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

[ Jamie doesn't have any particular artistic flair, but patiently taking his time with precision work is kind of his whole jam (especially when it involves using a small, bladed instrument). He's carving a nice cat! The design is fairly rudimentary, but the line weight tapers gracefully, and the angles and curves are all quite neatly done.

...He's concentrating, though, so he doesn't notice any resentful, judging stares that may be coming his way. ]

[ What the fuck, isn’t that that stoner barista who always takes forever with his overcomplicated coffee orders? How the hell is this kid better at this than he is?

After a moment, he says flatly: ]

Nice dog.

[ He is well aware that it’s a cat. ]

[ He's just, like... stoned on life, bro. ]

Oh, thank you very much! [ Wow, he thinks it's nice! That's unquestionably more important than whether he was able to recognize Jamie's artistic vision. ]

Yours is a lot better, though. It's really spooky.

[ ...All right, he'll take that compliment. ]

Thank you. That is what I was going for -- fitting the theme and spirit of the holiday without being too literal in the design.

[ Well, it is now, anyway. ]

[ And he even said "thank you." What a great guy! ]

I bet it'll cast a really cool shadow when you put a light in it, too...

[ He turns his attention away from the pumpkin and onto the artist himself.
Hmmmmm. ]

Wait, I know you, don't I?

Well, I was a finalist on season 3 of By A Thread, so you might recognize me from TV.

[ Or the coffee thing. ]

No, that's not it.

[ After a second, he gently whaps his open palm with his fist. ]

Triple soy latte with easy foam and a dusting of nutmeg!
You're Redjoe!

[ Wow... should he be impressed or feel pity right now? He's not very experienced with either. ]

...Cinnamon, actually, but not bad.

Please don't say my name like that, though.

[ It sounds like you're calling him Joe the communist. ]

Oh, sorry. What's the right way to say it?
Also, do you dislike nutmeg?

Redžo.

[ Which... does not sound that different from the way Jamie just said it. That was actually one of the better pronunciations he's gotten. ]

It's a softer sound, like the g in "mirage".

Nutmeg is fine, it's just not cinnamon.

I see...
So then, I guess it's not spelled "Redjoe" either... [ Even though that's definitely what he's been writing on the to-go cups.

Anyway, Redžo didn't technically ASK, and yet Jamie still says... ]

I'm Jamie! It's nice to meet you for real.

I've seen your nametag.

[ He never made much of an effort to remember it, but now that he hears it, it sounds right. ]

And no, that's not how it's spelled. It's R-E-D-Z with a caron-O. Which I'm pretty sure I told you the first time you took an order from me, actually, but whatever.

[ It's fucking annoying, but he's used to it. And since he already carries a sharpie around in case someone wants an autograph, at least he's always prepared to correct the spelling of his name on coffee cups. ]

[ Jamie doesn't actually know what a caron is but assuming Redžo also explained that the first time he took an order... he probably did get it right, that very first time. He just forgot to keep remembering it afterward...

...In combination with the facts that Redžo actually knew his name (he looked at the nametag!) and that Jamie forgot it was cinnamon, not nutmeg, he's feeling a little like history's greatest monster right now (or at least a season 3 finalist). ]

I'll get it right from now on...
I promise!!

[ also lmao he corrects the spelling of his name with a sharpie. on a fucking to-go cup that he already knows is his. ]

Please do.

[ Look, he can live with a missing caron, but fuck if he's going to be seen in public with a cup that says "Redjoe."

Aaaand back to carving, though he'll throw in a little idle chat as he works. ]

Does that idiot with the nose ring still work there, or have I just been fortunate enough to miss her every time I've come in over the past few weeks?

Ahh, I'm not sure who you mean... [Chloe has a nose ring and quit about a month ago, but she's not an idiot, so it can't be her! Anyway, surely a cool celebrity like Redžo would rather talk about himself. ]

By A Thread is the one about fashion, right? Does that mean you're a model?

[ That's one incorrect assumption that he doesn't mind. ]

I have appeared in a few magazine spreads, but no.

[ He smiles and flips his hair over his shoulder. He can see how that would be an easy mistake to make... even if he did already introduce himself as a finalist from his season, so that should have been obvious, actually. ]

I was one of the designers.

Oh, so it's a show about designers! [ He just knew fashion was involved ok!!! ]

Is Recollé a good city to do designing in? [ Meanwhile, he's putting the finishing touches on his nice, simple cat. Instead of a :3 mouth, though, it's getting a :< mouth. That's because it's spooky. ]

[ ...sigh ]

It's not bad. Metropolitan areas like this are always ideal since they have the most resources and opportunities for connections. A lot of upscale chain department stores have corporate offices here, which is helpful when you're trying to convince them to carry your label.

[ The expression on that cat looks just how he feels inside when he looks at it. Ugh. He wonders if he should try shaving down the background on his pumpkin a little more to get it more even. It looks scarier like this though, right? ]

I see... I hope you're able to get them all to carry it son. What's the name of your label? [ Of course, if it's the kind of thing they carry in upscale department stores, he's pretty sure he can't afford to buy anything from it. Redžo probably has enough information about Jamie (works as a barista; current Look mostly consists of things that were cheaply mass-produced no less than four years ago; almost certainly did not pay anyone to give him this haircut, at least not more than $15) to draw that conclusion for himself, as well.

But Jamie can call his mom and recommend it to her! ]

OCTOBER TDM

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