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

[ Emil holds the door open for her as they rush on in, what with his legs being slightly longer and everything. While she's asking, he notices his hair is a little bit wet, and runs his fingers through to shake it out.

He's going to carry on like that didn't just happen. ]

Anything warm and dark will do.

What's good here?

Oh, I like most of what they have here! [Except for the Americano, which should go without saying, because they are two Nordic people in a coffeeshop and they're not going to waste their time.] So, two espressos then? I'm also going to get a scone if you want a snack, since we're probably going to be here a while...

Oh, now that you mention it... Anything sweet will do. Maybe something with almonds.

[ He's dreaming of a proper fika, which he hasn't had since coming to the States. It's making him nostalgic, but he knows he'd just be disappointed, so he pushes the thought aside. ]

What kind of scones are they?

Um, hmm, it's one of those places where they have something different every week or so, so I'm not really sure... [she stands on her tiptoes to try to look at the display case up ahead; curse these seasonal, locally-sourced expensive treats.] I can just grab whatever looks sweetest when I get up there? It's a surprise!

Sure, I like surprises.

[ And he does like pastries... but during that thought, there's a flash of lightning, quickly followed by an extremely loud clap of thunder. ]

I'll get us a table.

[ Before everyone else tries to come in from the rain... ]

Good idea... [This lightning is the wrong kind of surprise... she resigns herself to being in this coffeeshop for a little while and gets on line before any stragglers coming in from the rain make it longer.

She places their order, picks out their scones, and hovers around the counter until the espressos are ready. If Emil's paying attention, he'd see her go up once they call Julie (with only a sheepish smile in response), and come his way carefully balancing a tray.]

So our scone choices were chocolate chip or cheddar, so... pick whichever you'd prefer.

Ah, thanks... Julie?

[ He cuts them both in half with a plastic knife, so they can have a bit of each one! Carefully sure not to make too many crumbs, he carefully places them both on napkins and also divvies up their allocated butter. ]

Smaklig måltid!

Ahaha, it's Tuuri, actually... Most people here have never heard of it, so they usually have to guess. [And guess wrong, but she doesn't want to correct them, it's a little embarrassing...] It's actually more commonly a boy's name back home, too, so...

[Ahh, but look at their cute coffee spread! She claps her hands together and says a quick] Hyvää ruokahalua! [back.]

Oh... Tuuri!

[ That makes much more sense, he has no idea why he thought her name was Julie, that's not very Finnish. Though her English is so good, he wouldn't even have picked her out of a crowd as not American... ]

[ He smears butter on his cheddar side and then-- ]

I almost forgot. I'm Emil.

[ An extremely popular, extremely male Swedish name. ]

Thanks a lot, Tuuri. Um... kyttu...s?

Haha, very good! [she says, clapping her hands together again-- listen, she expects everyone, even her neighbors, to have exactly zero words of Finnish knowledge, so coming across someone who's even trying is pretty nice.

Of course, she immediately follows it up with a gentle correction.] It's kiitos. [but, you know, still, good job.] But it's nice to meet you, Emil! How long have you been in the US?

Yeah, you too!

[ And he repeats it in his head so he doesn't mess it up next time. Kiitos. Kiitos. Kiitos... In the meantime, he seems to have decided he likes the chocolate chip scones a lot, particularly with the espresso. ]

I've been here about a year... So not too long.

What about you?

[ He thinks that she's probably been here since she was young! She seems just like a local. ]

Oh, I'm the same! [she says excitedly; she has not touched her scones yet, though she cups her hands around her espresso cup.] I arrived last summer to start university. It's crazy how fast the time has gone.

[She is completely unaware that he's expecting her to answer any differently; it feels like it's obvious to her.]

What, really?

[ He stares on ]

But you sound so American!

[ He has this look in his eyes as if to ask, how do you do that?? ]

Oh, thank you! [she says cheerfully, immediately waving her hand to dispel this anyway.] But I don't, not really. My Swedish is probably better than my English, and I know I have an accent there, too... [more monotone, instead of the singsongy patterns of native Swedish speakers, and so on] But my English has definitely improved a lot since I started school here.

Oh, do you study at Recollé University?

[ He'd love to apply there... But alas, no funds. ]

What are the classes like?

[ He has a weird, Hollywood picture of American universities in his head. ]

[She misunderstands him and thinks he's asking literally about the courses she's taking, which explains why she claps her hands together again and says] They're great! Right now I'm not sure if I want to focus on history or linguistics, and I've also had some really interesting biology and sociology classes. It's so hard to decide what to study...

Oh, but what about you? What do you do?

[ Okay yeah he's glad they have such a varied amount of programs though, because he hasn't decided what he wants to go to school for yet. ]

I'm a massage therapist.

You should come over right before finals. It'll help your concentration.

Oh. Wow! That's very interesting. [Kind of surprising! But hey, he's Swedish, so he's probably very good at it...] Have you been doing it long? A massage before finals actually does sound like a good idea... Where do you work?

[ He'd say he's Swedish so he's probably good at everything ;) ]

Relataxations! It's in Enprise. Not too far from here, I started working when I got here.

[ Not gonna mention most of that was training and he finally got his license... Before that it was all just desk work. ]

But I was thinking maybe I should apply to Recollé U... Wait, how many courses are you taking?

Relata...xations. [This word actually gives her pause, probably because it's a mashup of two different words in her third language. She tries it again:] Relataxations. Great! I will definitely look into it.

That would be great! I think you'd really enjoy it. [she has absolutely nothing to base this assumption on at all, besides the fact that she enjoys it.] I'm in six right now! I took a little extra because I was just so excited about the options, ahaha...

Six... That's a lot of classes!

[ Hopefully none of them are 8 AM Saturday labs... ]

Come in any time, I'll give you the employee discount.

[ Honestly the others might believe they're family if she starts speaking Swedish. Honestly, even if she starts speaking Finnish... ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

APRIL TDM

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject