Although ocular & brain implants are the means of communication nowadays, a messenger service still exists in this world. Mostly everyone uses LINE nowadays even if the need for cellular phones is null. Characters may have already recognized the interface to be somewhat familiar with the similar shade of green and same old slogan.
It happens the first time, and several times throughout the week as your character goes about their new routine. The sound of machine-like whirring, deep within their cranium, like a computer that’s in the midst of processing some new information. Then, there’s the familiar ping of a new public message, and whatever you were thinking about at that point of time will be plastered on the network, for all to read and react to. Daydreaming about ponies at work? Having a fun night out at a club? Regretting said night out at the club? Falling into a deep depression about how your life has turned out so far? It doesn’t matter when or where, because the system doesn’t discriminate. You’ll soon find the thoughts you were having during those moments posted on the network and it won’t be possible to delete.
"The system is updating … ... The system is updating … "
That’s the only explanation SYNTHIA will give when prodded or asked to take down a post. She’s not too helpful at this moment.
"Yeah, sorry. She gets temperamental like that sometimes. I can’t really do anything about your business being out there. But it’s pretty funny, right? Looks like you got hella wrecked last night. Good for you."
Welcome to our first Network Mingle! This is a TFLN-inspired mingle that’s been tweaked to make it completely canon to the game. Due to a glitch in the system, random thoughts that characters might be having throughout the week will be registered as network posts and posted in public for all to see and respond to. This can happen at any time as they wander around the main base or different Neo Tokyo locations!
HOW TO PLAY: 1. Write out prompts (example below) for others to respond to. These can be thoughts they’re having in bed, at work, while intoxicated or what-have-you. You can look up shower thoughts or TFLN as inspiration, but remember that this will be game canon so it has to be written in your character’s voice. 2. Go around and respond to others! 3. ??? 4. PROFIT!
Participation in this mingle isn’t obligatory, of course. If you don’t want your character to participate, you can simply assume the glitch did not affect them.
We also have a code below for fun, but please don't feel pressured to use it. As always, a regular text thread works out just fine! Most importantly, have fun!
(Please remember to put warnings for NSFW/triggering content in the subject header.)
The determination of something or someone's purpose is a subjective one. What one might find pointless might be profoundly meaningful for another. If this is the case, who is it that could make this judgment? Especially given that our decision-making ability is dictated by our time, technology, and experience; what if something only appears to be without purpose now, only to be of vital importance later due to events that couldn't possibly have been foreseen?
( they are mostly question to question, since pickles does the same, though this topic verges upon one that the doctor had had recently—two creatures, adrift in time and separate from their kin, trying to find purpose in loneliness, meaning in experiences that were ultimately ephemeral. )
So you would say that purpose is something that one finds or determines for themself. How does this relate to the concept of "belonging" that you mentioned earlier? Though meaning can come from within, belonging is typically something observed from without, through others' perceptions, yes?
( this is requiring too many brain cells from me personally why am I playing this dog )
Very good observations. To be honest, I waver in my thoughts on these matters. Back and forth, without a solid answer, I wonder if I'll ever truly know...
Belonging is something that I feel I lack in some regards, but have gained in others. It's a mysterious feeling that's difficult to describe. The desire for worth in the eyes of others, but if that worth is found to be something deemed insulting by the one in question, then that sense of belonging does not truly come.
It may be a balance of self and others. That careful orchestra of identities coexisting, intertwining, clashing and supporting. An hourglass on constant rotation.
A good metaphor. Have you considered writing your own book? I believe you're right. In my own experience, belonging is both a social and an emotional accord between oneself and the larger whole. It's a relationship built on understanding—both of what the individual wants and expects of the whole and what the whole wants and expects of the individual. If any of these points do not match up, the result is, paradoxically, isolation. We don't know one another well enough yet to have established that. We do not understand one another as we should. But I think it will come with time.
Me, writing a book? I've never considered it. I don't have thumbs to write, and the technology was never advanced enough at home to communicate my thoughts on this level. Now, though... Maybe an entirely new route has been opened for me. Thank you, Doctor.
Your words are thought provoking. Isn't it interesting, how thoughts can turn to words and back to thoughts again? Like a waterfall to a stream. If you'd ever be interested, we could meet face to face to discuss these topics. I've heard there are "e-readers" to consider when looking for books, and we can have conversations to fill the space where the library is lacking.
( let them be your beta reader... or, otherwise, just help with whatever portions of the writing or publishing that might seem strange. the doctor doesn't write much more than their own notes, but they read on a prolific level. )
Of course. I can always make time to discuss them with you. That's a good point... I haven't yet considered what options might be available to us by way of different distribution platforms. Though I have been considering going into the city to see if there are any bookstores or libraries that offer a slightly more robust selection. Would you like to come along?
I would enjoy that very much. However, I should warn you that I've been encouraged to cloak myself in the city proper, so my normal appearance is altered into that of a human. For me, I move and act the same as always, but to others, I appear to be human.
It has taken some getting used to, and I'm afraid I may still occasionally embarrass those around me as I adjust to new norms.
( no, not to pickles' extent, but the doctor's protective gear tends to stand out a little strangely. so their cloaking device hides a lot of that, replacing it with them wearing something like a mask. though... that changes far less for them than it would for pickles. )
Embarrass? I don't know about that. It sounds like a delight to accompany you as you experience life as a "human" for the first time. Though as far as book-shopping goes, you might need a companion to help search through the titles on the higher shelves.
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synnet2023-12-12 05:58 pm
no subject
( they are mostly question to question, since pickles does the same, though this topic verges upon one that the doctor had had recently—two creatures, adrift in time and separate from their kin, trying to find purpose in loneliness, meaning in experiences that were ultimately ephemeral. )
So you would say that purpose is something that one finds or determines for themself. How does this relate to the concept of "belonging" that you mentioned earlier? Though meaning can come from within, belonging is typically something observed from without, through others' perceptions, yes?
no subject
Very good observations. To be honest, I waver in my thoughts on these matters. Back and forth, without a solid answer, I wonder if I'll ever truly know...
Belonging is something that I feel I lack in some regards, but have gained in others. It's a mysterious feeling that's difficult to describe. The desire for worth in the eyes of others, but if that worth is found to be something deemed insulting by the one in question, then that sense of belonging does not truly come.
It may be a balance of self and others. That careful orchestra of identities coexisting, intertwining, clashing and supporting. An hourglass on constant rotation.
no subject
A good metaphor. Have you considered writing your own book?
I believe you're right. In my own experience, belonging is both a social and an emotional accord between oneself and the larger whole. It's a relationship built on understanding—both of what the individual wants and expects of the whole and what the whole wants and expects of the individual. If any of these points do not match up, the result is, paradoxically, isolation.
We don't know one another well enough yet to have established that. We do not understand one another as we should. But I think it will come with time.
no subject
Your words are thought provoking. Isn't it interesting, how thoughts can turn to words and back to thoughts again? Like a waterfall to a stream. If you'd ever be interested, we could meet face to face to discuss these topics. I've heard there are "e-readers" to consider when looking for books, and we can have conversations to fill the space where the library is lacking.
no subject
( let them be your beta reader... or, otherwise, just help with whatever portions of the writing or publishing that might seem strange. the doctor doesn't write much more than their own notes, but they read on a prolific level. )
Of course. I can always make time to discuss them with you.
That's a good point... I haven't yet considered what options might be available to us by way of different distribution platforms.
Though I have been considering going into the city to see if there are any bookstores or libraries that offer a slightly more robust selection. Would you like to come along?
no subject
It has taken some getting used to, and I'm afraid I may still occasionally embarrass those around me as I adjust to new norms.
no subject
I have to do the same, in a way.
( no, not to pickles' extent, but the doctor's protective gear tends to stand out a little strangely. so their cloaking device hides a lot of that, replacing it with them wearing something like a mask. though... that changes far less for them than it would for pickles. )
Embarrass? I don't know about that. It sounds like a delight to accompany you as you experience life as a "human" for the first time.
Though as far as book-shopping goes, you might need a companion to help search through the titles on the higher shelves.