(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

[floret]

[ as june goes about its customary business of busting out all over, you may meet a certain travel-sized young man in various places, doing various things. perhaps you run across one another by chance, or maybe you planned to meet up; in any case, you're both here now. what's important is that it's collaboreighteen, and you're stronger together. ]

i. tribunal terrace

[ in the little plaza area out front of the hospital (a spot chosen as much for its visibility as for the fact that he knows there are many people who aren't terribly comfortable inside hospitals), jamie has tissue paper, scissors, and string; he's using them to make wisteria garlands, but there's any number of other things one could theoretically make with them, too. ]

ii. viea village

[ jamie doesn't have the power to make zee un-encourage egging people's houses, but what he does have is a bucket of cleaning solution, some washcloths, and a scrubby brush. no egg mess is safe! ]

iii. tisse

[ there aren't exactly throngs of customers, but dammit, jamie's not going to skip out on his shifts at the tea kittle. come get your competently brewed teas and skillfully made espresso beverages! he's probably given up on trying to stop people stealing each other's drinks, but that doesn't mean he's given up on his craft! ]

iv. mystery

[ you're also just as likely to run into him in other places, doing other things--sharing a blunt, making a spreadsheet, staring at his phone looking shellshocked... probably some pretty weird stuff, too. honestly, he's down for whatever. ]

i

[physix]

You're really good at crafts, Jamie!

[She's impressed. Akane's clapping for him.]

Have you been working like this for a while?

[It seems like a lot of work for a single person.]

[floret]

Haha. Not to brag, but I'll bet I was one of the three best safety-scissor users in my kindergarten class. It's kind of rough peaking so early...

[ he puts the scissors down and flexes his fingers a bit, tilting his head at the other craft supplies. ]

A little while, I guess...
As far as I can tell, none of this stuff really works unless we do it together, but I figured I could get some prep work in while I waited for people.

[physix]

Well, it does take some skill to manage something like this. Can I see how you've been cutting those flowers?

They're beautiful.

[Akane's giving Jamie way too many compliments.]

[floret]

Ahahaha, you're too kind...!
It's pretty simple. You just fold a sheet of tissue paper into a little rectangle so you can cut out a bunch at once, and then cut them into kind of a teardrop shape... [ he demonstrates... ]

Then, for each petal, you twist the end around and fold it inward. And then once you have a bunch, you just string them together.

[physix]

Oh yeah, that is pretty simple.

[ Akane tries to make one herself and she starts cutting some tissue paper. ]

Do you think that this is big enough?

[ She shows Jamie the flower petal that looks a little tiny. ]

[floret]

Ones that size would look great on the very end of the strand, I bet! They always sort of taper off in real life. But I think I'd try cutting them a little bigger for the main part of the garland.

III

[beneathmoonlight]

Jamie-san?

[Atsushi tends to drop by the Tea Kittle on occasion to help Leon bake sweets to sell, but today he’s simply dropping by for a visit. He recognize Jamie from the app, and since this is the first time they’ve met in person, he greets him with a little bow.]

It’s nice to finally meet you in person!

[floret]

Oh! Hey! It's Atsushi!

[ Jamie's only spent a summer here and there in Japan, so executing a normal-looking polite bow of the appropriate depth doesn't quite come as second nature (probably not even third or fourth), but... he gives it a shot! ]

Likewise. --Wow, you're so tall in real life!

[beneathmoonlight]

[It’s a good enough bow for him! He laughs softly at the observation.]

Am I? I thought I was pretty average.

[He glances around, still a bit unnerved by the whole invisible people thing.]

Do you work here? Leon-san did say he was looking for help a while back.

[floret]

Oh, well... I guess I'm just short enough that everyone looks tall to me. [ Ah, he remembers seventh grade, when he finally reached five feet...
...and then stayed there...
...forever. ]

I do! I've been working here since... I think January? Or maybe late December. I don't know, it's been a few months.

[beneathmoonlight]

There’s nothing wrong with that!

[It’s kind of cute, actually, but Atsushi doesn’t say as much. He doesn’t want Jamie to feel like he’s belittling him.]

Oh, cool! It really is a nice place. I’d work here full time if I wasn’t already employed.

[He glances around.]

It’s so odd to hear people but not see them.

ii

[livingimpaired]

[ Kei has no desire to egg anyone's house. He lacks that sort of rebellious spirit, but he does come to see how many happened to partake. It is somewhat of a surprise to see that there is a person attempting to clean the residue egg off. ]

That's quite a messy job that you've decided to take on. Might I ask why you're doing it?

[floret]

[ Jamie starts visibly and turns to see who's addressing him...! He looks closely, then relaxes when he sees that this gentleman does not appear to be wielding any eggs. ]

Why...?
Um.
Well, because it needs doing, right?

[livingimpaired]

[ He offers a small nod, agreeing with the question. ]

It does, but I would think that is more the owners' issue.

[floret]

It is true that normally they'd be the ones who have to handle it, but is it really fair to say that a vandalism is the victims' "issue"?
Besides, most of them don't even exist on this plane right now, and an egg stain is kind of time sensitive.

[livingimpaired]

It's not fair, but that is the point of vandalism.

[ A small shrug follows his words. But he finds something "good" in what the young man says. This sort of situation probably is causing a lot of distress. Well, everyone has to find their way to feel in control. ]

Do you think the eggs are on a different level?

III

[lastcomfort]

[ Few things are as good a pick-me-up as a freshly brewed tea or cup of coffee in the late morning. Something nice before lunch! When she will inevtiably get a new cup for that meal. The city is an odd mix of the voices of everyone but no people to match them, so while the shop sounds busy...

It makes it particularly easy to see a face that she recognizes. ]

Oh, Jamie?

[ Orihime waves. ]

[floret]

[ The sound of the bell on the door ringing is no longer enough to rouse him from a DazeTM, but... an instant later, the accompanying flash of movement catches his eye, and he quickly glances up!
And then brightens, and waves! ]

It's Orihime! Good morning! Wow, you're like the first actual customer we've had today.

[lastcomfort]

Am I really?

[ Looking around it--yep. There...sure isn't any tangible person around. This is still a weird feeling... ]

Oh my goodness...well, I'll be sure to buy a lot, then!

[floret]

Haha. If your budget allows for it, it would certainly be appreciated. But how much do you actually want? [ ooh, he's so ready to start brewin' something... his barista powers are fading... ]

[lastcomfort]

Hmm...can you make me a drink with everything in it? That would be fun.

[ She is completely serious, Jamie. ]

ii

[vitis]

[ well. it has to a be a richer neighborhood, so john's definitely been here for the whole "tossing rotten eggs people's houses" thing. thankfully, he doesn't smell of any rot, even if he does have an uncracked, spoiled egg jammed into a coat pocket.

so john's shambling on up to jaime as he's in the midst of his cleaning, completely nonchalant-- ]

... What're you doing?

[floret]

[ where did he even get a rotten egg!! gross!!

anyway, he's been hearing random voices all day, nearly all of which belonged to people who were most definitely not aware of him... so it takes him a minute to realize there's a visible person there, and that the visible person is addressing him. ]

Oh!!
Wow. You startled me. Haha...
It's John, right?... I'm cleaning off some egg.

[vitis]

(ooc: apologies, been on hiatus! feel free to drop, ik log's hit captcha and everything too)

That's me. -- Sorry for the startle.

[ big smile for jaime! he even offers a wave. ]

With houses like these, I'd hope they're at least payin' you well.