JANUARY TDM

[recollecters]

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.

Comments

[chiseler]

[He wrinkles his nose at a smashed loaf of bread, but it's not too bad. He's busying himself with squishing it back into shape even as he waves a free hand.]

Whatever got damaged can probably be fixed. Nobody has to know. [Together they continue moving his groceries back to his cart, but he can't help the quiet chuckle that comes from that question.] I'd probably appreciate it if everything was kept quiet. Not exactly inspiring, is it?

[complementing]

[She takes out a handkerchief from her purse to wipe off the bit of dirt from a slightly dented apple.] I dunno, I could tell my friends how some guy in the parking lot valiantly chased after his runaway shopping cart to protect all Freshen customer-kind. That's kind of inspiring, right?

[chiseler]

[As he's also juggling what looks like a bag of salad mix he can't help but send her an almost-playful glare even if there's a hint of seriousness to it.]

Inspiring up until somebody asks me why I let go of the cart in the first place. [Which...he pauses then, giving Minako another curious look.] Can I ask you something? [But he's still sorting groceries while this is going on so it seems as though he's trying to find the best way to phrase his question.]

[complementing]

Details, details. [Minako waves her hand dismissively, still smiling even as she turns to give him a curious look in return.] Sure, what is it?

[chiseler]

Have you had anything weird happen to your phone today? Like weirder than usual. [He's run out of groceries to sort so he leans on the cart instead, giving Minako a thoughtful sort of look. It...could also just be a look to make sure she's not lying to him.]

[complementing]

My phone? No, not that I can think of. [What a weird question. She reaches into the bowels of her purse to retrieve her phone anyways, and her brow immediately furrows.] Wait, what the heck is this app...?

[chiseler]

That answers that. [His nonchalant expression changes into something a little more concerned as he reaches for his own phone to show her he has the same app, too.] It started downloading as soon as I stepped out of Freshens but I've never heard of it.

[complementing]

Maybe it's a new one of those-- [She gestures vaguely.] --I dunno, pre-installed apps that come with your phone. Except a new one. [She looks dubious even as she says this, though, and presses down on the app to delete it. She doesn't need whatever it is.]

[chiseler]

Don't those usually come with a system update too though? [It's a good guess, but he's not sure he can buy it quite yet either. Deleting the app might help though. Maybe.] Maybe everything's lagging behind.

[complementing]

[Minako makes a little noise of agreement, and watches as the app disappears, revealing that tiny section of the phone’s Pusheen wallpaper once more.] There we go, all gone. That was—eeeehh? [The high pitched sound slips unbidden from her, and there’s a pause as her fiddling turns frantic.]

[chiseler]

[He steps back in alarm because Minako why???]

What happened? What's wrong?

[complementing]

[It's reflexive. She's sorry.] The app came back somehow--? [She makes a face and resets the phone.] What about yours, is it gone?

[chiseler]

[He grabs for his phone, giving it another look before shaking his head slowly.]

It's still here. So what do you think that means?

[complementing]

I think it means I need to visit the nearest Apple store and have a serious talk with one of their guys. [The phone reboots, and she makes a face. The app is still there.] This is so weird. What about you, what are you going to do?