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[recollecters]

Greetings, Users. Our system may be experiencing some residual glitches from a recent network malfunction. Our technical team is working on getting these issues under control. Please direct any concerns in the meantime to the HR department at humanresources@retrospec.com. Our staff has furthermore noticed a significant increase in tags and trends for #aprilfools and #pranks. Keep on your toes and be certain to tag your best tricks for Retrospec™! Please feel free to use this post as a network mingle. Every toplevel can be considered a new post, and threadjacking is permitted. No NPC response will be given. Any emails sent to the HR department will be returned with a failure to send notification, and will furthermore automatically be posted to the Retrospec network. Oops? Characters who have been in game for one month will find they can now change their profile pictures. Glitches will be in effect until the 15th and may include: -Usernames changing to a cat, dog, or bird pun. -The Retrospec application being changed into a neon color + animal theme of some variety. -Notifications going off at random and being unable to be turned off. -Various "special effects" crossing the screens when people comment. -Users having to beat a level of pac-man to access the application, and then being made to beat a new level every hour to keep using the application. -Thomas the Tank Engine memes being sent to users every hour for some reason. -Profile pictures being replaced by pictures of rabbits and easter eggs. -New creepy pasta stories appearing upon log-in, to be forwarded to someone before the app can continue to be used -Parental lock and auto-correct on cursing (i.e. fuck -> duck) -A parade of pixel Chocobos or dancing fruit scrolling across the screen after each comment posted

Comments

[samuraisoul]

[That earns another laugh, though afterwards Jubei shakes his head a little; ah, yes. This is an age old problem for him.]

With great difficulty... except for those rare, lovely moments when a pet and owner just click upon first meeting.

[Reaching one of his favourites now, a shy, older girl he has previously dubbed Shiori, Jubei sighs a little (though his smile does not shift). There is little room in the tiny place he lives in, and besides that his landlord has forbidden pets; on his current wage a bigger place with more options is simply impossible. There's nothing to be done, though. He's not giving up this job for anything.]

I only wish I could rehome several of the darlings here.

[appraiser]

[ Like love at first sight, a magical moment Ryoji's only ever seen in books or movies, but he wants to believe it can happen to him too. He loves easily and quickly, soft smiles for all the animals here even if they nip at him or crowd around to put their backs between him and their food, loving them just as much as he does the sweetest cats here, with nonstop purring motors. ]

I have... this silly dream, actually. That won't be able to happen for many years, so I haven't told anybody yet. But someday, I'd like to run something like Old Dog Haven, or the Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary.

[samuraisoul]

That's not silly; I consider it a very kind dream.

[Perhaps it's the kind of thing Jubei should have thought of himself from the very beginning. Before getting involved in business, before making himself believe he could really make a difference on that scale; when he'd not known how naive he was.]

[Moving between the cats, latching onto a certain train of thought, Jubei turns his head briefly to look at his helper.]

You have a good heart, Ryoji.

[appraiser]

[ A good heart, a kind heart, Ryoji loves hearing that. Being told that his thoughts are in the right place. And so he beams, up at Jubei, and then down at the cage in front of him, extra tender as he coaxes a thin cat closer with flakes of fish. ]

...Thank you. I want to make it a reality, however silly my dreams are, because one may never come to be if everybody thinks that way.

[ The cat, enticed by the special treat of fish, starts eating, and Ryoji runs two fingers down the length of its back, thin enough to feel its spine, so that he stays here to make sure it finishes all of its food. ]

By the time I can make it happen, I'll be able to help make your dream a reality too and adopt all the older animals who might not otherwise find a home.