DECEMBER EVENT PT 1

[citta]

DECEMBER EVENT PT 1

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→ 12/3 Lockdown

The wind picks up at midnight, flowing through the streets but softened by the snowflakes that drift down from the sky. Over the full hour of Lockdown, the snowfall dampens the wind and makes it harder to follow the stream than before, blowing out from the forest and towards the center of town where a snowdrift builds up against the shut doors of the hospital's main entrance. Defeat the Daitengu, and the next dungeon appears the month after... During Lockdown, black blobs of Shadows continue to seep out of the hospital, shrine, lake, and school, but with the third Daitengu defeated, the wind doesn't howl as strongly and the snowfall is light, leaving the town dusted with snow the next morning that easily melts by mid-day. The town is cold, quiet, and still, almost as if holding its breath, but perhaps it's an illusion created by the townspeople staying indoors to keep out of the cold, and that everybody who had arrived from the alternate Hirajiro has been spirited away overnight, gone without fanfare by the time the wind dies down at the end of Lockdown. The only thing left behind is a complete deck of tarot cards with no duplicates, neatly stacked and set by the entrance of the honden, with a heavy stone on top to keep the cards from blowing away in the wind.

With the wind picking up around the shrine, a slow, deep ringing can be heard from a large bell that has been tied up above the offertory box with a thick rope, swinging with the wind; the offertory box itself is emptied of gemstones at the beginning of the month, but will slowly fill back up if the Persona users continue to donate the stones dropped by defeated Shadows, with the understanding that any boon they receive comes with strengthening the Kotengu as well. As if called by the toll of the bell, it seems like all of the crows in town have congregated around the shrine for the winter, perched on the rooftops, lit stone lanterns, and even the torii, all peering down at whoever enters the shrine and keeping an eye on them all the while they stand on sacred land. Although the crows seem unbothered by the ringing bell, the resident fox skitters away whenever it hears the noise, although it will always return when the wind dies down, or if the bell is otherwise bound and still. The sign that's supposed to contain the shrine deity's name still lacks the name, but this time, the sign is painted over with solid black, the paint layered on so thickly, you can see where the trails of paint are pulled to the bottom of the sign, under which dry spots of black paint can be seen before covered by the dusting of snow.

Near the path leading from the shrine to the castle, a large area of trees has been demolished in a vaguely serpentine shape, the trees lying splintered and fallen but far enough to pose no danger to the castle. Unlike the shrine, there are little to no crows that hang around the structure, the same two stories with the broken stairs up to the incomplete third floor becoming hazardous to climb with the falling snow and the wind that blows through the open windows of the second floor, making the castle howl. The throne sports a new cushion and a thick woollen blanket draped over the back of it, but with the ofuda door containing just the same two as before, the castle remains stuck in time, and the night goes on.

→ 12/3 - 1/2 Town events

It snows on and off over the next few days, getting steadily colder as the month progresses. While the snow is powdery and easy to clear, there's a lot of it that piles right back up by the end of the day, creating a constant demand for help shoveling the roads around the neighborhoods and marketplace to keep them clear, although the Persona users will have to keep the path to the castle and shrine clear on their own, as none of the townspeople are concerned about the forest in general. In town, all the extra snow initially gets pushed towards the center to dump into the lake, but after the lake freezes over after the first week of the month, the excess snow gets piled into a large hill and packed down to be perfect for sledding, with makeshift sleds ranging from laundry baskets to trash can lids left lying around for people to grab and slide— and pray they don't veer off course and crash straight through the ice covering the lake. A Persona may be able to thicken the ice and make it safer to skate on, but in the meanwhile, people will just have to watch out for the spots where the ice is thin and easily broken. Please don't fall in, unless it's near midnight and you fall straight into a random floor of the lake dungeon.

Strings of plain white Christmas lights adorn the trees in town and around the outskirts where it borders the forest, leaving the entire town lit with a soft glow after sundown. Throughout town, the decorations are similarly subtle, with fancier decorations seen in storefronts rather than people's homes, and instead of a single Christmas tree towering over the town, a set of four smaller trees line the back of a large stage set on the lakefront across the school building, which has made its appearance for summer festivals in the past. Surrounding the stage are many stalls that make up a holiday craft market that will be open all month. For a small fee, anybody can purchase a spot at the craft market to sell their own crafts, most of which are intended to be decorations for people's homes or to be given as gifts for Christmas and the New Year. Among the crafts are traditional gifts like knit scarves and sweaters, as well as clay figurines, beaded crafts, painted plates, and any manner of handmade items people have to offer. Although the main focus of the market is for crafts, there are also stalls selling refreshments such as hot chocolate and baked goods.

On the stage itself, each of the four trees is topped with a bird-like angel painted in soft reds, blacks, and golds, and rather than lights and ornaments, the trees have emas hung on the branches, with wishes written on the small wooden plaques. While emas are traditionally hung at a shrine for the kami to receive them, the emas here are for the community to offer and receive: for every wish you hang up, you're encouraged to take at least one other ema and fulfill that wish in return. Some of the wishes are very general, such as asking people to do good deeds to make the world a better place, wishing for the exams at school to be a little easier next year, or hoping everybody in the hospital will get better. Other wishes are more personal, such as wanting to learn a new skill, receive a certain toy, or help cleaning out a basement, and these personal wishes contain the person's name and contact information to indicate who to report to grant the wish. Not all wishes can be granted directly, but the effort put towards them still counts. There is no payment or other incentives to fulfill multiple wishes other than good karma, which will surely be returned to you in the new year.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Each character may make one free ema wish in the top-level below and the mods will reply with how the wish is fulfilled. Note that personal wishes will be signed for everybody to see, and while ICly all wishes will be fulfilled by the townspeople and not the Kotengu, for this first wish, a crow will occasionally swoop down and take an ema, so you guys can get your stat boosts and skill upgrades.
⬥ Additional ema wishes may be made for every thread reported that involves fulfilling one of the townspeople's wishes and must have a minimum of 5 comments from you. There is no limit to how many ema wishes that can be made, but all threads are due by 1/3/2020 when January's dungeon log goes up. These extra wishes will be fulfilled by the townspeople, so they might not know what to do with wishes like "+1 to all stats." You are still welcome to try, though, and they will do their best.
⬥ Part 2 of December's event will go up on 12/15 to encompass Christmas, New Years, and tragedy.
⬥ This month, the full moon occurs on 12/11 - 12/13. While Personas are stronger around the time of the full moon, they are more difficult to control and may behave strangely and disobey orders around these dates. This is an optional mechanic.

Comments

Mod Questions

[citta]

If you have any questions, please leave them here!

[overstrain]

Just asking to make sure, but if a single ema wish is fulfilled by two people, can both characters turn in the same thread?

Ema Wishes

[citta]

Please use the following form:

Player:
Character:
Thread: (for the first wish, write "freebie," otherwise link the thread for all additional wishes)
Wish:

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character:</b> <b>Thread:</b> <b>Wish:</b>

[laconism]

Player: Olivia
Character: Red
Thread: freebie
Wish: +1 stats

[infiltrationtools]

Player: Archer
Character: Akira Kurusu
Thread: Freebie
Wish: "I want to become stronger." (+1 to all stats)

[reveilation]

Player: Card
Character: Tsubomi Kido
Thread: freebie
Wish: "power to protect the people I care about"
we're all anxiously +1 to all stats huh, that's fair

[overstrain]

Player: Haki
Character: Terrence Nowell
Thread: Freebie
Wish: "I hope my friends won't get sick this month."

(you're free to interpret this however you want)

[defragment]

Player: Haki
Character: UMP45
Thread: Freebie
Wish: +1 stats

[cicadashell]

Player: Morgan
Character: Jiro Azuma
Thread: freebie
Wish: "a meeting with 'the boss'"

[not_that_sasuke]

Player: Dani
Character: Sasuke Sagami
Thread: freebie
Wish: "I want to become stronger so I can help."
+1 to all stats so he can CONTINUE TO BE USELESS, GIVE ME SOME WEAK TO DARK ENEMIES, GOD.

[toybombs]

Player: Dani
Character: Rio Takeuchi
Thread: Freebie
Wish: "The strength to overcome my restraints."

+1 STAT UP PLEASE

[defragment]

Player: Haki
Character: UMP45
Thread: link
Wish: "I want to eat the best tasting cake in the world." (signed by Itsuki)

[overstrain]

Player: Haki
Character: Terrence Nowell
Thread: link
Wish: "I wish my friends next door can also enjoy the warmth of a kotatsu." (signed by terry)

[astralchain]

Player: Eon
Character: Yamato Howard
Thread: freebies
Wish: +1 stats because... yea....

[yokeye]

1. cat sweaters! - (12/6 - 12/15)

[Toki had thought about getting a job, but in the end decided that would just be a disaster and too much effort. Instead, he's bought a table at the craft market for two weeks to sell his wares. Knitted cat sweaters he made with Kido. There are a small variety of sizes, and a wide variety of colors and patterns. The sweaters are stacked neatly, displaying the more tasteful earth tones and one-color sweaters on one half of the table, and the brighter, pastel, or striped sweaters on the other. A sign on the front of the table reads:

KAT SWETTERZ!
(=①ω①=)
☆*。★ﾟ*♪ヾ☆*。★ﾟ*♪ヾ

Toki will be there most of the day, because there are a million cats in Hirajiro and everyone likes cute cat accessories. His business endeavor will be much more profitable than working for Terry. If someone looks hesitant in buying a sweater, or scrutinizes his sign too much, Toki will be quick to smile and encourage more purchases.]

Hello~! Let me just tell you these sweaters are what every cat will want to wear this season! Crafted from the finest wool, and personally inspected by my lovely assistant Kuroko, they're guaranteed to keep your cats toasty this winter~!

[Kuroko is curled up on the table, wearing a bright pink sweater with sparkly thread interspersed through it. She looks wholly uninterested.]


2. craft market wildcard - (12/3 - 12/18)

[Toki can be found anywhere in the craft market, browsing for items and admiring people's craftsmanship. He hasn't enjoyed himself in any festival-like atmosphere for a long time, and he will spread the joyous feeling to everyone he encounters. He'll purchase a set of painted cat-themed plates, but quickly keep them out of sight in a knitted messenger bag. They're gifts. In between his shopping and manning the cat sweater table, he'll take some time to work on knitting a much larger sweater, pink and white with a lopsided flower pattern.]


3. sledding - (12/19)
consider a placeholder until closer to the date~

[Toki's never gone sledding in his life before Hirajiro. It's exciting, and though he'd been warned about the dangerous side of things, he's here to live his best life. The laundry basket is cracked from the cold, but still usable. He takes a running start at up the snow hill and jumps into the basket. Snow flies off to the side as the basket speeds towards the lake and out onto the ice. When it stops near the middle of the lake, Toki stands up and spreads his arms in victory.]

That was awesome~!

[Then the ice cracks, toppling the basket and sending him crashing through the thin ice into the water.]

12/7

[reveilation]

[ The cat sweaters sure are cute, and the cats seem really comfy curled up in something soft and warm. It's also really nice seeing the town take on more and more color as the townspeople buy sweaters not only for their cats, but the strays around town, too. The strays are basically the town's pets anyways.

Capitalizing on the people's love of cats sure is profitable. ]

Are sales going well, Tokidoki? You'll have to let me know when you start running out of sweaters so we can make more.

[reveilation]

i. 12/3, Lockdown
[ Kido startles awake when the wind picks up, staring blearily at the curtained window in her bedroom for a moment before throwing a hoodie over her pajamas and heading over to the clubhouse next door. Somebody's still awake, right? She knocks on the door, hoping so, but if nobody is awake, it's fine because she'll keep knocking until somebody is awake. ]

ii. 12/4 - 12/6, kid day redux
[ For these three days, Kido has turned back into a 6-year-old child physically and mentally, terrified and anxious with a trigger-happy fist. It's high strung post-house fire Kido. She wakes up alone in the bedroom Kido and Rei share, and since Rei is closer to her size, she raids the closet for cute dresses or skirts that will look okay even if they run slightly long, and throws a jacket over that so it doesn't matter much anyways. Then the plan is to sneak out of the house, but—-

a. 12/4 - 12/6
There's a good chance she doesn't even make it out of the driveway before being distracted by the ...41... cats that wander in and out of the Black Cat house. Everything she learned about how to attract cats from Orien has been completely reset, leaving her only strategy being crouching down and whispering "here, kitty, kitty..." under her breath while she holds a hand out that the cats just ignore. Even when she stands and chases after the cats, they run away and hide. Cats... please... ):

b. 12/5
She wasn't even the one who cooked the last crab, but it doesn't matter because there's another 5 meter wide spider crab with a butcher knife clamped in one of its claws chasing after a screaming and crying Kido running through the city streets, who inevitably slips on the icy ground and now she's a screaming and crying Kido sitting on the ground and staring up at the knife that's about to slam down down over her head while the townspeople walk by, smiling at her and calling her cute. They are all dead to her, if she doesn't die from this crab first.

c. 12/6
Crabs suck. The only good animals are the soft and cute ones like cats, rabbits, and small dogs. It's a little brown lop bunny that Kido has in her arms, cradling close to her while another five or six rabbits of varying colors and breeds hop around the frozen grass around where she's sitting next to a tree in a park. She has a black baseball cap on her head today, head bent down so the brim can take the place of her usual hood and do a poor job of hiding the smile on her face, but occasionally, the hat shakes a little, and another rabbit pokes its head out from under it to hop off her head.

It's the hat full of infinite rabbits and both households will never want for meat ever again, but anybody wanting to take advantage of free meat will have to kill Kido's pets when she's not looking or she will bite them on the arm. ]

wc. 12/7 - 12/14
[ The rest of the month is spent doing the usual... Nights are reserved for working up the courage to enter the hospital dungeon, but sometimes it's too much and she turns to one of the earlier dungeons so she can do Minato's request, picking off Shadows and collecting the stones for him instead of the Kotengu. Limited to one person, the Reaper will come knock Kido and whoever is with her unconscious after staying in a dungeon for too long, if anybody wants to meet a new type of Shadow.

She doesn't have anything to sell at the craft market, but she does linger around some of the cuter things, like accessories and anything to do with animals, and gives Akira a weird look every time he pulls a bomb out from under the table. Do that in the secrecy of your own house, bro...

There aren't a lot of wishes Kido can think of that she can't make happen herself, but she looks through the ema plaques anyways to see if there are any easy ones she can do. Suzume wants "a dinosaur egg!!!!!!" and Hayato wishes for "dinner with tsubomi and apple pie niichan"... Cute. She picks up those two, but she has no idea what to do about a dinosaur egg. Her own emas she hangs somewhere in the back, hidden away, since they're things people can't really grant. Things like "a sign Mary is doing okay" and "for Hibiki and Mondo to wake up."

Something something general winter stuff. Kido works laid back shifts at the occult shop, organizing the shelves and reading the books there. She can otherwise be found at home curled up under the kotatsu and lazing the day away, probably. ]

ii. b.

[cicadashell]

[The knife stops inches from Kido's head. A giant black smoke hand wraps around the crab and pulls it away; shaking the crab until it drops the knife. Jiro picks it up, as the crab is released and skitters away down the street. If Kido hasn't run off already, freaked out by the hand and the fact that he now has the knife, Jiro will offer to help her up.]

You okay?

[cicadashell]

i. shrine - (12/4)

[The crows are everywhere, perching on every available surface of the shrine, even on the steps. And they won't shut up. Cackling and gossiping about nothing, bragging about who can steal the most ema wishes from the trees, how many crafts they managed to knock off tables last year, complaining about not getting sweaters like the cats, talking about the fucking weather and how much snow they're predicting. Holy fucking shit. It's non-stop, and every time Jiro leaves the castle, they're shouting about food and demanding sandwiches as soon as they see him.]

Move, you little shits! I wanna look at the cards!

[They won't. They're not appeased, and a group of them sit pointedly on the stone covering the tarot cards. He could fling them aside with one of Rago's demon hands, but he refuses to hurt them, even if they're bitching and cackling.]


ii. castle - (whenever)

[Jiro has taken it upon himself to clean the murals in the castle. He doesn't know what he's doing, in terms of preservation of old paint or anything, but is making a minimal effort to be gentle. He's purchased a ladder, a plastic bucket, and toothbrushes. Throughout the month, he'll be cleaning sections of the murals, and perhaps scrubbing off important details, while screaming out the window for the crows to shut up for five minutes. They never do. Rago can often be found napping on the throne's new cushion.]


iii. town/craft market - (whenever)

[Despite appearances, Jiro isn't against any holiday celebrations or people having fun. He likes the subtle decorations around town, and it's relaxing to watch the lights by the edge of the forest when it gets darker. During the day, he'll help shovel snow off roofs and walkways.

Though he isn't getting involved in selling things at the market, he is buying them. Jiro's clothing used to be insulated, but that doesn't seem to be a thing here, and it's getting cold at the castle. He's bought a scarf and a couple of sweaters. He's reluctantly stopped by the "kat swetter" table to buy Rago one, though he doesn't need to keep warm and just wants to be "festive". It's red and green striped and Rago delights in hanging around on Jiro's shoulder to draw unwanted attention.

Jiro has a large bag with him, much like the one he'd collected mushrooms in, and buys a lot of baked goods. They all go into the bag on top of each other, because they're for the shrine crows.]


iv. ema wildcard - (whenever)
fulfilling the townspeople's wishes...
his own ema wish ended badly; he's not paying the fine, so from the 11th on, he's banned from town businesses

iv

[defragment]

Ji~ro~ I got an interesting ema. Wanna see?

[ She spotted him and locked onto him. May Kotengu save your soul, Jiro... ]

It'll be fun~

[overstrain]

I. 12/5 - personality flip

[ Terry had been missing on the third and fourth because he'd been stuck in Rei's dungeon for those two days. It was a nightmare. Maybe that's why he looks so sapped of energy when he comes back. He seems indifferent, uncaring, and absolutely lazy.

A) He'll be at home, lounging on the couch or on his bed while doing nothing. Want dinner? Make it yourself. Want some money? Get it yourself. He hasn't eaten anything all day, and frankly, he doesn't give two fucks. Black Cat House (I) has a kotatsu and he sure is gonna hibernate in it, despite being sensitive to heat. Orien the snake had been looking at Terry disapprovingly ever since he got back.

B) Maybe you'll find him outside, roaming the town with a hoodie jacket, a navy blue hat, and long pants. It's an aimless walk, and he sure did call in sick for this. He looks up at the four trees with the emas hanging off them. A flock of crows follow him. Some perch on his head and shoulders.

"So are we making wishes to the dead Daitengus instead of the Kotengu now...?"

is what he mutters under his breath. ]


II. 12/6-10: heat sensitivity, ema wishes, and craft fair

[ Terry got over his "lethargy" in a day, but he's been getting anxious. Anyway, you'll find him in several places:

A) Working at a maid cafe or at his pinpointing stand. Pay him to find things for you.

B) Working on granting wishes on the emas. He ends up plucking a lot of romance-related ones for some reason. He has crows in his jacket until the 8th. They also bundle up for warmth as he goes here and there. He's really busy...

C) Drinking some hot chocolate at the craft fair, but it's too hot and he's still sensitive to heat and he looks like he wants to melt into a puddle. ]


III. 12/11-15: ✨✨✨

[ This is a wildcard variation because Terry will be extremely happy for four days. He'll even give off imaginary sparkles. You can find him either at work being a super peppy maid/butler, smiling while he works at his pinpointing stand, or generally spreading the holiday cheer while granting ema wishes and getting Vassago to use Vacuum Wave to clear the snow. He'll even be sliding on the ice on the frozen lake. ]


wildcard

[ Other than that, he's also up for school/lake Dungeon runs. He can make a hole so people can dive in, but is that really a good idea when it's freakishly cold outside? The second floor was always cold though... I guess it's no different. His bonus schedule looks like this:

12/1-4: end sentences with nya
12/2-8: flock of crows follow him
12/5-10: sensitive to heat
12/5: 180 personality switch
12/9-15: cannot lie
12/11-15: extremely happy terry

If you got any other prompts, hit me up! He also lost his left pinky and left ring fingers from Rei's dungeon. :') Feel free to have your character notice that. ]

i.

[reveilation]

[ Little Kido is here to be disappointed in lazy Terry... Okay, so Terry wasn't home on the 4th, and on the 5th, Jiro ditched Kido and ran away, so she's reluctantly returning to the Black Cat house with Rago and another cat toy in her arms. He has a pink bow sloppily tied around his neck and Kido has one sloppily tied around her wrist, and her hands are full so she's kicking the door instead of knocking. If Terry is too lazy to get up, she's going to hope Orien is home to get the door. If Terry never made it to the door the entire day, then maybe it's still unlocked from when Kido left the house that morning and she can just open it and come inside. ]

[not_that_sasuke]

[Work, work, work...]

[During the days, he can be found shoveling snow. It's not a very interesting job at all, but someone needs to do it, and he actually needs cash now that he's not just relying on the Velvet Room for nearly everything.

That said, he's still a noodle, so he can be found taking a break every now and again. It's a good time to catch him for a chat, if you want.]

[Holiday Lights]

[He's actually checking out the holiday lights with open interest, stopping in front of the trees and their emas in particular.]

...I wonder if they chose four trees on purpose.

[It's a curious thing, but probably not what to focus on right now with so many requests that need fulfilling. Let's see, what have we got here...?]

[Wildcard]

[He can also be found doing dungeon runs at the school and lake dungeons for extra cash! Hit me up if you want an alternate scenario.]

Holiday Lights

[cicadashell]

I thought that, too.

[Jiro's a bit suspicious of the four trees, and thinks the townspeople have more knowledge of the Daitengus and everything going on then it seems. Which is why he'd left an ema wish more addressed to the crows instead of the Hirajiro citizens.]

[toybombs]

[Craft Fair]

[Rio has a table for herself with an assortment of cute little plushies in the shape of all sorts of animals, from teddy bears to cats. Oddly, there's no dogs, though...

There are a couple of much more expensive plushies that are advertised to come with a voicebox that you can record a track on yourself. There are also commission prices for custom-made plushies.

Rio herself is busy sewing away at new plushies, but she's frequently interrupted by either children or parents looking for gifts for said children. Come by and say hello!]

[Ema Wishes]

[After hanging up her own, she begins looking through the rest.]

"I want the most popular girl in class to fall in love with me?" Hauuu, that's a bold thing to write where anyone can see it...

[She quickly moves on to other wishes. Come help her spread some holiday cheer?]

[Wildcard]

[She can also be found fighting in the dungeons for loot to sell! If you want an alternate scenario, hit me up.]

Craft Fair

[yokeye]

[Toki looks over the plushies; he's very happy there's no dogs. He reads the information for custom orders over several times.]

Hello~! How are you today~!? I have two custom requests for you~!

[infiltrationtools]

I. CRAFT FAIR

[For most of the month, either Akira, Red, or both will be running their table at the craft fair. It's split in two, and Akira's half features some... interesting looking crafts. All of them seem to be made of thin sheets of metal, twisted and curled into different shapes with precise hands. All of them have rounded edges so they can't cut anything, and if you buy one, Akira will wrap it up for you in tissue paper and put it delicately into a little bag.]

[Some popular styles include native animals and plants, as well as a few winter and New Year-themed pieces, but none specifically relating to Christmas or the other winter holidays. Noting the population's interest, there's multiple designs of cats, some of which are in different poses. A few don't seem to represent anything at all, and are just kinda... metal twirling in different directions in a way he hopes is aesthetically appealing.]

[Akira clearly has a decent understanding of how to use his materials, but their resemblance to the subjects they're trying to convey start out kinda dodgy and get better as the month goes on. He's not used to making stuff like this, and on multiple occasions has wished that Yusuke was here to make it easier... but then again, the sculptures are not the main reason this stand exists.]

[If he recognizes you as a Persona-user, Akira will call you over with a different business proposition.]

Hey, want to see the secret menu?

[He says 'secret menu' in English, to make it sound cooler. If you agree, he hands you a paper with this list neatly handwritten on it with prices. (Since he can only bring small quantities, he also accepts orders to be delivered to you at a later point. Usually, about a third of those items are sold out at any given fair day.) The items themselves are kept under the table, outside of view, and he gives them to you already packed away so that no one will know you're walking around the craft fair with a bunch of bombs.]

II. WILDCARD

[Akira's around for filling ema wishes with what time he doesn't use working at the cafe or crafting shit. He also does quite a lot of combing the dungeons and town for materials if you want to do stuff inside a dungeon. ...As the weeks wear on, he starts to look more tired, but he charges ahead anyway.]

I

[overstrain]

[ Sprinkling English into Japanese kinda makes Terry laugh a little, since his main language is English. He has winter gloves on, though his left hand has two finger slots of the gloves that seem to just flop as if there's nothing there. He's also being followed by a flock of crows on the 6th, but they're mostly huddled away in his jacket and one that perches on his head and two more on each shoulder. ]

Is there a limit on how many I can buy? These look really useful...

[astralchain]

12/3 lockdown
[ Man, it's so hecking cold.

The Ark had always borne milder weather from its location floating in the Pacific Ocean, and as a result winter wasn't as harsh as it could have been. His police uniform is insulating, but not quite enough to keep the cold out entirely. Yamato leaves the ruined castle at a brisk walk, his baton in one hand just to be safe. He's sure he's elsewhere, given that his radio is cut off, but being unable to call his Legion makes him feel vulnerable. The core is still mounted to his Legatus unit, but it doesn't move. Chimeras can't die, so perhaps it's only sleeping. Still, having only silence on the other end makes him uneasy.

There are buildings in the distance, but most of them are dark. There's a movement in one of the streets - a human shape, walking. He approaches carefully, just in case it's a chimera; but that looks like an ordinary human. ]

Hello? Is someone there?

[ No harm trying, right? ]


12/4 onwards
[ Yamato is tenacious most of all, and he copes with being somewhere he doesn't want to be by trying to get busy. His police ID doesn't do anything in this strange place, so he can't exactly reprise his old job... but he could make himself useful. He's always helped out whenever there hadn't been any immediate cases to chase, so he's picked a few small jobs that he could try and handle. Whether it's shoveling snow, sweeping floors, or helping people set up their stalls, he's not averse to getting his hands dirty.

Now that he's dressed in something more period-appropriate, he looks almost like one of the natives. Except for that almost-permanent frown and a luminous rubik's cube strapped to his wannabe Yugioh duel disk. Certainly a strange-looking accessory. If anything, Yamato isn't talkative, preferring to observe instead of taking the first step. Maybe he's just tired.

There is one thing that he would approach others for, though. Come Lockdown, he'll linger outside the Velvet Room door, or beside the entrance to the Hospital. If anyone else comes by, he'll wave and try to get their attention. ]

Hey... are you going in or no?

12/8

[reveilation]

[ Kido usually tries to get to the dungeons a few minutes before Lockdown since they only get the one hour, so she's surprised to see somebody standing there in front of the door already. ]

Oh. Uh...

[ Yes she was, but even without Yamato's police uniform, he still gives off the vibe of somebody warning people not to go into places they have no business being. That shouldn't apply to her, though, so she shakes off the feeling. ]

Yeah, I am. I was going to wait around to see if there's anybody else, but you'll do. Come with me.

[laconism]

i. craft market

[On various days throughout the month, typically from morning to early afternoon, Red will be running his half of his and Akira's table at the craft market. Sometimes Akira is there too, sometimes he isn't. Either way, if you're in the mood for some delicious and adorable baked goods, Red's table half is the place to go. His selection consists of:

- winter-themed sugar cookies
- chocolate chip holiday cookie fudge
- nice thicc Christmas pinwheel cookies (vanilla or peppermint flavor)
- ugly sweater gingerbread cookies
- gingerbread man cupcakes (cream cheese frosting; cake comes in vanilla, chocolate, or red velvet)
- festive malasadas; apparently no one has ever done this before, so the unfilled malasadas are decorated with beautiful snowflake frosting designs while the filled malasadas are made to look like little gift boxes, complete with frosting bows (fillings come in vanilla, chocolate, or coconut pudding)

Red keeps some of each item on his table for display, but the bulk of his stock is in air-tight containers under the table to ensure maximum freshness. His line is usually pretty long and while everything sells well, the ugly sweater cookies and malasadas seem to be especially popular among the townspeople, so better to get here early if you want to get your hands on those or have time to leisurely chat with Red.

Pikachu can also be seen in front of their table, utilizing the full extent of his adorable Charm to entice customers to check out their table (including Akira's half if it's open as well).]

ii. wildcard

[Red is also available to help fulfill ema wishes or shovel snow for the townspeople. Other things he's up to this month include daily training in the mountains, working as a butler at the maid cafe during some late afternoons-evenings, baking like a machine in the Black Cat House #2 kitchen at night with occasional help from Espeon and Charizard and sometimes even just deadass falling asleep on the kitchen floor while he waits for things to finish baking (which becomes more frequent later in the month), and dungeon runs.

On the 6th, Red and the Pokémon are completely MIA and Red won't answer any phone calls or text messages. Fortunately they return on the 7th, however Red just rests in his room for the entire day. Any other extenuating circumstances that come up during this disaster of a month will be made known on Plurk!]

i.

[yokeye]

[Most of Red's offerings look delicious, but Toki keeps staring over at the plate of pinwheels, seemingly entranced by them. During the first hour, he gets increasingly creeped out by the cookies. Until he can't stand it anymore.

The customer buying cat sweaters is ignored in the middle of a transaction, while Toki walks over to Red's table and points at the pinwheels with a shaky hand.]

I want to buy all of those!

[parhellia]

i. 12/12 - 12/15, daytime
[ Ala skips through town, humming tunelessly under her breath and marveling at how much white there is all over town, never having seen snow before in her own life but knowing that Kano had hated the stuff— and for such silly reasons, because it's so soft and fluffy and cold, but you can pack it down and it melts and refreezes into hard ice! It's like that mud festival but so much better, because everybody's playing now and they're having fun instead of getting mad, and every chance she gets, Ala loosely scoops a pile of snow up in her bare hands and tosses it at the backs of people's heads. Without Kano to cast his illusion and make her visible to everybody else in town, none of the townspeople can see her... It's a bit lonely, but still kind of funny seeing people turn around and freak out because there's nobody apparently standing right behind them.

Persona users are a different story. Persona users can see her, so Ala throws snowballs right at their faces. ]

ii. 12/12 - 12/13, nighttime
[ The Christmas lights on the trees are so pretty... She loves them a lot, the way they twinkle like strings of stars brought down from the sky so they can be closer to earth. She has fun just taking walks by the outskirts of town looking at the lights, or going to check out the castle where she, Kano, and Ellie used to live, to sit on the second floor and look up at the starry sky. But there's a full moon in the sky these few nights, and it makes her feel sick to her stomach. Literally sick and she hates it, rubbing the heel of her hand over her eyes but it doesn't help at all. It feels like she wants to throw up, or smash a glass bottle on somebody's face, and she doesn't want to do either of those things.

Deep breaths. All she has to do is take her mind off it. There's no host to lash out at if there's no host to begin with.

...No, it's too much. It's like pent up energy she can't shake off, so closer to midnight, she's making her way towards the school building to wait for it to transform into a dungeon. Maybe she'll light the little Shadow blobs on fire while she's outside, instead of actually going in, but she feels agitated the whole time and really hates full moons. ]

wc.
[ Ala used to be Kano's Persona, but he's stuck in the void and she developed her own ego so now she's her own Persona. A free Persona. Yeah. She'll be here and there playing around with people, but since she's a Persona, the townspeople cannot see her, and she's affected by the full moon. Give me 23409859 threads so I can have her regain megidolaon with her measly stats again. ]

ii, 12/12

[defragment]

[ Sometimes 45 likes going for a stroll on winter nights.

...

Not really, but she saw someone at the castle other than Jiro and goes to check out who that is. She ends up following her all the way to the school dungeon. A new Persona user? She's collecting info here and there when she's not holing up at the Velvet Room, so she's in the usual Attendant clothes and despite everything, Malphas is calm within her. When she spots her face, she wonders... ]

... Hey, where's shady kid?

[defragment]

i. 12/11-14: in town

[ A) Sometimes in town, you might have seen 45 working in one of the stores you visit to. Sometimes you might see her "twin". She has different hair and eye color and bustier than 45--which is good enough to set them apart despite how they look "identical" otherwise. They're not wearing Attendant clothes, but it becomes apparent that they're not the real 45 when they don't even acknowledge you when they're working. They gotta earn money, dude. Leave them alone.

B) Meanwhile, the real 45 is actually in the market street, performing "magic tricks" for fun. She has her assistant, Malphas and Mara, who are here to help fool the townspeople. She's getting hefty amount of tips in the hat next to her and performs magic tricks for a price with the townspeople. She's doing things like floating juggling, which Malphas seems to be really good at. Another one of her tricks make it look like a playing card goes right through her wrist! Wow. ]


wildcard

[ Wildcard me otherwise. She can still do ema wishes! Come be a wish granter with her. ]

wc.12/11

[compendiem]

[ Whenever 45 drops by, she's going to have to wake Minato up from where he's sleeping inside the conductor's cab. He's trying very hard not to be found asleep in the lounge all the time, but ends up just sleeping in the chair instead... it's a work in progress.

He'll make a portal to the school gates so it'll take them right out in front of the lake where the ema trees are, but he's also going to insist both Malphas and Mara get to come out and skate too. ]