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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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[ who doesn't know how the yakuza works? certainly not mizuki, but even then he chose not to dip his toes into that morbid business of theirs and wished that he can at least show goro a much normal life, even if mizuki's childhood is too mundane and boring for his tastes.

but it seems that it's too late. goro knows how to kill even without the help of his memories, so maybe if mizuki hadn't moved out of japan he would've... ]

Gochan. [ steady, steady. ] Do you think Ren would agree with you on this?

What does it matter what he thinks?

[It's supposed to be dismissive, but there's a flicker of hesitation in his expression.

And then he looks down, pressing his lips tight.]

... Not the killing bit, maybe, but... He hates the man just as much, Micchan. Revenge is a due process and he'd allow me to see it through. Won't you do the same, old friend?

[Please, unspoken but heavy in the summer air.]

[ of course mizuki would understand. he really fucking does, because god knows he wants to scalp that emperor who keeps showing up in his memories every time he plays his favorite hobby, but he slowly shakes his head and looks down, still holding goro's hand in a vice grip. ]

Ren-kun wouldn't want to use you like this either. And I wouldn't either so... Please. Gochan.

[ his voice is soft and pleading and god he'd never plead for anything - but just once, he'll say it. so that goro will not do something that he'll regret for life. ]

Let's go home.

[He's quiet at that, chest aching at the plea, before he looks at his oldest friend and smiles.

It's not a very reassuring one, more apologetic than anything, and it's probably the vice grip that's keeping him here more than anything else. Even if Mizuki understands, this is where they might draw a line; where Mizuki can recognize this might lead nowhere or worse, Goro can't really bring himself to care. He'd wanted for so long to do this to his own father, to show his worth and throw him down in the same swoop, and

he knows he's alike to his past self in many ways, that being one of them. Even if he didn't know how to kill via his upbringing he feels he would. Gently, he leans his head closer, closing his eyes against that expression of Mizuki's; he probably doesn't even realize he has is, no more aware than he was as a child.]

You aren't giving me much choice in the matter, Micchan. [soft, almost teasing.] I'm afraid of what he'll do if we stop walking again; Shido wasn't a man of great patience, and I'd hate to see you hurt again... by my own folly, my memories fault.

[But he is one of the few people in this world who can sway his opinion, who can stop him in his tracks. He resents it, in a way, but he could never bring himself to hate it.]

[ the way goro is looking at him now is also making mizuki hesitate - while he does understand goro all too well about wanting to get back at the people who'd wronged him in his memories and how killing them won't solve anything, the catharsis factor can be too tempting to ignore. this forest is just as cruel as the one in those snowy lands where you're forced to listen to the trees of your own shortcomings. just what are these places trying to achieve here? is this some sort of secret test by some malevolent force that's been messing with the layers and giving retrospec a tough time these past few months?

so many questions and not a whole lot of answers to choose from. sena looks back to where shido is walking to, but it looks like that man isn't turning around anytime soon to check on them. suspicious... ]

I know that, but I didn't graze myself with a bullet just for nothing, Goro. Do you think I'd turn my back on you now after all that? After everything we've been through together? [ don't underestimate him??? he's just as stubborn too, boyo. ] We can turn back now if we move fast. I just don't want you to bloody your hands again in this life, but if he ever comes for you...

You'll know what to do.

[ self-defense is always valid. ]

Edited 2018-07-09 12:48 (UTC)

[Goro hesitates;

and then he's letting Robin Hood appear, covering their backs as he grips Mizuki's hand tighter and starts to walk away. I resent you sometimes, lingering bitterly like grit on his tongue, for being nails in my feet.

Because that's why his best friend is, ultimately, keeping him grounded and on the right path. Shido's stopped when they start walking back the way they came, about to call out when Robin Hood shoots an arrow by him; that seems to shut him up for a moment, then he's raising his voice regardless.]

Where do you think you're going? Don't you remember who you're dealing with?

[Goro flinches a bit, steps hesitating.]

Come back here. Or do you want your friend to meet a similar fate as the others?

[ah. mm. It's a poor thing to say, his teeth gritting as he turns to put his body between him and Shido, Robin a second barrier. The man seems more annoyed than anything at Goro's insolence.]

[ mizuki heard that but goro moves quicker, with the both of them blocking shido from coming for him. he's ultimately touched by this, especially since he hasn't brought anything with him that can help defend himself (and he really should have, given these forests), but shido's last question made him pause, looking up at the older man.

he's the guy who'd put akira under arrest, right? that's it, he remembers now. why did it take so long to connect the dots? with that realization he grips goro's hand again a little too tightly, his expression hardening. ]

He's not the boss of you anymore. [ his voice may be steady but goro can feel his own arm shaking a little. ] Come on, Goro.

Mizuki, [softer,] close your eyes.

[He doesn't want his friend to see what could come next, Robin Hood disappearing as a zebra-patterned figure appears instead, flaming hooves flaring at the ends and pointed spear twirling. Loki's braids spread out across their perspective of Shido's figure, and Goro's hand tightens on Mizuki's.]

Please.

[ he knows what's going to happen next and he really wished that goro didn't have to resort to this, but maybe that's part of this particular forest's curse. he sees shido coming at them in a fit of rage but his line of sight is disrupted by goro's persona slowly changing into a more nefarious form, wondering if it's normal for personas to transform like that...

but there's no time for that. for now he does what he's told, closing his eyes and holding his breath, his grip on goro's hand tight enough to cut blood circulation probably. ]

Do what you have to do.

Loki, [once Mizuki's given him permission,] shatter the chains that bind whatever heart that bastard has.

[The only person he'd ever done this on was himself, in that past life, but Goro knows exactly how it feels, what it does and how much it hurts; there's silence before a male voice screams, throaty and almost a howl, the sort that makes it clear that if he had a mind before, it was nothing more than something raw and instinctual now.

It should be cathartic. It's something his past self wanted so badly, to see the man who'd used him for years and years hoisted by his leotard, infected by the poison that he'd instructed and cultivated in the Goro Akechi of that time. But Goro feels unsatisfied, even as Loki brings the spear down and skewers the man that'd grown closer to their position.

Being an illusion, at heart, Shido just sort of-- disappears with a choked noise. It's very... empty, and he dismisses Loki with a heavy weight on his shoulders, hand tight in Mizuki's.

Why didn't it feel better..?]

[ mizuki grit his teeth, almost jumping out of his own skin at that inhuman noise. not even his curiosity can get the better of him because he's still human enough, and he wouldn't know how to react upon seeing his best friend kill someone in cold blood in front of his very own eyes. but it's okay, isn't it? shido... he's a monster, from what he could recall from his conversation with akira about the man. and in this situation he's now in.

he opens his eyes as goro dispels his persona, shido's last breath still ringing in his ears as he casts his eyes at his friend's unreadable face with a worried look, not knowing what else to say at all. it is pretty unsatisfying, that much is sure... ]

Goro. [ he tugs at his hand, pulling him for a hug. as much as sena avoids initiating this kind of affection, they both need something like this right now. ] You did everything you could. [ ... ] I'm sorry.

[Goro hums softly, arms mechanically returning the embrace for a moment before he buries his face into his friend, exhaling shakily.]

I... It didn't feel as good as I thought it would, you know. I thought that maybe things would be settled, that perhaps that other self of mine would find happiness in this, but-- mm, maybe it's because we're different, even if we're the same person, that I don't have the feelings he may have had in this moment.

[But for all he'd experienced, all he'd heard, wouldn't his feelings be aligned..? No, there was nothing satisfying in this death, and he wonders if perhaps Ren and the others were right to change hearts, even Shido's. His grip tightens.]

Sorry. I... don't want you to think differently of me, Micchan, please -- anyone but you.

[ not even ren? but mizuki doesn't dare bring him up right now. in all honesty, he's relieved that it's just an illusion made by the forest and not a person made from flesh and blood, but he does get where goro's coming from. it's not satisfying until that man is really gone from this life and the next. ]

Mm, I can never. [ despite shaking in his shoes as well. ] I've been with you for as long as we've met on the app, yeah? I'm not about to leave you here either.

[ like last year, where he'd singlehandedly brought goro to safety. he'd risked his life before, and he can do it again. ]

Let's go back, Gochan. [ he pulls away, tugs gently at his hand to lead them out of this cursed forest ] Just the two of us.

[Ren is far from his mind, though truthfully he wouldn't want things to change there either; it's why he's been so careful not to give anything away, to keep stuff tucked inside, to deal with it on his own or with his brother. There's no reason Ren should know... especially given the connection between their families, employer and employed as it had been before their incarceration.]

... Okay.

[He doesn't resist the pull, almost like they're kids again, and tucks closer to his friend with that sentimental feeling rolling over him.]

Thank you. Sorry for causing you worry.

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