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

Teobaldo Leonhearts | LiEat

[lienhearts]

[OOC: Theo is an actor living a double life! You can read about it here, but long story short: Kestrel Blade is his acting name, he's been in a lot of films since he was about twelve and is currently playing a major role in a TV drama set in Recollé, "Sky of Birds." Theo Leonhardt is his real name under which he studies finance at Recollé University, and he adopts much plainer attire and is much, much grumpier to folks. Due to canon things all his icons look different so just focus on the expressions!]

II.

[He's going to kill his agent for booking this.

It's some sort of PR deal, the cast of Sky of Birds - who even chose that name, the show's a drama with nothing to do with skies nor birds - attending the festivities and pairing up with other guests, to be filmed for their reactions inside of the haunted house.

The things he does for a paycheck.

Whoever signs up has to also sign a waiver regarding the use of their image for television, but once that's out of the way, they'll find the actor Kestrel Blade smiling cheerfully as he waits for them, hair bleached and toned pure white save for a few red streaks tastefully thrown in. It's long, as usual, tied back in a ponytail that goes all the way to his waist. His clothes are intense, which is also about par for course when it comes to the eccentric, if young actor, but somehow, he makes it work. The drama's been running for a bit shy of a year now, it'll pay to promote it, especially within the city it so blatantly is set in.]

Hey! Think you can stomach what's inside?

[His voice is friendly, laced with just a tiny hint of playful mischievousness. If he's to make a show of this, he is going to make a goddamn show of it.]

III.

[...The fuck was that?

Theo definitely doesn't believe in ghosts. Kestrel Blade might, if it meant an opportunity to lightly tease people or a chance at a conversation starter, but Theo? Nope. Not one bit.

Which is why, after he blinks away the image, he quickly convinces himself it was his imagination. Because really? Ghosts? No. That kind of stuff is the result of movie magic and paranoid minds, and that's not him, not at all.

He's incognito today, dirty blond hair, jeans, a ratty hoodie. Far cry from the clean-cut and stylish Kestrel, but that's always been the point. Two names. Two lives. No need for the two to get mixed up.

...Not that he gets to dwell on that thought for long, because the ghost soon gives him the old hoodie-over-face-drawn-tight trick and now he's fighting to loosen the tension in the cords so he can free himself of it.]

--Hey!

[Please help this loser out.]

ii

[promisedyou]

If I was scared by a haunted house, then you can't call me Sonozaki Mio!

[ She has so much confidence and it shows in her voice and how she presents herself with a puffed out chest. ]

Did you really think I'd be so easily deterred just by that? ☆

[lienhearts]

[Pairing one of the younger cast members with a younger guest, huh? Shrewd choice by the organizer, he supposes.

Kestrel continues to smile cheerily.]

Are you big into horror? Or well, guess we'll see once we're inside...

[The crew members get some sort of notification - apparently the previous group has passed some point, leaving the way clear for the next. A fellow in a zombie outfit gestures them over to the entrance, inviting them in.

It's dark, but not exactly impossible to see - the fog machines are running on full blast, and the lights reflect off of the smog to cause a red hue. Ahead is a door painted black with obvious scratches and other wear, left slightly ajar, clearly inviting them further in.]

[promisedyou]

Ahaha, I suppose that's true!

[ But at least Mio's not unwilling to follow with the biggest shit-eating grin on her lips as she oohs and aahs at the fog machines and the lights. ]

This isn't too bad... what do you think?

[lienhearts]

It's kind of early to say, don't you think?

[He's still got a pleasant, if otherwise unfazed expression. Truthfully he thinks this looks tacky, but that doesn't make good television.

He approaches the door of course, but his hand hovers over the nob.]

Normally I'd say ladies first, but... it's not very polite to make the lady deal with whatever untold horrors lay behind this door, huh?

[promisedyou]

I suppose that's true... but it's at least clear that the people behind this worked hard.

[ She laughs and sticks out her tongue a little playfully. ]

It's not very polite at all, so I really appreciate the gesture. I'll let you go first, so you can warn me if there's a jumpscare. You'll be my knight in shining armor and protect me if something really scary shows up, won't you? ☆

[ Not that she thinks she'd get scared. ]

[lienhearts]

[He returns the laugh with a chuckle of his own.]

Of course! I'll protect you with my life!

[It's said jokingly, but no less good-natured. If this were a horror flick, he'd be doomed for an ironic death by now.

He opens the door, stepping inside. It's loud, music blasting from speakers hidden in dark corners, fog obscuring the vast majority of it. Hunks of plastic 'meat' dangle from hooks on the ceiling. No jumpscares yet, but this room is practically begging for it.]

A butcher...?

[promisedyou]

[ Thank goodness that this isn't a horror movie, huh? But when she follows him rather carefully from behind, she can't help but wince slightly at the sound of the music, forcing her to instinctively cover her ears. ]

What is that music?

[ She doesn't seem to be scared by the plastic meat, but blaring Twilight Zone music is not helping. ]

Did they really have to make it so loud? And let me guess: there's going to be someone with a hatchet coming to chase us.

[lienhearts]

It's from an old horror show.

[Something something kids these days, thinks the twenty-three year old.]

If it's a butcher, my guess is a cle--

[And right on cue, a man wearing a grotesque mask resembling a pig's head comes barreling towards them, 'bloody' cleaver in hand and splatters of red all across his white apron. Yep, time to run.

He reaches out to snatch Mio's hand, and unless she does something to dodge it or pull out of his grasp, he's gonna pull her along as he makes a dash for the next door. They'll have to dodge past all of the plastic meat, but given their pursuer is more intent on cackling and waving the cleaver around than actually giving chase, it's not exactly a challenge.]

iii

[spirithacker]

[The good news: Shinji happens on the scene after the ghost has disappeared already. He is a very mature Shinji who doesn't believe in ghosts and doesn't need to be proven wrong just yet.

The bad news: Theo has an eight-year-old looking at him like he's ridiculous.]

How'd you get yourself stuck like that, mister?

[lienhearts]

[It's okay young one, your time will come someday.]

Some aaaa- [Shit that's a kid isn't it--] -sstute guy pulled a prank on me.

[He continues tugging on the hood. Damn, it's really tight - he can only get it to loosen a little.]

[spirithacker]

[He's heard a swear before! He's mature!]

Lean down and I can get it off for you.

[Because watching him try is kind of ridiculous.]

[lienhearts]

[He is not dealing with some concerned adult getting up in his face because he swore in front of a child, that is the last thing he wants right now.

With a long-suffering sigh, he actually just crouches down on his haunches, elbows resting loosely on his knees.]

Pull it any tighter and you'll regret it.

[Theo don't threaten children jfc.]

[spirithacker]

Scary, scary.

[But Shinji loosens his hood for him anyway instead of just making his day worse.]

[lienhearts]

[Geeze... At least the kid's helpful.]

Thanks.

[And at least he's politer to children than he is to Manon. He swipes the hood off of his head, turning to try to see the culprit, but... Whoever did it is long gone.

He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated.]

Looks like they got away...

[spirithacker]

I didn't see them either. Sticking around to laugh at you would be dumb.

[Fun! But dumb.]

iii.

[wantnotneed]

[ Manon has more or less gotten used to these horrible pranksters that you call ghosts and has been shooting menacing looks at one if they tried to get close to her. Though she does happen to see someone who's unfortunate to be caught up in their pranks.

And she laughs. ]

Oh my god, I didn't think I'd get to see anything like that out of a TV...!

[ She might help later, but laughing to release her stress comes first. ]

[lienhearts]

[Manon why are you like this. He didn't really want anyone to see him like this, but Manon definitely makes the list as someone he'd outright prefer wasn't around.

Ughhhh so much for his dignity (what dignity, Theo.)]

Are you going to help, or are you just going to sit there cackling?!

[wantnotneed]

First of all, I'm standing. [ Why does that matter. ]

And second of all! Take a chill pill, Sir Grumpypants. I'll help you out. Just give me a moment~

[ As promised, she walks closer over to Theo , shooing the ghost away before it can pull a prank on her and looks at the cords. ]

Stop yanking on them! You're making them worse. Let go, so I can give it a try.

[lienhearts]

I'll chill when I find who did this and wring their neck.

[What is chill, can you eat it. With that admittedly empty threat hanging in the air, he obligingly removes his hands from the strings, crossing them like a child giving a tantrum instead.]

[wantnotneed]

Hm...? But ghosts are already dead. The one that did this to you didn't even have a neck, so you're out of luck!

[ She says this pretty casually as if ghosts are a normal occurrence in her every day life. Well, it's better to accept things as they are rather than fighting it.

Manon does her best in untying the strings while humming to herself and it only takes several seconds to do so. She pats his head after she's done even though he's taller than her. ]

There, there. Now you're free to rampage on the poor sap that left.

[lienhearts]

[By the time she gets the hood off of his face, his expression is completely deadpan. Yes, even through the head pats.]

Ghosts aren't real.

[He doesn't give any thanks, just. That incredibly judging look.]

[wantnotneed]

Then what pulled your hood over your face? A trick of the light?

[ She is incredibly unaffected by his judging look and smiles. ]

Where's my thanks, ghost wrangler? Don't you owe me?

ii

[coinflipped]

Yeah, I probably can.

[Listen, with his shop and the crap he gets for it, he wants to see what a real haunted house (supposedly) looks like. At least the guy is trying to sell his role so he'll play along for now.]

[lienhearts]

[He wouldn't be in the business if he couldn't do this much.]

You sound pretty confident... Guess we'll see once we're inside, huh?

[Probably the producer is hoping this guy turns out to get properly spooked once they're inside - he looks big and tough, it'd make for a good show for their viewers.

That, at least, isn't Kestrel's job. He's here to be a pretty and charismatic face - if he screams a little here and there, it'll likely just be seen as endearing.

The haunted house crew waves them over. Looks like it's their turn.]

So, got a name I should call you before we meet our inevitable demise in there, or what?