( closed to big brother! )

[switches her communicator on after a moment]

Merry Christmas Eve! [beaming] I had this idea - [wait she shouldn't say it out loud] I mean, I'd like to know what everyone's favorite flowers are. Mine are sakura blossoms!

[filtered from Lelouch]

Especially for Lelouch-san... Does anyone know what his favorite is?

What does love mean to you?

[Someone sounds unwontedly serious and more than a little perplexed. Trying to remember love -- why does it all come up white?]


((OOC: Sob he had to ask. Feel free to threadjack to your heart's content.))

[Anyone who takes a trip into Sector 5 and wanders a few blocks from the main shopping district might just turn a corner and find yourself overshadowed by a large red tent that takes up half of the street. It's tall structure billows only gently from the wind, not affected by the heavy snowfall.

Should you enter the tent, you'll find a large black rug has been placed just beyond the entrance--wipe your feet please?--and beyond that tables have been set up for refreshments and small talk during the show. The light is bright, the music low, but pulsing, and it's not as cold as one would think it would be--the joy of electric space heaters, what a marvelous invention. Jutting out from between the tables in the front of the tent is a catwalk, where models walk up and down, displaying the fashions as the announcers talk over the loudspeaker. The stage is not so large as to span from one side of the tent to the other, but it's big enough. There's a black curtains in the back and the design of it all is both elegant and showy.

Three sides of the tent are tied down, blocking out the cold, but the fourth wall has been tied up connecting to the blue awning of the white-stone building beside it. Painted on the glass windows in blue green is the name of the boutique: Trés Magnifique. Are you interested in a tour?]

{OOC: To make this easier for everyone, respond in your header with one of the following: Pre-Show, Mingle, Fashion Show, Boutique Tour, Backstage, and After Party. Threadjack to your hearts' delights! I won't be able to micro-manage everything, but if your character is modeling and needs an announcer, do make note of that, because Josak will be there!}

[ a young man standing straight, adjacent to a desk some of you might recognize as Gino's in the DF office. he's only nineteen, but his expression is all business and it has the effect of making him look older than he is. mature, responsible, and there's just something in his eyes. ]

Good morning, everyone. For those of you who are new here, my name is Suzaku Kururugi. I'm currently head of the Defense Force here in Marina. The Defense Force is here for your protection, and you can also address any questions you might have to us. If you need help, with anything, you can come down to our HQ and ask -- or you can use your communicator to direct a private message to "the Defense Force". The communicator knows who we are.

If you're interested in signing up to join the Defense Force, please let me know. [ a pause, because how to say this, and then: ] We have civilian positions open as well, if there's anyone who's good with computers or details.


[Filtered to current DF members]

...Please report. Several of our people have failed to appear for their scheduled patrols, and I'm sorry -- but Marina needs Defense Force members it can depend upon. I know we're a volunteer organization, but we've also been entrusted with the means to protect people here and that is a duty I hope we all take very seriously.



((ooc: This is both a recruitment post AND a roll call. DF members who don't respond to this post will be removed and have their weapon confiscated! (Hiatused characters excepted.) Please remember that you must be willing to be involved with DF activities: if another player needs to plot with the DF, you and your character should be ready to volunteer. If that's not something you can do, please don't join, resign ICly, or let Suzaku take you off the Force. Thank you!))

[After two days huddled up in an abandoned house in the outer fringes of the dome, Saya can't go much longer without food. Though fearing to run into anyone she knows, Saya finally has to take the chance, and so sneaks into the convenience store to load up just after Acumen's announcement.]

[She's also more than a bit shaky from not getting her treatments, and so her flight back to her hideout isn't nearly as smooth. One missed curb and she's sent sprawling, her bags of supplies spilling over the pavement.] Ack!

[Here's Sakura in her cheerleading uniform waving energetically!]

Hello everyone! I know that I missed the last baseball game, so I'll do my best to prepare for the next one to make up for it. Anyone can play - and it's fun. Oh, and if anyone would like to join the cheerleading team then all you have to do is talk to Yuuri-san or Josak-san or...me I guess! It's really fun so - I hope you join!

[YOU KNOW YOU WANNAAAAA. if anyone's coming by the athletic complex they'll see Sakura twirling her baton like a champion 8D.]

[filtered to the DF]

[t-takes her a moment to make this filter but when she's finished]

Hi Suzaku-san! Are you busy right now?

[Conrad looks into the camera for a moment, perhaps curiously, before he puts on his usual smile.]

Good morning. I apologize for being asleep for this long. [pause] Would anyone be able to tell me whether I've missed anything important?


((OOC: post very actionable, just make sure you differentiate it! Anyone who was there when he first woke up, thread is here. Also, the physical changes that a particularly perceptive person might notice are listed here as well as a perms post for anyone who wants to notice supernatural changes.))

Eh, this thing is pretty weird…

[The feed starts with the sound of a fairly ambiguous voice, slightly monotone from the extent heard. The woman (or man?) who’s voice this belongs to, lets out a sigh, and there’s a few scratches heard on the microphone, before it is situated properly on her head. ]

I talk in here? [ There’s a pause. ] Hello. My name is Haruhi, from class 1-A I guess that doesn’t make much difference right now…

I read through the pamphlet, but I had a question. I thought someone might be able to help. [ There’s a pause before she begins talking again. ] Where do we work here? We have to make a living somehow, after all.

…

... Ah, that’s it. This was pretty meaningless… [ And, soon enough, the feed cuts after a bit a fumbling around. ]

Uh, hey everyone. I just thought I should give an update on Conrad. He's still the same. No monsters got into his room yesterday, so that was good! [Might be forcing the cheer a little there.]

Even though he's not awake, I'm sure he'd like the company [and so would Yuuri, because an ex-fiance who seems to hate you and an unconscious guy don't make for the most uplifting conversations] so feel free to visit. We're at the hospital.

Yuuki, Zero, Akito, Suzaku, Midori, Orihime, everyone...are you okay? [He's had a rough few days, so he's sorry if he left out any names! And Josh already made it clear he was okay.]

Mm, oh, and happy Halloween!

Wow, everyone's so fussy this morning. When I stop to look outside or something, it's pretty funny to watch you know.

Not being able to see what's going on is sort of, well... It's kind of looking at people who are just hallucinating. Chasing butterflies in the outfield, so to speak. But I guess if it's enough to make you all yell and stuff then it's got to be creepy.  Scary,  since there's nothing I can do about it, but very funny too. Kind

Otherwise? It's sort of loud. I think I'll take my headset off today.

[He doesn't actually mean that last part.]

Wonder who else doesn't see what's going on...

LETTER RECIPIENTS

• Touma: a letter from Euphemia.
  
• Ryu: a letter from Allen.
  
• Yuuri: a letter from Alphonse.
  
• Nunnally: a letter from Toothless.
  
• Eridan: a letter from Hiling.
  
• Peregrine Mendicant: a letter from Ribbons.
  
• Roxas: a letter from Fai.
  
• Kaien: a letter from Rinoa.
  
• Jeanne: a letter from Hikaru.
  
• Axel: a letter from Wolfram.
  
• Alma: a letter from Red.
  
• Orihime: a letter from Xion.
  
• Alucard: a letter from Terezi.
  
  MASS MAILERS
  
• From Leopard : postcards for everyone.
  
• From Nepeta : individualized letters for Terezi, Eridan, Vriska, GIR, Akito, and Axel.
  
• From Josak : invitations to the grand opening of Trés Magnifique for everyone.
  
  PACKAGE RECIPIENTS
  
• Tsukasa: package and letter from Sasha.
  
• Euphemia: package from Ribbons.
  
• Jennifer: package and letter from Ciel.
  
• Saki: package from Wolfram.
  
  NEW PENPAL MATCHUPS
  
• Spencer Reid & Tavros
  

[So much mail! There's no better day to use the mail cart. Along she rolls, its pouches stuffed with letters, packages, and postcards. Given the presence of mass mailers, she will be in EVERY residential area today. She will find you, Saki, no matter what couch you crash on]

[Click here for pen pal signups~ Mail submissions for Day 86 go here!]

[A few blocks down from the clothing store, around a corner, is a lovely white two-story building with a blue awning over the long from windows.

This is the Boutique and currently the sigh of Josak preparing for the arrivals of the models and other designers. They have less than a day to get everything just right and the girls also have their spa. Time management is so important.

Structured chaos is what he's expecting.]

{OOC: For this post, models will be getting fitted and choosing which outfits they'll wear, designers will finish the touches on their collections, and any volunteers will be finishing with decorations and making the catwalk behind the building look fabulous. Please put what your character is there for in the header! Model, Designer, Volunteer, etc. Event style posting, please interact with each other.

And if you haven't signed up your character, please do so! It gives us/me a better idea of who's involved and how.}

[ Open ]
I keep hearing about the other sports here, and no one's taken over Minako's volleyball class, yet. [ So much pouting. ] I was really looking forward to playing!

---

[ Filtered to: Josak, all women (except Diva) ]

[ More upbeat than before. ] Speaking of looking forward to things... I was thinking about having another spa gathering! But since Josak is opening his boutique tomorrow, and today will be busy for a lot of us, I don't know if overlapping will be a problem...

I'm going to make special effort to have lots of fancy makeup products around. [ Winking. ] We models have to look our best, right Josak? [ Since, yes, she included him in on this. She doesn't want to surprise him on such a big day! ]

((ooc: Apologies to everyone, but this was supposed to be VIDEO the whole time! orz ))

Good evening, everyone.~ [Josak's voice sounds as upbeat and laid back as usual.] The day is nearing for the grand opening of the Fashion Boutique.

But a boutique can't open without clothes. And clothes cannot be advertised without models.

So who's up for volunteering?

{OOC: Here's the IC sign up post and please check out the OOC sign-up post now on Joak's journal.}

Conrad? [Private messaging hadn't worked, so...]

Has anyone seen Conrad? He's not on the list, but he isn't answering.

[And he missed their morning run and he didn't even call during the black out to make sure he was all right. That's...very unConrad-y! This is Yuuri's worried face.]

[Diva didn't mind the darkness, but she disliked how cold and wet it had made everything. Plucking at her clothing, Diva frowned.]

[She was going to need a new dress.]

[It was the quiet click of claws striking the pavement that made Diva look up, eyes shining blue as she sniffed out the newest addition to the butterfly pavilion. Well, it looked like someone wanted to play~]

[Standing, Diva stood in the center of the room, smiling coldly. When the first lizard pounced, Diva tossed him into the nearest wall, the force echoing throughout the room. The second was swifter, and evaded her grasp although Diva still managed to knock it to the floor. The third was swifter still, taking Diva's hit as though it didn't exist.]

[And that's when Diva got mad. Who said these creatures could adapt? Eyes brightening, Diva backed away from the pack, scouring the ground for a weapon. They might be ugly, but that was no reason to break a nail on one of them either.]

[Waaaaving to the screen!]

Hello hello!~

I think I've had enough "me" time for a while. Pity it couldn't last forever, hmm?

[Now giggles.]

But I enjoy you all too much to lock myself away for soooo long! Aren't you blessed?

((ooc: Breaking hiatus for a bit while things have calmed down on my end!))

Hi~!! Good morning everyone. I've been told I'm free to build an extension onto my house to help accommodate all my guests, but I have to do the work myself.

Does anyone know how to remodel a house or how to do electrical wiring or... really anything? I'm afraid I don't know anything about this sort of thing, but I'm willing to learn and help as I can!

Does anyone know what's causing these changes?

[The thought enters his mind that he should get something to write with if there is anything useful. Thought immediately turns to deed as pen and paper fly across the room and settle down before him. Sam jerks back, realizing he'd done that.]

NO!

[He extends a hand as if trying to banish the unsuspecting pen and paper and emotionally charged as he is he ends up sending them and the table they were on flying across the room—eyes turning completely black as he does so.]

[Later, when he's calmed down a little he opens a private channel.]

[Private to Sasha]
Sasha, hey... [Hopes you didn't see that, but his voice is still troubled.] I think we should postpone meeting with everything going on today.


(OOC: Backdated to before noon. Sam is noticeably telekinetic today with a side of black eyes—demon-style! He is in the educational center.)

[Yuuri is at the beach and beaming.]

Hey! Who wants a water park?

[Now he sets the device down to get a larger shot and demonstrates his new no-maou-mode-necessary water powers! He brings a dragon-shaped mass of water up and lets it dance around for all to see!]