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⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.
A team of four courageous adventurers managed to unearth a secret Area unique from the others: the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Unlike other Areas, this one is lacking all the usual monsters, dungeons, and treasure. What might the purpose of this Area be, then...?
Well, if you’re feeling penitent or perhaps wish to hold a sermon of your own, head to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and knock yourself out. What? Too soon?
Anyway, be not afraid! The cathedral is perfectly safe. Following Ganymede’s little incident in the cathedral, a timely email has been sent out to beta testers regarding health and safety that reads as follows:
To our beta team,
Please exercise caution when playing video games for extended periods of time. Take breaks every thirty minutes and do not sit in the same position for more than two hours at a time. Remember to stay hydrated and play in a well-lit environment.
Failing to take care of your health while gaming can result in a litany of health complications, including but not limited to eye strain, muscle fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and involuntary loss of consciousness and motor functions.
We take the health and safety of our beta testers very seriously. If you have any concerns, please contact us at cccorp.ccmail.com.
Thank you for your continued efforts,
CyberConnect Corporation of Japan.
Guilds have been patched into the current version of Fragment and are now available for players to create their own and join others. While some guilds have opted to go the private route, others are in need of players to fill their ranks!
The admins have kindly supplied those recruiting for their shiny new guilds with a number of goodies to aid in their player gathering efforts:⬣ A bundle of personalized flyers proudly displaying their guild logo and a description of the guild’s @ home and available amenities.
⬣ Party poppers and streamers. Nothing screams “join my guild!” like a face full of glitter, confetti, and colorful strips of ribbon.
⬣ A megaphone that lets your voice echo far and wide, even across Root Towns and Areas, but with great potential for abuse comes restrictions! The megaphone can only be used five times before it breaks. Use it wisely!
⬣ A unique recipe for a cocktail, latte, tea, or other type of beverage that can be blended up and served in little sample cups to court potential members. These drinks are unique to their guilds and, when consumed, have a special effect that reflects the leader of that guild. Is your guild leader a pretty cheerful guy? Drinking their special brew will make you feel happy too!
Whatever effect your guild’s drink has is up to the leader’s discretion, but if you so desire, drop a comment under the questions top level and we’ll brew one up for you.
Additionally, you may host a guild open house and invite potential guildies into your @ home to let them take a look around! Guild @ homes are typically locked to guild members & their guests only, so use this as your opportunity to put your best foot forward and impress the world with everything your guild has to offer.
Also arriving with the newest update are mountable Grunties! Aren’t they cute? ...Well, they’re someone’s definition of cute.
While the ability to ride around town and in Areas at 2x speed is certainly alluring, you can’t just walk up to the Grunty Ranch located in each Root Town and take one out for a stroll. If you want a mount of your very own, you’ve got to commit! Becoming a proud Grunty owner means you must first become a proud Grunty parent, and to do that, you’ll need to raise your Grunty from infancy into adulthood.
Just what kind of adult might your Grunty become? That depends on how you raise them and what you feed them. Those strange "foods" popping up all over Areas might not taste good to you, but they sure do to Grunties!
For more information on how to acquire a baby Grunty of your very own and raise it into a proper — or not so proper — member of Grunty society, head on over to the Grunty Ranch.
Mac Anu, the City of Twilight known for its gentle ocean breezes, has been uncharacteristically warm lately. Very, very warm. Its usual orange skies have been swapped out for vivid blues, the sun dwelling high in the sky and threatening to burn everything in its wake.
It won’t take much wandering to feel the effects of heat exhaustion sink in, and even after you log out for the day, those symptoms seem to linger. Do Hien and Zelkova know what the hell is going on? Of course not. Unusual occurrences are slowly becoming the norm in Fragment, it seems, but the point of a beta test is to work out any kinks. Report it and move on.
Lumina Cloth is similarly affected by unusual weather phenomena, but it’s much more pleasant and hospitable than poor Mac Anu. The sun hangs just above the horizon, bathing the strip in early evening light. It’s much cooler here too, and what’s more, it appears that a carnival has rolled into town. What fun!
All the usual carnival fare is here: greasy fried foods, drinks served in foot long glasses, and a litany of carnival games that are totally not rigged. Entry is free and so are the prizes, but some of them take a bit of legwork to win.
⬣ Successfully PK another player to win the carnival exclusive Thursday The 12th™ skin. PK’d players will receive an appropriately spooky ghost skin of their own!
⬣ Step on up to the dunk tank and get dunked on to win a sexy swimsuit skin! Both the dunkers and the dunkees will win this skin, but only those who successfully dunk the player in the tank will be rewarded with the chance to show off some skin. The appearance this skin takes is dependent on the player wearing it, so have fun and get creative with it!
⬣ Take a trip through the hall of mirrors with a friend and do some reflecting! Stare too long into the mirrors and you might recall a memory that doesn’t belong to you, but to the person venturing through the hall of mirrors with you. Did that really happen? Surely it’s all in your head. Memories available for memshare are limited to the ones listed on your application.
Additional rewards include giant plush monsters that can be used to decorate guild @ homes and private rooms (limit one per player!) and a pet goldfish that, unfortunately, will die a hero’s tragic death within a week. Womp womp.
We’ve had a busy week! It seems like there was a glitch that allowed players to equip other players as weapons, which resulted in a ten player chain, wielded by none other than our hardworking head administrator, Hien! I’ll have a talk with him about not doing this kind of thing in the future, I promise!
That wasn’t all, though. An unknown entity reached out to the players participating in the ten-player chain and issued them a special title: Good Friends Stick Together. Fragment’s not supposed to have titles. Well, at least not in the beta. But you can go ahead and add it to your name if you want to anyway, and it shouldn’t cause any problems! We still can’t pinpoint who sent those messages and how they overrode the permissions to create those titles in the first place, but... Hmm. I don’t want to start any rumors, so I’ll keep looking into it.
There are those armor sets too, which I didn’t know had been handed out to those of you that reached level 25. Oria brought it to our attention, thankfully! There’s not a whole lot we can do about it now, but we know that some of them are pretty invasive. But knowing is half the battle, right?
Our friend Ganymede suffered an accident recently that had him lying unconscious in the hospital for about a day. He seems to be feeling better now, thankfully. Ḩ̵̲̼͆̃͐̆ò̸̧̰͕̥̈́͒̕͜p̷̫͙̯͇̾̄͜ę̸̹̒f̷̠̭͉̱̅͘ǘ̴͎̙̥̭̈́̈́l̵͇̙͍̳̜̇̓̒l̷̬̲̀̆̈̅̂ͅỳ̵̧̻̖ ̷̠̫̭̰̦̋͗h̴̰͕̑͗e̸̦̼͇̾͘ ̴̡̢̝̺̳̊̎̎̔p̴̳̠̼̜͔̂̅̐à̵͕̹̟ͅỹ̴̡̛͝s̶͉̕ ̴̢͕̬̑̆̕͝b̸̹̲͗͒̊͑͠ē̶̛͖͠ṯ̸̻̺́͒͐t̶̻͕͎̑ĕ̶̖̀͗͛͋r̷͙̗̙̲͙̓̚͝ ̷̻̠͉̈́̚a̷̡̙̳̽́̀̋̔ẗ̴̢̨̛̬̺t̴͖̳͝ē̷͇̆͆̍̚ͅn̵̪̜͉͊̉̔̄͐t̵͕̼͈̓͋̈́̕î̷̬o̸͇̐͋͑͌n̶̟̫̟̽̑͒͐͘ ̷̜̈́̈̀̂̎t̶͙̂͛ô̸̠̜ ̶̫͎̎h̶͖̳͛i̸̗͖̖̅̂͆̄͛s̸͔̈́̇̍ ̸̩̗̻̕s̵̬̼̳̲̞͝ù̸̞̺̣͙̾͒͛ŗ̴̻̟̻̭̂̈́r̶̡͈̲̣̣͋̊͗̕o̶̥̝̮̓ų̴̻̯̬̊̑̑͌̉ͅn̶̢̙̦͔͖̈̒͝d̷̰̼̤̥̃̿͒̌̎i̸̯͑̾͊̑͝n̵̦͐g̸̪̾͝͝s̷̛̝͙̣̹̍͛͝ ̸͔̲̠̩͗̓̀͘a̷̛̼̓̈́͊ṅ̵̥͆̎ḑ̶̨̯̱͍̇ ̷̛̗̮̀̆ḧ̴̼̪́͗͝i̵͓̬̤͂͐͒s̶̮̎̿̃ ̴̛͔̋͗̽h̷̝͑ͅē̴̱ȃ̵̝͎ͅļ̷͍̀͐͊̊̽ẗ̸̼̺̟̥̼́̄͛h̶̥̹̬̮̽̅ ̷̟̖̮͛́̿t̸̢̤̤̂͒͋̍o̶̼̟̓ ̵̥̳͙̖̆̈́ả̶̛̳̱͙̖̩̿̽͘v̴͈͉͖͊͘ỏ̶̤͚̅͑͝i̴̱͈̩̳̳̿̇̕͠ḏ̵͙̮͗͆ ̶̯̭̝̹̯͊s̸͍̰͔̔̀͋͋̐u̷̟̠͑̔̏̚c̵̨͖͉͇̀͆͘ͅh̴̨̓͌̄̈ ̶̧̱̻̼̏̃̃i̷̱͉͈̿̎̋͒͜͝n̴̢͓͍̂͝͠c̷̢̢̛̹͚̑̓̅ͅi̶͕̟̻̘̫̾͌d̶͉͉̏̇e̵͉̱̩̯̤͐̎̉̾n̸̡̠̈͜ţ̴̇͑̈́͘s̵̩̼͔̙̙̉͘ ̵̮̯̞̮̾̈́͋̔̈h̵̡̗͉͉͈̉̐̅̚ȁ̵͖͚̖̾p̸̰̬͖̩̀̈́̆̓p̶̢̛̼̈́͆̒͘ͅe̷̟̘̩̲̻̾̊n̵̨̩̜̟͆͘i̵̙͉̺̮͠ͅṋ̷̆ġ̶͙͚ ̴̩̋à̷̄̑̂͝ͅǧ̵͖̜͍͕̒̑͒a̷̧̛̞͐̃̈́͘i̷̯͉̬̯̽̍n̷̘̝͓̽̅̕!̵̩͑
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It's such a pretty drink. [ Tilting it this way and that, before taking another drink. ] Citrusy! And a little strong. I really like it!
[ Tylor slides over close to his beautiful friend, affection levels increasing as he offers Hani a sip of his own drink. ]
Have you gotten to try the fruits of your labor?
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Not yet - I've only tasted the ingredients separately. [ unsurprisingly, the piney apple left the strongest impression. truly one of the fruits of all time. and since justy is offering, hani takes a delicate sip from his drink. ] Hmm! Tylor-kun, you have good taste.
[ hani doesn't feel all that different, if the drink is supposed to do anything - but ah, now that they're focused on justy... hani reaches out to tap his nose. ] Boop! Handsome!
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[ Tylor blinks at the boop, laughing lightly. In playful retaliation, Tylor leans over to kiss Hani on the cheek. A cheeky peck. ]
Beautiful!
[ But he leans back enough to take another sip of his glass almost as soon as he'd leaned over in the first place. Of course, he'll still offer the next one to Hani because there's something fun about sharing like this. ]
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they accept the compliment and the kiss. those, too, are natural. ]
Haha, this is cute. [ trading sips is fun; kisses are fun. justy is fun. very quickly, hani loses interest in brewing more cocktails. they focus all their attention on him. ] Did you do anything fun today?
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[ Affection comes naturally to Justy too. Though this is a little more than he'd bestow upon most, this is still Hani. And it feels all the more natural on his end too, to snuggle up close to them in the kitchen to share a cocktail together, indirectly kissing like they don't know what their real lips feel like.
He whispers like another guild leader might overhear: ] I like yours the most.
[ He takes a sip, dropping the whisper to ask-- ] Did you spend the day setting all this up?
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[ not a whisper anymore, they simply keep their voice low and soft. the words drift between the space they share.]
I didn't think it would take so long, but there was the house, the bots, then the drinks. This game sure gives you a lot to do. [ glossing over some of that. ] Lots of alcohol, but you aren't drunk yet?
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[ Which could mean so many things, said the playful way he says it. But this is Justy and it doesn't. ]
Oh, well I sure was earlier. And I probably will be again, too! [ He says it happily, taking his sip turn.
A pause, before: ]
Actually, I think it might wear off faster in game.
But it's almost [ He says as he reaches for Hani's free hand if they have one. ] as good as real life.
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they want a little more than that, too. so they take their sip and lean in to kiss him. soft, coaxing him to open for them. they should taste the same since they’re sharing a drink, but - ]
Hm, almost. But you taste different here.
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A natural but fleeting feeling; he's sure it tastes sweeter from Hani's mouth. There's no resistance against the urge to tell them almost exactly that. ]
Do I? Well, I think you taste just as sweet.
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No, Tylor-kun… Justy-kun. [ hani sighs into another kiss, drawing their lips and tongues together again. a thorough second taste. just to make sure. ] Different compared to this past weekend.
[ tylor and justy taste different. ]
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How so? Because I still think you taste sweet, like Hani.
[ He says it like honey, leaning over to kiss their joined hands, even if they're still over Hani's heart. ]
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I’m not sure how to explain. I don’t think two kisses is enough of a sample size.
[ these are scientific kisses. and then to remind him: ]
That honey tasted different, too.
[ from this hani. ]
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[ Asked innocently even as he moves from sip to kissing the side of Hani's mouth while they're still forming words. ]
But you liked it.
[ He teases, smile pressed to Hani's with no small measure of comfortable, companionable, joy. The type of closeness that, even for Tylor, takes a hot, humid afternoon to achieve. ]
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and if he smiles like that against their lips, how could hani bear to pull back. some things are just impossible in this moment, they think. or try to think. it’s hard to focus on anything but chasing the curve of justy’s smile, the warm of his breath. if they could just take some of that and keep it for a moment.
mmm. yes, just a moment more. or two. or three. ]
should* 😫
He'll try to escape the sweet trap, but only for a sip and the offer of a sip. Please free his hand of this delicious burden. ]
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their heart has gone from steady beats to a needy rhythm. pa-pow, pa-pow. they bite their tingling lips and try to remember… remember… what they were talking about. ]
…?
[ oh, their hands…? hani bring them to their lips, brushes a kiss on justy’s knuckles, up his long fingers. gentle, so gentle. they let go at last, but not before a sharp, petulant nip to one of his fingertips. that’s how they feel about this little break. ]
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As he does that, Tylor leans in further to press a quick and playful kiss to Hani's ear. His own nip of teeth is the promise of a reward for finishing their drink. Knowing Tylor, he'll indulge Hani anyway either way. ]
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hani turns their head to give him more access. they'll leave it to him to brush their long hair aside as they drink, lips overlapping the spot he had sipped from.
belatedly they agree with what he said earlier: ]
... I did like it. I do like it.
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He was cavalier before, not caring if a few long strands were trapped between soft skin or enamel. But his free hand sneaks up, knuckles brushing lightly along their jaw to clear the path for his mouth to trail behind all the way to the shell of their ear. Light and easy, not unlike real life.
Only now, his volume lowers, letting Hani feel the contented words as much as hear them at their ear. Lazy and comfortable, his arm returns to rest around their waist. ]
I know. But it still makes me happy to hear it.
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their hands itch to touch more than the cool cocktail glass.
if that’s where his focus lies… ]
…Marks? [ were his still there? the ones they left him, the ones he left them. ] Will they show on these bodies?
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[ But it is hard to check beneath his super cool starry sky armor, so he casually switches skins to his maid dress. Reaching up, he isn't careful as he undoes a couple buttons and tugs to look. His upper chest and collar bones are unmarred by Hani's real life mouth. ]
Well, I guess not.
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[ a shame that the limitations of this game would come for them like this, when it’s been so responsive and realistic otherwise.
hani forgoes another sip, eyes caught on justy’s chest. they run a pensive finger once around the rim. cold condensation wets the tip of their finger. and since it’s already wet, well… they dip it into the liquid itself.
there, they remember. this spot by justy’s left collarbone. they press on it, leaving behind a smear tinged with purple. ]
Then we’ll have to try again, I think.
[ a simple enough explanation for what they believe is a pretty rational line of thought. it’s their turn to push justy back, mouth descending on that exact spot. ]
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I wonder if it will wo--[ Hani descends and Tylor almost loses the end of his word. ]--rk
[ He's just as sensitive online, hand reaching to lightly bury his fingers in long hair. The pressure is grounding more than demanding, a gentle pressure at their nape. His legs squirm, his fingers curl and ticklish giggles start to well up if Hani stays in one place too long. ]
i think we’re doing this backwards lmao…
every time justy starts giggling, they scratch him lightly with their nails. always a different, equally sensitive location. a little bit of a reward, but partly a punishment for trying to distract them.
they make their way back up to lick his adam’s apple, suckling the skin right underneath it. there wasn’t a mark there before, but this is extra. pulling back with a pop, they lick their already glistening lips and whisper a question: ]
Where else, Justy-kun? Show me?
oop
He wouldn't bother to hold it in usually. But this is Hani. And this is another fun game to play. The guild leader and the head maid, how scandalous. ]
Right. Here?
[ Breathy but not shy, he pulls slightly at his maid dress, showing more of his chest, his upper torso. Even in spots they both know would be new. An in game special. ]
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did you know < a hred > is an html tag
no but i already know what the d stands for. belated nsfw weeps
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