recolle | May Event Log

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May Event Log

EVENT

RISE AND SHINE
Spring is upon the city of Recollé now. The rainy season is starting to pass and the last of the winter chill has officially shaken off. The weather is perfectly spring-like with flowers blooming all over the city and the local wildlife rousing from their hiding places. People everywhere find themselves awakening to the sound of birds tweeting and the sun shining peacefully on them as they're drawn from the world of dreaming.

Too bad that's about where the peace ends today.

I.
It’s a leisurely morning when you first wake up. The sun’s rising and peeking in through the curtains of your room, birds are chirping happily, and you find yourself drowning in your sheets with the floor much, much further down than you recall.

Wait, what?

You don’t think that you’ve shrunken at all. After all, your clothing still fits perfectly fine. The trouble with it all is that all of your furniture has enlarged several times its usual size and the walls tower over you more than before. Getting ready for your day is going to be a challenge, but the outside world can’t be that bad, can it?

Think again. Buildings skyrocket dozens of stories higher than they originally were. The button for the crosswalk dangles over your head tauntingly. The tires for your school bus are coming dangerously close as you try to cross the street. Be careful out there!

Is there a safe path to avoid further incidents? As the days go on, citizens will find that if they look down a series of lit-up circles appear under their feet. Stepping on one will cause the Retrospec app to open, and a song will begin to play. How long will this go on? Unfortunately, Retrospec seems to be working just fine and will autoloop until your path of lights meets someone new. After all, isn't social media about bringing people together? Best get to exploring and seeing what’s out there…or, maybe, who’s out there.

II.
Speaking of exploring, it's much easier to see the wear and tear of the city at this size. With everything much larger you may notice that everything about your nice city isn't quite so nice. Cracks in the sidewalk present a hazard when walking everywhere and there are fractures in the buildings themselves. You may wish to avoid them entirely for your own safety.

But for the more curious residents (or anyone accidentally finding themselves falling into these cracks) a venture into these spaces will reveal something a little mysterious. Swirls of black float through space, occasionally punctuated by flashes of images and words. Presented almost like a movie, you may not be able to pinpoint what exactly you’re seeing but it seems to be calling your name to draw you further in. At first, the interior space in these cracks seems to expand and the images become clear. It’s…space? No. It’s stars, lots of stars and there’s a rumbling sound that seems to echo through the cracks along with voices becoming more persistent as they cry out for help. The swirls and mist become thicker with each step. Will you turn back? Or will you press on and risk getting lost in the echoes of voices you don't recognize and images you can't identify?

Those who turn back will find themselves on another path of light, resetting their device and urging them onwards to find someone new. Those who continue forward though and wish to seek the truth will find themselves assaulted either with a whirlwind of memories they’ve already obtained since they’ve received the Retrospec app or blacked out by the darkness as the mist becomes impenetrable.

How will you find your way back? It may be wise to work together on this one to retrace your steps.

III.
Despite the fact the city's experiencing some sizing issues, responsibilities are still important and these problems won't stop your boss from demanding you show up to work on time. Did you get lost on your way to school? What a bummer that this is the day your professors spring a pop quiz on you. The challenges of every day life are even more challenging and as per usual, many people don't even realize there's something wrong. Though your pencil may be taller than you are, you won't be allotted extra time to write things down. Even worse, navigating past shopping carts and down grocery aisles is nearly impossible, especially in larger, more crowded places like Freshens.

Outside isn't much better. Beginning on the fifth of May, clouds begin to loom overhead as the rainy season reminds citizens it's not over yet. All around you critters begin to jump into action to prepare for the inevitable storm. From this level of the ground it's easier to see ants hard at work hauling items 30 times their body weight. That caterpillar might be good for hitching a ride back home. Watch out for the furry four-legged beast running your way!

Speaking of beasts...well. Just because you're no longer your original size doesn't mean your furry and feathered friends won't be. Maybe you're lucky enough to have a companion you can hitch a ride with. Or maybe you aren't so lucky after all. Your pets may like you just fine, but other people's pets and even the insects will give in to their animal instincts, prone to chasing and sometimes outright attacking citizens (Retrospec users and non-Retrospec users alike.) Can you fight? Guess you'll have to find out.

Oh, and you better hurry...the rain that begins later in the afternoon is most unforgiving. At this size? It's quite easy to be swept away in a flood.

IV.
Do you hear that? Everything seems to be amplified now and with the rain pounding down around you for the next five days the echoes are even louder. This time, however, the words are much more distinguishable. Above the din of a hauntingly beautiful song, you may find yourself being coaxed to come out into the Apprassage Woods, whispered promises of your most sacred desire filling your ears. Perhaps it's irrational, like scoring well on college entrance exams. Perhaps it's something much bigger like seeing a loved one again long after their passing. Whatever it may be, the song is almost overpowering and tempting.

Along the way, bright, towering flowers serve as a guiding light deeper and deeper into the woods. The further you travel, the louder they echo those desires back at you, even louder than the song itself. Strangely, for those who have been gifted with a supernatural sense or the ability to see ghosts, you may find that there are figments flickering through the trees encouraging you onward. You want their help, don't you?

There are ways to break out of the song's trance, but it will take teamwork and effort to ground each other back to reality. It seems as though the rain itself may very well be the culprit. Will you seek to find shelter? Maybe you're lucky and happen to have a pair of ear plugs in your pocket. Do your best to guide each other home. The woods aren't very friendly after dark even with the fluorescent glow of the flowers.

BONUS.
The nice thing about being pint-sized is that it's much easier to go where you probably shouldn't. Should you find yourself back in Tisse and in front of the Retrospec building, you may notice it's much easier to slip under the cracks of the front door. Several of you may have been in this lobby before. Like usual, the lights are on. At this size, however, it's easier to hear the echoes of footsteps somewhere above you.

But don't worry about them. Being this size means that it's more possible now to enter some the previously locked rooms. Some rooms don't have enough space to crawl under, of course, but the two rooms that do will reveal something quite interesting. There isn't much in the way of furniture in these two rooms, but every inch of the walls and ceiling remains covered in maps. Not all of these maps are blank. Some of them appear to have small splashes of color varying in size and shape, like an incomplete picture. Some of them also appear to have images on them, such as a Chocobo, or an apple with a smileyface, or a strange die. Furthermore, after the fifth of May, citizens may notice one of the maps now has a picture of those strange glowing flowers from the woods.

Should anyone be ambitious enough to count in these two rooms (though really, that will certainly take time), they will come to find that there are roughly 110 maps in all. And with a little digging, they can explore and attempt to open drawers and closets in these rooms. Together, they will discover there are an additional 30 maps, including one with a picture of a strange-looking doll.

So you want to learn more about these maps, huh? For anyone who tries to draw or write on the maps, they will find that whatever they deface the maps with stays there! However, the moment you exit the room anything you drew on the map will appear on any surface of your skin that's available. Tearing the maps doesn't seem to work either. The maps can only be removed from the wall in one whole piece.

If one were to take a map from the rooms, they would only be able to get to the doorway before it dissolves into ash and creates a miniature dust storm for everyone nearby. Strangely, the map will reappear on the wall and the cycle will repeat itself for days on end.

The maps really, really don't like being touched.

What does this all mean? What a great question.

Welcome to

recolle's May event! All characters will be begin in-game AU'd as Recollé residents. You may use any of the above prompts for ideas or make up your own depicting your Recollé AU! Prompts do not have to be set in the districts listed above. You can review our list of locations for what's available and be as creative as you'd like.

As another note, by participating in this log in a thread with five or more comments from you with a character you have not tagged previously, you are eligible for one free memory regain! This means you can claim a memory without a trigger required; we ask that it be low-impact for newer characters, while characters who have been here longer can scale upwards. However please be sure to submit this regain to the regains page and just specify "May Freebie" in the explanation portion of the form. Please see our monthly plotting post for more details.

If you would like to explore parts of the city in their enlarged state, please contact the mod team so we can get you a write-up of what your characters may or may not find! This also goes for if your character has regained any supernatural sensing and you'd like for them to interact with the figments in the woods!

Starting on 5/5, the Echo Flower from Undertale will act as your newest world change! Once the event wraps 5/10, the echoing of desires will stop and they will return to providing white noise and echoing the last thing they heard. These flowers will only remain in the woods.

Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I - oh, you know, around

[When fellow users of the Retrospec app casually mentioned reality-warping in their primer on the current strange happenings, Wheatley hadn’t expected something like this. It takes him a few moments after waking up to realize just what exactly is going on, but once he does there’s no small amount of yelling.

Prone to anxiety and panic on a good day, Wheatley doesn’t take this well. It’s a not insubstantial amount of time before he gets a grip, and then it takes him even longer to figure out how he’s supposed to get around. Eventually, however, he manages to muddle his way out of his apartment, for better or worse. He takes a deep breath. And.

Steps. Outside. From there, Wheatley proceeds like the smallest of missteps might kill him (they very well could!), inching across the sidewalk until he reaches the nearest curb and spots, well. You, probably.]

Oi! You there! God, that’s a relief—

[Wheatley’s pretty far away, all things considered—like, across the street far away, but he’s not about to pass up the opportunity for safety in numbers. He’s waving frantically, clearly a little desperate to get someone’s attention.]

Hi! Yes! Me, over here! I’m waving at you, I’m—that’s it! Across the street, standing here on this—on this giant curb, hello!

[Yes, he is waving at you—all ginger freckles, coke-bottle glasses, and plaid flannel. He seems very distressed.

Cross the street?
> Y
> N
> Hell no]

III - may 5th and on

a. [It’s probably no secret that Wheatley is a coward. Navigating this newfound hellscape, he spends much of his time hiding, recoiling, and giving himself away by being surprised at inopportune moments. He can’t say he has a particular affinity for animals, and he certainly doesn’t like it when they’re much larger than he is. Suffice to say, this is an experience he’d rather not be having at this moment.

You are fortunate (???) enough to be teamed up with him at this very moment, hiding around the leg of a park bench and watching a nearby squirrel do its thing. Wheatley has what appears to be a sharpened twig clutched tightly in both hands. The objective, clearly, is to get past it unnoticed, and he may or may not be thinking about how he’s going to use you as a distraction if things go south. All’s fair in love and war and reality-warping cellphone malware.]

Right, so. Here’s what I’m thinking. If we can—if we can manage to throw something, you know, make some noise in a location that is not where we are right now, then we can, ah. Perhaps get its attention, lure it off somewhere else. Then we make a run for it. Sounds like—does that sound like a plan, to you?

b. [The rain is a little easier to deal with, if only because it’s predictable. It’s going to fall from the sky, it’s going to make everything wet, and death by drowning is very different than being eaten alive by someone’s unruly chihuahua. Wheatley likes to think he’s better at the rain than he is at animals.

Still, that doesn’t mean it’s easy, and getting from point A to point B presents its own set of hazards, not the least of which is the risk of being all but washed away by the sheer size of the raindrops.]

Here, grab on. I’ve got—I’ve got you.

[If you’re struggling in the water, here’s this guy with an outstretched hand. Surely he knows what he’s doing and doesn’t look like he’ll blow over in a slight breeze and this won’t end in disaster at all, right? Right.]

Bonus

[Until the application mysteriously downloaded itself onto his phone a few days ago, Wheatley’d never had reason to go to the Retrospec building. Now, however, it seems entirely prudent to do so, if only because they’re clearly behind these horrific shenanigans. Maybe you’re looking for a partner to sneak in? Wheatley seems to like safety in numbers, quick to latch himself onto whoever might look like they know what they’re doing.

Once inside the facility, the maps seem to be the most obvious place to start, though he really isn’t sure what he’s supposed to be looking for. Good thing he likes voicing his thoughts out loud to the nearest person (that’s you)!]

What do you—what do you suppose this is?

[It’s not a map of anything he’s seen before, that’s for certain.]

I was sort of joking about the aliens, but, uh. Starting to wonder, a little bit.

wildcard

(I will do whatever you want. Here is my plotting comment, or you can hit me up on plurk at whitticus.)

Edited 2017-05-04 02:09 (UTC)

[It takes Sora a long moment to notice the guy waving frantically from across the street, which is saying something because Wheatley is making quite the racket. Then again, they're all like five inches tall, so maybe it's not just Sora's innate obliviousness.

As soon as he sees him, though, he waves back, if not nearly as enthusiastically.]

Ahoy!

[...This is no way to hold a conversation. Sora's gonna go ahead and cross the street to see if he can help this poor distressed man.]

[That's right. Cross the street. Wheatley, however, can't seem to keep his mouth shut while he waits, so he'll helpfully provide instruction slash guidance, whether Sora wants it or not.]

That's it! Careful--don't want you to trip and get stuck, or something.

[Wheatley looks increasingly antsy as Sora makes his way across the street, but he finally makes himself useful when he reaches the curb, kneeling and extending a hand so that Sora can hoist himself out of the road.]

Here, let me--I can help you up.

[Boy, this guy sure can talk a lot, but honestly, Sora doesn't mind. He just wishes it wasn't all telling him how to walk.

Reaching the other side of the street with relative ease, he grins up at the offered hand and takes it. Luckily, Sora can pull himself most of the way once he gets a grip on the side of the curb.

Standing, he brushes off his pants and smiles at the stranger.]

Heya! Did you need help with something? You seemed kinda upset.

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1!!!

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I

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iiia

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3b + wildcardish bc what's better than wheatley briefly freaking out over the unconscious

B)

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1, Because reasons

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bonus;

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iii.a

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III. b

Re: III. b

Re: III. b