repeter | OCTOBER TDM

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! tdm

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

How'd you guess?

Yeah, my dad's been stationed at Fort McCoy for the past three years. I'm basically an expert in this city now, so if you need someone to show you the ropes, you ran into the right guy.

[ He's assuming, anyway, that Natalie only just moved. If she'd been here for a while already, he's pretty sure he would've heard about it by now. ]

Literally, apparently.

[ She might have still been a little bit embarrassed that it was Bucky of all people she'd managed to piss off in the coffee shop. ]

Actually that'd be great. I don't think I've seen much past working out where the art supplies are, and the school. Ugh, me and Foggy at the same school... can't wait.

[ But her eyeroll said otherwise. She loved her brother to pieces, but she wasn't keen on the idea of being taught by him. ]

School as in, Recolle High School? Your brother's working at the high school?

[ That's like. Every kid's nightmare. Maybe not the worst, but definitely a nightmare. #yikes

Their orders are finally called. James grabs his coffee and starts making his way towards the door. ]

Anything around here you wanna know more about in particular?

That would be the one, yep. English and Drama. Only one of those I get to avoid.

[ It's not as bad as a parent working at the same school, but it's pretty close. Foggy knows things about her no teacher should.

Natalie followed closely behind as she picked up her latte and fell into step with him. ]

Well, I mean, all the hangouts, I guess. Anywhere art is shown. Music stores? Anything interesting.

Better hope he's not teaching for our grade, then.

[ James backs up into the door to push it open for the both of them and he starts leading them down the street. ]

Art and music, huh? Lucky you, I've got an in at some of the best music stores and venues around here. All of that stuff's in Tisse.

Um...

[ Natalie's nose scrunched up as she pressed her lips together and just left it at that, since Bucky was smart enough to fill in the blanks. Foggy was indeed teaching their grade.

She flashed a brief smile of thanks, the black cats and bats that were decorating the side of her face now evident at this angle. ]

Can't you tell? Besides, not a whole lot has changed since I tried to cover you in my crayon creations. Music calls out to you too?

[ He gives her a small, almost sly grin. ]

You would know, you've been doing the drums for all my tracks for like two years.

I didn't know you were still doing art too though.

[ Natalie let out a sigh and gave an exaggerated flip of her hair like one of those girls neither of them could particularly stand. ]

I don't like to perpetuate the stereotype about blondes, but I guess sometimes I just can't help myself.

Yeah, still very much caught up in it. But I always got time to provide you kickin' beats.

[ He takes a deep breath, sips on the coffee, and tries to say this with as even and casual a tone as possible. ]

Yeah, well. Don't worry about that any more. You can focus on just your art now.

[ Natalie frowned as she looked at him trying to even remember a time when Bucky had told her not to worry about the band. ]

Why, did you find a better drummer? Well, I mean, aside from my stage stunt double.

[ Bucky looks straight ahead as he continues to guide them down the street and shrugs. ]

Nah, I'm just on hiatus. Indefinitely. Not sure yet if I'll ever make any other music.

[ Natalie still felt like she was missing something. She stayed quiet as they walked for a bit, but then curiousity got the better of her. ]

But why, did something happen? Did you lose your muse?

[ And now, the careful tone he's been using falls apart and he slides into bitterness. He practically spits the words. ]

No, just my arm.

[ That almost makes her drop her coffee as they're walking. Her grip slips just a little and she stumbles with her footing when she thinks it's about to hit the ground. ]

Wait, what? How did you--but--

Bucky...

[ But an apology from her isn't going to make a difference, is it? Her mouth is dry and it's not just from her drink. ]

[ He's back to sounding, for the most part, calm. ]

It was a car accident. A few weeks ago.

[ He gives her the cover story, which is always easier to explain. For one because it's fake and he's detached enough from it that he doesn't care about it, really. For another because he doesn't have to explain the concept of a social media company that, officially, doesn't exist mutilating him. ]

[ Natalie's eyes widen before she lets slip with a curse that her brother would probably not be proud of. ]

That's awful. I don't even know what to say, it's all sounding so dumb in my head. But you're okay?

[ Not that losing an arm wasn't enough. ]

Oh yeah. Aside from losing my arm and having to break up the band because of it? I'm peachy keen.

[ ...then he sighs. ]

But whatever. The only thing to do now is to just get over it and get used to it. I'm working on getting an actual prosthetic arm, instead of this thing.

[ He gestures gently with his coffee hand to the left arm that's currently got its hand shoved into the pocket of his hoodie. ]

[ Honestly, if he hadn't pointed it out to her, she never would have questioned the fact that his hand had stayed tucked in his pocket. ]

You don't want to at least keep singing?

[ Natalie chewed on her lip as she continued to process the fact that Bucky had lost his arm and that A Lyrical Assassination would no longer be. It was a lot to take in for her, so she could only begin to imagine how much he was going through. ]

Shit, Buck. Do you need anything? Is the arm... is it expensive? I could try and sell some paintings.

We'll see.

[ Maybe one day he'll make more music. Maybe never again. Maybe he'll transition to screamo and just sing into a megaphone in front of Retrospec's HQ every day out of spite. Right now the band isn't really the highest thing on his list of priorities. ]

We don't know about the arm yet. Depends on what kind I get. Don't worry about it though--we're figuring it out.

[ He thinks. Honestly all the insurance talk is going way over his head, he just knows there's a lot of paperwork to file and his dad is freaking out about it. ]

[ She really doesn't want to tell him what's started to go through her head right now, but the way Natalie deals with most things unsuprisingly is to paint.

This is the first time she's seen Bucky in ages, and he's lost an arm. She takes a long sip of her drink before giving a nod. ]

Just let me know. Anything you need. I'll even let you bash my drums if it'll make you feel a bit better. Or just provide distractions.

[ He snorts. ]

You serious about that offer? Because I'd probably just destroy your drums if you let me touch them.

Foggy would kill me, but honestly? I kept them around mostly for your band. Painting has well and truly taken over my life, so it's possible the drums are just gonna end up covered with a sheet for a while.

[ She couldn't help but smile as she glanced at him. ]

If they can contribute to your emotional well-being by becoming debris, who am I to say no? I could just film it and call it performance art. I'm sure if I get a grade from it maybe I won't get my ass kicked.

Well, damn. Guess that means I'll just have to make as big a mess as I can on those things. I hope Foggy likes splintered bits of drumsticks everywhere, because that's what's gonna happen.

[ The grin is almost imperceptible--he's trying to force himself to be a little more jovial, but it's not really working. He doesn't want to be such a huge downer when seeing an old family friend for the first time in literal years, but given everything that's happened, it all feels like a sham, and he feels the bitterness in his throat. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OCTOBER TDM

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