repeter | 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

[Sora flinches, and stares up at Dante for a moment at the statement, unable to process it. It's not the first time someone's said something like that to him, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.]

W-well, I... I mean... I... No, but...

[He feels ice in his veins, that small niggling doubt in the back of his head telling him that he's annoying. He shoves it back down, ignoring it while he thinks of how to respond.]

...I'm seventeen, that's not a kid...

[It's a lame response and he knows it.]

[Dante gives a snort of disbelief. Great comeback there. You're really selling yourself as being seventeen here.]

Sure it is. You're still a minor and I'm guessing you haven't learned a lot of life lessons yet. Probably haven't even had your first kiss yet.

Comparatively, you're still a kid. Nice try.

[Sora goes a bit red in the face at that. Contrary to his earlier jumping through puddles, he was completely grown up. Totally. True, he hadn't had his first kiss, but he doesn't need to know that.]

O-oh, yeah? Well how old are you, then? You can't be that much older than me.

[Nailed it.]

Age isn't about a number.

[Looks like his guess was right, though, if that blush is anything to go by. True, it's not a full-face redness, but... well, Dante's not exactly feeling charitable.]

It's about knowing how the world works and what your place in it is and being able to fend for yourself without anyone else's help.

[Something he doubts this kid can do.]

That's... a little sad, isn't it? Being alone?

[Looks like Sora's guess was right, too, about this guy being sad; it's just bottled up on the inside.]

You shouldn't have to rely on just yourself all the time. Being able to support yourself is one thing, but... I think that it's also important to know when you can rely on your friends, too.

[That's probably a little hypocritical of Sora to say, but maybe it's what this guy needs to hear.]

[What the hell, why do so many people keep trying to tell him that being alone is sad? At least being alone means never having to deal with trying to convince him he's not doing life right! Sorry, Sora, that might have been the worst possible thing to say...

Which means that the scowl is deepening, and his temper is flaring again.]

Did I ask for your opinion? I already told you to get out of my face.

I don't need friends to rely on. I can take care of myself.

[Sora pouts a little here, and frankly he's past caring if he looks a little childish, since this guy seems to think he's a kid anyway. He wonders what happened to make this guy so bitter.]

You don't have to need them! Having friends is like... is like... pineapple pizza! You don't need pineapple to have good pizza, but it makes it way better.

[Sora no that's a terrible analogy. No one ever said he was good at this.]

[Oh, if only you knew, Sora. If only you knew.

At any rate, Sora's chosen one of the worst possible comparisons to make. Dante swings toward him, the disbelief and irritation evident on his face.]

Are you kidding me? Okay, fine. Having friends is like pineapple on pizza.

[Beat.]

And pineapple on pizza is the worst thing anyone's ever come up with.

Draw your conclusions from that.

[Aaaaaaaand he's headed off again.]

[It's here that Sora stops walking, staring after Dante for a moment before shouting after him.]

Excuse me, pineapple pizza is the BEST THING EVER. AND SO ARE FRIENDS.

[If he didn't before, he definitely sounds childish now. He silently fumes for just a moment, before taking a deep breath and letting it go. Pineapple pizza isn't really something worth arguing over, although friends might be.

At any rate, congratulations, Dante, you've finally gotten Sora to stop following you. He'll just have to hope the next time they meet, if they do meet again, Dante will be in a better mood.]

APRIL TDM

he is, though. dante stahp

he'll... get better?? eventually

god i hope so

he will!! he just needs some /good/ regains...

Let Dante Be Happy 2k17

NEVER >D

/SLAMS FISTS ON TABLE

/grins at

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