recolle | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

EVENT

Reverted
The city of Recollé...have you looked beyond the city lately? It may be time to do so.

I.

The good news, perhaps, is that everyone is back in their original bodies. The last few weeks may have been trying and embarrassing for several of you, but never fear! You're all in this together.

The nice thing about returning to your original body is that everything else seems to disappear along with the unintentional swapping. Your dreams on the evening of the 16th and the 17th are unoccupied and you're blissfully alone. Hallucinations fade away and the city almost feels brighter and cleaner. The messy paint job from May and June slowly flakes off to reveal a sparkling almost-new landscape below. All buildings, landmarks, flora and fauna are back to their original colors. The sky, however, is still painted a strange wash of colors and symbols.

The other nice thing about returning to your original body is that it's much easier to feel the sudden, sharp pain on your palm at midnight on the 18th, a needling high-pressure pain that lasts for all of 30 seconds. Upon looking at your hand, however, you'll notice something new.

In bright red font there's a new marking that reads: 13 Days:23:59:59.

58. 57. 56...

The timer steadily counts down, each second synced with each beat of your heart. As the days pass by the timer will slowly shift from the red to a dark, ominous purple. The glow of the mark becomes harder to ignore, and there doesn't seem to be a way to remove it. Good luck with that.

II.

The Retrospec app doesn't seem to be much better. The scrambled messages and posting errors seem to have stopped and users are no longer receiving messages and pictures about themselves.

In fact, the app seems to be quiet for a while.

As users continue to use the app they will find that any post, comment or message that they send via the app will be tagged with a different ID. Instead of their name, all messages will be from Alpha##### or Beta#####. The string of numbers will be unique for each user and cannot be changed at any time. Individual mailboxes will be attached to your name, but the Alpha/Beta ID has made its way there, too.

Over the course of the rest of the month, Alphas (those who have had the app for at least a year from August 2017) will find that messages to other Alphas are sent more easily than to Betas (those who have had the app for less than a year from August 2017) and vice versa. Messages to anyone from the opposite "faction" may drop out half-way or appear blank entirely. It might be wise to find a better mode of communication in the meantime.

III.
Even if you're alone in your dreams, you're not alone in the waking world. No one is free from the timer on their palm, though they may come to find that it impacts some users more than others.

Some users will experience a steady pulsating in their hand as the timer counts backwards, each second ticking by. Standing still just long enough will send the pulse out of their hands and through the rest of their body, over their arms and through their feet straight into the ground.

The earth begins to shake under these unlucky users, little quakes and trembles that spread out and seek out anyone else nearby. Whether you know this person or not, whether you're alone or several of you are impacted by this earthquake, the ground beneath you splits open and you're pulled straight down into the crevice, falling aimlessly. Instead of finding your own life flashing before your eyes, you'll find yourself witnessing events, faces, and memories that are important to the user the pulses came from.

On the outside of things, the user will promptly collapse into a coma-like state no matter where they're at. Inside their mind, however, a scene begins to set itself to welcome you as you land. It isn't a memory and it isn't a hallucination. It's a construct of someone else's innerworkings that have trapped you and blocked you in.

As the haze around you dissipates, the puzzle you received earlier this month floats in front of you. Whether you have finished building it or not it is now fully completed and all of the words have faded except for "Gordian Knot."

Your cell phones will not work in these dreamscapes, and even Retrospec seems to be disconnected. It's up to you to venture further into someone else's mind and help them untangle whatever mystery is hidden within themselves.

IV.
So about that timer. As time begins to run out, more and more people begin to experience dream dives and encounter the knots of others that they must fix. Even inside the dreamscape, the timer glows just as brightly as it had out in the real world and it continues counting down.

At least it gives you a sense of time and just how many minutes, hours, or days you've been stuck inside someone's subconscious. You might even realize that the timer is directly tied to just how much time you have to unravel the knots of your friends, loved ones, and strangers.

Easy, right? Take caution, citizens. The monsters and demons lurking in the corners of someone else's psyche can manifest to something quite powerful. You will not wake up and be booted out of someone's dream if you are attacked, but your physical body and mind will shut down and remain unconscious for one week.

Be careful how you approach these knots, however! Should you change any part of them too much, the host will find themselves rejecting this new information. Too great of a change will result in the loss of an important memory to them and no way to recover it inside the dive.

Even with these possible losses divers are responsible for fixing what's gone wrong and relieving the knot wound tightly in the host's mind. Venture forward, explore, and break it apart to awaken then. You will be greatly rewarded for your effort.

Failure to break the knot and save the host from this comatose state will result in all parties suffering a loss. At first it may not be obvious, but over time it will be clear an important memory or item has left your possession.

Is it just limited to dives though? Some users will feel that even with successful diving they don't quite feel like themselves. It seems as though there's some further self-evaluation they must meet in order to fully recover who they are...or were, as it may be.

Tick-tock, Retrospecters. Mind the time.

BONUS.
Ever since he moved in back in February, the lights have always been on in Zee's office and home at the top of the Towers. Office hours are whenever he feels like making them and he's usually reachable by phone, email, or app.

However, beginning on the 18th, messages to his inbox begin to go unanswered. Checking the inbox itself will reveal a change as well.

Delta#02018329 is no longer receiving messages.

On the 19th, the lights go off permanently. Beginning on the 20th, anyone who ventures to his office will find the building empty and locked, no sign of Zee at all. Reaching out to him receives a bounce-back error message.

Any previous correspondences with him will remain, though his name has been replaced with his Delta ID.

It's hard to say what's happened, but after some time, all users will finally receive a message from Delta#68422.

Stop him.

No other messages will be sent or received from this account.

Welcome to

recolle's August event, part 2!

As notated in the plotting post, the dreamdives are now live! Players are in charge of creating their own unique dive experiences for characters to explore and play through. These can be as harmless or as dangerous as you'd like. However, please be sure to let us know here if your character will be failing a dive and what memory/item they will be losing!

For Prompt II, characters IDs will be comprised of the following: The date your character first appeared on Retrospec (so in Zee's case, that was 02/01/18) and the last four digits of your character's IC inbox as found in the HTML (in Zee's case, 8329.) These IDs will be more relevant in September, but for ease of playing/making sure no one ICly overlaps please use these numbers!

Friendly reminder that if your character will be keeping their new AUs, please reply to this comment on the OOC plot post! As per Prompt IV, characters who are failing to recover their original AUs will begin to notice something is off and will not be able to accomplish what is needed to regain their original AUs. What this is is up to you!

As per the plotting post, threading out successful dream dives will earn you a free memory! Qualifying threads must be at least five comments from you and can be from you either hosting a dive or participating in one. Please note that failed dives will not be eligible for freebies.

Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here. Be sure to review the mods' question thread on the plotting post for important information as well!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ . . . ]

It really does look- [ . . . At a loss for a moment, she frowns and looks around again with her flashlight. Through the door, down the hall again, and then finally back at the kid. She tilts her head and then offers him her free hand - the prosthetic one. ]

Anyway, should you be here?

[He looks at her strangely when she asks the question]

I live here when mom is away. Cause I rather be here, then be near my dad.

[When he mentions his mom, it's said rather cutely with affection. However when he mentions his dad, his voice is hateful and angry. His tone suddenly shifts happily when he next speaks]

But sometimes I do get a lot of work done!

Come here!

[He takes her hand and tries to lead her through the door.

If she goes through, she can see the entire room, which has some crudely built bookshelves and the walls are patched up...if it is roughly within the boy's height.]

Edited 2018-08-27 06:59 (UTC)

[ How complicated.

But it's... huh. She does indeed step in the room, looking around all the more with the flashlight and a frown. ]

Oh, you really did patch this place up!

[He smiles and speaks brightly, and actually sounds audible without you leaning in, still quiet, but definitely audible]

Yep! I did a few other rooms too, but not as well as this one though. So many more freaking rooms to do though...

Yeah, this is a big place, isn't it?

[ But that said, she's going to reach out and brush a hand on the wall. Which might be a worry for tetanus, but. ]

[He sighs]

Yeah, but even if it's a dump...better my own dump then dad's castle. Sides, makes our place seem a lot better after being here, cause, I can't really imagine a place much worse then here.

[If you brush your hand where his patch work is, then its bumpy, and clearly needs improvement.

Other parts of the wall where there are holes are very rough and if you were to press on it, doesn't crumble unless you were to apply your weight against an edge where it would be falling apart.]

[ It's too big. Like are they poor or not? Are they squatting or something? Either way, she mostly is very, very gently running her fingertips over the wall and...

Mmm ]

Where... is here?

[The child blushes, as if it was embarrassing to talk about]

Between my mom and dad...

My dad has soo much, but we can't live there.

We have so little, but as long as we have each other its okay...

So here is the middle, having lots of nothing that we can't live in.

[He runs his hand over his patch work and he sighs sadly]

But...maybe...maybe if I work hard enough, steal enough...maybe we can have a happy home here...

This is all probably my fault anyway...so...so trying is the least I can do...

[His eyes water up, as if remembering sad memories]

[ So it's... like. Some sort of compromise between the two. She hums a little, her red eyes looking around the area and then finally ... ]

- No I- [ Mmm ] Why don't you show me around some more?

[He smiles softly and takes your hand and walks you out the hallway and leads you down a hallway]

I like this next one...

[He opens a door, however instead of going into a room, you walk strait in the middle of a park next to a lake with a fountain in it. The door disappears the second you walk through it.

Oddly enough, there are no other people here, even though there are benches that are intended to be sat on. Only if you listen very carefully, can you hear foot steps and the occasional honking of a car horn. Otherwise you just hear the fountain and birds chirping(no bird in sight however)

The only things you appear to share this space with at the moment, are floating wallets that appear to move around for a stroll]

[ To be honest, she doesn't want to lose control of her good hand doing this? So he gets to hold her prosthetic left hand. Which might be a little weird but... she does want to flashlight. That said, as they continue to move here...

It really is strange.

There's wallets? Bird sounds? And in here... she blinks a little and, ]

Oh, do you remember this?

Yep! It's my favorite park back in L.A. I can't go there anymore though.

OH! LOOK THERE!

[He points to an empty field of grass, however a few seconds later you can see a almost ghostly dark haired woman holding her child(who looks like the one beside you) lovingly with a smile. When the woman speaks it is full of affection and happiness.]

"Al, my little worry bug. What AM I going to do with you?"

[This picturesque moment with the both of them laughing in sheer joy, stays still for several moments, before dissolving into the wind. Blow anyway like they were made out of leaves]

Edited 2018-08-30 14:30 (UTC)

[ It is a scene out of a pleasant memory. Honestly, given how these last two months have gone, perhaps even literally a pleasant memory. She frowns a bit, but then puts a smile back on her face and heads on over towards the woman right until is vanishes.

... Huh ]

You liked LA a lot, huh?

[The child keeps looking where the scene was, his hand reached out toward it. As if hoping it would come back

Instead, several ghostly images of the child appear all over the place, stealing money left and right.

He sighs longingly, not paying the ghostly images of himself another thought. A few of them, circle around you and look at you carefully, then leave you alone.]

Yeah, I loved these parks. Sometimes they were the only thing keeping me sane.

Recollé has parks too. Actually, we have that whole big forest, right?

[ But it's a lame excuse and she knows it. She reaches down with her left (prosthetic) hand and offers it for the kid to hold, if he wants. ]

[He looks up at you and happily takes your hand]

There is a big forest? Can you see the stars there?

[The sky darkens, the child notices and looks frantic, he runs for the door, dragging you along. But the door closes just as he gets in front of it]

NO NO NO! He's not supposed to be here!

Edited 2018-09-01 18:41 (UTC)

[ "He?" -- his father, probably? Her red eyes narrow, her response about the stars cut off as she picks up the pace to get in step with him. The sky is darkened, and the door-

Traps them in here.

Huh. ]

[Lighting strikes the ground and the dark clouds seem to create the image of an older man wearing a suit with icy cold blue eyes. Unlike the child, his voice booms loudly.]

Your MY SON! That whore gave you NOTHING! Now, stop pretending to be so fucking innocent and show your friend your true form.

[The child starts crying hard and clings to you, his voice returns to the barley quiet variety you initially heard when you first met him]

That's....That's not who I want to be...

[The winds howls, and the child holds on to you tighter. The space around the man, turns into a vacuum, trying to suck the child in. You however are feeling some of it's effects.]

DO IT you ungrateful brat! See if your so friend will even give a shit when she sees the monster you are! She doesn't even know your REAL name does she?

Edited 2018-09-10 02:02 (UTC)

[ Real name?

Monster...?

But for her part, Natalia actually shrinks a little bit back from the loud voice of the man. It unsettles her, really? But... Mmmr. She can't defend the young man but she can't not, so instead she takes a half-step forward. ]

[The child keeps crying harder, then speaks a bit louder]

She doesn't need to know! I'm not the son you want! leave me alone!

Let's ask her then...

[The winds suddenly stop after the ground forces both of you closer to him; the boy right at his feet, being pulled up by his hair. You are a few paces away from him now. The mans voice is still loud, but it somehow becomes, a bit charming and polite while addressing you]

Now then, young lady. I take it you don't know the name and destiny I so graciously bestowed him, before he ran away and CHANGED IT!

[The boy is struggling to get out of his grip]

Edited 2018-09-16 20:17 (UTC)

[ . . . Okay, no, that's. ]

Set him down first, please.

[ It's said with a smile, but her red eyes are getting harder. ]

[The man looks at the child for a moment who is still squirming for a few moments more before the child is dropped to the floor.

He tries to run to you before the man speaks like he is a dog]

Al...Stay...You know what I will do to her if you don't

[The child glares back with hate in his eyes, one his eyes turns into a shade of demonic red a chunk of his face turns pitch black for several seconds before he sits, taking a deep breath seems to restore his face back to normal]

[ Disgusting. ]

So! You were saying?

[ Might as well continue this dive. ]

[They both glare at each other for a while, before the dad speaks, condensendinly]

He isn't the cute little child he wants you to think of him as. He wears that disguise when he wants attention.

If he were honest, he would have to tell you to stay away.

He did kill his own mother after all

LIES! YOU DID!

[The child screams in rage the winds appear to furiously knock the man down and some trees nearby

His hands seem to look like knives, several red ghosts start to show up everywhere. Various cases of physical abuse, to either him or his mother.]

WE COULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY IF ONLY I KILLED YOU!

[ This is difficult. Painful. Clouded. It's something she doesn't fully understand the circumstances of but it's...

It's irritating.

That's what she realizes in this moment. It's not that she isn't empathetic - clearly, the boy had gone through something horrible, something that she had recognized and hugged him for before. Right now though, confronting this for the third time in so many meetings with this kid, there's an irritation which doesn't feel like her own while at the same time being fully her own. And so Natalia...

Takes her rapier in hand and wills dozens and dozens of swords of varying sizes to surround both the young and old man. An obvious threat, but more importantly, to show that she is in control of this situation now. She could kill either of them easily. And so she says, ]

Slow down, please! Let's hear this out coherently.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Cw: Physical child abuse

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject