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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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I don't know if I like them. But I don't mind them. Figuring out the attack patterns of a monster I haven't seen before, and surviving it, is a challenge. I don't mind that.
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Is that because you don't know what you like? Or...?
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Yes. But I'm not generally able to like things anymore.
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[ what's being polite and avoiding invasive questions? ]
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I got a brain injury. I lost the capacity to "want." It seems "liking" things is also tied to that brain function neurologically.
If you enjoy liking things, I would recommend against getting this type of brain injury.
( Other types may be okay, though. Always consult your doctor before acquiring a brain injury. )
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[ are people supposed to say, “sorry for your brain injury?” hani doesn’t know, so they don’t say anything about it. but it might also be that they just don’t care. that, too.
they make a contemplative noise, sort of a hum ending on a question. ]
Have you ruled out that maybe you do have the capacity for liking things, just in a way that’s unique to the current you?
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... It seems unlikely. I would have encountered something I liked by now.
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Not necessarily? [ hani shrugs and quickswaps some chocolate out from their inventory. they plop a piece into their mouth and then offer mithrun a piece, too. ] Which version of like are you talking about here?
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There's more than one kind?
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Like this, mm?
[ if met with zero resistance, hani guides the chocolate into his mouth, pushing it in with their thumb. but they’ll back off if he looks uncomfortable at all. ]
There’s liking something, and then there’s liking someone. And then there’s also liking someone in that way, I’m told. Plus now there are more subcategories for you. How your like worked in the past, and how it potential works now. And if it doesn’t work now, how it might in the future! That’s a lot!
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He's listening with consideration, frowning a little as he thinks. His tongue tastes sweet from the chocolate... )
... I suppose that's possible.
( He doesn't feel it is, but the researcher in him can't commit to the concept that anything is 100% certain. )
... Have you ever liked anyone like "that"?
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hani’s pleased to see mithrun eat the little bit of sweets. and he’s being real cute with the way he chews and swallows. probably in a totally normal human way, but it’s the “?” that gets hani. they like it. they want to see it again.
so they lead him, gently, without thinking about it much to one of the many seats and urge him to sit down. if and when he does, they settle in next to him and feed him another piece of chocolate, watching his reaction with great curiosity.
and then they remember his question. ]
No, not at all. It’s probably possible? [ another shrug like they don’t care one way or the other. ]
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They get a "??" reaction. Then, he chews and swallows. )
... I heard someone tell me recently they're incapable of it. I don't know how you'd know for sure, though.
( Testing? He guesses (researcher habits speaking).
And in a similarly disordered manner, he addresses the chocolate thing second, rather than as the more important thing; even then, he addresses it obliquely: )
Do you like chocolate?
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let’s make it three “???” have another piece. ]
That’s true - you can never know for sure. Maybe they just don’t want to and they’re confusing the two. I just haven’t yet, I suppose.
[ they stop with the chocolate at mithrun’s mouth as a familiar girl with golden eyes comes to mind. a blink and the thought’s gone; the chocolate is pushed in with their thumb again. they rub at his lips to remove any of the creamy residue. ]
I love it!
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He does hear what Hani has to say about love, but he seems at odds with what to address (even though "why are you putting things in my mouth" is generally a no-brainer priority for most). He doesn't really have any desire to stop them, and he doesn't really mind. He just doesn't get it. )
... But you're giving it to me.
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We’re sharing. I’m having some, too. See? [ hani licks their thumb. maybe chocolate strawberries next time. for mithrun or for hani or both. ] And it’s because I love you, too, Morgan-kun, Mithrun-kun.
[ now that they think about it, why not just settle for both names. it takes no effort to use both. ]
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This is the most question marks he's had thus far. )
... You love me? ( A beat. ) In what way?
( He presumes it's not in the way Hani said they hadn't felt yet. )
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[ they break off another piece of chocolate for mithrun. ]
I guess not in a normal way! In a weird way. [ or so they've been told. "you can't possibly love everyone." well, people don't try, do they? ]
But it feels normal to me.
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"Normal to me" is an interesting phrase to him. )
... I guess all emotional experience has to be, by definition, subjective. If it's normal for you, it must be normal.
( Normal in itself must be subjective, and different for everyone. Or something. This is why he'll never be able to read people. )
I don't know how I feel about you. But I don't mind that you give me chocolate, for example.
( A whole relationship arrow to Hani that goes "feeds me." )
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Share.
[ a gentle, but firm correction. hani's not giving him chocolate; they're sharing. the distinction is important. ]
I don't think the way you feel about me will affect the way I feel about you in any way - if that's on your mind.
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Share.
( He considers what Hani says after, though, and shakes his head. )
I'm not worried about that. I'd just never thought about how I'd felt about you. But you already have a name for what you feel toward me.
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Oh, is that so? [ absentminded at first until the chocolate goes down. then they focus. ] Do you want to feel any particular way about me from now on?
I decided on how I feel about everyone a long, long time ago. Long before we even met.
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You decided you would love everyone? ( He'll put a pin in the question Hani asked him for the moment. ) Why?
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Hmmm. [ they finish the last piece of the chocolate bar and pull out another one as they answer patiently: ] It's better than deciding to hate everyone! I didn't really know how to feel as a child, but I was curious about people and enjoyed their happiness, so I thought love would be the closest term for it.
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( The question is genuine.
And, returning: )
I don't think I want to feel any particular way about you. But I don't mind you. It's less than love, but it isn't hate.
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