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

[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.]

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?

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?

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. ]

[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...?

[ 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.

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.]

[ Mio is a foreigner, she would know nothing about these old American horror shows. ]

Eek! [ The cry she makes isn't out of fear, but rather, from surprise as she's tugged along for the ride. ] Wait, don't go so fast-!

What, you wanna go on a leisurely stroll instead?

[...It's so tempting to stop short right in front of the door and block the way, but this is a PR gig, he shouldn't be rude. So instead, he adjusts his speed just enough to make it easier for her to keep up, though he'll slow down to let her through the door first before he follows, slamming it shut behind them.

The question is, what lays beyond it? He didn't really check before acting.]

No.

[ Her words are rather firm as she knits her brows. Maybe she doesn't like to be dragged, huh?! Not that she'll voice those thoughts aloud. She can't help but suck out a breath in the slightest of reliefs that she feels. But that relief is brief as she shakes her wrist for a moment, even though she's self aware enough that she should keep on moving regardless. ]

Although they're not going as hard as I expected...

It's just the first room. It's not surprising they'd--

[He stops midsentance as something, or most assuredly someone screams and rushes them, the unmistakable roar of a chainsaw sounding.

Is he allowed to tug Mio out of the way this time? Because he's gonna do that, mostly because the sudden movement and sound is legitimately startling. If she has a moment to take a closer look, she'll likely note this appears to be a ghost woman coated in blood that seems to indicate a slit throat, inexplicably holding a chainsaw.]

Woah!

[ That's definitely a surprise to see as her brown eyes grow rather wide in shock because that definitely seems to be what seems to be a ghost. Even though she doesn't exactly believe in ghosts to begin with. ]

That was just a projection...right?

OCTOBER TDM

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