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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
no subject
"Animals never much liked me in my own world," Sephiroth replies. "As I told someone who looked a lot like you...who also offered me fish." He looks back to the cat, just in time to release his grip on the fish as it bites into the whole chunk to gnaw on. "I smelled...alien to them in a way that alarmed them, I believe. But perhaps they sense that presence is suppressed here...or animals as strange as these don't react to such things."
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"I'm Byleth," she finally says by way of introduction. "You can imagine my surprise when I arrived here to find there was a male version of myself that already lived here."
But enough about her doppelganger conundrum.
"I found that animals were the only ones that liked me for most of my life. People were always the ones who didn't like me."
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"I didn't realize different versions of ourselves could be here," he says eventually. He doesn't question it, even though it's certainly a high bar for belief; everything here, in his experience, is pretty unlikely. More than enough that this doesn't seem any more unbelievable than any of the things he knows to be factual. "Much less a different gender than we're accustomed to. That must be...difficult for you."
After a pause, he realizes he's been given an introduction, and owes one in return. "Sephiroth."
He's distracted by the cat, having finished its fish, suddenly headbutting his hand for pets. Surprised but gratified, he obliges - and Byleth may find there's something very Dimitri-esque in how careful and gentle he is with his hands, as though afraid of breaking fragile things. "I haven't had much success with people, either...outside of a few isolated cases." He glances sidelong at her. "What have your difficulties stemmed from?"
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"It isn't actually all that difficult. At this point I have a pretty high bar for strangeness. Just another oddity to add to the list." She watches him with interest as he delicately pets the cat; she's doing the same but in a much more absent-minded way. It's endearing, she thinks. "It's nice to meet you, Sephiroth."
When he questions her, Byleth's lips purse slightly, her head canting to meet his eyes.
"Well, I've been called the 'Ashen Demon' since I was twelve years old," she begins to explain, knowing that earning an ominous moniker like that at such a tender age is rather out of the ordinary. "I was raised as a mercenary. I could swing blade almost as soon as I could walk. People were afraid of me because I was never expressive like most children. They said I was unnatural."
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At the mention of such a moniker earned when she was twelve, however...rather than look horrified, as perhaps one should, Sephiroth sits up straighter in clear interest and attention. "At twelve...I was labeled a war hero myself at that age. I was inducted into a corporation's private military significantly younger than most. I got my start with a blade much later, only shortly before being sent off to war, but...necessity led to skill very quickly." He smiles faintly. "As for not being expressive, and seeming unnatural...those are quite familiar to me, as well. I was a science experiment, created and raised in a lab. My social skills when I left the lab for the military were...lacking, to put it mildly. I'm still not entirely caught up with where a normal person ought to be. And as for unnatural..." Well, he doesn't have to specify much with that.
"I wouldn't have expected us to have so much in common." It's a little distressing - if Byleth's life has been anything like his, then Byleth's had a miserable time of it - but at the same time surprisingly reassuring and gratifying to find someone whose experiences so neatly mirror his own.
no subject
What does surprise her, as it has surprised him, is the fact that they have a rather striking amount in common between them. "I wasn't considered a war hero until my twenties," she informs him with a dry amusement in her tone. Then, at the mention of his origins, Byleth's hand drifts to her chest, palm pressed flat against the exposed skin above her armor.
"I... was also an experiment, of sorts. My heart was replaced on the day I was born. It's not a human heart--that's why I've been rather strange my whole life. I don't even have a heartbeat." She surprises herself by telling him this--he's a complete stranger, in spite of their odd kinship.
no subject
He turns his attention back to the cat, which seems to be very demanding of attention now. "Before I was born...I was injected with the cells of an ancient, sentient planet-killing virus. It had a dramatic effect on my development, to say the least. How much of me is actually still human is...questionable."
Yeah, Sephiroth, like Byleth knows what cells are. Though, oddly, prior to this, Sephiroth hasn't encountered much in the way of technological or scientific knowledge mismatch in this place...yet.
no subject
Because that explanation really clarifies things? It's unusual, though, for her to just explain the nature of her being so casually to people. Maybe it's because she feels an odd sort of kinship with this slightly uncanny man? How odd.
"Does it matter if you're human or not?" she asks.
no subject
At the question...he sighs. "Perhaps it shouldn't," he says, stroking behind the cat's ears. "But I grew up believing I was. Enhanced, unusual, yes, but still human. To suddenly find out otherwise...was painful. But to simply not be human might not perhaps have been so significant. It was realizing what I was instead that fractured my mind."
His voice goes rather flat. "The scientists who created me...specialize in producing monsters. I was simply a monster allowed to believe it was human. Created, used, and lied to my entire life."
no subject
"What makes someone a monster?" she asks, canting her head. "Is it how you're made, or raised? Is it how they behave when given the choice? People have called me a demon. From the moment I was born, someone else decided I should be a vessel for a goddess, not my own person. Does that make me a monster? I don't think so."
no subject
The cat gets one last stroke before he straightens, getting back to his feet. (And now it's far more obvious just how tall he is.) Talking about this...doesn't really leave him feeling as though he should be interacting with innocent people or animals. "To be a human isn't monstrous; a human can be anything they choose," he says aloud. "To be an empty vessel isn't monstrous; you contain nothing harmful, and presumably like a human you can determine for yourself what you are as long as you retain your free will. To be a vessel that contains a goddess isn't monstrous, because one assumes a goddess to be benevolent, in which case what you contain is only a force of good. But what can someone so thoroughly blended with a parasitic being hostile to all life, to the point where there's no distinction where one ends and the other begins, actually be other than a monster? At my best, I'm simply a monster that acts against its own nature. I won't say there isn't merit to that...but it doesn't change what I am."
no subject
"I know I'm not going to change how you think of yourself, and I don't know you well enough to make any kind of judgment about you based on any metric I might normally use. But, I do know a few things. I know that the goddess who first carried the heart that's now in my chest was deemed a beast by others, and that the few of her children that survived genocide were declared wicked and corrupt. Meanwhile, the very people who would call me a monster were the same ones conducting experiments on innocent children, turning villagers into demonic beasts. I just finished fighting a war over that. ... Well, not just that, but it's complicated. I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that it's an issue of perspective."
Here, she does something unexpected and extends her hand. Compared to him, she's absolutely tiny.
"You've decided you're a monster, and maybe in some senses you are. I don't mind that so much. I'd actually like to learn more about you. What say you?"
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He looks down at her hand. "Knowing that...is that not enough? Or would you still offer your hand to someone like me?"
no subject
"It's complicated. Sounds like your situation is too. It also sounds a little bit like you're trying to scare me off, but it doesn't bother me. You just said that your mind was broken, and I get it--I've seen that before. You also said that the virus used you to do horrible things. Would you have done those things on your own? If not, let's be friends. We all need as many as we can get in a place like this."
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He hesitates briefly, then steps forward, stretching out a gloved hand to take hers. "But if you are still truly interested...then I won't second-guess your resolve. Having told you what you need to know to make the decision, that choice is yours."
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She releases his hand before it can become awkward and nods at his question, stepping carefully as a very long cat winds around her legs.
"Fishing is my favorite hobby. You should come with me sometime--it's very relaxing."
no subject
Considering what he's already said, it's perhaps not surprising that he says 'was enlisted' as though it were a passive process he had no personal say in.
"I'd be happy to go fishing with you, however." He nods to her. "It would be interesting to try."
no subject
Perhaps it's best not to dwell on it, as there's nothing that can be done to change the past--only ways to cope with it.
Like fishing.
"It's enjoyable. We could invite the other me as well. I'm sure he'd be interested."
no subject
At least he seems to have a grasp of what actually makes up a fishing rod.