Recollé Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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repeter2017-06-16 08:40 pm
recollecters) wrote in repeter2017-06-16 08:40 pm
Entry tags:
JUNE TDM
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JUNE TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé. The kids are out for the summer and the weather's just fine. The sun's shining brightly, not a cloud in the clear gray sky. Everything seems at peace and citizens are out and about, smiling to one another and enjoying each other's company. Oh, and this thing (complete with cardboard cut-out) has currently taken the place of the founders' statues in Recollé Square. But that's probably not a big deal. What will you do today? I. What is this thing? Why is this thing here? For those of you in Tribunal Terrace today you may wish to investigate the five-foot-tall spinning wheel. How did it even get here? And where did the statues of the founders go? Even if you cannot answer those questions, it's hard to ignore the urge to give it a spin. Check out those colors go 'round and 'round. Depending on what number you land on, you will find a notification pop up on your phone with a short list of…words. Are these supposed to be qualifications? Weird. That was a waste of time. However, the moment you walk away you will find yourself accosted by various recruiters wherever you go, congratulating you on your impressive resumé and leading you to an office in Chata. Their offices have been equipped with tabletop-sized spinning wheels much like the one in Recollé Square that will spin 'round and 'round, determining the position you qualify for. Are you ready to show how these traits make you the perfect applicant? It looks like you have time to consult with your fellow candidates before your turn comes. Or perhaps you've managed to resist spinning that wheel. The recruiters absolutely love your willpower and determination and want you to join their team! For those who can resist, they will still find themselves whisked away by recruiters to the same office and thrown straight into training to prepare for interviewing their neighbors. Recruiters will set up pairs of interviewers and applicants, leaving them alone to ask the hard-hitting questions and pick the most qualified candidate. Do your best and beat out the rest! It's your time to shine. II. Just because school is out for the summer doesn't mean Apparassage is quiet. Students and faculty alike are bustling about already preparing for the next school year. Campus tours of Recollé University run every two hours, and there are open house tours of the local elementary, middle and high school. Perhaps you're a future student exploring the campus and getting to know your future classmates. Maybe you're faculty or a student guide wrangling the kids and keeping them in line. Or you just might be one of the unfortunate ones who have found yourself with six weeks of summer school. However, no matter where you find yourself in this district things get a little tricky when you're ready to leave for the day. The sidewalks outside of the buildings have all disintegrated, revealing a large void leading to nowhere beneath your feet. Without a clear path it seems impossible to escape, but stacked at the entrances of every doorway are large tiles with the letters of the alphabet carefully printed on them. When you look across the devoid path, you may notice you have a partner in a similar position with their own stack of letters. Get ready to expand your vocabulary. Building a bridge of connecting words may be your only chance of getting home before sunset. Strangely, as the letters are laid out they seem to suspend mid-air enough to hold your weight as you make your way carefully across this pit. Balance and precision are key in this game. The stack floats along behind you as you cross the void, letters seemingly adding to the pile to provide more materials to build. But like all games, there can be only one winner. Those who clear their letters first will arrive outside of the district safely, free now to come and go as they please. For those who do not clear their stack in time, you might have luck jumping from word to word to cross the finish line. Try as you might, if this is the method you follow, the moment you land on the winning word to leave the district the letters will glitch out, sending you plummeting into the void and landing on a long slope down to the bottom. Upon landing, you will see a series of chutes and ladders one can use to climb back up. Some ladders lead back to Apparassage. Some lead straight into Tisse, and some even lead to unexpected places. Where will you end up? The journey is up to you now. III. The days are longer, the nights are shorter, the sun is shining and it's noticeably warmer. Isn't it a perfect time for a summer potluck? The citizens of Recollé seem to think so and have all gathered today in Hollingberry Field with friends and loved ones to share food and fun. Kids chase after each other in friendly games of tag and hide-and-seek while other attendants mingle with one another, piling plates of food and sharing with their neighbor. Why, even Mayor Mayer is out today for this summer kickoff with his lovely red Chocobo, Seabiscuit. As the evening begins to wind down, however, there's a startled cry from the Mayor as he realizes someone has kidnapped his beloved pet from right under his nose. Was it you? How about you? Everyone has become a suspect and it's up to you to solve whodunnit. The Mayor provides everyone with a pen and a pad of paper divided into three sections for a suspect, a method, and a location. Grab a friend (or even a group of strangers) and get ready to interrogate each other to crack this case. (With a little looking, however, it's easy to see that Seabiscuit's merely wandered down the hill away from the park. But maybe it's better not to tell the Mayor. He seems very adamant about this game.) For anyone who manages to solve the case, the Mayor will be immensely grateful and reward you with a valuable prize! Congratulations! However, for anyone who fails to solve the puzzle, or even anyone found guilty of this heinous crime, by order of the Mayor you will be subjected to jail time for a full half an hour. (The Mayor can't stay too mad at his citizens. He loves them all.) IV. A nice, leisurely stroll through the entertainment district of Tisse seems to be in order. Summer sales are aplenty and now's the perfect time to shop 'til you drop. On the other hand, that doesn't seem to be the only thing dropping in Tisse. Do you hear that? Perhaps it is easy to ignore the sounds of stone crashing to the ground. Construction isn't unusual in this district. You think maybe you passed an ongoing demolition on your way inside a shop. But the crash happens again, and again, and again, a loud string of booms growing closer and closer. Are those buildings tipping into one another? Or is it your imagination? You may not have time to answer while the string of events is put into motion. A crane swings overhead, knocking into a well-placed boulder that begins to roll down the street. Cranes, pulleys and wires move in sync as the ball rolls right toward you. Will you run? Will you collide right into the next set of traps? You may recall learning about this type of experiment once upon a time, coming to realize the elaborately planned Rube Goldberg machine spans the entirety of the city. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones and you find a safe shop to dive into to escape. Or perhaps your sole focus is to run and get as far as you can, failing to notice that the large boulder herds you right to the end of the district and into a caged-in area. Make yourself comfortable. Someone from the outside will have to free you. But hey, maybe you aren't alone in this trap. Misery loves company, doesn't it? BONUS. The Retrospec app is at it again, just as useless as it's always been. After downloading to your device and allowing you to upload a profile picture, the app seems to take over your phone. Any time you open your phone to use it, a splash screen appears prompting you to pick one of the brightly colored wedges (or one of the two grayed out ones.) It's time to exercise your brain and buff your trivia stats. Answering a question from your selected category will allow you to use your phone once again, but if you get it wrong? Retrospec will encourage you not to give up and try again. ...or, you know, you could ask someone to help figure out the answer. Hey, that person looks like they're bursting with knowledge! Perhaps it's best to see if they can help you stop this madness. As usual, any attempt to get the company to reply are futile. Once a question has been answered correctly, phones will return to their usual functionality until the next time it settles into idle mode. 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!
Your June TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! |
2/2
She knows that face, and she knows those eyes. Oh God she knows those eyes.]
Lucy?
[And like that, everything in her mind crashes to a stop.]
no subject
There was shock, of course; this couldn't be happening. Retrospec's comedic strangeness was one thing. This was...this was something entirely different.
The surprise on Lucy's face gave way not to relief, not to excitement.
Her brows furrowed and her mouth twisted into anger.]
The fuck are you doing here?!
[Why was Katherine here. Why was she here, why now, after abandoning her like everyone else?]
no subject
A lot of feelings run through her. Joy, excitement, more happiness than she's felt in the last few years now. Her baby sixte,r little Lucy. She was here. She found her.
Then there comes the Guilt. Oh God the guilt. A car crashing and pain throughout her body. Months spent in intensive care. A failing orphanage. Her screaming Lucy's name. It all comes back like a flood. She lost her arm. She lost her sister.]
Lucy-
[Tears.]
I'm so...sorry. [Just as she chokes out the last word, Katherine feels her body move forwards. Whatever Lucy is saying, she can't really tell right now. All she really can hear is her heart beating and her clothes ruffling as she goes to hug her sister.]
no subject
Katherine got to go home, while Lucy bounced around in the system like a ball bearing in freefall.
Her shoulders huddled up, and instead of returning the hug or even accepting it, Lucy shoved the taller girl away from her.]
Why are you sorry?
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Lucy's voice shocks her, and for the first time since walking into this shop she sees the anger in her eyes. "I startled her" is what Kath thinks. She'd crossed a boundary, and Lucy had reacted. She struggles to keep the emotional side in check again, and her eyes clear. Looking now, Lucy will notice a much more calculative gaze.
How long now, actually? 17 to 18 years if she was remembering things right. Her Mom had tried to get in touch with her, but she never had been allowed.
She wipes her face with her only sleeve, and takes a breath.]
I'm sorry if I startled you. Its just been a very, very long time since I last saw you. I got emotional, and clearly my actions have bothered you. [Why does she sound so clinical?] I've always bla-
[She stops mid-sentence, right before she could talk about how she lost her arm, and how it all weighed down on the three of them, and how ultimately it would influence her mother's decision. The burden of that guilt has always been there in the back of her mind, and soon guilt bred more guilt, and more and more. The guilt now weighs down on her, and suddenly she remembers the anger in Lucy's eyes. The pit in her stomach gets a little deeper, before she swallows a little bile and carries on. But she still can't say it.]
I've always felt like I had failed you as a sister, and thats weighed on me for a very long time now.
[This is my fault.]</small
no subject
Except it was just a wound barely scabbed over, not a forgettable scar. Her memories, fuzzy-edged by time as they were, crashed against her mind like abrasive surface scouring things to a wretched clarity again. It was painful to think about. Lucy didn't want to think about it.
...but it was hard to stay impassive and angry in the face of someone she was never supposed to see again, someone who looked so...distraught. Lucy backed away again, but her shoulders twitched, like they were about to shiver even though she was anything but cold.
Her voice was still bitter.]
What are you doing here, Katherine? Don't you have somewhere else to be?
[Somewhere better to be, somewhere like home.]
no subject
Right now? Not really, no. I was just on my way back from that potluck in the Hollingberry Field when that boulder starting rolling down the street towards me. I saw a door open and close, and made a move to get out of the way.[She shakes her head, as if disapproving of something.] I swear, this city seems to be going mad more and more every day. On a wider scale, I've lived in Recolle for a couple years now. I work at the college as a Guidance Counselor.
[She decides to leave out the...sketchier, years of her youth. She's not exactly proud of them, nor does she really want Lucy to hear about the shit she pulled just yet. Oh Katherine if only you knew.
She then focuses more on Lucy.]
What are you doing here in Recolle? Last I heard about you properly was from what-[She swallows again, pausing as she remembers hearing about what happened at the orphanage. God, that was horrible: her mother had passed out when she heard about it, and had spent the next three months trying to get ahold of her daughter to no avail. OOC: She's totally unaware that it was her sister who did it.] From that horrible incident at the orphanage. After that, nothing else. Its like you and several other children vanished. [Of course its never that simple or straightforwards, but thats what it had felt like at the time.]
no subject
She hadn't...known Katherine was so close. She'd never looked after the system had broken them up, however unintentionally. To Lucy's mind, her family left her, like everyone else. There was no one to depend on but herself. There was no need to remember things that she...didn't want to.
Until now.
When Lucy answered, she was far less loquacious—and still just as agitated, like a snapping animal chased into a corner.]
It's none of your business!
[The teenager was on the opposite end of the small table now, arms braced against it and coffee forgotten. Katherine was between her and the door; if she wanted to get out, she'd have to be fast if the other girl didn't move.]
OMG this took way too long to write.
But then Lucy snaps at her, and she see's her eyes dart towards the door and back, sees the agitation in her eyes, in her body language, in her voice. Its bitter, and it hurts her so much: it feels antagonizing, like she was some sort of villain, like there's a greater fault on her shoulders. In a way, Katherine believed there really was. Suddenly the table between them seems as long as the years they've been apart.
Anxiety comes bubbling up, but she resists it, afraid of what she would do driving her sister away. Years of counseling and working with students of varying ages has tempered her for working with others. She's dealt with frustrated parents, desperate students, and agitating coworkers, but she wasn't ready for this. Even if years have hardened her, there were still cracks, after all. So, taken aback and trying to hold together, she gives a short response.]
I see. I'm sorry for prying. [She wants to say so much more. She wants to do so much more.
But she doesn't, now paralyzed by uncertainty and the feeling of the negative and the positive and the confused roiling in her head.]
It's cool o/
And now Katherine was here, impossible to ignore, and—and acting like nothing had happened? Like they were all some happy family again?
How dare she.]
Move, Katherine.
[The name felt so strange to say, like a muscle left to atrophy.
Lucy wouldn't call her sister. She wasn't...she wasn't ready to accept this. There were too many obstacles in the way, too much abandonment, separation, denial—distance, the table, other customers staring. Her arms shook again.]
no subject
Her response to the now boiling anxiety and weight in her stomach? Turn to her training and experience.]
I see. [Much less see her.] I'm very sorry for being a bother. You probably have other things to do right now, right? [The friendly, understanding smile she puts on is obviously forced, but its her way of acknowledging Lucy's reluctance. She' giving Lucy a very obvious out, and it looks like it hurts like hell on her face. It does hurt like hell.
Conflict roils in her mind, wanting her sister to stay, yet another part feels that she knows she's pushing her sister. She's seen that trapped-beast look before. She's been that trapped beast before.
Its her instinct to care for students under pressure and turmoil, after all, but sometimes you need to let someone leave and figure it out on their own. No matter how much you want them to stay and talk. She's a counselor more than she is a sister, it seems. That idea feels sickening, shaming, in her stomach, but it wins out. She's spent years obsessing over the thought of finding her sister, and here she is, about to let her just walk out the door, and possibly her life.]
It was really wonderful to see you again, Lucy.
[The voice in the back of her head is calling her a fool, but her worries control her legs and ears now.
She shifts aside, trying to hold herself in place. This is the best course of action, isn't it?
She has no idea is it is.]no subject
[It was a kneejerk response. Don't say that, it made her feel guilty and conflicted. She wasn't a nice person. No one could be that happy to see her. It couldn't be true. Why were people lying to her about that?
Lucy's fingers curled across the table until they balled up into fists, and she wouldn't look at Katherine. She couldn't—didn't want to acknowledge that she was there, when Katherine obviously was.
When the teenager did move, the motion was explosive and sudden; she pushed herself back from the table and sprinted around it. The small patch of tile between the door and the table Lucy was sitting at seemed to stretch impossibly far, and her limbs felt numb and leaden. Running away shouldn't be so difficult.
Lucy's hands touched the wood and glass of the door, the greeting bell jingled cheerily—and the teenager was gone, shoving someone out of the way as she took off up the street. She didn't know when she'd stop running, only that she had to.]
no subject
And yet there she was, frozen like a statue at a coffee shop as Lucy runs out the door, and out of her life once again.
She's wasted a lot of things: her youth, her time with her mother, and now her chance to get her sister back. There's a bitter, finalistic feeling to that last thought, and it weighs heavy on her entirety. Guilt roiling in her mind, she finally takes a step and leaves out the door, the bells ringing with her exit.
She knows Lucy is long gone by now, and doesn't even bother looking up and down the street for her, even though she wants to bolt the first direction she thinks of and sweep the entire place. Putting the mask of a Guidance Counsellor back on, she slowly makes her way home. In the back of her mind she chants: Just one step at a time until your there. Try to hold until your home.
And by the time she's at the door of her apartment, its barely enough to keep herself together. Falling back first against the door and sliding down to the floor, she pulls her legs up to her chest and buries her face in her knees, assuming a fetal position as she tries to calm down. Its a position she used to taking up, ever since she was a little girl, and its basically an instinct now. Yet the security it provides her fails to work, and soon she finds herself shaking again, liquid soon blurring her eyes.
Then the loathing starts, and she dives headfirst into a sea of regrets. Suddenly she's a crying little girl weeping her sisters name, she's a rebellious teenager drunkenly sulking in a police cruiser, she's a newly ordained adult grieving for years wasted, and she's a crying woman who just wants her sister back.
Katherine cries alone that night, just like the many times before.]