Headphones

Word Syndrome

[reserved]

Word Syndrome [fantasy, mystery, modern, detective(?)]

Alright everyone, I'm back =3 I'm still a bit sick, but it's high time we get rolling. I did say we'll be starting by the end of this month, didn't I?
I've already created a thread in the Advanced section with an IC post and, albeit it's not my best work yet, it's full of meanings, which certainly serve as indirect spoilers. Keep an eye out for these, since I love symbolism X3

post

The people that can currently post are Alida and Redwing. You can begin with the start of your day in the city and I'll later make a post to get you on the track. Spark, I'm still waiting for that Personality.

Word Syndrome

music

“Hey, do you know? Why does the rain hush in autumn?”

It was a cool day in the midst of autumn, when the trees were dressed in their lovely seasonal gowns of red, yellow, brown and all the colours in between, when the sun had hidden under a thin cover of clouds, like a child frightened by the cold, and the sky was a gentle light gray. From the eaves and edges high above the mortal heads to the muddy filthy ground below their feet, the raindrops made little sound, for they could barely be seen on a colourful background. Ofttimes, however, they made a loud tap, tap, tap when hitting the surface of an air conditioner, stray notes in the orchestra of serenity, but the impact they made with the green umbrella was a sound so soft that it somehow deafened the holder to the mistakes the musicians made.
Underneath, in the small patch of moving dry space, was a man in a dark brown coat, whose short black hair slightly stuck out, most likely due to the humidity. In a steady pace he waltzed between the many puddles on the cracked pavement, as vehicles roared past him, creating waves or splashes on their way, which were, thankfully, small and not required to be avoided. By the sidewalk, on a lower level, a natural canal had formed, through which water flowed steadily, just like a river, washing away the city’s filth. It was not rare to spot a leaf drifting slowly as it followed the current. Having fallen from its graceful tops and now stained in dark hues, it was no longer worthy of remaining on the surface and would soon plummet from between the iron gates down into the chasm of darkness where all the sewage resides.
The rain was persistent to continue its play, yet remained ever so light and he continued his path. Between the tall skyscrapers with multi-layered windows, through the narrow streets where the mist would linger, by a purple entrance sided by graffiti, past a red building with a sweet smell, there was barely a soul to be seen. Many had retreated into the confines of their homes or workplaces, where they hussled and bustled through their daily routine or snuggled under a blanket with a warm cup in their hands. The unfortunate ones, however, had to struggle to find shelter, for those who had not a place to call home would rarely be welcomed into a new one. The world was the same as always. During the day the moon is there, simply hidden by the light. At the night’s darkest hour it shines with the sun’s light. Two entities, as opposite as they can be, holding hands for all eternity. Such was the rule not only in the sky, but also on the ground, in the water, within life itself. And thus, with this in mind, the parade of life continued on this cold autumn day.

“Maybe it wants to be heard? Or perhaps to be left alone?”

A bird abruptly flapped its wings and flew off in the rain, the cracking of the motion quickly fading in the distance. The veil of many gray shades steadily floated above. It was as if one was observing a ship at sea, the point of view being from below the waves. There was no thunder, nor lightning, nor any harsh wind grueling about, making the trees shiver and bend. Only a gentle breeze would pass occasionally, bringing that chilly, yet not unpleasant, essence of this time of year.
From one leaf to another the raindrops playfully skipped in the trees by the tracks. As the man went through an underpass in the bridge, a train rushed above at a speed slower than the norm, due to the weather. There he held to a stop to pet a white-eared black cat, which purred in delight and rubbed its head against his hand. Seeing as he had found a place to rest and a friend to keep him company, he decided to stay a bit, perhaps have a chat. Earphones plugged into the phone, he placed one in and lent an ear to what the radio had to say.

“On our broadcast today, unease rises, the leader of Iraq assures the country’s government is not siding with ISIS.”

“The new album’s coming out next month, so be on the lookout! Her manager says the limited edition was her idea, not his, but fans shouldn’t be worried, because the songs will be released again later this year. But who doesn’t want that cover?!”

“No ferries on the Kumobloha river until the end of the month, sadly. The general cleaning period is shorter than last year’s, but is that due to there being less rubbish or from having a tight pocket, we can only guess.”

“-of civilian uprising in Crossroad district. Who killed the pregnant wo-”

“-brings joy to the workers at the wildlife foundation. Tigers are still not out of danger, however due to poa- ”

“-and they say it’s horrible. “Ukraine has no intention of being Russia’s plaything.” says Turchinov, but will this result in an increase in clashes or will the two sides hear each other out?”

“The Cloud Giraffe might have a delay in construction due to the weather. The residents of Famoso are nonetheless happy about the project not being canceled. Local restaurateurs believe it will bring in more customers, since there’s nothing better than a delicious meal after a bungee jump.”

“-worried about the number of stray dogs in the area. There have been no reports on attacks,
but many about their rise in number, despite the area being marked as spayed. Mothers are af-”

“The concert will be on the second of November. There are barely any tickets left! Fans are ra-”

“Fifth day into the Libra-Scorpio, girls and guys! Watch out, because those two are on a role~”

“ “Scotland may have lost the battle, but not the war.” say scottish activists in Huntinghill area.”

“-concludes gay marriage is still on the debate table of Oblak City. Those were the news
on 23rd October from me, Annie Williams.”

With the press of the button the radio was turned off and the phone was placed away, back into the confines of the coat’s inside pocket. With the sigh the man turned to look at the cat, which look at him with curiosity with its big yellow eyes.

“Everyone’s the same as always, huh.” he laughed, to which it let out a short meow. “You have it the best out of everyone...Well, I’ll be going. Take care.” he bid farewell to the cat, which answered all the same, and both parted ways.

The man with the green umbrella continued his stroll through the city as the rain came down just as before. Turning several times around corners, changing direction every now and then, maneuvering through any part of this town was like in a labyrinth, where one could easily lose their way. Yet he carried on without hesitation, seemingly knowing where he was going. The jungle of wires that was above his head gradually decreased and even vanished as the buildings around him began to change. From tall and shiny they became smaller, more compact, fit for residents with a steady income, but harboring almost the same amount of grafitti. The number of trees also increased and soon he found himself passing a school.
It was an honorable building of three storeys, a bit shabby with the lack of colour and some of the construction markers being visible, but was lively nonetheless. Glancing at the clock placed high on one of the building’s sides would prove that the time was half past six in the morning, which explained why the entrance had yet to become a cacophony. Inside, however, staff could be seen rushing left and right, some cleaning and others carrying various objects, all of them preparing for the start of classes at half past seven. What had caught the man’s eye was a strange figure on the rooftop. It was enough to make him stop and try to focus, but the rain and distance made it impossible to figure out who or what was there. Blinking once or twice did little but only make it vaguer and after less than a minute the peculiar shadow vanished. Although he gave it some thought, the man chose to move on from the sight.

“Maybe it wants to hear something clearly? Or rather to not hear at all?”

From the school down Avgustinski road were numerous little shops with signs of all shapes and sizes. Flashing in and out, ofttimes with a burnt or defective light in some places, they advertised various things, such as hair salons, small markets, drug stores and the like. All of them were notably less in number and flare compared to those of the place he had come from, but their purpose was the same and, even if they were inferior, they would carry out their duty until the very last light went out. On this rainy autumn day one would think that such public places would be nearly empty. On the contrary, many had chosen to take refuge there, namely because they were caught off guard by the shower. These individuals were, for the most part, women out to buy ingredients for their families’ breakfast and little birds that found cracks in the rooftops. The swift cheerful swallows and clever sneaky cuckoos had already flown away to their winter residences in Africa and only the small chirping sparrows and cranky smart crows remained to grace the skies. It was an uncommon, but possible occurrence in some parks and village-like districts on the outskirts of town, to hear the call of a dove, which, unlike its pigeon brethren, hummed with a long and calming voice. Chased away by those same siblings, it seldom appears in crowded areas.

“It should be something important, if it does it every time, right?”

Further off, left through Marta lane, by the playground where water droplets rolled down the slide like children and a bucket remained forgotten in the sandbox, a turn to Natsuoka avenue, past the ramen shop, around the gas station, between the buildings where lives were silently sighing, he walked on the road that got narrower and narrower, until he finally held to a stop on Stargazer one way. The rain had also almost ceased. There was not a passer by. The gray canvas was breaking apart, revealing the hues of the morning. Crouching down, the man picked up a black black book, which was being carried by the small river that had formed by the road. Standing back up again, a light warm smile appeared on his lips. He turned around and spoke.

---

“Will you hear them, the words of the hushing autumn rain?”

---

|| 07:00 AM || 23rd October || 20XX

Word Syndrome

Original idea by Headphones

The Site

One day, in the outer layers of the spiritual vicinity of planet Earth, an irregularity was detected. It could not be classified as outworldly, nor as local upon being discovered and the trajectory which it used would change sharply at different intervals of time, even disappearing for one moment, only to reappear a few seconds after. This unknown entity traveled across the globe, yet never made impact with the ground and, due to the characteristic of being of the spiritual kind and not leaving the upper layers, it cloud not be noticed by normal people. Only special divisions researching the supernatural under a religious organization or government noted its existence, but could not gather data quickly enough in order to act. This bizarre strand of energy spent approximately twenty-four minutes circling in several upper levels before halting in place high above mount Everest and shattering into an unknown number of pieces, which could not be found by search parties later sent there.
Nothing of the sort occurred again, no mutations followed this one occurrence and no shifting in the spiritual segments was recorded. Such were the results of the investigation. There was no evidence of the event, other than what detectors of the organizations saved. Due to there being no damage, nor visible effects, the researchers agreed to simply monitor the area strictly and report any changes in their areas that do not have a definite cause in the international supernatural alert forums.
Over the course of seven years nothing that could be connected to the mysterious phenomenon appeared.



That was the finale of the message of a YouTube video posted by two young people, which was shared by them to the accounts of government agencies and the like of multiple countries around the world. The video featured the duo, a girl and a boy wearing a white fox mask and a black fox mask respectively, stating in a casual manner that they would blow up the building of the number one bank in Elpa City twenty four hours from the release of the video, as well as a one minute silence for the deaths of the CEO and CFO of the said bank, whom they intended to murder.
The footage was taken as a badly thought out, yet laughable joke by those who watched it. Dismissing it as a children's prank not only because of its informal, even friendly, atmosphere, but also due to the fact that the youngsters assure that they are not part of a terrorist, religious or any kind of organization, everyone continued on with their daily lives.

Until, of course, the promised hour came and the bank blew up from the inside.

Elpa City cases

Windows cracked, furniture flew and a fire roasted most of the people inside, who hadn't died from the collapsing structures. It was right before opening time, when the majority of staff were present. There were barely any survivors. Among the dead was the CEO and four share holders. The public was thrown into a state of panic, mourning for the lost and asking for an explanation whilst choked by their own tears. There was no logical explanation for the incident. Remaining security cameras showed there had been no one unauthorized or suspicious in the building that day, nor any time prior. None of the remaining few that had got away with their lives or those who had been absent from work remembered anything or anyone strange. There were no remains of a bomb or at least none could be found. The fire had been so intense that it had rendered everything to ashes, explaining why some people couldn't be found. The only certain facts the investigators knew was that the heart of whatever happened had been on the sixth floor and that the main suspects were the two mysterious people from the YouTube video.

The theories of some were confirmed when three days later the duo made another announcement using the same method. They admitted being guilty of the bank disaster, yet insisted that whoever had to got what they deserved.
In addition they declared that the next two targets would be one of the Ekans Inc. branches and Gedir Bank, both of which were located in the same miktiopolis, Elpa, but those that would follow would not be so easy to predict. At the end of the video they introduced themselves in a new incomprehensible fashion - as the owners of Death's and the Moon's notebooks.

In the following week, Ekans Inc.'s branch in Elpa City suffered a massive toilet explosion and pipe bursting, which killed several people. The CFO of the bank that had been the first victim of the group of two died of food poisoning and the Gedir Bank building in Elpa City had a gas leak and fire, which took the lives of many.
Investigators from all over the world gave their opinions on the case, yet they were only that - opinions. The perpetrators could not be identified in any way possible. Their faces were hidden by the masks and their hands were covered by gloves. Their voices had evidently been changed, yet even after hours of filtering both them and the background for sounds, nothing could be found. The videos were filmed on different backgrounds, both of which were completely blank colours. There was not a single clue to hint at their identities or at their location for that manner.
The YouTube account had been made with an old computer in an abandoned apartment and it had also been used for the uploading of the first video. There were no personal files on the computer, but the desktop wallpaper read "Good Job! =D".
The apartment remained under monitoring 24/7, yet they never returned to the seen. Apparently the second time around misleading software, such as Tor, had been used in a way that even the hired hackers couldn't figure out. From that point onwards, the suspects continued using such back-doors and could not be tracked. The only time they truly surfaced, however, was when a new video was to be posted on YouTube. Other social media accounts were proven fake. Their targets were always only businesses in the area of the miktiopolis Elpa and, although numerous countries were responsible for the maintenance of peace, only half them sent their specialists to help those already at the city. Due the mystery surrounding the duo's actions and their usage of riddles after their "Gedir Bank leak", organizations not under any government began to move. Despite their efforts, nothing could be found once again and it was agreed that only one would remain and set up base at Elpa City for documentation and research purposes. That was C.A.T., a group of illusive people, who aided the official investigators as much as they could or as much as they wished to.

After the "Gedir Bank leak" a total of nineteen other sudden cases followed, the culprits of which were always the two "notebook owners", known as Mor and Luna. They had introduces themselves as such from the very beginning, yet those were evidently mere code names. Rarely did they respond to comments, but twice complained on how they were being labeled as terrorists. In their opinion, they were restoring the natural balance by doing what they wished, because those, who had died, had done the same rather unjustly. Their targets were other bank branches, counting houses, law offices, even specific individuals such as actors and simple businessmen. None of them had any solid connections between each other, some even seemed random. The public's general opinion of the couple was negative, until the waters slightly shifted when they killed the president of a traveling agency, who had been known for fraud and theft for years, but had never been caught. Many of their targets had plenty of hidden or open gossip circling around them. Some citizens were even relieved that the trash was getting thrown out.
However, murder was murder and it could not be forgiven.

Three months after their arrival, Mor and Luna announced in their twenty second video that the "Goukoku veil" would be their last present to Elpa City. It was time to move on and lift the curtain on another stage.

Word Syndrome [fantasy, mystery, modern, detective(?)]

Guys, I'm really sorry for not showing up for the last few days. My absence is not without an explanation, though.

During the weekdays last week my schedule was completely occupied by school assignments and duties. On Friday night me and my parents headed off for my grandma's house, a place where there is no chance for Internet connection to exist. We stay for the night, but in the afternoon on Saturday I get told that we'll be staying one more day. Thus my Sunday passed. On Monday morning we come back home, but I had arranged to have a friend over at noon so we could study Biology together. That means making my room spotless before they arrive. We were supposed to study for a few hours before they head out for their driving course. However, when my friend comes over we only chat for a couple of minutes before my stomach and throat start hurting and I start burning up. I go lie down on the bed and don't leave it for a long time. My friend leaves in the afternoon, but I keep getting worse. The reasons for this? My grandma's cooking + a piece of bread from bread that got moldy the next day + a virus. The results? Food particles and liquids leaving my body from all exits possible. My entire digestive track got emptied by nighttime. I went to bed early, but couldn't sleep at all because I kept twisting and turning, since my bones hurt, and I had to get up and drink water because I got dehydrated.
Currently I'm writing on my phone while lying down with a cold and my body having a temperature of 38 ℃. It's hard to swallow anything, except water. I barely had two spoons of breakfast and a pill for the cold.

One word: LIFE.

So don't worry, Dove. Considering how I can barely have any thought process right now, you have plenty of time =3

Word Syndrome [fantasy, mystery, modern, detective(?)]

Don't worry, Vulpes. I myself have to apologies for not writing once for the past few days. Ever since I started school my free time has been eaten up by studying, eating, sleeping and worrying. Being a last year's no easy task x_x In the next week or so I will also have exams, so don't expect much from me. I was personally hoping to start this up on Sunday, but maybe we will be a bit late. I definitely intend to get this going by the end of the month, though. Ah, my whole body's aching! I'll get to work on reading your submitted sheet and the edited ones right now! =3

In other news, how are you all? Have you heard this song? It's a bit creepy XD

Word Syndrome [fantasy, mystery, modern, detective(?)]

The deportations the Soviet Union carried out were before the miktiopolis project came to be, thus they would have happened as they did in our history.

Crimea did become an independent country, the Republic of Crimea, and then joined the Russian federation.
It began with president Viktor Yanukovich signing an agreement for the initiation of a miktiopolis project city on the Crimean peninsula. It was meant to create better ties with the EU and attract more funding that would stabilize the country. However, the president made a last minute decision that the city would not be located on the peninsula, but by the Dnepr river in Poltavska region. This triggered a protest by the people of Crimea, who were dissatisfied with this decision. The country had not payed much mind to the peninsula and the eastern areas for years, barely giving them any funding to fix their roads and develop any form of business. To calm down the crowds the president assured that they should not worry, because the second shareholder of the miktiopolis would be Russia. This made the protesters go relatively quiet, because the vast majority of them were Russians, however, this triggered an even bigger wave of anti-Russian protests, which lead to an anti-Yanukovich protests that accused Yanukovich for turning his back on the EU and gazing towards Russia (which was in fact true). The protests continued for months and lead to Yanukovich fleeing his country and vanishing from the public's eye. Ukrane's new president, Aleskandr Turchynov, forbid any language, other than Ukrainian, to be considered an official language. No sign could be written in a language other than Ukrainian, people could not do any business in another language and children would only be taught one official language - Ukrainian, whilst everything else was foreign. This caused an uproar in Crimea, Odesa, Dunetsk and Lugansk, where the majority of the population was Russian and they wished to remain as such. After a protest that took down the local government, the people of Crimea organized a referendum, which deemed that the people wished for independence. Former military officers and those from the military forces in Crimea organized the resistance against the Ukrainian forces. The UN General Assembly declared that the referendum was valid, despite the USA stating that it was invalid. After becoming independent, the Republic of Crimea asked to join the Russian Federation and was accepted.

Word Syndrome [fantasy, mystery, modern, detective(?)]

Hey guys =3 I was going to write last night, but unfortunately my laptop decided "Nope, time for bed. Shutting off!" and I couldn't revive it at all. Thus excuse me for the late reply.

Just a small note that I wrote a few movements yesterday. I didn't like the sound of the Fool's first movement, thus I edited it. I'll try to make it to the Wheel of Fortune today and maybe a bit further. It really depends, because today is the start of the school year >_< Time to get out of the summer cocoon and fly through the plains of knowledge.
As for when the role-play itself will start, I believe it's safe to say that once Spark has finished their character's personality, Alida has edited her character's personality and Vulpes and Dove have finished their sheets, we will be able to start.

Vulpes, Dove, I hope you're not trying out for the Hermit or the Hanged Man. X3

Dove, if you ever need an anime picture, I'm here. I have a nice collection of pictures on my laptop and I've been told I have a knack for finding pictures for others. =3

Regarding your inquiry Vulpes, I personally dislike specifying the year of any story, due to the high risk of complications that may arise during the role-play itself.
You see, if we were to state that the story begins and unfolds in 2014, there will inevitably come a time when our characters are still in 2014, whilst we ourselves are in 2015. There is a good chance of problems arising, because we would like something to happen and that said something requires something from 2015, in order to exist.
That is why I prefer to introduce an "our time" element ( year 20XX ), a time that is simply the present, but we have not stated if it is ours or not.

When it comes to world history, no, the history of this world is not entirely the same as the history of our own. While major events, such as World War I and II, did occur, more resent events, namely approximately 20 years ago, did not, because of the initiation of the Miktiopolis project and other decisions that followed. Here are some examples:

1. Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico did not form. Women rights were accepted, though.
2. The Mexican peso crisis did not occur. This allowed Mexico to flourish, until it decided to make a miktiopolis on its territory. Wanting to be the top shareholder, a lot of money was poured into the project. This lead to many new jobs in the building industry, but also loss of jobs, low salaries and, eventually, poverty. This lead to the creation of MAM [ Mexicans Against Miktiopolis ], a national movement against the creation of the city. The protests were bloodless at first, but gradually grew violent and weapons got involved. This lead to other big shareholders, such as UK, Germany and India, to back off and even attempt to stop the Mexican project. The other two major shareholders, the USA and Russia, remained for, until Russia also took its leave and only the USA, Brazil and China were left on Mexico's side. Due to the great amount of foreign and local pressure, the Mexican government stopped their project. "La Estella" as it was called is not a semi-ghost town, with mostly the homeless and poor living there illegally. Many gangs have also taken residence there, seeing as there's barely any control in that area. All the money that was poured into the project was forever lost and Mexico in the role-play's present world is in a deep economic crisis.
3. The Siege of Sarajevo did not happen so bloodily. The Bosnian government managed to stop the Bosnian Serbs quickly and restored peace efficiently. It should be noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina managed to take a part of modern day western Serbia into their territory when they fought for independence.
4. There was no Second Chechen War. With the intention of building a miktiopolis nearby, the Russians had a better organization and aid from Germany, one of the future share holders. They crushed the revolts, but that doesn't mean that the people have taken in their failure well.
5. Muammar Gaddafi is still alive. He was not killed and is still ruling Libiya.
6. The death tole in Egypt was smaller during the Arab Spring. Yes, the Arab Spring did happen, but the casualties were less in Egypt and Yemen. Iraq, Libiya dn Siria are still a mess, though.

There are many events that happened, some of which will be revealed in the role-play. If there is a specific event you want to ask about, please post here =3

Word Syndrome [fantasy, mystery, modern, detective(?)]

Vulpes? Dove? How are the sheets going? I know you're trying your best, but give me some feedback X3

Word Syndrome [fantasy, mystery, modern, detective(?)]

And today I spent all my time playing Elsword... It was great XD I had been having error after error for the past month and couldn't fix it. Finally, today everything just got right. I am so pleased~

Vulpis, when it comes to a moped license, you have to be at least 16 years old. =3

I'm happy to have piqued your interest, Dove.