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

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]

ia

[bozhemoi]

[ No, Foggy was not the artist of the familiy. That honour belonged to Natalie despite her age. She was sixteen and showed no signs of slowing down in her artwork, or any notion of giving up this "phase". She was in it for life, whether or not it was going to bring her riches.

Natalie came up beside her brother and looped her arms through his as she gave it a squeeze and smiled at his pumpkin. ] It's adorable, just like you.

[devilsadvocato]

[Foggy squeezes her arm back and rubs his chin.]

Hm. Do I really look like that when I smile? 'Cuz I've gotta say Jack-o-Lantern here is a straight up ten for looks. I don't know if I can beat him.

[bozhemoi]

It's your "I just made a breakthrough with my students" look.

[ It's possible Natalie was just teasing her brother, but he did tend to be a little exciteable when he thought he'd reached the young minds he was trying to meld. ]

Maybe I should adopt him and replace you? I mean, you're getting on a bit.

[devilsadvocato]

I do love it when that happens. Where's the lie?

[He scoffs and puts a hand over his heart.]

Is that any way to treat your bro? Jack might have the looks but he'll lose them in a month unless you keep him in the freezer. I on the other hand have personality. That and I bet you don't want to have to move back in with Mom and Dad. Jack can't afford an apartment.

[bozhemoi]

There isn't one because you are just too good of a teacher.

[ And not hers up until now. There was still conflict in her little teenaged heart over that.

She rolled her eyes at his reaction before pointing at Jack. ]

Hey, he could totally pull in some cash as a model pumpkin. Let those looks pay for an apartment. He could be kept in the freezer until he's needed for modelling gigs. I could make you move back in with Mom and Dad and me and Jack could live the Bohemian lifestyle of artists.

ib

[compendiem]

[ All of those are questions that have run through Minato's mind at some point today, but he's too hungry and doesn't care enough to give up the caramel apple he bought, half the backside already eaten so that just the face stares out at Foggy as Minato turns to him. The apple continues to smile and jiggle despite being impaled on a stick, and every once in a while, some of the toffee or peanuts threaten to fall off and Minato just sticks those pieces inside the apple's mouth for safe keeping.

Really, his answer to those questions are "maybe." But also, "does it matter"? ]

Murder is a term used for other human beings.

[ So at the very least, it isn't murder. Does that make him feel any better, though... ]

[devilsadvocato]

[Foggy tries to smile at Minato, emphasis on "tries." There was supposed to be a laugh following it but he gets nowhere on that.]

I mean technically if you're reporting it to the police, yeah. Murder is only if you kill another human. [Does that thought help? Not exactly.]

I don't know. It doesn't bother you even a little bit that your food has a face? One that moves. Like right now actively holding those nuts in its mouth. [He points at the caramel apple in his hand and rips his eyes away from it just as quickly.]

[compendiem]

Isn't this how it always is...?

[ Instead of taking another bite, Minato pulls his mouth away from the apple and turns the stick so that the fruit faces him, mouth stuffed so full of nuts that it can't really be said to be a smile anymore. It wiggles a little on the stick when it catches Minato's eyes and some of the nuts dislodge. ]

Moving is a different experience, but some food you eat have faces. Duck. Fish. [ a half shrug, with only one shoulder ] I just moved here, so I assumed it's cultural...

[devilsadvocato]

[Foggy considers. Right. Unless you're vegetarian technically you eat plenty of food that once had a face. They even keep the head on depending on the animal or the culture like Minato suggested. But. Still.]

True, true. But duck and fish don't move while you're eating them unless you're a freak who belongs in jail on animal cruelty charges. My ham sandwich isn't going to jump up on the table and do a little dance come lunchtime. These things just keep wiggling until you chew them up. It's like they die in your mouth. Plus fruit is not an animal. If plants were sentient like animals the fruit wouldn't even be the part that had a face and moved.

And yet.

And yet these exist.

[He squints at the caramel apple, mouth opening and closing without words, like a fish.]

[compendiem]

[ They sure do exist, and he even knows the term for it in Japanese cuisine. But culture and ethics aside, fruits aren't animals. They aren't sentient. They move, but they don't react, and that's the largest different to him, who takes another bite of the still smiling apple, and now half its face is gone inside of Minato's own uncaring mouth, slow chews so that he's not swallowing whole pieces of nut. ]

Things don't need a brain or nervous system to move, just chemical signals will work. Like a Venus flytrap, or Mimosa pudica.

[ Which moves at the slightest of touches, but in the end is just a plant. ]

IB

[blondferret]

[Derek is walking by the apple bobbing station when he hears someone swearing. Oh, this is what he has been waiting for, someone to freak out about the apples. He walk over next to the person and grabs one of the smiling apples out of the bin, ignoring the the disapproving look of the person running the stand. Looking at the apple, he starts to speak.]

Can it really be considered murder when no one will report you? The question you should be asking yourself is, how should I go about doing it? I could make it slow and painful for it, [Derek takes a bite of the side of the apple that didn't have the face as the apple continues to innocently smile.] or should I make it quick? [Derek bites off the face with a flourish.

Derek looks at the person beside him. His eyes widen in realization the person is his cousin Foggy, but he tries to keep his composure.]

Which would you prefer dear cousin?

[devilsadvocato]

Agh. Oh god. Oh. No. Quick and painless. Quick and painless!

[Foggy shudders at Derek's dramatic display and turns away, throwing his hands up to make sure he doesn't have to watch. The one thing keeping him from feeling sicker might be how tight his face is scrunched up. "It just might stay this way forever," he thinks.]

God Derek! What the hell dude? When did this city get so weird and when did you start torturing your food?

[blondferret]

[ Derek gives Foggy an amused look.]

You can open your eyes now Foggy. The face is gone now.

From what I've heard the city started getting weird around... January I think. And I started torturing food probably not long after my birthday.

[Derek gets a look on his face as if he remembers something.]

Foggy, check your phone. Do you notice anything different? Something that probably should be there?

[devilsadvocato]

Mmm 'kay.

[Foggy pats a couple pockets to remember where he put his phone then digs it out.]

What am I looking for? An alert of some kind?

[blondferret]

Oh I don't know, how about a bright blue app you never actually downloaded. Try that.

iii

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo was looking at the same ghost, and just smirking to himself when the guy in front of him in line suddenly reacts to something in the pastry display case. Either the guy is super excited about the seasonal pumpkin-flavored pastries being back... or he's reacting to the ghost trying to make off with a cookie.

Tatsuo suspects it's might be the later...]

The return of the Pumpkin Cheesecake Bar? No, you're not the only one seeing it. Now stop making a spectacle of yourself and get back in line.

[Normally, Tatsuo would be properly caffeinated by now, and therefore a touch more sympathetic, but he accidentally ran out of coffee at home. Thus, his being here, in line, about to pay for an overpriced cup of coffee.]

[devilsadvocato]

[Foggy turns around and steps back into line but facing back towards the other guy. He points back over his shoulder.]

You do see it though right? The- [He lowers his voice and leans in closer.] The ghost not the cheesecake bar I mean. Love fall baked goods but I don't shout every time I see them, trust me. Ghost? That's not normal where I come from.

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo sighs and briefly raises his eye to the ceiling. Why, why is he getting the newbie on a morning he hasn't had his coffee yet?]

Ignore the ghosts. Hopefully they're a temporary aberration and not a semi-permanent change.

[devilsadvocato]

[Foggy knows tired when he sees it. That sigh and "Why me?" expression however brief is something he sees on his coworker's faces all the time.]

Listen. Uh. I'm sorry to bother you but this is kinda a mind blowing experience that proves ghosts are real and could challenge people's philosophy and attitude toward life and death. Any chance I can buy you a cup of coffee and or other menu item in exchange for an explanation of what the hell is going on?

[thisloveisjustice]

[Change attitudes toward life and death... oh... it definitely would. Tatsuo gives the guy one more skeptical look, then nods. He can spare ten minutes. By the way, it's their turn at the register.]

Medium dark roast, soy milk, two sugars.

iii.

[floret]

[ There's a long line and only one other barista working, and Jamie's got a long shift ahead of him... But man, the customers have sure started acting out early. Everyone gets weird around this time of year. ]

Um, s-sir... Please feel free to take your time looking at the pastries, but could I ask you not to touch the glass...?

[devilsadvocato]

Oh. Yeah. Sorry Dude!

[Foggy pulls his hands off the glass and shoves them in his pockets. He looks at the ghost again and watches it lift the cookie once more with a determined grunt. Foggy glances between the nearby barista and the ghost, wondering if the other guy seriously didn't see the action inside the display.

He clears his throat in hopes it will get someone else nearby to notice and say something. It's not as though he can go home and tell his sister about what he saw without her scoffing at the idea and he needs someone to talk to about this odd experience.]

[floret]

[ Boy. This gentleman is still very fixated on the pastry case. Maybe he's worried they'll run out of the kind he wants before he makes it to the front of the line...
Jamie has a second while his current customer looks for exact change, so he can throw the guy a bone. ]

...Would you like me to set one aside for you?

[devilsadvocato]

[Foggy frowns down at the ghost. He really is the only one seeing this isn't he? "Damn you and your magical charm Ghost. Nobody will believe me when I talk about you later," he thinks, shaking his head at the spirit.

He looks up at Jamie and smiles. One last ditch effort then.]

Yeah can I get uh... That cookie there?

[He points at the one the ghost has been trying to pull through the display glass this entire time.]