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

9S | nier atuomata

[deservingoflife]

I. pumpkin carving

[ the table Noni occupies as he carves his jack o’lantern isn’t exactly the cleanest one. as it was his first time properly carving a pumpkin, he’s made a mess of things, with the insides of the pumpkin laid all over the table. but he’s managed to finish his carving of an alien. it's not exactly a masterpiece, with the lid not properly fitting back in, jagged lines and a gaping hole in the back. clearly he started carving one side but then had made a cut too long for the face and ended up taking off the whole part. but Noni looks satisfied with it nonetheless.

he takes a look at the pile of pumpkin filling ] I wonder if you can eat this too…

II-a. costume + coffee shop

[ having arrived early to the costume contest, Noni heads over to a coffee shop to pass the time. he seems oblivious to the light stares he gets though. it's a bit of a mystery just what kind of monster he was aiming to be when his costume is simply just a black hoodie and shorts and an eyeball head. with the head obstructing his view (it seems there are small holes in one of the eyes) the menu reading is a bit difficult, so he taps the shoulder of the person standing in front of him lightly, and with a muffled voice asks: ] Excuse me, can you tell me what’s the seasonal recommendation here?

II-b. haunted house

[ still with time in his hands, Noni had ventured into the haunted house (with his eyeball head still on). thanks(?) to his sight-obscuring head though, he doesn’t even see half the jump scares. and the ones that do interest him more on how they’re being operated, so this haunted house is definitely not doing its job correctly.

Noni isn’t able to beat the mirrors as they close in on him which was really fine by him, because he definitely enjoyed the slide down. landing in the pile of rubber with a half-yelp, half-laugh, he does a full turn around the room before taking his eyeball head off ]

Whew, that was fun! I wanna do it again!! [ he notices the stuff on the ground and crouches down to take a closer look ] Wow! I wonder what kind of spiders they are? Maybe I can take one home…

bonus

[ playing the candy crush was no sweat for Noni as he beat the game easily in minimal time. and while costumes and pranks were usually not too irksome for him, this particular prank was. after having a bad time with his “treat” costumes (as a Pocky), Noni had chosen “trick”. except now the jacket he was holding was blown up by a strong gust of wind and was stuck on a tree branch just barely out of his reach ]

Ugh! Is this payback for complaining about being too vertically long as a Pocky!? [ Noni hops up and down, trying to reach for his jacket but always being few inches short of the sleeve ]


optional wildcard

[ feel free to bother 9S however you want! you can also contact me at au workshop or with DM! ]

ii - a

[sotenbori]

What the shit....

[ majima doesn't even register the question because hes too busy just openly staring at this eyeballed monstrosity. just like...the rest of the line in front of them is probably almost done but hes.

what.


what.]

[deservingoflife]

[ the eyeball head tilts to the right a little. the man wasn't answering, maybe he couldn't hear???? Noni speaks in a louder voice ]

Can you! Tell me! Seasonal recommendation!! [ he points to the menu as well for reinforcement, there that should make it clear right? ]

[sotenbori]

Can floatin' eyes even drink this stuff?

[ real talk. ]

[deservingoflife]

[ rude! ]

Of course! I have a mouth! [ he points to the lower part of the mask where his mouth is ]

[sotenbori]

This is some nightmare-fog-level nonsense.

[ so many...eyes....traumatic tbh ]

Uh, ya should probably go for somethin' with pumpkin spice though, yeah? That's hip with the kids these days.

[ majima youre only 24 come on ]

[deservingoflife]

What is? [ Noni clearly has no problem with his costume ]

Pumpkin spice? Okay, I'll order that! Thanks, mister!

i.

[judgementkazzy]

[ Wow, cute. I mean, Noni's attempt is pretty... alright, but Kaz admires his obvious passion here. Kiryu may have wanted to carve a dragon in his but that's sure as hell not happening. He's just gonna go with the usual face. ]

You shouldn't eat it raw. It's pretty gross.

[ Speaking from experience?? ]

[deservingoflife]

[ he'll probably just cover up the hole with paper or something later ]

Really? Is it because this pumpkin is made for carving and not eating? Or do all raw pumpkin taste bad?

[judgementkazzy]

[ It's a solid attempt 7/10. ]

Yeah, it too hard to eat like this. It tastes all fiber-y. You have to cook it.

[deservingoflife]

Like make it into a pie? [ Noni looks at the pile again contemplatively ] Maybe I'll take it home to cook it.

[judgementkazzy]

Or a soup.

[ Kiryu nods. Pumpkin soup is good for you, child. ]

Is this your first time carving a pumpkin?

[deservingoflife]

[ soup, hm. mix it with chicken broth or something?? how does one make pumpkin soup anyway ]

Yup! I didn't think it would be this tiring [ his weak, skinny arms ] but it was fun! Did you make one too, mister?

[explodosafe]

The seasonal....? It's gotta be pumpkin or corn something, isn't i-AUGH!!

[Guess who had come without bothering with a costume, even though his way too pointy and sharp teeth and red eyes sort of make him look like he has at least extended minimal (and the most impractical) effort.

Guess who also spent a lot of time punching randomly popping up monsters during the last two months and whose nerves miiiight have been a little frayed to begin with thanks to a lack of sleep and silly teenagers exchanging way too many horror stories.

At the sight of the monstrosity Cutter reels back and aims a high kick at the eyeball monster's head right away.]

WHAT THE (/§$=($ HELL!??!

[deservingoflife]

[ the good news is that Cutter's kick only takes out Noni's head piece so it just goes flying off as Noni himself stumbles back and lands on his butt. the bad news is that the head piece is paper-mache so now it just has a gaping hole in one of the eyes ]

... [ Noni looks at the destroyed head that's rolled a little off ways with a little shock before he looks back at the culprit ]

Wh-What was that for??! [ he runs towards his eyeball head and looks at the damage with dismay ]

[explodosafe]

[That was... uh. HOLY HELL WHEN DID HE GROW THAT STRONG?! Cutter spends a stupid moment just staring, wondering when he had suddenly developed super-strength but then Noni speaks up and the illusion shatters.

Cutter bristles as he rounds up on his victim.]

What was that for?! What was the big idea for scaring me like that 's more like it! You're lucky I only got your fake head! Which idiot sneaks up on somebody like that when there was a real monster invasion not too long ago!

[deservingoflife]

[ don't get excited, paper-mache's not exactly steel ]

I didn't sneak up on you! I just asked a normal question! [ Noni bristles back in return ] If I was an actual monster, I would just attack from behind! You're clearly an overreacting scaredy-cat! [ he points accusingly at Cutter, not willing to back down ]

[explodosafe]

A scaredy-cat?! I dare you to try and say that to my face!

[Cutter bares his mouth full of fangs in return, red eyes glaring way more angry than it's justified because Noni hit a sore spot. Without him noticing something ripples beneath his skin, changing its form for a brief second before it snaps back into it's soft ordinary flesh shape.]

[handpuppet]

[Juri turns around and jumps at the sight before her, but despite the surprise and the unsettling feeling she has seeing the costume, she ignores her fears. She leans over to the costume wearer, the voice sounds familiar--]

... Noni?!

[Unlike his creative costume, all she had going was a rather casual Witch costume she manages to create from customizing stuff from the supermarket's party section and some old clothes.

She might be a little jealous, but mostly confused.]

[deservingoflife]

[ Noni responds with a more energetic wave ]

Heya Juri! You're a witch, right? Are you gonna join the contest too? [ he tilts his head a little bit inside his headpiece, trying to get a better look at his friend's outfit ]

Re: 9S | nier atuomata

[blondferret]

[Derek is walking by the pumpkin carving table when he sees his younger brother, Noni. He walks up behind him and looks over at his carving. Not bad. He wonders if Noni has carved a pumpking before. Derek doesn't know Noni too well since his parents adopted him after he moved out. Hearing Noni talk outloud, Derek smirks. So he talks to himself? He can work with that.]

You can collect the seeds and roast them.

[deservingoflife]

[ Noni blinks at the voice behind and turns around, eyes widening with surprise and delight as he recognizes his recently gained older brother ]

Derek! You're here too? [ he stands up with a smile but laughs with a hint of embarrassment after realizing Derek had heard his solo musings ] I just thought it would be a waste of a perfectly good pumpkin... Can you only eat the seeds?

[blondferret]

[Derek shrugs.]

Not sure. I know pumpkin pie is made from the shell of the pumpkin. Those inner strings though...[Derek tilts his head as he takes a look at Noni's pile.] You might want to ask Mom. She might know a use for them.

[Derek looks away from the pile of pumpkin guts and back at Noni.]

Are you enjoying the fun fair?

[deservingoflife]

Okay, I will. I'm sure if anyone does, it'll be Mom that will. [ it still feels odd calling someone "Mom", but he would get used to it as long as he keeps using it, right? either way, Noni will be wrapping the pumpkin innards in newspaper and taking it home along with his masterpiece jack o'lantern ]

Yup!!! [ he gives a huge, bright smile ] I've never been to one like this before! My last orphanage didn't like Halloween stuff. But there's so much to do here! Have you done stuff too?

[blondferret]

[Derek doesn't know he recently acquired little brother very well, but right now he finds him... kind of adorable.]

Yeah, I've ran into some interesting people, including two of our cousins and Amanda. I was actually about to head home, but then I saw you and thought I'd say hi.