APRIL TDM

[recollecters]

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.

Comments

iv

[buncho]

Its name is Iggy? You have it trained?

[ Mafuyu pops her head over Mohammed's shoulder from the other side of the tree, intrigued by the sheer size of the beetle and she might be reaching her hand out to touch it. It's kind of weird and creepy, but at the same time, don't kids in the manga she reads collect beetles? Summertime means hunting for the largest beetles, and this one she could turn in for a lot of $$$ ]

[prometheanflame]

No, it's not mine.

[Iggy is a dog not...whatever this beetle is called. How is no one else reacting to this giant bug?

If it had eyelids, said bug would be squinting at Mafuyu suspiciously. Who is this kid and why does she assume she can touch him? It closes its pincers several times at her.]

...Are you scaring it? [If this was actually Iggy, Mohammed would say that he's suspicious of most people and not to take it personally. Iggy just hates anything that isn't himself. But this isn't Iggy.]

[buncho]

I'm not scaring it!

[ She's scaring it. Evident by the way the pincers snap a hair's width from the tips of her fingers and all Mafuyu does is laugh and pull away, only to inch her hand back again to see how close she can get to touching the carapace. ]

Anyways, since you've got Iggy [ which she's assuming is another beetle, i guess, which has buzzed off to somewhere or other ] I'll take this one!

[prometheanflame]

[He looks at the beetle. He looks at Mafuyu.]

I'm certain you'd need a license for it if is isn't already illegal.

[Iggy is going to bite this cheeky human. Not hard, but enough to make her go away. It briefly buzzes up and snaps at her hand.]

[buncho]

Why do you need a li—OUCH!!

[ Maybe it wasn't hard, but it certainly wasn't expected, Mafuyu drawing her hand back and staring at her fingers with abject horror as if the tips of them had been snipped off. why?????

She scrambles behind Mohammed and literally hides behind his back, using him as a meat shield because honestly. ]

[prometheanflame]

[Hah! Iggy is victorious! No one does as they please with him, for Iggy is the king of dogs!...bugs.

He jumps onto his hind legs several times in victory, and he emits little clicking noises as if he were barking.]

Are you alright?! [Mohammed pulls her away from Iggy by the wrist to inspect her fingers.] Did it draw blood?

[buncho]

[ Time to throw down with Iggy!! She would fight the dog, but her hands are taken and she has to settle with the "points at eyes, points at you" motion from around Mohammed's side. ]

I'm fine. I'm not bleeding and it doesn't hurt.

[ It looks like it should hurt though, fingers red and swollen, but the pincers didn't break skin and honestly it's better that she'd been snapped at by a beetle and not a dog. ]

Let me go. I'm going to destroy that bug.

[prometheanflame]

[You have now declared yourself an enemy. Iggy will remember this.]

No, you're not. [Pulls on her more.] It's not going to be killed by getting stepped on.

[Despite the distance he puts between them, Iggy follows the two at a leisurely pace. What, aren't you gonna fight him? Scared that he'll inevitably send you home crying? Fight him.]

[buncho]

[ Mafuyu drags her feet, but that's the extent of her reluctance to run away from this fight, shooting looks over her shoulder at Iggy and then— ]

Oh.

[ She digs her heels to stop for a moment, and then she's the one pulling, picking up the pace with a destination in mind. ]

Come with me to my place! I know mom keeps bug spray in the garage for ants; that'll work!

[ Dad also keeps a rake and saws hanging on the walls, so if it comes to that, she's prepared too ]

[prometheanflame]

[...He does not know enough about entomology to say if bug spray works for every kind of bug, but he's not going to make an idiot of himself and mention that.]

I need to find my dog first.

[He lets go of her, and Iggy lies down now that his human isn't going anyway.] He's the sort of dog that would pick a fight with a beetle his size.

[buncho]

[ They'll probably need a dozen cans of bug stray to make any sort of headway against a dog-sized beetle.

Mafuyu stumbles a little when she's let go, catching herself in between running off and stepping back. ]

What's your dog like? [ She points to Iggy the beetle ] Bigger or smaller than that bug? I'll help you find him and then they can fight!

[ She just wants to see them fight? ]

[prometheanflame]

The same size.

[Mohammed looks terrified at the thought of Iggy and the beetle fighting. Sure, it's calm now, but the dog is going to be the aggressor and break his little teeth on the exoskeleton and that will be the end of that.]

[buncho]

[ Sparkles in Mafuyu's eyes, she's going to see a dog and beetle fight and she looks entirely too happy about it ]

Iggy? Is that the dog you were calling for before? [ she cups her hands to shout at the top of her lungs— she's loud, voice easily carrying across the park and over the general din of background chatter ] Iggy! IGGY!! COME OUT AND FIGHT!!!

[prometheanflame]

Yes, but don't--

[He is interrupted by some angry buzzing. Mafuyu is not the human allowed to call for Iggy and it's annoying.

Mohammed pulls on the shoulder of her shirt and reaches into his leather bag.] You're bothering it. Let's go. I have some of his favorite snacks.

[buncho]

[ It's with a little grumble, but Mafuyu clamps her mouth shut. And also makes little shooing motions with her hand at Iggy. Get out of here, bug, this has nothing to do with you so just go on and fly away home. ]

That's good, then, right? Just wave food around and shout "dinner!!" and it'll come. My dog always comes for food.

[prometheanflame]

It's not as effective as this.

[Out comes a small Ziploc bag with a few small brown treats inside. Mohammed pries it open, holding both sides with a thumb and forefinger, which gets Iggy's attention.]

He'll come running once he smells it, trust me.

[He pulls one out, keeping it tight inside his fist.]

[buncho]

[ Not only Iggy, but it gets Mafuyu's attention too. Everything temporarily forgotten, she leans in close, trying to see what's in the bag and is it really that great/can she eat one?? ]

What is it? It works better than chicken nuggets?

[prometheanflame]

There's bacon, beef, some other flavors. It's the only brand Iggy likes. [Picky dog. He loves you.] He'd eat chicken nuggets if he were hungry.

Let's split up. He shouldn't have gone far.

[Right behind them. The instant either of them lets down their guard, Iggy will pounce on his prey and nab the treat right out of their hands.]

[buncho]

[ Mafuyu also likes bacon and beef and would have taken one of the treats and popped it right into her mouth when Iggy jumps at them— ]

Move! That's not for you!!

[ She shouts at the beetle, steeling herself and is this close to jumping on it and fighting it off, when she recalls how much the last encounter hurt. So instead of tackling Iggy out of the way, she goes to tackle Mohammed instead, like that'll save Iggy's treats from this buggy menace ]

[prometheanflame]

[Mohammed clenches the opening on the plastic bag when he's knocked over. Normally someone his size wouldn't be moved around like that by a kid, but Mafuyu has the element of surprise and a strong will to protect the treats on her size. He flops onto the grass on his side, still holding the single treat in his hand.

Iggy stops his leap partway and buzzes to the ground. Oh, so it's a game now? What if jumps on the small human's face? How will she like that?]

Look out!

[He shoves against her with his elbow, motioning her to roll away for her life.]

[buncho]

[ Look out for what, the beetle or the elbow that comes flying into view, striking Mafuyu right in the sternum and sending her careening backwards and onto her back??

It's too late to roll away when she can't even catch her breath, eyes watering and a dark shape looming in front of her face— is that Mohammed? the beetle? she can't tell at all, so she does what she can to fight back: she yanks the shoe off one foot, and throws it hard at whatever it is that's in front of her, hoping it'll at hit the beetle (hopefully that's not Mohammed's face...) or at least scare the beetle away. ]

[prometheanflame]

[Iggy misses his target, but she is suffering so all is well. He approaches his actual target: the treat that Mohammed drops as he stands up to check on Mafuyu.]

Did I hurt you?

[Maybe...that was too much force for a tiny girl. He kneels down and holds out a hand--

Or maybe not. The sole of a shoe flies into his face. Dirt clings onto his face as it bounces off. And it hurts, he can feel the heat where the rough rubber scraped his skin. He lifts to fingers and hovers over those injuries, half wanting to touch and see if there's blood, half hoping not to infect himself.]

[buncho]

[ Yes he did but ahh... let's call it even, she thinks as she looks up at him and sees his forehead already reddening. But never mind that, casualties as a natural consequence of war!

Mafuyu sits up suddenly and looks for Iggy— the beetle, who'd gone after the dog treat and she just. Stares for a moment. Lowers her voice to a hush. ]

It's distracted. We can get a jump on it.

[ They can still fight, come on ]

[prometheanflame]

[She's not screaming, it's a good sign. Or he could be bleeding and she doesn't care. Either way he has to go home. Both of them.]

No, we can escape. [Holds an arm in front of her dramatically.]

[buncho]

[ They could and they should but— ]

No! [ She pulls down on his arm, jumping up to grab him if she has to ] I don't want to lose to a bug!!