(no subject)

[recollecters]

EVENT

ENCASED. "They are unique in the simplicity, the diversity, the related harmony of the forms of life that they enclose." Marjory Stoneman Douglas The message on the first was probably not that encouraging, but for the next couple of days it appears as though the city remains the same as it was. The paintbrushes from the previous month don't disappear, and the city remains half-painted into existence and a happenstance of colors. The city's quiet and preparing itself for summer...but on the third somewhere around midnight, every user will receive a mass message in their inbox from Zee Carlisle, a man many have heard of by now but that some may not be as familiar with. Okay. The reason we don't reply to you guys when we post to you every month isn't because we don't care and we're sinister, it's because we're busy. Not an excuse, I know. But you're thinking too hard about it. The city itself isn't being hacked, literally. It was a figurative comparison and it's kind of like this. This city and the world you're currently living in exist. Everything about this world is real, you're real, I'm real, etc. But the layers exist in another kind of...realm, I guess? It's freely manipulated beyond the base of the world and that's what's being messed with. Did you know it's hard to trace IPs when they're blocked? Leave that to us. We found a way to break through the blocks on the districts though, but it's up to you guys. Level one. Ready to start generating and get this place back together? Well that's not ominous, is it? THE NPCS What blocks? What the hell is he talking about? It becomes clear the moment you take your first step and a strange, almost invisible ripple appears around you. This ripple might happen right at midnight, or it might occur before or after the time. But not long after daybreak on the 3rd of June, every Retrospec user will notice a few things. The only people they'll be able to notice around the city are those who are also on the Retrospec networks. Friends and family members without the app seemingly have disappeared before your very eyes. No matter where you go to look for them, they've vanished. Animals are still around, and items still exist, but it's just the people who are lacking. The strange thing, however, is that even if you can't see them you can still hear them. Maybe you can hear your parents making dinner in the kitchen, or you can hear your professor lecturing about the importance of showing up for your finals on time. Your annoying co-worker is definitely doing that tapping thing with his fingers against your desk and the worst part is that they can't see or hear you. No matter how hard you try to get their attention, it's as if you aren't there. Trying to call them is a futile effort. Calls are distorted and disconnected, dropping after a few rings. Calling to those outside of the city, however...works? It works! After months and months of being disconnected from the outside world, calls will go through and last for a grand total of 90 seconds. Toward the end, a low, growling noise will filter through the line and distort the phone call and repeated calls to the same person will grow increasingly hard to understand. But hey. At least that's one thing fixed. THE MAINFRAME As of last month, several Retrospec users repainted most of the city into existence but there are still pieces missing! The brushes haven't gone away and while the task of reviving the city is easier now, everything that's been brought back remains a bit unusual. Purple bushes are bright purple and the orange roads are dusted with dirt and drips of colored paint. A lot of the large buildings such as the hospital, the university and more are back though and will need their interiors re-organized. Take some time out of your day to restructure the world around you. You'll never know when you'll need it. THE SOUL ENERGY As you begin to notice the veil that separates you from those not on the app, it becomes quite clear that there are two sides of the same city. Everything you know and love is still in one place, but as you hear the NPCs nearby you'll find that there's no way to get near them. Or is there...? Not long after the first text message, another message from Zee is sent along. The fastest and easiest way to change what layer you're existing on is to generate the energy. It's hard to explain in its entirety but working together will produce the energy needed to bring them back to this layer. It's not a drain or anything, but only you guys can do it. You know. Given where you exist right now. Your energy is staying with you, but the levels will change enough to break down the veil. It's not the same as extracting. We're not doing that here. Pick a district and pick a friend or six. I believe in you guys. Not long after the text, six different links will pop up in your messages, one for each of the districts in the city. Clicking on the links will bring up a map of each district, and each map will have a list attached to it. TRIBUNAL TERRACE Over in Tribunal Terrace, the buildings have mostly been repainted but the NPCs aren't present. With the need to reorganize and bring back the police, the fire department and more, there's a list of tasks assigned as written by Zee. -Volunteer with ReVA to create a community event such as a dance, party or other. -Create decorations and hang them in the children's ward at the hospital. -Clean up Recollé Square. -Discuss crimes or wrong-doings you've committed in this life or the past with one other person. -Solve a mystery. -Talk to the dead. -Take care of the firestation dogs. Suggestions, mostly. Leaving this up to you what any of this means, but go forward with good intentions to accomplish them. APPRASSAGE Several Retrospec users might be stressing about finals and graduations, but it's hard to worry too much when their teachers and classmates are missing. Though the buildings and landscape might be hit and miss, there's a list of tasks assigned as written by Zee. -Help someone study for their finals. -Teach someone a new skill and learn a new skill in return. -Tell someone your favorite story. -Repaint the stars and go stargazing. -Paint a self-portrait and have someone analyze it. -Discuss a dark period in your life and create a display based on that. -Gather the horses and chocobos and have a race. -Guide a tour through one of the museums. Suggestions, mostly. Leaving this up to you what any of this means, but go forward with good intentions to accomplish them. CHATA Even with everything a total mess, there's always time to be kind and try to better humanity. Not sure where to start? Don't worry, there's a list of tasks assigned as written by Zee. -Help someone with their grocery shopping. -Donate items to the orphanage. -Attend to the animals at the animal shelter and hold an adoption drive. -Steal from the rich and give to the poor. -Start a food fight. -Reorganize Freshens and move items to different levels of the store. -Create a Kickstarter for a new business and pitch your ideas to people. -Start a petition about something you're passionate about, collect several signatures. Suggestions, mostly. Leaving this up to you what any of this means, but go forward with good intentions to accomplish them. VIEA VILLAGE Home is where the heart is, but what is it that you love and value? There's a list of tasks assigned as written by Zee. -Plant flowers in front of someone's house. -Create and organize a game day in Hollingberry Field. -Set up a stall at the Farmer's Market and sell your goods. -Do yardwork for a neighbor. -Egg someone's house. -Talk about your family and why you love them with someone. -Do something nice for your neighbor like give them flowers or bake them cookies. -Tell someone about a family secret you've been keeping. Suggestions, mostly. Leaving this up to you what any of this means, but go forward with good intentions to accomplish them. ENPRISE Businesses and empires, items and wares. Enprise's important for those with big goals and big dreams. While those dreams may be on hold, there's a list of tasks assigned as written by Zee. -Host a fashion show. -Return wild animals to their cages in the zoo. -Swim with the sharks. -Volunteer to deliver packages around the city for the day. -Rent/buy paintball equipment and start a city-wide game, tagging buildings as you go. -Analyze your dreams/nightmares with at least one other person. -Engage in a duel of your choice with someone. -Pamper someone. Anyone. Any way you can think of. -Have a public debate with someone. Suggestions, mostly. Leaving this up to you what any of this means, but go forward with good intentions to accomplish them. TISSE Entertainment makes the world go round and there's plenty of entertainment to be found in Tisse. Even if it's just you in the city now, there's a list of tasks assigned as written by Zee. -Complete the Big Bang Burger challenge (or try, anyway.) -Buy a dozen cupcakes from the Confectionary and hand them out to strangers. -Teach a dance lesson at Dancinerate...any kind of dance. -Beat someone at a video game at the Hubbub Hub Arcade. -Steal someone's coffee from the pick-up counter at a coffee shop. -Write a poem about your feelings and share it with someone. -Create a work of art using whatever you can find. -Create a large game of crack the whip at the Stardust, skating and convincing people to skate with you. -Buy someone a drink...anyone...they can even be underaged. (Not that we're condoning that, but trust me, it'll work.) -Host a performance of any kind at the Atrium. -Perform one embarrassing stunt in public. Suggestions, mostly. Leaving this up to you what any of this means, but go forward with good intentions to accomplish them. What do "suggestions" mean here? It means that while these are ideas, things that push and challenge you and encourage building bonds will work the best. But never fret. There are things outside to do, too. OUTSIDE The paint-thinner monsters from last month begin to phase out throughout the month, but several of the creatures around the perimeters of the city begin to move inward, starting to appear around the places that aren't quite filled in yet. Areas that aren't fully painted or areas where tasks aren't being attended to are more prone to being infested with monsters that will need to be defeated. The roads to Pesgare, Respatrum, Bosuma and Magatus seem to have vanished and any attempts to leave will reroute citizens into the woods or into the ocean. The subway tunnels underground are empty and silent, the sound of trains running echoing through them but no trains come. Working together to clear out these areas and ensure that certain areas are receiving high enough energy readings is just as important as completing the above tasks. But then what..? ZEE I know, doing tasks for us is getting old, but given your connection to the world you're the only ones with the right kind of souls to generate the energy field needed to wear down the blocks. Work together. Get to know each other. Make this city your own. And report to me as you cross off tasks so I can track the readings of the district. We'll bring them back. Promise. Welcome to recolle's June log! The information above provides loose guidelines of things occurring this month, so please feel free to make your own prompts based on these. You are also free to create your own logs and inbox threads. Characters will not be able to travel to places outside of the city at this time! As you do these tasks or tasks similar to these, please report them to the correct headers on the JUNE OBJECTIVE REPORTING post in the mod journal! This will help us track what's being done and how it will impact the city for June and July. As a reminder, you may qualify for a memory freebie in June by threading out one district-objective with at least one person you haven't threaded with before. This thread will qualify when there are at least five consecutive comments from you. Finally, if you turn in six threads (one for each district) with your character performing an objective, you will qualify for a memory freebie! The threads must be at least 5 consecutive comments long and at least two of them should be with people you have not threaded with before. Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here.

Comments

[keystaff]

Discovery:

[Of course, initially, Sakura might not realize what was going on. That it might not just be her older brother that seems to have disappeared. Hence, at first, she might be quite upset and frantic in searching for him when she can't find him. She uses Fly while trying to cover more ground, her pink golem following her as she also tries to balance being able to see, with trying to hide and being cautious in not wanting to cause another scene if those without the app might see her.

She calls out her brother's name once she lands in certain places he might usually be hanging around. The university, the library, various places he has part time jobs at.]

APPRASSAGE

Star gazing:

[Once she finds she doesn't so much need to worry about her magic being seen and feared, and she finds certain tasks might help her brother and others, she makes use of her magic. In this case, using Fly to help her reach in repainting the stars. There might also be a small packed bento type meal and blanket, in then enjoying her handiwork and that of whoever else might join her in the task.]

Stories:

My favourite story? Well. Maybe the one with the fox and the gloves? Or Alice in Wonderland?

[The one about the fox being where the fox is sent by his mother to get himself some gloves from town, told to be cautious in being found out because foxes were feared and chased out. But the man sees the fox's paw and gives him the gloves anyway. And well, most others had probably been aware of some adaption if not read about Alice.]

CHATA

Groceries:

[Sakura is found either in helping others getting their groceries from the store, offering if someone gives their list, to rush around the aisles to get what they need, or in helping them carry their groceries back to the car for example. But either way, she is running around the store back and forth, with a trolley or with bags of groceries out to and from the carpark.]

Orphanage:

[She had gone through her things after moving. Now seemed as good a chance as any in figuring what she no longer fit of her clothes or items she no longer needed or used, to give them to others more in need. Sakura heads over with a bag or two of her things to donate, happily showing the other children at the orphanage what she had to give them.]

VIEA VILLAGE

Planting flowers:

[Sakura figured this one seemed easy enough. Once she obtained some flowers from the garden centre at least. She asks the neighbour which they liked and then got to work. Rolling up her sleeves, she digs a space in their garden to fit in the flowers, gently scooping them and then digging back around them with the soil, petting it down around them.]

I hope they do well.

Family:

[Sakura will never not take a chance to wax poetic about her family and friends. So if someone sits and listens, she will tell them all about her family. Her biological father, the stories she remembers about her mother, her older brother and how hard he works and studies, her adopted family of Fai, Iwai and Noah and her observations about them thus far.

Okay. Her brother might be a little more upsetting to mention considering he does not have the app and thus disappeared. And her father passed away last year. She doesn't mind chatting about the others.]

Baking:

[Well, if there was one thing their house was never short on, it was baking ingredients. Flour, sugar and such. So Sakura sets to work on making use of that in proceeding to make a floury mess of the kitchen in getting out things to make a batch or two of cookies.

With a lot of chocolate chips. Though not all of those might quite make it into the mixture itself as she nibbles while measuring the ingredients out. At the least, her cute pink apron keeps the worst of the flour off of her clothes as she stands on the stool to mix and make the cookies, before heading to the neighbours to give some to them.]

ENPRISE

Zoo:

[Given the chaos of earlier with everything seemingly disappearing, it wasn't just them that were affected, but the animals too. So Sakura offers to head out and help wrangle the animals back to their cages. Some of the monkeys or the smaller animals like the red pandas or meerkats seem easier for her to deal with at least.

At least. They seem docile enough in letting her lead them back. At first. The monkeys might be more inclined to try and play, making her chase after them though.]

Mail Delivery:

[This, Sakura is more confident in. Using Fly, she transforms her staff in making the wings larger, longer, to use to quickly get herself traveling around to deliver the packages. Or if some are closer together with the addresses, she might be running around the streets on foot in the suburbs.]

Dreams:

My dreams? I'm not sure if I really remember most of them? What about yours? What did you last dream about?

[Sakura asks, a finger to her lips as she considers and turns to the other person as they go through Zee's list of activities. This seems as good a time as any for discussing something as vague as dreams. Not that she is really experienced in trying to read anything more into dreams or nightmares, but still.]

Planting flowers

[angealwings]

I think they will. You're very careful with them.

[ That one big, possibly scary-looking guy who likes gardening? Check. ]

Do you live nearby? You might want to keep an eye on them if there are more than a couple of weeks without rain.

[keystaff]

You think so? I hope I am. I'm not usually really the one that does this sort of thing but. I wanted to help out somehow. As basic as this might be.

[Even a child could manage to plant something. And possibly make it grow, depending on the weather and that they weren't too young and enthusiastic about it. Still, Sakura pauses then, turning to see who it is, when he asks if she lives around here.]

I live around here, yes. But I suppose you're right. I hadn't thought of that. If these people don't have the app and seem to have disappeared too. I can keep an eye on the garden though. For now.

[She still worries, still hopes to find her brother again. Even if it might be both comforting and terrifying to hear him at times without seeing him, without being able to communicate. Let alone the calls that seem to start to pick up now.]

[angealwings]

You are doing very well, you need not worry. And even if the people are not missing... not everyone knows how to take care of flowers, or has time.

[ He's not trying to get her address, honest. He doesn't really live close, and he's pretty sure that if this is near her home, watching the flowers grow and taking care of them will be good for her, too. ]

So keeping an eye on it would be wonderful.

[ He pauses for a moment, tilting his head at what she said. ]

Is your family missing?

[ Yes, he remembers Fai's offer rather well. He knows that Bucky's father, for one, isn't on the app. It's a reasonable question, he thinks. ]

orphanage

[rebellions]

[This isn't the first time Ragna has brought some gifts to his old home, and while the donation isn't overly impressive thanks to him having to actually go out of his way to buy things for it, the kids from the orphanage look overjoyed anyway. After all, it's not the quantity or even the quality of the gifts that counts, but rather the feeling of being special to receive one that counts here.

He's kind of surprised to see an unfamiliar face among the kids here until he notices she seems to be distributing some items she's brought on her own. Figuring out this might be her contribution to returning the city to normal, Ragna decides to approach her instead of leaving right away.]

Aren't you a little too young for this charity bullshit? You could very well be playing with the kids here, not working on fixing Retrospec's fuck-ups.

[He places his left hand on his hip as he speaks, his right arm limply hanging at his side and refusing to work still, much like his constantly closed right eye. It's not like he doesn't find the girl's involvement impressive, but come on. It's bad enough they have to clean Retrospec's mess up in the first place, they could at least leave the kids out of it.]

[keystaff]

[Sakura feels she has some things to donate, some time, some things that might help cheer these kids up. That and....well. If not for her brother, if not for Fai adopting them, they might have ended up here. In the system. So she feels she owes this to herself, as well as to the sense of kindness and duty in giving to those more in need.

She shifts, pausing and looking up when Ragna appears and asks her.]

That's -- it's okay. I mean. My brother -- I could have been here. If not for him and Fai-san. After moving, I've needed to clear out some things anyway, so.

Star gazing

[standalonehuman]

After their brief chat on the Network, Togusa had wanted an excuse to run into Sakura, in person. He is quite surprised to find that she can fly, but maybe that's exactly what they need.

"Working on the stars? Hmm." He puts a hand to his chin. "I can't fly, but maybe this will help more." He offers his own paintbrush, which drips with a shiny, reflective silver. "If you're going to repaint the stars, this'll help them be seen?"

Despite the heat, Togusa is wearing a high-collared shirt that hugs his neck tightly. No reason at all.

[keystaff]

Sakura pauses when she hears the voice, hears the question, glancing down from her possibly precarious perch on her staff at the unfamiliar voice. Given she was more used to seeing most on Retrospec texting more than hearing them or seeing them all the time in person unless she knew them more closely.

"I'm trying to. But ah -- silver? That probably would work better than my pink paint."

She agrees, almost a little sheepish as she reaches to take his brush. It's only as she gets a little closer that she notices his clothes.

"You're not hot? I mean, wearing that top."

[standalonehuman]

The staff is maybe not unexpected, she almost looks like the classic idea of a witch on a broom with that thing, but Togusa decides not to make that comment out loud. He smiles, and he starts to hand over the paint container, too. "If you mix them, it might come out pretty white, mine's been lightening up most everything it goes with?"

Oh. Um. He actually blushes a little at her question, but the smile doesn't go anywhere. "I mean, a little, but-" He puts a hand on his neck, right on the right side. "It's actually nothing, but I have a scratch here that looks really bad."

stories

[stressweets]

Oh, I like the one about the fox and the gloves. [ ♪ It's a really sweet story... ] Mmm, I had a favorite story that had a fox in it too... Oh, The Little Prince.

[ ...that is a bit of an upsetting story but anyway— ]

We could trade stories...~?

[keystaff]

You do? I'm not sure how popular it is exactly, but. It's one a friend shared with me and I really enjoyed it. I haven't read 'The Little Prince' yet though.

[But now she is curious. She pauses then before offering her own book to him. Not that she is aware the Little Prince might be upsetting, and her own book is rather short but even so. Sakura gives a nod, agreeing to the idea of trading, at least to read them here for now.]

Here.

[stressweets]

Mm, maybe it wasn't foxes... Maybe it was cats...?

[ ...Ah, well, it doesn't matter; he'll hand over his book ♪ and take hers, very carefully. ]

Thank you. [ Polite, polite. They're both here with short stories... ] The fox shows up a little ways into that, but there's plenty of interesting characters before that. I think you might like the rose... She's really unique.

Zoo

[long_live_the_queen]

Get back here you little shit--

[One of said monkeys dashes in from a side path leading to another exhibit, a knit cap in one of its paws, apparently enjoying this game.

The person chasing after it does not seem to be enjoying herself. She seems to have a bit of a temper, in fact.

Along with definitely pink hair and short white...horns? exposed on her head.

Lucy's not having the best day.]

[keystaff]

E-eh? Hey, wait, monkey-san!

[Because. Well, it is easy to assume and guess that the cap belongs to the other girl. The one with the pink hair and white....horns? Sakura isn't quite sure if that's what it is. But presumably she has the app and that is why she has such coloured hair if it wasn't dyed. Maybe the hat helps her hide it, and the horns.

She chases after the monkey, reaching as she gets closer in trying to grab the hat back from the smaller creature.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The monkey chitters in alarm, zigzagging away from this new obstacle.

Lucy made a grab for it when the creature passed, but not with her arms. The air bent around a distortion almost two meters in front of her--but whatever it was missed, Lucy overcommitted to turning, and wiped out into a shrub nearby.

The monkey was still in possession of her hat, and Lucy was not only still disgruntled but in a bush. Too disgruntled to be bothered by the presence of someone she didn't know within thirty feet of her and witnessing her mistake.

The shrub's making some angry noise though.]

stargazing

[cardcaptured]

[Stargazing with Sakura? Totally a dream date of his.

Stargazing with Sakura, but only after they attempted to fill in a patchy night sky with paint, while trying not to topple hundreds of feet to the ground? Maybe not quite as much.

But really, he wasn't going to complain. Sure, their paintbrush colors were going to lead to a very... interesting looking night sky, but it was for a good cause, and he was happy just to be spending time with her in general. Odd as is was, it was... nice, just to savor this all around them. The quiet, empty air, the mild summer night breeze whispering past, sitting side by side on her staff while they slowly filled in vast space above... it was all sort of romantic.

But they were going to have to take a break at some point, and Xiaolang seems to be ready to do just that, pulling his arm back from painting a rather deliberate pattern of green stars before rolling his shoulder a little.]

Sakura, how's it going on your end?

[keystaff]

They're going to be....interesting coloured stars, but. I'm getting there? I think. I hope it looks alright from a distance at least.

[She can't help but to be thrilled all the same. This was something of a once in a lifetime experience. Literally painting the stars. Not that she would ever have wanted or imagined there being such a scenario in a world without stars. Still, Sakura does her best in keeping them from falling, while smiling to him to check on his own work next to her.]

You alright?

[cardcaptured]

[The nerd in him, of course, was equally as thrilled to have this opportunity, being one of the few responsible for bringing back the heavenly bodies above. If he was the more immature type, or the playful sort, he'd take full advantage of this, putting whatever he wanted across the sky, but he remained faithful to what he remembered of these parts of the sky in Recolle. Not that he didn't take one or two liberties, though...

He can't help but give a fond look right back at her, however, her bright smile and sweet concern warming him up despite the slight chill of the evening air.]

I'm fine, don't worry. Reaching out this far to paint can get a little tiring on the arms. [And sore....] I think this side's coming together really well. Ah... despite the colors, that it.

[He glances over at her own progress, the smile he gave her before softening a bit as he admires her work.]

I'm sure it'll look good from down below, though. We'll probably be able to tell better once we're back on the ground.

discovery

[taishou]

[ It's by chance that he hears her voice, really. Kuro is out and about, investigating just who's missing and who needs help where, but... well, there's a lot of people missing. His boss and coworkers, a lot of the people he sees at his own part time jobs besides the dojo.

He turns his attention to where she's calling, perked up. The tone in her voice makes him think of his own little sister, so his big brother heart hurts a little for her. ]

Hey there, little lady. You lookin' for someone?

[keystaff]

Hm? Oh. I -- my brother. I can't seem to find him. And he didn't mention being out today that I remember?

[Which is what worries her. As Sakura pauses and turns when she hears the voice, hears and answers the question. Usually if one of them was going out, they would be writing it down on the board at home in the kitchen for each other to check. Or at least text or mention they had plans that day. Sakura hasn't quite figured that this is a wider problem than just her brother being missing though.]

Discovery - University

[huxceptional]

[It's unnerving to find most of the student population gone. As a professor that has finals coming up, it's quite possibly the worst time for this sort of thing to happen. How else is he going to torment his students one last time if they're not around??

He grumps while adjusting the messenger bag around his shoulder, before he spots Sakura calling for someone.]

Don't you have a cell phone to contact this person?

[Everyone has one nowadays, right??]

[keystaff]

He's not answering. I've tried calling, leaving voice messages and texting him, but.

[Still no response. He usually had his phone off in lectures or at work, but even so. He should have gotten back to her by now if that were the case in having some sort of break by now if that were so. Sakura bites her lip, frowning and glancing down to her phone again.

Maybe his had died and he hadn't charged it yet? But he was usually careful about not letting that happen so he could always check in on her somehow if he needed to. This wasn't like him at all.]

[huxceptional]

If that's the case, he probably disappeared. It's been happening all around the campus, so I wouldn't be surprised if he is another casualty in this mess.

[It'll probably be fine, right? Not that he cares about his students or anything like that!! He's just worried about his career-- he can't be a professor if there are no students to teach. Yes, exactly that.]

You should probably go home.

Flowers

[lienhearts]

[Theo watches her at work for a second before striding over, crouching down.]

That soil looks a little dry. You might need to rejuvenate it a little.

[keystaff]

Dry? It's not my house so I'm not sure how often they water, besides when it rains, I mean. But if it's dry, I just need to water it, right?

[That problem seemed simple enough to figure? Right? She hopes. She isn't the most experienced gardener or anything, but still. If all that was needed was water she could take care of that here and now, with activating Watery if she had to.]