OCTOBER TDM

[recollecters]

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!

Comments

[broughtthegirl]

[ It would be unfair to press. The one time she'd pressed him, he refused. ]

Don't have much of a choice but to settle with it then.

[windowdressing]

I've seen your nametag.

[ He never made much of an effort to remember it, but now that he hears it, it sounds right. ]

And no, that's not how it's spelled. It's R-E-D-Z with a caron-O. Which I'm pretty sure I told you the first time you took an order from me, actually, but whatever.

[ It's fucking annoying, but he's used to it. And since he already carries a sharpie around in case someone wants an autograph, at least he's always prepared to correct the spelling of his name on coffee cups. ]

[originallutece]

. . . call me when you get your first one.

[notyourutopian]

Hi.

[She nodded at the invitation and crossed the room, reaching out to set the package on her side of his desk.]

My father asked me to drop this off for you? Wouldn't tell me what it was or anything though.

[broughtthegirl]

And who says I even had an alternate life, huh?

[pronounces]

I'm sure you can hold it. [ it takes harsh training to be this cute, with this much face paint on! or something like that.

either way, he finishes up the whiskers on the left, moving on to the other side. nazuna's got small hands, and he uses one to push apollo's face just a little so he can get at his cheeks better.

nonchalantly, he adds: ] The paint is non-toxic. Since it's for children, who try to eat it, and all...~

[ the teasing is real, playful as he carefully draws a third straight line. ] But, I don't want to get my brushes all slimy, so let's resist that urge.

[floret]

Toddlers!

...But they also get really upset over nothing sometimes, too. And apples and good dogs are almost always cheerful.

[ Also, please don't throw or eat toddlers. ]

[originallutece]

Booker.

[She meets his gaze again.]

Don't imagine you won't be affected as all of us have been.

[broughtthegirl]

[ Booker looks at her, matching her gaze, but all the more hardened from it. He's not the type to face these things the way he should, and he'd much rather just ignore it. ]

Rosalind.

[ Defiant as ever. ]

I'm not imagining anything. But I'm not about to get spooked if I experience a case of deja vu.

[drydrown]

Oh, my point exactly. To a point that it's almost unfair, really.

[...But is it kosher to just kind of knock the toddlers over, is the important question here.]

[broughtthegirl]

[ Booker stands from his desk, getting up to close the distance between them, and he extends a hand to accept the package. He idly adjusts his tie, turning the package with his free hand glancing over it. ]

Not much for indulging private information about clients, but you're his kid. Your old man's got me doing some digging to help with his work. Nothing too sordid, 'least not yet.

[ Booker looks her over, not quite having really gotten to know her well, but he's seen her before. She's certainly not a child, but given the relationship he has with her father, he can't help but look at her as one. He's not really good with kids. At least he doesn't think so, and of course he feels awkward.

Hesitant, he gestures to his seat. ]

Don't gotta just stand there. Have a seat.

[ He sits back down himself, starting to open the package. ]

You can give me some insight on your dad. Weird guy.

[originallutece]

[It's best to just leave it be until he gets a memory back, but something in her prickles in irritation at his not taking it entirely seriously.]

Suit yourself. But remember this conversation, will you, a few weeks from now.

[surprising]

No way! I'm not into that sort of stuff.

[ that's weird, okay... ]

Do people usually go for revenge without knowing what it's for? I mean, that sort of ruins the entire point of revenge in the first place.

[dejerate]

Is it really reflexes when they open the door right in your face like that?

[Yuu groans, complaining and pouting even as he takes the offered hand to help him up to his feet. Giving his thanks, he raises his other hand to his head before pausing to figure their route. Zack had had a clearer shot before, but now he'd come back for Yuu, more were starting to show themselves.]

I'll be fine. We just gotta keep going.

[servileness]

[ Minato, love yourself more than some dank alleyway. ]

If it's organized well enough, and the people helping out manage the line well, the dogs shouldn't be overwhelmed. They deserve the love, too. Dogs are too social for their own good.

[ But it's why people love dogs so much, she knows. It's enviable how open-minded dogs are, as much as it is foolish. ]

I'd help them. Wouldn't you?

[servileness]

I don't think the people back then had plastic bags. You'll be surprised how fast bacteria can spread, if it has the right environment. But...

[ She waves at the tub full of water and apples. ]

You can test it yourself. Or you can simply get an apple for fun. Bob for one?

[ascatic]

[ ... well, at least Jamie made a noble sacrifice, being a pretty nice and comfortable cushion to land on. at least it wasn't a very long fall, relatively short, but definitely not just a stumble into a small ditch. more like a deep trench, and if not for the squeaky rat prop, they probably would both be a little worse for wear.

Jamie more so, of course. ]

H-heck... [ that's all he can say. the briefest dirge ending as quickly as it began. ] ... man, that could've been really bad.

[ well. he says more about himself as he picks himself off of the guy and dusts himself off, only to realize that he... LANDED ON JAMIE ]

Whoa! Hey, are you okay?

[ this time for realsies. ]

[ascatic]

It's not revenge! No, revenge would mean skin tight clothing and whiskers. This is just a few little accessories. You see what I'm saying, Apollo?

[ which is when he takes one long step and reaches out to grab him by the shoulders with a much more maniacal and toothy grin. ]

All of your friends could come by and see exactly what kind of place you work at!

[compendiem]

[ No. ]

Dunno how much I can help aside from talking to them until they calm down.

[ Maybe that's all he needs to do; that's all he does for the senior dogs and they settle down well enough, but maybe it's just because they need to be quiet in order to hear what Minato's mumbling to them under his breath, made even harder to listen with how hard of hearing some of them are. ]

...Acepromazine?

[servileness]

[ The biggest traitor.

Clover smiles and hides a laugh behind her hand. It's not often a situation flips like this for her. It's nice. ]

Sometimes, people want to be the person sought after, but is that what you did? Does Tiffany know?

[blessmefather]

Sometimes that's the price that has to be paid for a decent cup of coffee. It beats drinking the office's terrible brew. Maybe I've been pushing the wrong buttons on the machine in the break room all this time.

Have you been to this cafe before? Their baked goods are also worth the noise and the wait.

[servileness]

If that helps, isn't that enough?

[ She doesn't see the problem if it's something he's willing to do and it's something dogs responds to. ]

Medication should be used only when it's necessary, or under the guidance of licensed vet. I don't feel qualified enough to make that decision. I think talking should work fine. A reassuring presence works wonders, and maybe you can surprise people you know.

[deservingoflife]

[ the good news is that Cutter's kick only takes out Noni's head piece so it just goes flying off as Noni himself stumbles back and lands on his butt. the bad news is that the head piece is paper-mache so now it just has a gaping hole in one of the eyes ]

... [ Noni looks at the destroyed head that's rolled a little off ways with a little shock before he looks back at the culprit ]

Wh-What was that for??! [ he runs towards his eyeball head and looks at the damage with dismay ]

[servileness]

[ THAT DOESN'T MEAN ROSE HAS TO MAKE FUN OF HER??? ]

I can't do that. You know I can't. Lying is wrong. Show the people you'll give it a fair chance.

[ Clover gestures to a small group of people looking at Rose in disapproval because they definitely saw her take that apple. ]

I want them to know my sister is a good person.

[deservingoflife]

[ Noni responds with a more energetic wave ]

Heya Juri! You're a witch, right? Are you gonna join the contest too? [ he tilts his head a little bit inside his headpiece, trying to get a better look at his friend's outfit ]