recolle | May Event Log

Entry tags:

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

[Thankfully(?) the spider is bringing its attention to Ardyn rather than Fai, and the man eyes the progress of the latter's escape as he takes a step back. Spiders certainly are much more fearsome when they rear up, aren't they? Like a monster out of a fantasy novel.

Still, Ardyn isn't the sort to let panic settle into him so quickly. Anxiety, yes, but he can stay lucid enough to not turn heel and run just yet.

The spider lurches forward, and Ardyn has to twist his body weight to the side to keep some distance between them.]

No pressure, but- ah, I'm not terribly fond of continuing this dance with this arachnid!

Almost--!

[One more good hard shove against the metal and Fai manages to rip himself free of the thick, sticky webs, the sleeve of his shirt torn and frayed at the seam where it meets the body of the shirt but not altogether dislodged. Fai himself comes tumbling down to the wooden planking of the bench seat, ending up prone on his stomach and staring up at the spider in horror. If he wasn't an arachnophobe before this, he's seriously going to have to reconsider that stance.

And now this stranger is in trouble because of him. Fai scrambles to his feet.]

Run!

[Relief doesn't quite settle fully in him as he watches Fai tear himself free of the webbing; almost, but he still has the issue of a giant spider looming before him. The exclamation of the man telling him to run is enough motivation for him to start moving, but only after he's certain that Fai is ready to make a break for it as well.

Thus, he'll grab him by the arm as he moves past, granting the stranger a bit of his own momentum so that they can both get the hell out of here.]

Only if you do the same!

[Honestly Fai had been more concerned about putting someone else in danger, but he's certainly not going to argue about getting pulled away. He very much does not want to become a spider snack. Thankfully, despite being tall he's very skinny, so pulling him along until he can get his bearings is easy enough.]

You don't have to tell me twice!

[Except then they're at the edge of the bench, and that's a long drop. Into grass, but a drop nonetheless.]

Do we--?

[A skid to a halt when they reach the edge of the bench, and Arydn takes a look down at the drop. There's a thick patch of grass that might just break their fall, and Ardyn is glad that he doesn't suffer from a fear of heights -- he can only imagine the vertigo that would kick in otherwise.

There's a skittering noise behind them, no doubt the spider crawling closer. He's not going to even bother looking, he only gives Fai a sideways glance, coupled with a look.]

Would you prefer to fall to your death, or be eaten alive by a spider? You choose!

[Flippancy even in dire situations. Some things about Ardyn never change.]

[But if we fall and break our legs, we'll end up being eaten anyway! Fai desperately wants to argue, but the alternative is just as bad. And unlike Ardyn, Fai is dumb enough to glance back over his shoulder at said alternative--

--and promptly yelps in fear and jumps closer to his rescuer, grabbing his arm to cling to.]

Are you sure about this?!

[Good thing Ardyn isn't a stickler about personal space, even more so when there's the ever-growing threat of being eaten alive literally at their backs. And so he lets Fai grab his arm, and says, almost hilariously plainly:]

No.

[Ardyn then makes the executive decision to jump, taking Fai with him. Hopefully this won't end up being a foolish venture as gravity takes them, and they fall towards the grass.]

[There's another yelp (thankfully instead of a scream) as they go over the edge. Fai shuts his eyes tight and clings to his rescuer, tucking himself into as small a ball as possible for a six-foot-tall man who's kind of all leg. The impact, a few seconds later, is jarring and squeezes a panicked squeak from the blond... but then it's over. He's not in pain, not shattered into a dozen pieces.

He's actually kind of comfortable? And sort of warm. (In a good way.)

When he dares to peek one eye open, he realizes why. He somehow managed to land on top of Ardyn.]

[Ardyn somehow manages to keep his eyes open as they fall, trying his best to judge when they'll land. This becomes his focus, and he barely seems to notice that Fai is literally balled up against him -- still, even if he did, it's not a bad idea. Landing on one's legs would definitely be the worse course of action to take, even if they are aiming for a particularly thick patch of grass.

So the man twists his body mid-air, aiming to land on his side or his back, or anything that he thinks will prove less detrimental to his limbs. He manages, and he lands with a grunt, followed by feeling the pressure of Fai fall on top of him.

A quick mental assessment of his body -- nothing feels broken, and while he's a bit disoriented, it could've been far, far worse. Now, the matter of this man on top of him--]

Are you all right? [He's unmoving, though, making sure Fai is just as injured before he tries to sit up.]

[Thankfully Fai is skinny and doesn't weigh as much as his height would suggest. He just lays there for a moment, gathering his wits back up after that fall, and blinks slowly at Ardyn.]

Ah... I think so?

[He pats a hand absently against Ardyn's chest, as if to reassure himself that the other man is also in one piece--and then suddenly remembers just why they went jumping from such a height to begin with. Giant freaking spider.

In a scramble of long spindly limbs, Fai tosses himself off Ardyn and jumps to his feet, looking like he's about to bolt, and his gaze turns from the man still on the ground up to the bench above them. No sign of the spider chasing them yet, thank goodness.]

[Ardyn pushes himself up with the palm of his hands when Fai moves off of him. Another moment and the man is on his feet, feeling little sore on his side, but overall still able to run if they need to.

He also cranes his neck up to see if there's a spider still trying to kill them, but thankfully it seems they've escaped its wrath for now. For now being the important part of that statement.]

Come, let's keep moving. The farther away we are from that spider, the better.

[He'll begin to move, motioning for Fai to follow, pushing blades of grass out of the way as he does so.]

[Fai couldn't agree more with that assessment. He nods, regardless of whether the other man is actually looking at him to notice, and hurries to catch up to Ardyn. As they move through the grass he takes to hovering close to Ardyn, just a little behind and to the side--not because he doesn't want to be of help, but simply for the comfort of having someone strong and capable in charge of this little expedition.]

I... can't thank you enough for helping me, up there. That was really brave of you!

[He huffs out a noise of amusement, pushing another piece of grass out of their way.]

Well, it would be remiss of me to just stand and watch as someone become dinner for a wandering spider. Not to mention it'd be a sight that would've scarred me for life, so it wasn't merely just for your benefit.

[The wryness laced in his words betray the fact that the last bit is something of a joke.]

Of course! That makes sense. I wouldn't want someone to have nightmares just because I was stupid enough to get caught by a spider.

[There is absolutely no sarcasm in his voice or demeanor as he says it, just a sunny smile.]

Were you heading somewhere, before all of this? Did I interrupt something important?

[The good natured humor is appreciated, despite their run-in with death just a second ago. He doesn't look back to see Fai's expression just yet, but he can hear the smile in his tone.]

I was heading home, actually. I've had my fill of being far too small for the day. However, it's a rather long walk from Recolle campus to home.

It's a rather long walk to get anywhere, these days! [Fai nods, still sounding chipper despite the talk about the inconvenience of being tiny.] I have to leave obscenely early just to get to my classes, and I completely missed an appointment yesterday.

[He still feels horrible about that one, but there just wasn't much he could do about it.]

Oh, but you're coming from the university? Do you work there? Taking classes?

It's unreasonable to expect for life to carry on as normal in this state. A shame those who do not possess the Retrospec app do not see it that way.

[Aaand they're out of the patch of grass. A little ways more and they'll be on the surface of the sidewalk instead -- far safer, Ardyn thinks, than traipsing around in blades of grass, to be surprised by another insect.]

And to answer your question, I work at the university. My name is Ardyn Izunia, and I'm a professor of law there.

I'm still not entirely convinced we're not in the middle of some kind of government experiment or something. There's no way this could possibly be real, is there?

[Oh good yes please. Fai's had enough of giant insects to last a lifetime.]

Oooh, a professor! I can honestly say I've never been happier to meet someone in my life! [Since, you know. Ardyn saved him from being eaten and everything.] I'm Fai. I'm working on a masters at the university.

I'd like to say this is just some fever dream, but considering this isn't the first time something strange has happened to both us and the city, I'm inclined to say that it is indeed very real.

[Along the sidewalk they go then!]

What is your area of study?

I've heard that other strange things have happened, yeah. [Fai nods slowly.] How long have you been on Retrospec?

[Fai trails along, partially trusting Ardyn to get them away from the spider and partially because he's more engaged in the conversation than really paying attention to what he'd been doing before being menaced by a giant arachnid.]

Ah, I'm a social worker. When I get my masters I'll be able to get a more advanced license.

Since their very first post. I've seen a few waves of newcomers since then, of course. They're all rather confused when they first open the app, and I can hardly blame them.

[They continue walking, and Ardyn muses that he should eventually ask where Fai is headed so he can potentially direct him there -- but they're so small that they're not moving very fast, so he can afford the idle conversation.]

That's an admirable goal. How much longer do you have?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

May Event Log

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

no subject

no subject