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

[ gerome steps back with purpose - even if minerva is safe in his bag, there's no telling what this rogue chocobo would do for a taste. it's a good thing frederick is usually able to keep the bird in line. ]

I prefer to do nothing.

What are you doing here?

[ once was one time too many for buttercup to try to eat minerva and he's trying hard to keep a repeat of the Incident. ]

Are you sure? We could watch a movie, if you enjoy... scary movies? That's what this time of year is known for. [ he wants some sort of halloween memory with his son ]

And I am merely patrolling. Every event needs some sort of security, after all.

Horror movies tend to be B-rated drivel with no actual content.

[ and gerome is clearly an Intellectual... perhaps if fred had offered a documentary on rare breeds of lizards, he would have better luck. ]

I see.

I suppose I can respect a man on the job. Go on.

[ go catch costumed miscreants... leave your son alone. ]

It was merely a suggestion, after all! If there is another type of movie you would enjoy watching, let me know and I will rent it. [ who rents movies anymore? ]

I'm glad that I have earned your respect, at the very least.

[ a beat ]

Are you enjoying the activities?

[ he wouldn't say no to the Dark Knight for the 23847937th time............ but there's no way he would tell fred that. ]

No.

[ which begs the question - why is he even here. ]

But Minerva seemed particularly interested in the decorations, so I took her out for a little sight-seeing.

[ So Dark Knight, Director's Cut? sounds good ]

She does.

[ Frederick hums contemplatively for a moment before snapping his fingers ]

What would you say if we decorate Minerva's cage for Halloween?

[ somehow frederick seems to know just what to say - not all the time, but often enough. more often than gerome's liking, because he doesn't want to be fond of the man. it makes it so much more difficult to manage that when fred keeps hitting his soft spot. ]

That-- [ he falters, visibly open to the idea yet unwilling to admit it outright. ]

... would be acceptable.

She'd like that.

[ yes!! that's a point in the good dad column for him. he'd enjoy it if gerome was fond of him, but for now, frederick will just accept that gerome tolerates him. ]

Ah, that is good to hear.

Do you think she'd enjoy a pumpkin to hide in for the season?

[ stop having good ideas, fred. ]

An edible hideout... I can hardly imagine what she might like more. What do you think, Minerva?

[ she perches on his shoulder, giving fred a beady-eyed look before nuzzling into the crook of gerome's neck. it seems to be adequate confirmation. ]

Sometimes it's hard to admit, but you seem to know her nearly as much as I do.

[ no never ]

[ he can't help but watch minerva nuzzle into gerome's neck and he smiles at the sight. my son can't be this adorable ]

Why should I not? She is just as much a part of this family as you are.

... So you say.

[ it always makes him more than a little uncomfortable to hear the words. gerome retreats a little more into his shell, suddenly feeling very conscious of the fact that he and fred almost started to bond. almost.

it's exactly the opposite of what he wants. ]

I'll get started on the cage. You have a job to do.

[ don’t fear this connection gerome!! let your heart be open and accept our family !! ]

Ah, yes, I do.

[ he coughs and pats buttercups head who has been very well behaved so far even though she has been eying minerva intently ]

I’ll let you to it. I can pick out some pumpkins during my next break for us to carve tonight, if you’d like.

OCTOBER TDM

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