repeter | JUNE TDM

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! tdm

JUNE TDM

TEST DRIVE

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sigrun was very serious about band practice, which meant that she was sure to bring her guitar with her to the sports fields every Saturday so that she didn't have to go all the way back home to pick it up on the way to the club. Besides, it also made a good holding case for her gym gear. She was the only one regularly going to practice anyway. On account of the no current bandmates.]

[Anyway, that meant she had to lug the case onto the bus with her from the schoolgrounds in Apprassage all the way down to the music hall in Tisse. And by god, she was going to fit that guitar on the bus. She was really lucky that day to find a seat, even! She happily shoved her ass right into that seat, tunnel vision keeping her eyes on the screen of her phone as she nodded her head to the blaring music coming through her headphones.]

[Which are screaming.]

[She definitely does not hear you, Tuuri.]

[Yeah, Tuuri can... can certainly hear the screaming! Sigrun's music is way too loud. Embarrassed, Tuuri tries to put up with it for another fifteen seconds-- fifteen seconds of a heavy, uncomfortable guitar case leaning on her with not-nearly-muffled-enough screaming in her ear.

Then she coughs, hoping it would attract Sigrun's attention.] Excuse me?

[The people across from her on the bus are staring at her now! This is so awkward! Tuuri summons up her nerve and... taps the woman on the shoulder!!] Excuse me!

[The cough goes completely unnoticed as well- equally as unnoticed is the staring, and really, Tuuri's entire existence. In fact, Sigrun seems to think the tap on the shoulder is just the guitar case bumping back against her after the bus hits a little bump in the road, and just adjusts the strap on her shoulder a little.]

[Which of course causes the case to press even more against Tuuri, just at a new angle.]

[The bus screeches to a stop at a light to avoid rear-ending the car in front of it, which then sends everyone lurching forward- and Sigrun's guitar case is directly in front of Tuuri's face. Enjoy your hard, plastic airbag.]

[Oh dear god how did this backfire so badly.

The new angle of the guitar case is even worse than the old one, and now Tuuri is honestly painfully squished up against the side of the bus-- only to clunk her head on the guitar case as the bus stops. The people across from Tuuri are now openly watching her with pitying concern.

She holds the back of her hand to her forehead, and waves the free one in front of Sigrun's face.] Scuse me!

HUH? WHA??

[Sigrun finally turns around to look down at Tuuri over her shoulder, tugging her earbuds out. They blare into open air instead, squealing guitars and thrumming drums accompanying screaming lyrics in... who even knows what language. She squints her eyes at Tuuri as if trying to discern the possible cause for this disturbance, and...]

Oh! My bad. [She pulls the guitar case off her shoulder, finally--]

[And thuds it right down at her feet into the aisle in front of them, blocking anyone trying to get on the bus. Well, at least it's not Tuuri's problem, anymore.]

[She pushes one earbud back in, the one facing Tuuri still sitting in her lap, squalling openly. After a moment, she turns to Tuuri and fairly yells (her ears were still ringing, after all)] You were so little, I didn't even see you!

[Oh my god, they're taking up the entire bus aisle now! The guilt twists in Tuuri's stomach, and she frantically looks left and right to see if anyone is glaring at her.

(People are definitely glaring in their direction, but it's not at Tuuri.)]

Thank you. [she says quietly, then realizes that Sigrun probably can't hear her anyway.] It's fine, please don't worry about it! [she waves her hand emphatically to brush this away, and looks over her shoulder to see how close they are to her stop.] No harm done, ahahaa. Please watch out for other passengers though.

[Whoever this lady is, she seems to be totally impervious to all the glaring, back to nodding her head fairly animatedly to her music. Her fingers drum on her guitar case, too- she seems to be imitating the fret positions, perhaps? Well, it was apparent that she was a musician, in any case.]

[The bus slows to a grinding halt as traffic at the next major intersection seems to be backed up several blocks. An accident? Lane closure for construction? Assholes doubleparked all up the block? Guess you're stuck with her for a fair while longer, Tuuri.]

[So of course, she turns to almost-shout again.] School's out already but the traffic is just as bad, huh? Even without all the stupid schoolbuses.

[Oh dear god when, when will the subway system open so she never has to go through this again.]

Ahaha, yeah. [Because what exactly else can Tuuri do, crammed here between a rude, possibly crazy shouting lady and the side of the bus, but play along and continue the conversation?] So. You play guitar, huh!

[She could not help but notice that Sigrun plays guitar.]

[About as long as the 2nd Ave subway took zzziiiiiing]

[Look you don't know that could be a rifle in that guitar case. Or her worldly possessions.]

Yeah! I'm headed off to practice with my band just now. With school out I got a lot more time for that. [And to... find band mates...]

[Music still blaring from her earbud, she offers it up to Tuuri.] Wanna have a listen?

Oh, I see. [And felt, quite emphatically, since her face was still sore from the guitar case.] Are... you in school? [She normally wouldn't hesitate just there, but. Well.

A stranger on the bus offers her a used earbud blaring some sort of screaming, after hitting her in the face with her guitar.] Um, no thank you. I mean, I'm sure it's great! But, uh... [Shoot, what sort of excuse could she use here?] Those earbuds always hurt my ears!

Hahaha! No way. [Sig waves her hands exaggeratedly] I'm a coach. Over at the middle and high schools. Soccer. Sometimes help out with other stuff.

[Well, if nothing else Tuuri, you made her feel younger.]

[She frowns, looks at the earbud, and... turns the music up louder.] Here! Now you can just hold it near your head.

[Now everyone can enjoy the Norwegian screaming coming out of her headphones!]

A-ah, I see. [That makes a lot more sense, she supposes.] Well, that's ni--

[Oh. Sigrun is going to... crank up the volume. Significantly. Oh god, everyone on the bus is going to hate her.] ...Thanks.

...What language is this.

Sure, no problem! [She waits for Tuuri's appraisal of the music excitedly!!] Huh? Oh, I'm from Norge-- Norway. You know, up in the top of Europe? [She points upward, as if Tuuri might need help envisioning this]

Not a lot of other Norwegians here, but that's not bad. I wanted to come to America where it's less boring.

Oh! [Ohhhh. Okay. Now that she knows to listen for it around the distortion from the earbuds and, you know, all the screaming, she can pick up the gist of it.] Haha, I do know, actually. We're neighbors!

[Up at the tippy top, anyway.]

But I came here for the same reason! [Good god she hopes she doesn't become like this woman in ten years.]

Neighbors...? [Suddenly Sigrun wonders if she's been ignoring this nice little girl as she passes by the halls of her apartment every day]

[Huh]

[Well anyway] Oh yeah, it's suuuper boring where you come from too? Where I am it's nothing but rivers and farms and more beautiful nature. Which is great and all, but no way to get famous there just playing at pubs and little music halls.

[Well, it's not like Tuuri had explained herself properly, she supposes! She clarifies] I'm Finnish.

So, yes! Rivers and forests and beautiful nature and nothing going on. Not that I've tried to start up a band there, or anything, haha.

Ohhhh! The place where I can't understand a goddamn thing. [Sigrun nods with a wide, friendly smile]

Yeeeah, it's slow going, but it's going! [She nods, ignoring as someone tries to squeeze past her guitar case to get off the bus.] I'm sure once we find a permanent bassist we'll be fine. Oh, and another guitarist. [And a drummer besides her.]

Well... [It's kind of hard to argue with that.] Haha, yeah! That's us.

[Haha. Nordic humor. One-sided Nordic humor.]

That sounds like you're missing-- excuse me, sorry-- [Don't worry Sigrun, Tuuri will apologize to that passenger for you, even if she doesn't have any way of changing the situation] Missing a lot of the band? I mean, I'm not an expert on bands.

Haha! Kjenner du litt norsk? The lyrics are all Norwegian in this one, but since I moved here I started writing more in English. Although I think dropping some Norwegian in gives it novelty!

[She's thinking of her fanbase-to-be, of course.]

[Unperturbed by the question, she shrugs.] Well we had one, but he quit. And the guitarist has another band. [He's on "hiatus" with her. She's sure he'll be back!] No biggie, there's lots of bassists around. And anyone can do backup vocals. [I mean... all they gotta do is scream...]

Ahaha, well, my Swedish isn't bad? [She says that like it's an answer in and of itself, which... it is.] But I think it sounds nice to include some Norwegian in your songs!

[She says this based only on how excited she'd be to hear random Finnish lyrics in a song in America.]

O-oh, I see. Um, sorry to hear that. [and after a second of internal debate over whether or not she should even ask] How are you doing band practice if... half of the band isn't there?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

JUNE TDM

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