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

[ well not yet he doesn't? dave is distracted and...

actually what the fuck is dave doing out and about like this, again. he's in jeans and a shirt - at least it's long-sleeved - and he's wet and cold again and doesn't have a jacket. why does he keep leaving the house sans jacket he's always getting cold in weather that isn't warm and usually he'll wear extra layers to avoid it. his skin is probably pretty cold to the touch, but he doesn't yank back at least? as long as they're going further in he does not care.

he's going to make himself sick one of these days with these stupid stunts involving leaving the house not dressed for the weather, though at least it's not winter right now. just. you know. cold rain.

@ dave + dirk this is a bad idea.

but he prefers the whispers to his own voice, so dave doesn't care. ]

[Well, Dirk has the umbrella. He shifts it so it's over both of their heads. He lets it cover Dave more than him. But there's nothing to be done when Dave is already soaked through.]

Dave.

[ oh, back to the nagging. that's not a fair thought, and dave doesn't look over, but he frowns. ]

What? [ still distracted and distant and tugging dirk along by virtue of dirk having attached himself to dave. ]

Where are we going?

[It seems like the best way to start. He doesn't know how to get Dave to stop or to get a coat on his shoulders or do anything. He just feels the whispered desires crashing against his fears, and it is shaking him. How can he get his brother back?]

[ good question, really. dave doesn't pause. ]

We have to go a little further. [ at least he said "we", for whatever that's worth. ] Don't you...?

[ he doesn't say "hear it" but he does sound for the first time a little confused, even if he keeps going. ]

There telling me they'll give me what I want. [He doesn't tell Dave what those desires are. They choke around his throat and grip him where the scarf is like pressing into the wrapped up wound.] Which is pretty witch-in-a-forest-with-a-gingerbread-house to me, but hey, who am I to object to mind control trances from crazy ghost flowers?

[ right. that makes sense - no it doesn't. ]

Why are you still here with me, then?

[ well - they are going towards the same place, so actually maybe it does make sense? it's enough of a distraction to get dave to frown a little more. he doesn't laugh at dirk's joke, though usually he would have, or at least he would have had a sarcastic response to fire back. ]

It's not mind control. There's just a persistent voice in my head sayin' we should go thisaway, and it's hard for me to disagree. Like a conscience.

I'm here because I love you.

[It's so obvious it feels like it doesn't need to be asked. Even creepy flowers can't make him forget that what he actually wants is his family safe and not gone.]

No offence to your metaphor, but most consciences don't sound like a GPS system offerin' you lollipops out of a white van.

The other things you want.

[ not like he knows what the fuck those would be. but they can't include traipsing after his kid brother - there's something on the tip of his tongue here mentally, and dave slows a little, but it's not enough to make him stop just yet. ]

It wasn't a metaphor, it's just a thing. I dunno why you're complainin', you're still comin' with.

[ although. can he physically stop dave from going somewhere at this point, admittedly, ]

Don't mean shit without you as part of them.

[He needs Dave, he needs Roxy, he needs Rose. He needs the people he loves. But losing Dave in the woods will never get him that.

He still won't let go.]

Would you come back if I asked? If not, then I won't go back. That'd be why I'm complainin'.

You're not askin'.

[ he's arguing with someone about something he's doing in the dark, lit by weird glowing blue flowers, a voice he can barely hear telling him he's got more important things to do. but it's not really an argument, dirk's not even pulling him back, dirk would...

...probably follow him off a cliff like an idiot, jesus, that thought gets him slow down a little more because it's perfectly fine to kill himself somehow but less fine to get anyone else mixed up in the bargain.

dave tries to drop dirk's hand, in case that somehow helps. ]

[yeah no nice try but he's keeping Dave's hand]

Fair enough. [Dave has a point and Dirk will concede to it] Will you come home with me?

No, I have to keep goin', this is just like, so completely illegal oh motherfuck.

[ well now he's stopping but it's literally to drag his hand back (GIVE IT UP DIRK) and shove his hands up under his shades to press into his eyes. ]

[HE HAS TO GIVE IT UP THIS TIME BUT HE DOESN'T WANT TO.]

What.

I can't fuckin' believe this, jesus motherfuckin' christ there should be a goddamn limit, I'm goin' to sue, what the hell, whoever set this up is the worst dumbfuck of a douche in history -

[ this is all said at murmur-level. he's completely ignoring dirk again, but at least he isn't wandering off. ]

[Dirk will just wait for Dave to say some coherent words.

Well he'll wait for a while, it is Dave he's dealing with here.]

[ DAVE DOES IN FACT GET EVEN LESS COHERENT AND SUBVOCAL AS HE MUTTERS. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT DIRK. whatever he's flipping out about was enough to jar him out of the trance for the time being, although he should probably get the fuck out of the rain.

he kicks the ground like that's going to make him feel better about whatever the hell he's throwing a lowkey tantrum about. ]

[Like Dirk hasn't taken his umbrella off from over Dave so—]

Will you at least take your wet shirt off and let me give you my coat while you're standin' here? [Underneath his coat, Dirk is DRY and so not at risk of DYING.]

M'fine. [ also he's not sure he approves of dirk's coat. probably he doesn't. god. dave lets his hands drop, but only after they drag down his face and out from under his shades.

he should look at dirk but he doesn't want to so he settles for staring at the ground. ]

Why the fuck aren't you wanderin' off somewhere? [ dirk said he heard...whatever that was (not a fucking exile, that's for sure) as well. ]

I don't know, maybe my brain is too dense to be lured by happiness. [THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A JOKE.]

Or I'm just that pathetic. [ in two universes. score! he can still hear the whispers, too, and his head tilts towards the deeper forest like he's listening, but he doesn't move. ] Why are you even out here? It's stupid-o'clock. Exactly.

Nah, that doesn't work.

[WHY IS HE OUT HERE AT NO-O'CLOCK good question.]

I heard the shit and I wanted to find out what was going on. Then I saw my brother in a trancelike state wandering in the woods and I was like, "Okay, so maybe siren calls are actually a goddamned mistake. Fuck you, Odysseus."

I - can't have this conversation here, actually.

[ he just wants to keep walking. dave glances around to try to gauge...which...direction he came from.

fuck ]

Can you have it at home?

[He isn't quite breathing. He needs to bring Dave back. Please, please come back with him]

I don't wanna go to your place.

[ an aborted gesture, as he runs a hand through his hair, realizes it's soaking wet, and makes a face. ]

It's not even a conversation that needs bein' had.

[ ...HE HAS. NO IDEA HOW TO GET HOME FROM HERE, FUCK, okay dirk isn't making a move so dave will just pick the direction exactly opposite where he seems to want to go. that should work. ]

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