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

If you think you're going to die, then you absolutely will!

"No matter what, I have to survive" - keep that close to your heart!

[...she'll never admit it, but she read that in a manga once, and it always sounded really encouraging, so. Her idea of encourgament would be to tell him to shut up and that's kind of counter intuitive right now.

Suddenly, she ducks to the right and taps his arm as she passes.]

Here!

[He just has to...squeeze through this metal railing!! She goes first and has no problem.]

[This sounds like good advice for someone who is freaking the fuck out. He doesn't have the time to think 'that sounds suspiciously shounen' right now.

Squeezing through the railing is possible through the power of being an underfed college student! As long as it's too small for the frog to get past, they're safe, right? Right?]

No matter what, I have to survive... no matter what, I have to survive...

[He has a new 'panicking like hell' mantra now.]

[...well, not right now. It's currently trying to squeeze through without adjusting for the angle of the railing, but once it figures it out it might actually get through...

...but they have some breathing room and she's not fit at all. So she pauses to take a few deep breaths.]

Okay...that should...buy us some time...

[She starts walking again anyway, but it's only to a tree nearby that they can move behind. After that, she leans back against the trunk.]

I'm too old for this.

[Shuji's here for hiding behind this tree - the way the frog keeps trying to get through the railing is not doing a lot for his confidence.

...there's just one thing that's distracting him from his panic right now.]

Aren't you a teenager?

I'm gonna be 20 in June.

[She's giving that as a warning not to mistakenly assume she's like, 15 or something. Which would be a totally reasonable thing to assume judging from her appearance, but if he said it out loud she'd feed him to that frog without hesitation.]

And I think considering how absurd today has been anyone of any age could reasonably say that.

[Because what the fuck has today been if not a barrage of giant, hungry insects and frogs.]

Good point.

[There is no age where you can easily deal with giant animals.]

I'd say 'can frogs climb trees' but I don't think we're getting to even the lowest branch... What do we do?

We'd better not risk it. Even if it can't, if there're any birds up there, we're finished.

[Not to mention how high up it is, etc, etc.

So she just takes one final deep breath, and-]

...how would you feel about being bait?

Bad! I'd feel really bad! There's no way I'll agree to that! I have to survive no matter what!!

[Nobu's going to regret teaching that phrase to him.]

[Nah...she might be bad, but she ain't heartless. She does want him to survive all of this.

But he needs to calm down, so she ends up grabbing a hold of his top to shake him.]

Get a hold of yourself! I'm not going to let you die!

I'm going to kill it while it's distracted.

[The shaking works, at least enough to calm him down a little.]

How are you going to kill it? It's bigger than both of us.

[Do you have magical abilities, Nobu? The power to piss off PETA at will?]

I have a sword.

[See there it is, at her waist...it was probably hard to notice what with everything going on, so.

But she gestures to it with one hand.]

If you're fighting someone bigger than you, you always go for the legs first.

Once they're slowed down, you can finish them off at your leisure.

[...well.]

Edited 2017-05-05 22:46 (UTC)

[The sword is reassuring, and she talks like she actually has some experience fighting big things... somehow...

Shuji swallows against the lump in his throat.]

...Tell me what I should do. I definitely don't have any experience here.

It looks like it's going to get through eventually, so we can't move until then. The first step to any battle plan is letting overeager enemies come to you first. It puts them at a disadvantage.

Once it does, I just need you to make yourself a target. Wave your arms around, yell, do whatever. But try and keep it from wandering too far away, or I won't be able to catch up to you.

You can leave the rest to me. I'll go for one leg first, then take out the second while it's weakened. After that, we'll decide what to do.

[That being either leaving it to be picked off by a predator, or mercy killing it.]

I'll do my best...

[If it's a choice between 'definitely be eaten' and 'maybe be eaten', the plan where he might survive is the better one. Even if it's terrifying.]

You won't have to worry about me yelling loud enough, anyway.

[He can shriek with the best of them.]

Alright. Then go take your position out there.

[She steps a little to the side in order to lean past the tree trunk from around it, pointing at the space between the railing and the tree itself.

The frog also seems to have realised angling itself through the gap is a better idea, and is preparing to squeeze through after them.

It's your time to shine, shuji.]

[Shuji swallows again, and heads toward the frog instead of the sane decision of heading away from it.

Time to die magnificently.]

Hey asshole! Shouldn't you be on a plate in France?! Unless you're so ugly that nobody could stand to eat you!

[The frog probably can't understand insults, but he's being as loud as possible and stomping his feet to get its attention.]

[The frog isn't quite sure where France is, nor does it care all that much about being called ugly, but it does recognise a future meal that isn't quite running away when it sees it. Having pushed itself through the gap, it lands in front of Shuji and stands before him with its head held high, but eyes focused on him as if there's nothign else in the world right now.

And then out shoots its tongue.

Rather than waste its time chasing after him, it relies instead upon the adhesive quality of its tongue to stick to Shuji and then drag him closer, making it much easier for its mouth to open wide and swallow him whole.

Or, well, attempt to. It isn't quite there yet; for a brief moment, he's stuck inside of the frogs mouth from the waist down. It's pretty slimy in there. Gross.]

[It'd only take an instant for him to be devoured.

But in that instant, his demise is stalled by the frog suddenly opening its mouth wide to drop him, letting out a loud, pained croak, as Nobu had already made her way around to jam her sword right into its leg. It's more interested in trying to get at her now, using its functioning leg to turn on the spot and try to get at her.

But she's thrown herself onto its back and started climbing, leaving it frantically turning to try and shake her off. In all the commotion, her sword even slips out of her hand and hits the ground, leaving her with only one option; she grabs a hold of the frog with both hands instead, then calls down to him.]

Pick that up and stab it! Hurry!

Edited 2017-05-07 00:42 (UTC)

[Nobu's lucky he didn't outright faint. There are few things Shuji can imagine more horrifying, more disgusting than almost being eaten. He's never going to get the slime out of these clothes.

He's in a daze after being dropped, and it takes her shouting at him to get him to recover even a little. Right, he... should probably do that...

He picks up the sword and attempts to stab the frog in the functioning leg. It's not great swordplay or anything, but even Shuji knows that the pointy end goes in the other guy.]

[Success! Whereas before it struggled to turn with one leg, it's mostly immobile now. Although it could drag itself along with its two front legs, it seems fairly ineffective. Nobu climbs to the top of the frog as it's trying to move around and sits on its head, looking down at Shuji.]

Good work.

Now what'll we do with this?

[She pats the frog on the head...]

[That seems weirdly patronizing to the frog, and Shuji would call her on it, but this whole situation is weird and he wants to talk about it as little as possible.]

I guess we put it out of its misery...? It'll just be eaten anyway, so...

[That frog is not going to go to the frog hospital.]

Edited (typo) 2017-05-08 23:43 (UTC)

[FROGS DON'T HAVE FEELINGS. (that matter to her)]

Alright. [She nods.] Do you want to do it, or will I?

I don't even squash bugs if I can help it. You do it.

[They're just doing their thing and it's not their fault that they bother people!

This frog was also just doing its thing, but self-preservation comes first.]

[It's a shame, because if he knew her before now, he'd recognise that she used to be...kind of the same. Maybe she'd still squash a bug if she had to, but overall she'd be kind of reluctant to hurt a frog as plan A rather than plan C or D.

Now, though...ever since an Incident a while back, violence just seems to come a little more naturally to her. So much so she hasn't even noticed it, really.

So Nobu slides off of the frog's head and lands beside Shuji, reaching out to take the sword from him.]

This is your opportunity to look away.

[That's all the warning he's gonna get. The frog doesn't seem entirely focused on them anymore, instead moving its front limbs to try and drag itself away, but it doesn't have much of an opportunity to before she stabs it right in the head. There's frog blood everywhere. After some apparent suffering, it flops forward, totally dead.

Ouch.]

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