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

Mammon of Greed (au: manon) | Umineko

[wantnotneed]

I - an apple a day

[ Manon has been going around playing the games everywhere, but stops when she sees the apple bobbing game. She knows how the game works, but she makes a face because there's an unpleasant thought that pops into her mind. ]

If they bite my face, who should I sue?

[ She's only half serious. ]


II - a literal jumpscare

[ After being tired of playing the games outside, she decides to play a little prank. She made it out of the crushing walls already, but she's standing at the end, away from view. When she hears sounds of panic and rushed footsteps, she jumps out of her hiding place in an attempt to startle the other person when they are finally safe from the crushing walls. You are never safe in here. ]

Boo!


III - getting back at the ghosts

Hey! I paid for that!

[ She yells as she's chasing a strange looking ghost that looks like it's holding one of her high heeled shoes. Manon seems to be chasing after it well enough through the streets, despite only wearing one half of a pair of heels. She ends up throwing a koala-shaped paperweight at it, though she knows that it won't shatter if it falls somewhere else.

Help her? Sit back and watch? Or maybe she missed the ghost and the paperweight is going to hit you instead. ]


wildcard

[ Make up a prompt if you want! Here is her workshop link. Hit me up with anything you want to discuss by PM, commenting on the workshop link, or at factious. ]

i.

[grumpei]

[ Looking at the apples with faces... and then looking back at Manon. ]

...Do they even have teeth?

[ This is a serious question. How do apples with faces work? And if they do have teeth, how do you eat them, assuming they're still edible? ]

[wantnotneed]

[ She looks down at the apples again, trying to see if they have teeth. ]

It doesn't look like it, but teethless things can still give welts and the like, you know? It's terrible!

[grumpei]

I've never been bitten by someone who was toothless, so I'll take your word for it.

[ For all he knows, she'd gotten in a fight with an old lady and found out the hard way... at least, that's what he's choosing to believe, anyway. It's probably more interesting than whatever the truth is. ]

Still, it's an apple. How hard could it even bite, anyway? You'll be fine.

[wantnotneed]

[ Manon huffs, looking at Junpei a bit before looking down at the grinning apples. ]

Well, if you're so sure, then why don't you go first?

[grumpei]

[ He just shrugs. He's never actually bobbed for apples before, much less apples with faces, but how hard can it be? ]

Sure, if it'll make you feel better, why not?

[wantnotneed]

[ The Junpei that she knows is usually carefree outside of their usual trivia competitions, so his reaction doesn't surprise her. She does stand there in anticipation for what might happen... and wonders if he's already used to the moving faces on those apples. ]

That might depend on what happens.

[grumpei]

...You're really worrying way too much.

[ Because yeah, it's weird, but he's almost certain there's no way it could really be dangerous. So to prove his point, he'll place his hands on either side of the barrel and stick his face in, trying to catch an apple in his mouth.

...It probably takes him a few tries to actually grab one, but at least he seems unharmed? Just soaking wet from the neck up, that's all. ]

[wantnotneed]

[ It's here when Manon gives a low whistle and holds out a towel for Junpei (borrowed from a stall, of course). ]

It looks so happy to be caught by you.

[ She snickers a bit. Now that her curiosity has been sated, she is... probably not gonna go bob for apples anymore. ]

ii

[promisedyou]

[ There's a bit of a surprised scream here, followed with a slightly panicked: ]

It looks like you got me!

[ At least, before she starts to laugh. ]

That's... the reaction that you wanted from me, right?

[wantnotneed]

[ Manon was going to laugh, but-- ]

Ah... You could have just left it at the scream without saying all those other things! It's definitely not as satisfying now.

[promisedyou]

Sorry to disappoint. ☆

[ Mio says this in a way that's not apologetic at all whatsoever. ] I'm sure you could have found someone better to scare instead of me.

[wantnotneed]

I can't really pick and choose my victims, you know. It's dark here, so I'll take what I can get. Maybe if you were trying to put up a front of not being scared, that would be more fun, but that isn't the case at all... what a shame.

[ There's an exaggerated sigh. ]

Ah, well. We should probably get out of the way, or you'll bump into an actual terrified guest that isn't looking where they're running.

[promisedyou]

Well, if I do see an actual terrified guest like that, I always can record a video of their screaming for a Vine!

[ She doesn't mind doing that. Plus, it might make for good blackmail later on. ]

[wantnotneed]

I would too, if the lighting was better in here.

[ She lifts her foot back, rubbing her ankle a bit. There's a price to pay for going to a place like this in heels. ]

Are you going to take my place and wait for unwilling guests then?

[promisedyou]

What? No way, no way... I mean, I don't mind scaring them right outside the exit to spook them and I'd get the best videos and images from it, I'm sure. ☆

[wantnotneed]

So then... why not do it?

[ She finally gets out of the haunted house for good this time. Hello, brighter artificial lighting. ]

[floret]

[ Man... it's just been one of those days. The kind where Jamie was just walking along, minding his own business and trying to get home to his sweet kitty cat and his warm bed, when suddenly something smallish but solid came flying out of nowhere and smashed into the back of his skull, killing him instantly.

...Nah, apparently he's still alive. Conscious, even...?? But wow... the pavement sure looks different from up close. ]

[wantnotneed]

[ Whoops. Manon sure did almost kill a man, never mind the fact that she missed.
Apparently, that's what matters here. Her priorities are clearly seen here when she snatches her shoe back quickly while scaring a ghost off with a fearsome glare.

She relaxes her face and sighs while making her way to Jamie. Her shoe is now in its rightful place and she lowers herself down, legs together. ]

You alive there...?

[ She tilts his head a little by moving it with her fingers. ]

[floret]

Mmmngh...

[ His head... is tilted. And suddenly, in addition to the pavement, he sees... someone's feet. (Gosh, what a nice pair of shoes.) ]

...I think so? Mostly.

[wantnotneed]

Oh, good. I didn't want to be a murderer. [ She says this casually as if it's some kind joke, but she removes her hand from Jamie's head. ]

Do you need an ambulance? I can call one for you.

[floret]

[ He gets his knees situated underneath him and pushes himself a quarter of the way upright... ]

Oh! ...So you threw that? If you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have known. [ But now he knows who to have his insurance go after!!!

Just kidding he doesn't have insurance. ]

No, that's okay. Ambulances are really expensive.

[wantnotneed]

[ She shrugs. ]

There are witnesses, the random passerby, that walk through this path you know. So I might as well come clean about it. [ By Jamie's last sentence, she can deduce that he doesn't have good insurance, or doesn't have one at all. People don't usually take a pass on ambulances after all.

She lightly pats the back of his head to see if he's bleeding. ]

[floret]

Oh... I guess?
...By the way, what hit me?

[ He winces...! It doesn't feel like he's bleeding, and he doesn't think it's serious, but it is a bit tender. ]

[wantnotneed]

[ Ah, no blood. Good thing too, because while she kinda expected it, it's actually good that there isn't any. What a risk.

She looks off to the side and picks up the small koala paperweight, holding it up for Jamie to see. It's a little chipped from landing on the concrete, but that's all. It doesn't look to be made of glass or ceramic either. ]

You look just as durable as this thing.