repeter | AUGUST TDM

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! tdm

AUGUST TDM

TEST DRIVE

AUGUST TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé.

...yeah. Yeah, it's just sort of a mess...

What will you do today?

I.
What the hell happened here? Perhaps you're new to the city, or perhaps you've finally started to notice just how bad the damage is to the beloved city of Recollé. The convention center is still crumbled in pieces and several local shops have boarded up windows and doors to prepare for reconstruction. Vendors on the street try to urge residents to purchase monster insurance for all of their home and vehicle needs. But the moment you step outside, you'll find yourself greeted by a member of the Recollé Restoration Committee as they thrust a hardhat into your hands and eagerly chatter about your new assignment.

Whether you find yourself in Tisse and assigned to haul pieces of stone around or you're placed over in Apprassage to pour cement, you'll find you aren't alone in these tasks. It's nice to meet your coworkers, isn't it?

II.
But really, what caused all of this? This is completely insane and while some of you may be willing to help rebuild the city, others might wish to solve the mystery. Poking around the various districts, NPCs will explain that monster attacks "sometimes just happen" which seems pretty strange in and of itself. Monsters shouldn't "just happen", should they? And where are these alleged monsters anyway?

Careful what you wish for, though. Exploring too much and straying off-task will lead to finding some things you may not want. These creatures will immediately hone in on new Retrospec users and begin to chase them, though they won't outright attack. While the smaller ones may be destroyed with a bit of effort, it might be wise to either cut your losses or find someone with a bit more experience to take on the larger creatures. Don't worry; there's bound to be someone to help.

III.
By now, you may have heard the rumors from some of your fellow Retrospec users that several members of the network have disappeared. You may even hear the rumors that those members are lost in "unreality" and that the city itself is a bit...unstable. But they're just rumors, right?

Everything seems fine as you go about your day (monsters notwithstanding.) However, any time you pass from one district to another suddenly a list of names scrolls past your line of vision . As the list comes to a halt and lands on one name, you may recognize it as a friend or a stranger. If you're lucky, you may get a holographic video connecting you to someone still in the city. If you're even luckier, you may find someone speaking up inside your head due to a telepathic connection. Go ahead and say hi. You just might get some answers from those who have been lost and those you haven't met yet.

IV.
As the night begins to set upon the city, a warm sleepy feeling rolls through. Whatever you're doing, it's hard to fight off the urge to curl up under a shaded tree and take a nap. After some time it's nearly impossible to ignore any longer and no matter where you are, you'll instantly fall asleep. Strangely, even

The place that you wake up, however, may look very familiar to you. You've seen this place before. In fact, you've lived through this very scene before. Maybe it's the little league game you scored your first home run, or maybe it's your high school prom. These are your memories played back to you, and glancing back you may find that again you aren't alone. Any Retrospec user has the ability to pass through these pockets of time and can stumble right into your memories. The memory pockets can appear no matter where a person is, and they'll be able to view and interact with the memories they see. Take a walk through your childhood neighborhood. Sit through the nightmare of your college entrance exams. These memories are yours as you've lived them. However, try not to change anything about the past. Memories can be quite tricky if meddled with too much.

BONUS.
While the makers of Retrospec are a bit scattered and busy at the moment, it seems as though they have failsafes to keep their systems up and running. The latest update push operates on its own and begins to download to your device. Your profile remains the same as always (your name and your photo), but it appears you won't have access to it until you apply one of the brand new filters to your picture. Seems easy, right?

Maybe you should have given this a second thought. As soon as the filter's applied to your photo, you might find that people are stopping and staring at you as you go about your day. They may or may not comment, but what's evident is that something's going on that you're unaware of. A quick glance in your phone's camera, a storefront window or a mirror will reveal all. That fun filter's now applied itself to your face with no hope of coming off for a while. Have fun!

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!

For continuity's sake, for the first time we will be stating that the TDM is dated IC 8/17! This is all in one day. Potential applicants/characters on the TDM will revert back to NPC status on 8/18 and will not remember the events of the TDM until the mod-posted Retrospec post goes up 9/1.

Members of Group 2, since the TDM can be considered game-canon, prompts III and IV are open for you to tag around to new players while stuck in your locations outside of the city!

For Prompt III, members of Group 2 may telepathically connect to someone even if there's a video option, but their faces and surroundings will be obscured! Other members of the game + potential applicants may use video if they wish.

For Prompt IV, please remember these are memories from your AU and not your canon! Should characters deviate from these "memories" too much, they will find themselves thrown back to the beginning of the memory to start over!

And finally, the filters provided in the bonus are just examples and you can swap in any others you want.

Your August TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

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It can be easier - anyway, blue eyes, tell me more about what you did as a kid.

Well now that is a strangely invasive question. [But he doesn't seem too opposed. And he doesn't seem opposed to that nickname either.] Which part should I tell you as my subconscious? The part where I had a happy and functional childhood, or the part where things went weird?

I want to know both. [ or everything. ] But why don't you tell me whichever part you're willin' to talk about?

[He gives him a funny little smile in response.]

Childhood was childhood? I hung out with my friends, I went to school, I got into soccer and baseball in high school and now I'm going to college. [Way to completely gloss over everything, John.] It's nothing special? Sometimes I would help my Nanna at her bakery, sometimes I'd do other things. [He's mostly just not sure what, exactly, Dave's looking for so he keeps it simple.]

[ helps out at the bakery. nanna, not dad. dave tips his head to the side, looking straight at john and just...trying to figure him out. the similarities and differences. it doesn't quite hurt in exactly this fashion when he looks at aradia - at ami - because honestly, they hadn't known one another well. karkat's an entirely different matter because they were close then, eventually, but they aren't now.

his siblings -

none of them remember. but it's closer to what this is like. he looks at rose these days and he knows her, he knows her better than anyone else knows her, maybe, but she's not rose lalonde. there are similarities and there are differences and both of them hurt. ]

Things went weird. Your [ dad ] parents?

[If he minds the staring he doesn't say so. He allows Dave to look at him and he remains quiet while awaiting judgment.

In a way, he knew the question was coming even if he doesn't understand why.]

I never met my mom? She died around the time I was born, so. [A shrug.] My dad's around somewhere? Probably.

[ i dunno why my friends got to have adults around who cared about them.

he'd been so jealous for years but he'd never wanted them to not have that. ]

I - [ never knew my mother until i was sixteen, only had bro until he died and fuck only knew where he spent most of his time, he didn't do bonding ] - can relate.

[ he skips away from the topic, saying nothing further on that, and asks at random (not at random): ]

Your best friend?

Yours left, too? [Left, of course, being the implication that he used to exist. He doesn't dwell on the subject though.]

I have a lot of friends so I think I need a clear idea what "best friend" means in this case? I have a really good friend I met online. I have guys from my teams. I have friends at school that I will never see again, probably, because I am going to college and I do not plan on staying in touch.

He... [ died. he died. and before that, had he even ever been a father? he had, dave knows it, he knows there are things he should be grateful for. bro cut the meteor in half; he trained dave up; he fed him, when he was young enough he couldn't do it on his own; he gave dave things, sometimes.

bro hated him, but he did that much.

the rest - ] ...it was another time.

[ he moves on, away, easily. ]

If you have to ask what I mean by "best friend" you don't have one. [ dave does. he's lucky. he has people he'd call best friend even if it's different from how he used it for john and rose and jade. different, but similar in some ways. ] Someone you trust to always have your back. Someone you care about. Someone who gets you, even if they don't know all of your shit, and who doesn't...have to know it to get you, or have your back, even if they want to.

[ a best friend. what's a best friend on both sides of the scratch? ]

Someone you can talk to about the little things, who distracts you from the big things. Who listens to you even when it's stupid, and who agrees to help you without much of a second thought even if they're not sure why. Just...a best friend. Someone you'd die for.

[He gets it. Some things are just things you don't talk about, like family that never existed or family that left. He doesn't press and instead he listens to Dave describe how best friends should be.

And in a way, he understands it. He knows what Dave means and while he can think of people that can fill some of those slots, he can't think of someone who can fill all of those. He listens, dusting the room and listening to the words, moving so he doesn't have to face Dave for long.]

Like I said, I have a lot of friends. [But he doesn't have anyone currently he would think of as "best friend." Not anyone he'd want to consider that, anyway.] That was a strange question, dude.

Yeah, I know. I wanted a strange answer.

[ he laughs. it's soft, and he shrugs as he leans against the wall and just watches john move around. ]

You said you help out at the bakery?

Weird. [He makes a face but he laughs slightly.]

I do, yes! Nanna owns one and sometimes I give her a hand when she is short-staffed. Luckily that hasn't been the case for a while but during rush season it can get busy. [He's busy tidying up. Dusting here, straightening there. Things Dad Egbert would normall do but does not now that he's gone.]

[ weird or STUPID since he wanted to hear "you". ]

So you like baking?

[GIVE HIM TIME OH MY GOD :(]

It's okay? It is not my favorite thing in the world, but it makes her happy and it helps her out. Kind of hard to say no to something like that. It's not really that hard either.

So what's your favorite thing?

I cannot give away all of my secrets, you know. Even my subconscious should be left guessing sometimes.

Did you want me to actually guess?

No. But maybe we can talk about it some other time. If this is more dream than memory, you'll probably come back someday, right?

Maybe. I don't really know? I'm tired.

[ like. he's asleep. but this is making him more tired. ]

[There's a half-smile.]

There are some things I don't want to admit even in a dream, dude. But I will say that I would not mind seeing you again. I think the rain's letting up.

It's chill. It's not like I would know any of this stuff if I weren't a figment of your weird little imagination.

[ ...

or, rather, if john weren't a figment of his. dave's left hand starts to move, but he doesn't really reach out. if he touches john at all, he thinks, john will just...

stop existing. ]

You'll wake up when it stops, won't you?

Maybe next time you'll learn more. It's just...[He shrugs. He notices the movement but he doesn't understand why. He doesn't over to let Dave touch him to prove he's standing there, but he doesn't know what else to do.]

I don't know. I assume so. And when that happens you will go back to wherever you came from. But if this is a dream then like I said, I am sure you will come back. I dream about people a lot.

I only ever have nightmares.

[ this is a nice reprieve, really. ]

Then come back and visit soon. My nightmares are usually tamed enough they are not a problem.

Yeah, maybe. Thanks for the one night stand, in the meantime?

[ he's pretty sure he's going to wake up now. ]

(no subject)

windeity - 2017-09-05 08:40 (UTC) - Expand

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