[ ARCHIVED | complete crystals ]
In general, it takes at minimum four months for a crystal to become full of emotions and completed. Once this happen, the crystal will solidify and change its color depending on the character's Alignment. In addition, how "positive" or "negative" a crystal is will affect its color. If a crystal mostly has positive emotions, it will take on a brighter shade and even shimmer a bit. If a crystal mostly has negative emotions, it will take on a darker shade and appear more dull. If a crystal has an even mix of positive and negative emotions, it will retain the base color with no other effect.
❖ Guidelines
For the most part, determining whether a character's crystal is complete is determined by the player. After all, characters develop differently and some will faster or slower than others. However, we do have at least one rule and some factors you should consider.
» Four Months. Four months is the absolute minimum that would take a character's crystal to complete. No sooner, but it can of course take longer.
» Emotion Tracker. Commenting to the tracker is not mandatory in general, however we do require proof. For a crystal to be considered complete, you must comment to the tracker two times and they must be from separate months. For example, from a time period between January and April, you could use one link from February and one from March. You could not use two links from February. These can come from the main Emotion Tracker or they can come from the designated trackers made for events (example).
» Automatic Crystal. At six months, a player can comment for an "automatic" crystal. This means that the crystal is completed and no comments to the Emotion Tracker is required. This option is to help those who are less likely to comment to the Tracker for whatever reason and not be "punished" or feel like they are being punished.
» Events and Alignments. Emotion drops created toward an alignment will produce much larger drops than non-aligned emotions. This is going to hasten a crystal's progress. There are many events that are thrown once every month or so that cater to one emotion or all emotions, and these events are perfect opportunities to develop a crystal.
» Apathy and Emotion Drop Depletion. Emotion drops can be destroyed and lost. The main ways are through apathy and death. If a character goes through either, it could set them back by weeks or even months depending how much is depleted. The only thing that happens is the amount of liquid visibly decreasing. In addition, the crystal is not harmed in any way and still protects the character as it should.
» Keep or donate. It is up to the character whether they wish to keep their crystal or donate it to the Arehtei. As crystals can be beneficial in either scenario, there's no actual "better" option. If uncertain, "keep" is considered the default, and it can be donated at a later time.
» Player Discretion. As mentioned, this is still up to the player. As there is no mandatory tracker to be maintained, you will have to be aware of your character is developing and be reasonable about it.
❖ What Happens?
As mentioned, completed crystals are part of how characters will return to their world. However, the specifics of such have yet to be revealed in-game so this is only an OOC notice. We will update this section once it happens, but you can at least have that in mind.
So far, those who have given their crystals to the Arehtei have experienced visions of their home with each one becoming more vivid with subsequent donations. After the 4th or 5th crystal, we'd like the player to contact us for the next step.
❖ Replacement
Characters do have to replace their crystals, and that can easily be done by visiting the original temple ruins and excavating one from the underground lake.
❖ The Form
In order to actually consider your character's crystal complete, you must fill out this form and have it approved. This form will help both you and us see how the character has developed, and it also serves a stop gap to prevent players who might just rush the process.
Player:
Character: Character |![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
journal
Month/Year Joined: What month and year did this character join the game?
Month of Completion: The month the crystal is considered completed. This can be backdated in case you are filling this later.
Emotion Tracker Proofs: You must have two links from two separate months OR use the "6 MONTHS AUTO" option.
Alignment:
State: This is asking if the crystal is mostly positive, negative, or neutral. Indicate with one of the following symbols: +, -, |.
Development Report: We really only want a general summary (no more than 250 words) of how the character has developed.
Donated or Keep? Indicate whether the character is giving their crystal to the Arehtei or keeping it. Choose "keep" if uncertain. You can change this at any time.
Questions: Any questions you might have.
If a character has already completed one crystal and is ready for the second, use the following form. The "four months" rule is still at play, only instead of starting from the time joined, it's starting from the time the second crystal is acquired/first crystal completed.
All submissions will be automatically added to the spreadsheet. Characters can already assume their crystals are completed ICly.
For the most part, determining whether a character's crystal is complete is determined by the player. After all, characters develop differently and some will faster or slower than others. However, we do have at least one rule and some factors you should consider.
» Four Months. Four months is the absolute minimum that would take a character's crystal to complete. No sooner, but it can of course take longer.
» Emotion Tracker. Commenting to the tracker is not mandatory in general, however we do require proof. For a crystal to be considered complete, you must comment to the tracker two times and they must be from separate months. For example, from a time period between January and April, you could use one link from February and one from March. You could not use two links from February. These can come from the main Emotion Tracker or they can come from the designated trackers made for events (example).
» Automatic Crystal. At six months, a player can comment for an "automatic" crystal. This means that the crystal is completed and no comments to the Emotion Tracker is required. This option is to help those who are less likely to comment to the Tracker for whatever reason and not be "punished" or feel like they are being punished.
» Events and Alignments. Emotion drops created toward an alignment will produce much larger drops than non-aligned emotions. This is going to hasten a crystal's progress. There are many events that are thrown once every month or so that cater to one emotion or all emotions, and these events are perfect opportunities to develop a crystal.
» Apathy and Emotion Drop Depletion. Emotion drops can be destroyed and lost. The main ways are through apathy and death. If a character goes through either, it could set them back by weeks or even months depending how much is depleted. The only thing that happens is the amount of liquid visibly decreasing. In addition, the crystal is not harmed in any way and still protects the character as it should.
» Keep or donate. It is up to the character whether they wish to keep their crystal or donate it to the Arehtei. As crystals can be beneficial in either scenario, there's no actual "better" option. If uncertain, "keep" is considered the default, and it can be donated at a later time.
» Player Discretion. As mentioned, this is still up to the player. As there is no mandatory tracker to be maintained, you will have to be aware of your character is developing and be reasonable about it.
❖ What Happens?
As mentioned, completed crystals are part of how characters will return to their world. However, the specifics of such have yet to be revealed in-game so this is only an OOC notice. We will update this section once it happens, but you can at least have that in mind.
So far, those who have given their crystals to the Arehtei have experienced visions of their home with each one becoming more vivid with subsequent donations. After the 4th or 5th crystal, we'd like the player to contact us for the next step.
❖ Replacement
Characters do have to replace their crystals, and that can easily be done by visiting the original temple ruins and excavating one from the underground lake.
❖ The Form
In order to actually consider your character's crystal complete, you must fill out this form and have it approved. This form will help both you and us see how the character has developed, and it also serves a stop gap to prevent players who might just rush the process.
Player:
Character: Character |
journalMonth/Year Joined: What month and year did this character join the game?
Month of Completion: The month the crystal is considered completed. This can be backdated in case you are filling this later.
Emotion Tracker Proofs: You must have two links from two separate months OR use the "6 MONTHS AUTO" option.
Alignment:
State: This is asking if the crystal is mostly positive, negative, or neutral. Indicate with one of the following symbols: +, -, |.
Development Report: We really only want a general summary (no more than 250 words) of how the character has developed.
Donated or Keep? Indicate whether the character is giving their crystal to the Arehtei or keeping it. Choose "keep" if uncertain. You can change this at any time.
Questions: Any questions you might have.
If a character has already completed one crystal and is ready for the second, use the following form. The "four months" rule is still at play, only instead of starting from the time joined, it's starting from the time the second crystal is acquired/first crystal completed.
All submissions will be automatically added to the spreadsheet. Characters can already assume their crystals are completed ICly.
INITIAL GROUP
Players, use the form but you do not have to provide proofs unless you'd like to include it.
no subject
Character: Alvin |
Month Joined: August 2014
Date of Submission: 6/01
Emotion Tracker Proofs: Let's get some practice in!
2/01
3/22
5/17
Alignment:
State: |+ (it's kind of more on the neutral side with some ticks to make it a little brighter to be on the positive side)
Development Report: There were some ups and downs, but for the most part Alvin has experienced a lot of good things, both for true sentimental reasons and just for getting laughs out (or at the expense of) people. "Adopting" Elize really gave the final boost in the end—really everything about Elize is probably what had the most effect, hah. But he's made a few friends, got to see his own friends have their own developments, and most of all, he feels like he belongs somewhere—even if this isn't home.
Questions: Nope.
no subject
Character: Tiz Arrior |
Month Joined: October 2014
Date of Submission: 6/1/2015
Emotion Tracker Proofs:
1/29
3/10
5/28
Alignment: Daimonia
State: | I actually did a count based on the emotion tracker and it was almost dead even between instances of positive and negative, wow
Development Report: Tiz has been keeping busy during his time in Verens, though his development may not be so much growth as muddling. He's still got a tendency to keep troubles to himself and share his joys, so it might surprise some people that his crystal appears neutral. Still, he's felt increasing joy with the chances to be reunited with his friends and meet new people, even if also anxious about how their time in this world will end, and those feelings are helping his crystal near completion.
no subject
Character: Milla Maxwell |
Month Joined: August 2014
Date of Submission: 06/01
Emotion Tracker Proofs:
03/29
02/14
04/14
Alignment: Thras
State: + and | mixed, mostly positive.
Development Report: Milla is easily excitable and she's had a lot of enjoyment exploring and learning about this world, other worlds and talking to all kinds of people. And the food. Literally her amulet got filled like 50% because of her excitement over food. Milla's relationship evolving with Jude has really made everything positive and contributes to the other reason it's filled up. The only real damper there is when she's concerned about him or dealing with Fractured Milla, forever a source of guilt. Otherwise she's been mostly the same albeit getting more and more antsy. She doesn't want to sit still for much longer and her urge to figure this all out and get home is growing.
Questions: N/A
no subject
Character: Fractured Milla Maxwell |
Month Joined: September 2014
Date of Submission: 6/03
Emotion Tracker Proofs:
2/02
4/20
5/27
Alignment: Aiada
State: |+, but mostly positive look I am just as surprised as you are
Development Report: Fractured Milla's had it rough. She died at home, came back to life here, and struggled with a lot of issues related to her prime dimension counterpart. She hasn't quite gotten over those yet, but she's gotten better with the help from a couple of people she can actually call friends--some of which, she's surprised to find, are actually from the prime dimension. Bolstered by a few kind words (Sanae's and even Silver's implication that she had to have existed just the way she did in order for the prime dimension to be, well, the prime dimension), she's even reluctantly letting herself hope that... she does belong somewhere, and that it's okay to enjoy the things she's found happiness in, even if they're temporary.
Questions: Nope!
no subject
no subject
Character: Sanae Kochiya |
Month Joined: What month did this character join the game? Aug 2014
Date of Submission: 6/4
Emotion Tracker Proofs:
10/3
2/14
4/24
Alignment: Peromei
State: +
Development Report: Sanae has progressed to be more... calm! She's not as pushy with her help for others and respects a little bit of more boundaries. She still believes that she must solve everything herself, though, and she doesn't ask for help. But for the most part, Sanae has remained hopeful, and she's using this as a way to help her become a better god.
Questions: As a side note, her crystal was completed Mid-May.
no subject
Character: Junko Enoshima |
Month Joined: October
Date of Submission: 6/5
Emotion Tracker Proofs:
10/25
3/14
5/30
Alignment: Peromei
State: - | Oh my god it's so negative. Like it's definitely falling into that almost black level of negative, with maybe a faint glimmer from the occasional joy or something that slips through the despair. But yes, it's negative.
Development Report:
When Junko arrived here, she was in despair (surprise?). Ripped away from the most despairing moment of her life and dumped into this giant fantasy mess full of hopeful optimistic JRPG protags, it was like her own hell since none of you jerks bother to fall into permanent despair.
But then the Arehtei happened, and she basically decided to um...apply herself. Forget throwing everybody into despair (though she still certainly tries there), she wants to plunge the god/representation/thing into total despair. Because why not? If the world didn't want despair, then it shouldn't have brought her here. And if it did want her here, then it can despair over the fact that it seriously screwed up.
I guess ultimately, she hasn't really changed so much as she's learned to apply herself on a much larger scale than she did back home, which was something she didn't think was possible before coming to Empatheias.
Questions: I know I said late June before, but I'm thinking that last round of despair shocks followed by the storms and the recent stuff about Peromei in Sanae's post probably would've been enough to finish off the crystal. If that's not okay, just let me know!
no subject
no subject
Character: Kor Meteor |
Month Joined: December!
Date of Submission: 6/4
Emotion Tracker Proofs: You must have three from three separate months.
6/4
4/17
5/21
Alignment: Thras
State: +. So much +. Seriously this thing is probably a lightbulb.
Development Report: Kor remains largely the same as he did before: Someone who is rambunctious, excitable and very naive. And yet the events of Empatheias have caused to grow, even in ways he never expected to happen. If you have told any of Kor's friends he would become responsible enough to hold a job, they may have just stared at you like you were crazy! He's also learned to trust in his once-enemy, and now with his help, and help of everyone here, he remains idealistic enough to believe that he may one help everyone get home. Largely Kor is not someone who is changed by the world, but rather wants to change the world himself.
Questions: /shrug
no subject
Character: Kevin Regnard |
Month Joined: August 2014
Date of Submission: ICly -- 6/14
Emotion Tracker Proofs: You must have three from three separate months.
9/17
2/04
3/20
Alignment: Peromei
State: |
Development Report: Kevin's time in Empatheias has been focused on healing, working through grief and anger, and starting to move on from the loss of his home and family. He has been unfolding from the restrictions of his old life and building a new one, and he's come to love and value the world he's found himself in as well as the people in it. Arriving as a broken mess of a man who could barely stand to be around people and refused to sleep inside for fear of breaking the walls with his nightmares and anxiety, he is now ready and willing to stand up to protect the things he cares about, and to start becoming the knight he’s capable of being.
I have marked his amulet as neutral because although he is depressed still and struggles daily with negativity, he has always been moving in a positive direction. Most of his notable emotional surges have been positive, and even his breakdown in February lead to positive results, in that it allowed him some closure and to start expressing all that pent up grief properly.
Questions: By rights, his crystal should be gray, but if possible I'd like the crystal to be dark with flecks of light floating around in it. For one thing, he associates his own emotional development as a night sky with stars in it, an image which has repeated itself for him multiple times -- the stars represent his hopes in the midst of his despair. For another, the Abyss he came to Empatheias from is broken, and he's destined to take part in restoring it to the state it should be in, which is a beautiful world filled with golden lights. Given that this is entirely poetical and cheesy on my part, I understand if you'd rather go with gray! I am aware that this would be special snowflakey.
no subject
no subject
Character: Emizel |
Month Joined: August 2014
Date of Submission: ICly it'll be filled on 6/18, he would file for a replacement the next day or so (despite that something seems to be off about them)
Emotion Tracker Proofs:
8/28
3/29
4/28
Alignment: Peromei
State: It's a mix. Though it might be a teeeensy bit more on the + side overall.
Development Report: Emizel's should have been a lot brighter by the end but since he started out from not-so-humble beginnings it at least balanced it out. He's not so lonely anymore and has plenty of new friends to rely on now...whether or not he will admit it. Emp doesn't really feel like a prison or limbo anymore but rather like a whole new beginning.
Questions: I really need to get better about submitting threads before they are over a month old (especially all those other sweet moments that took too long to get to)...sob.
no subject
Character: Lu Meng |
Month Joined: October
Date of Submission: ICly 6/26, after the Peromei event
Emotion Tracker Proofs: You must have three from three separate months.
6/26
5/20
3/29
Alignment: Elios
State: +
Development Report: Coming in post-death, he has moments of melancholy when he's reminded that he can't go back home but he's come to adopt Empatheias as the land that he must protect, so he just fires himself right back up again. He lost a lot of close CR, but he's generally the kinda guy to pull himself out of his funk relatively quickly. And he's made a good friend in Alvin and is generally Team Dad to a few of the younger folks. Overall he'll still have moments of sadness that he's stuck in Empatheias but he has good reasons to keep on fighting the good fight, especially if it's to protect those he has come to care for.
Questions: Not so much a question as an apology for commenting in the wrong place. OTL
no subject
Character: Gordon Freeman |
Month/Year Joined: June 2015
Date of Submission: 07/30
Emotion Tracker Proofs: 1 YEAR, 1 AUTO
Alignment: Thras
State: |+ (Slightly positive. He's had plenty of opportunities for bravery, but his fear-based dunamis is sapping the positivity from the crystal. Someone really ought to tell him to stop doing that...)
Development Report:
Gordon has slowly begun to realax a little. At first he was convinced that the only reason he was even there, was that this world had screwed itself up beyond comprehension and that he was the variable that would change it. That sounds like delusions of grandeur, until you consider the reasons he had to fight the Combine back home in the first place. If he IS still some cosmic lynchpin sent here by the GMan, then he can do his job... but on his own time. The world is not as dangrous as it once was, and he has the satisfaction of actually gaining a sense of knowledge and control over it. With every Big Bad Monster actually working on their side now, he's actually at a loss as to what to do. The pleasantries of a semi-normal life--albiet one that rubs elbows with magical creatures on the regular--appeals to him as well, being the closet fantasy nerd that he is.
Donated or Keep? Donated
Questions: None.