punch to his jaw instead of across the bridge of his nose. He's certainly earned the blow, but he's not explaining a broken orbital socket afterwards. He's also forgotten what it's like to be hit that hard, and topples from his seat onto the ground with a rough growl. There's a colorful burst of pain behind his eyes, and Genesis has a moment of regret- that actually smarts.
"Ah, you've put it together then," Genesis hisses out, and picks himself up enough to sit on his haunches. "I regret to inform you that you're correct."
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He steps forward to stand over Genesis, fists and jaw both clenched. He doesn't move to strike again, not yet, but the look in his eye says he's thinking about it. "Betrayed your friends, you said. Is that all you care about?"
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With a shake of his head, Genesis picks himself up again.
"No. My regrets are as immeasurable as my list of sins is long. My very presence left my hometown burning under ShinRa fire. There's Turks, civilians, and SOLDIERs in shallow graves under the ash. Wutai, Modeoheim, Nibelheim, all the same story: I blight the land, I take peace from the earth." Genesis can't quite hold Cloud's furious gaze directly, but there's a depth to his sadness that could drown oceans.
"So which, on this unending tally of my sins, do you wish me to confess to? Because I would gladly beg forgiveness if it meant I could undo the damage of them."
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"You can't. And I can't forgive you. You or Sephiroth."
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Genesis ends up following Cloud's steps, and nods for the other to sit back down. The hand he'd motioned with ends up on Cloud's shoulder again, to help keep him upright. The boy looks like he's about lurch over.
"Still, I'd ask that you lessen your blame for Sephiroth. I'd much rather bear it than let him shoulder my cruelty, and Jenova's parasitic manipulation of him. What you witnessed was not my old friend."
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"I don't care." Maybe he sounds petulant, and if so, so be it. He tries to leave it at that, but the words keep falling out of their own volition. "Tell that to all the people he killed in cold blood. Tell that to my mother. There's plenty of blame for the both of you."
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"I've made my request, I cannot ask anything more of you then." Genesis takes a slow drink from the glass, focusing on the tactile feel of it for a moment to clear his head. Babbling more apologies and wallowing isn't what's needed here. After a lapse into silence though, something seems to compel him to speak in honesty again. It's softer, a faraway kind of amused fondness.
"I see now why Zack became so fond of you. You're fiery."
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"Zack said he was fond of me?"
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"In so few words," Genesis explains, and smiles against the rim of his drink before swallowing another sip of what is essentially acholic truth serum. "I'd trailed him from the shadows plenty. Fond is... perhaps too small a word, even."
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"Well...what other word would you use, then?" At this point he's stopped questioning why he's still talking about any of this, especially with Genesis of all people. It's just happening, and he'll have to accept that.
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He glances at Cloud again, the expression melting into a smirk.
"Is this news to you, Strife?"
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"Wouldn't have asked if it wasn't." He silently wills himself to stop there, but no. "Zack is incredible, why would I expect anything like that? Plus I thought he had a girlfriend."
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"Mm, so the feelings are mutual between you then, and yet...? And if you mean young Aerith, well, death has certainly sailed that ship to open sea, now hasn't it. Besides that, what's stopping him from caring for both of you?"
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