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

...Yes. Well, I feel tired all the time. So I'm not even sure if it's just because of people.

[He lets out a long sigh.]

I never seem to be able to get enough sleep. Even sleeping 10 hours wouldn't do it for me.

Over 10 hours?

[Y I K E S she can not even imagine... which is a little sad for a soon-to-be college student, being robbed of the joys of sleeping in like the world's about to end.]

Mmm, well... sometimes diet plays a part in how well you can sleep. Each time I eat anything sweet before I go to bed, I'm guaranteed to wake up in three hours no matter how tired I am.

Edited 2017-10-20 23:27 (UTC)

...That explains a lot.

[But...but sweets.............they're too good............]

[He actually looks fairly upset.]

I eat a lot of sweets. I just can't help it, really. They're the only thing that keeps me going, sometimes...

I can barely stop myself from finishing off a tub of ice cream in one night, so I, um... don't think I have any right to judge you...

[Things Sakura probably shouldn't be admitting out loud: that]

Maybe the trick isn't to eat less sweets, but just make sure you're eating other things as well!

Oh, I've done that several times too. Chocolate ice cream is my favorite...

[A long pause.]

Nothing else is really that appetizing. Sometimes I eat stuff out of cans, though.

[HOWARD....]

You haven't had a home cooked meal?

[Oh the travesty, he might as well have told her that he is unloved in this world, abandoned by fate.]

From other people, yes. I don't cook, myself.

[Guess who's too lazy to cook? It's him. It's 100% him.]

It's too much work...

I see...

[Sakura don't do it you've discussed this problem with other people stop feeding random strangers

don't

do it

don't do it don't--]

So um-- Sir, I have a proposition for you, if you don't mind hearing it...

[Howard tilts his head like some particularly curious owl.]

A...proposition? Of what?

Well...

[And after taking a deep breath:]

I'm going to be applying to the art program at Recollé U soon, but they require a portfolio. I'm a bit behind on my sketches, I admit -- but if I could use you as a model, I think I'd be able to complete the assignment.

I'd pay you, of course! Please name your price. And I could make you meals so you don't get malnourished either.

[A pause-- and then because don't let anyone tell you Sakura doesn't cheat:]

Or just candy bars if you prefer, since I did lie to you earlier...

[The more Sakura talks, the more confused Howard looks. Is he...hearing things right?]

Me? A model? [He actually looks behind him in case Sakura is referring to some other (more put-together, actually handsome) person.] Uh. W-why me?

[The free meals sound wonderful, but this is all a bit out of the blue. A sudden thought occurs to him, and he states down at himself nervously.]

Wait. I don't need to be naked, do I...?

[Before she can even answer that first question--]

Wh-- oh no, no! Please keep your clothes on.

[Sakura is not drawing anyone like one of her french girls, this is not that kind of gig. She wipes at her cheeks to cool some of the red away before continuing]

You'd wear whatever you normally wear, of course...

[And as for the "why", Sakura figures there's no better way to explain than to show him some of her artwork. She pauses a moment, pulling out a sketch book from her tote bag] Hopefully this explains it a little...? I think your aesthetic and mine would fit well together.

[Which is a nice way of saying "You actually do look like a vampire and I draw aesthetically pleasing monster fetishes." There are humans in there, sure, but Sakura's tastes skew towards interesting places. Many of the pictures feel like they belong in books featuring the supernatural.]

[Look, he's seen films, he has a sense of what art models do!!!! Totally!!]

Thank goodness. [Nobody deserves to see the absolutely unattractive landscape of his stick-thin body, thanks. He takes the proffered sketchbook, flipping through it, page by page.]

Oh. Well, these aren't bad at all. The style is nice... [Of course he'd like the dark and monstrous aesthetic. Of course. He hands the book back to her.] And you'd like to draw me like that? Really? I mean...if it helps you out...

Yes, it really would help. I'm not that good at coming up with drawings unless I study something from real life, first.

[Yes because obviously there's an abundance of nightmare creatures for her to draw... Regardless, sketchbook whisked back into the totebag, Sakura puffs up in gratitude]

Like I said, I'll compensate you for your time. You don't even have to pose. You can do whatever you normally do, I'll just be drawing you while you do it.

[Good thing Sakura can get some guy who is not a nightmare creature in any way to be a model for her!]

...Well, I'd have to check my schedule. But if you're willing to compensate with food...

[Anything that makes sure he doesn't have to exert that much effort is always good, in his opinion.]

How often would you like to do this?

Once a week is fine.

[Well, twice a week would actually be perfect, but she's not going to press her luck at the finish line]

Are there any dishes you prefer? I'm best at Japanese ones, I admit, but I'll try my hand at anything provided I can find a recipe.

I can probably make once a week work.

[It's not like he doesn't use his free time for anything worthwhile besides sleeping and wondering about the dark secrets of the deep ocean or anything.]

Uh. Well. I have a preference for pasta, really...pasta with lots of cheese on top. I don't think there's a name for it. [He starts speaking without stopping, his tone slow.] Also, beans. And coffee. Peas and onions aren't really bad. I'm fond of sausage. And did I say cheese? Once again, cheese.

[What is with these Americans and their cheese? This is the third time she's heard someone rave about it and nearly breaks into giggles]

Cheese, sausage and pasta, got it -- coffee too. Oh, and extra cheese, plus beans, peas, and onions.

[Not necessarily in one dish]

Yes. Yes, exactly.

[You got it, Sakura!]

Make the coffee dark, if you want me to stay awake for your drawings [A slight sigh.] I have the bad habit of falling asleep in strange places, you know...

Oh-- actually, I don't mind if you sleep.

[Yes, she's willing to pay him to sleep on her couch.]

It's whatever you prefer to do during the drawing. So if there's work you need to catch up on, that's fine, too.

OCTOBER TDM

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