citycenter: (Default)
The City ([personal profile] citycenter) wrote in [community profile] citylogs2023-08-02 12:00 am

TDM: AUGUST 2023





TEST DRIVE MEME

A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION.
You wake up on a train.

Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words—


WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION?

▶ YES
▶ NO


Please take a moment to complete your orientation.

Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty—there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale.


As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, and 9.

If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need.



Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer.

JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming.
TO THE NORTH
The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway—it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed—the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information.


Immediately to the southwest of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. It looks welcoming, with an inviting glass facade and a sign above the entryway announcing it as the "TOURIST CENTER." It's a humble building with a receptionist's desk on the back wall opposite the entrance, empty magazine shelves lining the side walls, and a few spinning brochure racks full of blank pamphlets. Anyone is welcome to peruse the tourist literature, though they won't offer much information, being primarily filled with pictures of the surrounding area—City Hall, the park, a statue garden, and the surprisingly heavily-featured cemetery. There are a few sentences sprinkled throughout about basic offerings of the city, such as apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as a few maps with the same limited scope as the larger version on the wall behind the receptionist's desk.


The main feature of the tourist center is the interactive kiosk installed dead in the center, right in the middle of a few rows of uncomfortable chairs that fill the small room. It's noticeably in the way of any would-be foot traffic through the tourist center, and something about the technology seems a little more modern than the computer behind the desk or the landline phone on the wall. The kiosk is a tall silver rectangle, about average adult height, and the upper half is a screen welcoming visitors to touch it to activate the kiosk. If you were to touch it, the screen would come to life with simple dialogue inviting visitors to ask it their questions.

However, residents should note that the kiosk is only programmed to assist with exploration within the available areas of the city. It may not be able to answer every question, and tampering with the kiosk may result in unreliable or inaccurate answers!
TO THE SOUTHWEST
The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat.


As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully—very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long.

Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of—no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky.
TO THE EAST
The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store—it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that.


A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business.


You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex—finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like.

The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that—the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils.


As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces—a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen.



Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building.

JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM.
Have you ever visited the ice cream parlor located in District 2? It's a pretty quirky little joint!

When you walk in, what you'll likely notice first is the colors. Everything is bright, almost oversaturated—the pink of the leather seats, the teal of the walls, the red of the menu sign hanging over the counter. By all rights it seems like these colors shouldn't go together, but somehow they do, or maybe that's just because being in an ice cream parlor puts you in a good mood. It smells like waffle cones, and overhead, there's music pumping through the speakers at just the right volume, providing some nice background noise to your decision-making process.


Wait, music?

There's a jukebox at the far end of the shop, which seems to be where the music is being chosen. As you head over, the song comes to an end and the jukebox machinery shuffles through its options before landing on a new one. The song sounds sort of familiar, doesn't it? And the longer you listen, the more the lyrics really seem to speak to you. It costs money to pick your own song, so if you happen to have some coins on you—or if you're really, really determined—you can choose the next round of tunes.

When you're done at the jukebox, you can go check out the serving area of the shop. Behind the counter you can see milkshake mixers and waffle cone makers; there are ice cream cakes in the freezers that line the wall; and when you approach the main counter you can see the tubs of ice cream in almost any flavor you can imagine.


Pick a flavor, whichever one's your favorite! Do you want it in a cone or in a bowl? There are regular cones and waffle cones, and all kinds of toppings—sprinkles, syrups, gummy candy, mini marshmallows. Decorate your ice cream however you want, the sky's the limit when it comes to choices! You can even come back for seconds if you want, or thirds. Who's going to say anything about it, after all?

But the more of your ice cream you eat, the more you start to feel… strange. Maybe you're starting to get angry, or sad, or giddy—maybe you feel romantic, or feel like you want to tell a secret to a stranger, and you're not really sure why. You also can't quite seem to stop eating your ice cream, and the more you eat, the less worried you feel about whatever's happening to your emotions. After all, why be concerned about that when you have something so delicious in front of you?

Flavor Effect
Strawberry You find yourself compelled to seek out strangers and tell them a hidden truth about yourself
Rocky Road You find yourself compelled to seek out strangers and convince them of some egregious lie
Vanilla You are overwhelmed by a sense of total calm, and can only speak in aphorisms and platitudes
Rainbow Sherbert You are overwhelmed by amorous feelings towards whoever is near you and try to cuddle or kiss them
Chocolate You feel suddenly morose about something in your past and cannot stop crying until someone consoles you
Bubblegum You become uncontrollably giggly and giddy, and can only speak in rhyme
Caramel Ribbon You become angry and perhaps even violent, trying to attack anyone who comes near
Mint Chocolate Chip You suddenly have a common but exaggerated phobia (for example, a fear of heights where the step down off the curb is too much)



When characters first enter the ice cream parlor, they may notice that there's music playing overhead! That's from the jukebox, and the lyrics of the song may sound like they're particularly apt for a character's circumstances. Players are welcome to choose their own jukebox songs for their characters—it doesn't need to have appeared in canon, but characters from modern times are welcome to recognize the music being played. (Players can also feel free not to pick a real song at all, and instead just describe the overall sound of the song and content of the lyrics!)

This is an ice cream parlor, so of course there's also ice cream to be had. Characters can serve themselves whatever flavor combination they want, but shortly thereafter will find themselves suffering certain emotional effects depending on what flavors they chose. These emotional effects, shown above, will last for roughly an hour before slowly dissipating, and their intensity depends on how much ice cream the character ate and whether they were able to recognize what was happening and stop eating. Not every flavor has an emotional effect, so players can also choose to have their character eat a normal scoop and go about their day.

JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS

WILDCARD.
The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back.



If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations.

JUMP TO TOP ↑



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miyagimagic: (042)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-10 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There's no verbal acknowledgement of the first part of what Ken says, but Daniel does nod sympathetically. It's okay, Ken, he gets it. Daniel isn't here to judge you for crying, hence why he remains quiet.

Until he's asked that question, anyway. One that has an easy answer, though it doesn't necessarily feel like the full one. ]


Not usually. [ Granted, Daniel often feels guilty all of a sudden.

But he figures that's more of a personal thing he should get therapy for. ]


Is there anything in particular that's bothering you, maybe..? [ It might help if the boy could get that off his chest, he figures. ]
whatsamada: (Dead!)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-11 12:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[There were plenty of reasons of why he was feeling so guilty. He already knew need down what it is and especially when that was the only thing he had felt so ashamed about for the past two years. He didn't say anything and let himself continuing sniffling before looking up at Daniel.]

Y-Yes, there is.

[As he gave a pause or two, he found himself being wary. How could he explain it to him that he intended to kill someone? And said person ended up dying as a result of his actions?

Mumbling to himself, he kept looking downward as his hands balled up into fists. Taking in a deep breath, it seems that he didn't have a choice.]


....Is there something you've done that you regretted? And no matter what you'll do, nothing can ever change it?
miyagimagic: (125)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-13 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Whew, Ken. What a question to ask. Granted, Daniel's own question already dug a little bit into something personal, but that's mostly since he was hoping it might help Ken stop crying..

He didn't exactly expect to be hit in the face with that same ball being bounced right back to him.

It leaves the man quiet for a second, but then he slowly admits: ]
Of course.

[ He smiles, but there's something a little sad in it, if Ken can see that through his tears. ]

I think everyone has at least something like that. And if you can't fix it, then it just sticks with you instead. [ Granted, he doesn't really seem to be talking about said things he might regret, huh.

But it's not like Daniel is exactly eager to talk about said things, so it feels easier to leave it vague, to steer it towards something more encouraging, something hopefully relatable. To show Ken he's not the only one. ]
whatsamada: (Dead!)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-13 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
And that's the worst part. No matter what you do, you can't change the past.

[Suddenly, it felt like some weight was lifted off his shoulders. The crying stopped before a bit but not quite. Instead, it settled down to some small sobs before taking another deep breath.]

Which is why it's so difficult to move on sometimes. Especially when most of it was your fault and you intended this to happen too.

[Not quite but it sure felt like it. Now, he was here to deal with the consequences and he didn't know what to do other than to live the life he thought others wanted for him.]
miyagimagic: (036)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-14 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Daniel releases a breath, nodding a little. He understands, really. Granted, Daniel didn't intend for his mistakes to happen the way they did, which seems to be the difference here, but he imagines the regret is probably very similar.

But he doesn't want to just linger on that. Sympathizing is good, but.. Ken is so young, and Daniel wants to give him something more positive than that too to take along with him. ]


I know it's easy to linger on your mistakes. [ He stares ahead of him as he starts speaking, but then slowly redirects his gaze to actually look at the boy. ] But.. you also always have to remember that we aren't our mistakes. They don't define us, or make us bad people.

[ Or at least - Daniel would never want someone so young to think they're a bad person because of their mistakes. ]

You can see them as something to learn from, even when it hurts. That even when those mistakes have broken things, huge things that you can never get back-- They can also help you learn and create new things in the future. [ .. he smiles at Ken. It's a thin smile, but he hopes it gives something a little more hopeful to his words. ] Do you understand that?
whatsamada: (Buddy Holly)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-14 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Right now, Ken was just grateful that he seemed to understand. While he was being vague, he didn't know how Daniel would react as he feared the backlash. With a sigh, he took another deep breath. Good, right now, he was calming down just a bit.

And yet, he just had to say it out loud, didn't he?]


I-I think so but...what if that mistake is something terrible? Even when...

[His words sounded a lot like what Akihiko had told him. He could just sit here and keep moping about his mistake or he could learn from it and move on. The could have just died in the alleyway but he didn't. Instead, he choose to keep on living...]

...A death was involved?

[Indeed, it was something he had to live with the rest of his life. Even after trying to forgive himself and Shinjiro on what happened, it still hurts. A lot.]
miyagimagic: (051)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-15 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ .. so it's heavy on that level, huh.

It does make the topic even more weighty - though, thankfully, Daniel was taking it seriously all the same, not one to dismiss a teenager's concerns so easily after a lot of personal experience.

He releases a breath, thinking for a moment on whether or not this is too personal to ask, but.. well, if Ken is already offering this much, he might as well ask this question.

If not just because it feels important to grasp the situation a little better. ]


Were you close to the person who died?

[ His voice is very soft and gentle, considering he understands the weight of this question very well. Especially when he's asking a boy who was bawling his eyes out a moment ago, and who's still crying in the moment. ]

Or was it a complete stranger?

[ Granted, they both suck - but one would feel even worse than the other. ]
whatsamada: (November Rain)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-15 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, he was.

[Or at least, that's what he liked to think. After all, they both got themselves into a web of lies and deceit. Both of them unknowingly joining a group that would bring the end of the world and getting themselves involved in death. Whether he liked it or not, it seemed that he would forever be in his life.]

He did a lot for my teammates and I. Because of what I did, I know that I can't forgive myself for that. Even if I have to keep moving forward, it's still a hard thing to learn...

[As he continued to give a sniffle or two, it seemed that he managed to calm down more. The weight was lifting as he felt more relaxed. His tears stopped for a moment or two before wiping them off.]

...After all, I was the one who plotted to kill him before he saved me.
miyagimagic: (151)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-17 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ken, this is so heavy. Heavier than Daniel expected, but he is a man who's learned to roll with the punches - especially when it comes to kids. He's learned that kids are often dealing with a whole lot more than you expect.

Ken is a perfect example of that right here.

So despite the fact that he's only meeting the boy for the first time today, Daniel reaches out, a single hand landing on Ken's shoulder. It's warm, and meant to be reassuring. ]


Your feelings for him must have changed a lot.

[ Sure, he could ask why Ken even wanted to kill someone, but.. that's Ken's own personal business. It feels like a little bit too much to dive into right now.

So Daniel instead focuses on something that feels a little more relevant to the topic at hand, without Ken having to talk about absolutely every single heavy thing possibly on the poor kid's chest right now. No wonder Ken was crying, really. This is way too much for a kid to deal with in Daniel's opinion. ]


To first dislike him that much, and then for him to put his life on the line to save you..
whatsamada: (Dangerous)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-17 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[Which was why Ken didn't know how to feel. TO know that the man that he wanted to kill was the one who dead up saving him in the first place? It was a lot of handle. Placing his hand on his face, he suddenly felt shameful knowing that he did such a thing. Not only that, to know that he was telling all of this to a stranger?

It was both humiliating and scary as he didn't know how this person would react. And yet, Daniel seems to accept such a thing. Which was why as he placed his hand down, he found himself staring out into space. Upon realizing that he stopped crying, he didn't know what to say at first.

Indeed, he didn't feel so guilty after confessing his sins to someone. It was just a reminder of how dangerous this world could be. Again, what kind of place would do that to forcing someone to do that?]


It has. If anything, it made me realize how...meaningless revenge was. While I wanted him dead, it just seems so...fruitless at the end of it all. In the end, I had to wonder what was the point?

[Especially when Akihiko told him that he could just sit and rot in the alleyway. He could have but he decided to keep moving forward. There was no point in sitting around and doing nothing.]

miyagimagic: (036)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-20 08:08 am (UTC)(link)
.. my teacher taught me that if you take revenge, you have to start by digging two graves.

[ Daniel smiles a little bit at Ken as he says it. It's not really a happy smile, but.. more just a reassuring one. It says that he understands the gravity of the situation, but that he still wants to give something just a little hopeful to the poor kid. ]

It means that you're only hurting yourself as well if you try to take revenge. The bad thing is that you always realise that a little bit too late, huh..? [ The way Ken did. Only hurting after the fact, only realising by then how meaningless it all was.

By the time it was already too late to take anything back. ]


Especially when revenge seems so.. tempting. Especially when you have nothing else to fall back on in times of grief or pain.

[ I understand.

That's what he's trying to say. Mostly because he feels that's what always helped him the most when he was younger - whenever mister Miyagi, rather than judging him, just showed he listened. That he understood. ]


That you saw how pointless it all was afterwards shows that you're a good person.
whatsamada: (King of Misery)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-20 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[It was nice of him to say that he did realize the errors of his ways. But at the end of the day, there wasn't much he could do. Shinjiro wasn't coming back and he knew no matter what he did, he couldn't erase that. As he let the gravity of his words sink in, he gave another sigh as he debated what to say.]

I just wish it didn't take me so long to realize how pointless everything was. Even after his death, I kept on thinking that I should just die as I didn't know what else to do.

[After all, now that his goal of getting revenge was over, what could he have done?]

My friends told me that there was no use in it as I could just sit there and do nothing. But that would solve anything as I just need to learn from my mistakes and move on. Although....

[As he gave a long pause once more, he looked upward. There were a lot of feelings despite the guilt washing away. What was he suppose to feel right now? Relief? Regret? Happiness? So much was going on all at once.]

Some days, it is a lot harder than it looks.
miyagimagic: (017)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-21 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Thinking you should just die is just.. so awful, and Daniel's face reflects it, the sympathy in it so deep. It doesn't help that Ken is so young. So young, yet already thinking about death in so many different ways..

It's awful. Even with all the crap Daniel went through when he was around Ken's age, it wasn't nearly as bad as this, and to him it already felt like the world was collapsing with just what he dealt with. ]


I know.. I'm just some random guy you just met.

[ Obviously. Daniel will readily admit that, well aware of just how prone he is to trying to take care of kids he has no bond with yet at all - but when Ken's problems are so heavy, and when the kid might not have family here to take care of him? What other choice is there but to say this? ]

But if you're ever having a hard day here, you can always talk to me. You can easily find me on the network, I just use my name as my display name. D.LaRusso, just like that. I'm always willing to listen to you, alright..?
whatsamada: (America's Suitehearts)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-21 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[No kid should never think about killing someone much less trying to deal with the loss of his mother. It was too much to handle all at once and there really was no one to help him out during that time. However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he owed it to his teammates to helping him despite everything that happened.

With another sigh, he gave a chuckle as he didn't feel like crying anymore. It seemed as thought everything was fine as though all he really needed as a way to release all of his negative energy.]


It's okay, sometimes we just need someone to be there to listen right? That's what we are supposed to do.

[Or at least, he hoped so. While he wanted to be optimistic, he still had to be cautious and especially to someone he just met.]

But my name is Ken Amada, it's nice to meet you uh...LaRusso-san? Thank you for listening to me, I really appreciated it.

[He said before giving his hand out to him.]
miyagimagic: (036)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-23 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Thankfully Daniel is more than used to honorifics, having been called Daniel-san basically all his life by his teacher. It just makes him smile in acknowledgement at the boy, and the moment Ken holds out his hand, Daniel is quickly to grab it and give it a shake. ]

It's nice to meet you too. You know.. [ He uses his free hand to gesture at the space around them. ] Despite the circumstances.

[ Said circumstances being this eerie city? The kidnapping that brought them here? Ken's inexplicable crying fit?

Who knows, but Daniel smiles all the same, letting go of the handshake after a moment or so. ]


I just hope you now know you're never alone here. Not even just because I'm here. [ Please, he's not that conceited. ] This place is filled with tons of people who I'm sure will want to listen to you when you need it too. I know some good people here, so the same will count for you soon enough.
whatsamada: (Whole Lotta Love)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-23 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[He hoped that Daniel was being true. Despite being trapped in a place where he didn't know, he wanted to believe that there were people who wanted to help ne another out. While he wanted to be positive, he couldn't deny that those who brought him here might have some other ideas in mind.

Not only that, there would always be people who would take advantage of the situation no matter what.

For now, all he could do was smile before nodding to himself.]


...I hope so since I want to help out too. It's the least I can do since you helped me out. Although, could you tell me a little bit more about this place?

[After all, being in a city that's filled with empty places and with little to no information? What could he do but to guess half of the time? He had a feeling Daniel might not know wither but he might as well ask anyway.]
miyagimagic: (125)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-27 11:12 am (UTC)(link)
Of course. Though I have to admit in advance that there is a lot we don't know yet. [ There's a bit of an apologetic smile on his face as the man says those words - not liking having to deliver that piece of bad news, but not wanting Ken to get his hopes up too far either. ]

But I can tell you everything I do know. [ Even if it's not much - but he's determined to help anyway, briefly nodding. ] Is there any question that's at the top of your mind right now?

[ Because then he might as well tackle that one. Especially when he isn't entirely sure what other people might or might not have told the boy already. ]
whatsamada: (Highway to Hell)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-27 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[He wasn't surprised by his answer. If this city was filled with blank pages and no real information, of course people wouldn't know much about this place. Despite him being disappointed, he shook his head.]

No, it's fine, I figured as much but I just want to know has anything major happened in this place so far? From what I can tell, there isn't a lot information. Everywhere I go, I can't seem to find much.

[At this point, anything and everything would be helpful.]
miyagimagic: (064)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-28 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Well, at least Daniel does have some information when it comes to that.

Not to mention that Ken is showing some initiative here - apparently having looked for information by himself already. Even if Daniel feels bad for having so little information to share with the boy, there's also a sense of pride in seeing someone so young, yet already so resourceful. You go, Ken. Scoring points with this old man. ]


A while ago, the bank opened up. [ Daniel hadn't gone there himself, but he's heard enough about it to know what went down there.. ] People found all sorts of personal belongings in there. Like this place had just brought those here out of the blue as well, and stored them there for us to find. It sounds people even got locked up in there until they told each other about their personal items.

[ Daniel frowns a little at that last part.

Because it just feels like more evidence that this city is almost.. manipulating them, somehow. It doesn't feel great. ]
whatsamada: (Tell Me How)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-28 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[He wasn't surprised that things would happen to pop out of nowhere. It was something that he was used to back home so he shouldn't be any different here. Although, what was a little different was to hear how so many things happened to be in one place.]

...But why? What's the point in just trying to store everything there and having people find it? Were they trying to get people in there and see what would happen?

[He had a feeling he knew the answer but he wanted to hear it.]

It seems rather...strange.
miyagimagic: (023)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-29 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)
.. It's hard to tell what the people who brought us here were thinking.

[ Hear that answer? It's so diplomatic, isn't it. That's why there's a tiny pause before Daniel says it, because he had to think about his wording there.

And certainly not for the sake of said people he's speaking of. Please, he's not lending consideration to whoever kidnapped them and brought them here. No way. The consideration is more towards not wanting to make this too heavy and hopeless on a young kid like Ken, who's apparently been through so much already.

It makes him want to make this not too negative, even if Daniel also wants to stick to the facts and not lie. It's a difficult balance, but he's doing his best to strike it all the same. ]


They haven't told us anything yet, or reached out to us. Some people have been theorizing that this is perhaps some sort of big experiment.
whatsamada: (Dead!)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-08-29 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[Again, Ken wasn't surprised by his answer. After everything he had been through, he was fully prepared to hear the worst in humanity and what it means to others. While he had become more optimistic, it was still a harsh reminder to know that things would always get worse.

Crossing his arms, he was trying to look on the brighter side of things. And yet, he couldn't really find one as everyone was in the same boat.]


...For what, that is the big question. And it seems that there is nothing we can do but to wait until something happens.

[In the end, they were just sitting ducks with no real clue as to what to do.]
miyagimagic: (036)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-08-30 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The man shakes his head.

Honestly, it's not even like he really disagrees with Ken. When it comes to finding a way out of this place, or finding out more about this place, at this point it truly does seem like all they can do is just wait, as much as Daniel hates that idea.

But it's exactly because he hates that idea, and he hates passing it on to kids even more, that he shakes his head. ]


There is something we can do. [ His expression eases up a little bit, the smile creeping back in it - warm and encouraging.

His tone sounds so genuine too, like the sappiness of what he's about to say doesn't make him cringe in the slightest: ]
We can look out for the people around us. We can make sure that everyone here stays alright, and that no one is alone.

[ His lips curl up even a little bit more. ]

That doesn't sound like such a bad thing to do in the meantime, right?

[ Daniel figures Ken will get it. Even with everything he told him just now, even with the heavy things it sounds like Ken has endured - he seems like a good kid. ]
whatsamada: (The Red)

[personal profile] whatsamada 2023-09-01 01:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[That didn't sound all too different from what he did back home. As he waited for death to come by, all he could do was spend as much time as he could with his teammates before fighting Nyx. As he gave a chuckle, he place his hand on his face before smiling to himself.]

Yes, yes it isn't. I think that is all we could do right now as we hope for the best. It seems that we could use it as we figure out what to do.

[He was given a Persona for a reason. It was a way to help and protect people, after all. Even if it was supposed to from a rich man's failed experiment, at least he was granted a chance to prove himself to others.]

And I just hope that the others are doing the same too.
miyagimagic: (042)

[personal profile] miyagimagic 2023-09-02 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't worry. Most people here are pretty decent.

[ And Daniel wouldn't be saying that if he didn't mean it - especially not to a kid, since he wouldn't want them to just go around trusting everyone when that might not exactly be a good idea..

But Daniel himself has ran into so many kind and helpful people here that it feels valid enough to say this.

.. even if he's also cautious enough to add: ]


Still.. be a little careful, just in case, alright? Sometimes people here do.. [ Daniel's voice trails off. In that sort of way where it's obvious an adult is trying to think of whether to mention something to a kid or not, or maybe word it differently. ] .. Sometimes they do odd things.

[ See here, the result of Daniel having to think for a moment: the understatement of the year. But it's not like he wants to unsettle a new kid by telling him right away that some people were experimenting with death and murder? He can't do that. ]

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