Open broadcast | backdated to the first day of second liminal

[rustyhonesty]

This is my first time actually trying to make a message through the whole network... hopefully this will work.

[Jean sounds rather exhausted as he talks. While he had been away from the dungeon for some time, he still hasn't really recovered completely. Not with all the damn emotions and thoughts he had to process. Now he had finally sorted out the most important things so he was ready to talk with others to apologize or just explain.]

To anyone who interacted with Jan Wirths at the previous Jaunt. If there's something you need to talk to me about with that, I'm at workshop for most of the time. I know there were some things that he did that were rather fucked up.

[That's actually an understatement, at least in Jean's mind.]

... and well, if someone wants to tell me a bit more about Persona's, I would appreciate it. Now that I've rested I might understand any explanations a bit better.

And then things that happened in the dungeon... I'm ready to talk about them now.

[He's really been avoiding everyone for some time now. Especially one called Eren Jaeger, who he heard perfectly well over the network the other day. He almost adds "Jaeger stay out or I'll feel worse" but

1) Mikasa wouldn't like that
2) Eren would yell at him
3) Headache guaranteed

So he just leaves this as this.]


(ooc: Jean is back from his dungeon and can be found mostly from the workshop!)

Comments

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[leftbehindagain]

[There's a pause that might suggest a snort of laughter.] That's pretty standard, for a Shadow experience. If you were lucky, it was mostly people who already know a lot about your baggage.

Not a problem. It's a rough thing to go through, and a lot to take in. I'll be there soon.

[Sure enough, a few minutes later, there's a knock on Jean's door.] ...Naturally, this is the point where it occurs to me we didn't get around to introductions.

Action

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean is left thinking how much the others knew about Jean's insecurities, but well... it's not like it mattered anymore. They knew now. Even things he really wanted to hide.

When Naoki arrives, Jean opens his door. He hadn't even thought of the introductions. Actually, he didn't even introduce himself when he addressed the whole network. Ah, well.]

Haha, seems like it. I'm Jean Kirstein. It's nice to meet you.

[leftbehindagain]

Naoki Konishi. You too.

[After Naoki's in Jean's room, he closes the door behind him. No point in splattering this around more than it already is.]

So... well, first of all, I really hope someone who's dealt with a Shadow before was there to help you through all that. Having to flail through it when you have no idea what it means is no picnic, speaking from experience.

[rustyhonesty]

Yeah, there was someone who had their own Persona with the people from the same world as me. Naoto was a big help in there.

[leftbehindagain]

Good. And in a way, it was probably better that it was Naoto. Kanji, Yua, Souji-san and Adachi-san are good at what they do, but they got their Personas through... different means. Naoto's one of us who had to get her Persona the hard way.

[And it is hard - beyond hard. Naoki's never seen anyone get through facing their Shadow without a pit stop in denial, no matter how many people were telling them not to.]

I guess the best place to start is with what you do know, even if it's not much. I mean, I'm sure Naoto wouldn't have left you with nothing, but when you've just had an explosive argument with yourself it's hard to take much in.

[rustyhonesty]

Different means... They didn't meet their shadows or something?

[Jean would have definitely like that kind of a route better. Though getting something like this seemed a bit odd in the first place.]

Uhh, yeah... she told me a lot of things, but what I remember is that a Persona is a power you can call forth that at least she can use on Jaunts. Other than that there was some talk about shadows, but uh... I can't remember that all too well.

[leftbehindagain]

Well, Adachi-san did eventually, but that's another story. It has more to do with how everything we went through started.

[Naoki nods; at least Jean retained some of the basics. That'll make this easier.] Yeah, in theory you can call it on any jaunt where you're yourself, though if I'd busted mine out on the last one I would've lost all the subtlety points I had. There was a little more flexibility on the Grid. Naoto and Kanji were both infiltrating then and had access to theirs, through the filter of support functions.

Shadows are... repressed unconscious glop given physical shape. Most of them aren't that brutal, but they're no fun to tangle with either - they try to kill you, but they don't talk or anything. Your own is always the worst one to hear from, though, and I've never seen anyone get through that confrontation without denying it.

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean nods at the explanation of Adachi and focuses on listening to the information Naoki was telling him. So whatever he could do with the one he had, it might be of use to him. First he'd have to learn what he can do with it, huh?

Though that question could be saved for later. Instead he visibly cringes the shadow talk. As much as he accepted the things his shadow said now? He definitely denied everything.]

The only shadow I met was my own... the others faced monsters from the world we come from. At least that's what they looked like, apparently. [He wouldn't know. He only saw a few from the window by chance.] ... though yeah, I'm no different in denying.

[leftbehindagain]

Well, dungeons come from the mind of the person in them, here or at home. Makes sense that the monsters would look like the ones you're used to, whether those were Shadows or not. [If someone from Inaba ever has a dungeon, or if Ken-kun or Junpei-san turn up in one, Naoki's expecting Shadows - but that's because it's what they know.]

There's no shame in denying it. When it happened to me we had no idea what was going on. Naoto had the benefit of a whole group of people who'd been through it. Neither of us managed to accept all that crap on the first try - I'd be impressed if you had.

[rustyhonesty]

[It's kind of a sad thought, when you realize it: Jean created monsters that they've been fighting against desperately. What a freaking plot twist.]

Yeah, I guess the shadows only come when you have some real dirt in your closets that shouldn't see daylight, huh? [Such a dirty closet. Levi disapproves of this.

Though cleaning it was beneficial, Jean supposed.]

... so how do I use this power?

[leftbehindagain]

At home, I don't know that it had to be major dirt, just a person ending up in the right position. But everyone who ended up part of the group had some serious crap they were struggling with. [Most of them, he won't talk about. Naoto's here to tell her own story, and as for the others, it's personal shit. Bad enough its first airing was mostly in front of perfect strangers.]

It's pretty intuitive, really. Have you tried calling the card yet?

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean nods. He understand why he wouldn't talk about it. Heck, if it had been anyone else, he wouldn't talk about it to others; it wasn't his right to say.]

I haven't had the chance... I took the opportunity to rest up. Though I guess I could try now.

[Just calling the card wasn't going to do any harm, right? It's just a card, not the being itself being summoned first. Jean puts a hand in front of him, after taking some distance just in case and focuses on the thought.

The thought of a card; a power inside him. It takes some time, but a card does appear - with the symbol of the Lovers on it.]

Woah.

[leftbehindagain]

No, resting up's fair. I definitely needed a good night's sleep after getting mine. [Of their group, Rise and Taka-senpai were down the longest afterward... but they'd also been through hell before they got kidnapped. Small wonder they needed more time.

He smiles when Jean summons the card, then calls his own - Hanged Man, no sense in worrying about the second one and confusing things even more.] Crush it to summon. Just calling it won't wear you out or anything - that comes more from getting carried away with the spells.

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean looks at both of their cards, noticing something was different about them. Why did his have a heart in the first place?]

Is there a reason our cards look different?

[Let's get that question out of the way first. Then there's figuring out how to crush this card. Well, he did have his gear on him again. Maybe if he used the swords.

Well, he can try. He takes one of the swords from his maneuver gear and aims to break the card in front of him.

A beautiful, angel-like figure Raphael appears above him. Without anything to do, it also disappears rather quickly, like the broken card did.]

... I remember seeing that when my shadow disappeared.

[leftbehindagain]

They're tied to... well, the same set of archetypes the Trumps are using, just without the mystery tattoos. Yours is Lovers, mine's Hanged Man.

[Naoki dismisses his own card without doing anything, though he'll be happy to show off if Jean would like.] Nice. Do you know what all he can do? If you think about it for a little bit you should get some idea.

[rustyhonesty]

[L-lovers? What? Why does he have a card called lovers? He ain't a lover even he would want to be!! Excuse him going a bit red at that and flailing quietly in his mind for a while. Was this some sort of a stupid joke?!

... he does calm down though. Most likely there's a reason for the names. Not necessarily a reason he first thought, even.]

Right... let me see. [He closes his eyes to focus more, trying to get a feeling of what the Persona is capable of.] A physical attack, at least. I don't sense that many magic skills.

[leftbehindagain]

[Naoki tries not to laugh at the poor guy's face, at least.] Clearly I should talk to Kanji about another Tarot 101 thing. Lovers isn't necessarily... romance. There's a crossroads aspect to it too. Hanged Man's reflection, staying still, there's a self-sacrifice angle - has a lot to do with where I was at the time.

[But not where he is now. It'll be interesting to see if he has the trouble Naoto did with the Arcana-swap thing.]

It's probably good that we have someone else with the physical attacks around now, really. Mine's been all magical attacks for a long time now, that and the healing stuff. [Not that he minds, it suits him. But there's something to be said for spell diversity.]

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean appreciates that.]

Oh. Well that makes sense. There's no romance for me in sigh. [Awkward laugh. Just wait for the next Jaunt, Jean. Just you wait.] Though those both sound interesting... I'd definitely like to learn more about them.

[Seeing as he's involved with this now, all knowledge is good, isn't it?]

Apart from physical attacks, magic and healing... are there other things a Persona can learn?

[leftbehindagain]

[Never say never, dude. But that's a matter for someone else to tangle with.]

I can explain the basics. Kanji, Yua, Souji-san or Adachi-san can all go into a little more detail - they had to work with the archetypes a little more closely. And it'll help some with jaunt stuff, when Trumps turn up, but the stuff we were using at home isn't the imagery set the Trumps are fond of so we can't catch everything.

There are some support tricks, things that help the people you're fighting with or make it easier to take down your opponent. If you had a scanning-type support Persona, I don't think you'd have much but analysis skills - Rise didn't, anyway. [He's never asked Minako how things worked for her group, but they came into their Personas entirely differently anyway. Muddying the waters with that will just confuse this conversation more.]

That about covers the range, though.

[rustyhonesty]

Any knowledge against the Trumps is good, I'd say. I'm willing to listen to the basics first, whenever you feel like you have the time to.

[Even now, but most likely the Persona stuff is a bit more important to get a hang of... and he most likely couldn't handle to larger explanations at once.]

Sounds like these Persona are pretty useful in different ways, when you learn to control them. Though I guess using them wears you out... you mentioned that when I summoned the card?

[leftbehindagain]

Sure thing, some other time. [Let him get his head around the parts that are important to him first, and they can go over the rest later.]

The physical skills and the magic are exhausting in two different ways. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than that, I didn't have physical skills myself for very long. But from seeing other people... leaning on the physical stuff without making sure someone keeps you healed up makes it easier to get knocked out, and leaning on the magic without restoring your magic pool leaves you feeling more or less like you just argued with yourself again. Not quite as brutal, you can bounce back with a good night's sleep, but still.

[At least nothing like Marie-san's stupid fucking dungeon is likely to happen again. That place was such bullshit.]

The bigger the thing you're trying to do, the more it'll take out of you.

[rustyhonesty]

So either way, if you use the skills too much without planning ahead, you're screwed if you don't have back up.

[Getting knocked out or losing the ability to use magic temporarily sounds fatal, should if happen in the middle of a fight.] That's why you work in groups?

[leftbehindagain]

Part of it, yeah. The place we were using them before all this was pretty dangerous on its own, too. It just plain wasn't worth risking going in alone, or splitting into anything less than pairs.

[rustyhonesty]

Yeah, the same logic basically work in our world, too. Team work is essential for survival - acting alone will most likely get you killed.

[leftbehindagain]

Then you have the basic idea. If you're the only one investigating and you think you can summon without raising too many eyebrows, then... pace yourself. I won't tell you not to, if you think it'll do more good than harm, but be careful.