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

It doesn’t have to be big.

[Wheatley gestures emphatically to the pebble she’s picked up.]

I’d imagine that would make a, uh. Not insignificant amount of noise. Probably as much noise as we need. I’m sure you can run faster than me, yes— [Most people can.] —but I’m not sure if I want to risk that, you know? Safety in numbers, so it’s—it’s probably best if we don’t split up.

[Suffice to say, he’s not particularly keen on a situation where he might get left behind. To fend for himself.

A L O N E.]

[ Mafuyu doesn't look convinced, especially at that double negative, and because she's never needed safety in numbers because she's so used to being on the other side of it all. But Wheatley might have a point with the whole numbers thing— she passes the pebble over to him, stoops to pick up another and shoves it into his other hand, and then two more she picks up in each of hers. ]

This way'll be better, if we throw them all at once. What'll be loud enough? A trash can?

[ Metal she knows is pretty loud, especially rocks against an empty trashcan that echoes nicely unlike brick walls that rocks just bounce off of with a dull thud. ]

[She might not look convinced, but the fact that she's going all with all this is good enough for Wheatley. She might as well be endorsing the whole thing, even if she's not very enthusiastic about it. Perhaps he's so starved for people to agree with him that he'll take what he can get, even if she's carefully editing their course of action as they go.

He tests the weight of the stone, peering around for, yes, something they can throw it against.]

Trash can might work. Something metal either way. Count of three, you think?

[Throw, then run.]

[ Trash can it is. There's one a few paces away, close enough that their stones can reach but far enough to hopefully distract the squirrel so they could run. Nodding, Mafuyu pulls her arm back and leg up in a baseball pitch. Count of three, on her! ]

ONETWOTHREE—!!

[ —and she flings the stones as hard as she can without waiting for Wheatley, shouting as loud as she can that countdown that blurred all together under one breath, the result being that the squirrel looks up in alarm at her yell— jolts when the stones hit the metal can— and bolts in terror... towards the two of them. ]

No, no, wait, that's too--that's too fast I wasn't ready!

[But he's been left no choice, and he has to fire off his pebbles before he's prepared to do so--and considering the fact that Wheatley is not really a good pitcher in the first place, comes up fairly short.

Not that it matters, however, because Kurosaki's hit their mark, and the squirrel is running ,towards them, which is the exact opposite of the plan. His voice pitches up half an octave in sheer panic.]

Okay that's not--not how this was supposed to--should we run?

[ Life doesn't wait, Wheatley! And neither does Mafuyu, be it pitching stones or grabbing him by the wrist to yank him into a mad sprint away from the squirrel because why is running even a thing he needs to consider before acting upon it?!

She's screaming. The squirrel is shrieking as it comes up from behind them, closer and closer with each passing second and this raises the collective panic of every little animal in their vicinity, birds taking to the air and grass shaking with skittering feet that brings doubt that anywhere is safe from animals whose fear makes them dangerous. ]

[Well if she's screaming, then Wheatley is definitely screaming, dragged along and stumbling, trying to keep up. After a moment of getting his feet under him, he's doing his very best not to stumble, though he does a great amount of that anyway, unleashing a string of profanities the entire way.]

I just want to make it clear that this is not how I intend to die, thanks!

[ Every time Wheatley stumbles, Mafuyu yanks him forward by the wrist, trying to keep him upright and going but between that and nearly popping his shoulder out of its socket, she's probably not helping much with the stumbling in the first place But she's trying, if that has any merit. ]

How d'you want to die!? If you have a preference, say it now because we're gonna!!!

[ This was maybe her fault? Partly? Like, at least 1%, so Mafuyu will grant him that one last wish before they're gutted by a hungry badger or picked out up out of the air by a swooping gull. ]

Peacefully! In my sleep! Of old age!

[Isn't that how everyone wants to die? Wheatley certainly doesn't want to be mauled by a squirrel. Still, there's nothing to do but keep running, not daring to look back.]

[ With all the screaming they're doing, peaceful is automatically out of the question. But the other two, maybe she can do something about those. ]

I can whack you on the back of the head with a stick, than you won't be awake to get mauled by a squirrel! And you're older than me, aren't you? That's plenty old enough! You lived a long life!

I don’t want that, either!

[He’s only thirty-two! That’s far too young to die, even if she’s much younger than him and he probably seems ancient, or something. Unacceptable. This thought seems to fill Wheatley with a little more conviction, and all at once he’s pulling out in front of her, deciding to take the reigns on this situation by yanking them both to the right, swerving into a hard turn that’s an attempt to throw the squirrel off.]

Not long enough. Come on!

[ The way she's living, Mafuyu will be lucky to see the age of twenty, so thirty two is way beyond her. But people have the right to be greedy with how many more decades they'd like in their life, and Mafuyu shaving years off Wheatley's for her little stunt back there is paid back when she's suddenly jerked to the side with a yelp in surprise and a stumble before she's able to find her feet again. ]

What—?! [ is even to the right, that they're running at? A whole lot of park, meaning grass and more grass and the occasional piece of litter. ] Anything we can hide under? Like a paper cup! We could run around with it like a shield!

If you see anything, let me know!

[It doesn't matter if the squirrel has lost interest in them or not by now--Wheatley is still running as fast as his skinny nerd legs can carry him, pulling her along whether she likes it or not. He's going to zig-zag some more. This is what's happening now.]

I'm trying to throw them off!

[ All Mafuyu sees is Wheatley trying to throw her off, that's what the results is going to end up as: dislocated shoulders. ]

—I see something! [ LIES ] Back there! We just passed it!

[ Mafuyu digs her heels into the ground as well as she can, not caring if they're going to faceplant and eat dirt, what she needs is for them to s t o p ]

Wait—

[Wheatley can’t keep up with the change in momentum, immediately losing his footing and, predictably, topping over. He doesn’t let go of Mafuyu in the process, instead gripping her sleeve for what seems like dear life.

It all goes about as well as you might expect.

[ asdlfkjh

Dear life is sweet, but short, Mafuyu's face skidding on the grass with only one hand to break her fall. Spitting dirt from her mouth, she pushes off her elbows to get off the ground, then freezes. ]

Stay down! [ She hisses the command at Wheatley, flatting herself back on the ground and swinging her arm around to shove Wheatley's face into the dirt before he can get up. ] Cat just ahead. It doesn't see us yet.

[Wheatley, too, eats dirt, tumbling over himself and yelping in the process, sending them both into a tangle of limbs. It takes him a moment longer to recover than she does, and he’s groaning the whole time, at least until she hits the ground again, commanding him to do the same.

He sees it. The cat. This is even worse than the squirrel, and it’s clear that it’s taking most everything he has not to shout or otherwise succumb to panic. He manages to lower his voice to an angry hiss.]

Okay, uh—this is decidedly a worse situation, so. Now what?

[ Ughhhh. If the cat catches sight of them, there will be no escape from the instincts of the seasoned hunter currently sharpening its claws on the bark of a tree in preparation for the kill.

Think. Think! Mafuyu owns a cat; she should know how to handle them. (her cat bites, and has its own harness to be taken outside to hunt leaves and spiders, Mafuyu does nothing to discourage that behavior) ]

...Cats ignore people who're too loud and enthusiastic, and go up to quieter people, right? Isn't that something people say? So all we need to do is run at it and it'll go away.

I mean, I don't know, I've never--never had a cat.

[Wheatley wants to say that rushing the cat seems like the worst idea in the entire world, but something else comes to mind instead.]

Now is--now is probably a bad time to mention I'm allergic, isn't it?

Doesn't matter. That's fine.

[ Never having a cat is fine. Being allergic is also fine. Mafuyu starts inching forward in a military crawl to keep as flat to the ground as possible... hand on Wheatley's wrist so he can't escape; don't even think about escaping. ]

Cats are skittish. We jump and scare it and it'll run. You'll only stop breathing if you touch it, right?

That's not--that's not quite how it works.

[But he isn't going to go into a discussion about pet dander while they're facing down certain death.]

Look, if you want to rush the cat, be my guest. I'll just--I'll be over here, as backup.

...Backup.

[ Mafuyu scrutinizes Wheatley, trying to determine his worth as backup (not a lot). She's not sure if she trusts him to run up and grab her if all else fails, but. No matter. She'll just not fail. ]

Alright. Stay here and don't move.

[ Letting go of his wrist, Mafuyu starts making the slow crawl towards the cat under the cover of dense grass. Soon she's out of sight. ...It's taking quite a long time, grassy lawn silent and still. ]

Uh, okay.

[Despite this being his idea, mostly, he seems a little nervous about the prospect of being left alone. It's clear, however, that he doesn't have a choice, and soon enough he's crouching, watching Mafuyu disappear into the grass.]

Good luck, uh. Don't...die? That might, ah. Put a damper on things. Just a bit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

May Event Log

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