repeter | APRIL TDM

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

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. WATER YOU DOING.
[ life is hard when you're always prepared but never prepared. so, yeah, he's the sucker who's stuck underneath a vendor trying to seem somewhat interested in... everything, while he waits out the rain and vaguely considers how worth it it would be to run out and wet his books to save him from his own terrible acting.

mostly because he feels bad just dawdling around with the storeowner looking at him like that, but. you know.

rain is wet. and the gossip on this magazine cover is So Legit-- ]

Wow. Wow, that's amazing. [ gesturing at the magazine ] Do you see this? They found uh... [ squinting at the text ] ...Alien skulls. Wow.

[ please save him ]

II. AMEOWZING.
[ so maybe you've left a couple of flowers you were planning to use for a flower crown down. maybe you left the whole crown on the empty space beside you on that bench/grass/whatever you were sitting on. hell, maybe you were enjoying a nice sandwich or... whatever you like to eat.

either way, you get distracted for a moment. you look away. and when you look back? there is now a black cat, munching away on whatever you had.

there is also the supposed (?) owner kind of bustling into the scene, somewhat winded and very much sheepish, his hands on his knees as he bends over to catch his breath. ]

Tttthat's, phew-- [ give him a second ] --That is... Replaceable. I can replace that.

[ looking at the cat now, brow furrowed. ]

Thor, will you-- [ slightly more hushed, as if this consultation will somehow get his beloved feline to Release The Snacks: ] Do you see the situation we're in right now?

BONUS. STOP BUGGING ME.
Part of me wants to ask about tips on moving into the ocean so I can avoid all the bugs that are somehow both ten times cooler while being simultaneously more terrifying, but the better question is probably "has anyone figured out how to turn these facts off yet?" so... There it is. That's what I'm asking.

Don't get me wrong. Termites, 7000 eggs, great. Just, you know, a little choice is nice? Is there a secret codeword I need to text somewhere here?

Note to self: remember this when installing random things that pop up in the future.

WILDCARD.
[ hit me up with any prompt you can think of, if you like! and if you want to hash out any additional au stuff, just pm me here or hit me up at

trinities. ]

there are bugs in the ocean too

[ okay gosh SMARTYPANTS way to ruin his vibe here ]

Now, I'm not going to say I'm a bug expert (even if I feel like it with the thousand plus one facts being thrown at me every day)...

But I'm willing to take my risks there with the unknown bugs that I can hopefully outswim. Badly. While being unable to breathe, which might be my biggest hurdle here actually.

[Minako and her Shiba Inu puppy are Thor's dining companions now. Yup, they're all eating their lunches in peace until this stranger comes by.

Oh, okay, not stranger. Owner.]

It's no problem! It was an extra anyways.

[An extra she was going to eat so it wasn't really extra but. She'll forgive the cute kitty.]

[ he's sorry... minako... don't hate him. cute puppy, too. don't hate him either, cute puppy!

hiccup barely manages another exasperated look at thor who... continues to eat, but. you know. hiccup's attention's back on minako for the moment as he rubs the back of his neck with a sigh. ]

Yeah, some of us actually have a sense of shame-- [ the implication is: UNLIKE CAT ] --So I'd like to make it up to you, extra or not. Honestly. Anything around that caught your eye? Uh, like... I don't know, some kind of dessert or something?

[ a glance at the puppy ]

A dog treat?

[Minako and Koromaru turn to look at each other in unison, and then back to Hiccup.]

Well, if you really insist! How about a dog treat?

[Except Koromaru whines and paws at Hiccup's pants. No, get something for Leader! She deserves it!]

[ Mizuki's just minding his business, but now he's squinting at the magazine this guy's gesturing at. Least it's not the one he's modeling for this time. ]

You do know those aren't not real, right?

[ there probably is one of those in here somewhere.... fortunately hiccup is too into his bad acting and the embarrassment associated with said bad acting that he probably won't make the connection just yet.

so much for being observant. right now he's just. try to roll with this Painful Experience. ]

No-- no way. [ the fake voice of surprise from someone who's already seen the birthday presents, and is making said fact painfully obvious.

so, you know, he's just going to bring his books closer to his side and pretend he's not dying internally. ] You never know. Not seeing one doesn't mean it's not around, keep your mind open, et cetera.

[ what... the hell is this guy talking about... he just raises a brow at hiccup, wanting to get more out of him. n-not that he's interested or anything. ]

Keeping your mind open also means accepting the fact that there are things that just don't exist. Like aliens. What are you, twelve?

[ he still hasn't caught on the fact that the other guy is just acting. oh dear. ]

Now, if you excuse me.

Ooooh, really? What kind did they say they found? That kind of thing is always fun to read!

[ she doesn't really believe conspiracy theories like that (mostly) but levy will read Anything and that includes trashy national enquirer level magazines. she was just passing by, but she stops to peer around hiccup's arm to see the magazine, having to tilt her umbrella to the side to avoid hitting him with it. at 4'11" she's. holding it much shorter than he probably is. ]

I mean, do they have pictures? Maybe we can guess what kind of animal the skulls actually probably belong to, like a game. [ brightly. she'll probably save him, but she's distracted by the conversation grasp first off, okay. ]

[ this is probably revenge for Toast Hell, isn't it. at least pretending to be drawn in by conspiracy theories is slightly less embarrassing when it's someone he knows, mostly because he doesn't have to try to defend his reputation here.

... actually it's already ruined in levy's case, probably, but let's move past that.

hiccup pauses for a moment, somewhat surprised that he didn't realize it was levy he was subjecting to this tinfoil hat moment but... he recovers soon enough, his slight tenseness making way for a more relaxed stance. ]

Levy. [ ... this is still a mistake!! ] You know I took a total of... I think it was one or two biology classes, right?

[ it might be karmic revenge but it certainly isn't planned revenge! levy is too genuinely Nice for that (...mostly) and is more to the point genuinely interested in all things written down. so. ]

That makes the guessing even more fun! Maybe. Do you think they're actual alien skulls, then??

[ still 0% judgement and still no offer of rescue...she's distracted. ]

[Guess who's got two thumbs and an umbrella? THIS GIRL. Although it's closed at the moment. She's actually at this vendor to pick up a snack, but when somebody mentions alien skulls he is granted the mixed blessing of her undivided attention.]

Really?? Let me see!

[Speaking of aliens, here comes a Personal Space Invader. She's just gonna kinda nudge him a little so she can see the cover... and her excitement turns to disappointment instantly.]

Aww, National Enquirer? For a second I thought you were serious.

[ god, he's getting judged by an eighth grader. hiccup haddock will now die alone, forever misjudged by the generation before him.

but mostly he pauses. and for kind of being nudged, which he just sort of. allows. goodbye, personal space. maybe he'll have a quick quip for that really quick call out handy.

like, "obviously not"! or-- ]

Ah... I was?

[ --nope. said in the voice of someone who seems so very certain of that.

(no, not really.) ]

[Yeeeah so at first she thought he was just yanking her chain, but if he says he's serious... Boy, adults sure don't know anything! Luckily, Hiccup has her there to educate him, with the vast wisdom that comes of barely qualifying as a teenager.]

Well, in that case you are very gullible. [She smacks the cover sharply with her knuckles.] This is what's called fake news. It sounds cool, yeah, but you can safely assume everything in here is completely made up. Which is unfortunate, because I would pay to see an actual bat boy.

great plan but have you seen the shit that lives in the ocean
there might be things more terrifying than bugs in there
i mean there definitely are basically

And I've now accidentally doubled up on my subscription of "Facts to Foster Your Paranoia".
Not that that's... wrong. Obviously. It is indeed a fact that the thought of a shark swimming at me is a little more terrifying than bugs eating each other.

oh man sharks arent even the tip of the iceberg
like anything that glows and lives really deep down is pretty objectively horrifying you know
have you ever read like a buzzfeed list of those fuckers

[The thing that Thor has decided to delicately dine on is, in fact, a fully finished flower crown! A very intricate-looking one that the maker has probably spent a stupid amount of time and effort on, even... (Considering it's Kiyomitsu's, "stupid amounts of time" is guaranteed for anything cute, though).

BUT ANYWAY.

This? Unforgivable. Entirely unforgivable. ...Or it would be if it weren't a cat, but he's weak as hell to his favorite animal and as such, he'll be Spared from Kiyomitsu at his most irritated. That's the real blessing here.

He still looks pretty irritated, though.]

Replaceable? Unless you're telling me you have a perfect eye for color coordinating and can knot stems quickly without breaking 'em, I don't think that's the kinda offer you should be making.

[Lowkey bragging and insulting this poor guy at the same time, what a talent.]

You should really watch what that guy eats, anyway. What if there was holly or foxgloves in here or something?

[ he'd be a little more insulted about that if he weren't in a position of "oh shit please don't stab me for ruining your hard work" and "yeah, that's kind of accurate actually (despite some crafting skills) wait don't agree with him--"

... but he is in that position, so for the time being he'll just answer those really nice statements with a slightly baffled look.

the delayed response: ]

He's. Er, pretty good at not eating what he shouldn't, actually. [ wait ] ... Except for things that don't belong to him, we're not counting that.

[ better. the weirdness of that statement considering the situation was not lost to him.

and now, because he absolutely cannot resist asking since that is the most amount of seriousness he'd ever thought he'd hear about flower crowns. ]

... Is there seriously that much involved in flower... crown... making?

As long as he doesn't go around getting himself sick, I guess...

[Even if his flower crown is still a tragic loss here, he'd rather the cat eat it than something potentially dangerous. Good thing he'd decided against harsher flowers specifically because he hangs out with cats so often. Lord help Kiyomitsu "when will I get a cat of my own" Kashuu.

BUT.

But.

That's a very good question to ask this very serious bean, who will give an answer that's way too detailed for a topic like this.]

Of course! Any accessory that you actually plan on wearing has to be made carefully, yeah? If you go out there with something that's patchy or not full or has stems sticking out all over, that's no good.

[she practically screeches-- or at least makes a high pitched, almost screech sound. All of her flowers! Gone! She'd picked those out special, and now she'd have to search again. This was-- annoying.

It finally stopped raining too.

However, she quickly composes herself. She couldn't be rude to the kitty-- it was only behaving as a cat should.]

That's... that's alright, I suppose. I hope Thor found them yummy.

[ Kyouko spots him as she's walking back home, safe under the cover of an umbrella. They've had a class together before, and she feels a little bad that he's stuck in that shop. ]

Fascinating, isn't it? Despite all the evidence, people still say they don't exist. [ Still, she can't help prolonging it just a little. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

APRIL TDM

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oh my god I'm so sorry, I lost the notif for this in my inbox OTL;;;

alien prompt bc some things just never change

bless. izumi destined to extraterrestrial annoyance

at least you don't go ucchu and write on walls

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I.

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ii! points at eyes points at you

cracks knuckles

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