MARCH TEST DRIVE

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

MARCH TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé... To infinity...and beyond! I. Wake up, get up, get out there, Retrospecters! Today's a new day and with the roads in place thanks to the efforts of Retrospec users, several locations may be explored. With Pesgare three hours south by boat, Respatrum an hour east and underground, Bosuma two hours west through the Recollé Woods and Magatus seven hours north from the city, visitors may come and go to explore the regions and their points of interest. The travel may take some time and the scenery will change around you as you go. Those same monsters from before continue to lurk just outside of the city and on the path to these locations and wild flora sprawls over various pathways. Take some time to study them if you'd like. And speaking of study, along the way you'll find various road signs and warnings along the way including giant man-eating frogs, fire-breathing horses, severe flood warnings and more. In addition you will find large directories in the middle of the road pointing you in the directions of the four locations. However, you'll also find these helpful guys who just want to do a good job and will get to work on these new roads! But wait, shouldn't they be working on some of the unfinished pathways and not the main ones? How do you stop these crazy things anyway? You may have to find a way to subdue the jackhammers or direct them to a new location. Good luck getting them to listen over the noise. II. Then again, with these pathways open now you may find yourself already in one of these new districts and very, very far away from your home. One minute maybe you're driving along, listening to your favorite road trip playlist as you prepare for Spring Break and the next you'll realize a wrong turn has lead you straight into the heart of a snowy mountain. Has this forest always been here? This seaside village is way too crowded! No matter which of the areas you end up in, it will be up to you to find your way out and back without a map on-hand. There's a good chance you can find strangers or maybe even some friends in these regions to fill you in, but there's always something going on to distract from your main goal. In Pesgare, you may find yourself in the midst of a heavy rain shower. While some of you may be prepared and have an umbrella on hand, others will notice that the rain is an iridescent color that falls and curves in arcs. Getting soaked by the rain may invoke a strange desire to cause a scene and yell dramatically at whoever is close by (and perhaps even belt it out if you're unfortunately unlucky.) In Respatrum, the sound of loud cheering and applause draws your attention to a large stadium. In the center of the ring is a man with a red cape, waving it in front of a burning, burly bull. A final flourish sends the bull back into its pen, raring and ready to go the next round. But wait! Without warning, the organizer of the bull fights grabs you by the shoulders and hands you a cape, shoving you straight into the ring with the crowd roaring above you and the bull bursting out of its cage. What a rush! In Bosuma, the creatures of the forest appear to be out and around including rabbits, squirrels, giant woodpeckers and rainbow-colored deer that aren't afraid to approach people. In fact, all of the creatures appear content to welcome these newcomers and show them around the forest. At night, several large, blooming flowers begin to glow in various neon colors. Colored pollen also appears to be falling from the flowers, leaving a mist over you that sweeps over you like a soft waterfall. Depending on the color though, you may find yourself feeling a little different... And finally, what's going in Magatus? Why it's sports! A winter sports competition is going on at the mountain looming above the Magatus ski lodge and the snow is fresh and perfect! However, landing on the slope is probably a bad idea, isn't it? Hope you're ready for a slippery ride down the mountain! III. Back in the city itself, life goes back to normal and several citizens are preparing for spring. The Recollé Community Center has gathered together to start cleaning up the local parks and community areas to plant brand new flowers to brighten up the city. Are you good with a shovel? Come join them in rehousing potted plants, picking up garbage and dead shrubbery from winter's harsh temperatures and more. If planting's not your style, over at Recollé High School several citizens are working together to prepare for the musical production Villainous, as put on by the high school's drama club! Sets still need to be built, costumes need to be finished and advertisements need to be distributed! For you artistic types out there, the drama club would love your support and time to get them ready as the premiere draws closer and closer. IV. Those of you who have lived here for years know that Mayor Mayer loves holidays. He does his best to never miss a celebration of any kind and while sometimes his efforts are smaller and more personal, this year he seizes the opportunity to celebrate an entire weekend dedicated to St. Patrick's Day! Though the holiday is on 3/17, festivities extend to 3/18 for two days of fun. What does this mean? It means that everywhere you go you'll find discounted prices for anyone wearing green, carts selling corned beef sandwiches and cabbage salads, and for those of legal age bars are specializing in green beer and green mixed drinks for miles. Seabiscuit the chocobo rides proudly through the city with the mayor dressed as a leprechaun, encouraging citizens to hunt for his pot of gold that he's hidden somewhere in the city! A series of clues will lead players onward and spreading out through locations such as Expressive, the Towers, Freshens and more. With luck, citizens playing along will find small golden coins emblazoned with a chocobo portrait! Unfortunately, something seems to be in the air and surrounding these coins. Unknown to the mayor, those who pick up these coins will find themselves hit with the overwhelming urge to find someone not wearing green and pinch them as tradition. Whether you're doing the pinching or you're a walking target, the coins' power over you will only wear off when the deed is done. As for the mayor? Anyone who collects more than 10 coins will find that they're eligible for a prize of $50 which can be collected at city hall. Happy pinching hunting! BONUS. The nice thing is that if you're in the city or if you're in one of the new regions, your phone works. Where would we be without technology? It's nice to be in constant connection with your friends and loved ones with the ability to check emails, social updates, maps and more. However, the internet can sometimes be a strange place and you will find yourself receiving a message from a Retrospec user named Zee Carlisle. Hey newbies, how's it going? You're probably pretty confused, aren't you? I think I can fix that. It's all the text says before you find yourself redirected to a private chat with another Retrospec user. Don't be shy now! Say hi and ask all of the questions you need! 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, and can also be used for bonus points for future item regains. Share a few minor details of your AU, tag around, and have fun! For current players, please remember that TDM threads can only be used for bonus points, not regains. Please note: you will need a reserve to apply, and current characters must have full AC posted at the time of their reservation. Your March TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

Comments

Junpei Iori | Persona 3 Portable

[blazeoflife]

I. The hell are those?

"Hey, uh, little dudes?"

Jun was staring at the strange little jack hammers, bouncing around happily, working on the road. His first call didn't seem to work, so with a sigh, he cupped his hands around his mouth to try again.

"HEEEY, HEY!! LISTEN TO ME!!! HELLO???"

This was beyond weird. Part of Jun's brain was telling him this was totally normal-- what was making him so unnerved? While another part was going DUDE THIS ISN'T COOL OR NORMAL. And he really didn't know which was right.

Glancing to the person next to him, Jun shrugged helplessly.

"You got any ideas...?"


II. Pesgare

♫ Everybody's always talking at me
Everybody's trying to get in my head~♪

You know, Jun had just gone out to get some instant ramen-

♪I want to listen to my own heart talking
I need to count on my self instead ♫

He had not expected to somehow magically end up in Pesgare (though he really liked the ocean, so it wasn't too big of a deal--)

Nor did he expect to end up singing in the middle of the seaside town, drenched in iridescent water, dramatically posing--

♫(Did you ever) loose yourself to get what you want?
(Did you ever) get on a ride then wanna get off?
(Did you ever) push away the ones you should've held close?♫
♫Did you ever let go? Did you ever not knoo~ow?♫

But okay, this is his life now, he guesses, might as well go full throttle into it?

♫I'm not gonna stop, that's who I am
I'll give it all I got, that is my plan
Will I find what I lost? You know you can
Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it (Bet on me)♫

Okay now he's on his knees on the road, fists raised up as he's belting out the song-- like, his singing is pretty good, at least! But... please someone save him from himself.



3. Spring Cleaning

The baseball team's coach was pretty adamant about doing community service like this, but Jun didn't mind too much. After all, might as well do a good turn for the city that was helping make his dreams come true, right? Besides, it was good exercise!

So you could find Jun out with the rest of the team, pulling up weeds, planting in new flowers, and just generally doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

"Hey, do you think these flowers look any good together?"

He gestured as the two different coloured pansies in the boxes next to him.

"I don't have an eye for this kinda thing at all, but..."


4. New World Who dis

wha the

Whats this lol

I don remember downloading a newapp

Jun's a little confused, but he's willing to try this out and see just who he's talking to.

3!

[digthefuzz]

Kurt waves as he spots Junpei doing some work at the team! And as he asks about the flowers, he can only respond with a sheepish grin.

"Dude, I think I have even less experience with this then you do. But they don't look like a bad match to me." He says with a shrug.

[blazeoflife]

"Ahhh well. If someone gets angry about it not 'matching' or whatever, I tried at least, right?"

Jun sighed, before bending down to gingerly pull one of the flowers out of its pot.

"So you helping out too, or just here to watch?"

There wasn't any judgement in Jun's tone, an honest question as he started to put the flower into the hole he had prepared.

"We're all going for pizza after this, if you wanna tag along!"

[digthefuzz]

Kurt nods along with his assessment. "Right, no one can blame you. An attempt was made!"

His eyes widen at the mention of pizza. "Whoa, awesome! I mean, I was just walking around, but I'll totally lend a hand, man! Especially when there's pizza involved!"

[blazeoflife]

"Haha, right? Can't resist that delicious pizza..."

Pat patting the soil around the flower, Jun checked a few times to make sure it was nice and covered, and the plant wasn't being wilty.

"Though, you know, they make pizza different in Japan than over here."

He handed Kurt his small shovel, while moving to grab the other flower. Time to dig more holes!

[digthefuzz]

Kurt accepts his shovel with a mock-salute! And he gets to digging while continuing the situation.

"Whoa, for real? What's it like over there?" Now he's curious!

iii

[compendiem]

Minato's going easy route with this, holding little packets of seeds and waiting for other people to dig out the shallow trenches before sprinkling them in, not even bothering with transplanting whole flowers. His bangs have grown out a fair bit since he was a kid, and he's wearing a face mask due to a cold, eyes on the flowers instead of Jun's face or he might've recognized him earlier.

A shrug, a vague gesture with his hand. He doesn't have an eye for color either.

"Doesn't matter," he says eventually, voice muffled by the cloth. "Nature's not perfect, so this doesn't have to be."

[blazeoflife]

"... I guess that's a good point." Jun blinked, looking up at the guy. "I just don't want any of the like, city planners pissed that it doesn't like... match up or somethin', you know how it can be."

...Huh. Something was kinda familiar about this guy. That accent sounded familiar too.

"I haven't seen anyone wear a facemask like that in a while-- are you from Japan?"

So let's switch to his native tongue and see what happens.

[compendiem]

He brings one of his shoulders up and lets it drop in what must be the most half-hearted shrug in the world. Somehow, he doubts that the city planners are keeping this close an eye on everything, grateful enough that there's people who are helping out in the first place, so that who cares if the colors clash a little?

He can't just shrug off that other question, but after some internal debate over whether or not he should reply in Japanese, he chooses to do so. It was always the more comfortable of the two languages, his mother tongue.

"Yeah. People only wear this stuff in the hospital," he says, but doesn't automatically attribute it to being a Japanese thing. Maybe if other people wore masks, they wouldn't cough and sneeze everywhere and he'd stop catching colds every other week? It'd be nice if masks caught on.

[blazeoflife]

The reply in japanese made Jun's grin widen, and he got back on his feet, pulling his gloves off.

"Hey, it's great to meet someone else from home! I've been here for a few years now-- I'm Jun Itoi- going to Recolle University on their baseball scholarship. What about you?"

Though then he realised he was kinda skipping over the important thing--namely that this dude had a cold.

"Yeaaah people totally don't think about that over here! I mean sure it's not as packed as some parts of Japan, but... it still would be better than just walkin' around and coughing everywhere-- are you feeling okay?"

[compendiem]

There were a lot of places Minato could have cut into: recognition of the name, the fact that he's trying to get into the university for graduate school, that he doesn't miss the crowded cities in Japan but thinks Recollé is a good contender for that simply by how many people are always out and about. He could have interrupted any time, but there's hardly any space for him to do with while Jun plows forward with the conversation and finally stops in order to ask the question.

"Yeah." The answer is automatic, as most yes-no questions tend not to require that much though. He would have left it at that, but conversation attempts are something he's been trying, so he nudges at the dirt with the toe of his shoes, partially burying the flowers. "It's just a cold. Been staying out too late at night, so this is karma."

3

[complementing]

[The plants...look kind of droopy? Minako squints at them and arches an eyebrow up.]

They look fine together, but. How exactly did you plant them?

[blazeoflife]

Uuuuuuhh...

[He glanced back down at the flowers, then back up at Minako, watching her expression. Uh oh, he did a bad, didn't he?]

I kinda just... took em out of the pots and put them in the ground? A-are you supposed to do something else?

[Look does he look like a dude who has a green thumb?]

[complementing]

[Minako's no green thumb herself in this universe so.]

N-No, that sounds about right...but if they're flowers meant to be planted, they should be fresh and perky, right? Why do they look half-dead?

[blazeoflife]

Oh man, I dunno...

[Aw shit, did he already kill them somehow?!?]

M-maybe I broke the stem or somethin? Lemme see--

[Jun squatted on his hands and knees, eyeing the plant carefully--]

I don't see anything broken...

[complementing]

[Minako kneels beside him, holding up the leaves, as if that would help at all.

(It doesn't.)]

Should we try watering it? I've heard some plants perk up again after getting some water...

[It's their duty to take care of this flower now!!!]

3.

[hawkking]

Yeah. No. Me neither.

[DOUR FACE.] Let's just go with yes.

[blazeoflife]

Riiiiiight. Well, if neither of us can tell, I guess it's fine!

[Man, this dude was like... huge. And kinda intimidating. But hey, if he was here to help...]

Can you grab the pot then? I'm gonna make the hole a bit bigger...

[Which is exactly what he started doing. Digging was easy! Flower arrangement was not.]

Man, I would so not be any good for Ikebana, haha...

[hawkking]

Sure. [Grabs the pot, although really maybe they should like... switch, but he's not sure if that would be an insult to the guy or not.] Ikebana... that's the Japanese flower arrangement stuff, yeah?

[blazeoflife]

[Hey, Jun may be lanky, but he's got muscles!! He's strong!! He's just got a swimmer build, is all!

So maybe he wishes he was more obviously buff sometimes, shuuuh.]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dig dig diiig...]

It's like... super dainty and refined and elegant. Something you gotta train and meditate over. So it's the exaaaact opposite of what I can do, heheh.

[hawkking]

[That's fine. Let the young people build their muscles.]

[And Tibarn chuckles.] Yeah same. I'm not the meditation type, it puts me to sleep.

i

[maskreant]

Akira was merely watching the jack hammers go until Junpei called for his attention. A little perplexed, he slowly turned to him with a look for surprise before he awkwardly scratched his cheek. What idea? Was he supposed to come up with one? He wanted to watch these weird things work in peace.

"It depends on what's your goal." He hummed thoughtfully as he turned back to the weird creatures, then returned to Junpei not too long after. "I don't know if you have the credentials to join their ranks."

Just. Saying.

[blazeoflife]

"...Dude, no. I don't wanna join em...!"

Seriously? This guy some sort of smartass or something?

That's Jun's job. Sometimes. He can be pretty good at it!

"I just, mean... What the hell are they? ...No, I know they're jackhammers, but..."

Gesturing towards them, Jun's other hand went to rub the back of his neck.

"Part of me is going 'yeah, they've totally been like this!'... but there's another part of me that's going 'this is totally not how jackhammers are!' And I... I like, can't tell which part is telling the truth...?"

[maskreant]

He's a joker if you get what I mean. Anyway, he chuckles a bit at the stranger's reaction. It's humorous yet... Sad? Definitely bittersweet. Akira stays quiet about how he might revert back to thinking everything is normal. Not like it matters.

He keeps his gaze on the jackhammers, but hums thoughtfully as he props his head in a hand.

"Which makes you feel better?"

It's a serious question.

[blazeoflife]

"...Which makes me feel better...?"

That's an odd question, but looking at the kid's expression, he either was really good at being straight faced or he was being serious.

...Might as well be serious back.

"...Honestly? I dunno."

He gaze turned back to the weird jackhammers, seeming to really enjoy themselves, even as his hand stayed on the back of his neck.

"Part of me... kinda wants to just shrug and go 'whatever', but..." All the other little things he'd noticed lately... like how suddenly he felt like horses were something new, even though they've been there for... for a while, right?

Or those goddamn weird smiling fruit. Jun made sure to only buy the non-smiling kind now, it was too freaky.

"...But I know it would eat at me if I just kept trying to deny things, y'know? So short term, it'd feel better to just think this is normal, but... long term, I don't think it would."