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

[cattack]

[Unfortunately for her, she not only doesn't think about taking a peek, but that actually gives her an idea. A horrible, horrible, embarrassing idea.]

... Ah... I might have something, but... As odd as it might sound, would you mind not looking for a moment?

[cattack]

... Well, there's a door above.

[She's standing over near where they fell, looking up at the way they came.]

Do you think you can reach if I boost you?

[princessofheart]

Hm...? Okay.

[She'll just switch her focus to the walls, and keep her back to Cleo for now. Wonder what she's up to...]

[cattack]

[She hates that she's thinking this.

But she, while Marina isn't looking, gets down to the ground, and just lifts her tail up as high as she can, letting it stand straight up so the fur can feel any air currents. Cats are supposed to have whiskers for this, but... Well, she doesn't have whiskers, so she'll have to make due.]

There's a breeze in here....

[princessofheart]

Really?

[She perks up at that, and almost turns to look, but remembers herself and keeps staring at the wall. She isn't sure what Cleo's doing, nor what it would be that required Marina to not even look, but the curiosity wouldn't kill her.]

What way?

[robitussin]

Uh... Maybe? Can’t hurt to try.

[Translation: this is going to go poorly for everyone involved.]

[cattack]

I think....

[She straightens up, and starts feeling along a wall.]

You can look now. I think it was this direction....

[cattack]

Well, then...

[She cups her hands, leaning slightly so Natalie can get a foot on her hands.]

[princessofheart]

[Marina walks over next to her and begins running her fingers along it as well, eventually catching her finger into a crease. She brightens up and lets out a small triumphant noise, running her hands along to feel the entirety of the door.]

Here it is! Now, where's the doorknob...

[There was a weird spider hung up on the wall around the right height, could that be...?]

[robitussin]

[There’s only a moment of hesitation before she moves forward, lifting one of her feet to place it in Cleo’s hand so she can get that boost.]

Ready.

[cattack]

[She nods, and then starts to grab at it...




And then she takes a look at what, exactly, the doorknob is, and practically jumps back.]

[cattack]

[And, well. Cleo's very strong, hoisting Natalie up with surprising ease.]

Can you reach the top?

[princessofheart]

[Eh? Was Cleo afraid of a fake spider? That was almost sort of cute...]

Don't worry, it's fake! Let me.

[She'll go ahead and open it for her, turning the spider and opening up the door to a hallway dimly lit with candles on the walls, and full of cobwebs in the upper corners along them. It looked like there were spiders on some of the webs too, and she couldn't tell if they were fake or not in this light... poor Cleo.]

[robitussin]

I... I think so, yeah.

[And she can, in fact, reach!

The only question now is if her noodle arms can hoist her up.]

[cattack]

[oh

she's glad it's dark, in a way, because that means Marina can't see how red she's turning. Her ears droop in embarrassment.]

Th- Thank you. I'm... not very good with spiders.

[And with only one functional eye, it's kind of hard to tell if they're fake sometimes...]

[cattack]

[Well, Cleo's pushing her up as best she can, but... Well. She's small.]

Good. If you can find something up there to lower down as a rope or a ladder, I'll be able to get out as well.

[princessofheart]

[Oh gosh, her ears move... she must have those Necomimi ears that came out a few years ago that move based on a sensor hidden under your bangs. She must bust this costume out pretty often if she shelled out like, fifty bucks on the cool ears.]

That's okay. We all have our fears, right? I can't stand a lot of types of bugs...

[Mostly the squirmy icky slimy kinds...]

We'll be out of here in no time, and then no more spiders.

III

[lingeringwill]

"Welcome to the club, kiddo."

Terra lets out a slight laugh as he greets the young girl with a wave. This isn't the first time this has happened, yeah? These pockets of time in the month where people suddenly start being able to acknowledge the retrospec changes...At least this time, he can help out?

"Been shit like that happening all month."

[cattack]

[One ear perks up, though the other one remains lowered...]

Thank you... I didn't used to have trouble with them, but...

[Well, she got into a fist fight with one while everyone was shrunk. But if this girl isn't on Retrospec, she shouldn't mention that.]

Kenshin Himura | some samurai show

[hiddenedges]

I - Doctor, Doctor
[ He should be doing something a little more productive with his time, like sleep or catching up on the latest medical journals or maybe getting a hair cut, but no, the moment he saw the pumpkins, he had to make a couple. Ken already finished one and now he was working on another one, humming away as he sliced and thinned out unwanted pumpkin stuff to make the design. Finished, this pumpkin is handed over to a kid and he flopped back, not caring that the rind and pumpkin bits were sticking to his hair or his rather worn scrub pants he was wearing. ]

Ah, isn't this relaxing? [ There was a small hair pulling fight between two kids no more then three feet away from and his just is grinning like it's the cutest thing ever. ] So relaxing, right?

II - My House
[ Haunted houses have all sorts of stuff in them - people jumping out to scare others, moving walls, floating weird glowy things, doctors in blood-stained clothing walking casually through the house humming. No, wait, he's not one of the jump scares. No, this guy is an actual doctor just off his shift and had decided that nothing beats relaxation than wandering around with people trying to scare him. He already attempted to correct the grip of one of the jump-scares that was holding a knife and now he was tapping the mirrors and frowning. ]

Do you think they're using real glass instead of something less breakable? [ No, he isn't noticing that the walls are moving. Someone help this poor idiot before he gets squished. ]

Bonus - Who Can It Be Now?
[ He had been planning on grabbing a coffee and hang out with a few friends from work, but then the new app appeared on his phone and he couldn't stop it from sounding off. Especially since it seems to have gotten stuck on a high pitch witch's shriek. ]

Am I going to need to get a new phone? [ Another witch's scream and Ken squints at the phone's screen. ] Oro?

Yuichiro Hyakuya l Owari no Seraph

[dejerate]

[ooc: Workshop is here. And if anyone wants to hit me up, I'm on plurk @ caprican]

I:

[Yuu is indeed sitting and carving a pumpkin. He's probably first doing a more traditional one before attempting one of an angry chibi face that might look familiar to any that know his father in the military. They might have seen his foster father around school or such at some point or other given how Yuu is often getting into trouble somehow.

Or perhaps he is blinking and seeming rather unsure on the apples, but keen on asking about the ring toss since that seems easy enough.]

Wanna try? Could be fun.

II:

Is it supposed to be such a damned maze?

[He mutters to himself. Not that he isn't kind of enjoying himself. This is supposed to be what a haunted house is there for - to scare people. But still, even so. He doesn't seem so concerned about the skeletons but the spiders might initially have him raising a foot, at the least in checking they were indeed fake.]

III:

O-oi! That's my wallet, dammit! Get back here!

[Of course it was Yuu that was so distracted he wouldn't initially notice the ghost until he felt the absence of weight in his pocket where his wallet had been. So now he's chasing after one of the ghosts, yelling and reaching for his wallet.]

IV:

What was that? I thought I saw.....?

[He's probably just daydreaming or something, right? Just a trick of light or the fog or something. Yuu tries to shrug it off as he attempts to turn his attention back to the others and the conversation with the hayride.]

Alexander von Cumore | Tales of Vesperia

[drydrown]

I.

[You know, Cumore generally isn't here for these types of festivities, but he can't say he's entirely opposed, either; it's more of a socialization thing than an actually...participating thing, as far as he goes. See what people are actually doing with themselves, content himself with the notion that he's not missing much, go back to spending a thrilling evening with his cat.

But the atmosphere is nice, it's leaving him feeling more energized than agitated, even if parts of this seem a little odd; he didn't do it by way of playing the game properly, but the fact of the matter is that for the time being he's got one of those apples that he's emancipated from the barrel, and it's got a face and it's dancing like nobody's watching, and he is just tossing it in the air and watching it vibrate its way up and holy shit, this thing looks so excited to be here?]

They're almost like particularly intense little dogs, aren't they.

[That is probably not something that you say right before zinging it into the air again so you can catch it, but you know what, it looks like it's enjoying that too, primarily because these things look like they enjoy everything.

...He's going to bite the thing eventually, giving absolutely no fucks about the fact that it has a face and is capable of looking at him while he does that, but clearly these apples were put on earth for our enjoyment and he's going to enjoy the hell out of this thing while it lasts.]


II.

[You know, he was expecting...not a lot from this haunted mansion thing, and in all likelihood he was dragged in here by one of his acquaintances and promptly lost them – though he supposes that's to be expected, in its own way? How the hell was anyone to predict this House of Leaves bullshit, there's no way this place is supposed to be this large-

Needless to say, he's not tolerating the jumpscares very well, and he's kind of in a state of hackles permanently up, he's going to give himself apoplexy at this rate.]

Well, hopefully you're proud of yourself, you have activated my basic human instinct to not like things suddenly being where they shouldn't.

[...Yes, let's just. talk at the fucking décor like that's going to accomplish anything, that will surely show it who's boss.]


WILDCARD/WE DO WHAT WE WANT

[Throw whatever at me and I will throw stuff back! I can also be reached at InstantEternity for plotting, and my AU workshop comment is here!]

iii.

[direr]

[ Iris is skeptical to believe in ghosts but that doesn't mean she's in absolute disbelief, though so far anyone who has approached her with something "supernatural" happening usually had a trick up their sleeves with the intention of scaring her. Of course each time was met with a silent knit of her brows and a cold shoulder, which she initially was going to do before he manages to grab her immediate attention by mentioning a crying child.

And her gaze only continues to go from one thing to the next when the doll flies over them. Due to her height she jumps up in attempt to reach the doll to no avail, immediately scoffing. ]

You heard what he said, ya' jerk! Give it back before you're sleeping with the fishes!

[ WAIT A SECOND. ]

... Again! [ She thrusts a hand in one direction. ] You go over that way, big guy, we'll cut them off!

[androidheart]

I. A
[The best part about outdoor festivals is that you can bring your acoustic guitar and nobody will yell at you and tell you to scram and stop making noise. Thus, Angela is set up at one of the corners of the grounds, on a bench with her guitar strumming along as she sings soft melodic versions of dumb Halloween songs.]

♪Spooky~♪

♪Scaaaary~♪

♪Ske-le-tons~♪

♪Send shivers...down...my spiii-iii-iiiiine~♪

I. B
Ah, what fun! One must be very careful with each movement they make––the ring is an extentsion of my physical form...

[Coming from the kind of military family that she comes from, one of the few perks she actually enjoys is that she ended up trained to be wildly good at physical activity without ever actually realizing it. Angela puts on a show by continually, time after time, landing the ring flush on the pole. Each victory gets a pump of the fist and devilish grin at the poor person running that game that is getting destroyed by Angela's leet skillz.]

And...another one! Laser! Guided! Precision! [Someone stop her before she wins all of the prizes...]

II.

You too, huh? [Angela lets out a tiresome laugh as she waves from the other side of the pit of plastic skeletons and rubber spiders and...are thre a few rubber ducks in here...?]

I have to admit, they certainly had me going with those walls closing in. I didn't know Recollé had the budget for a haunted house like this. Aside from the plastic skeleton. One would think at this point, they would spring for something more lifelike, no? They are kind of cute, actually. Or rather, funny.

[Angela comes forward, offering you her hand.]

Shall we make our grand escape?

Bonus!

[What on god's green earth could have possibly possessed her to pick "trick"? If someone gives you the option, why? Maybe it was curiosity, but whatever it was, it's landed her in a hell of a predicament. ...And the predicament in question is that she is no longer able to speak correctly. Which in and of itself is utterly terrifying. It has to be related, right? Something to do with the trick...scrambled her brain? Okay, that's even more terrifying.]

One...Four, five six eight nine twenty-two. [Wait, is she...? Angela clears her throat and gives it a second shot.]

Thirteen, nine, two, one one seventy-one twenty-one, thirty forty.

[What fresh hell is this where she can only speak in numbers. Forgive her for trying to get your attention, but she's starting to freak out.]

Two! Two one, three six ninety...Ninety twenty four, eleven...Eleven, one!

Foggy Nelson - MCU - Recolle High English and Drama Teacher

[devilsadvocato]

ia. It's ART

[He doesn't consider himself the artist of the family but Foggy has a clear vision of what face he wants to carve into a pumpkin this year. Once the inside of the pumpkin is hollowed out he begins carving two steeply arched eyes with round pupils at the bottom and a very large open smiling mouth. He steps back from his work a couple times during the process and nods in satisfaction the third time. He sets his hands on his hips with a proud accomplished sigh and admires his work.]

ib. This is Family Friendly? aka THOSE FREAKY APPLES

[Moving apples with faces are normal. Moving apples with faces are normal? Wait. When did moving apples with faces become normal? GOOD GOD MOVING APPLES WITH FACES?

Foggy feels a little woozy and a touch nauseous as he looks into the beady eyes of the apples floating on the rippling water of the bobbing tank. In August when he moved to Recolle he had been amused and made a point of buying one of the dancing fruit to bring home and watch wiggle up and down the kitchen counter before eating it with lunch. Now? Now it's like the apples are in the uncanny valley. Eye contact with them sends shivers down his spine.]

No! [He says firmly shaking a finger at his unblinking edible audience.] Fruit is not supposed to be this creepy! What are you? Did you come from a possessed orchard in Willy Wonka's backyard? Do you. Have. Feelings?

[He swallows loudly and cups his hand over his mouth. That nausea just increased.]

Holy s***. Does eating one of these things count as murder? [These are the important questions.

iii. Casper the Jerkass Ghost

[Foggy is waiting in line at a coffee shop and staring blankly into the pastry case when he sees something floating in the reflection on the glass. He blinks a few times, thinking it's his caffeine depraved head playing tricks on him, then he finds himself looking into the large empty eyes of a ghost. He startles, jerking wide awake in surprise. His mouth goes agape as he watches the ghost float above the pastries in the case.]

What the hell? [He throws his hands on the glass case and leans in, earning stares and scowls from other customers.] Tell me I'm not the only one seeing this!

[The ghost hovers back and forth then takes an interest in one of the cookies and grabs it. It promptly turns to leave with the cookie and floats up out of the case only for the cookie to fall back down when it hits the glass. The ghost realizes its mistake and dives back into the case to retrieve its prize, making a low noise like a grumble. Cookies are a solid. #ghostproblems Foggy laughs. #schadenfreude]

wildcard
[Contact me @ patching]