04 - week four

[afflictionmods]

WEEK FOUR

Saturday comes to a close, and it’s time for some rest and recovery. Perhaps the TLC you deserve will come this week, or perhaps the nightmare will continue. It’s hard to say with things being so strange around you, from Wei Wuxian’s disappearance to the sudden addition of objects and places and creatures from your homes. Who knows what this week will bring? Nothing ordinary, that’s for sure.

You wake up on Sunday to an increase in those little glimpses you saw yesterday. What were snippets of songs, locations that might’ve seemed familiar, and creatures that were dormant, are now all alive and whole. When you go to the karaoke bar, the songs you once knew are there. Monsters and animals are alive and sentient. New business are abound. Vehicles are operable, and perhaps some of your old belongings are back, too.

However, some of these things aren’t even things that should exist outside of your dreams. They may be far too strange and unusual to be real, or just things you don't remember ever seeing. The only thing you remember about these things in particular is that they were, quite literally, in your dreams this week.

That being said, every few hours, all of these things from your homes and dreams fade out and get replaced by new sounds, places, beasts….only to maybe come back again at another time.

Well. At least there's one constant here: You’ve got a handful of new locations to look at, with the fog having spread once more, and they aren't going anywhere. There aren’t as many new places that are native to Estelline this time around, but that may be for the best, considering everything going on.


SETTING TRACKER

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

NEWSPAPER SUBMISSIONS + EDITION #1

SAGE / FLORENCE / LORELEI

MEM SHARE DETAILS

OOC NOTE

OOC: Details on this week can be found here!

Also, we have a lot of participants for the news activity from last week. Neat! Everyone who participated in some capacity will have a small polaroid camera delivered to their doorstep. There's limited film, though - 10 photos per camera. It doesn't seem like there's any extra film at this time, either.

Finally, there will not be any weekly tasks this week. You guys are going to be busy with memshare and dreamscape stuff; instead, enjoy the Estelline University Newspaper!

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

TOWN HALL (MONDAY)

[tosa]

(At the beginning of the week, someone will slip a folded note under everyone's door about a study session. This is really just a vague way of saying everyone should get together for another town hall this week. See you there on Monday!)

☆ CLASS MEETING ☆ Let's share notes for our next class. If you don't got any, don't worry. We can all help each other! And we can go grab dinner and do karaoke after. ☆ Monday. Common Room. 15:00. -Mu

(On [day], in the common room, everyone will find markers, string, sticky notes, pens, and paper for everyone to use. There are also some random snacks and bottles of tea and juice from the store. You know, whatever to make them comfortable and for the meeting to go as smoothly as possible.

On the board, some things are labeled. It looks like a loose schedule,)

TDL: * introduction * overview * daily life * class trips ✿ ✿ ✿ BREAK TIME ✿ ✿ ✿ * lost and found * ??? * finish (dinner, karaoke)

(When everyone has arrived, Mutsu will look at the time and nod,)

Looks like everyone's here? If ya aren't here, say so now! Right.

Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, reporting. Thanks for coming.

I dunno about all of y'all, but I'm kind of struggling trying to wrap my head around this whole school thing. Probably 'cause I've never had to worry about school before! (Hah!) But a lot of us've been working pretty hard and we've learned a lot of things so I figured we could all help each other out and share some notes. It's been a while since our last meeting, y'know?

Let's share what we can for now and if we run outta time... we can probably do some more catch up after dinner! Was thinking of going to karaoke after if you guys are down for that.

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IC, this will begin in the common room because it's convenient. Per Herlock and Flat's discovery earlier in the month, everyone will move to karaoke after dinner to discuss more sensitive things privately (hopefully). This was shared publicly in Week 2's town hall so hopefully everyone kind of gets the *hint, hint, wink, wink* implication there IC. I'll be setting up some subthreads for people to share information in a semi-organized way. Feel free to start other subthreads if you feel like something needs one! Everything in this thread is considered public knowledge. Treat this like a mingle and jump around/threadjack. Like I did for Week 2, I'll review things later this week and make another doc summarizing what's been shared here. I'll post the initial WIP on Thursday-ish and a more "final" version at the end of the week.

OVERVIEW

[tosa]

So, let's get started!

(Yeah, if you were expecting a big ol' grand opener, you're going to be disappointed because Mutsu starts off pretty generally:)

... How's everyone handling school so far?

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This sub-thread is for more general things like talking about the setting, impressions so far, this week's current effect, tasks, and so on. You can also use it to just kind of heck around in the beginning and get some more casual CR!

[selfconcept]

Who wrote that story that had me and Idia in it?

[ He doesn't look annoyed, but more curious. ]

I'd like to give you a comedy award.

[vivens]

[ IMAGINE IF SABO SPOKE UP ABOUT THIS....imagine. no, this comment is not here but somewhere he is witnessing this. ]

[festiverogue]

[He says this with a straight face:]

Just here to state for the record that I wouldn't kiss Owen's hand seven times.

[Before he dissolves into laughter.]

[tosa]

At once or ever?

[kaientai]

[ ryouma sits through the introduction to all this happily, ready to help mutsu out with any of this along the way. he helped him set up, of course! ]

Ya must've gotten all this from somebody else. [ because ryouma is the ideas guy, not the organisational guy. ] It's funny though. Remember? Used to be we had another guy named Mutsu doin' all this kinda thing too!

[ meaning ryouma's good friend and fellow kaientai member, mutsu munemitsu, of course. he might as well say "we" now anyway; technically mutsu-the-sword was there too, even if ryouma didn't know him as a spirit. ]

[undertakings]

[Well, because Phantom said he should warn people...]

A ghost is still following me around. It doesn't seem like it's capable of possessing anyone, but I can't control what it does, so there's a possibility it may try to attack you.

I don't think it can hurt you directly, but if you're worried about it, you should keep your distance.

[herlocksholmes]

I will prepare a story or two, just in case. Prevention is important!

[Sholmes, he just said it's not capable of possessing anyone, you don't have to annoy anybody now]

INVESTIGATIONS

[tosa]

(Now, we move on to the daily life section,)

When we first got here, this world was pretty small and we couldn't really see much. Since then, the world has grown every week.

Last week, Sabo and me checked out the museum and found some interesting stuff. What about y'all? Find anything recently?

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Please use this sub-thread to talk about investigation results!

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM + PARK

[vivens]

[ with the assumption that they're all here in the karaoke for this bit, sabo's going to start going over what he found with and separate from mutsu. ]

Like I hinted at last week, I've made it a point to do a bit of exploration myself when the new areas opened up. The first place I decided to do a bit of look around was in the park since I might as well have. I found an area with some fruit trees of various types. They're all very delicious and I can show you where they are if anyone wants to help themselves to some.

Something else I found relates much to something I hadn't realized had any real meaning until after I had done a bit of snooping with Mu later in the day. I found a flyer that had both the logo composing of camellias with the slogan of, "Life Under Control". It was dated for a release of "927".

[ he'll pause for a moment to take a sip of something and for people to process that. it isn't much but the next part is. ]

Alone it didn't make any sense to me and I didn't think anything of it, but like I had mentioned just moments earlier, Mu and I found some interesting information within the displays and one of the exhibits themselves. We found out that emotions can physically shape the world. In fact, this world's ages are categorized by emotions. [ which was a fun fact that became rather important. ] However, the writing specifically mentioned that it was humans and more importantly, groups of humans are the ones who are capable of this and not animals.

Though, in light of one of the areas that most recently opened up here, I think it's even more important to mention that Mu and I are highly suspicious about the possibility of this "CAMELLIA" organization being able to influence the way people think. As the most worrying thing we found was an exhibit donated by them advertising their "Vision of the Future" and I can only tell you that their vision doesn't sound like it allows for much freedoms.

[cheerfuldays]

That... definitely isn't an encouraging slogan, honestly. I hadn't thought to look around much this past week, to be honest. But... what do you mean emotions can physically shape the world? How did you find that?

CYOA

[tosa]

(Next, class trips which is just another way to say CYOA.)

Recently, some of us have been going on trips without everyone else. 'S not my problem but if you're gonna go off and have fun without us, maybe y'all can tell us what ya did?

There've been two so far and it's too early to say for sure but there might be another one this week, too. Just in case, make sure you're ready to go.

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Please use this sub-level to talk about CYOA results!

[fabulation]

Well, to be honest I'll get to the important parts on my end.

[ Then people can ask him questions because there was a lot. ]

First, what happened a little while ago wasn't the first time I'd seen duplicates of us. Personally, I'd witnessed a double of Miach, who said she had somehow created herself, and mentioned about other versions being able to replace the real ones. She also moved like some kind of puppet and made a strange whining noise which made me think of a machine.

She also mentioned us being pulled over to what appeared another version of the mall and such was something that happened every year and something pulled them in. Not unlike those orbs have 'pulled' us into places, I imagine. She also stated that 'we' don't work the way this world works, which I'm assuming was the 'one' we were pulled into.

In addition to that, she mentioned some of those pulled over to the side I was spoke about people lashing out more than usual. After she told me it was dangerous to remain, I headed off over to what appeared to be a circus, briefly watched some clowns prepare for a show. Then some of those hollow people who appeared outside the museum showed up, seemingly to watch the show.

One important fact to note is that they had the same markings we do, both for the ones here and around the museum.

[ So. Yeah! There is that aspect. ]

The ringmaster seemed to act as inhuman as the doubles we met, what with those jerky movements. But, after the spotlights showed up...Shin and I were back at that stop.

[undertakings]

[Before he starts, he takes out a circus flyer for the one they were at and also a bus schedule. Incidentally, the route map on the bus schedule looks weirdly difficult to focus on, although the parts that are readable correspond to the defogged locations that they currently have available.]

I started out in front of a shooting game stall. I left the circus soon after that, and I found these flyers on the bus stop by the mall area before I arrived on campus. Like Xingqiu, I saw a double... but of him, near the fountain. He said that I was wrong and didn't belong there, but that I come and go. My guess is he was referring to how we enter the orbs every Saturday and manage to find a way out. Because we're not from this world, we aren't beholden to the same rules as the residents of this city.

I headed east after and encountered the same void that blocked us from escaping the museum last week. There were some people wandering in and out of it, but I was able to speak to one. From what they told me, it had been more than a week since they were drawn into that place... although it would be two weeks now. They couldn't remember their name, and didn't know of any exits either, although they said that place was constantly changing. [...] If you meet them... they should have a red tie around their arm.

[Anyway.]

I can confirm that the fog on this side corresponds to where the void appears on that side. We walked to the museum and it was the same as it was over here, so if anyone ends up there again, you can assume the district that just opened up would be clear. We went back to the circus after that. They didn't make it back with us when Xingqiu and I returned.

That's all I have to report.

[imitationsoul]

[ She'd be almost tempted to just keep this to herself, but in the name of keeping on receiving information from others, she also needs to give some from time to time. ]

I went to the carnival as well - it was populated by people at the time. None of them seemed to be able to agree on the date, interesting enough. We got the 8th, the 10th and the 11th from three different people respectively.

There was a double of Shinei Nouzen at the game booths. He got into an argument with one of the locals, accusing his emotions of being somehow wrong. Though I couldn't understand the double's speech, he managed to confirm to be that this phenomenon affects more than just the man he was quarreling with.

Their emotions during the fight also influenced the ambient temperature - as was normal in Estelline when it was still populated.

Mr. Herlock Sholmes and I were then brought on to be actors on 'the show' - a dress rehearsal at least, which didn't actually take place as we returned here the moment we stepped on stage. The events on last Saturday seem to have been the real deal.

ITEMS/REGAINS

[tosa]

(After a snack break, it's time to talk about gacha,)

A lot of us've been getting things recently. Looks like some of 'em belong to people here. If ya found something recently and ya aren't sure who if it belongs to someone, ask.

If you're missing something important, you should say so now so we can keep an eye out for it.

I know a lot of it's real cool stuff but no one likes a thief! So ya better fess up before ya get in trouble.

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Use this thread to talk about gacha items (random or regains). You can post about gacha items you received or warn characters to look out for potential gacha items.

[festiverogue]

[Good thing Madara came prepared! He has a small box containing a tiny nurse's hat, a white outfit he's sure someone's going to miss, and a rather fancy scarf!

These items belong to Luci, Ryouma, and Cater respectively! But he doesn't know that. He's just helping out.]

I've got these; feel free to let me know if they're yours! And I've got to give credit where it's due: Fai and Hien really helped me out last week. I ended up with my unit uniform and my bike back. Anybody seen any helmets, by the way?

[selfconcept]

Fai and I had something like a garage sale last week, but we still got some items to pass out. I still need some people to pick stuff up, so check it out. I really don't wanna lug it back to my room.

[ Garage sale redux!!

The items include the following: idol outfit (for Riku), last storm lance (Grimnir), cell phone with a cracked screen from 2009, picture book about a knight saving a princess from a tower (Owen?), Golden Raven Insignia (Bennett?), fake red glasses, and a shamrock charm. ]

[tosa]

(EATING SOME POTATO CHIPS...)

I have a giant lizard-- I mean, dinosaur costume and some sweaters but I'm keepin' an eye out for my sword.

(HE HOLDS UP A VERY SKETCHY AND HIGHLY MEDIOCRE DRAWING OF A KATANA. It is straight and has a blue handle and some little details on it? Like a bandage wrapped around the sheath. He points at the center of the page and then points at himself,)

This is me. It's real important so I'd appreciate it if anyone found it and handed it over.

(HE DOES NOT THINK TO MENTION ANYTHING even though I know what else is in that gacha. He has #priorities.)

[undertakings]

[Well, if they're sharing what they got from the gacha, Shin will just dump out the whole lot of it onto the table for whomever to take. This includes a shitty bass guitar, a small golden trumpet, the spirit-attraction flag, and the Fates on the Edge CD. We can also say that the sake cup and the pudding he got last week are here too for the hell of it.]

The Instructor confirmed the gun I had with me was confiscated and left in the shop. If you happen to find it, let me know.

[exofractured]

[If the items Phantom got were any larger he absolutely would not have bothered! But he's dutifully brought a Cerberus Plush and a mysterious Laptop with him, and they're going on the table.]

If anyone finds further blueprints, I would appreciate if all of the pages were returned to me intact.

[And if no one claims the laptop it's going back with him, since it's the far more interesting of the two.]

KARAOKE (SECRET THINGS)

[tosa]

(Towards the end of the meeting, Mutsu looks at the time and calls out,)

Alright, alright! Good job, everyone. Dunno about you guys but I'm starving. I know we didn't finish getting everyone's notes and stuff but if ya wanna do that, we can do it after dinner.

If you're tired of studying, you can copy someone's notes later.

(After dinner, if people are interested, they can go to karaoke where they're (hopefully) safe from being snooped on. There, they can talk about things more privately without risk of being overheard. If your character make it, assume someone shared notes with them after! Anyway, it's time to go to dinner and blow off some steam with some sick tunes. )

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Use this thread to talk about ~top secret~ things. It can be anything but in this subthread, assume all conversations take place at karaoke. This is the last subthread I'm setting up! Feel free to make your own from here on out.

[festiverogue]

[Whenever there's an opening, he'll drop some info:]

I didn't think that much of it when I discovered the back room of the jewelry store before, but camellias keep coming up. I think there's a connection between the guys from the jewelry store and possibly someone who worked in that "Camellia facility" that just turned up. I didn't get a good look in there yet, but I'm willing to be muscle if someone wants to try to hack those computers or get past a door. Specifically, there was a user with the name "yellowitsme", with camellias in the email signature. It might be too obvious to actually be a connection, but it seemed worth mentioning.

[cloudalike]

[ With how hectic Saturday must have been for everyone, it was probably easy to miss the fact that Chongyun wasn't there for any of it. ]

My apologies for withholding this information until now. On Saturday, I was tasked by Lorelei to look for traces of the people - or the spirits you might have seen in the Orbs. Ah - to clarify, I don't mean the ones that were possessing people. I refer to the lost souls that were wandering around. In any case, Lorelai wanted to know if the people in the Orbs were dead or alive, and how they wound up stuck there.

Indeed, Lorelai and I located some spirits by the Mall. [ He's not going to describe how they did it, but a popcorn machine might have been abused for the cause. ] While she was distracted, I was able to communicate with one of them. As you may or may not know, communicating with spirits can be a vague affair, so I do not have details or explanation. What I received was closer to a summary before the spirit was gone.

They were a college student from Estelline University; unlike us, they are from this world. Unlike us, they did not have a partner they were linked to - and they seemed quite confused when I asked. However, I can confirm that they did not have the mark.

[ Here, he frowns. ]

But... they did recognize it because some of the others who are trapped also had it. [ Have it? Who knows! ] When they first saw people with the mark, those people were... out of control and hurting one another. There was this dark energy that appeared around the marked people and the environment started to worsen around them.

At a certain point, the college student was pulled into the Orb, and... unfortunately, they failed to complete the ghost challenge in the same manner that we did. The ghost - or ghoul - took over them completely, and they were fatally wounded by another person there.

One last note: they are not sure if everyone in the Orbs is actually dead.

[ And that's all he has.

Not included: how excited he was to talk to a ghost for the first time! How proud he is that he was able to do all this without the use of his Cryo Vision, or his congenital positivity. All of this, he'll tell Xingqiu and others privately. ]