video | june 7th

[thedarkbond]

[Initially, all that's visible in this video are a pair of wide, innocent-looking red eyes, with slit pupils that could almost be mistaken for another draconic moonblessing feature. Then they blink, and the image withdraws...and tilts back to being straight, because Ren's sitting curled on a chair with his black, draconic wings and tail wrapped around him, and three sets of golden horns of varying lengths poking out of his head, the longest set probably over a foot in length in front of the bun he's put his hair in so it doesn't get caught in his wings. As such, his head is actually tilted to one side onto his knees, explaining the initial odd angle of the video.]

So how many people have turned into dragons so far...? I think I saw one posting about something else yesterday, but a bunch of other people seem to have just turned into their normal stuff. Isn't this way cooler, though? [He says that with a clawed hand to one side of his mouth, as if sharing a secret, his overall manner cheerful but somewhat airheaded.

After a moment, he drops his hand and waves it, as if to dismiss the topic for now.] But other than wanting to see all you other dragons out there, I had some other stuff to ask about. First is that I'm looking for people who are good at art or programming for something I'm working on setting up. I still need to do all the boring business license stuff sometime this month, but I want to make sure I'll have good people to do it with, you know? So if you're interested in that kind of thing or know about coding games for the virtual reality systems here, I'd like to see even just how many people are interested in helping make a game...or bring a game here, I guess. I'll see how things go~

[Making something from scratch might be easier than bringing Vanguard over in some form, but he's not prepared to abandon the latter idea entirely just yet. In any case, he raises a finger, then raises a second one. It looks like he's been sharpening his claws...]

And secondly, I've been trying to figure out what the best tea and coffee shops in the city are since I arrived, since I found some pretty bad quality places to start with...and even ones that served instant coffee... [There's an almost exaggeratedly despairing quality to the way he says that which implies instant coffee is probably a fate worse than death to him, but he promptly jumps back to cheery in the next moment.] I ended up making a list of each of them, so I figured I'd share it to save other people the trouble. You're welcome to join me for a drink if you like the sound of any of the places~

[What follows in a text post is a list of 20 stores for tea and 20 for coffee, ranging from the rightly well-known to hole-in-the-wall artisan spots that probably don't even display their name on the front. There's also brief notes for each, including things like nice decor and whether they specialise in specific kinds of coffee or tea on top of just being good in general. Basically, if you favour a certain kind of coffee or tea that can be considered good quality, there's probably a store specialising in it on there somewhere.]

Comments

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[codecmoment]

Oh thank you for the list, this is really helpful for some of my dates coming up! Or any I make in the future! I'm a "black coffee, like jet fuel" kinda guy, so my palette's not... great.

I saw a few dragons during Sanguis! It's Cordis now, so... I thought maybe it was a Sanguis form I hadn't seen before, since the ones I saw are normally wolves. Is it the hot spring water from the dragon place? What animal are you normally for Cordis? Do you know what happened?

I have a lot of questions.

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[thedarkbond]

well normal black coffee is fine, but i guess if you want to make it that strong i can't really stop you ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌
even if it ruins the quality

i think sanguis covers some similar stuff? but not exactly the same... (・_・ヾ
i know i've seen more than wolves at least
in any case i'm usually a fox, so it's pretty different (⌒▽⌒)☆
i don't really know what happened, but i don't mind it being like this for now~

[He could probably make an educated guess, but he wouldn't mind a bit more information on who's changed first.]

[codecmoment]

So is how you feel the same as you being really hungry during Cordis? Did your outside form just differ this time?

[thedarkbond]

hmm, now that you mention it...
i don't think i'm hungry yet (° o°)!
usually it starts by now

[codecmoment]

Are you feeling extra cuddly? Cordis get that way...

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[ringlette]

That list! It's something I really needed in this maze of a city! Thank you so much, Ren!

[ Marie appears on camera, looking completely normal but all the same poking holes in the screen with her shine of a smile. ]

I've seen few dragon people during the start of moon phases, and I suppose some from Iris will also pop up. How curious! I thought people didn't get reptilian traits.

Are you doing alright, though? Need anything?

[thedarkbond]

It's pretty confusing, isn't it? I'm used to bigger cities and it even took me a while to find all these places...

[Ren puts a hand under his chin in a rather thoughtful sort of manner, as if considering how much help it might really be. He mostly just figured he'd show it to people since he spent all that time on it anyway.]

Oh, I must have missed the earlier ones, then...I know Sanguis people can normally get snake stuff, but the wings are kind of a giveaway...

[Snakes not generally being winged and all. In any case, Ren waves a hand.] I feel pretty normal, actually. Usually during Cordis I get that annoying hunger and moonlacing stuff, but maybe this is something else.

[ringlette]

Lunatia being split into levels didn't help, I'm sure. It's just that huge, even bigger than Paris!

[ How chaotic. She puts a hand on her chest, partly relieved that he's okay. ]

I wonder if the tea served back in Lyestellus must have contributed to it. I didn't have it, so I suppose I won't become a cool dragon like you guys. [ Sad!!!! ] But if the effect suppresses some of the moon phase hunger, there might be little to worry about this month!

[thedarkbond]

It's definitely not bigger than Tokyo, but the levels thing did kind of throw me, you're right...

[Granted, only three of those levels are really usable for the kind of thing he was searching for, but that's more than enough to be getting on with.]

Oh, I did have the tea, so I guess that could be it...I don't know that many other people who did for sure, though, so that makes it harder to check. [He mostly ran into people in the hot springs, and not drinking tea.] Well, there's still three moons, but it's nice to get a little break from it.

[ringlette]

Mhm! Let's use this time of relief to our fullest! [ Marie pumps her fists, in full anticipation for when she's going to go on a shopping trip very soon and consume all the Chroma she's got. ]

Besides that, how have you been? I didn't see youy at Lyestellus, but I assume you had a hard time separating from your child, am I wrong?

text: un; nyerd

[pidgeypidge]

So I'd probably have to poke at the virtual reality system here a bit more but it shouldn't be too terribly difficult to figure out, if you're still looking for someone who can code.

[One might argue that coding and hacking were pretty different, but eh. Potato, potahto.]

And thanks for the list of coffee and tea places! I'll have to check them out at some point.

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[thedarkbond]

i'm looking for as many people as i can get, it'll make the work go quicker that way, right? °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
virtual reality in my world wasn't this advanced, but i thought there must be people used to similar stuff...

i thought after going to all that trouble for myself, i should make sure all these places get the recognition they deserve (*´꒳`*)

[pidgeypidge]

If it'll help, I can also try to ask a couple of my friends.

[Though Hunk was more of an engineer, and she wasn't sure how much Red knew about this kinda thing.]

That's really thoughtful of you. I'm sure they'll appreciate the exposure.

[thedarkbond]

that would be good~
right now i'm just looking to see who would be interested in working on something like that and who has the skills (︶ω︶)

i'm glad you think so~
my standards are pretty high, so it definitely means they're good (*´︶｀*)

[He mostly just figured all that work might help endear him to some new faces if he didn't keep it to himself.]

[pidgeypidge]

I'll have to bother them and get back to you, then~
Yea, I get it. With the sheer number of moonblessed kicking around, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone.

That's good to know. It's like a guarantee that we'll enjoy these places.

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[1upzero]

[She's barely reacting to anything else, she just heard game and thus raises her hand enthusiastically. Well, enthusiastically while also a bit sleepy, somehow she pulls that combo off.]

I'll help with a game!

[It was in her blood.]

Though... there are things I know of programming, but... I'm not a programmer, so I'm not sure how much help I could be. But, I would love to help make a game!

[thedarkbond]

[Oh, she sounds enthusiastic even if it doesn't seem like she has a lot of experience. Ren curls a hand under his chin as if he's thinking seriously on it.]

I think even some people who know how to program might have to learn this world's type of it as well...but I guess you could also help me test when we get that far. I don't want to end up making something that has all sorts of problems we didn't figure out before we released it.

[His tone is cheery despite the suggestion that things might go that badly. He's familiar with the gaming industry, at least, and he's been doing his research on it here, but there's probably still going to be some degree of trial and error involved.]

[1upzero]

If it's learning, I can do that. I'm very good at math and numbers and equations.

I'm also very good at playing games, so I can definitely do testing.

[thedarkbond]

I've been talking to some local programming students too, so maybe one of them could help you out...if you pick it up quickly, I think it'd be fine~

[People who learn on the job easily are always valuable assets, after all, and it's not like Ren or his friends had really had a great deal of idea what they were doing when they first started his company years ago.]

Oh, that's good to hear. I'm more of a tabletop gamer than a video gamer, but this world seems to like their tabletops with VR-flavouring anyway, so that's kind of what I'm going for with this.

[1upzero]

I play any and all games, table top, video, card, dice, word, everything! If it is a game, I enjoy them. My talent is games.

[She was intimately familiar with programming and VR, though, as a part of it all rather than a developer, but it lead to a unique point of view for it all.]

I'll study and work hard, I promise. I'm sure with the right data input it should be alright.

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[purport]

If we're here long enough, I'll open a cafe myself. Lucifer thought I ought to.

[ Not that this resolves any immediate need. ]

You've missed a location I find acceptable, if you want an addition to your list.

[thedarkbond]

wait, is he not here to open it with you now? (๑•﹏•)

[It's kind of disappointing, since Ren had gotten on pretty well with Lucifer.]

of course~
if it's good then i definitely want to hear about it (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

[purport]

His wings have returned to me, and I've been unable to locate him.

[ Nor can he sense him. He'd viewed being able to so freely spend time with Lucifer as a dream, for all that he knew it should be impossible.

He knows all dreams end. If only it hadn't been so soon. ]

I'll send you the address then. The "house special" is a distinctive blend.

[thedarkbond]

so i guess that sort of thing does just happen without warning... (◕︿◕✿)

[That said, it does make him wonder how Sandalphon might be doing, considering how close the two always seemed to be.]

okay~
now you're making me curious, though (´～ヾ)
are you sure you don't want to show me the place yourself~?

[This may be an extremely roundabout and silly way of offering some company if he needs it.]

[purport]

So it appears.

[ There follows a lull during which it seems that's the whole of his reply.

Then comes another. ]

Right, I recall you have difficulty with directions.