repeter | JANUARY TDM

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JANUARY TDM

TEST DRIVE

JANUARY TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé. A beautiful city with beautiful people. The place you call home. It's a wonderful home, isn't it? With everything you could possibly ever want right at your fingertips, why would you ever want to leave?

In honor of this glorious city, the residents of Recollé are preparing for its annual Founder's Day celebration…you'll help out, won't you?

I.
Recollé Square is bustling with activity today and several residents are working together to pitch a large tent. Others are working together to decorate the fountain of the founders with flowers and streamers. Children and dogs run through the area and there's song in the air as everyone works together.

Are you one of the people helping with the streamers? Or perhaps you're holding the ropes of the tent taunt so it doesn't blow away? Hey, maybe you're catering the whole event to feed those hard workers! The choices are endless…but you might want to catch those balloons that are starting to float away!

II.
Meanwhile in Chata, business is booming as everyone crowds the parking lot of Freshens trying to fight their way into the store. You really should have thought to buy your groceries much sooner. Everyone knows that Founder's Day is one of the best potluck days and, weather permitting, picnic days. Are you having any luck getting into the store? Is that the last rack of ribs? You better hurry and snag them!

On the flipside, shop owners in Chata are busy setting up food stalls and merchandise tables in preparation of the main event. The smell of sweets and spices fills the air and you can't help but follow your nose to check it out. The vendors are all friendly and happy to give away samples of their goods in the hopes that you'll be back in a few days' time. Or maybe you're one of those vendors hoping to attract customers for Founder's Day. Do you have all of your supplies? Your permits? Is that teenager trying to steal apples from your produce stand? Everything's a little chaotic in the days before Founder's Day.

III.
The work doesn't stop there. Over in Tisse it's party central with flashing lights, sound tests, and a festive atmosphere that says the celebration's already started for several businesses. The line for Expressive is out the door with customers eager for their Founder's Day special. Be careful, you might have to finagle your way through the crowd. Throughout the day you may hear music and mic tests coming from the Atrium as the local schools work together during their dress rehearsal for the Founder's Day Pageant. You might even have an insider's look if you're one of the students in the pageant or one of the stage hands helping with last-minute set design, costume alteration or any of the other countless things that could go wrong.

The employees at the boutiques inside the Towers are bustling as well, swapping their floor displays and handing out flyers and coupons to shoppers to encourage them to come back for their big sales. Maybe you are one of those employees and now you're dealing with some wicked papercuts, or maybe the smell of butter is seeping into your clothing as Flix opens its doors to an early marathon of historical films depicting the life and tales of the city.

Tisse is most certainly the busiest of the districts today, but there's still so much to be done!

IV.
Most important of all, back in Tribunal Terrace residents will find Mayor Mayer out and about today which may seem unusual. The Mayor tends to stay inside City Hall keeping the city running from there, but today he's speaking with someone handling a large truck. People passing by may hear some scurrying from inside the truck, the sound of claws skittering on the metal floor, and…is that clucking? No, wait, now it's the sound of hoofs clomping and the whinny of a horse.

What's going on in there? Maybe you should investigate and ask around. Employees working for the Mayor will only give you a strange look in response, and the Mayor himself is unavailable for commentary…but it can't just be your imagination, can it?

Upon further examination and questioning residents will be told that these are horses for pony rides for the kids on Founder's Day, but that doesn't stop all of the weird noises. What on earth is going on?

BONUS.
Despite the festivities and the light-hearted mood of the city, it's still winter. Like all winters prior, it's chilly enough that you'll need a warm coat outside, but the storm season has passed. Instead, today in all districts there's a light flurry of snow falling, snowflakes gently twirling and landing on your shoulders and in your hair. It's not enough to stop the work, but it may send several people to crowd inside coffee shops for a hot drink or shops to take a break from the cold.

Bet you weren't expecting that influx of business, were you?

And later…much later, in fact, those carrying cell phones or tablets will feel a jolt from the device. A closer look will reveal that a new application has started to install itself on these devices, but you can't seem to open it right away. That's a bit odd, isn't it? It might be wise to check other devices in the city to see if the application's installed itself. Upon further investigation, though, you'll find only a handful of residents have the app installed. The app pops up on any public computer you may use but fades away the moment you log off.

Strange, strange, strange. Once it fully loads on your device, you'll find that the app, Retrospec, appears to be a social media app with the option to friend people, share statuses, pictures, videos and more. Those sections are currently blocked out, however. Take some time to fill out your profile if you'd like; that portion of the application seems to be the only one that can be accessed currently. All other social media (Facebook, Twitter, and regular texting) are accessible, but the app itself stubbornly remains on your own profile page.

Welcome to the

recolle test drive meme! 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. Please note that TDM threads can be used as samples, can be kept as game canon if both parties agree, and can also be used for bonus points for future item regains. (Additionally: we will not be allowing TDM threads to be used for memory regains.) Write as many or few prompts as you want, tag around, and have fun!

As a reminder: as per our app rules, please try not to reference other characters in your threads or in your AUs if that character isn't being applied for! Our favorite example is as follows: if an Elsa from Frozen is being TDM'd, we ask that the player not reference her sister Anna by name unless an Anna is planning to TDM and be part of the same AU. Elsa can reference her younger sister in threads as much as she'd like if she has a sister in her AU, but we ask that names are not specified without having that character TDM'd and without the player's permission. Please also remember that posting to the TDM does not equate a reserve, which open on 1/18.

The January 2017 TDM directory can be found here. The January 2017 Workshop can be found here. The mod questions comment is here.

Our overflow post can be found here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

ii.

[ Grocery shopping isn’t the activity that Aranea looks forward to all week. In fact, she abhors the very idea, but she swore that she just heard multiple rumors of an impending snowstorm. Would all the grocery stores and restaurants potentially be shut down? As a woman that survives off Chinese takeout and microwavable pizza, she has been driven positively fearful by the weather reports.

Therefore, she joins the throng at Freshens, stocking up with a stack of frozen meals. The next item of business is to make some inquiries to the vendors. ]

Tell me, [ Aranea is already helping herself to free goods, arching a brow in the direction of the vendor. Even among a crowd, her voice carries through, and she disregards the possibility of attracting some attention in regards to her own shamelessness. ] Just how many of these are you giving out for free?

iii.

[ Darkness has taught Aranea how to be an animal — ruthless, survivalist, instinctual, and those are exactly the instincts she’ll have to tap into if she wants to do anything fun tonight. The crowd teems around Expressive she walks up to the entryway, spindly, black patent heel tapping against the sidewalk. She can already feel the tingling around her feet, another reason why she should never wear her newest pair of heels on a long night out.

The woman never cares to learn from these types of mistakes, having built up a high tolerance to pain and discomfort along time ago — along with a habit of discarding clothes on a whim if they happened to piss her off too much.

Approaching the front of the line, Aranea ignores some of the irritated stares pointed in her direction. Flashing a smile towards one of the pricks, she regards the bouncer with a flat, even stare. Someone asks her if she’s on a list. She wasn’t — she just knows people, even if they'd rather not know who she is. Painted lips curl into a thin smile, hand rising to adjust the fray of her platinum blonde fringe. ]

Darling, don’t waste my time. [ The bouncer’s deadpan stare tells her that it isn’t going to be that easy. She laughs. ] And don’t believe everything your parents told you. Dumb really isn’t your best look. Go tell Ciaran that Aranea is here and she wants in.

[ While these boys and girls run their errands on her behalf, almond-shaped eyes narrow. Fingertips tap against her arm, before she finds someone that interests her — you. The fact that she is wearing a dress in the winter, even with a jacket, contributes to her next remark: ]

Cold out here, isn’t it.

bonus.

[ Cold nips at her bare nose, snowflakes disappearing into her hair and catching onto the fibers of her wool coat. Lifting her scarf to cover the bottom half of her face, she walks slowly down the street. As a hard and fast rule, Aranea keeps her phone on vibrate. It just irritates her the less because she doesn’t have time to lower the volume when she’s working or to crank the volume as loud as she can when she’s in a loud setting.

When she accidentally brushes past you — trying to dodge a gaggle of girls too busy giggling than to walk in a pace acceptable for a city, Aranea feels an unwelcome jolt, far sharper than the steady vibrate of her phone. Hissing underneath her breath, she grabs you by the shoulder. Or, at the very least, she’ll make a solid attempt to get your attention, while throwing a sharp look and unjust accusation in your direction. ]

What did you just do?

wildcard.

[ feel free to write your own starter! aranea is often at bars, clubs, other seedy spaces, the occassional night class, or just out and about in general. her au workshop link is here. i’ll be sure to tag out when i get back from work tomorrow! ]

Edited 2017-01-11 08:13 (UTC)

( Percival doesn't budge that much when Aranea walked past him-- He simply considers such bump as a normal occurrence, especially with the amount of other people. He does, however, budge and looks a bit surprised when Aranea suddenly draps her hand on his shoulder.

The surprised face flashes out as fast as it flashes in though and is quickly replaced with a stern face, his hand quickly moves to grab Aranea's wrist; exactly the one hand that's resting on his shoulder. He doesn't remove her hand yet, Percival merely gives her a stare in return. )

Well, what did you just do, woman?

( Aranea might be some sort of intimidating figure with her background, but Percival is a relatively-high ranked military himself. He's the very type that fight fire with fire. )

Asked a question that got answered with another question. [ Aranea simpers in a mocking tone, one thin, pale eyebrow arching upward.

A lazy smile then settles upon her lips as she lightheartedly flails the fingers of her offending hand, currently caught in his grip. ] Where are my manners? [ The answer is clear — they’re bloody nonexistent to begin with, and her own empty rhetoric remains transparent. Her next sentence doesn’t make matters much clearer, but it's a better start than the one she gave before. ] I just really want to know if your phone rang just now.

[Have a cocked eyebrow at the question.]

However many damn well we want. Or don't want. No one gets seconds, though.

[Her tone isn't accusing, just matter-of-fact. The owner's idea of counting samples is "enough to entice people, but not to make us go broke". Which is so not a great way to do numbers, but well, Ilia doesn't call the shops for this little stall. She's just glad to be getting paid.]

Don't recognize you, though, so you can have a bit of it. I'll cut it up for you.

[ As the other woman is responding, she wordlessly helps herself to one of the samples of fudge that Aranea has just taken from the tray. She doesn’t mind her tone, much preferring it over one of those overtly peppy candences. ]

Generous. I approve. [ Aranea takes another bite of the fudge, appreciating the manner in which it melted on her tongue. Chocolate is one of her major weaknesses. She lets out a short laugh. ]

… This is some damn good fudge. I’m almost jealous of your access to this stuff right now. [ Almost — a quantifier that she adds out of awareness that working retail on the holidays is an absolute pain in the ass. ]

Spirit of the holiday and all.

[Ilia nods, glad that she enjoys it at least. This is the part where she's supposed to try and convince her to actually buy some, she supposes.]

Not allowed to eat the samples myself, and I pay full price for it. [The owners are kind of cheap.] Not that it's terribly expensive or anything. One box will last you awhile, or it makes a great gift, blah blah blah.

Found the loophole to all that. There's no rule against eating a sample that a customer gives you.

[ Aranea passes the piece of uneaten fudge back to the redhead. Reaching into one of the deep pockets of her black coat, she takes out her cardholder, pinching it together to get into where she stores a few folded up bills. ]

Sounds like my life is about to be changed by a box of chocolates. [ Voice betrays none of the excitement that her words should. ] How much for one box?

[ Another successful test given and Elizabeth just returned all of the quizes to the students. Lecture was over and it was literally ten after 9 - she assumes everyone is already halfway off campus. Her heels were kicked off and her stocking-clad feet press into the floor as she slides across the tile of her classroom.

Erasing the notes and diagrams of atoms and such, Elizabeth hummed to herself as she tidied up. It doesn't take much effort to get the place tidy - this wasn't her classroom. It was one of the old labs used during the day for general education classes but at night? All science, baby.

Elizabeth finally returns to her desk, bending over to put her heels back on and gather her thing.

Maybe someone wanted to ask about their grade after class? ]

[ Uncrossing her legs from underneath the school desk, Aranea rises to her feet a couple minutes after class has finished and the rest of the students has left the room. She’d love to join them, truly. Little would feel more liberating and exhilarating than high-tailing it somewhere far, far away from Recolle University’s campus.

Sadly, she has work to do, work involving the all too authentic first quiz score of a fifty-two, scrawled in a bold red, a science teacher married to the police officer that had given Aranea her first serious run for her money here in the city, and a mission to gain easy access to the University’s medical supplies over a decent length of time before the con eventually wears thin.

Thin heels clinking against the thin carpet, Aranea approaches Elizabeth. ]

So, um. Professor Wolf…? [ The situation seriously threatens laughter. Professor Wolf. This is getting seriously good. Even if Elizabeth has mentioned some other way she prefers to be called by her retention students, like her name, the opportunity is too tempting to pass up. She peers down at her quiz score, and then holds it out to her new teacher for reference. The way she speaks is affective with embarrassment one attempts to play off as mild in the face of obvious and dismal failure. ] What’s my best option for tutoring services ‘round these parts?

[ The youthful way Elizabeth carried on near the end of class was genuine - she was tired and her feet her. She gave them an easy homework assignment, returned their sub-par quizzes and gave some personal feedback.

The night was coming to a close but when a 'Professor Wolf' hits her ears, she's caught off guard. Heels back on and her teacher face focused, Elizabeth perks a brow at the quiz in question. ]

Well, for one, showing up on time would help. [ Aranea seemed to be one of the few people who took advantage of Elizabeth's lax mood towards attendance. But, seeing the way the woman's face twists at the bold red percentage makes her face scrunched up. ] Learning Lab may work, but you work days, right?

[ She pulls out her business card that the college provided from her shirt pocket, offering it to the girl. ]

My office hours are there - but I can help on your schedule if you're willing to put the work in.

My schedule.

[ The words thud out into open air and hit the ground with the weight of an anvil, the fashion in which Aranea says the syllables strongly hints that ‘a schedule’ is some kind of foreign, mystifying concept. Of course she’s actually heard it many times before, mainly from her entrepreneurial parents who pimped out that rubbish to the point their enterprise resembled a (very profitable) scam. ]

Right, right. [ Aranea shakes her head with mild embarrassment at her own befuddlement. She normally sleeps from when dawn wakes to high point of noon, but this is a case where she will need to sacrifice her day job to aid her night job. ] Forgive me, I’m… desperately out of practice. It’s been a long time since I’ve ever had to be on time for class. [ Smirking, she herself wonders how she got accepted to the university is a mystery in and of itself. Strings pulled, perhaps? Regardless, this is an opportunity that Aranea refuses to squander. ]

I can come a couple days a week for lab. That good enough?

Edited 2017-01-12 04:23 (UTC)

[ Whatever Aranea does outside of the classroom is lost on her. Elizabeth has a mix of both 30-somethings, single moms, high school double enrollment, and in her class. She'd have a hard time keeping the stories straight and Aranea kept her head down for the most part. The tardiness was noted however, the only thing she can grab from the girl. At least she's able to get her ass in a seat instead of missing 2 classes in a row. ]

This class requires being here early since I don't want to keep you any later than I am. I don't like harping on it, so it's up to you to make it here. That - [ She points to the exam. ] - is the fruit of your labor.

[ Even if she says some weighty words, the tone is more concerned. The way Elizabeth looks at it is that if she can get a college degree, anyone can. ]

Sounds good. Labs on the 3rd floor, my office hours are spent in there so if you want to knock two birds and one stone... that's where I'll be.

heaps due punishment onto you

orbweaver - 2017-01-13 04:30 (UTC) - Expand

i welcome it with open arms

tearable - 2017-01-13 20:15 (UTC) - Expand

aranea highwind | ffxv

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slams in here - wildcard

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ugh aranea pls be my gf I LOVE HER ALREADY

edit to say i love elizabeth she doesn't deserve this!!

i do though.

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