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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.
originallutece: please can we just leave the world to burn (talk; here's the reasons this won't work)

[personal profile] originallutece 2017-04-18 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's just a touch strange, seeing someone outside of the class, but not so strange she's put off by it.]

I wasn't aware you were interested in this kind of thing.

[I mean, she's not aware of a lot of things about Rhys, beyond the fact she and he share a bizarrely overlapping network of friends (like, how weird is it that she regularly flirts with the dude with whom Rhys goes clubbing, thanks for that overlap, Tony).]

I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me find a present for a friend, hm? Only this most decidedly isn't my field.
rhygret: (my son's a little...loud)

[personal profile] rhygret 2017-04-19 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ He'll be devastated to know that not only Tony, but Jack too have been putting the moves on his intellectual and gorgeous prof. Seriously what kind of cruddy luck does he have to have in order to have that align in the cosmos? ]

Oh, uhh...sure? I mean I don't have any plans or anything. What sort of gift are you looking for?

[ Rhys doesn't get a chance to correct her on the flower thing. But that's fine, if she's here there's a fairly good chance she doesn't hate them. ]
originallutece: the ojigi tried to eat the delivery boy again (talk; w e l p)

[personal profile] originallutece 2017-04-19 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
I haven't much idea, that's the problem.

[She wrinkles her nose. She knows all of three things about flowers, and two of them come from having listened to Fawkes go on about them.]

Not roses, I know that much. And nothing too common. Beyond that? I suppose something that doesn't have some secret hidden meaning that spells out I despise you.
rhygret: (my hair is amazing)

[personal profile] rhygret 2017-04-19 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, so...a non-offensive flower that's not a rose. That shouldn't be too hard to find? Are you looking for like a bouquet or something, or...

[ Please don't be a bouquet please don't be a bouquet ]
originallutece: please can we just leave the world to burn (talk; here's the reasons this won't work)

[personal profile] originallutece 2017-04-19 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
No, no-- simply something small.

[A beat, and then she explains:]

Fawkes works a little too hard for me. A few flowers are the very least I can do to thank him.
rhygret: (we're fiiiine)

[personal profile] rhygret 2017-04-20 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
Wait, this is a gift for your TA? [ Ohthankgoodness. Like yeah sure the guy works hard and Rhys has spoken to him a few times, but at least now he's fairly certain it means Rosalind doesn't have a beau on the side. That's reassuring--he could still try flirting with her a little and hope it won't be weird. ]

Something small and potted then?
originallutece: NOBODY'S FLUSTERED STOP TALKING (talk; i'm not flustered you're flustered)

[personal profile] originallutece 2017-04-20 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Rosalind hesitates for a moment. Likely she oughtn't say this, because Rhys is her student and Fawkes is his superior, but it's not as if it's meant nastily.]

He's a bit . . . fussy about plants.

[She wrinkles her nose again.]

But perhaps you're on the right track. Certainly a potted plant would last longer. One of those bamboo ones, perhaps-- hmm.

[She heads towards one of the stalls, assuming he'll follow.]
rhygret: (how does this work)

[personal profile] rhygret 2017-04-20 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
Do they have bamboo here? I know like, nothing about it or this festival beyond there being tons of flowers honestly. We should probably ask one of the vendors if they have any recommendations...

[ A few of them are probably up on the whole "language of flowers" thing too. Should make it easy to avoid buying what that says "screw you", right? ]
originallutece: (talk; hah well that's all right)

[personal profile] originallutece 2017-04-20 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
[She huffs a laugh despite herself, taking a moment from scanning the displays to shoot him a smile.]

You seemed fairly settled for a man who doesn't know much about the festival.