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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If the blade is sharp enough and the wielder uses enough force, it is possible for us to be completely decapitated. It'd be nice if I could die a quick, painless death, at least. (of course, now he just thinks he jinxed it, and if there really is some ax wielding murderer behind them, he'll be stabbed like 20 times before dying.

he turns around just barely to sneak a peak at the shadow again, noticing it has shortened the distance between the cart and itself, and almost seems... more looming.) Did... it get closer? And bigger?

If there's proof they didn't properly build the traps and such, it could certainly be a case for negligence at the least. (they will most certainly run into a second trap.

possibly even the trap they just fell into. but only once they manage to get out of this passage!!)

[The real reason Sanji keeps Byakuya around: the guy keeps going along with his shitty plans. Sanji is so delighted his expression is practically demonic, the sort of face a child wears right before they step on the legos you spent an afternoon constructing.

Once the glasses are within swiping distance, the ghost holds out the cigarette -- okay actually he's gonna cheat because what ghost cares about the moral constructs of the living? Bah. The plan is to take the glasses and the cigarette, leaving Sanji and Byakuya with nothing else but a blown raspberry in their faces, but the moment that cigarette is jutted out in the air--

Sanji will be taking that, thank you. +_+ And then grabs onto the squirming ghost for good measure.]

Oh please, no one cares. [Muttering] And the shithead would never stop giving me crap if I lost his glasses.

Well... we'd probably have to ask a scientist or something how to check their brains for activity and stuff. I'm not really sure what else we could-- (apollo pauses for just a moment, then turns to hinata with a very unimpressed expression.) Are you mocking me?

(AMANDA NO SKIPPING SCHOOL!!! THEY'VE (probably) TALKED ABOUT THIS.) Amanda, no offense, but you're freaking out a little, too, if you accuse the first person who talks to you of tailing you.

(he lets out a sigh becaue gosh, he is just not good with the hot headed stubborn types (like himself). so it's time for a compromise.) Okay, okay, no cops unless this happens again. Sound good? And I'll walk you home just to be on the safe side.

[Noni is lucky Cutter is too dumbfounded to actually do something, or poking a random long-practicing martial artist would end with an another automatic throw or hit out of pure instinct. As things are Cutter gets poked in the cheek. The skin there is soft and very much human.]

You- awhawha- DON'T JUST GO POKING ME AFTER I ALREADY AUTOMATICALLY ALMOST KILLED YOU ONCE!! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH OR WHAT?!

[Him a monster? What the hell?! Just because those strange memories screwed him over by giving him some real red eyes and fangs that doesn't mean that he's suddenly stopped being human for a long way!]

Fingers away or I'll bite them off!!

[ please let them trigger the same trap like 3 times in a row. GENIUSES.

anyway kyouko doesn't SEE anything dangerous in the passage, but she's stepping carefully anyway... ]

If we hadn't landed in those skeletons, we might really have broken something...that seems negligent to me.

No way! I just think it's a fun thing to think about, don't you? It'd be booooring to make small talk about just the weather or whatever! It's way more fun to think about if fruit can think or not, don't you think??

(the two of them will be a deadly combo for sure, especially if apollo keeps trying to hide a smile the way he is.

he moves his head along with nazuna's hand, giving him a little bit more room to work on that cheek. there's a little quiet laughter through his nose, but he manages to stay fairly still.

just for you, mom!!!) Got it. No eating the brushes like a five year old. Which you might think of me as, at this point.

(he sees exactly what leon is saying. and what leon is saying is completely and totally 100% revenge. and the worst part is, apollo has to swallow what little pride he has, and goes along with it.

that maniacal grin will haunt his dreams for sure. NOTHING TO DO BUT FORCE A SMILE AND TRY TO MAKE THIS AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE.) You'll dress up, too, right? I mean, you are the boss and all, you'd look out of place not dressed up.

(apollo hops a few more times in vain, now with the ghost only swaying from side to side knowing full well apollo isn't even close to reaching it.) I'll make you a deal, if you help me get my phone back, you can take all the pictures you want.

(never mind that noni clearly already has a phone to take pictures with, but apollo's bargaining skills still need a little work.) Do you have anything good for throwing? Or are we just going to resort to stones here?

[ just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you’re the boss of her!! ]

What else am I supposed to think? There’s no one else here besides you. [ She’s frowning at the ‘accusation,’ light as it is. But... ]

As long as you don’t tell my parents, okay? We can forget this ever happened, [ She nudges him with her elbow ] I’ll tell them you were being extra chivalrous, is all.

[ Safe to say she isn’t really freaking out anymore ]

Edited (love doing phone tags) 2017-10-30 18:11 (UTC)

You can name them whatever you want.

[ Live your dreams, Noni. ]

But I guess Jack is like, their base name? Something like that.

[... If You Say So Sanji.

Regardless, it is interesting and that is enough to hold his attention while he gets a proper rendition of that maniacal grin onto his sketch paper before the apple bobs upside down in the water or something swoops it and grabs it. Who knows what the perils of being an emoting piece of fruit are in this day and age?]

Half the battle is depicting the story fully without the use of words and descriptors. Visuals that tap into a person's emotions are the key.

But seeing as you are so intrigued by it [and bored], perhaps you should take a stab at this little one's backstory instead?

[ Nice work with the follow-up, Clover. Kiryu gives the ghost his best steely glare as it flees, but once it's out of sight he goes back to that usual blank/stoic smile of his. ]

Thanks for the help. I'm glad we were able to stop that thing.

[ Minato nods, lifting his shoulders in a shrug at the same time. ]

If you mess up the foam, you have to brew a new cup. I drank a lot of coffee during my training... [ And all of that came out of his paycheck. If he's getting any better than when he'd started, he might have not wanting to be in the red to thank for that, and taking on these extra late night shifts where college student just want their shot of caffeine to get through the night and don't mind him practicing on their cups.

Speaking of late night shifts, though, that fog isn't avoidable forever. ]

I'm closing up in ten minutes, so last call for any food or drink.

[Mary laughs right along with Ochako, ignoring his protests. This is great fun, more than wandering through a house.]

That's so silly! Man! Your budget really was low if this is the best you can do!

[The man gets up and starts stammering, getting red faced and angry.]

Hah...wow! This is so lame.

A fruit, since it has seeds, but vegetables can be made into desserts too. Like rhubarb pie. [ Which is also sweet, like pumpkin pies... The whole debate of fruits and vegetables can be argued either way, but Minato sides with botanists over chefs, only passively picking up recipes through watching or looking them up, nothing at all like a certain sister of his who prepares entire meals and bakes enough to stock her own store. ]

I've never made pie before, but porridge is easy. You cut the pumpkin into cubes, throw it in a pot of rice and water, turn on the stove and walk away. A pumpkin sounds easy to make too. Cut a pumpkin into cubes, throw it in the blender with milk, banana, and cinnamon, turn on the blender and walk away.

[ Only don't actually walk away from the kitchen when you're cooking, keep an eye on your food... ]

[Ah yes. He can see the cost flashing before his own poor, frugal eyes. Alas, this is one who has truly suffered for his art.]

Oh, I see.

[He glances back out at the dense dog outside. Perhaps planning the quickest route home for the next ten minutes would be the optimal use of time...]

I am fine with my current drink, thank you. [Hm.] You don't have any concerns wandering home in this fog...?

Aaah...

[She. Doesn't get it, honestly. Is that a bad thing, for people to come looking through his stuff because of a cool rumor? She tilts her head in wonder]

Do you dislike the type of clientele it brings?

[ Wandering... Yeah, he's still new enough to the city that he still tends to make a wrong turn here and there whenever a new store or person or tree catches his attention and veers him off the course for home, but his only concern would be getting run over by a car in this fog because his clothing tonight is black on black.

It's a concern, but he can't say he's worried, so that gets shuffled to the back of his mind and he shakes his head. ]

Got my car for bad weather, but I was hoping to hold off until it gets too cold to walk. Gas is expensive...

[ That'd be the best way to go, second to dying in one's sleep, Minato nods to himself as he squints into the distance, having trouble seeing anything in the darkness and the fog and wishing he had a—

light

is what he wished for, startled stiff when a bright light sears his vision from down the road, the backlight so strong that the figure of whatever has been following them appears a shapeless, stumbling black. Minato turns his eyes away, blinking the spots out of his vision, but the light just gets brighter and brighter, impossible to see what it's coming from, but they can hear: the acceleration of a motor, the screech of rubber on asphalt, right at their little meandering cart. ]

I see.

[He takes another sip of the warm drink, and considers his next words.]

... You don't feel like there is something to be cautious about with this fog? Not just the usual reasons of vision issues.

[Issues like... being stalked by giant paintings or having monsters lurching out at you in the middle of a walk home.]

[ Minato's been living the ignorant NPC life, and he would be glad to keep it that way, but the truth is that he'd been warier and warier of the fog as of late, hints of noise he knows can't exist when he's cutting through the streets or taking refuge inside a store, headphones over his ears to block the sounds. A glance down at his feet as he undoes the apron from behind is telling, but he doesn't say a word about any of that. ]

...Nothing to do about it besides get home as quickly as possible. Maybe don't have sugar at night to fuel an overactive imagination.

[Ah, so it really is just social media. Another thing Zack can be sort of garbage at keeping up with.

Not at all surprised at the phone case but it does make him smirk. Then he looks at his screen to see the options.]

Huh! Guess I could try out a few games! [And he presses Trick right away. What's that do?]

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OCTOBER TDM

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