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

Family emergency is worse. My parents would find out somehow.

[Parents are psychic and always know when their child is up to no good.]

Life emergency, maybe.

Well, that is super accurate, anyway. This is a pretty big life emergency. You've gotta worry about how you're gonna get food and change your clothes, no one has time to deal with school and work with all of that going on.

[Stated very matter-of-factly... They're victims here and they need a get out of jail free card!]

Other people might not see it that way, but as long as I don't talk about specifics, it should be fine...

[Spoilers, he's going to mention something specific and ruin his chances of an excused absence.]

[Someone help him.]

That's good, that's good. If you need coming up with a cover story though, I've totally got your back.

[He's had a lot of practice when it comes to bullshitting reasons to not be at certain places at certain times...]

[Shuji Tsushima, a disaster.]

Thanks. You're being really nice to someone you don't even know.

Well, we're all stuck in this mess together, yeah? So even if we're strangers, we're kinda like... [Making a vague hand gesture?!]

...I dunno. "Friends through shared super-traumatic situations and experiences" sounds awful.

We have the same problem, so it's hard not to sympathize.

[Sounds a little bit better, anyway. Though not much.]

Yes! Bingo. That's a better way to put it. I've been stuck with this garbage for like, five whole months by now, pretty much. So if I can help some other people out? I'm all for it.

[Though, that does remind him that an actual proper introduction would probably be good...]

My name's Kiyomitsu, by the way. Kiyomitsu Kashuu!

Shuji Tsushima. Nice to meet you.

[An actual smile! Shuji's amazed he can still produce one.]

Do you live on campus too?

You, too.

[A smile in return! It comes pretty easily to him, but that's probably mostly because he hasn't given himself even a hot second to focus on the Actual Awful Situation they're all in.]

I actually live over there- [A gesture over his shoulder.] -in Birch Hills with a roommate. Somehow it ended up being cheaper that way... Crazy, huh? More room to sew, too.

Living on campus is supposed to make me more self-sufficient.

[If he's actually more self-sufficient, he isn't sure, but he doubts it.]

I'm in - well, that building, but you probably guessed.

[Seeing as he'd broken down before he could take even two steps away from the entrance.]

It's a pretty nice transition point between living at home and living in your own apartment, probably.

[Probably... He's not really sure because he'd decided after like 6 hours that the dorm life wasn't for him.]

At least it's kinda close to campus, but... [STARING way off toward the actual college building clusters.] ...Well, nothing's really close right now.

[Nope. He dreads the idea of trying to get to class on time.]

You know those collectible toy skateboards they sell that are maybe eight inches?

I'm really wishing I collected those now.

Or one of those hotwheels cars, right? [A SIGH. If only tiny baby Kiyomitsu knew that someday years in the future, he'd need one of those to get to work or school...]

Well... D'you have anything else that might kinda work? Maybe you could turn a matchbox into a sled or something. I heard someone tamed a grasshopper and rode that buuut I'm not sure I'd suggest testing your luck.

I'm not that good with animals normally...

[When they're even bigger than him, there's no chance he'd do anything but flee in terror.]

I have... notepads, I guess? That might be a little too big.

Yeah, definitely don't risk it then. Not when even ants could totally kill you at this size...

[Death by ant, an actual concern that he never thought he'd face.]

A notepad would probably be too big, but... Mm, let's take a look. Maybe we can fold some of the paper up into something that you could actually use, like a boat or a plane?

Can we even fold paper when it's bigger than us? I never thought that'd be a challenge, but...

[Shuji doesn't want to be negative! He just thinks they're all fucked.]

[THAT SOUNDS LIKE A QUITTER, SHUJI!! Kiyomitsu seems to be thinking this over for a second though because honestly yeah they're all fucked.]

Well, we won't really lose anything by trying, right?

I guess not...

[They probably won't injure themselves. Unless they get a papercut.]

Might as well give it a shot.

[Finally, a death that tops "mauled by ants" in the Absolutely Stupid category.]

Let's go, then! I'll give you a hand. I'm pretty good at working on projects that take up entire rooms, so I'll probably be able to help with measurements and things like that.

[The benefits of being a designer...]

[Back to the dorms they go, then!]

Oh, you're an artist?

[LEAD THE WAY he will dutifully follow.]

Kinda! Not a paint-and-pen one, but I design clothes.

That's absolutely art! High art! People don't appreciate the amount of effort it takes to design clothing that's stylish, comfortable, inexpensive, sturdy... You don't get the amount of credit you deserve!

[Fashion nerd speaking.]

[AND IMMEDIATELY his expression brightens by like 1000 degrees. A fellow fashion nerd. Sure, they're in the middle of a crisis and need to build planes or boats or whatever without papercutting themselves to death, but look. FASHION.]

Oh my god you are officially the new fav. So many people just don't get it, but you're totally right! I mean, fashion's just art that uses bodies as canvases, y'know?

[Look, at least there's a bright side to all this.]

Exactly! And doesn't that make it one of the most important kinds of art? I mean, people are going to judge you by what you put on your body, way more than they're going to judge you by what painting you hang up in your living room or things like that. You want to make a good impression!

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