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

Oh! [Of course, Ami got surprised and pulled her hand away, too, so now nobody is reaching for the choker.]

No, it's okay, go for it! I was just looking.

[ No, damn it. He's going to be a GODDAMN GENTLEMAN and you're going to FUCKING LIKE IT. He will not back down. ]

No, please. Uh, ladies first.

[ He waves his hands for her to take the choker. ]

[Well, this is awkward. She seriously was just looking - her style tends to lean more toward lolita than hard rock, more ribbons and black lace than chains and spikes. (Not that it's easy to tell right now, since she decided an ill-fitting band-logo t-shirt would be less obvious than an ill-fitting fitted blouse.) But it'll be more awkward if she insists on backing down...

So, okay, mister Big Goddamn Gentleman, you win. She goes ahead and picks up the choker, and holds it up to her throat for a general idea of how it would look.]

What do you think? [says she as if a complete stranger's opinion has any real bearing on her fashion choices. But hey, he's friendly, so why not?]

[ He crosses his arms as if he's about to be critical but there's no trace of malice in his expression. ]

Looks good. ...It goes well with the shirt. It's one of those statement pieces--it's strong enough that it can stand on its own without needing any other accessories.

[ James is not really one to know anything about fashion, really, but when you have to go for an aesthetic, you learn a few things here and there. ]

[As he's talking, Ami checks it out in the little mirror attached to the rack. HMMM...]

Yeah, you're right. But I don't think it's "me," really. [She holds it out to him and instead picks up a nearby lace choker.] Now, this one, on the other hand...

[ James takes the offered collar. ]

Oh, you're more into the lace type of stuff? I wouldn't have pegged you for that kind of style.

[ He's double-taking her outfit. Yeah, no, the baggy band shirt definitely didn't seem to go with the lace choker at all. ]

[Ami looks down at her shirt, too, and sighs.]

Yeah, I know. It's the only thing that fit, though. I don't know what it is - either I lost weight or all my clothes somehow embiggened in the wash.

[ James raises an eyebrow. ]

You too? I thought I just wasn't getting enough protein after practice anymore. Mine also all got bigger.

[ He gestures down to himself but, with his style of band shirts and oversized, chained pants, it's hard to tell if it's supposed to be this baggy in the first place, or if that just happens to be the style. He lucked out. ]

["Practice"? She's assuming he means music practice, but protein doesn't make a lot of sense in that context. OH WELL.]

Really? That's a weirdly specific coincidence. [Almost too specific!] Do you think we are being punked?

[ James looks like he knows the answer but is reluctant to say it. He knows perfectly well how crazy he's going to sound. ]

Depends. Did you get a new app installed on your phone recently?

[It does sound a little crazy, yes! Although the look she gives him is more like "where did that non sequitur come from."]

Y...eah? How did you know?

Is it called Retrospec?

[It occurs to me I have no idea when this takes place with respect to the other thread where she learned about Retrospec so I'm just gonna say After????]

Yeah! You have it too?

[ rp thread timing: how does it work ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]

Yeah. None of us know how, but the app loves to do dumb stuff like make all our clothes too big, or put faces on fruit.

Welcome to the club.

[and anyway she's a Time player so it probably doesn't matter in the slightest (◐‿◑✿)]

Well, thank you! I feel welcome. Although I'm still not sure I understand how that works. I mean, even if a computer program were capable of meddling with spacetime like that, an app is an inanimate object. It can't "love" anything.

[ He waves his hand dismissively, vaguely. ]

It's not the app, it's the company who makes the app. Whoever they are, they love messing with us and the world at large. Whatever, you get it. It's their world and we just get to be their playthings.

[She puts her hands on her hips, smiling up at him with a hint of mischief.]

No offense, but that is an awfully fatalistic way of looking at it! To me, it all sounds like a fascinating mystery waiting to be got to the bottom of. It's much too early to throw in the proverbial towel.

[ He likes this kid's moxie.

James is too young to be using the word moxie unironically but look, okay, the grin on her face can only be described as 'moxie.' ]

Who said anything about throwing in the towel? Just because they're toying with us doesn't mean we're not investigating them.

["Moxie" could also maybe be short for "magical pixie" so yeah that's pretty much on point]

Yeah? What have you found out?

[ His grin turns to more of a scowl. ]

Nothing so far, except that they have a million ways to mess with us. [ Which they all already knew anyway. ] We're working on it.

It's okay. We'll find some way to get them back.

[Ami, why are you grinning like that.]

'Cause it sounds like they're getting...

[Ami no. Don't pick up those sunglasses.]

... a little ...

[Ami don't put them on, you cut that shit out right now]

... big for their britches.

[god fucking damn it]

[ It takes him a second, but then his face morphs into a look of pure disgust. ]

No.

[ He pulls the sunglasses off her face and tosses them over his shoulder. That's it, they're gone now. They're dead. There's no finding them now in the dark abyss known as the dimly lit floor of a Hot Topic. ]

You've forfeited your sunglasses privileges.

[Okay but the look on his face was absolutely worth it. Ami busts out laughing.]

Come on, that was good!

[ He frowns even more. HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT HIS DISPLEASURE. HIS SUFFERING IS NOT A JOKE!!! ]

Puns exist only to piss people off. If you want to tell someone puns, it should be the Retrospec guys.

[Aww, you're no fun.]

Fiiiine, fiiiine. If I see them, I will pun it up. [But as for punning at you she can make no promises.] What's your name, by the way? I'm Ami.

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LMAO YOU DWEEB I SAW THAT

i had that screenshot laying around for weeks, i saw the opportunity and i took it

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