#isola event: proxy

[isolaradiale]

“Mm…”

Setting down her mug of coffee, Betelgeuse readjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. Staring at screens for too long could be exhausting; her eyes were staring to hurt. The data on the monitors behind her had long since faded into one incoherent blob. She really needed that coffee to kick in faster.

But, coffee or no coffee, at least she had been able to think, a feat that some might call “impressive”. Looking over everything had given her an idea.

Pushing her chair back, Betelgeuse got to her feet and gave a little stretch, only to start humming softly to herself as she practically bounced out of the room. Only once she reached a door at the end of the hallway did she pause, the humming stopping, so that she could gently smooth out her hair and make sure her ponytail was still decent so that she did not, in fact, look like she was only running on a few short naps.

Then she raised a hand to knock on the door, the sound echoing out down the hallway.

“He-llo, stars! I thought of something that might make for some interesting research…?”

☆               ★                ☆

The citizens of Spirale had grown used to the eclipses. Every few days, without fail, the sky would darken, and the inhabitants would shift -- time and time again, day in and day out. While a nuisance to newer faces maybe, inevitably it just became a part of life. An announcement that things had changed again. Anything repeated enough would just become routine, after all.

So when the sky grew dark again, today, that wasn’t out of the ordinary. Even at a first glance, everything seemed to be typical. Why question a routine playing out as it usually did? The winds didn’t blow any stronger than usual. The animals continued to sing their tunes. The day progressed, and the eclipse faded. The skies brightened once more.

But something more than a cursory glance showed that maybe today… wasn’t so usual, after all. A visit to the hole in the centre of Spirale, to the platform that any new faces found themselves waking up on, would show that there were no new faces after all. A glance at the contact list on anyone’s phone would show no shift in the population. No names seem to have changed.

Nobody had left.

And nobody had joined, either.

☆               ★                ☆

But something was notably… different.

It started slowly, at first. A wave seemed to wash over the city; not anything physical, oh no, but rather something mental. Anyone who had been asleep during the eclipse would find themselves waking up in an unfamiliar place, with no knowledge of how they had come to be in this city. Their rooms were unfamiliar, but looked far too lived in. More citizens still would simply blink, and suddenly -- be just as lost as those waking up. Why were they here? What was this city?

There was nothing to tell them where they were except for a notification on the phones found on their person or in their rooms:

Welcome to Spirale! :) Try not to worry too much about where you are; we promise everything will line up in time!

It rolled out over time, each wave hitting more than the last; faster. The citizens became… different. For each it was a personal change; some grew younger, and others still found themselves back in forms that they had long since lost.

And none of them seemed to know why they were here or what this Spirale might be. It sounded… safe somehow, though. Familiar.

But what was it…? Where were they…?

☆               ★                ☆

SO WHAT’S HAPPENED?

The affected characters have had their canon points moved back in time! They believe that they've been brought to Isola for the first time, with no knowledge of any of their prior time spent here. Wanted to bring your character from a really important event in their life, or from their childhood, but that wasn't really viable in the long run? You have the chance to play with that now!

Characters can be moved forward from their canon point too, but this is an “anomaly” and thus their memories can remain if you so choose! You must be planning to move your character up to that canon point anyway so as not to give them any meta knowledge they shouldn't have, but you can opt to use this event as a smooth way to update your canon point!

For instance, your character can slowly have their new memories trickle in, or the event time could be used to have them actively reflect on how things would have been different for them if they had been able to act in canon with their Isola knowledge and growth.

DO I HAVE TO BE AFFECTED?

Of course not! However, in order to gain participation credit in this case, your muse must interact with someone’s muse who is affected or else actively comment on the situation at hand.

Keeping in mind that the point of this event is to be able to explore what-ifs and growth paths for characters that may not have been able to take those routes otherwise, be sure to respect the wishes of each individual mun! While your character may have met an affected character in Isola before, for instance, don’t tell this character all about that without permission from the writer!

AM I LOCKED INTO A SINGLE CANON POINT?

No! You’re free to change your character’s canon point as many times as you want, but know that so long as your character is at a point before their Isola canon point, their memories will be reset each time.

MY CHARACTER CHANGES ENTIRELY IN THE PAST/FUTURE. IS THAT OKAY?

Absolutely! If it works with your canon point shift, anything is possible!

For example, a non-human character could return to the human form they once were, or a human character could revert to their non-human origins. This of course isn’t limited to these two options; your character can return to any different form they had in the past, so long as it works with their canon!

MY MUSE SHARES A CANON PAST WITH ANOTHER MUSE ON THE MASTERLIST, THOUGH!

We’re well aware that this is a possibility, too! In this case, you’ll have to either choose a point in your character’s past that doesn’t overlap, or else receive mun permission from the other muse to use an overlapping canon point! However, please realize that this is potentially an important development prospect for any doubles and someone asking permission from you isn't meant to step on your toes or anything; as well, please respect your double's decision if they do say no, as they may have a reason for declining!

WHAT ABOUT ABILITIES?

Characters that have abilities currently, but no abilities at the point they’ve been moved to, will not have any way to access the abilities they once had in Isola.

As well, if your character moves to a point where they have abilities that they no longer have as of their Isola canon point, they will also have no access to these abilities.

DO DRABBLES COUNT?

Yes! Drabbles of 500+ words will count for participation! As stated above, if your muse is unaffected, you can use this drabble to have them reflect on the situation at hand!

WILL OUR MUSES GET THEIR MEMORIES BACK AFTER THE EVENT?

At the end of the event, your muse will retain every memory they had before the event began; the memory loss of the event isn't permanent. So, yes! Their memories will return to them.

HOW LONG WILL THE EVENT LAST?

The event will last until 11:59:59 PM EST on July 10th!

[underteika]

@motorcitymutt​ is getting a starter!

The door beeped a few times as the key was held up to it, and the empath came in as usual and shut the door behind them, all but slumping to the floor.

“Man, it’s totally warped out there. A bunch of people are younger for some reason? I don’t think I’ve spent more than, like, an hour with a kid at any given time, and I was stuck with two and a teenager at the house. Zal doesn’t remember who I am either, it’s... ugh.”

With a whine, they got back up, putting a plastic bag with two styrofoam food containers in it on the dining room table.

“Anyway, I brought some comfort food over. Patty melts are like burgers, you’ll like ‘em, hon.” ... (”Well, that one’s not at weird, but I guess I could do better.”)

[mvrderbot]

@redlichbluelich​ // event sc!

        why did humans like to stare so much - like it was a damn hobby or something? it knew that they were staring at it. humans didn’t think it could notice or care. then again, making stupid assumptions was kind of what humans did, and why they needed bot-human constructs to prevent them from killing each other most of the time. maybe that was why it was brought here. or maybe this all was just a way to test it - to see how far it could be pushed before it accidentally gave away that it was a rogue SecUnit. both options sounded equally as outlandish and unlikely, and murderbot desperately wished that it could just go back into its cubicle and ignore everyone and everything here. 

      especially this fucking human who seemed fascinated by it for some reason!

        making sure to move its line of sight straight ahead and nowhere near meeting the eyes of the stranger, murderbot’s buffer of pre-programmed responses spoke up for it. “ this unit is currently under contracted orders. attempting to interfere with these orders may result in actions potentially including - but not limited to - bodily harm against your person, fines against your employer, death, and/or charges for any damage done to the property of contracted clients. ” that usually scared people away. it didn’t exactly have any orders here yet, and even if it did there was nothing besides its own uncertainty making it follow them. but it was a decent bluff, and hopefully enough to be left alone.

[helpingthelongrain]

     Watching people wasn’t something the man was too interested in. Rather than just watching, he’d rather be selling— but, it seemed odd to see someone of such a young age wandering around the Red Light District, of all places. Immediately, he felt wary at the sight.

Collecting the rest of the broken tea pot he had found on the ground into his pouch, Rinnosuke made his way over to the lost-looking child, frowning slightly as he regarded her, some of the cats that had been circling Oriko looking up at the man as he drew near— before hissing at the small, robotic puppy that accompanied the man and proceeding to scatter.

“Ah... excuse me. Miss? This place isn’t particularly safe for children. It’s the sort of place that only adults should be wandering about it.” He crosses his arms, expression growing more stern. “I'd recommend you head back home. Especially with it growing dark already— dangerous folk tend to come out around here when it gets late...”

     It wasn’t like him to preach to some child he didn’t know, but... the nature of this very place aside, it wouldn’t sit right with him to let a kid wander around such a dangerous area.

Especially when he knew of the sorts one might accidentally come across, here.

@thewhitepuellamagi​

[temperedwithgods]

Affinity Chart Update: @voidgivenheart​

“What’s this?” Shulk tilted his head and stared at the inky darkness. He’d never seen anything like it; even the caves he’d been in hadn’t been this dim. Weirder still, the black spot was much darker than anything around it and had defined edges.

Shulk reached forward. He wanted to touch it, to see if he could touch it, but he suddenly froze. The darkness seemed to have horns and eyes like an animal. Shulk knew very well even at four-years-old that walking up to potentially dangerous creatures was a good way to get a little Homs killed. Still frozen with his arm out, he dared not move. Instead, he tried calling out to them.

“It’s okay,” he said quietly in what he hoped was a soothing voice. “I just want to be your friend.”

[darknessfoundlove]

Data about @decodetalking​ has been added to your memory banks

He woke up. In itself, that was already a weird start to his day because he hardly needed to sleep in the first place. Things only got weirder from there when he realized he was in a drone, placed on a nightstand, in a human apartment.

It wasn’t unusual for him to briefly occupy devices with cameras so he could check up on his Origin (make sure he was doing somewhat okay and that his life was moving in the proper direction, that sort of thing), but for him to have put himself into sleep mode in an unfamiliar place? Mistakes like this were going to get him caught by SOL.

He couldn’t remember how he got here, but that in itself wasn’t unusual. He wouldn’t have thought days spent running for his life would be so forgettable, and yet they seemed to bleed together after a couple of years. He didn’t even bother searching his memory banks. The truly disturbing thing was that he couldn’t seem to connect to VRAINS. There was another VR network parallel to this place instead. Just as he was contemplating checking out that network and maybe using it to leapfrog into VRAINS, he noticed an open window next to him. While he was here, he might as well look at where he had ended up and he was in the perfect vehicle to do so. He activated the drone and flew out the window, taking in the city in front of him before spotting a tiny human on the street below.

Though he was certain he would recognize his Origin anywhere, the last time he had checked on him, not even a week ago, he was a teenager at 16-years old. Unless he was missing a very important part of human biology, humans couldn’t age in reverse. Yet, the child standing there looked exactly the same as when the Ignis had first seen him, when Yusaku was 6-years old and had been used to bring him into existence.

None of this was right. How was Yusaku supposed to fight the Knights of Hanoi when he was just a child? How would he move on with his life? Were he and his Origin doomed to a strange loop of always running from their problems?

Maybe he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe this was a perfectly normal part of the human lifespan he just hadn’t read about yet. He hadn’t spoken to his Origin directly since Yusaku had been rescued, so the Ignis was fairly sure Yusaku wouldn’t be able to recognize him by voice as that had changed over the years. He decided that maybe a direct approach would be best. He flew down closer to the child.

“Yusaku Fujiki?”

He tried to speak quietly and calmly from inside the screen of the drone. Young humans were generally weak and unable to take care of themselves, unlike Ignis, making them sometimes skittish.

“Why are you so small?”

[aid-lombard]

@0racleray liked.

Much of her immediate panic has vanished by this point. Still, the girl is lost and confused, but there’s a bit of a freeing feeling, no longer having to worry about her father..at least, for a little bit. No one’s asking her to do things she doesn’t understand. But even without that weight on her shoulder, there’s still the fear of what she needs to do now that she’s...on her own. (She doesn’t understand that the house she woke up in is partially hers; yet another thing she couldn’t possibly understand.)

As she wanders about, she sees many strange people, and even strange beings that she almost pretends don’t exist, for the sake of her own sanity. But one thing catches her eye--or, rather, one girl’s hair. It’s almost the same color as hers, and the girl gasps, because she’s never seen that before--only her mother was the same.

Normally, she’s quite reserved and timid, but she’s so shocked by this sighting that she puts aside her fear for the first time since she tried to confront her father, and runs up to the girl. She’s clearly not a fellow slave, she’s dressed far too fancily for that. The girl doesn’t stop to think about what repercussions she could face for being so insolent, what harsh words could be thrown at her. She stops, grabs her knees and pants for a second, before pointing. “We--have the same hair--!”

[blackmagi]

@etherfueled​

An adult target was more dangerous than another kid. But no one was around except that unlucky guy. And he had freckles! Judar was crouching on a tree branch, his perfect hiding spot to assault victims. 

Probably this one would know something. Perhaps he was even related to the other freckles he knew. Maybe they were all part of the same ugly freckle family! 

So when Cayden was close enough to the tree, something, a red shadow fell from the sky, kimono and all wrapped around his head.

“Give up, big freckles! You’re my servant now!”

[redwinging]

@notbatboy​

Seeing a child in full League of Assassin’s gear is only slightly unsettling. 

He’s had run ins with the League before, and knew that they weren’t to be trifled with. Even if they were less then five feet tall. He could sense it off of this kid, too, if he made the wrong move he might just be sliced up into mincemeat. 

Stay on your toes, Robin.

Even so, he can’t let somebody from his world walking around thinking that they’re completely and utterly alone. That’d be wrong. That is, if League children can feel emotional distress. He’ll have to find out.

“I guess assassins don’t always travel in packs.” He says, approaching the kid from behind. Now that he has a closer look, he can’t help but think this pipsqueak looks vaguely familiar, but he can’t quite place it. “Are you out here alone, or do you have backup? No use lying, I’ll figure out the answer soon enough.”

“Besides, we’d be better off working together.”

[gracefieldorphan]

@baddestdangerboy​

That had been the first time she had seen an adult man.

As far as she was aware, the only adults who existed in the world were ‘Mothers’. He didn’t look like the prime age for a caretaker, either... He was too young. Furthermore, his appearance wasn’t welcoming like a ‘Mother’. 

Was he someone from the farm who escaped? No, that’d be impossible, too.

“You don’t have one.” She managed to say, despite her nervousness. “You don’t have a farm identifier.”

There was no way a single person from her world could simply not have a farm identifier. It was something that was given at birth. The only people she could think of who may be exempt from it would be a Mother- but he certainly wasn’t a mother.

“Who... Are you?”

[beyond-use]

 @redlichbluelich​ || PROXY EVENT STARTER CALL.

Rung entered the clinic as quietly and unobtrusively as he could. ...which might have been more effective if he didn’t have to stoop to enter, his shoulders and hoverboard clanging against the doorframe as he stepped inside.

He winced at the noise, casting an apologetic glance around the office. Residents-- including patients like Pale King-- had begun to behave very, very strangely. He didn’t want to startle anyone here if they had experienced similar memory issues or had turned into gigantic, angry worms who were clearly offended by his presence.

There was no one in the waiting room except for Barry, though, and a cursory scan revealed that he had not undergone any significant physical changes-- at least not that Rung could see from here.

Thank Primus.

“Barry, am I glad to see you!” He let out a small, relieved ex-vent of air and slumped against the door. It would be nice to have some help in handling this situation, yes, but more than that, Rung was just happy to see that his friend was alright.

“There’s something wrong. I’m not entirely sure what’s happening, but it’s definitely not good. If you’re feeling up to it, I think we should go check on some of the others--”

[isolaradiale]

As suddenly as it had started,           it began to end.

The wave that had crashed upon the city, bringing changes to its citizens, seemed to slowly come undone. Just as once the residents of Spirale had found themselves in the city in different forms, certain it was for the first time, they began to revert.

Once more, they were as they should be. Once more, they were as they had been when they were initially brought to the city, with their proper forms, their proper ages, their proper knowledge.

And – more.

While they returned to normal in the blink of an eye, the memories didn’t necessarily do the same. To some, they were instantaneous; to others, they returned in chunks, slowly catching them up on everything – but they all let them know that, no, they had lived so much more to life than they had thought, and that they had been in Spirale before. Some had been in Spirale for months… years.

But they remembered this, too. They remembered it all; each conversation, each experience, that they had had in the past two weeks. It was real. It had happened.

☆               ★                ☆

Betelgeuse leaned forward in her chair, hands clapping together a little too loudly.

“Oh, that worked out so much better than I would have anticipated!”

Sure, there had been a couple little things she hadn’t expected, but in general, everything had worked out amazingly. She’d definitely have to spend some time observing the effects in the coming weeks, too. How intriguing!

But, for now,           the island was normal again.

☆               ★                ☆

THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING IN PROXY!

As stated above, your characters will remember everything that transpired during this event. How they deal with this is up to you, whether good or bad or anything in between. As well, their other memories have been returned to them and they have been returned to normal! Of course, this will happen at the soonest possible safe moment for them.

In the case your character went forward, you won’t need to contact the masterlist if their canon point change only affects their memories. Anything greater than that (ie abilities changing), as specified here, will need to be approved by us, but the moment it is you’re free to start roleplaying at your new canon point permanently!

There will not be any power, weapon, or marketplace rewards given out for this event. However, even though the conclusion’s been posted, you have until Monday the 13th at 11:59:59 PM EST to get any last minute event participation in.

We hope you enjoyed Proxy, and see you next time! ★

[epitaphriddle]

Sayo had spent the last five minutes pacing around, trying to psyche herself up. She had never spoken to anyone outside of Rokkenjima before, and her only experience with teenagers were those other crude servants who picked on her so much.

.... This is different, though. This person certainly won’t be cruel to you, so... You should just go talk to her...!

It was difficult, but eventually, Sayo managed to gather up the courage to say something.

“E-Excuse me?” The child timidly spoke up. “Are you writing something... Is it a story? Um... What is it about?”

@bubonem​

[berserkgened]

@origingened​ // sc.

       they had never met this being - mewtwo was sure of that - but they couldn’t help but feel a sense of...familiarity? of knowing? they certainly looked more like themself than any person or pokemon mewtwo had known so far, which was an exciting idea! who were they? were they a copy? another -two? mewtwo drifted closer - not quite cautious, but just unsure of what to say or how to approach them. before too long, their fascination got the better of them, and mewtwo could put it off no longer- moving closer to the unusual pink pokemon(?).

     “ you’re like me! ” an exclamation - and something barely resembling a smile formed on their face. not entirely similar - there were as many differences as there were similarities, which confused the young clone. “ what are you? are you a pokemon? ” it was still difficult for them to pin the specifics of what differentiated ‘pokemon’ and ‘people’, but the human they’d met earlier here didn’t seem concerned about it. and neither had amber, for that matter. maybe the distinction wasn’t that important after all.

       “ are you a copy, too? what’s your name? ” mewtwo tilted their head, but their smile didn’t waver. the lopsided-ness of their position made them ‘roll’ briefly in the air in a playful manner, though they were quick to correct it as they awaited the other’s answers. how fun!

[ryuujiin]

Ryuu immediately tenses up when he sees a child wandering around alone. Where are her parents? Does she have any at all?

When he notices the scars on her body, he decides that it’s probably for the best not to ask. There was a time where he wore that same hopeless expression, and he had seen it on his little brother too.

Even looking down at his hands... He has similar scars of his own. 

No, it’s best that he doesn’t get too caught up in all that. The last thing he wants to do is upset her.

“Hey...”

He kneels down in front of her with a gentle smile. Even then, he’s a couple feet away from her. He doesn’t want to get too close if she’s not uncomfortable.

“You’re out here alone, aren’t you? My name’s Ryuu...” It’s okay, you can say it. “... Akiyama. If you need help, I can get you something to eat. Does that sound good?”

@mxonkxss​

[temperedwithgods]

Affinity Chart Update: @moonbeam-power

It had been a bad idea to go out into a crowded street. He had never been somewhere with so many people, so he hadn’t expected them to ignore and practically shove him aside as they continued on their way. Everyone was so much bigger than him! With every person that bumped into him, he grew closer and closer to tears. Someone, probably not even seeing him at all, ran into him with such force he had to grab onto the legs of a nearby adult to keep from falling over.

“Sorry...” Shulk said to the ground, still holding onto the person’s legs. He was shy even at the best of times, and now with being on the verge of tears he wanted nothing more than to hide his face against the legs in front of him. Knowing that wouldn’t be polite, he instead looked up at the person he’d accidentally caught.

The woman had blonde hair in a style he had never seen. His mom had told him that blonde hair was generally rare among Homs, but more common in his Colony than others. Maybe this lady was from the same Colony as him?

“Excuse me? I’m lost.” He was still clinging to her legs, not wanting to be lost in the crowd again. “Do you know the way back to the Colony?”