MAY TDM

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

MAY TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé... ...well. Good luck! I. You might've noticed by now that some things in this dear city of yours are a little...weird. Most of the buildings and landmarks around you are only partially visible and the world appears to be covered in all kinds of strange colors. As you step out the door today, you can't quite shake off the feeling that you're being followed. Every time you turn your head, nothing appears to be in your line of vision but the creeping sensation won't go away. However, with one final well-timed turn you catch it out of the corner of your eye: a large paintbrush dripping in your favorite color, floating in mid-air. The brush doesn't seem to go away no matter how long you look at it, but one of two things happens here. For those of you who grab the brush, you'll find yourself suddenly yanked forward as the brush guides you to a nearby building, bush, or busy sidewalk, the colored paint splattering everywhere but leaving behind a black finish instead of the original color. The brush has a mind of its own as it brings you right next to a friend or a stranger to get to work. They must have a brush, too. For those of you who ignore the brush, however...well...it doesn't like being ignored. As you turn away the brush zips forward and begins to paint your face. And your arms. And your clothes? Hopefully someone will come by and try to help soon! II. With that exciting chain of events out of the way, it's time to get to work! It's not hard to notice what it is you're supposed to do now. Certain members of the city have paintbrushes similar to yours and only those with brushes can restore the city as it was. Individually painting the area will highlight all items in black, but pairing up with someone else's color will allow for a bit of color to attach. Blending the brushes together will generate new, bright colors that will stick! Two reds can paint an object red while a red and a blue can change an object to purple. Of course, you're free to go at it alone. There's nothing stopping you from embarking on this journey with your own two hands. On the other hand the longer you work by yourself, the higher your risks become of unearthing something you may not want. One minute you might be painting a garden bench back into existence when suddenly a sound alerts you that something's wrong. The object seems to warp right in front of you, sprouting teeth, eyes, and even sometimes limbs. Non-stationary objects such as vehicles, animals, postal boxes and more will begin to chase painters around all five districts of the city. Stationary objects will do anything to grab you in their grasp and stop your hard work. The only way to soothe these objects is to mix up a new color and douse them with paint, but that just might be a little harder than it looks while you're on the move. III. The strange thing is that even with a large portion of the city invisible to the naked eye, by now everyone around you has accepted that this is just how things will go. If you talk to your family or friends or teachers or co-workers who are without a paintbrush, they'll simply tell you that even though it started a few weeks ago there are other things in the city to worry about. They'll tell tales of people with powers and weird physical changes that shouldn't be possible and they'll point out the thinning monsters that are roaming the city and cleaning up the stray paint. Despite this, life is expected to go on as normal. Classes are still in session and your employers expect you to be at work on time. Grocery stores are up and running and if you can find them several of your favorite businesses are still open as well. Maybe today you're in class procrastinating on a school project, or perhaps you're staring out the window at your boring job waiting for the next time you can catch a break. If you're brave enough, you might be one of those who wanders the half-missing aisles of Freshens because your family still insists on their cookout this weekend. This appears to be the new norm...so what are you doing today in the lovely "city" of Recollé? IV. Several citizens have been using their brushes to expand their horizons and paint beyond the limits of the city, working to recreate the roads to go back to other regions. While this will require far more work and dedication, some of the paths are outlined and cleared. Granted, with the revival of the roads comes the revival of a few other creatures including monsters of varying breeds. Have you ever fought a monster before? No? Well now's your chance! Some of these monsters are easy to take down but others will hunt and attack. While the paint brushes won't do much to deter the creatures themselves, they're useful to paint new hiding spots until you come up with a plan of attack. That counts, doesn't it? Good luck out there. BONUS. Perhaps the strangest thing of all is that your phone works. It's fully functional, colored and solid without having to repaint it into existence. Being able to send texts and check maps are vital tools in the restructure of the city, but at the same time it comes with something you may not want. The Retrospec app appears on your phone and even without setting up a profile you'll find yourself receiving a message from a Retrospec user named Zee Carlisle. Bad timing, this was really bad timing! Hey newbies, sorry, we are a little swamped with the stabilization process right now but let me kick you to some people who can help out. 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. Finally, please remember that this will be the last application month until September! Your May TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

Comments

Celty Sturluson | Durarara!!

[halloweenkitty]

(ooc: AU workshop link! AU name Caitlin Sullivan, nom de plume Kate Sturluson. Despite her icons, she is an unremarkable 20-something with red hair, fair skin, green eyes and macabre taste in t-shirts. hmu in PMs or blitzente if you want to talk/wildcard!)

[1: outside somewhere in town]

[Look out, random stranger! You've been hit by, you've been struck by a smooth streak of pink paint right across your face. Caitlin was a little too curious about the paintbrush floating in front of her - who wouldn't be, really? - and the moment she laid a finger on it, it yanked her across the street so enthusiastically it felt like she was flying. Directly into you.

Gingerly hanging onto the brush practically by the other end of the handle, she looks... okay, not quite mortified, more like someone who knows they should look mortified but is still biting their lip with the effort it's taking not to laugh instead. Either way, not a sound comes out of her mouth. Instead, with her less pink-spattered hand, Caitlin fumbles in her pocket for a moment before pulling out her smartphone, large and adorned with cat stickers. Bear with her while she opens the memo app, and...]

sorry!! idk what just happened :( you ok?

[She holds the screen up for you to read. The text is as big as she can make it without scrolling.]


[2: near a library somewhere]

[Questions of who put it there aside, it didn't take Caitlin too long to figure out what the brush was for. If she's honest, it kind of chafes that someone could sic this responsibility on her without any thought for how she felt about it. But hey, that's just life, and the thing about life is that it goes on until it doesn't.

That's why she went on with her schedule as well, and today that meant heading to the library. She's a regular there; it's one of her favourite places. It's quieter than home, the wifi is free and the desks are clean - perfect for spending afternoons off with her writing notebooks. She was just minding her own business, taking occasional breaks to paint in some of the more neglected aisles, when two of the ancient public computers reared up and roared into a clattering mockery of life.

She'd led the creature outside in a hurry when it became clear it was mostly swiping at her and her brush, but this? This is enough running. Lay the heck off, computer monster! There were little kids in that library! They could've gotten hurt! So Caitlin plants her feet on the blank white sidewalk, looks the galumphing computer monster squarely in the fangs, and brandishes her oversized paintbrush like an amateur's idea of a sword.

...She may need some assistance before she gets her head bashed in with a keyboard. For all her evident righteous fury, she's quite petite.]


[3: bonus]

[...Ah, the name on the conversation changed before she could message the first guy. Shoot.]

hi!
nice to meet you!
weird question but
is this related to the people with "strange physical changes" i heard about?
i'm just curious...

[As a writer, she has priorities.]

2

[thesettingsun]

[Libraries are some of Shuji's favorite places, and a monster disrupting the sanctity of a library - especially one that has innocent kids in it - deserves an asskicking.

So Shuji follows Caitlin and the monster outside, holding a book - which promptly turns into a scythe half his height.]

Mind if I step in?

[At least he didn't say 'cut in'. He'd never forgive himself for that pun.]

[halloweenkitty]

[...Well then. He may or may not be the Grim Reaper in disguise, and she would really like to interview him about that later, but for now Caitlin can appreciate an assist when she sees it. With no time to pull out her phone, she just flashes Shuji a quick thumbs up.

And then immediately has to duck to the side, trailing pink paint, as the creature aims an inexplicably serrated mousepad at her head.]

[thesettingsun]

[That mousepad can't be good for your wrists.

Shuji takes a slash at the computer monster, which... well, it breaks the computer screen, but it doesn't stop the abomination from moving, just makes it stagger back a little.]

I'll pay for this later!

[That had to be expensive...]

1

[quiet_storm]

[Getting smacked in the face by someone else's paint, or even their brush itself at high speed, had become such a common occurrence that Cloud didn't even blink anymore. Not that he had to, he was wearing paint goggles. Still, it was strange that whoever had done it said nothing to him afterward, either an apology or a cranky complaint that he was in their way. Curious, Cloud turned and tugged his goggles up onto the top of his head.

Then he reads the message she wrote and realizes the situation is a bit more serious than he first realized. With a suddenly worried look he dropped his orange paint sprayer mechanism and held his gloved hands up, palms in her direction to try stopping her.]

Whoa! Careful! I'm fine, but try not to get any paint on your phone! It causes your text input to stop functioning! Here, let me show you on mine...

[The blond tugs off his gloves and pulls out his own smartphone, which had been dunked in orange paint and carefully wiped clean but still held paint in every groove and port. He looks up at her, eyes flicking to her phone because that's where he expects to get her reply.]

What's your name?

[halloweenkitty]

[Okay, now it's Caitlin's whole face crinkling a little with the effort of not breaking into a silent fit of giggles. Tap tap, glide, tap...]

call me kate! nice to meet you
and nice goggles ;)
phone will be ok, it's lived through worse

[She can't help but look down at the paintbrush in her other hand as she shows him the message, though. It's still dripping a soft pastel pink that clings to her sleeves like any other paint, but she can't see any of it on the monochrome ground... So surreal. Oh, maybe this guy knows a little more about it? He did kind of sound like it. One second while she adds a line -]

what's the deal with the paint, btw? it was floating...

[quiet_storm]

[Cloud watches as she taps away and gives her a wry smile at the goggles comment. Hey, his goggles are cool!]

Yeah, thanks. The paint doesn't act like normal paint.

[It takes a bit of searching, but he manages to find someone new on the network whose icon looks like her and might use the nickname Kate. He sends a message to her phone, his own name and icon popping up next to it.]



T̴̫͉̲̿̂̓̓̊͝͝͠ĥ̶̨̲͍̰̰̠͚̦̜̤i̵̢͇͇͕͉̻̲͔̫͓̩͔̤̺̋̇͘͘s̵̘͕̲̖̞͙͚͇̰̺͉̍̔͜ͅ ̸͚͓̓̓̃̿̀̇ì̶̞͚͎͒̀͋̇͗̊͐͝ş̴͔̭͉͓̹̟̥̼̥̼͙͕̥͈͐̋̋̒̈̌̂͌̎̚̚̚͘ ̴̨̨̰̻̳͙̗̱̩̺̬̙͛̊̽̈̈́͒̕ͅw̸̬͓͖͍̞̰̠̻͓͇̽͗̿̐̄͗͆̓̏̌̐͋̑͝h̸̛̪͚̼̩̩̫͔̹̺͍͋͒̂̏̿̎̌͊͜a̵̧̢̤̖͖͓͖̩̠̪̰̝̤̙̐̎̄̑̑̈́́̌͛̆̀͘̚̕t̸̼̹̤̆̇̔̂̾͗̿̑̾̑̑̈́̚̕̚ ̸̧̟̊h̵̢̩̭̺̲̪̮̘͙̲̹̓̾̍̂̀͌̀̌̽͘ͅả̵̼̙͙̦̘̥̈́͛̓̍͗̓̉̀̕̕p̸̹̥̭͉̤̽͊p̶̠̗̤̭̲͙͈͓̱̰̥̼̒̈́̀̍̎̎͌͐̏͊ẹ̸̡̨̛͇̰͕̜̣̖̺̭̪̝͛̄̐̋͛̚̕͝n̴͚̅̃̽͒͒̔̒̒̾̓̀̌́̏͗s̷̡̩̯̮̫̠̩͇͍̯̗̟̍ ̶̯̣̥̠͈̘̫͍̖͓̍̃̔̃͊̀̄̈̽̑͆̀̃̅̕w̴͓̜̠̜͉͗͐̀̓̽̀͛̃͂̔͒̚͝h̷̳͎̪̔̊̓̾̾̽̈̈́͜ḙ̵̦̣͓̪͈̫͇̬̗͌͊ͅń̸̛̹̹͓͍̗̎͗͒̀͒̐͝ ̷̧̬̮͓̍̽̌̓̍̈́̉̃͜ý̶̛̟̬͍̤͇̖̭͖̒̌͗̈́̈́̌̃̆̋̊̚͠͠ô̶̱͕̤̬̏͑̈́͛̈́̈́̾̃̀̒̚͝u̴̦͔͖̬̣̣̪͍͇͙̔̌̈́͑͛̈͌̑͊̎͘͝ ̷̡̨̫̪̪̳̭̑̊̔͒̂͂̀͐̉͊̐͆͠͝d̷̝̠̉̔̊̓ͅṙ̷͈̬͑͐͊͂́́̓̌̊̇̑͂̑͠ó̸͈͍̲͍̮̥͖͎̭͕͔̐̈̈́̃͆͌͠ͅp̷̛̜̓̅̒̈̈͂̎̇̓͒̒̈͊̒ ̷̨̨̛͈̖͈̩͍̮̺̗̘̆̈́̅̃̒͐̒̐̓͝͝p̸̡̡̗̪̮̠̺̥̩̰̙̹̎͑̎͘͜a̶̡̧̯̩͕̫͌̈́̌͊̓͋͂͊͆͒̑̃̐̈́͝ï̷̬͓̻̺̯͓̼̽̈́͑̾̓̓̈́̕n̶͎̣̬̟̫͐̾͑̑͌̑̂̚̕͝ͅͅt̸̢̢̛̗̠̥̣̱͎̫͍͊͊̐̀̅̊͑͑̀͛̓͘ ̷̥̍̾̃̆́͆̓̽̅́̍̑̚̕͝o̴̢̳̭̦͚͎̖̘̙̐͜ṇ̸̳͙̔̂̉͛̂̑̅́̿͋́̚͘͘ ̴̫̯̯̱̽̓͛͌̀̈́̈́̚ỹ̵̧̨̡̡͈͕͇̘̜̭̣̳͚̞̙͊̎͒̐̊̑̋̊̇̃̑͌̍̕ơ̸̢̨̨̟̤̗̩̗̤̰̥̪̄̌͂̐͌̓͝͠ͅͅu̵͚͈̮̼̾̐͛͂͝r̴̡̘̼̫͓̞̪̼͚̻̜̞͛́͂̽͊͐̍̐̉̆͆̽̈́͝ ̷̡̜͓̺̬̥͓͓̃̚̕ṕ̸̢̠̼̱͕̿̈́̋̾̃́́̀͒̄͌̎͠ḣ̴̠͍̾́͛͒̀ö̵̢͈͙̞͖̰̖͚̥͕̭͙͇́̀͑̈́͑̆̑̓͗̈͛̍n̶̞̗̳̏͘e̵̛͙̥̮̗͙͍̳̜͔͈̫̞͑̈́͑́̀͜.̴̠̬̪̼͉̥̱̺̣̗̈́́̕͝

1

[hareru]

[ oh. that's definitely a splash of paint across his face.

soramaru doesn't even know the shade of it, only the fact that he's about to yell at whoever thought something stupid like this would be funny!! when he wipes the paint off his face he looks angry for a hot second until...

oh. she's apologizing. ]

Oh- uh- [ he looks away, huffing. ] It's fine. 's just paint. You okay?

[halloweenkitty]

[Geez, tetchy. But that's understandable, really. Caitlin just smiles back, waving her paintbrush hand in what she hopes is a conciliatory and not too paint-splashy way while she erases her response and taps out another.]

i'm fine, it's just a self-driving paintbrush! it didn't get in your eyes, i'm glad X)

[With that typed and held up for him to read, she can return to... not minding her own business, but blatantly looking up and down the street for something more appropriate to splash paint onto. What? She's curious now.]

[hareru]

Yeah, no kidding. It's like the thing has a mind of its own.

[ he gestures at himself and how a good part of his clothes are covered in red paint from his own brush. ]

Kinda wish I knew why this was suddenly happening, though. It isn't normal like an earthquake or a fire.

bonus

[beneathmoonlight]

[Ah. This person must’ve been redirected to Atsushi by retrospec. He’s had that happen to him a few times, so he’ll just roll with it.]

Oh, hello! Nice to meet you too!

Is what related?

[halloweenkitty]

the first message i got said that there was a group of people who could explain what was going on with this "stabilising"
at the same time, i just recently started hearing rumours about a particular group of people who were "physically altered"
the connection is a little shaky, but i wondered if it really means anything
if you don't know, that's ok :) sorry to ramble

[beneathmoonlight]

I’m not sure I’ll be able to explain exactly what’s going on, but there are some of us who are helping paint the city so that everything is visible again.

And yes, some of us have changed.

My eye color and hair color both changed since I got the app.

1

[roughplayer]

[ Well, hello there! Sorry Celty, you won't exactly get the warmest greeting from this guy, who got knock off balance trying to doge the -gasp- pink paint. He failed, so now he's on his butt now and barking angrily at the girl. Temper, he has a bad one. ]

Guh, watch it with the tackle and the brush! ...Hey you, are you listening to--

[ That is one hell of a decked out phone. She cuts him off mid-rant though, because Koga might have thought she was ignoring him to go on her phone after the initial shock. But he reads the memo after getting up and calms down. ]

--Fine, nothing's broken on me. What, cat got your tongue or something?

[ ...He had the cat stickers on his mind, so that part kind of slipped, whoops. He feels kind of silly for the punning, but folds his arms with a straight face to play it off. ]

[halloweenkitty]

[It would be a funnier joke if Caitlin hadn't heard it before. She can't help but dead-eye him for a moment. Still, it's probably just some dumb grumpy high-school kid or freshman or whoever, and there's too much weird stuff to check out in town today for her to die on this hill. With a decidedly more neutral expression, she types her reply.]

glad you're ok! be careful out there too
seems like these brushes have a mind of their own

[roughplayer]

Yeah yeah.

[ Grumpy young adult! Also relieved though that she's nice and didn't get all catty-- she didn't get too annoyed at his spur of the moment remark! Anyway, he'll read her phone diligently now for responses. It's not hard or that much of a pain, it's genuine and kind of friendly. ]

So they all act like that? I just thought it was just mine that was like an overeager dog-- [ His own paintbrush attempts to nudge him, but Koga pushes it back with a steadfast motion. ] They really, really want us to paint stuff.

1

[floret]

[ Annie, is he okay?!

...Yeah, he's okay. This particular random stranger is a five-foot-tall Japanese dude who looks startled but not particularly traumatized... (Honestly, it's not the worst thing that's ever splattered on his face) ]

...Oh! It's pink.
I've got sort of a lavender. We could probably paint things a really nice orchid color!

[ Oh she wrote him a note. He reads it. ]

I'm okay!
Are you okay?

[halloweenkitty]

[Tap tap tap.]

i'm ok! a little surprised, is all :')
is that what these brushes are for? what should we be painting?

[She holds the phone up for him again, but she already looks relieved. It's always refreshing when strangers don't make a big deal of things.]

[floret]

[ While she composes her follow-up, he rummages through his pockets for a handkerchief and wipes his face! This doesn't do THAT amazing a job of cleaning off all the pink, but it's marginally better than nothing. ]

Yeah!
Umm, everything, I guess. I mean, we've made some progress over the past couple of weeks, but as you can see, a lot of the city still isn't... there... at all. But if we paint it, it comes back! And if we combine colors, then it comes back in color. Otherwise it's just a black outline, pretty much... You just got the brush today, then?... I'm probably talking too much. I'm sorry. I should let you get a word in edgewise.

1

[unlightmusic]

NHYAAAAUUUUN~!?

[Suzu lets out a very distinct yelp as paint smacks in her in face. Such major deja vu. It's good to see she isn't the only one with this misfortune though? Gingerly, she looks towards the source. Ah, there was a message on that phone---

OH. GURL. Those phone stickers and that t-shirt print... Suzu's quietly digging that aesthetic.

Not that it helps any with her social anxiety.]

Eh? [It takes a moment for her to comprehend.] Ah, um... I-It's okay! I guess it's just... karma for what the trouble I caused earlier♪

[Suzu you shouldn't talk about your own personal suffering so cheerfully.]

[halloweenkitty]

[Whoops, awkward. Then again, that might be Caitlin's fault for, you know, slapping a stranger on the nose with a wet paintbrush. She hurriedly adds to the memo before she can shrivel up completely and blow away in the wind.]

i'm sure it's just a paintbrush... but i really am sorry :(
must've tripped over something white while i wasn't looking

3

[twostringsonebow]

It is, actually.
Retrospec (yes, they spell it like that) has habit of... changing one's appearance, should it be different than your current.
I know a girl who has cat features.
It's very cute.
But very troubling for her.
Ah, it must be even moreso now; I know that a friend of mine has been having trouble with her appearance suddenly being quite odd to others around her, and another friend's pets are... Mm, they're too unusual to excuse.

[halloweenkitty]

you say "habit", does that mean it's been happening since before these rumours?
so something caused an uptick in these people recently?

[She's grilling this person for no good reason and knows it, but who could help being intrigued by the idea? Real life changelings! Shapeshifters! Something!]

one!

[1620]

[ gamzee was enjoying a wall of some sort that’s still blank, but very luckily— he’s got the inspiration to bring it back to life. stepping back with his brush in hand and a lit cigarette in the other, he drags some smoke and stares, and shifts the weight from each leg, then stares again. looks like he’s trying to figure out what to add to his latest creation. it’s missing something and hardly done beyond on outline. man, he needs more color beyond black, or indigo.

until he gets a face full of squish, seconds after wiping his eyes and staring at the fumbling girl with her phone. he reads, but it doesn’t seem like he’s . . . assimilating? there’s something much more important here, coming in the form of the bright color pink and a macabre looking t-shirt that finally gets him to speak up. ]

It’s . . . [ he spaces out briefly, and comes back with: ] —Slick top.

[ whatever design’s on it, he’s captivated. there’s something going on here. the gears are turning in his head, the colors coming to him, very literally— where he takes his paint dipped hand and smears it over his art. pink. oh, he looks so pleasantly surprised–! ]

Fuck— Can I get some more of that bubblegum, sis?

[ please???? ]

[halloweenkitty]

[Of all the people she had to involuntarily slap in the face with a paintbrush, it had to be a weirdo stoner. Caitlin gets distracted from that soon enough, though. In the awkward silence before the boy speaks up, her attention wanders over to the nearby wall, and... honestly, the figure slowly taking shape up there looks cool. The right amount of surreal. It has fewer wings, bones and roses on it than the shirt she threw on this morning, but she thinks she'd probably wear it anyway.

Oh, hold that thought, he asked her something. At first, she just looks nonplussed - but it's only a moment before comprehension dawns, and she proffers her paintbrush to him without a second thought. It's not as if it's really hers, and it probably isn't capable of jumping out of his hand in a fit of pique at being neglected, or anything similar. That would be too surreal.]