♥ October (Lasohm) Fourth Wall Log

[hugtopiamods]

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.
  

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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.

Comments

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken looks over. That response....could it mean? ]

Did you - have trouble when you got here, too?

[ He's too surprised that his experience is not, in fact, a unique occurrence to realize he might have just come across as incredibly blunt. ]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Blunt for sure! Which is kind of surprising, but not totally unexpected. Nothing Shinji can't take in stride.]

Yeah, it... took a while for me to get used to everything. [For, like, a lot of reasons, but he's tactful enough to not unload any of that on a kid.] It's not a bad thing if it isn't easy.

[ourtomorrow]

I see. That's right, isn't it.

[ Ken is working through this in his head. He'd been blaming himself for reacting badly, for not being over this kind of behavior, but...

Shinji had trouble, too, and was good enough to tell him. ]

A new situation can throw you off.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

That's right, [he gives a small nod of agreement before helpfully suggesting,] especially if you aren't expecting it. You probably didn't think anything like this was going to happen, right?

[No need to be hard on yourself.]

[ourtomorrow]

Not...exactly.

[ Oh, but that might be confusing. ] I've been to other worlds before, but....

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Oh! This wouldn't be the first time Shinji has heard a sentiment like that. It's still pretty unusual, which makes the claim surprising, but at least Ken isn't in a unique boat with that kind of experience.]

You probably didn't intend to come to this world, though, did you?

[That feels like a safe bet to be making.]

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken shakes his head. ] Not consciously.

[ He's not ruling out that he unconsciously wanted this for some reason unknown even to himself. The alternative seems more likely, the beings in charge selecting him and summoning him, but...

That leaves "why him" unexplained..... ]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[It's a good question, Ken. But, for now, let's focus on things we can actually get answers to.]

Then it's no surprise that ending up here is a shock.

[Surely, that would be the typical reaction for a lot of people, he thinks.]

If it takes some time to deal with, that's okay. If you can think of anything that might help you, like... something to eat, or a drink of water, things like that I can help with.

[ourtomorrow]

[ He's doing this much....!!

Ken considers this. Something that would help him. Something that would keep him from being overwhelmed by himself. Something he can do now.

--There's a lot. Both "if he's going to be living in this world" tasks, and "what is expected of me by destiny?" tasks. But.

But.

Ken doesn't speak up yet. But the hesitation leaves his face, and his shoulders set. ]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[That's fine! Even if it takes a while for him to come up with some kind of answer, Shinji's more than willing to be patient. There's any number of things he could ask for at the moment, and even if Shinji did narrow it down to a more physical scope of 'something to help ground him', that doesn't mean it's a route that Ken has to take.

His own expression seems to ease up on some of the worry present when Ken seems to reach some kind of conclusion. He angles his head very subtly in curiosity, pausing a beat before speaking up,]

Anything you can think of.

[He'll do his best to help.]

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken speaks slowly, deliberately. ]

I know it's unlikely. But, it's possible someone else from my world arrived too.

[ And in that case - ]

I have to find him.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Ahh, an ambitious endeavor, right off the bat. Shinji gives a little nod of understanding, though the fact that, yeah, it isn't a guaranteed thing that anyone Ken knows might have come with him does really jump out. If Ken already understands that, though, there's no real need to emphasize it right now.

And even then, if he wants to try looking, that isn't a bad place to start. It could yield results, but more importantly, it will give him something to do.]

I can help you look, if you'd like. I know this place pretty well, so I can make sure you don't end up lost.

[ourtomorrow]

I'd appreciate that.

[ He still needs to be able to find his way to his lodgings when that time comes. But Wormmon first. ]

Though....

Where should we begin to search?

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Good priorities.]

We could check the temples first. That's where a lot of newcomers end up, your friend could be in one of them.

[ourtomorrow]

Got it.

[ He doesn't know which temple would be most likely. But if they check all of them, that would make up for it, right?

.....What would it mean if Wormmon had been chosen by a different god? Why? ]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Checking them all is pretty much the plan from here, no sense in stopping short if they don't find this friend after just one or two places.

Shinji shifts his weight a little bit, ready to leave whenever Ken seems to be as well, but not wanting to necessarily lead the charge just in case he needs another moment or two to gather himself up enough.]

What does your friend look like?

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken's ready to go. And has an answer fairly quickly too, now that he has something to funnel his focus towards instead of spiraling. ]

Green. With ten legs. About this large.

[ Apparently they're looking for some...one....the size of a small dog or an absolute unit of a cat. ]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Very ready with just. a totally unexpected answer. 'Green' isn't completely weird, given the kinds of people Shinji's run into here. 'Ten legs' is. Uh. Surely someone like that would have caused a stir upon arrival??

He's taken aback for only as long as it takes for Ken to drop that piece of information and the follow-up. Okay, okay. Clearly his assumption that they will be looking for a human-someone was a hasty conclusion to be jumping to. He gives a small nod of understanding, though not one that's completely free of bewilderment. Green. Ten legs. Heckin chonk-sized. Got it.]

Someone like that would definitely stand out. [Even if it isn't someone more person-shaped.] We can ask around while we look, if someone's seen him, they'd probably remember.

[ourtomorrow]

[ This seems reasonable to Ken. ] All right.

[ As he looks around, though, he is both looking down on the ground and up...any vertical surface. Though, knowing Wormmon, he almost expects to hear him before he sees him....

Yet these hills are not alive with the sounds of "KEN-CHAAAAAN". ]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[With their powers combined, they can search both high and low! And as they look, Shinji does his best to keep an eye on Ken, just to keep a watch for any other signs of distress, spiraling, anything like that. Surely this search is important, but making sure the person who is absolutely here right now is doing okay is much, much more so.

Shinji will take the lead on going out of his way to ask any passing robots if they have seen a small, green, ten-legged friend, but not a single one of those lines of questioning leads to anywhere at all. That's. Hm. Not encouraging. He doesn't want to give up the search if Ken's willing to keep looking, though, but perhaps constantly throwing oneself at a pursuit with what feels like shrinking prospects is an endeavor best broken up a bit.]

No luck here, [they could move on to the next spot, but he does want to toss out an offer first - ] Let me know if you want to take a break for a little bit, okay?

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken shakes his head. ] I can keep going.

[ And he does seem - sharper, now, if in a grimmer way. He's made sense of the world, as much as he can in the moment, and knowing where his feet are planted helps him walk forward. ]

Let's move on.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Hmm....]

All right.

[He'll oblige for now, falling into step next to Ken, but he does want to offer the extra bit of push on his own end,] I know you're probably worried about your friend, but if you need to take a few moments to yourself, he'd probably understand, right?

[Not that he really... has any solid basis for this guess, but maybe the reminder that he should be looking out for himself as well isn't an unwelcome one? He's Trying.]

So, please do keep it in mind.

i keep typing "shinki" instead of "shinji", from muscle memory

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken nods, and for a while it looks like he's too preoccupied with the search to respond any further. But in the back of his head, the gears are turning.

He's not ungrateful, but....Shinji has been mentioning that a lot. Is he that obviously falling apart? Or--? ]

.....Why would you be so concerned about me?

[ He honestly sounds confused. ]

it took /forever/ to get my phone to stop autocorrecting it that way

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Is that really so surprising...? Or is he just being a little too pushy about it? Ken doesn't exactly sound upset about it, but Shinji can't exactly stop that thought from bubbling to the surface. Still, he doesn't really want to back off completely from his point.]

Sorry, [he offers it with sincerity, though largely as a matter of politeness after what he thinks may have been a slight boundary overstep,] you just seemed like you were in pretty rough shape before, and I don't want you to think that it would be... bad for you to take a little time to yourself, if that makes sense.

f

[ourtomorrow]

--Thanks. [ Ken blinks, nearly coloring at that. ] But that's not quite it. You're doing all this for a stranger.

[ His gaze wanders, as if he'll spot the right question to ask in the air. What meaning....What significance? The words seem heavy when he considers voicing them.

So he goes blunter. ]

Why would I matter to you?