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 startles - complete with a little squeal - when Soleil tickles her. Amanda immediately pulls away to whip around and glare at her assailant. ]

Soleil! What are you doing?!

[ Soleil waves and giggles, all while looking far more pleased with herself than she has any right to be. ]

Heehee! Look at that! You can act cute now and again after all.

[ Getting her rough and rowdy little friend to squeal like that... ]

[ Wow this BETRAYAL. ]

Knock it off, you surprised me is all. What are you even doing lurking around in the fog anyway?

Shouldn't I be asking you that? It must be past your bedtime by now. Hee hee.

[ Her unrelenting cheeriness is kind of out-of-place in all this spooky, dreary fog. ]

Bad things can happen to nice girls wandering alone in the fog, so I'm here to leap to the rescue when danger raises its ugly head.

I can take care of myself. [ She waves a dismissive hand. ]

But aren't you putting yourself in danger by wandering around alone in the fog? That's pretty hypocritical.

What? Me, in danger? There's no girl who can take care of herself better than me.

[ She raises an eyebrow and gives Amanda a crooked grin. She may be shredded, but that rarely makes a difference when it comes to the things that are dangerous when things get weird around here. ]

Well, whatever. We may as well hang out now that we've ran into each other. This fog is creepy and not in the Halloweenie sort of way.

I noticed. [ Admittedly, she does feel better with Soleil around. ]

But it's just fog, it's not like it can do anything.

[ Playing it cool because 1) It's what she believes and 2) if she doesn't acknowledge anything weird then things are fine! right? ]

Right.

[ She still looks carefree, but there is some doubt in her voice. The one thing that has been made very clear to her these last two months is that if something seems odd, something ridiculous is going to happen.

Maybe she is being paranoid. ]

Knowing you, you'll find a way to get into trouble, 'just fog' or not. So good thing I stumbled across you.

[ Let Amanda be the sweet summer child in this case, completely unawares of the weirdness incurred by Retrospec. ]

Don't be a buzzkill, Soleil, I was just going home. Then this-- [ She gestures to their surroundings. ] happened.

Oh! So it is getting close to your bedtime.

[ Sweet, naive, innocent Amanda. Good thing Soleil is here to protect her from all the...whatever is going to happen. ]

That's perfect. Why don't I walk you home? Just in case.

[ She pulls a face, looking at the other girl incredulously. ]

It's really not a big deal. [ But she shrugs it off, literally. ] Buuut, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to drag you along and let you do your hero thing.

[ She's not in the habit of deferring, but look. Sports Senpai has a special place in her heart ok... ]

[ She rolls her eyes. She has been getting that so much lately, even though she has enough self-awareness to know she is just being macho and not any hero.

Still, the thought of Amanda being a damsel in distress is funny. ]

Heehee. If you faint, I promise to carry you the rest of the way home. Or, hey, I could even if you don't faint.

[ Without missing a beat: ] Oh, Soleil, how could I go on without you--

[ She puts the back of her wrist to her forehead, faking weak knees. ] - This fog is just too scary to go it alone.

[ At the end of her over dramatic display, however, she can't help but break into grin. ]

Please. I appreciate the offer, but you don't really have to walk me home.

[ Soleil blushes, frowns, and rolls her eyes. The most embarrassing part is that she wouldn't mind helping a girl acting like that for real. Why can't her tiny kouhai be appropriately delicate and adorable? ]

Oh, just let me have this. Not like we run into each other often, right?

[ Most people don't keep in touch with people that were freshmen when they were seniors in high school. Stuff like that doesn't matter to Soleil, but it does mean they don't bump into each other daily or anything. ]

Tell me how things are going! How's your senior year going? What messes have you gotten into? Have you finally found someone?

[ You picked the wrong kouhai. ]

Fine, fine. [ She gets to walking, casually absorbing the questions. She's already started fielding similar ones from well-meaning adults, now that she's on the cusp of adulthood. Soleil is familiar, and is treated a bit better because of it- but that last question gets her to laugh. ]

Pfft, are you kidding? I'm not about to slow down for anyone who can't keep up with me. [ So, no. ] I don't really care about that stuff anyway. [ She waves a dismissive hand. ] The rest is as boring as ever. Homework, detention, you know how it goes.

Jeez. You never consider for a moment to maybe slow yourself down, huh? It's too bad. You're pretty cute when you're, uh...

[ Not being a little shit...? ]

...not causing trouble. I bet you'd be pretty popular!

[ wow don't be rude. though she does get a little flustered at the 'cute' comment. ]

Popular kids all seem too tryhard and fake anyway, I'm not interested in that either. Besides, it's not like I'll see these people after they graduate anyway, so what's the point? [ A beat. ]

-- It's not like that in college, is it?

What a sad way to think of it...I still see you even though I've graduated, right?

[Maybe Soleil is just a weirdo who hangs out with high schoolers more frequently than most people.]

You'll enjoy college, assuming you don't get kicked out a month in.

Yeah, on accident. [ Referring to their current situation. Anyway... ]

--Hey! I haven't even gotten kicked out of high school yet. If anything, I'd drop out before they boot me.

OCTOBER TDM

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