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TDM #12
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 might be 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 active medical staff, the voice of The Peacekeeper is also 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 twelfth Amani TDM!
WHEN
July 26th, 2023 (and until the next TDM!)
KINKS OF THE MONTH
★ Voyeurism/ Exhibitionism
★ Public Sex
★ Group sex
★ Temperature Play
★ Sexual Exhaustion
★ Public Sex
★ Group sex
★ Temperature Play
★ Sexual Exhaustion
WHAT'S YOUR DTF STATUS?
If the main hub and its features 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 visit the training grounds, music lounge, library, and onsen. Also, feel free to leave an offering for the resident deity of sleep (Hypnos) at his shrine! 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. Even if you do complain, The Peacekeeper will encourage others to set off and find their own place to live out in the simulation.
Granted, the housing market in the afterlife isn't exactly robust. It doesn't help that every place you find has a leaky roof or broken window. No, unfortunately that will 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.
SUMMMER OF TRANSFORMATION
One summer morning, inhabitants will be greeted not by the artificial rhythmic chimes of The Peacekeeper's announcement but instead a more natural one. It is the sound of a wind chime; specifically, the source will be a furin (or furins, for multiple-people households) that seems to be customized to suit whoever it belongs to.
The slip of paper attached to the bottom also is an invitation. Inhabitants are being invited to Hiromitsu's worldwide summer matsuri - festival, for those who might not be aware! - in mid-August. In order to help you all prepare, this invitation also provides a yokai disguise once activated by someone's touch.
A menu screen will open up on their DTF's main screen hub that allows them to choose a yokai to present as. They're even customizable! In every way you could want. Someone can even mix and match different yokai features if they so desire. After all, hanyo (half-breeds) and hybrids are a thing in Hiromitsu so no one will even bat an eye.
The slip of paper attached to the bottom also is an invitation. Inhabitants are being invited to Hiromitsu's worldwide summer matsuri - festival, for those who might not be aware! - in mid-August. In order to help you all prepare, this invitation also provides a yokai disguise once activated by someone's touch.
A menu screen will open up on their DTF's main screen hub that allows them to choose a yokai to present as. They're even customizable! In every way you could want. Someone can even mix and match different yokai features if they so desire. After all, hanyo (half-breeds) and hybrids are a thing in Hiromitsu so no one will even bat an eye.
PROPHECY, SPEAK TO ME
Out in the ocean waves has also suddenly appeared a Tori gate and a small fleet of ships sailing through them. Between the columns of the gate, all inhabitants can see is a film of golden light that looks as though it is a portal of some kind. Swimming closer will show that the light is actually an iridescent golden sand ever-sifting and moving in intricate, organic patterns.
Passing through will have no effect other than suddenly looking like you've been golden glitter-bombed. Don't worry, it'll wash out!
If someone stares at the gate, they will start to feel strange. At first, it's nothing more than minor auditory and visual hallucinations. Of what? It depends! Someone might see someone familiar in the corner of their eye, hear a voice believed to be long gone, and looking away will dispel the effects.
Staring longer, however, will see something more extreme occurring. Rather than simple hallucinations, inhabitants will see prophetic visions* flash before their eyes. It is brief, alarming, and disorienting. Staring longer again won't bring the vision back no matter how hard someone tries.
Unfortunately, it is fleeting as the hanami of spring and gone in a blink only leaving you with only a sense of unease.
(*NOTE: If your character would stare long enough to see a prophetic vision, comment here to let us know!)
Passing through will have no effect other than suddenly looking like you've been golden glitter-bombed. Don't worry, it'll wash out!
If someone stares at the gate, they will start to feel strange. At first, it's nothing more than minor auditory and visual hallucinations. Of what? It depends! Someone might see someone familiar in the corner of their eye, hear a voice believed to be long gone, and looking away will dispel the effects.
Staring longer, however, will see something more extreme occurring. Rather than simple hallucinations, inhabitants will see prophetic visions* flash before their eyes. It is brief, alarming, and disorienting. Staring longer again won't bring the vision back no matter how hard someone tries.
Unfortunately, it is fleeting as the hanami of spring and gone in a blink only leaving you with only a sense of unease.
(*NOTE: If your character would stare long enough to see a prophetic vision, comment here to let us know!)
FREE SAMPLES
The ships that come upon shore are no more than four or five. Upon each is a yokai and their wares for sale. Although initially confused, they do take stamps as payment... and inhabitants can watch as those stamps convert to an actual form of currency after the transaction. Huh! How about that?
Although limited in what is available, they promise that their full stocks will be accessible when inhabitants visit their homeworld of Hiromitsu.
Although limited in what is available, they promise that their full stocks will be accessible when inhabitants visit their homeworld of Hiromitsu.
- ★ Food » A couple of the vendors have brought some delicious food that no summer matsuri can go without! According to them, anyway. Some are strange, others are "sensual", and then the rest seem to be just regular food!
Inhabitants will be able to find mochi, chocolate-covered bananas, grilled green onions, meat skewers, meat buns, and more! Just be warned: anything that is labeled as not safe for work will have you feeling pretty peaceful before you know it.
★ Kites » One vendor is selling a variety of colorful kites. All of them use a red string though, inhabitants can note, and seem prone to tying people up together. This seems especially true of people who maybe have interest in one another but haven't been brave enough to talk about it. Or maybe they just need to talk in general.
Either way, the line won't untangle without a little bit of good ol' fashioned healthy communication. If you want to make-out first though just to be sure, well, the vendor isn't going to judge any.
★ Goldfish Scooping » Known in Hiromitsu's native language as "Kingyo sukui," this game translates to goldfish scooping. Some inhabitants might remember it from their time before but for those who are new... The object of the game is simple! Using a small paper net, you have to scoop out a goldfish gently but quickly enough to transfer it to a separate bowl before the paper breaks.
These goldfish come in different colors that denote different levels of prizes. Gold earns five (5) stamps, silver earns three (3), and bronze gets one (1). If you fail to get a fish, there is still a consolation prize!
(Please comment here to have your catch RNGed if you'd like to play the game!)
★ Katanuki » The last vendor has a game prepared called katanuki. This game is a lot more difficult than it appears at first glance but not complicated! Using a special candy, the vendor will have shapes pressed into it. Inhabitants have to try to carefully cut out the pressed-on picture with a small needle or pin without breaking it.
If they succeed, they win a prize! These images can be something familiar, sexual, or bizarre! There's no telling what you'll get. Literally. If an inhabitant succeeds in not breaking their picture, it will pop into a real construct rather than the image before their eyes. That phallus you were just carefully carving out? It's now a nice, new dildo in your hands. Enjoy!
SURF'S UP
Remember those baby turtles from a couple of months ago? Well, they aren't babies anymore! Although not as big as their parent, these turtles are now large enough to ride on. In fact, they seem to encourage it! That's right, it's time for some turtle surfing.
As with anything, there is bound to be a learning curve. Each turtle will attune to its rider... just give it some time! Being thrown off or wiping out is to be expected in the beginning. After a while, a bond will form between you and your aquatic pal and you'll be riding the waves in no time at all.
You might even be able to do some fancy tricks as a fun duo with enough practice! Just make sure not to wear your new friend out since they'll need their stamina for the trip to another world with you.
Why can't inhabitants use the ships to sail to Hiromitsu? These ships are only big enough for the yokai and their wares, that's why! If anyone attempts to sneak on or insist, they'll find that it isn't just because of the boat's size though. The fleet is outfitted with anti-theft and anti-yokai measures. What does that mean?
It means that the very boat itself is a yokai and will come (more) alive should anyone it doesn't recognize set foot on its decks. Floorboards with teeth will open up to try and eat someone's feet. Or they might instead shoot up to smack or launch someone into the cold sea water below. Whatever they do, the point should be clear: you aren't their owner or a yokai so get out of here.
As with anything, there is bound to be a learning curve. Each turtle will attune to its rider... just give it some time! Being thrown off or wiping out is to be expected in the beginning. After a while, a bond will form between you and your aquatic pal and you'll be riding the waves in no time at all.
You might even be able to do some fancy tricks as a fun duo with enough practice! Just make sure not to wear your new friend out since they'll need their stamina for the trip to another world with you.
Why can't inhabitants use the ships to sail to Hiromitsu? These ships are only big enough for the yokai and their wares, that's why! If anyone attempts to sneak on or insist, they'll find that it isn't just because of the boat's size though. The fleet is outfitted with anti-theft and anti-yokai measures. What does that mean?
It means that the very boat itself is a yokai and will come (more) alive should anyone it doesn't recognize set foot on its decks. Floorboards with teeth will open up to try and eat someone's feet. Or they might instead shoot up to smack or launch someone into the cold sea water below. Whatever they do, the point should be clear: you aren't their owner or a yokai so get out of here.
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!
★ Please comment to the appropriate threads with your character if you'd like them to receive a prophetic vision or get a reward from the goldfish scooping!
★ The motivational poster in the beginning is of a daruma and the text translates to fall seven times and get up eight! This means, when life knocks you down just get up again and keep on trying!
★ We are currently at 30/40 slots taken! Anyone wishing to claim a character must have an invite from someone currently in the game and follow the proper rules in place to be accepted into the community!
NAVIGATION
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"You almost look like you've grown up a little," he says with a grin. A grin that only widens when Noct awkwardly compliments his looks in return. He reaches up to rub that beard along his jaw. "You don't have to hold back. It suits me, I know."
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Oh, he's missed this. Sure, he banters with Nyx and Prompto, even Ardyn - but there's nothing like the particular energy that always seems to gather between him and Gladio.
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He smirks. "As for wiser - I'll believe it when I see it."
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So - belatedly - Noctis bats Gladio's hand away and scoffs. "You're seeing it right now. I'm wisely taking back that compliment. Your ego clearly doesn't need my help."
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Effectively trapped, Gladio dares to say. Is Noct less wise, or is Gladio more attractive? Either way, he wins.
Looking at Noct, though, feeling the warm familiarity between them that's so much like the old days...a quiet pang of guilt finally manages to get Gladio's attention. It's been strong for a long time, occasionally ebbing but never gone, though Noct's reappearance temporarily drowned it out with shock and joy. But now...it's reminding him that he missed his chance once before, and he's finally been granted another one. He's been wanting another one for years. Is he really going to just goof around with Noct and not say what he's been aching to say?
In other circumstances, with other people, this would be a confession of feelings. And it's not like Gladio doesn't have those, too...but he's spent so long not acting on them that they're like a long-unused piece of furniture in a familiar room - he barely even registers their presence anymore, sidestepping them without a glance. Besides, this would need to be dealt with first regardless."Noct," he says after a moment, grin fading. Then...he suddenly finds himself at a loss for words, not quite sure how to continue with what he wants to say, how he wants to say it. "After Altissia - I'm sorry. Not for pushing you, you needed that, but...I was a mess. A lot of it was venting, not helping. I wasn't in control, and even after I reined it in we never made it right. And then...you were gone." He squeezes Noct's upper arm. "You might've been pissed at me no matter how I told you that you needed to move forward, but...I was wrong, too. You deserved a better Shield." He stands up a little straighter, squaring his shoulders. "One I hope I'm closer to being, after four years. Done a lot of work getting my head out of my ass."
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His brow furrows as Gladio suddenly gets serious. Noct knows what that means - he's been slacking off again somehow. Well, he figures, it's hard to slack off more than puttering around Amani while he's needed in the Crystal...it's not his fault and he doesn't know how to fix it, but he hasn't exactly been trying that hard, either. Or maybe it's about him wandering around a crowded place by himself? Maybe he should've brought Nyx or Prompto with him...
He's about to interrupt when Gladio pauses like he doesn't know how to continue, and Noctis pauses too, starting to doubt his assumption. He's never in his life seen Gladio hesitate to say something. And then all of that falls right out of his head when Gladio finally goes on.
I'm sorry is the last thing Noctis expects to hear. He blinks up at his Shield. ALtissia...it feels like it happened so long ago, now, though the raw emotions from that time still worry at his heart when he's left to his own thoughts for too long. He never really processed them - just put them aside for the greater good. Lucis needed a king, not a grieving boy, and Gladio was the one who forced him to act on what he already knew but couldn't do without help.
But here Gladio is, apologizing - not for doing it, which Noctis would have argued with, but for how he did it. And that, Noct can't really argue with. Over time, he's come to think maybe he needed Gladio to be that harsh, that hurtful, to shock him into motion. Hearing this now from the man himself and looking back on how absolutely crushed and undeserving he felt then, while Prompto hovered around not knowing what to do and Ignis was just trying to deal...Noctis can acknowledge that perhaps what he needed from Gladio then was something else. What, he's not sure, and he agrees that he probably would have lashed out no matter what, but...not like that. He might have felt indignant and pressured, but he wouldn't have felt so alone.
We never made it right. And then...you were gone. Noctis feels it all over again, the pang of - not guilt, exactly, because he knows it wasn't his fault, but - remorse, maybe, over having left the others behind when they needed him most. Them and the whole country, the whole world. And he knows, in his heart, that in some ways it really was his doing.
The touch is grounding. It helps Noctis avoid falling completely into his head despite the turmoil in his mind. Gladio's strong, firm grasp, as reliable and comforting as it has always been. But Noctis' face falls. "Four years?" So Gladio has seen more of the Long Night than Prompto has. More of the world descending into darkness all because Noctis wasn't ready to save it.
But oh...seeing his Shield straighten up like that, hoping he's better, for Noctis...it strikes some chord in the king's heart he didn't know could be struck. So many people are relying on me, he'd thought on his way to the Crystal chamber, and he hates how long it took him to realize that his closest friends were among them, too. They dedicated their lives to him, and what did he give them in return? Guff and reluctance, mostly. It's time for that to change.
He straightens up in turn, lifting his chin and gathering a kind of regal composure about him that Gladio may never have seen from him before.
"Gladio..." He brings his hands up to grasp the other man's arms in return. "Thank you. I...can't imagine what the last four years have been like for you, or for anyone. But I want you to know that I've been working hard, too, to become the king Lucis needs. I know I'm not there yet - it's only been two years for me, and I still have eight more to go. And I know it's because of how long it took me to accept the weight of everything needed of me that it'll take that long before I can return. I could never have gotten even this far without you, my friend. I accept your apology, if you'll promise to stay by my side until it's all over. I have full faith that you've become the best Shield I could ever have."
(So much for 'no compliments for Gladio.')
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But it was just as much because, really, it hadn't exactly mattered. Not in any practical sense. Noct deserved the apology, and so Gladio's focus was on giving him that, and making sure it was the apology he deserved. Even if Noct had thrown it back in his face, even if Gladio had known for a fact Noct would throw it back in his face, it wouldn't have changed what it was Gladio's duty to do. It wouldn't have changed that Noct deserved to hear it, or that Gladio needed to say it - wanted to say it. Of course Gladio wanted a positive response, wanted forgiveness, wanted to make things right between them again; it's impossible not to hope for such things. But that's different from believing he deserves those things, or that an apology would - or should - guarantee them. The apology was never for him or what he wanted. That's not the point of an apology. (Or, at least, not any apology worth making.)
So he'd thought, going into this, that by expecting nothing, he'd essentially prepared himself for anything. That no matter how Noct reacted, he'd be ready for it. But when Noct draws himself up, gives him a look Gladio's never seen before...Gladio's breath stops in his throat for a moment.
For the first time ever, he sees King Regis in Noctis. No - not just King Regis. He sees King Noctis in Noctis. And it's - quite literally, he finds - breathtaking.
Noct's words only underline the impression, but the truth is, Gladio doesn't even need any of them. (He...actually misses quite a few of them, rocked back on his feels as he is.) Just that look, that feeling he'd gotten...it justifies an entire lifetime of service in an instant.
It takes him a moment to even be able to speak, and his throat feels tight when he does. "If you've come this far after only two years, then the world will never have seen a king like you by the time you're done cooking in that crystal." The words try to be light, but the tone is...almost reverent.
"I'm with you to the end and beyond, Noct. You know that."