repeter | OCTOBER TDM

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OCTOBER TDM

TEST DRIVE

OCTOBER TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé...

When the crypt doors creak, and the tombstones quake, spooks come out for a singing wake. Happy haunts materialize and begin to vocalize...grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize...

Every year during the Halloween season, the city of Recollé comes to life with plenty of fall activities for everyone. There's something to do in every district if one were to take a look.

What will you do today?

I.
Family fun seems to be the theme today over in Tribunal Terrace. Several tables are set up and in a semi-circle near Recollé Square with stacks of pumpkins, carving tools, paint and anything else you may need to create your own jack o'lantern. Other stations are set up for face-painting and games to win mini-sized candy bars including a ring toss, bowling, and bobbing for apples. Be careful with the apples though. They like to wiggle and jiggle with their happy little faces staring up out of the water.

...so maybe apple-bobbing is for the brave at heart. Are you the artsy type to carve a beautiful pumpkin? Are you helping to run the games (or even cheating to get more candy)? It's time to relax and let your creativity flow.

II.
Pumpkin-carving not your speed? Never fear, horror is here. Over in Tisse there's plenty to do for those looking for a little more adventure. Several coffee shops have harvest specials made with pumpkin, maple, and pecan flavors. Over at Flix a monster movie marathon and costume contest are taking place (with a prize of two free passes for the best monster costumes.) But the highlight of this district is the annual haunted funhouse.

Anyone daring enough will find the usual spooks and scares in a haunted house, jump scares and fog machines galore. But...the house certainly didn't look so big from the outside. How did you possibly get shuffled straight to the center? No worries. This hall of mirrors will guide you out safely...if the walls closing in don't crush you first. It's a race against time as the halls narrow, and if you're one of the lucky ones you'll escape and exit through the main doors.

For those not quite so lucky, the walls will stop just inches from crushing you completely before the floor drops open and you find yourself on a slide, falling through the dark and tumbling into an underground room filled with plastic skeletons, rubber spiders and more. There must be a way out, right? Hopefully you aren't alone and you can navigate the lair with a friend or two.

III.

Meanwhile, the rest of the city's usual hustle and bustle continues. The shopping districts are busy, students wander the sidewalks after class, and that oddly-shaped ghost appears right in the middle of the crowd.

Wait, what? You could have sworn that ghost wasn't there before. Maybe you don't even believe in ghosts. You may blink a few times to clear your vision, but the faint outline of the ghost remains as a few more of them pop up around the city. They won't speak, but they will cause some trouble for anyone who gets too close whether it's by playing pranks on passerbys, stealing items and running away, sitting on a person and applying a gravitational force so they can't move or other crafty, sneaky tactics.

Are the ghosts messing with you? Or are you going to find a way to mess with the ghosts?

IV.
As the sun begins to set, a strange sort of fog rolls in. Several citizens of the city may not even think it's unusual and others seem to capitalize on the weather. The Churchhill Downs Stables are hosting their annual haunted hayrides through Recollé Woods as soon as the sun sets. There are plenty of carts and chocobos saddled up and ready to go.

Once passengers are seated the chocobos begin to trot forward into the woods as a pre-recorded ghost tour of the city takes place. The stories range from silly ones about two ghost children who like to play hide and seek in these woods to scarier ones about a jilted lover chasing her husband off a cliff at the edge of ocean. For the most part they're a bit cheesy and in good fun, but something about this haunted ride seems a bit...off. Peering into the fog you may see something strange that follows you, be it a monster or a shadow or an object. You may hear things whispering your name and you may see your greatest fear manifest right out of the fog and chase your cart through the woods. Even worse, it seems to follow you right out of the woods and back into the city. No matter where you run or where you hide, the fears from the fog will track you down and they change for every single person in the city.

Will you run or will you fight? You may wish to be careful since the creatures will fight back.

BONUS.
With only a few short weeks left until the end of October, Retrospec's Halloween Mode is in full swing and popping up on new users' devices. Retrospec users will find their application decked out in cheerful Halloween colors, and their userpics in a randomized (work safe) costume. However, there's always a trick to each treat and this time the seasonal mode can't be turned off for new users. Notifications chime with zombie groans, a rousing game of Candy Crush must be played and beaten before you can use your device again, and the new Trick or Treat function has a few upgrades. When a user enables this function, they will be met with the phrase "Trick or Treat?" Users who select "treat" will get one virtual candy! Yay! The catch though is that they will also find themselves in a costume representing that specific candy.

Should a user pick "trick", however, they will find all sorts of harmless but unpleasant things happening to them including but not limited to pranks, being splashed by vehicles driving through puddles of water, being unable to speak in anything but rhymes and other such things. None of these effects last over ten minutes, but the game will show up periodically over and over again and even giving you the option to play the game with others.

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 current players, TDM threads will not count toward your Trick or Treat freebie! Additionally, please remember that TDM threads can only be used for bonus points, not regains.

Please note: you will need a reserve to apply, and current characters must have full AC posted at the time of their reservation.

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

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So it seems... Fortunately, I don't have to worry about them in daily life too much.

[Her ears stand up again, as she looks down at herself in confusion.]

My costume?

A little. [ nazuna's voice is playfully teasing as he rolls up the sleeves of his cardigan and reaches for an extra pumpkin guts scoop. ]

Don't worry, nii-chan has you covered~★ [ because it's niichan's duty, after all! he stands on his tippytoes and starts to help scoop some of the guts out of her pumpkin for her. ] Have you not carved a pumpkin before?

"I-I'm not scared." [she can even hear the foolishness of her own words as the come out of her mouth. She's flustered and feeling stupid. She sighs heavily and rubs her forehead, trying to refocus her energy. When she looks back up at Maggie she has a gentle frown. Not as if she's mad, just thoughtful]

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. Let's just--" [she trails off for a moment] "So, if I believe you, and there are ghosts..." [she glances around, as if worried one will pop out any moment]

"They're not dangerous?"

Well, I'd definitely like to learn how to make a haunted house at some point. I'm sure I can easily spook a few people here and there...

[ She thinks it might be fun! ] And good. Because I'm too lazy to do that.

[ But not too lazy, but shh. Nobody needs to know that. ]

Mind your manners, now-- [ nazuna starts when natsume picks up his jack o lantern carving saw, half expecting the hand to belong to a small child as he reaches out to take it back, and ends up putting his hand on top of natsume's as if to take it back.

oh, oops. ] Natsuchin, you could ask nicely. [ but his tone isn't mean or anything, just very gently chiding. ]

(OOC: Totally okay with me!]

[heh, she resists the urge to laugh (just in case it wasn't a joke) but can't resist smiling]

I'll vouch for you. Just don't make a pumpkin that scares the other kids, and I think we'll be fine.

[kiiinda joking but not really. Again, she holds the pumpkin and utensils out, but she'll wait for Hikage to grab it]

Edited 2017-10-18 22:01 (UTC)

"For the most part, yeah. They're just minor annoyances, really. No need to worry about them."

[But she smirks a little.]

"But if you're taking notice of them, then that means you're on the app, right?"

The ears and the tail? The cat costume?

[Y'know?? The nonhuman stuff???]

Oh. I, ah... Thank you?

[LET'S JUST CALL IT A COSTUME AND AVOID AWKWARD CONVERSATIONS... she is very bad at sounding even remotely convincing though.]

[ Minato was a millimeter away from being clocked in the eye with that plastic ring, but instead, it gets caught in the wires of his earbuds and pulls them out, the ring falling and hitting his knee and clattering to the ground.

He bends to pick it up, glancing over at Kara when she runs up to him. Allllll the way from the ring toss stand? ]

...That's some throwing arm.

[ Ultimate frisbee player? Maybe. ]

i. ( a )

[ Iris has her hair tied back with an obvious look of determination on her features. Honestly she looks like she's preparing for a fight more than she is bobbing for apples, which apparently has been a feature that's caught several eyes but not many have partaken in because of the faces happily wiggling around in the water. ]

Alright, I'm ready!

[ She grabs the edge of the barrel with both hands and leans down, creeping closer to the water and focusing her attention on one lone apple. Slowly opening her mouth as she makes contact with the water and— ] Uh!? [ Her breath catches in the back of her throat, lifting up hard and fast enough that it's a surprise that she doesn't experience some whiplash. ] What the heck? Kissing ain't allowed, scum!

[ That's right. The apple kissed her. Or she thinks it kissed her. Either way she's forgetting all about the game and scooping the piece of fruit out of the water before chucking it across the field...

And hitting your character over the head. Oops. ]

i. ( b )

I saw you cheatin', no reason for you to go on and keep lying.

[ Somewhere around the ring toss Iris is standing straight in front of an individual well above her height. In fact he's towering over her, gawking at her righteous attitude straight to her face that's met with nothing more than a scoff. Even as another man, presumably his friend, appears from the fallen pins. ] You think I'm a joke when you're the one foolin' around kids games for candy? I'd be more embarrassed if I spent all the allowance my mama gave me and had to stoop this low.

[ And in a split second the man snaps, throwing a punch in her direction. Iris is quick however and promptly grabs his arm, using the momentum of his hit by giving him her back and tossing him right over her shoulder. Back landing hard against the wooden stand.

No one should have let her run anything in the area. ] Cool~ Now go ahead and go home. Thieves ain't welcomed here! [ It's said as the man stands up, his friend assisting him, and he limps away. Dusting off her hands she places her hands to her hips and turns to the next potential guest. ] Ah, sorry, so it's gonna be a second before I set up the next game for you. Mind waiting for a little bit?

ii.

[ So. Funhouses. This is the first she's ever been in one with closing walls and disappearing floors, much to her displeasure, and when she's met another surface she finds herself sprawled out on top of a skeleton. Lifting up her head she huffs out a breath of air, her bangs lifting off of her forehead briefly as her brows knit and she slowly lifts herself back onto her feet. ]

Hey, you're not dead are you?

wildcard.

( feel free to throw whatever at me! of course if you'd like to discuss anything feel free to pm me or comment on my workshop comment for iris! )

Sure thing.

[What a weird reaction??? Maybe she was just awkward about compliments, we've all been there sometime.]

It looks like we're there.

[Sure enough, there was another door at the end of the hallway, not concealed this time. Also, thankfully for Cleo, with a regular doorknob.]

I thought the point was to scare other kids. [Hikage's expression, her voice - they're both consistently deadpan. She has trouble expressing herself even at the best of times, so it's hard to tell what is and isn't a joke.

Like that question. Sure, it sounsd like a teenage comeback, but it's also said without a hint of irony or mirth. Slowly, she takes the pumpkin and utensils into her hands, twirls the carving knife around expertly to get to work.]

What cause is this for? The club?

[ There's joy in hacking away at pumpkins with butcher knives, and then there's the careful precision that Minato's trying to maintain, whittling away at the rind so that the light can later shine through in a gradient instead of all or nothing. It's a slow process, but mostly because he has no idea what to make, every once in a while glancing over at Charlotte's pumpkin with some admiration of how clear her artistic vision must be, to carve without hesitation. ]

What are you making?

[ Haunted houses are pretty fun, Minato supposes, but he walks through it with a persistent feeling of disengagement, a second too late to react to anything that pops out at him and only cued in that something happened because he heard somebody else scream. A hall of mirrors, though, provides self-made scare unreliant on others, where he can go through it at his own pace... until his way is blocked by a hundred Zacks that fill the mirrors in the maze.

Note to self: that direction is no good, choose another. ]

It's less confusing if you look at the ground instead of the mirrors.

[ It also takes all the fun out of the experience, but. ]

[ No, Foggy was not the artist of the familiy. That honour belonged to Natalie despite her age. She was sixteen and showed no signs of slowing down in her artwork, or any notion of giving up this "phase". She was in it for life, whether or not it was going to bring her riches.

Natalie came up beside her brother and looped her arms through his as she gave it a squeeze and smiled at his pumpkin. ] It's adorable, just like you.

[ ...There's no opportunity to cut in and stop all those questions, so Minato just sort of holds both hands up in the air, palms open and facing out as a sign for "no" or "stop" or "shhhhh" until she has to pause to take a breath. ]

Yes. Dunno. No.

[ He's perfectly fine despite disheveled hair and intermittent coughs as he slowly crouches down in front of her, a flicker of a gaze to her legs before his eyes settle on her face. ]

Your leg okay?

If you do have a track record, it'd be gone because you got eaten by a house.

[Don't you dare get frustrated with him.

Though at the rate they're going, they might end up being squished by the walls soon.]

Your phone acting up, too?

[ Junpei's been struggling with his own as well... even as someone who doesn't mind games like candy crush, it's a little annoying to have to clear a level every time he wants to unlock his phone. He's starting to feel like an old man struggling with newfangled technology. So it's a little reassuring to overhear someone else having the same struggle. ]

I've been trying to figure out how to turn the games off, but they keep coming back...

[ Looking at the apples with faces... and then looking back at Manon. ]

...Do they even have teeth?

[ This is a serious question. How do apples with faces work? And if they do have teeth, how do you eat them, assuming they're still edible? ]

Edited 2017-10-18 22:42 (UTC)

[Kurt happened to be walking by while chowing down on a hot dog. He stops once he sees not only a ghost, but a familiar face move past him.]

...Aki? [He'll start to move after her!]

"The... app?" [she hates feeling stupid, she hates being out of the loop. But she tries to swallow that and shakes her head]

"I don't know what you're talking about, I barely use any apps--" [she unlocks her phone and returns to the home screen... but is stopped mid-sentence as she sees an icon there that she had never noticed before. She looks back at Maggie and squints]

"You didn't... hack my phone, did you?" [she says it with a slightly exasperated tone]

[He is always tired and sleeps in the worse places available to him.]

No I think it was rigged to do this? The walls closed and I fell. [With the light the props look even more fake. How could anyone be scared?]

Ritsu Sakuma. You?

...What if we have only a moderately-strong throwing arm?

[ He knows, rationally, that carnival-type games are always rigged and that he'd be throwing away his money to play. But one game couldn't hurt his wallet too much, and maybe his aim's better than they give them credit for... ]

[Kurt tries to politely wave her hand away.]

H-hey... It's cool. I'm not afraid of anything! [Although he seems a bit anxiously defensive about that, and he gives a nervous laugh before nodding at the stranger.]

We got this.

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OCTOBER TDM

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yuisis ( iris vasiliev ) | granblue fantasy

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