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

okuni kumou | rengoku ni warau

[frivolities]

❀ i.
[ It takes three tries before she spots the paintbrush, bristles dripping with a vivid red. Okuni spends a moment staring at it, as if waiting to see its next move (or maybe to intimidate it?), before deciding that this is too boring to bother with any longer. She turns away with a dismissive wave.

--Only to give an undignified squawk of surprise as the brush attacks her face. She snatches it from midair without a second thought, glaring at the offending art supplies, but there's already a streak of red in her her and down her face. ]

Stupid paintbrush.

[ She's gearing up to toss it across the street, but before she can release it, the brush lurches forward and drags her with it. SOS, send help! ]

❀ iii.
[ A long day of wrestling paintbrushes and other inanimate objects leaves you a bit hungry, doesn't it? But with Freshens still only half-painted, there's no point in trying to cook. It's not even her turn for that, so Okuni certainly isn't going to put in the effort today. She'll just duck into the first visible cafe she finds instead. ]

Do you mind if I join you?

[ No? Great! Yes? Too bad, because she's not waiting for an answer either way - Okuni just slides on into the other chair with a heavy sigh, leaning on one hand and using the other to wave down a waiter. ]

❀ bonus.
[ Thank you, Captain Obvious. ]

Oh, do tell. When is a good time for the whole world to disappear, then? Go on, I'll wait.

❀ wildcard.
[ whatever else you might be up for! ]

III

[drizzle]

[Wrestling inanimate objects, fighting monsters, and vandalizing everything in sight does waste a lot of energy; all of which could of gone to tennis practice, especially with summer just around the corner. Ava was in the same cafe the other girl had gone to and even asked to join her as she was eating a buffet-like meal filled with healthy and some unhealthy treats decorating most of the table. After having to accept the supernatural instead of cowering in fear, she deserves it!

Unfortunately, however, before Ava could even given the other girl the "okay", she sat down all the same which didn't bother her in the slightest. On the contrary, she continue to eat until noticing the heavy sigh and groggy look to her. Without a word uttered as she continue to chew her carrots, she'll offer the other girl one of her unhealthy treats. Does she want a free pastry?]

[frivolities]

[ Well, if you insist. Okuni swipes the tastiest looking one as if it was hers all along and takes a bite. She even mumbles as she chews, but at least she’s got the decency to cover her mouth. ]

Can you believe we have to work just to find someplace to get lunch? [ The horror! ] I don’t know about you, but this isn’t how I was planning to spend my day. Some of us have lives.

[ Lounging around and occasionally going to class counts as a life if she says it does. ]

[drizzle]

[There will be a gentle nod as she agrees with the other girl over having to work to find their way around, getting food, and simply getting in the way of everything. It was a problem. As much as having very enthusiastic magical brushes and little monsters getting in the way.]

If only finding lunch was the only problem, it's been difficult enough finding my way around the city as it is. Not to mention having to fight against living paint thinners and whatever other monsters popping up.

[Speaking of paint brushes, she'll show the girl her very not moving magical brush.]

If it helps, you can knock them out. Don't know how long it'll be like this for, but I'm taking this opportunity to eat and do other things before getting back to "work". [Another mouthful of her lunch, she'll stare at the other girl, pondering.] Have you colored your home or other important spots yet?

[frivolities]

Monsters and paint thinners and living paint brushes... It's like we've woken up in some kind of video game.

[ And not one to her taste, she adds silently with a sniff. ]

I'll have to find it first, after being dragged around half the city. If I'm lucky, my brother will have done it already by the time I get back. [ Good thing she knows which direction to head in, at least, but that won't stop her from eyeing Ava's brush suspiciously. Any minute now and it might jump at either of them. Okuni isn't very eager to have her face painted again. ]

How did you do it?

[ Whack it against the table, maybe? That might feel good right about now. ]

[drizzle]

A video game is a pretty....positive way to look at it.

[Cause she thought she was in a horrible B-horror movie, sci-fi edition; if she could even consider it as one, now she's just finding it ridiculous.]

I see. You aren't alone. [With a smile growing.] That's a relief. You'll have it a lot easier by having a second brush to help out; it's the best way to avoid in creating weird monsters.

[As for her question concerning the brush, Ava will put it back in her book bag before offering an explanation.]

I used a tennis racket..... [After defeating a boss battle version of her tennis ball machine, she used the opportunity to make it seem like an accident.]

[frivolities]

It reminds me of one a... family friend told me about.

[ A second brush? She doesn't recall asking for help. ]

You... beat it with a tennis racket?

[ You know what? Okuni might actually kind of sort of like this girl?? It's not like you meet someone who'll attack what seems to be a sentient paintbrush with a tennis racket every day. What the fuck. ]

[drizzle]

Does that mean you aren't much of a gamer?

[Or was she covering the fact up? Whatever the case, she'll have to ask more about it, just to pass it along to her younger sister.]

I did! It was surprisingly, pretty easy. Just one shot was all I needed. [She never once expected for the brushes to have such low HP. Then again, she should know better; a tennis player's arm hits with greater force than an ordinary person would.]

[frivolities]

I'm not, but my brother has a habit of bringing home strays. One of them is really into video games.

[ She gives an appreciative nod. ]

Impressive. As tenacious as these things are, I'd have expected it to take more than that. [ God damn it she does kind of like this girl. ] I wonder...

[ Pastry half-eaten, Okuni delicately sets it back on the plate to pull out her brush, still wiggling away, and stares at it thoughtfully. She'd tried to toss it after it painted her face, and gotten nowhere. Maybe now that they're indoors...

Without any warning, she turns and throws it at the cafe window with all her might. It gives a loud crack and clatters to the floor lifelessly. Triumphantly, Okuni spins back around in her chair to go back to her treat. ]

What do you know? You can knock them out.

[drizzle]

[Okay, her explanation will get an amused smile, finding it to be...sweet and maybe a little weird. Was he into being an older brother figure?]

He sounds like an interesting guy. Or not, he just found the world's greatest cat.

[She'll begin to take bites of the remaining pastry the other girl didn't take. A nod will be given in agreement over her own surprise over the lack of defense the paint brushes had. When she decides to get up and throw it out the cafe window, Ava will rise from her seat, just enough to take a peek at the distance, but...

Okay, that loud crack was pretty easy to overhear. A whistle will be given. Color her impress by the other girl's resolve and courage.]

That's one way to ask for a break. [Hopefully the sentient creature will consider it an accident too; if they return to life again or get replaced or whatever other plausible scenario.] What are you going to do with your newfound freedom?

[frivolities]

[ That brings a fond smile to her face. She adores her brother, but “interesting” is a bit of an understatement. ]

It’s a little of both.

[ Well, if Ava’s taking the rest of that pastry, she’ll just pluck a different one off of the plate. ]

Enjoy our lunch, of course. [ Because apparently it’s not just yours anymore, sorry. You offered once and you can’t take that back now. ] It’s what that thing deserves for painting my face.

[ Most of it’s been washed off already, but there might be a little bit she missed in her hair. ]

iii

[idealest]

[ Sakichi's answer is automatic. ]

Yes.

[ He does mind, and greatly. The reason is probably obvious: next to his cup of hot tea is a notebook filled with tight handwriting. He doesn't bother putting his pen down as he glances up at Okuni with a look both accusing and expectant. Somehow, she looks familiar.

His paintbrush lies on the table between them, as boldly green as his half-bunned hair. ]

Who are you?

[frivolities]

[ Well too damn bad, she's not leaving. In fact, she pointedly ignores Sakichi until she's ordered a cup of tea for herself, only turning her eyes toward him with a slow smile. ]

Someone in need of the last free chair in the cafe, obviously.

[ That's blatantly untrue, but she clearly doesn't care. ]

[idealest]

[ That's the kind of appallingly openfaced lie that Sakichi doesn't have the patience to argue against right now. Once upon a time, he might have bothered to protest, but people like Baren (very specifically Baren) have worn down the points of Sakichi's intolerance for nonsense.

Sakichi stares at the woman across the table for a moment longer before resuming his notebook scribbles. Nosy people might notice that he's listing addresses. ]

Don't cause any trouble.

[frivolities]

[ W e l l . Now she has to. With absolutely no trace of shame, Okuni leans forward to take a look at what he's doing. ]

What's all that for, hm? You haven't been following people, have you?

[ More the better that she is the one who took this seat, then, instead of a helpless girl drawn in by that odd hair of his. See, she's actually performing a service here! ]

[idealest]

[ Somehow, that audaciousness only makes her seem more familiar. A notch appears in Sakichi's eyebrow, but he otherwise continues with his writing. ]

The only one breaching anyone's privacy here is you. [ Scribble scribble. ] And don't think I'm paying for your tea.

[frivolities]

Isn’t that your own fault for doing that in a public place? It’s not an invasion of privacy if anyone walking by could see.

[ She sits back, giving him a hurt look. If he’s going to be fussy about her wanting company, she might as well make it more difficult for him. It’ll be entertaining. ]

Our first date and you want me to pay for myself?

[ Tsk, tsk. ]

[idealest]

[ His pen pauses. Surely she must be joking, but he says very firmly: ]

This isn't a date.

[frivolities]

First we’re suddenly going dutch, then you claim it’s not a date?

[ Huff! ]

You really are clueless aren’t you?

[idealest]

[ ......

He's certain he doesn't know this woman, but she's so self-assured that a tiny part of him begins to wonder if he does know her after all. It wouldn't be the first time he was involved with a memory misstep...

He looks up at her, a hint of uncertainty unfurrowing his brow. ]

I don't understand.

[frivolities]

[ Obviously.

Here's a fun game: how long can she keep this up without laughing in his face? She’s practically got him hook, line, and sinker, and she was hardly even trying! And to really sell it, Okuni lets out a resigned sigh and a vaguely insulted pout. ]

Don’t tell me you forgot.

iii.

[blacksong]

[Rose raises an eyebrow at the sudden company, but only for a moment before she gets back to eating her slice of cake.]

As long as you're footing your own bill.

[frivolities]

No one knows how to treat a lady these days, [ she says with a dramatic sigh. ] They must be right when they say chivalry is dead.

[ Nevermind that they’re both ladies here. Okuni eyes the cake on her plate for a moment before turning to the waiter with a dazzling smile. ]

I’ll have what she’s having. [ And once he’s gone… ] What is it, exactly? It looks good.

[blacksong]

Hate to break it to you, but if you're looking for decency and manners here, you sat at the wrong fucking table.

[Even though this girl probably isn't much of a "lady" if she's going to sit herself down with a stranger like that?? But at least Rose doesn't say that, right!!]

Chocolate cake with fresh strawberries. This place doesn't really do fancy cakes, but they're good at the simple stuff.

[frivolities]

[ That actually makes her laugh! Nice. ]

Then it sounds like I came to the right place.

[ Who needs manners, anyway? They’re overrated. And because her table partner seems to understand that, Okuni is… not actually going to steal one of those strawberries while she waits, in spite of what she was planning about five seconds ago. Congrats, you get to keep it this time. Instead, she’ll hum appreciatively at the explanation given. ]

I didn’t even realize there was a cafe here, you know? Seems like finding this place the only good thing to come out of this… [ She casts a disdainful look out the window. ] ...whatever this is.