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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.
destage: (CURIOUS ♡ What's beyond the door)

[personal profile] destage 2017-04-17 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sayaka's gonna keep a hold on her shoes for the time being--especially once Mafuyu needs her arm for balance. She'll nod her head and make sure to stay still while Mafuyu does her work.]

That'll work for sure. You've got this.

[You got this!! And she'll stay as still as possible! ...Even if the wind feels like it's starting up again, that's a little concerning--]

1/2

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ With Sayaka cheering her on, Mafuyu's sure she's got this. Inch by inch Mafuyu edges her feet and stretches her arms out until... she hooks a finger on the branch above her head, pulling it towards her, straining to get the rest of her fingers on it... ]

I got it...!

[ She yanks down hard, intending the break the branch clean off, but she hadn't counted on it getting soggy in the rain and it bends like rubber— slips— ]

2/2

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ and the whiplash sends the branch whipping upwards and hitting the umbrella that falls with a shower of leaves and rainwater and none of this Mafuyu sees because she's thrown off the branch and she's still holding onto Sayaka's sleeve and

Mafuyu just

SCREAMS BLOODY MURDER I HOPE SAYAKA REMEMBERED WHAT MAFUYU SAID ABOUT FALLING ]
destage: (WHY ♡ Everything was a mistake)

[personal profile] destage 2017-04-18 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, yay! We're gonna be fine--

[OH JESUS CHRIST, THIS IS HAPPENING. Sayaka's going right down with her, and this is going to be unpleasant. But she remembers one thing!

ARMS TUCKED IN. ARMS TUCKED IN WHILE SHE FALLS AND SHRIEKS RIGHT ALONG WITH HER. She's. Gonna try to roll with it but what kind of nat 1 did they roll in their previous lives to deserve this!! This is likely going to be painful, and it's gonna ruin her makeup so bad.

...Once they stop uh, falling, she's. Just gonna stay there and grumble a bit. Her dignity is gone. Gone with the wind. Why her.]


Ow...
Edited (better words) 2017-04-18 02:01 (UTC)

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-18 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ They're not fine, nothing is fine and everything hurts... Mafuyu stops screaming when she hits the ground, but it isn't by choice; she just got the wind knocked out of her. But she jumps to her feet almost immediately, clenching her hands and shaking out her arms to make sure nothing is broken. The soreness will be much more pronounced tomorrow, but right now it's okay. Her hair is an absolute mess of twigs and leaves, and her nose drips blood down her front, but it's a light enough flow that she just takes grabs at the collar of her shirt and uses that to stem the bleeding.

Umbrella... umbrella... It's already started rolling away with the damned wind, but heck if she's going to let it escape after all of that, and Mafuyu chases it down.

And only then does she finally return to see if Sayaka is alive. You know, by nudging her with the tip of her shoe. ]


Got your umbrella back. We did it.
destage: (HMM ♡ That sounds fake but okay)

[personal profile] destage 2017-04-20 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sayaka peers up when she feels Mafuyu poke her with her feet, almost jumping up--a swift twinge of pain makes her get up a little slower, gently taking the umbrella from her with a bit of a pained smile.]

We did, yeah. Thank you so much for your help--I couldn't have done it without you!

[...]

Would you...like to cash in on that favor, though? After all of the trouble you went through, it's...really, the least I can do.

[personal profile] buncho 2017-04-21 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
A favor? Really?

[ She'd forgotten for what reason she agreed to help out. Honestly, after the first shoe missed, it was out of pure stubbornness that she refused to give up, but a favor's a favor! Even though she really just wants to lie down and sleep away all the pain. ]

Let's go out for burgers! You know, how after you exercise a lot, you need all that protein to help fix up your muscles!