recollecters: (Default)
Recollé Mods ([personal profile] recollecters) wrote in [community profile] repeter2017-04-16 09:01 pm

APRIL TDM

TEST DRIVE
APRIL TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé. A beautiful city you've called home for quite some time. While things can be a little weird, isn't that true of all homes? It's fully spring now, and there are flowers to be found everywhere. April's showers are a familiarity as well, the occasional downpour or drizzle keeping you on your toes.

What will you do today?

I.
April showers bring May flowers, right? Well, there are already plenty of flowers to be had, but that part of the old rhyme being true doesn't save you from the first part of it. While the weather forecasters do their best, their success rate for predicting the rain seems to be about fifty-fifty. Unfortunately, sometimes when they do predict the rain happening, they misjudge how bad it's going to be. Was the sky was clear when you last looked outside? It may not be quite so clear now. Hope you remembered to bring an umbrella today.

But it's not so bad, really! Maybe if you forgot to prepare, someone will share their umbrella with you. Not in the mood to talk to anyone? You can probably find some thrifty umbrella vendors on the streets of Tisse. When in doubt, there are always some loaner umbrellas scattered around in Apprassage at the Recollé Library as well. The library asks that you return any of the mismatched loaners found at the door, but it's not like the system is that strongly enforced. Well, other than the library stamp on the umbrellas, that is.

If you find yourself in Chata today, you could always buy a magazine off the street corners to hold overhead. If you look like you may buy something, vendors don't seem to mind if you idle under their awnings. Check out the latest fashions coming this spring while you wait it out. It looks like buckles are in, but some of the high fashion clothes look a little odder than usual. The hot, new dresses range from large like a billowing tarp to appearing more like an artfully arranged handkerchief than anything else. Fashion sure is weird sometimes.

II.
Recollé Square in Tribunal Terrace boasts a huge assortment of flower gardens scattered throughout the district, though they all appear to be whatever citizens felt like planting at the time. In fact, only flowers in Apprassage seem to match, especially around the University. Today, while the rain's stopped, a large group of people seem to be taking advantage of Recollé Square's mismatching for flower picking, crown and wreath weaving, and bouquet arranging. The activities seem to be loosely led by the city's PTA and some of the other socialite groups from around town. Then again, for long-standing citizens of the city this isn't unusual either. You seem to remember that this is an annual sort of thing even though there isn't actually a name for the event.

Some booths are set up around the park to swap seeds, flowers and food for cash or gossip, the guidelines a little more loose outside of the business districts. It seems as though lot of families are picnicking this weekend. There's even some kind of contest going on for the best flower crown - though usually the city tends to collectively pick a kid for the winner, so your best artistic talents might not get you the admiration you crave.

In addition, there's the most accurately judged flower-growing contest if you've been waiting for this day for a year or more, but that event tends to have the same people involved every year and the majority of Recollé isn't too heavily invested in it. They're here for the picnics and flower crowns, and it seems about the same as it always does. This year, though, there do seem to be more flowers than ever...and for that matter, they're a lot bigger than usual, too.

III.
Despite some of the fashion fiascos the magazines are displaying, maybe you should spend some time shopping this week. It may come as a surprise to you that your clothes haven't been fitting properly as of late. Those skinny jeans are just a hair too loose, and your favorite shirt seems baggier than it used to be. The problem, however, is that every shop you go to seems to stock clothes with the same issues. You're down a size or two or three, or maybe they're just marking everything down wrong. And surely you don't have the time or money to replace your entire wardrobe...will you take your chances? Complain to the store's manager? Or maybe you're an unfortunate soul who has to try and explain the unexplainable. Maybe offering a coupon will appease shoppers today.

IV.
Apparently walking around your neighborhood isn't quite as safe as it used to be - or it isn't safe if you want to trust your eyes. One second the little old lady who lives at the corner appears to be walking her pitbull just as she has every day for the last several years. The next, the pitbull is gone and she's walking a rather angry-looking caterpillar. Blink and you'll miss it, but as time goes on you'll see more and more of these larger-than-life insects wandering around. No matter how hard you try to explain it, the only other people who seem to see this as the least bit weird are people with the Retrospec app.

Oh, do you not have the Retrospec app? Think again. The sound of chirping crickets will follow you until the next time you look at your mobile device or a public computer, prompting you to accept a profile and upload a user picture. Congratulations! It seems as though you've been selected to be a new tester!

...it's going to be one of those days.

BONUS.
While the Retrospec app only infrequently has posts from the company itself - and those have thus far proven to be universally useless - this month there is an onslaught of updates. At least once per day there's a picture of a new type of flower or insect, along with a "fun fact" about whatever the company has posted.

Did you know, for example, that wasps feeding on fermenting juice have been known to get "drunk' and pass out? Ancient civilizations burned aster leaves to ward off evil spirits. Ticks can grow from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a marble. Roses are related to apples, raspberries, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, pears and almonds. Houseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than human tongues. Praying mantises prey on other insects, and perhaps you'd better watch your step.

Wait, what?

As usual, any attempt to get the company to reply about the increasingly disturbing information they're sending out is useless. The daily facts grow less and less useful and eventually seem to be nothing but fun facts about how flowers and bugs could kill you or one another. Kind of unfortunate for you, if this is your first time getting any messages whatsoever from the app. How do you unsubscribe? Good luck figuring it out.

Welcome to the [community profile] 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 April 2017 TDM directory can be found here. The April 2017 Workshop can be found here. The mod questions comment is here.
sanpaku: (pic#8007397)

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-22 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ there is a pause, and then a low, soft laugh. sort of pointedly breathy, sort of pointedly right in the guy's face. you don't like his breath, buddy? here, have some more of it. ]

Dunno if you're one to talk about doing something stupid, old man. [ ruiji spares a moment to look him over again — probably only a handful of years older than him, but wearing a suit, so he's likely got a decent job somewhere. yeah, he'll do. ]

Careful... it's been raining a lot lately, yanno? [ he smiles then, and somehow the split in his face only makes those beady eyes of his that much more unsettling. ]

You wouldn't wanna fall and have an accident...
insantafe: (where's it say you gotta live & die here)

[personal profile] insantafe 2017-04-22 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ And here he was counting on this being some kind of food poisoning-induced hallucination. ]

We oughta check when we get back. Just in case.

[ He's not giving up on the possibility yet! ]

That'd make for one ugly balloon. And don't puppets need to be, I don't know, handled somehow? That thing's just... hanging out on the leash like it belongs there! [ That ain't right, that just ain't right!! ] Have you ever even seen a bug that before?
sanpaku: (pic#8007397)

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-22 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the chirping in his brain just won't let up, and it only seems to get worse when the man he's cornered begins to laugh. he can't hold back his cringe, though his face has already screwed up into something of a half-grimace, half-scowl since they'd began. had he been of a better frame of mind, he probably would have been in better position to notice the warning signs his survival instincts were currently sending him. ]

Hey, jackass — did I ask?

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-22 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Mafuyu rolls her eyes and punches him in the arm for messing with her; it's quick but light ]

Since when do you care about dress code? Clearly not by wearing that.
sanpaku: (pic#8007397)

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-22 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ if there's one thing mafuyu manages to do to earn herself some credit, it's saying just the thing to get ruiji to pause in surprise long enough that he can't even summon a retort. though, considering the surprise comes mostly from bemusement over the fact she'd just called herself out in the same breath she means to insult him probably isn't a point of pride, either...

still, she at least gets him quiet enough that he stalls long enough in responding to her next words, so much so that his usual intimidation and bluster is a little lacking. ]


You take up two inches, [ he scoffs before long, practically squinting down at her. he over-exaggerates this, of course, just to drive the point across. considering his sharp, beady eyes, it's that much more pronounced.

he gestures to a lightpost nearby. ]


Go stand under there, amoeba. [ amoeba??? ] That should give you enough cover just fine, yeah?

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-22 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Haah?

[ is the immediate reaction Mafuyu has for somebody not stepping aside like she so politely asked them to.

She does turn her head to look where he gestures though, barely a glance at the light post before whipping her head back to stare at Ruiji because is he kidding?? there is zero cover under that light post, and moreover, there's a puddle forming underneath, and what the heck is an amoeba, it sounds like a science thing. ]


No way, I got here first. Why should I move?

[ So this entire point is lost on her who steps forward and plants herself right in front of Ruiji in an attempt to crowd him out, even if it means leaving her dry spot right up against the trunk. It would be intimidating if she weren't just over five feet tall and she's forced to look up at him, glaring just as much as she's squinting to keep out the rain. ]

Give me payment and I might share.
sanpaku: (pic#8007397)

when ya icons do not currently match your au version rip

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-22 10:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it isn't a common occurrence that someone blatantly opposes him like this, especially someone he could probably easily chuck into that lightpost with one hand, so ruiji actually takes a second to appreciate the novelty of the moment. she probably isn't all that smart, thinks the high school drop out, because there's no way she hasn't heard of the [LOUD GROANING NOISES IDK WHATEVER THE NAME OF THE GANG HE'S PART OF IS], just as there's no way she can't tell from the way he's dressed that he isn't part of it.

he'll go ahead and spell it out for her, like the generous thug that he is. ]


Yeah, okay. How 'bout I let you avoid hundreds of dollars' worth of hospital bills, huh? How's that?

[ ...not that he'd actually beat up a girl, but she doesn't have to know that... ]

lmao all his other icons are so cute wth ruiji

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-22 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She's stupid. She's so stupid, because she knows of the gang and what it means and her little ragtag group of high school troublemakers is nothing in comparison to an established gang. And yet. Here she is, stupid and fearless only because she isn't afraid of pain, it's nothing new.

Death is new though, a very real possibility and she takes a step back— not retreating, she tells herself, but so she can point at her eyes, point at him. ]


I got your face memorized. Try anything and I'll tattle to the cops! [ she's a kid!! ] A cell's nice and dry, and you get all the space you want!

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-22 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The ball plops wetly next to Mafuyu's head, at which she jerks her head up just in time to avoid getting mud in her eyes, and just in time to get bowled over again by Eijun. The cheering and shouting is replaced but just regular shouting

at Eijun. ]


Is today Tuesday?! Target— I mean, batting practice day??

[ she might grab Eijun out of the mud and shake his shoulders a little because she like hitting balls, not being hit with them, this is why she doesn't want to join the team!! ]
livingdeadgirl: (smile 3)

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2017-04-22 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Ami Aihara ok, thank you. I mean, I don't think the foundations of my worldview have been *completely* blown away by this stunning revelation, but I will keep the offer in mind.
(it may just be that it hasn't fully sunk in yet, haha. so you getting a text at 3 in the morning where I'm like "oh god what's happening to my world?!?!?!?!?" is not an impossible outcome here :p)
also, I would be very concerned if going crazy *was* on your to-do list
sanpaku: (pic#8007397)

his sordid wannabe shoujo life... don't look

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-22 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he feels a pang of satisfaction when she steps back, though it's a sort of hollow victory in the sense that a mouse backing away from a lion is just obvious. but where death is a very real threat for her, jailtime is equally a very real threat for ruiji, who has definitely recently set a foot into full-blown adulthood, meaning his stints in juvie are actual literal child's play compared to prison. so there is slightly more strain to his smug little sneer when he responds. ]

I got all the space I want right now. [ not. he's not particularly wide or anything, but he's obscenely tall enough that the bottom leaves of this gd tree are already resting on top of his head. there is a steady stream of rainfall that keeps slipping down right between his eyes that's definitely gonna bug him sooner rather than later. ] And you get to live. Sounds nice, right?

one day he'll get to sparkle and say good mornings...

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-23 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ Mafuyu grumbles something in response but she's definitely still pissed. There's 360 degrees of space around the tree so that they could easily stand on opposite sides and be out of each other's way, but she's done enough running away already. So it's right there next to him that she stands, letting her backpack fall to her feet because it's gotten so soaked already that it's too heavy to be worth the effort, and dropping her back against the tree trunk heavily enough so that the branches overhead dump all the water right onto their heads, ah... ]

—stupid! This is so stupid! Why can't it stop raining!? Why didn't you bring an umbrella?!!

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-23 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, that's a familiar voice. That alone has Mafuyu not looking back as she runs, as tempting as it would be to see the look on Koushuu's face, because dashing and sliding is exactly what baseball players do and she doesn't want to give him the opportunity to take her down. ]

Come on! I know your reaction time's better than that! [ Not that it stops her from heckling him. She has to. She can't help it. ] Don't tell me you're slacking off on that and running! I'm helping you train!

[ The practice partner nobody asked for, it's her ]
sanpaku: (pic#8007397)

look deep into your heart, ruiji... you know your shoujo self to be true

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-23 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ he'd been doing pretty well keeping his calm up until that very moment (which is ironic, considering he's usually a 15 on the emotional scale between 1-10, and only ever really eerily calm when he's extremely pissed and/or fighting), but the sudden onslaught of water down his head and her aggravated shouting finally push him into a similar fit. he whips his head around so quickly that most of the water that'd just come down now flings back towards her, but it's lucky that she's heads shorter than him so she avoids it all landing on her face... ]

What the hell?! Are you cursed??! And why are you so loud?! [ shouts the guy now shouting over the rumbling thunder ]
true_noir: (Cloak10)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-04-23 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
BlakKat I think it would be worrying if it was on anyone's to do list, really.
BlakKat Even if it were just the mad tea party variety of crazy.
BlakKat But do not worry if you end up calling me at 3 in the morning.
BlakKat Unfortunately, I have already had a few of those conversations, so it would not be new.

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-23 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
I'M NOT LOUD!!

[ she shouts loudly to be heard... but more important, why is it thundering?? She hadn't noticed for keeping her eyes on the street for somebody walking by with extra space under their umbrellas, but when she leans out to peek up at the sky, it's dark with thick rolling clouds and the weather forecaster should be fired because he is a big fat liar. ]

You're the one who's cursed! It wasn't like this before you—

[ a clap of thunder and Mafuyu yells in a mix of fright and surprise ]

L-lightning! Under a tree means we're going to die!!
Edited 2017-04-23 00:26 (UTC)
sanpaku: (pic#8007386)

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-23 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ ruiji isn't so easily spooked, but he has a pretty deep-seated belief in curses and all that that entails (after hearing he had the face of a devil since he was born, it kinda gets drilled into your head) so for a second he gets very nervous about her suggestion that it could be him...

but then he's quick to remind himself that, technically, things had been just fine for him too till he happened upon her... SO THERE!!

but okay maybe it's best to address the possibility of a real threat right now... ]


Shit shit shit—

[ there has yet to be a flash of lightning, but the growing frequency of thunder is definitely not a good sign. he looks around hastily, running a hand over his fringe to slick it away from his face and help him see better— ]

There! [ he points towards a small flower shop nearly hidden between two large buildings a couple of blocks down from where they are. the one with the small awning... so small it will likely mean a lot more huddling together, which is what got them in this mess in the first place kinda. he's about to shout to her not to crowd him when there suddenly comes that flash of lightning, making him yelp in surprise. without thinking, he grabs her wrist and starts sprinting towards the shop. ]
buncho: (100)

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-23 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Perhaps it's the combination of the two of them that's the curse. She yells at the thunder, yells at the lightning, but what really drives fear into her heart is the fact that even Ruiji is scared, enough that she lets herself be pulled towards the shop.

A tiny awning that's their only salvation... Why should they be satisfied with staying outside when they can go inside the shop? (why didn't she just go indoors in the first place... why were they both like this...) She knows this flower shop well; her friend works here. But it's another part-timer that catches sight of the two of them making the mad dash towards the shop, drenched to the bone and murderous as all can be and—

The door locks with a click. ]


Crap- why?! Let us in!!

[ Mafuyu twists her wrist out of Ruiji's grip the moment she's close enough to bang her fists on the thick glass door. The security bars start lowering... The part-timer mouths, "I'm sorry" but he's not looking at her, he's staring at the jacket Ruiji is wearing.

There's a reason why you shouldn't be wearing things that scream "HELLO I'M PART OF A GANG" when you're not on gang business, Ruiji. This is one of those reasons. ]
sanpaku: (pic#8007382)

[personal profile] sanpaku 2017-04-23 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ it takes ruiji all of two seconds to make a decision:

at this point, he didn't really care about his own state anymore. he's soaked to the bone, cold, and probably well on his way to earning himself a cold. but mafuyu, annoying as she is, loud as she is — this isn't her fault. his being who he is isn't her fault, and now she's getting shut out from shelter just because she happens to have had the bad luck to be around him long enough to be associated with him.

it was dumb. it was stupid. this part-timer knew full well mafuyu had no business with him — they couldn't look any more an odder pair, and everyone who's anyone knows that members of this gang didn't tend to associate with people who weren't, so this person was just being cruel on purpose. for no goddamn reason.

so ruiji decides to break the fucking door.

glass shatters at their feet just as thunder claps again, and had ruiji been smarter, had enough room, he would have just kicked right through the glass, but instead he'd used his elbow like a fucking idiot, and he's pretty sure he's bleeding or something, but that doesn't stop him from reaching through the lowered bars to grab the part-timer's collar and yank him close enough to make the metals shudder. ]


Let her in.

[ the thing about being in gang? you're never off-hours. ]
Edited 2017-04-23 01:05 (UTC)
livingdeadgirl: (smile 3)

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2017-04-23 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
Ami Aihara ongoing, but I have found some good non-dress items as well.
it's just kind of a hassle having to drop everything and go clothes shopping.
who ever heard of clothes getting *bigger* in the wash?
livingdeadgirl: (blank 1)

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2017-04-23 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
Ami Aihara how many people has this happened to?
true_noir: (Cloak9)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-04-23 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
BlakKat There are over a hundred of us on this app, but no two have had the same experiences.
BlakKat Many of us have had the strange visions, or "Hallucimemories," as Dave likes to call them, but not all.
BlakKat And, as I think I said, it has been going on since Founder's Day now, so a few months.
livingdeadgirl: (frown 2)

[personal profile] livingdeadgirl 2017-04-23 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
Ami Aihara "hallucimemories"
wow
can we just
pause for a second to appreciate what an atrocious portmanteau that is
mincingminuet: (Worry)

[personal profile] mincingminuet 2017-04-23 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
No...?

[but she's going to drop the centipede talk. Because that's just fucking weird, dude. Please, stop, she's already shivering.]

Uh. Well, weird dreams for starters. Have you had any yet, dude?
true_noir: (Smile2)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-04-23 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
BlakKat Let us pause for a week.
BlakKat I find the word funny to say but horrible to explain it.
BlakKat And the ones I think are responsible keep telling us that we are "Remembering" something.
BlakKat Which is equally ridiculous, for different reasons.

BlakKat I do like that word, though. Reminds me of home.