repeter | OCTOBER TDM

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! tdm

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

[ ah... well. better Jamie than a ghost. ]

No. Everything is mirrors here. All I've been doing is running into them.

[ and being helpless isn't really his thing, but c'est la vie. ]

Have you been lost, too?

I'm completely lost. And I keep getting startled by seeing my reflection out of the corner of my eye... To be honest, I really regret ever coming in here to begin with...

[ He sighs deeply, seemingly resigned to his fate. ]

Same, same...

[ but at least he's not alone? which gives him a little bit of hope. ]

Hey. I think I have a plan! [ said cheerfully, as he gently taps on one of the mirrors with his knuckles. ]

How about we just break every mirror? I mean, there's probably... fifty. How much bad luck is that?

Three hundred fifty years is too much!!

[ That's bad luck for another couple of lifetimes at least, even if he and Leon split it! ]

Um, what if we just... touched all of them, instead? With our bare hands. So then they'd get smudged, and it would be obvious they weren't empty space.

[ he laughs. of course he wouldn't ACTUALLY destroy every mirror and spread the bad luck to Jamie... but at least in that case, he wouldn't be alone. also, future them wouldn't know it was past him's fault. ]

That's way more reasonable. [ but less destructive. probably better on him financially to do that. ] Hm... well, first off. Come over here.

[ because... even though he's glad someone else is here, he has no idea where? ]

[ Honestly, the idea of forcing some poor funhouse worker to Windex this nightmare all over again makes Jamie feel almost as guilty as the idea of just trashing the place, but at least there wouldn't be any spiritual malaise involved.]

Oh, right!

[ He walks on over to Leon!
...and bumps into a mirror.
Turning, he spots the real Leon and walks over!
...and bumps into a mirror. ]

...

...

[ sadly, he can see all of this through the reflections, and he winces with each bump. with an exasperated sigh, he quietly puts his hand on one of the mirrors and pushes as hard as he can.

except, it's NOT a mirror. it's actually Jamie.

shit??? ]

[ Ah...

He falls in battle, honorably, like a blossom cut from the vine...

...

and lands right on his keys, too. ]

Aahhnngh.

[ with a gasp, he immediately reaches down to try to grab Jamie before he hits... but that's too late, too. and he finds himself trying not to trip over him, awkwardly stumbling forward and bumping into a mirror.

which promptly falls backward and shatters.

double shit. ]

Are you okay?!

[ he's speaking mostly to Jamie but also the mirror. ]

...

...

It wasn't even shatterproof...
This isn't a safe activity for kids.

Maybe... that's the scary part of this haunted house?

[ it's a reach, but he's willing to give it. ]

At least it's only one mirror, right?

[ he holds out his hand, hoping that this is actually Jamie and NOT a mirror on the ground. ]

[ Jamie reaches up to accept the help, and--

Miracle!

Their real-live flesh-and-blood hands... meet! ]

That's true. And seven years really isn't that much. That's only a year longer than a term in the U.S. Senate...

[ ... ah, warm hands. probably a little different than Leon's, whose fingers are a little cool to the touch. bad circulation and all. it happens. ]

Seven years... well, maybe I can ask whoever doles out bad luck to defer it for a while. No one has time for that!

[ and he smiles, steadying himself so he can pull up Jamie without too much difficulty. ]

You still haven't answered my question, but you seem okay.

[ then, he gently pats the guy's head. ]

[ Gosh... what a nice, cool hand... it’s quite a bit larger than Jamie’s, but then he is a certifiedly tiny person with a correspondingly tiny hand. (It’s very useful for getting things out of jars with narrow openings, though!)

Equally as impressive as Leon’s reasonably sized hand, low-temperature skin, and ability to help Jamie upright with ease is the fact that he evidently has a direct line to the arbiter of bad luck. And on top of that he’s even handing out comforting head-pats. What a guy! ]

Even if we can’t get the luck deferred, I wonder if there’s some way to modify it. Like, having luck that’s only half as bad, but for twice as long. Or twice as bad for half as long.

—Anyway, yes, I’m all right! I wasn’t sure whether you meant the mirror before.

[ that's definitely something needed in this small jar-filled world! his hand is definitely on the slender side, just like the rest of him, but still bigger than Jamie's. not a big deal though. ]

Or, perhaps... just no bad luck at all. You didn't get hurt, so I consider that to be pretty fortuitous, don't you?

[ with the gentle sparkle in his eye of someone whose congeniality could take over in a heartbeat, he pats Jamie's shoulder next. ]

Okay. So now that we're finally together, let's see if we can find a way out of here.

[ then holds his hand out, palm open. ]

I'm Leon. Shall we?

[ Certainly, it's nowhere close to being a Giant Meaty Mitt. In any case, it's definitely much more elegant than Jamie's. ]

Well... you're right.
Maybe you fixed mirrors in a past life and accumulated enough good mirror luck to avoid a bad outcome now...

[ This is getting complicated. Actually, now that he's thinking about it, does Jamie even believe in superstitions about mirrors...? Somehow it's never come up until now.

Anyway, the one thing he can be sure of is that a warm, friendly guy like Leon is so nice, he's probably the last person who'd ever want to do something like destroy the world! (Jamie just feels sure of that for some reason.)

They shake hands. (Once again, a tiny hand rests in a less tiny hand.) ]

Yes! I'm Jamie Doh... let's go!

[ yes, he certainly is the last person who would want to destroy the world! definitely the last person. he's far too kind for that, beaming at Jamie with not just a smile on his lips, but on his eyes as well. ]

Jamie Doh... huh, wait, is Doh really your last name, or is there more to it than that?

[ still, that question can be answered later. for now, it's almost like the path has opened up for them--- a beam of light illuminating a silhouette of a door. ]

Oh. Huh. Was that there the entire time? [ he can't be sure. nonetheless, if that's way out, he's already dragging Jamie along with him. ]

Let's get out of here.

[ It's a bit unnerving to be suddenly accused of having a fake last name (or something?), and it makes Jamie wonder what Leon means by that! ]

What do you m--

[ Ah but now he's being yanked forward. And since it's toward a shining beacon of freedom, he doesn't feel any need to complain about it. In fact, he'll even cooperate! ]

I hope that's the real exit and not just its reflection...

Nonsense. It clearly looks like one! And I don't see it being reflected anywhere else, so.

[ so he's pretty optimistic, even though it didn't even cross his mind that maybe the mirror-filled room might be crazy deceptive. but the closer they get to it, the more he's inclined to think that...

... nah it's still pretty dang questionable ]

I'll... go first. If anything, I'll just keep accumulating the bad luck mileage while I'm here. You don't deserve it.

[ slowly, he approaches. slower. and slower. and.

he sticks his foot through the door. ]

N-no! I'm sure I deserve it at least as much as you do, and besides... if we don't stick together, we're never going to make it out of here in one piece!

[ Even while he's saying this, though, he's trying to hide himself behind Leon as completely as possible. But he's now got a pretty good death grip going on Leon's whole arm, so any harm that can't be averted by a meat shield is still going to befall them both.

When Leon's foot ventures into the well-lit unknown, Jamie kinda yelps and squeezes his arm tighter... But a second passes, and nothing terrible happens. And as his eyes adjust to the change in light, the searing glow of the portal diminishes and resolves into regular visibility. ]

...Is this...
a staff entrance?

[ he doesn't really want to be a meat shield, but if anyone's going to protect Jamie... guess it'll have to be him. not that he's the heroic type, but there's a certain responsibility that he feels after breaking one mirror. thank goodness it was only one. ]

Oh, so like that mirror!

[ he's got jokes. he just has to feel comfortable to use them, and despite the spooky unknown in front of them, he's pretty sure that nothing bad could possibly happen after making such a good funny comment like---

--- ah, where did the floor go?

oh it's open space.

aaa

AAAAAAA ]

[ Jamie gets through about one-fifth of a giggle before it dies in his throat and he wonders whether it's really all right, karmically, to make a joke at the expense of something you killed with your own hands (however unintentionally) mere moments before.

But he doesn't have to wonder for long, because the gates to hell instantly open up beneath them!!

Due to the angle of the incline, the zeal with which Jamie had been maintaining his position abaft, and, like, physics or whatever... when they reach their ultimate resting place, Jamie ends up ideally located to break Leon's fall. (Though it's less of a fall than a slide.) There, you see? He wasn't using you as a meat shield; he was in fact very noble! Emphasis on was because now he's dead again.

A rubber rat conscripted into duty as a spooky Halloween prop squeaks mournfully from the very bottom of the small pile of bodies. This is the first and only threnody any of them will receive. ]

[ ... well, at least Jamie made a noble sacrifice, being a pretty nice and comfortable cushion to land on. at least it wasn't a very long fall, relatively short, but definitely not just a stumble into a small ditch. more like a deep trench, and if not for the squeaky rat prop, they probably would both be a little worse for wear.

Jamie more so, of course. ]

H-heck... [ that's all he can say. the briefest dirge ending as quickly as it began. ] ... man, that could've been really bad.

[ well. he says more about himself as he picks himself off of the guy and dusts himself off, only to realize that he... LANDED ON JAMIE ]

Whoa! Hey, are you okay?

[ this time for realsies. ]

Ghhnh.

[ It's not quite as poignant or dignified a sound as the rat's squeak. ]

Did you say "heck"?...

[ He starts to sit up. But honestly, why not cut his losses and just live right here on the ground from now on? ]

... yeah. Sorry for my language.

[ he's being a little sarcastic and polite. sarclite. or polastic. one of the two. it doesn't keep him from kneeling down and immediately patting his head again--- this time, in search for any lumps or any kind of injuries. ]

You know, you kind of attract misfortune. Are you bad luck incarnate?

[ he teases, gently giving Jamie's shoulder a squeeze once he's done. ]

OCTOBER TDM

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