(no subject)

[recollecters]

EVENT

REVERTED. "Every moment is a fresh beginning." - T. S. Eliot Happy July, Retrospecters. Can you believe it's been nearly a year since the city was under attack and several of you were pulled and lost in Unreality? Time sure does fly, doesn't it? But don't fret. It seems as though the city is in for a real vacation this time...rest easy. THE BEGINNING Recollé has been fully restored thanks to the effort of the citizens working to paint the city back to life and breaking down the layers separating the city from most of its non-Retrospec users. The sky is painted multiple colors (a permanent fixture, it seems) and some buildings and plants are extraordinary but everything appears to be in solid, functional condition. All buildings are where they should be. The roads are safe. And everyone around you appears to be preparing for one of two celebrations... THE 4TH OF JULY With the 4th of July tomorrow, citizens of Recollé are preparing for their own celebration. Much like last year, the city will be preparing with a large gathering at Peach Beach, food trucks aplenty, discounts at several stores in Tisse and Enprise, and of course at 9pm sharp the beautiful and historical fireworks display will begin. Street vendors sell glowsticks and lemonade as everyone gathers to watch the show in the sky. This year, however, while the fireworks display still shows events of the city's history citizens may recognize a few new scenes added to the show. As they look up into the sky they'll notice scenes depicting several of the events that have happened over the last year ranging from the Retrospec bingo games to the nightmare fog to the mistletoe bats and more. This year will also include scenery and displays from the four regions around the city. Perhaps you recognize these events a little too well. Care to share the tale with your neighbor? TANABATA It seems as though this week is a non-stop celebration though. As the 4th of July ends, several members of the city are hard at work in preparation for Tanabata. Celebrated on Saturday, July 7th this year, residents are hard at work decorating areas in Tribunal Terrace and Chata with massive colorful streamers and moving in several bamboo plants. Stalls are set up and prepared and carnival games line the sidewalks for citizens to play. On the evening of the 7th, all are invited to attend the celebration and try Japanese cuisine, play a few games, and most importantly write a wish on a colored sheet of paper to hang on one of the bamboo trees. No matter how citizens choose to celebrate at this festival, for anyone who makes a wish and hangs it on the tree they will soon receive a Retrospec ticket in their mailbox. While your wish may take time to be granted, good fortune is upon you and a free gift has been provided. THE NPCS NPCs are back in the city and all is well. They are unaware of the layers they were caught between but they are grateful and happy to see you again! Professors will be lenient of students whose finals have been delayed, employers will inquire about your vacation time, and your friends and family may constantly badger you for time and attention. Isn't that nice? In addition, citizens of the city may now place calls to members outside of the city for up to five minutes. While that pesky growling problem still appears at the tail end of all conversations, citizens will be able to reach out to anyone in the world and speak for that length of time. Let's just hope your loved ones aren't too bothered by the previous radio silence. THE DREAMS What was that about resting easy? Perhaps you won't be able to as well as you'd like. Though everything appears to be fine, the moment you close your eyes beginning on July 3rd, you may find yourself plagued by strange, unusual dreams. As you dream you'll find yourself experiencing everything from wild scenarios set in space or on a pirate ship to everyday, mundane interactions. Your dreams will reflect who you are, but...maybe in a different light. Perhaps your siblings aren't related to you in your dreams, or perhaps your hair is a different color. Maybe you find yourself dreaming about a whole different lifestyle than the one you currently possess. Why, you could even be one of the lucky ones and dream about those memories you've been receiving since you've joined the app. Then again, you'll also find that you aren't dreaming alone. When you look, you may find that someone has joined you. It's easy to move in dreams and intrude on other people's dreams. You may choose to watch the scene play out or find yourself able to change scenarios within these dreams. Some of you will recognize what is and isn't real, but...what is real anymore? Aren't you curious what it all means? The moment you awake, however, these dreams will fade away and simply be dreams. THE QUESTS If you're looking for a way to pass the time and bring a little adventure to your life, a new feature on the Retrospec app is the quest hotline! By submitting a request, Retrospec will generate a new task for you to accomplish either in the city or around one of the four regions. While Retrospec cannot claim that all tasks will be exciting, all tasks given are important to the functionality of the city. Or perhaps you're interested in exploring Mementos or Tartarus...? Just what are these new places anyway? Strange. Happy questing! THE REGIONS Travel is available once more for the regions outside of the city, though do watch out for the common monsters that still linger between districts. It will take three hours by boat southward to Pesgare, an hour underground eastward to Respatrum, two hours west via horseback to Bosuma and seven hours via driving north to Magatus. Depending on where you travel though you may find some surprises waiting for you. Fishing season is at its prime in Pesgare and it's the perfect place for a seaside getaway this summer. The region remains untouched and stable, and the economy is thriving once more thanks to the repairs after their tsunami and the work of Retrospec users. In Respatrum, the workers in the mines don't seem to mind the heat and continue crafting and creating. Anyone who ventures into these parts will be put to work, but may be rewarded with small tokens and hospitality from the natives of this region. Bosuma, however, is a little different. The Swamp Witch is nowhere to be found though the forest is alit with bright, blooming flowers, strange multicolored animals and friendly natives from a nearby village in the woods. Monsters lurk the deeper parts of the woods, but one would actively have to go looking for them. But should one linger in this region for too long, they may soon discover that they'll start to see things...not just things, but people. Vivid, life-like forms of people you've seen in your memories will appear before you even if you're unaware of who they are. They seem to beckon you to come closer, happy to see you and encouraging you to explore the forest further. Some of these forms may engage in combat if the relationship you remember is a hostile one. Should you follow or fight them, however, you will soon find yourself lost in the woods and it may take days to return to the city. Do keep sight of what's real, won't you? Finally, over in Magatus, for anyone who has ventured there before they may be expecting the snowy mountains and ski lodge. However, it's summer! Snow isn't fit for the summer and as residents approach the region they'll come to find that the ice-capped mountains have been replaced with cliffs, sand dunes and a desert-esque climate. The iced-over lake is now perfect for swimming and further exploration will lead you to a path in the mountains that's the perfect height for cliff-jumping into waters below. This is the perfect region for you outdoorsy, camping types. Just be careful of the scorpions and rattlesnakes out there. THE CITY It's summer vacation everywhere. How are you spending your days? Maybe it isn't such a bad idea to listen to Joanne and plan your days with fun and exciting ventures. Parties and meetings and spending time with your friends...it sounds nice, doesn't it? Even if some of you may notice your friends seem...off. The city is peaceful. Everything seems to be calm and safe, so much that you may not even notice the difference at first. It all begins in mid-July though. One moment you're sitting in a café and the next you realize you're wearing an apron and you feel as though you should be working behind the counter. One moment you're sitting in your bedroom and the next you look up and notice that the items on your wall have changed. These little hallucinations are minimal and only last a few moments, but they will begin to increase as the month goes on and leading straight into August. But hey. It's probably nothing to worry about. Welcome to recolle's July 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. Regarding Tanabata! If you would like to claim a free 10-20 point item, please head to the regains page and submit as normal! Please indicate that it is a Tanabata freebie. Characters are free to travel to one of the four regions this month (Pesgare, Respatrum, Bosuma, Magatus), but keep in mind the effects/changes as listed above. As a reminder, you may qualify for an additional freebie this month by threading out a dream sequence with at least one person experiencing a new AU! This thread must be at least five consecutive comments from you. Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here. Be sure to review the mods' question thread on the plotting post for important information as well!

Comments

[thisloveisjustice]

FOURTH OF JULY

Tatsuo has always been fond of holidays that involve fireworks. And it's probably why summer is his favorite season (besides the obvious break from school). He doesn't get to go back home to Tokyo every summer, but he's been back three time since coming to the States, and all three times he made sure coincided with the Sumida River Fireworks Festival. So naturally, he looks forward to the Fourth each year, if only for the fireworks display.

Like any proper fireworks aficionado, Tatsuo stakes out his viewing spot earlier during the day. Once he's satisfied with the location, he just enjoys a relaxing evening on the beach. The food trucks are visited and Tatsuo even takes a nap, just to protect his little square of blanket. But once the show starts, the sky has his undivided attention.

So he's quick to spot the non-traditional fireworks. That definitely looked like a chocobo. And a blue-eye white dragon. He would have just chalked it up to very inventive fireworks makers, until about ten minutes into the show.

Was that a waterfall?

That was absolutely a waterfall, with three figures (him, Anya, and Yasusada) falling down it.

Tatsuo lifts one hand to the sky and extends his middle finger shakes his fist at the fireworks display. He's a teacher. He has to behave himself in public where his students might see him.

"That was low and you know it."

TANABATA

Naturally, Tatsuo also goes to the Tanabata Festival. Though instead of wearing his usual casual clothes, he digs into his closet for a yukata. He rarely gets to wear them, so any excuse will do. This particular yukata is a light grey with a dark grey geometric star design, which he pairs it with a navy blue belt.

He plays a few carnival games, but mostly spends his time at the food stalls, grazing his way through. Takoyaki, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, dango, taiyaki... Tatsuo is munching on one of the fish-shaped cakes when he spots a wishing tree. Finishing up the treat, he grabs a marker and slip of paper and writes 'May Retrospec get its shit together and stop complicating our lives.' In Japanese.

DREAM (OU)

The room is small, with little by way of furnishing and no decorations. There is a small table in the center of the room, with two chairs, both occupied. One is a young man with loud, garish clothing, and bleached hair. And the other is Tatsuo, wearing a rather cheap looking navy blue suit.

The young man with bleached hair leans on the table. "Detective, feed me katsudon," he whines.

"You know, supposedly, giving a suspect food is paying him off for information," Tatsuo replies. Technically, you're not supposed to do it.

The young man makes a disinterested noise as he sits up. "I'm stupid," he says, "so I don't understand fancy words."

Tatsuo sighs and tries the guilt trip approach. "Sawatari, if you keep on like this, your parents will be worried."

The young man just shrugs and interlocks his fingers behind his head, clearly not worried about that. "My parents died when I was little, so I was passed around to different relatives."

Tatsuo struggled to find something to say for a few seconds, before finally settling on an awkward, "I'm sorry."

Sawatari waves a hand dismissively and actually looks a little annoyed at the sympathy. "It's fine. Don't feel sorry for me." He abruptly leans forward. "By the way, won't you get a big reward for catching me doing a bad thing?" he asks, pointing both forefingers at Tatsuo. Then he slaps his palms on the table between them. "Everybody's happy!" he exclaims with a smile, throwing his arms wide.

"We don't want to be happy!" Tatsuo protests, mimicking Sawatari's arm motions. "We want you to be rehabilitated."

Sawatari slumps in his chair, dangling his head back and staring at the ceiling, as if he cannot believe how stuck Tatsuo is on not locking him up.

Tatsuo takes out his wallet, removes one of his business cards, and writes his personal mobile number on it. "If you're ever in any trouble, call me any time." He holds out the card to Sawatari. "I'll help you out."

"Can't I have some katsudon?" the thief whines again, but takes the card anyway.

DREAM (AU1)

Tatsuo looks to be about 10 years old as he sits on his bed in Recolle Orphanage. His school books are spread out around him as he does his best to work on his homework. Which is rather difficult when he can hear the other children though the open door of his room. Running up and down the halls, screaming, yelling. And then it turns to wailing. A rather familiar wail.

Tatsuo sighs and gets up from his bed, crossing to the door and poking his head out into the corridor. One of the twelve year old boys is running his way, a light brown bear clutched in his hand. A bear Tatsuo knows isn't this boy's, because it belongs to the little four year old screaming his lungs out a few years behind him. Derek.

As the older boy passes Tatsuo's open door, he sticks out his arm, and clotheslines the guy. The older boy crumples to the floor and Tatsuo bends down to retrieve the bear. As Derek catches up, Tatsuo hands him the bear.

"Now stop crying, Derek, I'm trying to do my homework," Tatsuo says with a sigh, before turning to go back to his homework.

[ooc: I'll be throwing up a separate log for more dreams later. If we already talked about certain dreams, those will be there.]

Dream (OU)

[sakeplz]

Well, this wasn't what he expected to walk in on. He thought he'd fallen asleep but this was like an interrogation room! Or a waiting room! Only from a movie! (It wasn't like he knew what an actual interrogation room looked like. He'd never even been in a police station before.)

Looking around, he considered it a moment as he sort of...stood in the doorway.

"Wrong room?" It seemed a good guess?

Re: Dream (OU)

[thisloveisjustice]

The young man Tatsuo just interviewed doesn't noticed Jirou's presence, but Tatsuo does. He looks up... and just seems baffled to see the other man there.

"Jirou. What are you..."

And then he realizes where he is. The interrogation room for Shinjuku 2nd division. He looks at Jirou, then looks at Sawatari who seemingly hasn't noticed.

"Sawatari, you wait here."

Sawatari just shrugs as Tatsuo quickly stands up and crosses over to where Jirou is.

"Come on, let's get you outside before 'his' supervisor shows up."

Tatsuo nods at the room behind Jirou, the main office space for the station. The room isn't very spacious and there are about a half-dozen desks crammed in along with book shelves and filing cabinets. The desks are piled high with papers and files, hinting at just how put upon this division gets.

[sakeplz]

Jirou looked confused still but he followed after Tatsuo. He wasn't sure why Sawatari's boss would suddenly show up right now but okay?

Looking around the station, he did a twirl to take in everything before following after his friend again.

"Where is this?"

[thisloveisjustice]

"Japan. Shinjuku 2nd division police station. It's where Other-Me worked."

Tatsuo points at one desk in particular. It's stacked with case files, and while a little messy, isn't as messy as some of the others.

"That's his desk. Ryyuzaki Ikuo."

[sakeplz]

Oooooh. This was past life Tatsuo. Or something like that. Honestly Jirou hadn't ever really figured it out. Hadn't really tried to either and had just sort of...accepted it.

"Wait. So you meant you him boss. Not prisoner him boss."

Now he got it!

[thisloveisjustice]

Tatsuo nods.

"Right, Other-Me's boss. He's a nice guy, just much sharper than he appears to be."

As if on cue, and older man with a receding hairline and salt and pepper facial hair strolls into the office, almost bumping into Tatsuo.

"Ah, Ryuuzaki, get me a coffee too."

As Tatsuo steps back, a second 'Tatsuo' almost seems to step out of him, walking over to the water water dispenser to make a cup of instant coffee.

Tatsuo lets out a soft groan.

"Oh god, not this one."

[sakeplz]

Jirou watched the thing happen. The Tatsuos become two. It was weird but really neat at the same time? He couldn't help but stare.

At least until he heard his Tatsuo groan.

"Not this one? Is it bad?"

It seemed okay right now?

[thisloveisjustice]

"It's not bad just... embarrassing..."

"What's wrong? You look so depressed this morning. Don't tell me, you made Hibino-chan mad again. Get ahold of yourself. No matter how you look at it, you're still the 'ace' around here."

The older man gives other-Tatsuo few playful punches on the chest.

"Well, I wouldn't say 'ace'..." Other-Tatsuo laughs awkwardly.

For a moment, the older man does the same, laughs and chuckles. And then the older man claps Other-Tatsuo on the shoulders.

"Hey, don't be all willy-nilly. You should be sharp."

Other-Tatsuo nods in response to this advice.

"Although..." The older man pulls other-Tatsuo closer by his jacket lapel. "If you want to make Hibino-chan fall in love with you, I'll be your mediator."

Other-Tatsuo starts to pull away, but the older man has his arm around Other-Tatsuo's shoulders. "No, no, no, I don't need--"

"Absolutely not, Chief," interrupts a young woman who had entered the workroom unbeknownst to the other two. She's shorter than Other-Tatsuo, with chin-length black hair and a no-nonsense sort of attitude. "Don't talk about stupid things."

"It was just a joke, Hibino-chan," the older man says cheerfully as the young woman walks over to the desk next to the one Tatsuo had indicated earlier. "Worse case scenario," he says, turning back to Other-Tatsuo, "if you have a distressing partnership, I'll just demote you."

Other-Tatsuo seems a little stunned by this sudden development. "Distressing?"

"It's strange, isn't it?" Hibino comments, looking over her shouler at their supervisor as he sits at his desk. "Someone like Ryuuzaki-san has the number one arrest rate in the second division."

"He really does," the supervisor agrees. "I also think it's strange..."

As the conversation fades in to a background murmur, Tatsuo comments on the scene before them. "That's Hibino-chan, his police partner. And the old guy back there is Mashima, his supervisor."

Fireworks

[blondferret]

[Derek has been sitting next to Tatsuo during the fireworks. He had nothing else to do and this certainly wasn't his holiday to celebrate. But he wasn't going to miss out on free fireworks. Besides, Noah and Sakura were hanging out with their own friends. He watches as the fireworks turn into a waterfall and he sees three people fall down it.]

Was that you? Since when did you fall down a waterfall?

Re: Fireworks

[thisloveisjustice]

That, was back in August.

[as if that explains anything, Tatsuo]

You remember how I was in a pocket of unreality? The very first area we were in was basically a rain forest.

Re: Fireworks

[blondferret]

Bloody hell mate. How did you survive that?

[As he saying that, his mouth starts to drop as he sees a familiar scene enfold in the sky. Is that... yes, it's him and Lillian on his Nimbus 2001 flying through the sky. Derek covers his face with his hands and peeks through his fingers.]

Oh, no. I can't believe people are seeing that. That was suppose to be private!

Re: Fireworks

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo shakes his head. He's still surprised himself frankly.]

There was a really deep pool at the bottom and someone we managed to not break anything on impact, get sucked under by the current, or dashed on any rocks. If I was the religious sort, I'd call it a miracle.

[of course, with the next firework the shoe is on the other foot]

Hold on. Is that your broom? Are you letting a girl ride your broom Derek?

Re: Fireworks

[blondferret]

[Derek is still covering his face.]

Yes that's my broom and yeah I let her...

[Derek pauses for a slight millisecond before taking in a sharp breath and turning to Tatsuo and punching him in the arm.]

It was nothing like that! Get your mind out of the gutter! I was just showing off.

Re: Fireworks

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo snickers and rubs his arm where Derek punched him. It hadn't been a light punch, but not hard enough to warrant any noise.]

Just showing off, huh? So did it work? Was she impressed with your broom technique?

[look, as long as they're talking about brooms, he's going to keep making these jokes at Derek's expense]

Re: Fireworks

[blondferret]

Seriously Tatsuo?

[Derek runs a hand through his hair. Might as well play along.]

Let's just say that by the end of it, she was out of breath and it was probably the best ride of her life.

Re: Fireworks

[thisloveisjustice]

[That's the spirit Derek. Tatsuo reaches over the claps Derek on the shoulder]

I'm real proud of you man.

Tanabata

[blondferret]

[Throughout his years of living in Recolle, Derek has occasionally gone to the Tanabata festival, and it has usually been with Tatsuo. This year though, he decided to go the extra mile and borrow on of Tatuo's yukatas. At the festival he bought a green transformers mask just in case he saw Sakura out with Xiaolang and needed to tail them. Was it a brilliant disguise? NO. YES! Derek it eating some okonomiyaki when Tatsuo moves over to a tree. Derek of course follows.]

What is this thing again? I've never done it.

Re: Tanabata

[thisloveisjustice]

[It's a good thing Tatsuo and Derek are about the same height, or he'd have never been able to borrow the yukata. And though he dearly wants to tell Derek that the mask will fool no one, especially not his own little sister.]

It's tanzaku. You write your wish on the paper, then tie it to the bamboo.

Re: Tanabata

[blondferret]

You say "tanzaku" as if I'm suppose to understand that...

[Derek grabs a slip of paper and a pencil and thinks for a moment.]

Are there limit to what you can wish for?

Re: Tanabata

[thisloveisjustice]

Tanzaku is the strip of paper.

[he taps the slip of paper]

Technically you're only supposed to make one wish, but if that wish has several parts...

Re: Tanabata

[blondferret]

Ah so a multi layered wish....

[Derek thinks for a moment and the starts writing on the slip of paper.]

So is this like a birthday wish where you don't share it or it won't come true or what?

Re: Tanabata

[thisloveisjustice]

Nah, it's basically displayed in public so it's okay to share it.

Re: Tanabata

[blondferret]

[Derek nod in response and continues to scribbling on his slip of paper.]

[I wish that my family survives this Retrospec shit and are happy. Which would include me finally getting a girlfriend.]

There, now how to I tie this?

Re: Tanabata

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo chews the inside of his cheek so he doesn't laugh at the second part of Derek's wish. Especially since romance is a fairly standard wish for Tanabata.]

Here, use one of these ribbons.

[Tatsuo fishes a length of fabric ribbon out of a nearby basket and hands it to Derek.]

And just tie it to any branch.