touchgrass | THIS SHINDIG LOOKS LIKE THE BOMB DIGGITY.

THIS SHINDIG LOOKS LIKE THE BOMB DIGGITY.

    ⬣//WELCOME TO "THE WORLD."
  

It’s the year 2000 and no aspect of life has been left untouched by the rapid advancement of technology. Wherever you are on Earth, you’ve lived a life where connection through digital spaces is the optimal way to stay involved with friends and family all around the world. Terminally online? That’s you and everyone you know.

In a world dominated by virtual reality and cutting edge digital experiences, people are always on the lookout for new ways to push their real lives further and further out of mind. One such opportunity comes in the latest offering from the notorious CyberConnect Corporation: Fragment, an MMORPG that promises full one-to-one synchronization of one’s consciousness with a vibrant and expansive fantasy world.

The privilege of participating in the testing of such cutting edge technology is one only a select group of randomly selected people from across the world will get to experience. You’re one of those lucky few... but is lucky really the right word? For better or worse, the experience promises to change you forever, and if you’re particularly blessed, you may even survive it.

The World is a short-run, panfandom alternate universe game inspired by the .Hack series. With elements of horror and mystery, The World is a plot-centric game wherein characters will participate in the beta test of Fragment, a mysterious MMORPG that transfers their consciousness from an increasingly dull reality into a flourishing fantasy world where nothing is quite as innocent as it first seems. Player choices play a critical role in shaping the plot and determining the final outcome of the game.

Questions? Check out our FAQ! Main navigation here.

    ⬣//WHAT IS THE WORLD? WHO CAN JOIN?
  

Welcome to The World! This is a short-term game set to run for a period of four months from July 29th to December 2nd. Welcome! This is a private game open to those on milky's (shitpost), Amb's (stellazzio), and Lavender's (revelries) plurk lists and those directly invited by the rest of the mod team.

If you aren't a friend of either head mod but are interested in checking out the game, feel free to request an invitation via the mod contact page. Friends and +1s are given first priority when processing and accepting applications, but if the concept interests you, don't hesitate to let us know!

    ⬣//DO I NEED TO BE CANON FAMILIAR?
  

Do you know what an MMO is? You do? Good. You know all you need to know to play in The World. While this is a game based off of the .Hack franchise, all one needs to know to join are the basics. Any canon-specific terminology and information will be introduced to you through events.

    ⬣//INTEREST CHECK & AU PLANNING
  

Help us gauge interest by filling out this handy little form and posting it below! This is also for you to crowdsource ideas for your character's AU and make tentative plans with your fellow nerds.

Name: Who are you?
Contact: Where can others reach you?
Invite: Who invited you? If you aren't on the mods' friends lists but would like to express interest in joining, let us know here!

Considerations: Who are you thinking of bringing?
AU planning: If you'd like to brainstorm ideas for your character's AU self, this is the place to do it! To help you along, take a look at our handy section on character building on the FAQ. You can discuss your ideas with others or talk about the plans you've already made.

Questions: Do you have any questions for us? Need help plotting or planning? Let us know! If your question is relevant to other players, we'll add it into the FAQ.

Anything else? You know what to do. Drop your best meme.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Name: wavendew
Contact:

revelries
Invite: pompompurin wiggling gif

Considerations: Owen (mhyk, the backup and default option), Hisoka Mikage (a3!), Ryuunosuke Tsunashi (Idolish7), Kokomi Sangomiya (Genshin Impact), Ayato Kamisato (Genshin Impact), but I have been rotating AUs for so many characters for months so who knows.
AU planning: I’ll just break down each consideration and what I’ve had so for for each of them individually, I will not apologize for tl;dr.

•Owen Christie, an early 20-something who makes his money being mean to people who like that sort of thing and with ~~owenlyfans~~ other perhaps scandalous ways, even if he’d rather just sing or deal with animals. He doesn’t talk much about his real life online, though, and in the game he’s just a Shadow Warlock with a penchant for PKing and being obnoxious on the forums. He also may have murdered a person as a youth but who knows!

•Hisoka Mikage, another mysterious 20-something but a few years older than Owen. Doesn’t talk much about his past due to amnesia from a traumatic event, but he’s slowly remembering bits and pieces. In Fragment he’s just your average speedy DPS, but his usual party of three had a falling out so he’s just sort of drifting. He’s not actively antagonistic, but he will do anything for the right money like some sort of assassin or spy or something. Also easy to befriend if you have marshmallows.

•Ryuu is just on this list to have someone nice on the list. He’s warm and friendly and will help any new or struggling players he comes across! In real life he might still just be an idol, I think that would be funny. Maybe this beta test can also be marketing!!! He is also the least likely option on account of icons not being a thing I have but!! He is still here.

•Kokomi is another nice option, but I’m letting Genshin slots go to the other players first!! She’s a Harvest Cleric who knows the strategy for everything in the game and how to efficiently minmax and damage, but she picked her class because she’d prefer to support others. I’m not as sure what to do with her real life self - probably from a religious family and was raised very strictly to keep up family traditions, but there’s a lot of wiggle room.

•Same thing with Kokomi irt Genshin spaces, but!! He is a competent businessman (politician?? how will I translate the Yashiro Commission, who knows) and works too much, so taking part in the beta isn’t his priority. That doesn’t mean he’s not a competent player who’s way too capable of soloing things no matter whatever class he picks, and he has a hidden competitive streak. Also he’s just my babygirl so I need to consider him.

•I’m not set on anyone, so slaps a blank space here for funsies.

Questions: i have already asked too many

Anything else?

Name: milky
Contact:

shitpost
Invite: hmm

Considerations: I’ll be bringing Yael from LKYT, a game you shouldn’t look up while at work. Don't say I didn't warn you. He’s a surly dude who’s surprisingly kind deep down. Deep, deep down.............

AU planning: Yael is stationed at a military base in California and currently has way too much time on his hands after breaking a leg. He’s more of a sports guy, but the nature of his injury means he can’t go out and touch grass like he used to. When he received an invitation to participate in Fragment’s beta, he figured he might as well play a game to kill the time. He’s bad at video games, don’t bully him.

Questions: are we having fun yet

Anything else?

Name: amb
Contact:

stellazzio
Invite: ME

Considerations: fai d. flowright from tsubasa: reservoir chronicle! i'm 1000000% set on him. he's just a fun, silly guy that also has a lot of Issues! while he keeps his distance from people, he's also very soft at heart.

AU planning: fai is a 26 year old getting his phd in physical chemistry at a very good university in california. while he gets paid for lab work, he also does some tutoring on the side to earn a bit of extra cash! feel free to handwave him tutoring your character in the past if they're a few years younger! he'll tutor for any science or math subject, online or offline.

i'm also open to him having met others through his previous job at a cafe as well!

he'll definitely deny having met offline, though, so just be prepared for that. and, as always, prepare to call him out on that too!

Questions: no

Anything else?

Name: Haki
Contact: PM
Invite: i live here

Considerations: Just Oria Severine (original)--if you played with Iria in Mayoi, this is the little brother she kept talking about
AU planning: Oria is an 18 year old who loves playing video games and has many outside hobbies like skating, parkour with skating, never studying schoolwork at home, and eat a lot. He's also a part of a family that's insanely rich and will most likely take over an important business that his father currently manages. I guess they would be kinda well-known, but not like... famous. He came out of an all boys' high school and is planning on going to college. He will be having a wonderful break time. :)

I'm not looking for any handwaved close relationships with him, but feel free to know him for whatever reason.

Questions: no

Anything else? i hope y'all enjoy my npc

Name: Luminitrium
Contact: me
Invite: guess

Considerations: Ganymede (Olimpos) (verylikely), Ghaleon (Lunar)
AU planning:

Already got most of my stuff in planning/hashed out because my character is going to be more along the lines of a loner, yo.

But class thinky thoughts:

Macabre Dancer (Preference)
Wavemaster

Anything else y'all will know upon character interaction or when my character gets accepted

Questions: No

Anything else? idk man I'M EXCITED MATES

not a meme but enjoy

i'm so ready for owenlyfans

how much does he charge for a foot pic

WOW he looks like a nerd, who is this guy

yael gets a special price

two thousand dollars

i can't wait to watch people speedrun their forum bans

"what about my sexy" is the kind of thing i'd say tbh

AS ALWAYS I'M EXCITED FOR ANOTHER LONG-HAIRED LUM BOY

Name: nemo
Contact:

minisentry
Invite:

Considerations:

☀️ AETHER

Personality wise, my take on Aether is an outwardly composed and kind hearted guy who's curious, intelligent, loyal, and easy to get along with. He's for making friends, but he's rather private about his personal life and doesn't open up. He's more than willing to listen and help those he feels need it.

AU: I can see him outwardly being a very regular uni student who has a part time job. Yet, I want to play around with him being more with how sus he actually is in canon and bring it in this AU. Nothing like he's a "bad" guy, but someone who's got a lot more going on than he seems. He's probably looking for his sister which he's been separated from for five years.

🐱 AOI MUKOU

Aoi is from a vn called YOU, ME, AND HER. From an outsider's pov, she would come off as a complete weirdo who believes she's in a video game. She's very sexual, but her approach is more creepy and off-putting than successful. She's rather tactless and doesn't follow most social norms. She is absolutely loyal and selfless to those she comes to befriend and care for and is actually very sentimental. She's very meta and that will carry over probably.

AU: I can see her using gaming and online stuff as a way to cope with her troubles at home, her mental health, bullying, and a range of other things. What she needs is someone to be her friend and care about her as a person. She'll lack a decent amount of common sense, skills, and practical knowledge, but she'll try her best and learn quickly.

🐺 SILVER WOLF

GREMLIN!! In all seriousness, Silver Wolf is brilliant but immature. She likes to live life on her terms irl and online. She's morally grey but of a chaotic neutral than anything. She can be absolutely annoying but endearing at the same time. She likes to do things with her own flare.

AU: I can see her being formerly big in hacker circles and really intro retro gaming. Long term I'm not just yet what I'd like to do with her besides annoying text messages and enabling questionable impulses.

🥺

does he accept vbux.............

peers at all of your options

wow who's this clown

He’s bad at video games, don’t bully him.

he's gonna bully him

hmmmmmm

no

but he does accept cupcakes, too

NEMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

aoi, oh my god?! i haven't thought about that vn in so long but now it's all rushing back to me. ALL OF YOUR CONSIDERATIONS ARE SO GOOD, I'M EXCITED