NOVEMBER MINI-EVENT LOG

[recollecters]

MINI-EVENT

A Time To Be Thankful...? It's safe to say that the city is in holiday-mode and with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's right around the corner there's a buzz of excitement in the air. As the people of Recollé gather together to celebrate the last few months of 2017, it's a time to be thankful that this month may actually have some chill... I. October was a bit of a disaster, wasn't it? Rest easy, folks, November seems to be very calm and collected as the temperature continues to drop and warn of the oncoming winter. The trees are now mostly bare, the days are getting shorter, and the Towers have shifted over about 20 feet. Wait, what? That can't be right. It may not be noticeable at first, but over the course of the month residents will find that certain buildings have shifted around while others have completely disappeared. Some shops seem to have combined together into one and the roads accommodate to fit the space. This all occurs over the following timeline: • 4TH: Dance!!! Studio becomes "Dancinerate" and is now located on the opposite side of the district. • 6TH: Bookstores begin to disappear and merge. The Comic Corner and the Tachibana Bookstore combine to become "Comics Tachibana". • 8TH: Cabin Eleven, SOYOKAZE, Nihoncha, the Haibara Neurological Clinic, and the Cutting Edge all disappear. • 9TH: Enchanted Blossoms and Ophelia's Lament have notably been shifting locations closer and closer for the past week, and are side by side by the 9th. • 10TH: The flower shops become one shop: "Sweet Stems". • 15TH: Bakeries throughout the city have been getting closer together: notable offenders are the Black Lion Bakery, the Homura Bakery, and Tartine Treats. On the 13th, they all combine to form "Mad Batter", a mega-bakery. • 20TH: All the bookstores have merged into a giant bookstore, and "Comics Tachibana" changes to "Novel Idea". It looks pretty much like a building that ate every other bookstore, and has a wide selection because of it. • 23RD: Junkertown Pawn Shop, Odd Jobs Gin-Chan, Transcend:GAME, Yamazaki's Paris, and Fuji Industries, Ltd all disappear. • 25TH-26TH: The Recollé History Museum (the old closed one, not the open one!) disappears, and the Towers flip sides. • 27TH: The Trevelyan Clinic, Red Dragon Dojo, Chocobo Creek Country Club and Golf Course, and Munch and Crunch all disappear. • 29TH: The Cathedral of Saint Anthony, Home Healing and Such Consultation Office, JJ Styles, and Miller's Maxi-Finances all disappear. Where did these buildings go? It's hard to say, but perhaps they were not that important in the first place. The strange part, however, is that residents notice; all residents, including the NPCs. NPCs will take notice that buildings are missing or have combined together. Some of them may even commentate on it. But after a short period of time they too will forget and believe that this is how things have always been. Funny how they notice this but not the hordes of monsters from the last few months, isn't it? II. Some people might remember Joanne's warning message that some residual effects would take place as Retrospec works to maintain their systems. Some might also remember that Maurice mentioned a new mailbox would be built for residents to pick up their items should they wish. However, perhaps the thing that should have maybe been mentioned is the sudden lack of the Retrospec building. On November 3rd, residents will find that on the lot where the building used to be sits a large, blue futuristic square box. As promised by Maurice, this box allows residents to input their retrieval code and acquire or store items as necessary. The ground around the mailbox looks untouched and there are no signs of deconstruction or any hint as to where the building may have gone. Will you give this mailbox a whirl? Or are you one of those who enjoys tempting fate and willing to stick what doesn't belong through the mail slot? Careful if you do: for those who attempt any foul-play on the mailbox, they will find themselves suddenly engulfed in the mailbox and teleported to a random part of the city such as a store, the woods, or maybe even someone else's living room. Should multiple attempts occur, the failsafes get more and more annoying ranging from turning everything (including yourself) hot pink to being chased by paper airplanes made of cease and desist notices. As promised, none of these failsafes are harmful, but they do seem to be the work of a long-time intern who has been the victim of one too many pranks. Even if you ignore the mailbox though, it's hard to ignore the scent of sugary-sweet syrup and sizzling bacon. Looks like there's a brand new waffle house open for business just a few feet behind the mailbox. With its homey blue interior and waffles galore, Wiffle-Waffle is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week without any sign of Retrospec in sight. These folks are just honest working people making an honest living, and any loiterers who linger or poke around without buying a meal may be asked to leave. III. Those who have lived in Recollé for some time may be aware of the annual Thanksgiving Potluck hosted in Tribunal Terrace. In preparation for this big event, the Mayor always orders a large batch of frozen birds to be delivered and stored at city hall. Unfortunately this year the Mayor's order became a little jumbled and instead of 50 frozen turkeys 50 large, live birds will find themselves arriving on the front lawn of the Mayor's home. Despite his best efforts, the Mayor's unable to wrangle these birds before they scatter to all parts of the city and spread over into different districts. They seem most fond of busy areas in Tisse, campuses in Apprassage and residential areas and can be found chasing people, nesting on vehicles, wandering the grounds and more. They are territorial and somewhat aggressive creatures but have zero problem mingling among people. Strangely, even though these birds all appear to be male they seem to be laying eggs in their path. These golden eggs are large with smooth shells and with a top and a bottom that separates. Those brave enough to open these eggs may be rewarded! Several of these eggs have fun prizes such as blue clothing, toys, books, candy, and small knick-knacks. But that's not the case for everyone. Some of these eggs will also contain some nasty surprises such as dirty socks, bugs, clumps of mud or swamp water, shaving cream bombs and more. Beginning on November 3rd, the Mayor will put out a city-wide call to help collect these birds to bring back to city hall where a large pen sits on the front lawn. Those who help will also receive a small cash reward of $50 each. How hard can it be? IV. The holiday season is a busy time for travel, but most residents seem more content to stay within the confines of the city. Thankfully with cell phones, emails and programs such as Skype staying in touch with friends and loved ones is only a click away. Over the course of the month residents will find that the spotty reception they've always had has grown even worse. Static rings out over the line and long-distance calls stop going through. Emails bounce back despite numerous attempts, and don't even think about getting clear audio or video through Skype. No matter how hard one tries, by November 30th it will become incredibly clear that all phone calls, texts, emails and video chats to people outside of the city have been shut down. The internet will continue to function as normal (browse and share those cat videos to your heart's content) and inner-city communication functions just fine. You can try calling your service provider...but who knows if you'll get through? And last but not least in the world of inconveniences, in some instances your calls and emails may be rerouted to fellow Retrospec users. Sorry about that! BONUS. Who says you have to wait for Black Friday to get some killer deals? All around Tisse, stores, restaurants and vendors are slashing prices left and right to provide residents with the best deals around. All of the fixings for your Thanksgiving meal can be bundled together and bought at Freshens for a great price. Expressive is proud to present their newest flavor of the month, Cornucopia, which is a blend of maple, pecan, and a dash of nutmeg. But most impressive (or perhaps exasperatingly) of all is the discount on all items that are blue. Blue jeans are buy one get one, blue dishes are cheaper than yellow ones, blueberries are being pushed as the fruit of the season instead of cranberries...you name it, it's probably happening. Go ahead and take advantage while you can. It's never too early to start your holiday shopping. Welcome to recolle's November mini-event! As a special note, as of 11/3 9pm EST, the sky and the ocean are now viewed as blue again! In addition the color green has returned to all art supplies! This includes ink, markers, paints, etc. The locations page has been updated! You can read about the removed buildings here for further descriptions of what they used to be. The prompts are simply loose guidelines for you guys to play with and make up your own fun adventures for the entire month of November! You may also create your own logs or inbox threads based on these prompts. Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here.

Comments

[compendiem]

I've heard about aquatic dinosaurs and minotaur mazes, but nothing... coherent.

[ Is that the right word? Nothing that makes sense, but also nothing that really ties everybody's experiences together into one single cause or situation. ]

[parodeity]

Hm, I think those were other teams? But uh, it seems like "unreality" is a grab bag of crazy.

[ he comes to a stop at g. mahoney's grave, pointing. ]

Supposedly the grave of one of our illustrious founders?

[compendiem]

[ He hadn't expected Dave to specifically know one of the graves, but he kneels down in front of it either way, removing one of the flowers from his bouquet and placing it in front of the tombstone.

Shifting the flowers to the crook of his arm, that leaves his hands free to clap together twice, bring his forehead down to touch the his hand in a bow and a silent prayer, and straightens back up to get to his feet. ]

Recollé's... really big. Or it feels that way, a bit overwhelming. Would've though the city is much, much older than this, if he was a founder.

[parodeity]

Her. The name's Georgia Mahoney...though none of us remembered it until the end of August. Just another one of those damn weird quirks of living in Recollé?

[ dave crosses his arms, shaking his head. ]

It's, like. Even though our ability to notice things is supposedly better than people without the application's are, we still suck?

[compendiem]

Her. [ None of them remembering is a weird way to put it, he thinks. It'd be excusable if Dave had said that none of them knew before, like how Minato didn't, but to forget and remember something like that... He heaves a little sigh, crouching back down in front of the grave so he doesn't start tapping his feet in agitation. ]

Don't know about sucking. Names are hard sometimes. Colors aren't typically noticed unless someone points them out. ...I sound like I'm making excuses.

[parodeity]

Sometimes people need to make excuses. But like...the thing was, we didn't question it? We knew there were four Founders, everyone knew that, and not one of us ever went "hey. what were their names again?" until we remembered and went oh yeah. It makes it hard to trust your own mind, you know?

[compendiem]

[ It's a terrifying thought, not being able to trust one's own mind. The very first night he'd gotten access to Retrospec and its subsequent bombardment of unsolicited advice from everybody who's experienced it before, Minato's had many conversations about whether it all was a product of one's mind, what exactly are memories, how much thought and perception shape one's existence. It's a difficult topic, and Minato ducks his head, rubbing at the back of his neck, not sure he wants to delve into that. ]

Do you trust your own mind? As of right now. All things considered.

[parodeity]

[ GOOD QUESTION. dave...shrugs. ]

I trust that I'm real.

[compendiem]

Do you think I'm real? Or just a figment of your imagination?

[parodeity]

I think you're real. Figments are way more malleable.

[compendiem]

Malleable how?

[ He rocks back on his heels as if Dave would reach forward and pull on his cheek, but he probably... wouldn't... right... because Minato would fall over backwards if so. ]

[parodeity]

[ no that is a thing hinata would do, dude ]

Like...they forget, or they remember, way differently and more erratically. They react wrong.

[compendiem]

[ React wrong, huh? That sort of explanation doesn't assuage his worries as much as it should. He's always been told that he's reacting wrong— not reacting enough. With people he's just met, telling him he's too calm that it's sort of creepy. And that's just reacting; with forgetting and remembering, he doesn't trust himself with those either.

It takes him a moment to realize he'd fallen quiet, and he gets up and wanders over to the next grave instead of stalling here; they have a lot of flowers to pass out. ]

...Remember when we first talked? I don't. It's been too long. But I had those thought then too, that people I'm talking to might not be entirely real. Meeting those people for the first time now... it's weird.

[parodeity]

[ dave could have explained it better, maybe, but he doesn't correct himself because he doesn't know minato's worries. (he has the same worries about reacting the right way to other people). ]

...Yeah. Meeting people offline for the first time ever is. Like, how people type and how they talk, or their expressions...there's all these little considerations you never had to pay attention to, and a lack of some of the ones you did have to pay attention to?

[compendiem]

[ Minato would like to think he's pretty much the same online and off it, but he gets that too— it's easier online, with smilies and exclamation marks to hide behind when he hardly ever smiles or raises his voice from the other side of the screen. Dave too seems very similar to him, which makes it a relief because it meant not having to relearn his personality all over again.

Again, thoughts that stay inside his head, until we get another thought bubble event or otherwise telepathic communication. ]

Are there considerations you don't have to worry about anymore? ...Probably me going AFK in the middle of a sentence. Just assume I've fallen asleep.

[parodeity]

Well, you can still do that in real life. I'd just get to see you fall asleep instead of needin' to assume?

[compendiem]

[ He could, but it'd be rude. ...Holding onto that thought, though, he thinks it might not be a terrible thing. ]

Yeah, it'd be helpful for both of us. I get some shut-eye, and you don't have to wait around for me wondering what's up. I'd just have faceplanted in the middle of the graveyard. Leave me there if I do that.

[parodeity]

You sure? There were like, monsters in this area in August.

[ COULD BE DANGEROUS ]

[compendiem]

[ ...He did hear about that, back in August. The same in October, with the fog. Both these thoughts make him glance around the area, gravestones peppering the plot of land; the last time he stood in one like this, he felt safe, and didn't want to leave. ]

Think they'd go away if I played dead?

[parodeity]

Having never played dead for ghosts before, I can't really say - but we don't need to find out. Let's just keep the tour short and interesting enough you don't fall asleep on me?

[compendiem]

[ Short is good, and interesting... sometimes he falls asleep despite that, but Minato nods, dropping flowers on the graves they pass as if sowing seeds. ]

Alright. You promised a ghost story. I promised somebody else I would tell them your ghost story, so make it a good one.

[parodeity]

Oh, right. [ ...time to make shit up. ] So, as you know, this is the graveyard. Super spooky. Well, sometimes there are tests of courage here, you know?

[compendiem]

[ Minato shakes his head, but tests of courage in general he's familiar with from what he's done in middle and high school. But those were inside the schools themselves instead of outside, so they were sort of... eh. ]

Just hanging out in the graveyard all night? Doesn't seem too scary. It's nice and quiet.

[ Preferable, actually, to the busy city streets in the daytime. ]

[parodeity]

It is nice and quiet. In fact, that's what we've all always thought. For a long time...although the first time, it wasn't quite that. Or rather, it was, and that was teh entire problem.

[compendiem]

No way any place can be too quiet...

[ Nice is another problem. Too nice is very real. It's suspicious. ]