FEBRUARY TDM

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé. What a beautiful, wonderful place. Sure, some things seem a little off sometimes but it's still home. The weather's starting to clear up as little signs of spring appear. What will you do today? I. Spring is in the air and today residents of the city can be found in all districts clearing out the rest of the winter gloom. Snow shovels are replaced for garden trowels as people begin planting flowers, trees, and vegetables. Some residents are in Hollingberry Field over in Viea Village cleaning up stray litter and debris to make the park enjoyable for all. Will you volunteer to help? Are you willing to get your hands dirty, or are you just annoyed that you can't go anywhere without having to side-step a puddle of mud? II. It starts innocently enough. You wake up in the morning, walk into your bathroom to brush your teeth and one of your lightbulbs burn out. That's not unusual. You make a note to buy more lightbulbs next time you head to Freshens. What is unusual is that the rest of the city seems to be experiencing similar problems. One of the theatres at Flix can't seem to get their projector to work and several customers are clamouring to get their ticket refunded. The elevator at the Towers stops working halfway up between floors. Neon signs on some of the shops in Tisse flicker and pop until some of the letters fade. The computers at the Recollé Public Library and Resource Center crash making it impossible to do school work. It's not just outside either. Appliances start acting up. Your phone might ring with a ringtone that isn't your own, but no one else is on the other line. What's causing all of this? It might be worth investigating. III. You realize that it might be wise to check Retrospec to see if any of your fellow residents are posting about similar experiences. You reach for your device, (or perhaps you've managed to wrestle one of the library's computers to work with you) and open the application only to be met with a blast of music. Shutting the app doesn't help. Every time the app is opened, a new song will begin playing on its own. The song changes each time, but they all seem to center on the same theme. The only way to stop the issue is to let the song play all the way through. Good thing you weren't sneaking in some social media time during class or work…were you? Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who escaped having the app automatically downloaded to your mobile devices or appear for you at inconvenient intervals. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore and the next wave of Retrospec users are chosen. New users will hear a very different song as their greeting when the app begins to download, prompting them to notice their profile filled out with their name and upload a picture. The song will autoloop until new users oblige to these steps. Now wouldn't be a bad time to ask fellow users some questions. IV. Billboards, bus stops, and posters make up many of the colorful landmarks in Chata and Tisse. These signs all have a purpose whether it's to advertise new movies at Flix, a special sale at Towers, or a hot new band that will be playing at the Atrium. Too bad things seem to be getting out of hand here, too. What do you mean the sign told you everything must go from the furniture department? Nobody said anything about half-priced movies with all you can eat popcorn! All throughout the city advertisements pop up displaying false claims. Are you one of the residents trying to cash in on these ads? Or maybe you're an employee who has to clean up this mess. Yikes. BONUS. The subway system in Recollé has been down for quite some time now due to construction. It doesn't make travelling through the city impossible, but it does make several people unhappy (including Mayor Mayer.) The non-functional subway has become a part of every day life, but when you pass by over the next few days, you can almost hear the sound of a subway car speeding along the tracks. Any inquiries will be met with disdain, and any attempts to head into the subway station to check things out will be met with construction workers telling residents to scram. It seems that this area is blocked off for now, but that doesn't mean residents can't investigate. 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! The February 2017 TDM directory can be found here. The February 2017 Workshop can be found here. The mod questions comment is here.

Comments

[letteropener]

[It DID occur to Celeste that perhaps she could use her real name with a girl who may not have even seen her movies -- but honestly, then she'd just talk to her local friends and everything would come out. No, better safe than sorry.]

It gives the community a sense of community. And that's no small thing!

[true_noir]

I think that should be the goal of something like this. Take pride in your community and love it. Give it something beautiful so that you can enjoy it each and every day.

[letteropener]

And if everyone did that, what a community we would have -- what communities, everywhere! [When she is ready, if she is every ready, to crack the veil of secrecy that hides her here and let her true presence be known to the city, then she thinks she knows what her first steps back into social welfare will be.]

[true_noir]

One step at a time. We cannot change the world today, but for now we can settle on changing this city block for the better, yes? The pathway to heaven is paved with baby steps.

[letteropener]

More like a moving sidewalk which often goes in reverse... [Celeste heaves a sigh. She has dealt in the realms of politics and social activism, and she can't help but admire those who have made it their life's work -- because she cannot imagine how anyone can do it all day, every day, without breaking within a week.] But that's no reason not to try.

[true_noir]

[She chuckled and nodded.] We certainly don't want to hold back in the face of what sometimes seems to make the world worse. It's the only way to keep the light shining in the darkness.

[letteropener]

I've never found the world to be a dark or bad place, myself. Perhaps it has the potential, but there are always those who will stand up against it. More than people believe.

[true_noir]

It only has the light that it does because people are vigilant to keep the darkness at bay. Either way, we should always have a certain amount of hope, no matter how bad it seems.

[letteropener]

There is always reason for hope. It isn't human nature to be as dark as the worst of them can be.

[true_noir]

Hmmm, I would like to believe that at least, so I will. [She shrugged and smiled.] It has been nice to meet you, though I should get going, to find the next shipment of plants. Perhaps we will see each other again soon?

[letteropener]

Especially if there's another clean-up day like this, you absolutely will! Good luck with your plants!