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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.
thesettingsun: smile (I'm a good guy)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-17 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[He's been bullied by people shorter than her before, so she absolutely can shove him into the changing room without resistance.

The changing room. Where it's just him, this shirt that doesn't fit, a mirror, and some girl who's made his clothing choices her business.]


...I don't know if I can do this in front of someone...

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-17 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
You can do it. I believe in you.

[ If the monotone isn't convincing, Mafuyu claps rhythmically to cheer him on. She stands blocking the changing room door and folds her arms across her chest. ]

Come on, hurry up. No one's going to come inside if that's what you're worried about.
thesettingsun: mad (I'm not a toy)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-17 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)
There's someone already inside, that's bad enough...!

[But there's really nothing he can do about it now. He reluctantly pulls off the shirt he'd worn here - it doesn't fit either, but it's close - and puts on the sack other shirt.

...It's hideously baggy. Or at least he thinks so - it might just be a little more baggy than is normal, even for shirts that are meant to be worn loose, but to him it's repulsive.]


I can't. There's no way. I can't possibly wear this outside of this room.

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ That somebody is just Mafuyu and she doesn't count! Unblinkingly, she stares at him via the reflection in the mirror, not really watching him change but rather his face and way he clearly hates the shirt.

It's not a bad shirt?? The size is all wrong, but the extra fabric can be bunched off on the side and tied, or otherwise tucked into his pants, and shirts shrink in the wash anyways so it's fine.

Mafuyu steps forward and takes the shirt Shuji originally wore in here. Stuffs it into her pant pocket. ]


Alright, let's go!
thesettingsun: neutral (and don't pay for the drink)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-18 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
No, wait, give that back, that's my only sort of okay-fitting shirt-!

[He's gonna lunge for it, never mind how difficult it is to grab something out of somebody's pocket.]

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Mafuyu laughs and dodges, used to taking and playing keepaway. Which means she clamps her hand over that pocket and shoves it in deeper, she's not going to let go that easily. Also the shirt is getting so crumpled, I hope he irons his shirts because it might not fit after this. ]

I'll give it back after you buy that shirt!

[ It's a fair trade, she thinks as she flings open the changing room door and runs off to the registers before him... ]
thesettingsun: upset (helicopter boy)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-18 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
[Of course he irons them, wrinkles are Unfashionable.]

That's thievery, come back here!!

[Shuji runs as fast as his skinny legs can manage, but realistically he's not going to catch up with her. The shouting about thievery is more likely to get someone's attention before he actually succeeds in chasing her down and getting his shirt back.]

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
I said I'll give it back!

[ People sure are staring, but what exactly can they do? Mafuyu is waiting for Shuji at the check out counter, flinging an arm out to the side to point at him once he's close enough and saying to the worker running the register: ] We'll take the shirt to go.

[ This isn't a restaurant... The cashier just looks on helplessly between Mafuyu and Shuji, then eventually motions Shuji to come closer. "I'll need to scan the tag on the back," she says, exhausted. ]
thesettingsun: mad (I'm not a toy)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-18 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
This is her fault. I just want you to know that I wouldn't do this to you.

[But he really can't fight her and doesn't want to trouble the employees, so he'll turn around and bend backwards a little to make it easier for her to scan.

He doesn't even want this shirt.]

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ The employee looks sympathetic, even if Mafuyu isn't (at all). She just stands and watches as the worker tries her best to scan the tag without choking poor Shuji, but the good thing with baggy clothing is that there's plenty of fabric pull.

The potato sack shirt comes up to be $30. Not exactly worth the price, but it probably cost more because it's XXXXXXXXL ]
thesettingsun: neutral (you're sitting on your brains)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-18 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Maybe being choked would have been better... is something someone else would think. Shuji certainly isn't happy as he pays.]

...Please just give me my shirt back and never speak of this to anyone.

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ Satisfied once the receipt is printed, Mafuyu digs the shirt out of her pocket and even fluffs it out before handing it over, just as promised. The second part of the request though— ]

Why?

[ It's an honest question, laced with nothing but curiosity. ]

I mean, no one cares where you buy your clothes or what it looks like so long as you've got one on. Anyways, I was thinking! You could wear it next time I find you and we can play soccer!

[ She decided this just now ]
thesettingsun: smile (have you got my shit?)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-18 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
[Shuji holds his shirt close to his chest, afraid it'll be snatched again if he lets down his guard.

That last part, though.]


...Soccer? Why soccer?

[He's not even upset about it, just utterly baffled about where this invitation came from.]

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 11:44 am (UTC)(link)
Because I like soccer.

[ There is no profound reason and he shouldn't have expected one from her. Something something you can kick the ball around between just two people, so it's a sport she likes over something like baseball or volleyball. ]

Do you like it? Let's play this Saturday, at the Hollingberry field if it's not raining!
thesettingsun: mad (I'm not a toy)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-18 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[Things that Shuji generally does not enjoy: sports.

Things that Shuji really does not enjoy: arguing with people who are willing to steal his possessions.]


Sure, that sounds... fine...

[He's fucked.]

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ yeah he is

Mafuyu is all smiles, so so happy for somebody to play with ...maybe bully around a little... and she whips her cellphone out and brings up the add new contact list and shoves it in his face ]


Give me your number.

[ there is no escape ]
thesettingsun: neutral (and don't pay for the drink)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-04-18 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[Shuji hesitates.

On one hand: he doesn't know this girl. If he puts in some random number and she isn't able to contact him, they'll never see each other again, and he'll be free.

On the other hand: if she does manage to find him again, she'll probably murder him with a soccer ball or something.

...He puts in his own number, labeled 'Shuji'.]


Looking forward to it...

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She would murder him over absolutely anything, but he's safe for now! Mafuyu takes her phone back and glances at the screen before pocketing it. ]

Bye-bye! Shuji~n!!

[ She goes ahead and gives him a nickname already, waving her arms over her head as she leaves the store first. ]