hugtopia_logs | ♥ October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

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♥ October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

kool aid man crashing through a wall then nervously stepping out again

October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

❥ Speaking of Wall Breaking...

The ghosts in town sure are weird, huh? But they're settling down, as the month draws to a close. They're becoming less anxious and random, their behaviour growing sort of… focused. As time passes some of them begin to develop features. They can interact with the world more consistently. You can… hear their voice.

And then suddenly they are people, real and physical and just as confused to be here as you are. They could be anyone, from your world, someone else's world, a place you've never heard of… some of them could even be you, from a different universe, a different timeline, an unknown reality. What does all this mean?

IT'S FOURTH WALL, Y'ALL. Tell your friends, people interested in apping or just playing around in the setting, anybody! Time to break the wall down and have some fun.

This post serves as a replacement for the usual Test Drive Meme, in order to consolidate the chaos a bit. Though it is being posted now, timeline-wise, this shift will occur ONLY during the weekend prior to applications opening: October 30th to November 2nd, after which point characters will either disappear or become permanent residents via the application process. This also means that the rest of the event effects will have worn off, and characters will be their normal selves through the duration of this prompt.

Some ground rules for the 4th Wall event:

For characters/accounts not in-game:

a character does not have to meet application qualifications to post to the 4th Wall Event, except in cases where there is an intent to apply when applications open. Duplicates, CRAU, AU, etc. are permitted for the event.
we do ask that crack shenanigans are reasonably limited, game rules are followed, and that the event involve characters only, not players or real people.
anyone can toplevel! It'll be a free for all. Go wild, have fun.
characters will be given a temporary, low-tech communicator for the duration of the event with limited network access, due to limited availability of the real deal.
you will not arrive with any items/companions beyond the clothes that you wear
check out the Setting or FAQ pages for location details! Also, have a look at the October event log, to see what else is going on these days.

For characters/accounts currently in-game:

players can decide for themselves at the event's conclusion whether or not memories of certain visitors remain, and to what extent; memories could become fuzzy, faces or communication obscured, they could disappear entirely, or they can remain fully intact whether the person apps into the game or not.
network communications with 4th Wall visitors that don't (or can't) app in will be wiped, with the locals citing a data error related to the older communicators being used. Technology can be unpredictable, huh!
any communication exchanges that you WANT to keep can remain with some discretion; for example, if a spouse visits and you happen to take a selfie with them, and they do not (or cannot) app but having that photo of them would give you comfort, feel free to keep it.
Similar to the TDM, 4th wall threads cannot be used for AC or AC Reward purposes unless it is between characters already in-game.

Click the above prompt to expand for details. Timeline-wise, this occurs October 30th to November 2nd. For players currently in-game, if you have any questions, please direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread on the original plotting post.

On this post, we've created both another Questions Thread and a Toplevel thread (see below) for visiting players, the latter so that anyone can track and see who's posted! When you've made a toplevel, feel free to comment HERE to let everyone know.

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[Not entirely unrecognizable by everyone, which she'll find when Noctis sets free an undignified noise at the sight of her by one of the outdoor cafes as he passes in the street. He practically trips over the chairs and tables in the way as he hurries over to her, like he can't believe she's real.]

Luna!?

[Please, please be real-]

—Noctis!

[Her body moves before her brain catches up, hurrying forward, reaching out to him with yearning in her expression. She'd wanted to reach out to him before, as her soul had sank into the watery depths of the afterlife. Would the gods allow her that this time? Would she be able to touch him?

Her palm and fingertips meet the warmth of his arm, and she exhales.]

You're really here.

I should be saying that...

[He shifts to wrap his hand around hers, not satisfied with just a touch to his arm; presumptuous perhaps, but he can't help it. His last true sight of her had been in the dream they'd shared, grieving as she fell into a sea of sylleblossoms and weeds, knowing she was gone but denying it in his heart until Ignis delivered news of her fate. After that had been the moment she revealed herself to him on the train, and he'd half-believed it was just a desperate hallucination, or a parting gift from Shiva. He hadn't been able to touch her either of those times.

To feel her hand on him, tangible and real, nearly drops him to his knees. He blinks rapidly, torn between clenching his eyes shut to keep from openly weeping in public and just- letting himself look at her so she won't vanish from his sight again.]

[A weak, helpless breath of laughter leaves her, and Lunafreya clutches his hand in return, simply marveling that she can.]

I've truly missed you.

[After all this time of waiting and hoping and even resigning herself to the fact that their reunion was not meant to be— to think that it would happen in a world so far from their own. Still charged to be saviors, despite everything they've been through, and yet knowing that she can actually stand beside him to do it this time makes all the difference. He's here with her. She will protect him with all her power instead of guiding him from afar.]

I'm so sorry that I couldn't follow you to the end of your journey.

No- Luna, no. You don't have anything to apologize for.

[That does make him clench his eyes shut, ducking his head and clutching her hand in both of his. To hear her apologize, after she did so much for him, sacrificed her time and energy and even her life to see him succeed- he can't stand it. She didn't do a damn thing wrong.]

I'm the one... I couldn't save you. I couldn't do anything for you... I'm sorry. You deserved so much more.

Noctis...

[She shakes her head though he can't see it, and lets her free hand settle on his shoulder in a silent effort to soothe him, leaning close in a gentle bow.]

Your correspondence over the years was a balm to me in my darkest hours. Knowing you had taken up your mantle despite all the hardships— I felt a kindred spirit in you that I could not find in any other soul. [She closes her eyes and sets her forehead to his mop of hair, as if the proximity would help press her certainty into his thoughts and ease his guilt.] You did more than you know, and it was enough.

[It doesn't feel like enough. It's never felt like enough, in light of everything she's had to go through alone. All the pain he's endured, the grief he's suffered, he always had someone with him to support him. Luna had to do so much on her own. While it's true that receiving their journal and a visit from Umbra always brought him hope on darker days, it's hard to believe that his handful of words each time would have been a fair balance for all she'd sacrificed for him.

He won't deny her, though- it's not like he can decide how she feels just because he doubts his own contributions. Instead he exhales shakily and leans into her touch, comforted as ever by her presence alone. He didn't save her, and he doesn't know what to say, but... if there's anything he can do for her now, he's going to try.]

[She smiles ruefully when she feels him give in, his body losing some of its tension despite how charged with grief the air remains between them. Lunafreya thinks she prefers this to a long discussion anyways. They're in an incredibly public place, with many of the robot people staring curiously at the intense display of emotion, and...more than that, she thinks she needs time to examine her feelings first, before speaking to him about this again.

Everything she's told him just now was absolutely genuine, of course. There were many times where the possibility of seeing his next message was the only good thing about the next day to look forward to. But his words have her wondering if he expected more regret or frustration from her. If not at him, then at the world that had given them their roles to play.

She doesn't feel any of that— and yet she finds herself uncomfortable with confronting the question of whether or not she deserved more. Did she deserve more? With her calling fulfilled and miraculously brought back to life, does she deserve more now? She didn't do her duty or follow her fate to earn a reward, but—

She exhales. Now isn't the right time for such weighty thoughts. Lunafreya is much more interested in comforting Noctis and learning more about him, now that they don't need a notebook to communicate. She continues to gently shelter him from prying eyes, waiting for his breathing to calm down. And once she's ready, she speaks up, quiet and warm.]

Noctis. Would you like to sit with me? I'd like very much to hear what you've done since coming to this world.

[He clings quietly to the offer, some semblance of normalcy in the midst of his tumbling emotions, and with another shaky breath he nods, freeing one hand to surreptitiously brush across his eyes and pull out the chair beside her, sitting down heavily. With clearer eyes he can look at her properly, and at last try to muster up a wan smile.]

Yeah... yeah, of course. A lot's happened...

[Both here, and at home, but he'd rather not talk about that side. Everything had gotten worse and worse since Altissia, and they both deserve a break from all the misery their fate had brought about. And getting into that would mean eventually mentioning Ravus... he's absolutely not going there unless his hand is forced.]

Will you believe it's been over a year since I got here? Time's kind of weird in this world, though you probably guessed that much.

[If she remembers her fate, then she knows it's a miracle for at least a few of them to be here at all.]

[Lunafreya gives him a rueful smile. Yes. She realized that all too well. It's yet to sink in, but the knowledge is certainly there, like a curio on a shelf in the recesses of her mind, set there to be examined at a later time and date.]

A year away from Eos.

[A year away from the turmoil and tragedy of their Star. His tears aside, there's something about him that feels stronger for it. Like the Light inside of him is shining more brightly than it did before. Compared to earlier today—

—by the Six, it'd been earlier today for her. The thought unsettles her. An inexplicable lump grows in her throat, and she sets her hand on top of his, squeezing gently to show affection as much as to give herself a moment to find her voice again.]

I am truly happy for you. It's done you well. As though you've shed some of the weight of your burdens.

[He can't even disagree with her. It should be shameful, pathetic; a king, a man chosen to be a hero of the gods and all of his people, meant to save the world, and he's happier here, healthier here. No one bowing and using titles around him, no expectations or responsibilities beyond those he takes up by his own choice, no gods thundering their demands into his head until he complies with their prophecy. So many of his fears and anxieties have been given room to breathe away from Eos, away from Lucis itself. He's had time to process his fate, come to terms, at least in part, with where his path has led him and where his journey will end, and that he, too, is fated to die. And... to grieve, for those he's lost.

Waking up in this place had been wretched after meeting with Bahamut, but it was better here than alone and sleeping in the Crystal, waiting for it to release him and send him back to his home. Here... he's with his friends, both old and new. His father is nearby, they're getting to know one another better than the weight of the throne ever had allowed when he was growing up. He's found love, something he thought would be forever beyond his reach when Luna's life was unfairly stolen from her and any hope of finding out what she might have felt was gone. And against all odds, he's come to appreciate Ardyn's company, slowly learning what the man was like before he became a monster.

It's been a long road, and he knows he still has so far to go. But he is doing better, so... he just nods, his gaze shifting to the table between them.]

I hope it can do the same for you. You deserve some peace, after everything. I... you don't remember being here before, do you?

[That's the impression he'd gotten thus far, but he's only guessing.]

[She casts her mind back into her memories despite suspecting she would find nothing there of this place. And upon validating that, she shakes her head.]

Unfortunately, no. I'm sorry. [She dips her head down in a mirror of him, exhaling quietly. Losing memories of spending time with him is unfortunate, another line on a list of things that are unsettling her right now.] I would've liked to remember.

[But at least they're here together again, and they can make new memories. She finds some comfort in that.]

Is there something important that I should know about?

[He shakes his head immediately. He doesn't want or need her to apologize, especially not for something she can't help.]

No- not really. I guess just that it might save you some grief, if you'd rather not revisit stuff. Last time I heard about... what happened in Insomnia, while you were there. With my dad, Nyx... Glauca, too. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help.

[He knows it had been to save him, but if he could turn back time he'd still take the risk- he'd go back home, fight the Imperials as hard as he could, find her and his father... at least try to get her out of the city if he couldn't save both. Their journeys had been difficult after Insomnia fell. There was no reason why they couldn't have shared the burden and gone together.]

[She shakes her head again, immediately firm in her absolution of his own guilt.]

You were where you needed to be, Noctis. The Empire would have been far more relentless in their destruction of Insomnia and her people, had they known you were nearby.

[The City had turned into an absolute ruin regardless, but having walked amongst the masses of refugees herself, she knows that it could have been much, much worse. They could've been utterly wiped out. Instead, Insomnia's people had dug into the places where they'd scattered— a network of beaten, but resilient people who had offered her kind words and assistance on more than one occasion along her journey to awaken the Six.]

It would be best to let the memory rest. And yet.

[Lunafreya hesitates. It's unlike her to do so, but it happens anyway.]

Someone once told me before that I should show you the truth of my heart. This is my chance to finally speak freely with you, and yet I would not wish to burden you with my thoughts, either.

[He doesn't argue with her about Insomnia- he was where he needed to be, it's true, but it isn't where he wished he was in retrospect, nor does he have to like it. It isn't really an argument he wants to have, though. What's done is done, and it's not like wishful thinking or regret will change anything. And then she continues, and...

...oh...

This is... the message Gentiana had delivered to him at Ghorovas Rift, he's guessing. The "truth of her heart". It worries him immediately, not because of the words she might say but the answer he'll have to give her. A lot can happen in a year, a lot can change, and the last thing he wants to do is cause her any pain. It would be presumptuous to think he knows for sure what she's getting at, though, and... anyway, it's Luna. She's surely been silenced far too often in her life. He never wants to contribute to that.]

Luna... your thoughts are never going to be a burden on me. If you have something you want to say, I'll listen.

[He has a few things he should probably put on the table, after. He'd be a hypocrite to deny her the same.]

[Fortunately (or unfortunately?) for him, Lunafreya isn't thinking about confessing her feelings. The truth is, with her death still fresh in her mind, and now the memory of Insomnia's fall brought back to the fore, a far more difficult struggle is taking place in her heart. For so long, she served the gods, the people of Eos. Her destiny and the future. The survival of their Star depended on her dedication, and she'd attended to it for her entire life with a restless single-mindedness that people praised her for.

Confronted with the chance to leave all that behind, how does she determine her way forward? Being the Oracle is all she's ever known, all she's ever wanted to do. A savior of the future, instead of a part of it. She would've died— did die— with no complaint, knowing she'd done her Gods-given part.

Now, the different possibilities are so impossibly numerous that it's staggering, and for the first time in a very, very long time...she has no idea what she should do.

Lunafreya glances away for a moment, weighing the decision to speak. She told herself she wouldn't cloud their reunion with such heavy thoughts. But his gentle reassurance is comforting. An open invitation. Lunafreya looks up at him, searching his eyes. Wondering if her question will sound ridiculous.]

Noctis. If I may ask. How did you find your happiness?

[Definitely not the follow-up he'd expected- though in retrospect he hadn't entirely been sure what she'd say, just had an overly-emotional guess based on the word of a goddess weeks after her loss. Surprised or not, he gives her question the thought it deserves. He won't deny that he is happy, particularly these days more often than not, though he's impressed that she could tell with how immediately weepy and pathetic he'd been the few minutes that had passed since he first saw her. He has family here, more friends than he'd ever had in Lucis, found love. He knows the truth of his destiny and while there isn't much happiness to be found in that, there is some... peace, maybe. In knowing what he's meant to do, in learning the end of his journey. He's still wobbling between depression and acceptance on that one.

Her situation doesn't have to be any different from his own. He hasn't died, but he's as close as one can get to it without stepping over the threshold; she's only just passed, and is surely reeling from her own fate the way he had when he'd woken up here with the truth still twisting around in his memories like an angry snake. It takes a while to come to terms with that, and he well and truly understands it by now.

So... happiness. For Luna. He never thought he'd end up as any kind of guiding light for her the way she'd been for him, but hopefully his fumbling answer might give her some comfort.]

Um... I learned how to be selfish, is the short version. It's not very altruistic. [Certainly not for the Chosen King, anointed by the gods, hand-picked by the divine light of the Crystal, blah blah blah.] I decided that at least sometimes, I'd just live for myself. Do what I want to do, say what I want to say. It's a lot easier here. [He offers up a tentative smile.] I'm nobody here. Not a prince, not a Chosen anything. Just Noctis.

[And it's so, so refreshing. People don't know unless someone tells them. There's such incredible freedom to be found in anonymity. She could find that freedom too, if she wanted.]

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♥ October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

!!!

:D!

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