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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( his hand is already out and waiting for it, fully expecting this sort of route. )

Yep. You accidentally install this or something?

( looks like she still has another try which is enough for him to violently crush all this candy. )

Let's hope that works. If it doesn't, well... we're going to have a problem.

Edited 2017-10-24 05:42 (UTC)

No, for some reason the darned update to that strange application made it so that I can't turn on my screen unless I beat that game. I hate it when things change so abruptly like that, I feel like I just figured out how to use that phone!

[She's generally had issues being technologically literate. She tries.]

( holding the phone hostage while he glances through. looks pretty normal except something labelled "retrospec". he's never heard of that and a quick google doesn't seem to turn up anything either.

so, naturally, he tries to uninstall it and fails. is this some kind of virus? did some shithead fuck up his mom's phone? )

"Retrospec"?

( a beat.

then he clicks off the screen and hands it back to her. )

I'll show you. Turn it back on.

[ He was hoping she wouldn't notice in the darkness, but that might have been pushing his luck. Senior dogs, deaf as some of them are, would probably pick somewhere less crowded and noisy, yeah; there's really no place like home to get some shuteye, although he's out more often and not and sometimes doesn't even make it back home for the night. A dog would be great in that instance too, just finding some deserted alleyway with a dog on top of him, portable blanket right there. ]

Something to suggest to the shelters, I guess. Who'd help the overwhelmed rescue dogs thought? Doesn't seem very kind.

[ Solution: everybody just stay home, sleep, forever about vitality. ]

Okay.

[She'll take it back, turning the screen on. And, of course, it immediately pops up with the next level of Candy Crush.]

I really don't know what happened with that "Retrospec" app... it keeps popping up with strange messages. I woke up one morning and it was just installed, for some reason.

[ Mio Sonozaki is the rudest. But yes, this subject change is the most important. ]

True! What better person to ask than a master of costumes?

[Foggy's eyes drop down to the screen then back up to Tatsuo's face. He nods at him.]

Yeah. Your phone screen. There's a chat box and everything. If that's what you mean. Did you mean to pull up a photo?

It is. So they somehow tied its cute delivery box in a tree for me to find, because there's no way you can mail that to a kid living with a family that isn't his.

[ He hands her the glass of water, since the run from the fog wasn't kind to her. Yanagi isn't much of an athlete himself, but a month of this bullshit has conditioned him a bit while deprivation of a phone app hit his sister hard. He'll drink his water after he tears the seal off the dip.

Yanagi isn't an oblivious child. He knows how to climb trees because Aki got him stuck in a few when he was little. As well as led a small Yanagi to believe he was abandoned in the rain all alone while she hid close by, and left him to be tackled to the ground with overly-friendly dogs. But even if she was cold in that way, that sort of sisterly love didn't bother him, because she did have some conscience to not abandon him entirely to the cruel fates. He also knew that Aki getting in trouble with their mother, even if she said she didn't care, was not something he wanted.

Having someone not smother him with love, real (their mom) or fake (mom's friend) was refreshing. He's not a siscon, it was not something he always enjoyed. But it was different from a life that barely felt like living for himself. ]

Are you trying to reassure yourself Aki-nee? Or did you forget Retrospec is untouchable. [ He sips his glass. ] Anyway, I'm not creating any more trouble for Takumi's family, once this month is enough for me.

[ He already had an emergency trip to the clinic this month without any real way to explain what happened to the doctor or his family. He can lie, but it's not something he likes doing when the Minamotos are so sincere. ]

Attending RU. Good for you Man! Which program are you in?

[Foggy has yet to meet a student he did not want to encourage. This was the life of a man in education. "I don't know you but study hard and make your dreams come true." Thankfully he doesn't say it aloud from the get go every time he encounters someone attending some type of class.]

I never say no to a challenge. ☆

[ Her voice is cocky and full of confidence like she's got this. ]

If I can't succeed at something so simple, then I might as well give up my internet career right now.

Yeah. It is.

["Really Dude? Really?" Foggy glances at the ghost. "Are you getting this Ghost?"]

This is the very first time I have ever seen a real ghost. To be honest I'm not sure if I believed in them and I'm kinda in shock over it. Is this old news to you? Did I miss the page on the city website where they brag about the ghost population?

I know. I'll try remember next time to keep it in my bag once I finish charging it. [Better to be prepared. Next time she might not be with Syaoran or someone else who has their own powerbank to charge their phone.]

You would? If you don't mind. I mean, this stuff is...it's been years, for Prompto-san, so it'd be more 'fresh' for you?

[She doesn't like feeling like she is imposing on either of them. But neither of them seem to mind and are extending the offer anyway. So she might as well take them up on it? In wanting to pass her tests or exam and all, at least. Still, her head tilts for a moment as she glances to Syaoran, blinking as her own cheeks heat a little.]

You're sure? I know I have your number from when we've met up outside of class sometimes for homework.

[She doesn't want to presume. Let alone accidentally end up texting him something a little more personal than he might be comfortable with. Or something to do with the app for that matter, and confusing or worrying him with that.]

Thank you!

[ Mio smiles, keeping her voice rather bright and even. It's good that she got some help. She appreciates it. ]

And I hope so, too... I hope they don't come back, either. I don't even know why they were after me to begin with!

I know that.

[It's just harder for him to shake, after growing up for years with all the younger kids while in the orphanage. Having gotten so used to the sound and instantly going to help the upset child. Still, it's kind of instinctive for him to get defensive, to try scoff, to try brush it off if Zack had noticed him being tense there.]

Got it. On three. I'll race you!

[Sure, Yuu might be sort of training in possibly going to the military when he's older. But that doesn't mean he'd actually likely win against Zack. Not that this stops him or his stupid competitiveness.]

I-it's nothing to thank me for.

[Maybe it is. But he doesn't see it as that big a deal or anything. He's just helping her out because he's not sure how safe this sort of thing is. At least, for someone like her. Still, he himself doesn't seem to notice the walls, but he did note she had been about to say something.]

What's up? I'm not going too fast, am I?

Because that isn't ominous at all.....

[Yuu's own hands aren't necessarily the smoothest either, from his being so active outside in general, his preoccupation with cars and some training in possibly wanting to join the military when he finishes school finally.]

A weapon? Well. My foster dad is in the military but.

[That doesn't mean Yuu would automatically get access to whatever he had stashed away. Besides, Yuu isn't sure if this guy might be exaggerating or not with this, given how new he is to the app and all. He hasn't necessarily heard a lot or used it for long yet to really be sure himself.]

The faces...?

[He's listening, but he doesn't quite grasp where she's going with this. What do smiley citrus have to do with people getting sick from the cold? He squints through his bangs, trying to get a peek of her in his peripheral vision.]

I mean, yeah, I guess the fruit faces can be kinda... alien. If you really think about them.

[He's quiet for a few seconds, mulling over the fact that he's never actually thought about them before. Then he decides there are other things he'd much rather waste his time on. With a sweeping stretch, he hands his mom his hairband.]

I know how to fix this. We're getting hot chocolate. On me.

Higher class? It's not like I have a title or a lot of money. I work in a bakery so I can afford an apartment that I share with a roommate while I got to university here.

[Seriously. He knows his looks good but...]

I didn't grow up poor but I didn't grow up being fed things with silver spoons either.

[He laughs a bit.]

I probably spend more time in rougher areas than you might think I do!

This way then!

[He is gladly walking with the man like some sort of well trained butler. He's really nothing of the sort but heaven forbid those ghosts try to dump water on such a splendid coat!]

There's a place I like right over here.

I think I've seen you at the university before. So I wouldn't say we've met but I have certainly noticed you before.

[He laughs a bit.]

So would you like to share a ride with me?

[ his own body, a traitor ]

That doesn’t matter— [ there’s a small stretch of that flush from his ears to his face, as his features slant and he looks sour. ] You go after somebody yourself instead of believing in stupid rituals.

[ you need an upgrade, old man. has that motorola razr seen dinosaurs because god damn is it jurassic

and— there it is. eren doesn’t need to search that much to recognize it, and presses his finger to the screen. right on top of it. ]

Retrospec has to do with it. [ he might look a little irritable, but it’s not with zack. retrospec was a melting pot of opinions, and most of them were questionable. ]

[ he doesn’t know if he should be proud of doing a service or embarrassed that he’s arguing with a ghost. lord. titan barks, and barkbarkbarkbarks until the ghost is comically shivering, arms up in surrender. or, mock surrender. he can’t tell with that stupid goof face. in that wave of shivering and moans, the ghost holds the yarn out.

eren snatches it out of its hand, making it wince, but then laugh.

god. catch, fred. he’s tossing it back to you. ]

Veterinary medicine.

[ There's very little passion when he says it, not because he doesn't like the field of study, but he's also on the fence that it is his passion, going for it largely because he's geared himself up for the school over the past few years and that's where his life is headed now. ]

...If it's any consolation, we didn't learn about apples in animal physiology. What about you? What job did you come here for?

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OCTOBER TDM

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