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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[ He exhales heavily in relief and presses a hand to his chest... Slow down, heart!! ]

Ahahaha... yes.
I was just surprised.

...That explains a lot.

[But...but sweets.............they're too good............]

[He actually looks fairly upset.]

I eat a lot of sweets. I just can't help it, really. They're the only thing that keeps me going, sometimes...

Why are we discussing this? I said I didn't want to dress like a vampire. Even if it's easy?

[DON'T PUT IDEAS INTO HIS HEAD.]

Why don't you dress like a vampire, if you're eager to see one?

[Wow, Howard, RUDE.]

I can barely stop myself from finishing off a tub of ice cream in one night, so I, um... don't think I have any right to judge you...

[Things Sakura probably shouldn't be admitting out loud: that]

Maybe the trick isn't to eat less sweets, but just make sure you're eating other things as well!

[Hello, this is one Minako Arisato coming over when the poor volunteer staff member waves her over and asks if this one guy can pay for an apple without playing the game. She looks official enough in her uniform that matches all the others, save the different color of the shirt and the walkie talkie she's wearing on her hip. And she looks delighted at the sight of the bearded dragon peeking over his shoulder.]

Hello there, cutie! [That was to Minerva. Now looking at him, she continues.] All of the apples here are for the game, so I'm sorry to say we can't sell one to you. You might be able to find something in the food fair area, though!

[ The cry cuts through his dream like a knife, fretful darkness falling apart into a greyer, foggier confusion as he stirs without opening his eyes, trying to piece together where he is and what he's doing. Haunted house. A headache. He'd started to slump over instead of sitting upright, and his earbuds had fallen out at some point too, the recording on his phone having come to the end so that the silence does nothing to block out the footsteps, voices, screams out in the distance that are perfectly normal for a haunted house attraction.

A nightmare, he thinks to himself. Although he can't recall what he was dreaming about, he can probably guess: the same nightmares that come up month after month, year after year, that he's never learned to let go of, because that's when he can see the people he wants to see the most. Hear them, even if what he hears aren't voices but instead, screaming and crying, so much like that shout of surprise before him just now, that he turns around to his other side, curling up and frowning into the ground.

Not dealing with this today. He's going back to sleep. ]

[Minako peers over Charlotte's shoulder, tilting her head.]

I could trick you so you can play it again, but wouldn't it be easier to download the actual Candy Crush app?

Oh. I thought you just didn't want to because it would be a hassle.

[ The rudeness..... has no effect ]

Actually, now that you mention it, if a vampire were eager to see a vampire, they'd have to get someone else to dress up as one, wouldn't they? Because they can't look at themselves in a mirror.

Oh... huh.

[ That's a little embarrassing. She smiles a little more sheepishly, bringing a hand to that back of her neck before she slowly releases a shy. It's not one of defeat but of realization of her own mistake, one that she quickly owns up to. ]

That was me... sorry. I should've paid a little more attention before I chucked it earlier.

[ And she doesn't have much of an excuse, but an explanation seems to be in order. ]

I was really shocked when it went ahead and kissed me.

[ Jamie saw......................... ]

If you're decided, then you can have a pumpkin for free if you help me move them.

[Minako says from behind him, where she's got a huge wheel-barrel full of the stuff. She grins at him and waves.]

All of my helper staff members are off getting more, we have pumpkins for days.

[The older man simply smiles, amused and merely gestures her to keep on walking.

He holds back his own worries as he's become painfully aware of the walls still closing in around them.]

That depends... do you want spooky or cute?

Or-- I know! Why not both?

[Minako has been standing behind him in line the whole time his phone has been making that screeching sound, and she can't take it anymore, she's going to hold out her hand to him.]

Can I look at it?

[Minako has been standing in line behind Angela for ten minutes, wanting a chance to play the game because there's one really cute hamster plush she wants to try and get...but the more time passes, the more prizes Angela gets, until the hamster plush is one of the only big prizes left to win.]

...noooo.

You meet all kinds at the bar.

[ Cheerful, as though that's why he does it. In its way, that was true. He met lots of construction workers and handymen who would call him in on their jobs when they needed. He met men and women who would have him over for a night, a comfortable place to sleep and maybe a shower... He picked up on their gossip and their fights, sold those to PIs as needed... ]

Anything in particular souring your mood today? Or is it just me?

[ That charming smile never turns off. ]

Good thing you didn't go through the haunted house, eh?

[ He motions at the exit where another group of giggling teens are coming out red faced, clutching each other and laughing at who had jumped when. ]

Shinpachi?

[She pulls off her headphones and turns to face him, Koromaru pausing from sniffing a flower on the side of the street to do the same from where he's a few feet ahead on his leash. They kind of look alike, tilting their heads like that.]

Oh geez, the ghosts again? [Minako ties Koromaru's leash to the fence and then cracks her knuckles.] Count me in. How are we going to do this?

Not really, no. Chess isn't that deep.

[ unless you're from a certain cursed idol franchise but details, details. ]

What're you planning anyway? You trick-or-treating this early?

[As a ReVA event coordinator, Minako has to go around and check up on her staff to make sure they're doing okay, aside from all her other duties. So imagine her surprise, seeing Rean sitting where Madison is supposed to be, has her pausing.]

Er. That's fine if you don't want to show me, but...who exactly are you?

[ Well, he'll never pass up a chance to throw his own name around. ]

Redžo Rugievit.

[ You might remember him as the runner-up in season 3 of the hit fashion competition show By A Thread, and/or the guy in that meme being accused of being too pretentious for calling purple fabric "aubergine". ]

It's a pleasure.

[ For at least one of them. He won't specify. ]

That's true. I could've died.

[ He meets Saif's eyes with a serious expression and gives no indication that he's joking. ]

Did you go through it?

I. pumpkin carving

[ the table Noni occupies as he carves his jack o’lantern isn’t exactly the cleanest one. as it was his first time properly carving a pumpkin, he’s made a mess of things, with the insides of the pumpkin laid all over the table. but he’s managed to finish his carving of an alien. it's not exactly a masterpiece, with the lid not properly fitting back in, jagged lines and a gaping hole in the back. clearly he started carving one side but then had made a cut too long for the face and ended up taking off the whole part. but Noni looks satisfied with it nonetheless.

he takes a look at the pile of pumpkin filling ] I wonder if you can eat this too…

II-a. costume + coffee shop

[ having arrived early to the costume contest, Noni heads over to a coffee shop to pass the time. he seems oblivious to the light stares he gets though. it's a bit of a mystery just what kind of monster he was aiming to be when his costume is simply just a black hoodie and shorts and an eyeball head. with the head obstructing his view (it seems there are small holes in one of the eyes) the menu reading is a bit difficult, so he taps the shoulder of the person standing in front of him lightly, and with a muffled voice asks: ] Excuse me, can you tell me what’s the seasonal recommendation here?

II-b. haunted house

[ still with time in his hands, Noni had ventured into the haunted house (with his eyeball head still on). thanks(?) to his sight-obscuring head though, he doesn’t even see half the jump scares. and the ones that do interest him more on how they’re being operated, so this haunted house is definitely not doing its job correctly.

Noni isn’t able to beat the mirrors as they close in on him which was really fine by him, because he definitely enjoyed the slide down. landing in the pile of rubber with a half-yelp, half-laugh, he does a full turn around the room before taking his eyeball head off ]

Whew, that was fun! I wanna do it again!! [ he notices the stuff on the ground and crouches down to take a closer look ] Wow! I wonder what kind of spiders they are? Maybe I can take one home…

bonus

[ playing the candy crush was no sweat for Noni as he beat the game easily in minimal time. and while costumes and pranks were usually not too irksome for him, this particular prank was. after having a bad time with his “treat” costumes (as a Pocky), Noni had chosen “trick”. except now the jacket he was holding was blown up by a strong gust of wind and was stuck on a tree branch just barely out of his reach ]

Ugh! Is this payback for complaining about being too vertically long as a Pocky!? [ Noni hops up and down, trying to reach for his jacket but always being few inches short of the sleeve ]

optional wildcard

[ feel free to bother 9S however you want! you can also contact me at au workshop or with DM! ]

[Awesome.

Because the moment she's within a reasonable distance, Aki leaps forward and snatches the key right out of the ghost's hand. Fortunately, the ghost doesn't even seem to care all that much; it's still in high spirits.]

Finally. [She looks to Kurt.] Good job. I never expected your awful material to come in handy.

Don't be so dramatic.

[...

.....]

Of course I will. I made a promise to burn that building to the ground after all.

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OCTOBER TDM

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