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

[activatingcombatmode]

Yeah, community volunteer coordinator. She bosses us all around.

[He says that with the most playful affection for the girl. They've only worked together a few times now but it's all been very pleasant experiences. She's a fun girl. And he doesn't notice at all that Minato and Minako look kinda similar.

Free from the confines of that blasted horror fun house Zack immediately goes to look for the buckets with the apples or at even better the hose they used to fill them up with ice water.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Damn it, key items...]

Look, just. Watch my back.

[Then he does something that might look damn ridiculous to a lot of people but he's doing it in the name of friendship and house keys.]

What's that over there?! [He screams and shouts and surprisingly ... The ghost looks? wow that was stupid easy

And Zack suddenly tackles the ghost to the ground with a loud cracking thud.]

[ascatic]

[ dang... he's trying his best. ]

Well. Most customers generally come in and buy something anyway. Nothing beats a warm mug of tea on a cool day, right?

[ his tail sways as he brings up a hand to rubs his chin. ]

But hey. I think you'd look good as a cat. Everybody wants to be a cat, after all.

[ said in a sing-song tone. because well... yeah. ]

[ascatic]

[ HE BELIEVED IN HIMSELF but that means nothing when the lemon was actually in disguise all along? help??? ]

... no, it's orange! Look!

[ holding out it out in front of him, it's exactly what it looks like. an orange! ]

I wouldn't just bite into a lemon, that's disgusting. Also sour.

[ his tastebuds are crying. ]

[ascatic]

... maybe over there.

[ but he doesn't sound so sure, as he points toward what looks to be yet another doorway. this one is still dark, but the faintest silhouette can be seen--- even when the light passes over it, eventually. ]

You think they'd build another trap door? This place doesn't even seem that deep!

[ or big in general. ]

[ascatic]

Of course. I'm clearly using tonight as a test run!

[ he spins in place, his tail bobbing up and down with his smarmy smile, already trying to see in his mind's eye what Apollo would look like with a nice set of cat ears and a tail.

and honestly it's not that bad. ]

But you know, it would be nice if I just oversaw the entire thing for one day. Maybe I need a break.

[activatingcombatmode]

And we gotta use this app?

[He's kinda garbage at keeping up with social media.]

Ehh, that's weird. [Retrospec in general, he means.]

[fiddlestick]

[Dangit Zack he will get you texting yet!! Or at least...googling...

Oh, he hit trick. Now Elliot has to actually think up a trick. You can almost seem him get nervous as he tries to think something up, because Elliot is not at all the prankster type- before yep, just sending Zack a game of Candy Crush he has to clear.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[And off he goes without a complaint.]

Uh, one thing! Do pumpkins have faces too? Last time I walked by they didn't but...

[Just making sure, you know.]

[activatingcombatmode]

Can you do me a favor then?

[He pulls out his phone. It's ... a flip phone. Super old-- ANYWAY]

Take a picture with me? [He's got a point to this, really.]

[activatingcombatmode]

Hey- [He stares, a little curious.] Another game came up??

[He pulls his arm away from Elliot's shoulders and holds his phone with both hands and starts trying to figure it out.]

Ahh! Wait- ... Shit- [Here he goes...] I think I get it!

[buncho]

[ The ghost just... stares... It's ghosty magic lifting them up and not a real gust of wind so honestly, the ghost should just dash them into the ground and give them a merciful death. But no. Mafuyu ties her end of the sleeve to the post, the fabric of the two jackets catching air and creating enough drag that their ride stabilizes for a miraculous moment. ]

What d'you think: should we aim for the Towers, or go for a water landing?

[compendiem]

[ Bossy seems to match up with the decades old memory of how Minako was like when they were little, but he never really got to see much of that because he would used to go along with things at the slightest suggestion, trailing behind Zack now and, yeah, veering off towards the spit-free hoses when they come across the apple bobbing, even if it's decidedly ice cold water that—

Their make-shift shower is interrupted by one of the volunteers working at the stall, who runs up to them and gestures wildly at the two of them, top to bottom and all around. "What happened?!" she cries, hands out to keep them away. "The first aid station is down by the chocobo-drawn carts. Do you know where that is? Don't go wandering around covered in blood like that!" ]

[infreefall]

[ A blush colors her cheeks. ]

Thanks! If we make it in time, we can do the contest together!

[ Since he has the flashlight, Ochako lets him lead the way. Her eyes wander while they follow the wall, scanning all the piles of Halloween decorations. ]

I wonder why they’d leave all this stuff down here, though. Why not use it upstairs or outside somewhere?

[infreefall]

They have fog machines and everything… I don’t think they were this fancy last year.

[ Ochako’s kind of amazed? Wow. It really sets the mood, but she can’t even begin to imagine what went into all this. But there’s no reason not to go check out the rest, right? ]

If the mummy looks like realistic, what else do you think they’ll do? Ghosts, maybe?

[infreefall]

[ She almost feels sorry for the guy, but Ochako has to admit - it is really funny that they’d go public with something like this. She’s pretty sure even the school could do better.

Hooking one arm through Mary’s, she flashes Mr. Vampire a (not at all apologetic) grin and tries to hold back another round of giggles. ]

But we’re still having fun! Definitely - I’m glad we came.

[usurpers]

[ us both, homie. eren might be a little more updated but social media is as appealing to him as a cranky 80 year old grandpa that wants those kids off his god damn yard. ]

You won’t want to, trust me. [ but . . . while he’s at it, he’ll quickly take his phone out and show him. look, zack. a touch screen. ]

I made this, [ it’s a little document with as much information as possible about what’s been going on, where, and more frequently asked questions. ] so you don’t need to scroll through mountains of bullshit like I did.

[justchords]

(this is apollo justice, he was stuck showing panties in court for 2 days. you bet your ass he'll be falling in traps over and over.

apollo is keeping one cautious hand on the wall to steady himself in case of any more surprises, and also he's just plain clumsy sometimes. but even so, a surprise could pop out at any moment.) I almost missed the skeletons, and I still landed on my face. I don't think we can prove there was any malicious intent, but the poorly constructed slide as well as a lack of anything to break the fall is definitely a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[justchords]

(if apollo could die in his sleep, he'd die... well. happy and well rested, at least. ideal way to go.

he's about to open his mouth until the blinding light almost burns his eyes, clamping his hands over to try and protect them with a frustrated cry. he doesn't even want to risk opening his eyes, not until he's certain the light won't sting anymore. but the far too dangerous sounds kick his nerves into high gear, opening his eyes just a crack to glance around and try to pinpoint where the sound is coming from.) Wh... what the hell is going on!?

[justchords]

Yeah, I gotta agree with you. Adult conversation topics are a bore. (but now he's eyeing the fruit with... well, a suspicious eye.) I hope they aren't plotting to overthrow us or anything.

[compendiem]

[ They're probably not going to sleep well tonight, but dying... maybe. It's not something Minato wants to do, though, turning his head around to shout at the driver to get the chocobos to get the cart off the path, but no one else riding along with them seem to pay the light or noise any mind, as if he and Apollo were the only ones freaking out about it. That meant the chocobo driver too- he wouldn't listen, so Minato stands, trying to keep his balance as he shuffles as quickly as he can towards the front of the cart. ]

Don't know, but help me grab the reins! We need to get everyone off the road!

[justchords]

(at least listen to him once in a while!!!)

No, don't worry, it doesn't sting you don't trust me. (dry sarcasm, as usual, but really, he isn't that offended by her being suspicious. he's the same with new people, after all.

still, she is opening back up to him about this, so he gives her a reassuring smile in return.) I'll keep quiet, don't worry. And if it keeps happening, I'll go to the police, but I won't name you. But until that happens, this didn't, promise.

[kabloom]

I think that your definition of it doesn't seem to be broad enough.

[ she returns to working on her pumpkin, humming lightly. ]

I think competition can be fun.

[servileness]

Minato... what do you go to the gym for?

[ She's joking, but she only half-sounds like it. ]

No, I've already bought carving tools, but I want them to have something festive to look at for Halloween. Something new.

[compendiem]

[ Minato mumbles something about breathing room temperature air instead of the cold night air, but there's also the fact that all he does at the gym is zone out on the treadmill with his ears plugged and does zero lifting whatsoever. ]

Carving sounds fun too. It'd be like dissection lab.

[ Gutting things with knifes is always fun, y/y? ]