⬣//A BRIEF REPRIEVE

[cccorp]

>>Look at me.

⬣//BREATHE. EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY.

This is your Official™ catch-all log for the month of November. While the boss battles rage on, those of you who are looking to disengage from combat and kick your feet up for a spell can do so here.

Post your open prompts in this post. Closed starters may also be posted here or on @Altimit, but all open posts belong here in this log. Lawbreakers will be bent over the modly knee and paddled into compliance. Thank you.

>>Navigation

Comments

QUESTIONS?

[cccorp]

NPC - HEAD ADMIN

[selfconcept]

[ Please comment under the respective header depending on the time. Thanks! ]

Nov 4 - Nov 10

[selfconcept]

[ For those of you who are looking for Hien, there is a note in the Wanderhalle Library and the NPCs at the dog park will tell them the same thing--the head administrator is in Morrigu Barrow Wall, the keywords being ΔHidden Forbidden Bulwark. Go on, there's nothing about strange about it.

At the location high up in the mountains, there is a patch of greenery in front of a large, intimidating stone wall that has long eroded with time. The air is crisp and refreshing. There may be ruins near the wall, but those aren't the focus today. Hien, with his usual attire of a big black cloak with a hood with black shirt and pants--grim reaper-coded ever since the beginning of the beta--is seen with his head tilted up to look at a giant wisteria tree and a magnolia tree side by side. His full head is still wrapped with bandages apart from the sole eye hole with his usual dead-looking black eye. He's always been like this.

When the petals fall, they go through him, just as ethereal as the real thing. The flower trees that are before Hien aren't real, akin to holographic images, but they look real. They can't be touched and any part of the flower and tree can't be gathered. They're merely an image. His little black pomeranian puppy, Rem, prances around the soft grass while trying to paw at the trees, but it goes through them.

The smoky black halo above his head has moved behind Hien's head now instead of being above the head and it occasionally looks as if something is trying to protrude out of it at random intervals in random places of the smoky halo. Just like the trees, the halo is untouchable. Those had seen Hien with it before are able to note that it's grown larger to the diameter of two heads. Hien's back is turned towards where the players would be warping in, but sometimes you might see a realistic eye in the center of the smoky halo that stares at you for a second before it quickly disappears.

Other than that, feel free to message Hien at his inbox! ]

patch 8.0

[dissimulative]

i - max profession level

[ On the 4th, we look at Oriade in Training Grounds, someone who was obviously in Fragment all along, lived and breathed monster kills and always kept himself busy with tinkering with various profession jobs. Today, he's messing with chef and blacksmith, having several guns by his side that he earned from Area Explorations: Dimension, Seventh Seal, Gun Blossom, and Gun Luna.

1) He can be seen testing a shot with each gun at the dummy, inflicting them with either poison, burn, infatuation, or frozen depending on the gun. It shows a little debuff marker on them.

2) He's off to the side, not getting in anyone's way in the Training Grounds while staring at the new item that dropped from Macha and Tarvos's battle. It's a segment of a torn insect wing with an eyeball-like pattern. Oriade looks rather exasperated at it while holding a cup of the usual creamy herbal tea. ]

I'm just making tea! Why are you so offended? Christ.

[ The eyes still look pissed off, but Oriade looks like a lunatic talking to a piece of an insect wing, so who's the real winner here... ]


wildcard

[ HIT ME WITH ANYTHING YOU GOT!! ]

i - max profession level;

[ganymed]

[ Fragment feels like a home all along, though Ganymede knows he can't be inclined to be satisfied with that either. Notes which seem foreign to him, of a distant other world that is too far from his grasp.

In the end, the question remains:

Which one is real?

What if he accepts neither world as real? When he can't even remember the original name, only having tracks to rely on places that exist there that are not present here? And yet, here he is, looking at Oria having trouble with tea. Some things remain more simple and less troubling, it seems... ]

What are you even doing...?

[worldbent]

[A finger jabs into the smoky eye in the midst of the halo, touching nothing, but perhaps chasing away its contents. Menace.]

[After a brief chuckle, Matoba glances over towards the flickering holograms of the trees.]

I dislike that name, you know.

[selfconcept]

[ :'( The eye disappears in fear of Matoba. Fiend.

Hien turns his head to look at him, finally taking a break from looking at the trees. ]

Do you? I like the meaning.

[ He coded himself a book about flower meanings once, since he was curious. ]

... Well, the book had tons of meanings, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be "undying devotion".

[worldbent]

Oh?

[Matoba's small, troublesome smile curls further, his eye trailing off to the side in some thoughtful show of mischief.] Do you think that sounds like me?

[He hates the idea of being thought of that way, regardless of how true it is.]

[dissimulative]

Ah, Ganymede!

[ Some things must remain simple, because if it isn't, nothing will ever be simple again. ]

This bug wing is glaring at me. I got it from Tarvos... I think everyone got one.

[ He holds it up for Ganymede to see with its million eyes on the wing pattern. They look mad. ]

[selfconcept]

You certainly are devoted.

[ ... ]

I also like devotion.

[ The one time when Matoba offered to kill someone who framed him was really hot, but he can barely remember the details of the particular situation of the framing. ]

[worldbent]

Hmm.

[He clasps his hands behind his back and glances up at the trailing petals of the wisteria.] Are you sure you aren't just assigning to me that which you want to see?

...I think that these trees had a meaning to me at one time. But I don't remember it anymore. So, [He nods towards the magnolia.] what about that one? Tell me about it.

[selfconcept]

... Maybe I am, but it's not wrong.

[ Despite the tree having no particular meaning to Matoba anymore, it means something to Hien. Probably--no, definitely. He'll hold the feelings here and let them anchor so that his deterioration can't get at them. He'll hold onto it as long as he lives. ]

At first, I picked it because it looked nice. But then I read this section in the book... "The magnolia has adapted to changing climate changes and geological conditions over the years and survived. The toughness of the magnolia has also caused it to be used to symbolize endurance and long life."

[ Then he looks over at Matoba. ]

This, too... is for you.

[ Of what he hopes it to be. ]

[worldbent]

[Looking up at the branches of the Magnolia, then meeting Hien's eyes, Matoba wears an expression that seems apprehensive, or maybe disappointed. This man....]

[Surely, he already knows, doesn't he? How this experiment is going to end.]

[They'd both written so much about themselves- who they supposedly were, in the world that supposedly existed outside of Fragment. They'd written in order to remember themselves, but also for others to remember.]

[That was progeny, too- the proliferation of ideas. Of memories. Of stories. Humans want to be remembered.]

[Matoba steps closer, reaching out to lay a hand against Hien's chest, to tilt his head against his shoulder and close his eye. It was comfortable. Even if he couldn't remember the reasons why, Hien was always comforting to him.]

What sense does it make to plant two for me? Plant something for yourself, you idiot man.

[selfconcept]

The magnolia for myself wouldn't make sense. We know what's happening to me.

[ He's deteriorating. He barely has any Fragment memories now. ]

So I hope that you'll make it to the end.

[worldbent]

You think you won't be fixed?

[He knows he won't. He knows none of them will.]

Selfish man. Do you think I'd be happy about that?

[selfconcept]

No, but... it's too late for me.

[ At least Hien thinks so. There's no coming back from this. ]

And you're needed.

[worldbent]

Then plant something I can remember you by.

[Stubborn ass. He lifts his head to look up at him.]

What's the point of having trees that only remind me of myself?

[selfconcept]

[ Hien was about to quip that it's not even a real tree, but... ]

Then, you. Pick something for me. What do you think would suit me?

[ Or perhaps the magnolias already fit him with the "enduring" meaning. ]

[worldbent]

Hummmm.... I'm not too good with this sort of thing, you know, Hien-kun......

[He turns his head away with another mischievous smile, but then he turns back again.]

It isn't a tree, but.... bluebells. Ah! How about an apple tree? [He just wants to eat it, doesn't he.]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien has no idea what a bluebell is but he'll look it up later. Apple tree though. Really—is what Hien's expression seems to say. Despite that, he codes an apple into his hand and holds it to Matoba. ]

For you, since you're craving.

[worldbent]

[Don't give him that look!]

You asked, [He responds, miffed, but he takes the apple anyway and crunches in with a bite. Ahh... a little taste of fall, even though they're trapped in VR Hell.]

How do you know so much about flowers, Hien-kun? You mentioned a book....

[selfconcept]

It was a fleeting curiosity after I wrote up the botany and cooking guides for Fragment. That's all.

[ Hien looks over at Matoba. ]

I always think about you.

[worldbent]

Hoh? Can I read it?

[Hien-kun's guides.... Well, the cooking one will be utterly useless, but at least maybe the flower meanings will be....]

[He pauses with his mouth over the apple, looking at Hien with uncertainty. He finishes crunching into it, and chews a little before asking,] Because I'm incompetent at cooking?

[He's teasing. He knows that's not what he meant (but what the hell did he mean?)]

[ganymed]

[ Isn't that the truth? ]

R-really...?

[ Ganymede backs up when he holds up the thing. Yikes! Also, it looks gross. ]

That looks so creepy. I can't believe we got something like this from Tarvos! What was up with that?

[selfconcept]

[ Hien quietly sighs and looks back up at the wisteria tree. ]

Because I like you. Stupid.

[ Despite that, he hands over "Fragment's Guide for Botany" to Matoba after coding it into existence. It lists all the possible gathering materials under the botanist profession, pretty sketches for visual of each item, what they could be used for, where they're found, and possible substitute ingredients to use them for real life things that can't be found in Fragment for the freewheeling chefs. Each page regarding each item is very detailed and it looks like a lot of effort went into making the guide. ]