recolle | september mini-event log

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september mini-event log

MINI-EVENT

All's Well That Ends Well
Summer's officially drawing to a close in the city of Recollé. Students and faculty alike begin to prepare for classes to resume. Vacations come to a close and stories are shared among co-workers. The amount of beachgoers lessens which each day and the nights start to become a little cooler as the leaves slowly change color. Unreality is kept at bay for now. But that doesn't mean the city's entirely back to normal...

I.
It's a beautiful day and many citizens in the city are embracing their last days of freedom. With a long weekend ahead of them, several people pack up and head back down to the beach to welcome the ocean home and partake in the annual End of Summer party. Much like July's celebration, Peach Beach is the place to be for food, fun and sun. The food trucks are back (and seriously, is this the only action they get?) and the stage is set up for musical and theatrical performances. Soak up some rays and spend the day with your friends, and don't forget to take advantage of the end of summer deals on the boardwalk.

However, the party doesn't get too far before there's the sound of a something soaring through the air. One by one, beachgoers will notice several boats falling straight from the sky and down into the ocean creating huge waves that crash against the shore. Tour boats, sailboats, and even a houseboat will plummet down into the water, miraculously avoiding crushing any swimmers. Make way, everyone: the boats are back and they're making a splash.

II.

Perhaps you're new to the Retrospec network and you've spent the last couple of days trying to remove the persistent app. Or perhaps you've been a part of this group for a while and you're currently filled with dread bracing yourself for whatever will inevitably come this month. It's not a bad assumption to make and though it may seem as though all things are normal for once, it all starts with an innocent text message.

From an unknown number, all users will receive a picture message along with a smiley face. Though there's no name or message attached to it, several users may know exactly where this came from.

Try as you might, replying to the text message won't work. No matter how many messages you send, the last half of these messages are unknowingly sent out to various Retrospec users. Likewise, you may receive other out of context messages from other users experiencing the same weird effects. Well that's inconvenient, isn't it?

III.
You know, texting can be considered overrated. Why text when you can settle for good old-fashioned face to face communication? With several new faces in the city and the autumn season beginning to settle in, there are plenty of places to go and people to see to unplug for a while. Now that all of the monsters are gone things seem to run smoothly as you go about your daily business. While there's some debris left around the city, the buildings are all in one piece and NPCs seem to be as oblivious as always.

It may be unnoticeable at first. After all, how many people look above their own head? Not many. At any given moment unprompted and unannounced, a gray wispy cloud appears overhead displaying any thoughts you may not wish to share with the public. While the thought bubble won't remain at all times, it will pop up on and off throughout the month of September changing messages and even changing color when speaking to someone face to face. Think your professor's talking too much? Want to ask out that cute barista? Good thing they can read all about it!

IV.
Even with the embarrassing texts and thoughts, this appears relatively tame by Recollé standards. Maybe the effects of unreality really did mess things up and the team's too focused on fixing it. Or, perhaps, this month's twist is a small one in comparison to the temporal storm of August.

On the other hand, it wouldn't be Recollé if things weren't a little more physical, now would it? Settling back into everyday life, users will find that things seem more vibrant now. Sights are brighter, smells are more savory, and sound is sharper than ever. Sound has become so loud, in fact, it's almost as if the sound waves have taken on a life of their own. No matter where you go or what you do, sound will make itself present in new and interesting ways. Musical notes will float out of your mouth as you sing along to your favorite song. Glaringly red jagged lines wind themselves around the feet of someone being yelled at. Storm clouds follow and drench someone who's crying. Hearts rise up in the air like bubbles and pop into small showers of confetti with every expression of love. Sound is fluid and expression is free; there seems to be zero limits to what shape the noise will take.

What are you doing today, Retrospecters? You may find yourself dealing with one, two, or all three of these strange phenomenons.

BONUS.
Over in Tisse, the Retrospec building is as sturdy as ever. Several of you know by now that there is more to this building than meets the eye, but even with the map in-hand it's impossible to navigate anywhere the building does not wish for you to explore.

Today, the doors to Retrospec are open to anyone interested in visiting. The lobby appears to be empty as usual and the receptionist desk in the center of the lobby is completely abandoned. Surrounding the desk, however, are several items. In fact, these are all items Retrospec users bought from Jim Halloway's wedding registry during July's bingo game. Several of these items are useful, such as his and her towels or silverware,
but other items seem outlandish or useless such as meme t-shirts, rubber ducks, and other assorted odds and ends. A stack of thank you cards sit on the receptionist's desk but it appears they have not been started yet.

Although none of the rooms are available for entry, underneath the television mounted on the wall sits a DVD clearly labeled "for educational purposes only." Should anyone put on the DVD, they will find a variety of clips from events from the last several months. Strangely there does not appear to be anything from the nine groups that were split between reality and unreality. It's a nice review of the year so far, isn't it? Perhaps it's time to explain to some new users just what this world is truly capable of.

Welcome to

recolle's September mini-event! The prompts are simply loose guidelines for you guys to play with and make up your own fun adventures for the entire month of September! While prompt I is only for the long holiday weekend, the rest of the prompts and the bonus can take place over the course of the month. You may also create your own logs or inbox threads based on these effects. All effects will cease on 10/1 at 9pm EST. Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here.

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[Minako laughs herself, and winks.

"I have a lot of things to think about," is the thought bubble answer, and then she actually speaks up:]

It's fine, Lucy, I'm not offended or anything. Though now that you mention it, I'm curious too.

["Freya doesn't usually deal with kids unless she's saving them from fires."]

[Luna finally gets a thoughtbubble after that 'You don't actually care why' floats there, but she doesn't seem to notice, since she's paying attention to the dog mostly as she answers.]

[Her attitude doesn't seem to match up with the thought though.]

Foster family made me go to one of those 'meet your role models' things a while back.

Met Freya there, cause she's a fire fighter right? Guess they conned her into going. She seemed cool though.

[Cooler than some of them anyway.]

[Lucy went very stiff, glaring at the thought hanging over her sister's head. There were a number of things she took issue with, and Lucy's thought-bubble took on an agitated-looking edge, turning orange. There weren't any new words there, just irritation.]

She does care.

[Minako glances at Lucy, sensing her irritation and trying to give her a placating look.]

Freya is very cool, I agree with you there. It hasn't been long since she became an official fire fighter, but she's one of the best ones on the squad, in my opinion.

Why would she care?

[Luna snapped back before looking over at Minako again.]

I don't know if she's any good or not. She just seemed like the least likely blue some 'do good and walk straight and everything'll turn up rose' nonsense at me.

[Usually, Minako's presence alone would have been sufficient to guarantee Lucy's good behavior. But not this time, when Luna was as aggravating as a thorn in her foot.

She put down the coffee cup first before snarling in response.]

Because she's like that, Luna.

[Minako or Freya or both.]

[There's a very visible "uh-oh" hovering over Minako's head, but her voice is calm when she speaks.]

Luna doesn't know me and Freya like you do, Lucy, it's natural for her to think we're just another set of annoying adults. I mean, even I think I'm annoying sometimes. But-- [And here she turns to Luna.] If you're going to visit often, we'd like to have the chance to prove you wrong.

[Luna rolled her eyes at both of them, gently pushing the dog back out of her lap as she stood up.]

I didn't say...think...whatever...that you were annoying adults. I said you don't care. And you don't.

[She shrugged as she moved to pick up the other cup of coffee in both hands, though she didn't actually drink it.]

You don't know me. Lucy barely even knows me. Why should you care?

Edited 2017-09-21 22:42 (UTC)

[Lucy snapped at the back of her sister's head, unwilling to let go. She was terrible at that.]

Knock it off, Luna!

[And she reached to grab Luna's shoulder, with a physical hand—and a vector too.]

[You know, Freya had been intent on shower, but it wasn't hard to hear Lucy's steadily rising voice. She settled for washing her face instead, walking back out into the room at... just the right time, apparently.]

[Freya caught Lucy with an arm looped around her ribs, almost casually pulling the small woman back.]

Oi, settle down. Not long ago, you were spoutin' something just like it.

["Obnoxious, isn't it."]

Lucy invited you here. That's all the reason I need to care.

[Said as she moves the coffee things off the table, so nothing goes flying if there's a spat.]

[If Luna had been going to respond to Minako again, it was cut off when Lucy was suddenly grabbing her with a hand and her powers. Hey grey eyes went wide in surprise, trying to pull away.]

Hey! Lucy let me go!

[And then Freya was pulling Lucy back, and between that and Luna pulling the other direction, when the hands came free, she fell backwards onto her rear with a surprised grunt, dropping the coffee cup she had picked up to smack against the floor and spill, luckily not on her legs.]

Shit.

[She immediately darted to her feet and halfway across the room, almost like a retreating animal, putting Minako between herself and Lucy even as she was grabbing for the shoes she'd left by the couch the next before.]

[Lucy's hands sprang free as soon as they'd latched onto Luna's shoulder, and she started wriggling as soon as Freya yanked her back. She'd even turned her head like she was going to snap at her roommate—and her brain finally caught back up. The racket of Luna (and the cup) falling and scrambling away was startling, but not startling enough this time. She stopped wiggling as her mouth clamped shut again, and she slouched forwards, physical arm flopping down to hang next to the other one. The vector disappeared too, but not Lucy's thoughts.]

["Stupid stupid stupid. Katherine wouldn't have done that."]

[Once Lucy slumped, Freya unwound her arm with an arched eyebrow. Her gaze flicked over the thought bubble to Luna, then to Minako. This seemed like an affair for the sisters to sort out, but Lucy... wasn't the best in that regard.]

[Then she looks back at Luna.] Easy. She'll behave now.

[Minako catches Freya's gaze, and then follows after Luna to offer a beckoning hand and give her a beseeching look. Koromaru wiggles his way forward too, whining softly.]

Please don't leave? We just want to talk things out.

[Luna's thought bubbles were a chaotic whirlwind above her head as she grabbed up her shoes. 'What the hell?' 'Why Lucy?' 'Ow my shoulders' 'HOW COULD YOU' All of them were tinted a kind of grey pink, and between each one were dozens of smaller ones with just words like 'run' and 'panic.']

[Her eyes were still a bit wild, really, even as Minako and Freya were trying to reassuring her, and now 'No she won't' 'stay back' were floating up there as well in the jumble, even as Luna seemed to try to downplay things.]

No it's...uh. It's cool it's fine. ['No it's not'] I gotta...go anyway. Thanks for the...couch. Sorry for coming in without saying anything. Won't happen again.

[Backing towards the door as she talked.]

[The first time Lucy had seen Katherine in years, she ran away. On the reverse side now with Luna about to flee, and...she couldn't think of a single thing to say. What could she even say? Lucy not shutting up is what caused all this. She didn't listen to Minako, she didn't listen to anything besides her selfish defensiveness.

She glanced at Luna, at the panicked flurry of thoughts over her head—and glanced away, hands balling up into fists.

Lucy's thoughts didn't have words in them, just guilty, apprehensive squiggles floating in distressed orange.]

[Luna's thoughts continued to be a chaotic blur, her eyes flicking from Lucy to the other two, then back. She paused just long enough to drop her shoes to the floor and shove her feet into them, and just when she was turning she froze up for a moment, eyes wide. What?]

[For maybe three seconds she was perfectly still, and then it passed, and now 'What the hell' was the sudden, central thought in her little whirlwind, followed by 'have to go' and 'oh my god' and 'who the hell was that' and then 'run'.]

...Bye.

[And she was out the door and gone.]

[Minako watches Luna retreat until she can't see her anymore, then quietly closes the door. A glance to Freya, and then she steps back to Lucy's side.]

What do you want to do, Lucy?

[Lucy twitched at the sound of the door closing, glancing up to confirm Luna was really gone. And she was, like a passing thought. Lucy stared down at some spot between the wall and the floor even as Minako approached.]

...I don't know.

[Her fingernails were pressing uncomfortable semicircles into her palms with how tightly she was holding them.]

I shouldn't have done that.

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september mini-event log

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crap I had this ready all day and never hit post

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