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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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"Omurice. Or omelette rice. And... I suppose it can come with sake."

Tatsuo passes the order for sake along to Kaoru.

"According to Ryuuzaki this place has the best omurice. Though I don't actually have any memories of him eating it here, so..."

"Oh! I love omurice! Suzu makes that sometimes!"

Jirou looked thrilled by the order, especially with the sake to go along with it. Then again, he was always happy for sake. In dreams or reality.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Haha, it was probably one of the first things I learned to cook in university. It's cheap and filling and tastes good."

The omelettes will take a few minutes, but the sake is quickly provided.

"Ask away. What do you want to know?"

Of course he had to drink some sake first, savoring it and sighing happily. Even in dreams it was delicious.

"How come you say it's his life like it's not your when the memories are part of you?"

He wasn't judging him for it honestly. Really he was just curious to know why Tatsuo kept himself separated from that other life.

Tatsuo glances over at Jirou, his expression hesitant. He knows he takes a rather hard stance on the whole soul thing, and sometimes it's a little difficult to put it all into words.

"Some of it is my own emotional reaction to the memories, I suppose. But just because I'm getting his memories, does that mean I need to think of them as mine? Retrospec says I wouldn't exist if his soul hadn't gotten rescued. Okay, but even if that's true, I still didn't live that life. The choices he made in his life are his choices, not mine.

And I suppose because have family in law enforcement, I view his actions more critically. I know what he should have done, and he didn't do it. He knew what he should have done, and he chose to exceed his authority. He took an oath as a peace officer, and he broke that oath for his own personal reasons. And it cost someone their life. That boy back there, the one he was interviewing who kept asking for food? That boy died, because Ryuuzaki took matters into his own hands instead of doing his job."

Tatsuo exhales audibly and knocks back a cup of sake. He has very complicated feelings about this other life.

Edited (/sweats/ i forgot about his au2. trying to keep it subtle.) 2018-08-03 22:33 (UTC)

Jirou sipped sake as he listened but he kept his eyes on Tatsuo the whole time so that way he knew he was listening to him, paying attention to what he had to say. By the end of it, he was balancing his chin on his hand, humming softly as he considered it.

"Mmm. That's a lot to take in."

He shifted to rest his cheek on his hand instead.

"Wanna know what one of my first memories was?"

It is a lot and it's just scratching the surface of all the messy complicated feelings Tatsuo has. He nods at Jirou's question though.

"Sure. If you don't mind telling me."

"I remember the face of someone right before I ended their life."

Jirou said it so casually despite the dark content. He wasn't just blowing it off though, his tone of voice said that he was treating this seriously.

"I also remember my master dying and being unable to do anything to prevent it."

Tatsuo's expression is sympathetic. Those are some rough memories to get right out of the gate.

"What'd you think about it, at that point? This life you were starting to remember?"

"I wondered what kind of person I was. Why was I ending a life. Did the person deserve it?"

He hummed in thought, resting his chin on his hand.

"Then it was memories of people admiring me, giving me offerings at a temple. Of me fighting terrible looking demon creatures. Then suddenly I remembered I wasn't a person at all. I was a sword."

Tatsuo tilts his head slightly.

"Wait. You were a sword?"

That... would actually explain a few things. Like Jirou's ridiculous strength.

"Yep. That really big sword of mine? That's me. I'm a tsukumogami."

He smiled, pointing at himself.

"Kenta is one too. An even bigger sword than I am."

Since AU2!Tatsuo grew up in Japan, he knows exactly what Jirou means by 'tsukumogami'. He's a bit astonished.

"Wow. That's... wow."

It's one thing to be told stories by his mother about various types of tsukumogami, and something else entirely to have someone say they actually are one.

He giggled and rested his cheek on his hand.

"Right? But it definitely means remembering really dark things sometimes. A lot of death especially. A lot of it that I had not control over at all."

"How do you deal with it? Not the violence or the death, but the lack of control?"

Because were he in Jirou's position, that's probably what would bother him. That he'd been used for all this death and pretty much had no say in it.

"Before I just figured there was a reason for it. I never seem to mind in my memories. And now I know I'm a sword. It's what I was made for."

He looked over at him. "Are you going to stop wearing clothes and using objects because maybe they have feelings and can't control what you do to them?"

"When you put it like that, no. Though I'd hope I'd be some what considerate as to their feelings."

Tatsuo sighs and takes another sip of sake.

"I'm glad you don't mind your memories. I suppose I'm still looking for the reason behind the ones I'm getting. Why Ryuuzaki is the way he is. Why he does the things he does."

"I accepted mine because who I used to be and who I am now are two different things. There are a lot of similarities honestly but it doesn't change the fact that the experiences I remember going through right now have made me who I am. So that past me is me. But the me I am now is also me. One doesn't have to influence the other if you don't want it to."

Maybe that didn't make sense at all. However it was logical in his own mind and just the way Jirou liked to think about things. It made things feel more peaceful in his mind in the end.

Of course that could also be the constant drinking. It was hard to tell.

"People say that, that their lives don't have to influence our lives if we don't want them to. But what does that actually mean? We have no power to stop these memories from coming, or to keep our bodies from being changed to match theirs, or to keep from gaining abilities that could be blessing or curse. We have no control over that, so how can we say their lives don't have to influence ours if we don't want them to?"

Tatsuo stares down at his glass.

"I don't mind remembering his memories. And I don't mind some of the skills I've gained because of him. But if I don't keep a certain mental distance from him, I don't know if I'll be able to keep from reacting to something the way he does one day. And that's something I can't risk."

"Well think about it like this."

He ran his finger around the rim of his sake cup as he spoke.

"You fall down as a child. Let's say from a tree. That's a moment that sticks with you forever and you may even have a scar from it. But it's up to you if you're going to be scared of falling again or if you're going to keep climbing trees. For me it's a lot like that. I've lived this other life and now it's my choice over whether or not I apply any of that to who I am now. You're doing that too honestly by saying that it isn't you in that other life. You're deciding not to apply it unlike me who is applying it."

Maybe he is being too honest. But that's always been his problem. Being too literal about things. That's half the reason everything Retrospec related throws him for a loop. He can't apply the science he knows to it, and that unnerves him.

"And that is where I think we're going to have to agree to disagree."

With that, his psyche starts rejecting Jirou's presence in his dream. The counter between them suddenly stretches, the space distorting and bending as it pushes Jirou out.

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