repeter | 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She recognises that voice ok. It is the voice of a boy she has to run back to, grab by the wrist and drag along.]

Make yourself useful!

What?! Oh my god, no, bust your own stupid ghosts and leave me out of this.

[ LET HIM LIVE, and yet, he allows himself to get dragged along. ]

Either do it or I'm telling Yuuko you're the reason I have to sleep on the streets tonight!

[SO THERE.

Also she has a ton of people she could bunk with so it'd be a lie.

But she'd do it because fuck karkat]

You shit stained fuck, I'm not the one who let a ghost rob me! You deserve to sleep outside!

[ HE SAYS... and yet, he's still following along, because he doesn't want her to tell yuuko that. ]

You'd let an innocent woman sleep outside, alone in the cold?

[How could you Karkat.]

When the innocent woman is you, fuck yeah I would.

[ he wouldn't, actually, but it's not like he'll actually admit to that. ]

You're the worst guy in Recolle.

[No he literally isn't.

But anyway...she lets go of his wrist because ew, karkat germs, but she also pauses because--]

Which way did it go?

Uh.

[ that is his helpful contribution to solving this problem. he didn't really pay much attention to the actual ghost, because arguing with her is a full time job. ]

Guess you really are going to be homeless, huh.

[She considers their situation for a moment, then just drags him off in another direction.]

Like hell I am. Besides, you're not going home until this is sorted out.

[She'll make him homeless too....

But it seems the chase has lead them all the way to Tisse's fair. She releases him again.]

Start looking.

Are you kidding me? How the hell are we supposed to find anything in this mess? Like, half of the people here are dressed as ghosts! Find somewhere else to live.

[ because finding a new home and replacing all of your belongings is, somehow, easier than locating one ghost and getting a key back. ]

Maybe look for the ghosts who are actually transparent?

[She resists the urge to call him a dipshit.

She is not all that foulmouthed...]

It's not like it was in a sheet or anything either. It was weird looking.

So, like you? [ eh ] That was too easy.

[ he suddenly points over towards the funhouse, where a line of people are waiting to get in. ]

I think I saw it. Now go leave me alone.

Alright.

[She nods. Goodbye Karkat.]

[just kidding she's dragging him with her

they're also going round the back to sneak in instead of paying because fuck that]

Oh come on, you don't really need me for this.

[ and yet he still allows himself to be dragged because he's a fucking moron ]

How did you even let it steal from you?

Because up until very recently I didn't think anything of all this weird retrospec stuff.

I let my guard down.

[And that's just how it is...in any case she finds a maintenance door at the back and slips inside with him.

But this part of the haunted house must be going through repairs, because...when they walk past a coffin, the door flies open and...! There's nothing there. But the pre-recorded I WANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD still plays.

So, entirely monotone:]

Kyaa.

[Real scary.]

[ well, that he definitely noticed. and at least this is an official confirmation that she remembers again. even though they don't get along it's still weird dealing with people after they've forgotten. ]

Wow. No wonder you didn't want to come in here alone.

[ he just... walks past that embarrassing display... just in time to see a fake ghost pop up. ]

That was fast. Take your key back.

That's a sheet, you idiot.

The ghost looked more like--

[When she says that, the actual ghost suddenly barrels towards them, looking terrified, and latches onto Karkat for dear life, even dropping they key.

Guess it finds sheets and poorly maintained mechanics scarier than they do, somehow.]

...that.

...well, you kids have fun. I'm outta here.

[She pockets the key and starts trying to leave him behind??]

Fuck off, you are not leaving me here with your child.

[ the ghost is her child now.

karkat immediately just grabs onto her arm??? no. ]

Don't be stupid. Look, it's imprinted on you and all.

[Actually it's just wailing...

She's also just dragging him with her tbh, towards the house of mirrors sections.]

I'm not surprised that it doesn't want to tough you, honestly. Hard same.

[ he says, following along. how big is this place. ]

[Big enough, apparently.

Though as they walk inwards, it feels slightly more...claustrophobic. But maybe she's imagining things? She isn't sure.

So she gives him a little shove in the chest.]

Shut up for a minute. [...even the ghost stops wailing.] Something isn't right.

You say that as if anything is ever "right" here.

[ he will shut up though. like, for ten seconds, instead of a minute, because he then immediately starts talking again. ]

Maybe all the glass is going to suddenly break and stab us to death.

[She turns to him, apparently ignoring the problem at hand because goddamn he is annoying.]

I told you to shut up! I can never think when you're around, I swear to-

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notbunaga - 2017-10-25 23:53 (UTC) - Expand

alienates - 2017-10-26 00:29 (UTC) - Expand

OCTOBER TDM

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