(no subject)

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

MARCH TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé... ...probably needs your help. I. Like most holidays, Mayor Mayer will come up with any excuse to hold a celebration and have fun in the city. Today for St. Patrick’s Day, the city seems to be awash with shades of green almost overnight. Green ribbons, lights, shamrocks and garland adorn every windowfront and street lamp. Corned beef and cabbage are the specialty at several of the hottest restaurants in the city. Shamrock shake season is back in action, and mint-flavored coffees are available at both A Good Bean and Expressive. You could just celebrate with some fun and silly traditions today. Or you could slowly realize there’s a distinct hissing sound coming from somewhere near your feet. As you look down, a serpent winds itself around your ankles before slithering off down the street to follow someone else. One by one, several snakes of all shapes and sizes begin rising up from bushes and sewers and tall grass, taking up space on the sidewalks and the streets of the city. Traveling in packs, these snakes slowly start invading the city and turning up in places you may not anticipate, leaving you to have to fend them off and chase them out of city limits. Mayor Mayer puts out an emergency alert, demanding all citizens work together to fight back against this snake epidemic. Will you work together to get rid of these creatures and release them back into the wild? Or will you find yourself overwhelmed and looking for a place to hide? II. At the beginning of the month, two large domes eclipsed the Recollé Art Museum and the Atrium, the city’s concert venue. The "Modern Living" display has been open for a few weeks, depicting life in the city of Recollé with art pieces and sculptures inspired by buildings and famous figureheads of the city including the police chief, the fire department, and Mayor Mayer. But even with that display at the frontmost portion of the museum, it’s the commotion further inside the museum that’s drawing in the crowds. Word on the street is that people are beginning to see famous works of art run amuck through the city. At first, it seems like they’re just stories, but as you step out of the museum after an educational afternoon (or even if you happen to be in Appraassage), everywhere you look the art pieces begin to take on a life of their own, slipping out of the museum into the city. With these figures running around, the city continues to warp to their familiar backgrounds and create a new image of the city itself. Several citizens have been working to try and persuade these pieces back to the museum, but they could use an extra hand. Some of the art pieces are quite talkative and may even befriend some people! Others, however, seem to want to find replacements so they may spend more time outside of the museum, capturing an unwitting suspect to drag back toward their frames and lock them away. Luckily, there’s a way to combat them after weeks of varying success. Should you encounter one of these works of art, a simple touch with a paintbrush will freeze them, plastering them to nearby objects for easy portability. Good luck getting them to hold still long enough to find a paintbrush though. You may need to work on the art of persuasion in order to send them back. III. The Atrium seems to be having trouble with their electricity issue still, the lighting issue still unsolved as employees look into the wiring and circuit breakers to bring back the power. As employees continue recruiting strangers off the street to try and locate the source of error, you’ll find yourself among these groups that are brought into the dark concert hall and sent on a mission to check the sockets of the building and ensure everything necessary is plugged in. Even with a light source such as a cell phone or a flashlight, the light doesn’t spread too far as the sound of leathery wings flap somewhere above you. The sockets in the walls are filled with cords that are plugged in or places that spark with silver-white lights. Getting too close is dangerous, and should you lean too close to examine you’ll find yourself getting shocked and blown away from the wall. A small, electric buzz fills your ears as a closed circuit overtakes you, rotating around your body and providing you with a light source and a dangerous kind of weapon. Electrically charged, anything or anyone you touch will run the risk of being shocked and burned. The lights are out in the wings, and somewhere up above you’ll hear the flapping again as a large, skeletal bat swoops down from the rafters to challenge you. This bat is in the same situation as you are, crackling with electric energy that can shock anything that gets close enough. It will be relentless, following you through the music hall until you find a way to escape, or you fight back and shock the creature into a state of confusion. Light returns to the bulbs above for every hit the monster takes, but that’s still pretty dangerous, isn’t it? Fighting fire with fire is a risky position to be in, but it looks like you don’t have much of a choice here. IV. There’s also something weird going on at the Recollé Zoo. A silver door stands out against the brick building, but as you approach it, the color shifts from silver to blue. Should you open this door, you’ll find yourself entering an area with a blast of snow hitting you straight in the face, a whirlwind temporarily blinding you as the door closes behind you. Inside an icy cave, you’ll find several small, egg-like structures with unborn creatures suspended in time. The mouth of the cave lies before you, ergo the exit from this weird region. Be careful on your way out of the cave, however. Even briefly nudging one of these eggs will cause it to splinter and crack, the creature hatching from the ice and beating its small fists against the ice-eggs next to them. It’s a chain reaction as these little monsters awaken one by one, freeing their brethren and swarming the area. Rushing for the mouth of the cave, you may see them disappear into the snow and dive down, hiding in wait and ready for attack as they trip you up, cause you to fall on your face and temporarily freeze your limbs. You’ll have to fight your way through these groups out into the snow and all the way back to the other exit hidden among the tundra. A silver door can be found on top of a snowy hill, but the journey forward is a long and treacherous one. Better move fast. The snow shifts beneath your feet and you’ll find yourself sinking down the further you go. Hope you dressed warmly. BONUS. The new app on your phone won’t leave you alone no matter how many times you quit it. Retrospec is desperate for your attention, blinking and flashing until you open the new message waiting for you. Upon opening it, however, it might not be the message you were expecting to see. Hey, welcome, sorry this is so last minute but we’re in the middle of an operation right now. I think this was already in the works before the rest of the team disappeared but I’m doing damage control to get you up to speed. Some of the others might be able to explain it better than I can though. Post to the forum, ask around, and forward all other questions to my office. Z. The message disappears just as quickly as it came, presenting you with a directory of people to reach out to. However, all of the names seem to be missing, leaving you with a list of randomly generated letters and numbers. Take your chance and click a name. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find someone helpful. 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, threads on the TDM can be used for bonus points but also memory regains. Players may also earn one (1) freebie memory regain by turning in a thread of 5+ comments with a character who's TDMing. Friendly reminder that current players must have full, passing AC before submitting a reservation or an application. Your March 2019 AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

Comments

MOD QUESTIONS

[recollecters]

Please leave all mod questions here!

Asuna Yuuki (AU: Asami Yuuki/Erika Yui) | Sword Art Online

[undiningaffection]

((OOC note - Asami Yuuki stars on a TV show called Fae Force Five under the stage name Erika Yui... if your character would be inclined to be familiar with cheesy kid's fare that's basically Power Rangers with fairies, feel free to recognize her! She'll probably hate it!)

I. Shamrock Snake

[The day started off so well. A few days ago she'd scored an audition for the latest work from the legendary playwright Natasha Anders, and she'd just walked out of the playhouse and knew she nailed it. You'd been in enough rooms, you knew that look on a casting director's face, the one that said they didn't need to see anyone else. She might finally escape typecasting and forge her own path!]

[She was so happy that she stopped and picked up one of her beloved Shamrock Shakes as a reward to herself. Today was somewhere in the neighborhood of perfect. A delicious treat, a leisurely stroll along the sidewalk, a gentle breeze whipping through the trees, a couple of snakes slithering along the grass--]

[Wait, what?]

[Asami tilted her head to one side and knelt down. There were a lot of the little guys, far more than could possibly be natural. Beyond their numbers, they didn't seem too dangerous. She didn't really fears of the reptiles(there'd been an episode where she carried around Amalia after she turned into a snake and she kind of fell in love with Honey Pie, the corn snake playing the part), but she could only imagine if this kept up, there'd be a lot of shrieking and carrying on.]

[Maybe starting as soon as this very moment...?]

II. Art Imitates Life

This... has got to be a joke, right?

[Asami was decked out in her Jasperlynn Jadewing costume from the TV show Fae Force Five, and scooting along as fast as she could down the street before anyone stopped her and asked for photos or autographs. She'd asked for a changing room or at least a ride from the personal appearance, but could the venue provide that? No, of course not!]

[And now she appeared to be surrounded by cosplayers. OC cosplayers at that, as they didn't look like any of the fairies from her show. In fact, they seemed a little more... classical in style, perhaps? The trio circled her and smiled, and the longer they went without saying anything, the more uncomfortable Asami felt.]

"Oh, she'd be a marvelous replacement!"

"Such an elegant design should be immortalized!"

[Asami put a hand on her hip.] Guys. This is getting weird, and this is coming from someone who's been to a lot of cons, okay?

[Instinctlively her hand went to the tiny prop sword strapped to her hip, for all the good it would do. Maybe a kind stranger would be willing to stop by and give her a hand before she ends up as art?]

IV. That's Snow Business! (...sorry)

[Well, that was new!]

[Asami spent a good amount of time at the zoo, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled up to cover her face. She loved the quiet moments there, sometimes sitting in front of the different enclosures and content to watch the animals for an hour or more. She'd formed something approaching a friendship with a clouded leopard named Favio, or at least she liked to think so. He always stopped and came as close to her as the enclosure would allow, and she fancied sometimes she heard him purring as he approached.]

[The door, however, was new. Nothing designated it as a staff entrance nor were there any warning signs, so she stepped over and pulled the door open. The snow startled her, but she shrugged and stepped inside. A sense of panic filled her as the door slammed shut behind her then was lost in a swirl of snow. Well, no sense in wasting any time. She moved forward, looking curiously at the strange creatures trapped in the ice.]

[Gosh, it's hard to keep your balance here...]

Bonus - Did I Get The Part?

[She has no idea what that was about, and wow is this app a mess! She bites her lower lip, about to dismiss it, but... it could be something about a job, right? The last thing she'd want to do is miss out on a part because she didn't reply. So she takes a guess, picks the name at the very top and sends a message.]

I haven't heard anything from my agent. Did you talk to them first? I might be interested but Tae would be PISSED if I took a gig and didn't tell her first. Let me know, okay?

bonus

[dereban]

[ Well, the person that she winds up getting is someone who goes by the username of Queen, her icon just a simple black heart. ]

Please tell me that was a misfire.

[undiningaffection]

[It's a stark contrast to gold, not-quite-Oscar statue icon for En-garde.]

Guessing you didn't send me that weird message about operations and teams and all that. I have no idea how this damn app works.

[dereban]

Yeah, unfortunately, having the person who is currently part of the group that made the application sending the fresh meat to people who don't work on it.

So congratulations, welcome to Retrospec, where things get weird!

[undiningaffection]

Oh. Wonderful. Because I woke up today and wanted more weirdness in my life.

I don't imagine you know how to delete this thing, or at least to get it to shut up and leave me in peace for a little while?

II

[sleepingknight]

[Aaand there's another one. Yuuki's figured out the paintbrush trick by now, thankfully - though she might've needed to see someone else try it first. Either way, she hurries to assist with yet another painting problem, long purple hair swaying behind her and red eyes no longer covered up by shades.

Her ears, at least, are covered by her cute pompom hat. But the rest? Definitely cosplay material.]

Hey! Stop running everywhere-

[And then she catches sight of blue, and she freezes in her tracks.]

-Huh? Wait, aren't you... [What was the name that appeared back then?] Asuna?!

[undiningaffection]

[Asami breaths a sigh of relief as the stranger comes over, though she's immediately caught off guard by her appearance. At least it seems to have distracted the other fairies surrounding her, almost seeming dejected as she appears.]

[Wait. Is this girl a fan? Because that costume's really impressive. Like, arguably better than the show costumes impressive.]

[Then she says some weird name and Asami's really thrown for a loop.]

It's A-- Erika. [Wait, how could she not know? She's one of the most important characters on the show! She puts her hands on her hips, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes.] Wait. Are you recording this for some kind of prank channel? Because it's not funny.

[The fairies, as this happens, start to slink away. Don't mind them, they'll just use this as a convenient distraction!]

[sleepingknight]

Prank channel?

[Yuuki's definitely confused by that, even as she realizes she probably got the wrong person, or the wrong name - awkward either way. Perhaps it's that discomfort that has her eyes glancing away briefly and-

Oh, trying to sneak away, are we? She holds up a finger, her left hand, the one not currently holding a paintbrush.]

Hang on!

[And then she dashes after the fairies with a speed that almost seems inhuman, aiming to jab each of them just once with the paintbrush to freeze them.]

[undiningaffection]

[As she barrels past with enough speed to leave her long bangs swaying in the wake, Asami can do little more than stare with a bewildered look on her face. How could anyone move that fast?? And... did she attack them with a paintbrush? Well, it certainly seemed to be effective... but it only left Asami with more questions. There are so many swimming around, in fact, it takes a few seconds for her to decide which one to ask first.]

...who are you?

[She regrets the tone immediately. After all, she can't shake the feeling the girl just rescued her from something.]

S-sorry. This is all just... really strange. [Her expresssion softens, though she can't quite bring herself to smile.] Who's Asuna?

Ice to meet you

[flametheif40]

[Al went to the zoo, and didn't even really get to enjoy the zoo much before getting sucked in and landing face first into the snow behind Asami, gets up and is cold.

His solution to shivering and freezing like hell?

He pulls out a gold Arabian knife and he is suddenly on fire and he has a relieved smile on his face since he is feeling nice and toasty.

Then he notices Asami, a person he never met before and blushes since chances are, she is going to freak out, so he tries to sound as casual as possible]

Oh, hi...

[He noticed all the eggs afterward]

Well crap, if movies have taught me anything, those suckers are going to start hatching soon.

Please tell me you can fight.

[undiningaffection]

[What's the appropriate reaction when one finds themselves an ice cave and a stranger appears and spontaneously combusts behind you? Screaming feels entirely appropriate, but Asami tamps that down. After all, not only does he seem uninjured but pretty lively in spite of the blaze.]

I can fight but I don't have a weapon. But I don't think we need to worry. They'd probably need some kind of cue to hatch.

[A cue like, perhaps, a sudden increase in the temperature from a random fire? It's at that moment the shell around the closest of the creatures starts to crack.]

...I had to say something. [She bites her lower lip before looking back at the stranger.] So, um... how are you at running?

[flametheif40]

I guess it was too much to hope that it would be a musical cue.

[Sarcastic quip aside, he is actually nervous, what kind of first impression is he making?]

Pretty good normally, all this snow though...damn it...I'm going to have to take my other form...sorry...

[ A small ringing sound can be heard from his knife, while a pentagram on his knife glows with a white light]

"Spirit of Decorum and Austerity, I command thee and thy sacred brethren, use my Magoi as your source, and bring great power to my will, APPEAR AMON!"

[After a bright white light consumes his being for a moment he looks like this a small ring of fire floats behind him, he extends one hand out to her, while the two handed sword on his other hand dissolves slowly to turn into a black knife.]

Ummm, I can't fly yet, but I can run faster than most people in this form, I was thinking you hold on and I run us out of here.

[She worries him more than the monsters. Cause this is a GREAT way of trying to be more social and make friends.]

[undiningaffection]

[Well. That's... sure a thing that just happened, and she's not certain how to handle it. On the one hand, he's an armed man who can transform like he's a character from her TV show. He grew up being warned about strangers, and it doesn't get much stranger than this. On the other, she's trapped in an ice cave with creepy monsters, so it's probably best to handle one problem at a time.]

[And speaking of those monsters? Guess what hatched while she was distracted by the transformation? She shrieks as the nearest one charged at her, then kicks it hard in the face. It's enough to stagger the creature as she runs over to him.]

[But that was the first domino and now all of the creatures are waking up. There have time to plan, but not much. Asami looked to them monsters. The stranger. The knife in his hand.]

Are you going to be able to fight and run at the same time? Maybe... [And her face turns red, even though she knows this is no time to feel embarrassed.] ...maybe if you can carry me on your back, I could use the knife and fight out any who get too close?

[It's not awkward for either of them!]

ii

[decipere]

[ kokichi? here to help? very debatable. unlike his younger sister who just jumps into action, he takes his time with the paintbrush stuff. he's interested in seeing how some of these art pieces act, but something catches his eye and he approaches, speaking at the loudest volume that he can muster up (attracting more unwanted attention? of course!). ]

Hey, hey! Aren't you that famous actress?! Wow, it really is you, huh!

[ is he overselling her? maybe. is he actually excited to see her? not really. he's never watched the show personally but he's vaguely familiar with it by seeing the promotional stuff around. plus, some of his younger fans/guild members are more around the age bracket for the show so he has probably seen at least one or two things floating around whenever he lurks on the forums. ]

[undiningaffection]

[This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it? Out of habit she reached behind her neck where her hood normally would have been but instead finds only costume's shawl. Asami walks a few more steps with her head down, trying her best to ignore the voice calling out to her and the weird fairies that are tailing her.]

[Turns out she's a little too focused on those problems, because she doesn't notice the grate in the middle of the walkway. Her foot hooks it and she tumbles to the ground.]

[She's not hurt, of course, but those fairies are still nearby and she's worried the guy who called her out might be nearby too.]

[Please tell me no one had a camera recording--]

[Wait, are those weird fairies trying to grab her??]

[decipere]

[ wow, out of all the reactions that kokichi could have expected, he definitely didn't think she'd trip over like that. did they get transported to a sitcom or something? kokichi was about to say something about that when he notices that the art pieces are now trying to get physical with their abduction. well, now that's a no-go in his book so he approaches and finally puts his brush into use. thankfully, since the fairies have their attention on her, he can easily suckerpaint them from behind. he only manages to get two of them, though, but the third one, knowing that it's probably not worth it to stick around for a single person, takes off. ]

[ now with that threat gone, kokichi just walks in front of asami. rather than offering out a hand like most people would, he just crouches down in front of her. ]

Are you all right?

[undiningaffection]

[Well. That just happened.]

[She peers up, cheeks flushed with embarrassment and... she was really expecting a hand back to her feet. With a huff, she pulls herself back to her knees and narrows her eyes at the stranger.]

As well as could be expected. Do I even want to know what just happened here?

[She's not yet gotten to her feet. For once it's keeping her close to eye level with him, and then there's the principle of the thing. She'll give him another chance to be a gentleman.]

Adrian "Alucard" Ţepeş (AU: Adrian Harker) | Castlevania (Netflix)

[halfvampire]

III.

[What was supposed to be a fairly normal day of volunteer work has quickly turned into something horrible. All Adrian really wanted to do was attempt to help and then get home, but instead here he is, somehow conducting electricity on his own and facing off against something up in the rafters. He can hear the sound of claws clicking against something up there in the dark, and whatever is making that noise certainly doesn't sound pleased to see him.

So Adrian... is he seriously just walking toward the door to leave?? Yes. That is exactly what he's doing. He's not here for this today, he's just going to turn around and leave and hope morale improves. Hopefully the electricity will wear off and hopefully the lights will come back on and hopefully whatever is up there will just cease to be an issue.

The creature isn't having any of this and swoops down to land directly between Adrian and the door to freedom. It bares its teeth and makes a hissing noise as it rears up to its full height to try to prevent escape.

...Adrian just looks so done already.]

Please tell me you know of a way to stop it.

IV.

[Okay, so entering the blue door at the zoo was a massive mistake, and Adrian really needs to learn when to stop checking out the new things. But fine, he's here, he's cold, and there's only one way out. He'll start heading towards the mouth of the cave, being very careful not to touch any of the eggs. He's played plenty of video games, he knows how this goes.

Now if only it weren't so slippery. Unfortunately, controlling characters in ice levels in a video game is much easier than actually doing it yourself (no matter how slippery those controls are), and Adrian finds himself sliding into one of those eggs. It cracks and the blue creature pops out, and for a brief moment they end up staring at each other.

And then the little creature's running off to go break its friends out of their eggs and Adrian's looking panicked.]

Wait, please don't wake them all up...!

[oh my god is he seriously trying to reason with these things?? yes. please stop him.]

BONUS.

[Okay, fine. Adrian gives up. He'll just post to the network and hope he'll get some answers regarding all of this. The username is Adrian.]

What is going on around here? I received a strange message about an "operation" and why am I only just now noticing all the strange things happening in the city? Can someone please explain any of this?

WILDCARD.

[Got something else you'd like to do with Adrian? Hit me up on plurk at pokerap and we can plot something out! If you're interested in building pre-established CR with Adrian, his AU workshop comment is over here!]

Username Al

[flametheif40]

Not going to lie, this is crazy stuff and it gets weirder as you go along. I promise things will sort of make sense with time.

Basically, we are all unwilling experiments that are gradually remembering some other life, probably different place and gain skills or powers that you had in that other life.

Some, like myself, get magic out of the deal, others will gain skills or abilities.

If you need to see magic, that is no problem, name a place close to you and I can show up in a few minutes and show you.

I also have a file explaining some of the basics if that helps.

[halfvampire]

That's certainly a lot to take in.

I have a hard time believing any of this, but I have seen some very strange things lately that I can't explain...

Can you tell me more about what's happening in the city right now? And why it's happening, I suppose. If there's an answer for that, of course.

[flametheif40]

I don't blame you...after getting some memories from your other life and...probably some more shinanigans it becomes easier to belive.

Short answer on the why. We are at war, the details are complicated and strange, but we are fighting for survival and we HAVE to work with a few of the people that have been experimenting on us, because, no matter what you think of them, they are objectively a better option than the alternative.

The what, I really don't know. Random shit happening is par for the course here, even before this shit hit the fan.

I know those are shitty answers, and I know you don't have much reason to trust me.

But I'll help if I can

III.

[drydrown]

[Oh, excellent, there's someone here who seems about as done with all of this as any proper Retrospec test subject should be. Cumore's never seen this guy before, granted, so he's probably just speedrunning the Done process and deciding he's not here for all of this already. Here's hoping he'll make Zee's life hell.

That said, you are dealing with an equally charged-up lawyer in a suit that's way too nice for this, just kind of standing there looking at this thing like "fucking really" - internally screaming a bit, sure, but at least he's keeping all that internal.]

Honestly, I assume we deal with this in the same way we deal with everything else - completely blind, possibly screaming, and generally trying not to die.

As for stopping it, your guess is as good as mine.

[halfvampire]

Charming. I'm pleased to see that we're both at a loss for what to do here.

[The skeletal bat lunges forward, the crackle of electricity following it. The one good thing here is that the bat's more than a little clumsy, and even Adrian without any sort of enhancements (or even any sort of physical dexterity) is able to get out of the way.]

Well, this is going to be fun.

[We're so going to die.]

[drydrown]

You get used to it. Unfortunately.

[...jesus, okay, this thing is mad.]

Honestly, the one suggestion I have is "find a stick and whack it with it", simply because nothing tends to like being hit in the face.