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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!

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[Gar indeed has no idea what in the world is written on the card, but will assume it's Japanese. It looks pretty similar to some of the other decorations.]

...Oh.

[He pauses faintly.]

I mean, there's a lot of stuff I kind of want, but... it's not like... writing about it is gonna make it come true.

...Do you believe in this?

[... yeah, don't tell him you think it's Japanese, Gar, or else he's going to get kind of upset--

But his posture stiffens yet again when he hears that, looking entirely too flustered at being called out like this.]

N-- Not really, but-- there's nothing wrong in taking part in these sort of things. Even if writing down something doesn't make it come true, it's still putting that kind of energy out there. It's a hope that maybe it could come true someday, or something to work towards.

[Although, now that he has magic, he can't exactly discount anything from being too impossible to achieve...]

...

I guess it can't hurt.

[After a few moments, Gar begins to half-heartedly scribble something down on his piece of paper. ...Another second and he crosses it out, frowning.]

We can only do one, right?

[Xiaolang turns back to working on his own slip again, giving Gar some privacy to work on his own-- he'd be hypocritical if he peeped in on his wish, after all-- but he looks up as the other boy speaks yet again.]

Well... there's nothing that says you have to stick to a single wish. If there's more than one thing you really want, then you shouldn't limit yourself.

[And true enough, there's another slip tucked under the one he's currently working on, in maple leaf print, but the words are in English instead of his native tongue. The writing is kind of awful, but some of it is legible at a glance, the words 'protect' and 'dear to me' standing out the most.]

But you probably shouldn't get too crazy with it. Two or three are fine, but twenty is probably pushing it.

[Granted, Xiaolang's only slightly more knowledgeable about these traditions than Gar since he's been working at the shrine, so for all they knew he could be dead wrong about all of this.]

[As Xiaolang explains, Gar has already begun to reach for a stack of extra paper slips - probably about twenty. ...His hand retreats once he is indirectly admonished for his greed.]

...Maybe two or three.

[He grabs a few more.]

...If we all wish that Retrospec stops being weird and crazy and ruining all our lives, do you think it might come true?

[FOR SHAME, GAR.... not that he realizes that's what the other boy was planning to do until well after he's retreated his hand and takes a more respectable number, but still!!!!

That comment prompts a dry snort out of him, though, despite himself, the closest he might ever get to a laugh around most people.]

Probably not. There's wishing for things we can't get easily, and then there's just wishing for the impossible. It'd be a nice effort, but I doubt even the power of the gods or whatever goodwill that goes towards these things are a match for them.

...Wow.

That's pretty serious. You think even gods wouldn't be able to help us...? That makes this all a lot more depressing...

[He's not sure if he believes in Gods, but.]

I wish things would go back to normal a lot. I feel like things have been falling apart ever since I moved here... And it's just kind of... expected here. Everyone's always like... 'oh that's just Recolle' and I'm freaking out about the city getting blocked out by a dome or whatever...

Retrospec has the power to bring back the dead and manipulate reality to their liking. Whatever resources they have in their control, it's beyond our imagination.

[His voice is flat, as they're edging into territory he's not exactly thrilled about. He's had enough experience over the past few months that Retrospec did as Retrospec wanted, no matter how much you fought and hoped against it. Not that he was giving in to their machinations, of course-- he was still fighting against it, in small ways-- but it could be demoralizing.

He lets out a small breath, fingers playing at the string atop his maple leaf paper slip.]

I don't think people are pushing it off as much as you think, though. Getting worked up every time Retrospec does something weird to the city is bound to get exhausting, so they might just be coping with it by... normalizing it, I guess. It's good to take these threats to our livelihood seriously, but at the same time, freaking out over everything that goes wrong won't make the problem at hand any easier... or make it go away, for that matter.

... I want things to go back to normal, too. [Boy, does he fucking ever] But, at the same time, I want to be aware of the stuff going around us as well. Knowing that so much has happened to this place, before I got the app, that I didn't even notice... it's frustrating. Ideally, it'd be nice if Retrospec fixed their issues, and let us continue on with the lives we had before all of this... but until that happens, I don't want to be in the dark about it.

Oh.

[Gar scratches at the back of his head briefly.]

Uh... I just moved here last year, so I was thinking I'd just... move somewhere... less awful, probably. I don't really think I want to keep dealing with any of this...

Life is hard enough with reality changing every month in weird ways.

We could all just go somewhere else, right? Like... the next state over. It's great that people are coping, but... you guys can't really want to stay in a place like this, right?

[He bites his lip a little, considering the question. Had this been a year or so early, he'd respond with a resounding 'yes', but now...]

Some of us have things that are important to us here. And others grew up in this place, too. It's not so easy to pick up and move someplace else entirely. I'm sure if there was a way to get everyone out of here, it'd be a good idea, but... can we even leave this place to begin with? I mean... I just moved here a couple of years ago, myself, from Hong Kong. Neither me, my sister or my cousin have been able to get in touch with our family there since at least November, and the same goes for a lot of others as well.

[He doesn't want to outright state they're stuck here, but that's kiiiind of what it seems to be shaping up as.]

Where did you move from, anyway?

I was in Boston.

[He sighs a little bit.]

I know -- we probably can't leave until all of this is dealt with, but... at some point, maybe we'll find some kind of weak spot. And then we can just... cut our losses.

The stuff you guys have here... Can it really be more important than your life?

Edited 2018-07-16 03:58 (UTC)

... Boston. [He mostly murmurs it to himself, trying to remember where that was on the US map.] That's--

[... actually, come to think of it, where the hell was Recolle in relation to the rest of the US, anyway? It was weird that he never gave it much thought before now.

But before he could poke into that particular weirdness, Gar's own question brings him up short. Something here that was more important than his own life, huh? His eyes seem to focus elsewhere for a moment, more towards the cherry blossom print paper, and his expression becomes resolute.]

... yes. Yes it can.

[And it's a bit overwhelming, realizing he felt this way. To have something-- or rather, someone-- that mattered more than his own life. His gaze turns back to Gar, the smallest of half-smiles on his face, looking almost apologetic.]

It may sound ridiculous, but sometimes there's things that can be more precious to you than even yourself. That you want to protect, no matter the risks and what's around you.

Haven't you felt that way about something before?

[Not that he's in any position to judge if the other boy hasn't, of course. It's not like he's fully grasped these feelings until recently himself.]

Oh.

Um.

...No.

[..............Suddenly, this feels kind of strange and awkward. Gar rubs his upper arm a little bit uncomfortably. He couldn't imagine... caring about anything that much. ...He doesn't even really care about himself that much.]

And it's not... something you can just bring with you?

[Gar's discomfort isn't lost on Xiaolang, and he turns back to his paper slips, looking a bit self-conscious himself. Maybe he said a little too much with that, revealed a bit more than he wanted to with a complete stranger. Picking at the string of the tanzaku, he debates on what to say-- he didn't want the other boy to feel weird about this, it's not like he cared all that deeply about things until not too long ago, either-- until Gar breaks the silence. His brow furrows, before shaking his head.]

I can't.

She's not a 'thing' I can take. She has a family here, and I can't separate her from that.

...Oh.

[Suddenly, he thinks he understands what Xiaolang means.]

I mean... you know, when people... care about each other like that, they... I mean, most people don't live in the same city as their parents, right? So it's probably not... that terrible.

Or they could move, too... I bet they'd be better off somewhere else, too.

... yeah.

[His cheeks burn red at Gar's sudden understanding, realizing that, yes, he wound up saying too much again. Damn it.]

Neither of us are even in high school yet. I don't live in the same place as my mother or my other sisters, but it's not like I'm allowed to live by myself, either. [Except joke's on him, his other self totally did at the age of ten, but that's because CLAMP likes to ignore the law.] And I doubt she would want to live like that herself. Both of her brothers are on the app too, and I don't doubt either of them would leave if they had to, but... if they go, it's not like they'd be going all the way to Hong Kong. They'd probably stick to someplace else in the US, most likely.

[But he's really been rambling too much about his own personal matters, and he pushes back from the table, glancing over at Gar.]

... sorry. We're getting off the topic with this, aren't we? Did you think of something to write on your slip?

...Wow.

[...Does he dare to say that having a crush on someone in elementary school or middle school barely counts as having feelings at all? ...Probably not. It's not his job to police whatever Xiaolang is feeling. ...Still, it's a little bit awkward...]

Er...

No problem...

I guess I did think of something, actually...

[He isn't technically wrong??? But something has to be said about having a crush on someone in your past life and getting the same crush again without realizing it, so that's... something above the usual puppy love, right?

... but yeah, no, probably not the best idea to police him on that, sorry Gar. Even if he looks pretty awkward himself about sharing that much with a stranger.]

What did you think of?

[And then he realizes they just came full circle, and now he's the one being a bit forward about asking, but he was so flustered about oversharing that it slipped out--]

I-I mean, if you don't mind talking about it. It's probably rude of me to ask.

Oh.

No.

I guess it's kind of awkward, but...

[Gar... shrugs before he slides his slip over a little bit. Xiaolang will see that Gar has written 'Things to Care About' in marker.]

[He glances over at the slip, and it... takes him a moment or two, for it to really hit, but when it does, he's just going glance over at Gar with a look of disbelief.]

... really?

[HE WASN'T GOING TO JUDGE, BUT LIKE..... Gar do you really have nothing you like, what the fuck]

((Sorry for the delay! I've been on hiatus for assorted reasons and it extended a lot longer than I intended it to. We can wrap this up ASAP or feel free to drop it if it's been too long.))

Yeah.

[He gives a small shrug.]

I mean... you know. Really... care about. That way.

[The way Syaoran spoke of... the way that brought passion to his voice.]

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