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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!̵̩͑
cw suicidal ideation mention
He falls silent, giving Yael a long, assessing look. ]
What was your motive for it, Sheza? Why did you kill them?
[ There's no judgement or accusation in his tone—he wants to hear Yael's reasoning. ]
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[His only motivation was staying alive. His only motivation was continuing to sustain himself in the only way he knew how.]
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[ He reaches out to take Yael's hand. ]
But it certainly sounded like you were putting the full blame on your shoulders when it doesn't belong there.
[ That's why he asked. ]
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I'm the one who pulled the trigger. I'm the one who didn't break away when I had the chance. The blame belongs with no one else.
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[ Fai sits up properly, his hold tighter on Yael's hand as he shifts closer. ]
What would have happened if you broke away?
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[As Fai comes closer, Yael curls further and further into himself, but he doesn't withdraw.]
I was young at the time. Scared. If I took the risk and ran from the only life I knew, where the hell would I go?
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How young were you?
[ It explains a lot about Yael, he thinks, and he wonders if this ties into why his fiancee's family didn't accept him. ]
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Inch by inch, he relaxes into Fai's touch. It's not easy. Never has been, acclimating to Fai's touch all the more difficult when his fiancé would hold him just like this. He hopes the prickling in his eyes subsides before Fai moves away. Prays it does.]
Somewhere around ten. I don't really know. When times got tough in the city, a guerilla group was formed under the guise of training up kids for future combat scenarios when they came of age. That didn't happen.
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His fingers lightly stroke Yael's hair, and the passing thought that Yael's ex might have done this too tries to take root in his mind. Fai tries to bat it away, but it's difficult.
...
He needs to focus on the person in front of him, not on the potential past. ]
It rarely does, doesn't it? You were young. I hope you give yourself some slack when it comes to all of this.
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You can hope all you want, but you know me better than that.
[I've been beating myself up over this my entire life.]
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[ And he'll certainly hope—hope that maybe one day, Yael can find true peace, that his heart will finally not feel so heavy. Fai continues to stroke his hair softly, gently. As much as he doesn't feel like he's capable of it, he's good at being gentle. ]
And I'd like to think that you know my opinion of you hasn't changed. I still think you're a good man.
[ He's simply been made to do horrible things. Even if Yael had killed his family, Fai would understand it. That's a sentiment he won't voice aloud, however. ]
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Forgive him for the protracted silence. Vulnerable as he is, Yael isn't confident he can speak without lapsing into tears. Ones he scarcely deserves to shed, mind, but that doesn't stop his body from reacting as it will. Feeling the onset of those tears, pricks in his eyes giving way to swelling heat, his arms fasten tighter.]
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At least, Fai hopes that it does.
He's content to stay here for as long as he needs to, continuing to lightly stroke Yael's hair before eventually wrapping his arms around the tops of his shoulders in turn. ]
Please take it to heart, Sheza. If you can't believe it for yourself, at least believe that I believe it instead.
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[It's a mewl of a question, the sort of question a child might ask in the hopes of hearing a soothing answer in reply. Maybe that's all he is at his core: a child who never grew, one whose scars never fully healed. Yael knows better than to ask questions Fai can't possibly answer, ask him for promises no man can keep, but his heart is a weak thing. Pitifully so. At the height of his anguish, Yael can't help but seek out those empty promises and soothing answers.]
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He doesn't like to make promises he isn't sure he could ever keep. Fai's heart isn't fickle, but it's sensitive and prone to intense heartache with small infractions.
Yet that question is raw and it penetrates his own heart in a way that hurts, that makes his stomach practically drop. It's such a sickeningly intense feeling that he can't answer for a moment or two. ]
I don't want to go away... and you now how stubborn I am.
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Trying to get rid of you would be like trying to pull a thorn out of an ass.
[Have you ever tried pulling a thorn out of your own ass, Fai? Yael doesn't expect Fai to go anywhere, not of his own accord, but not every farewell is one made by choice. No one knows that better than Yael.]
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[ He lets go of Yael before lifting his chin up so he can look at his face... and then he paps his cheeks. ]
I'd like to think you're the same way, though. In as many ways we're different, we do share certain traits too. [ He pauses, grinning. ] Such as you being a weird guy.
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Is this your idea of cheering me up? Calling me weird?
[...]
...Damn. We really are alike. How sad.
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Ah, so you admit that you’re bad at cheering people up too.
[ Fai kneels down and instead starts peppering Yael’s face with smooches—his cheeks, his nose, his forehead. ]
I don’t mind it, though.
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I don't know about that. You're not doing a half bad job right now.
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[ But it’s clear he does, so Fai leans in to briefly press his lips against that smile. ]
But I’m glad you do. Your face is very kissable.
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[But is he denying it? Not when he's leaning into every kiss like a sunflower bending towards the light. Capturing Fai's face in his hands, Yael returns every single kiss— yes, he was counting.]
That's a strange coincidence. So is yours.
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Those returned kisses immediately put that thought out of his mind, however, as he practically giggles. Maybe he should be embarrassed, but ah, he really can’t find it in him to be. ]
This is a little unfair, don’t you think?
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I never said I played fair.
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[ He laughs, playfully shoving at Yael's shoulder to push him away. ]
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