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

[ terrible? vulgar?? john laughs. ]

—Howard, please. This is a family event...

[ since that's necessary to reiterate. but okay, yeah, it's probably not unfair to assume that there might've been a vampire-like dude wandering around with a dick on his face otherwise. ]

[ he dips the brush into some paint, sitting up in his seat and looking for all the world like he's about to unleash a masterpiece. ]

I dunno. Probably not too long... [ he'll try to be quick about it. ] Lean forward a lil', will you?

Look, I don't know, this is a perfect chance to take advantage of me in this...vulnerable state...

[HOWARD. IT'S FACE PAINTING.]

[He lets out a huff, shifting himself forward so that his face is now within John's reach. Oh, the things he does for this man...]

If you take too long, there's a likely chance I'll fall asleep. [He's not even joking.] So don't go too slow, okay...?

[ bless him for indulging this. ... or shame on him, either way ]

[ —but you know, he's probably seen howard nod off once or twice. now he has this horrid vision of him conking tf out, hitting his head on the table and getting paint everywhere.. so without further ado, john begins with applying some of it. he's definitely no artist and he has a time limit but he still kind of wants it to not look like complete garbage, okay. ]

Okay, I will. Just.. [ hng. ] Focus, or talk, 'bout somethin' excitin' for you or whatever. I dunno.

[ just a few minutes!! look, he's already switching colors. ]

You're too kind.

[It's hard to tell if that's sarcastic or not.]

[The paint is weird and cool and sticky on his skin, and a couple times in between strokes he wrinkles his nose, uncertain of how he feels about it. He tries his best to stay still, though. Even though he's reluctant to do this, it seems to make John happy.]

[And he hardly wants to do anything that will ruin this for John.]

Have you ever had this done? To yourself, I mean.

[ sarcastic or not, john does puff up ]

[ and- ah. a question that stirs memories ]

Hm.. Maybe when I was younger, at a county fair or somesuch. Oh, but my lil' sister! [ ... that should be enough, really. my little sister. he elaborates: ] One time, she got her hands on this face paintin' kit, and it was all the rage for 'bout an hour. Y'know, just how kids are 'bout new things. But I swear, she probably used that whole thing on me...

[ lalala, rinsing that paint brush in some near cup of water, changing colors again.. this time there's more fluid strokes; other than that, it might be a mystery of what's happening here. he seems to be carefully—by giving it a wide berth—painting around howard's eyes now. ]

I wonder what she painted on you. It sounds like she had fun.

[While he has no close family of his own, it's always nice to hear about the adventures and misadventures of John's large family. There's something so inviting about it, open, like in a way, he's a part of it just through the myriad stories John has to tell.]

[And...what in the world is he doing? Howard's mouth twists into a frown.]

...You're not turning me into a racoon, are you?

Oh, I have no idea. Heck, I don't even think she had a clue after all that... It was mess. [ spoken with fondness, despite the objective fact that ruthie's generally a terror.

at the prompting, along with that frown, john does pull back the brush for a moment. crap, is he starting to look like a raccoon here, that's a good question-- ]

[ ... ]

I can't spoil you 'bout that. [ he further hesitates. ] What's your favorite color, anyway? 'Sides you likin' black...

...Purple.

[Of freakin' course it's purple.]

Green isn't half bad, either. Dark colors are rather eye-catching, especially...

[Now he's even more curious to find out what Steinbeck's up to. Though he can't quite see where his favorite color might be fitting in to this whole face painting plan.]

...What's your favorite color, John?

Yeah, green's the best! And red, too.

[ ah, good thing there was another option there besides "green," as that one has yet to be restored to art supplies. or to a lot of things. john's not bitter about that, not at all.

he goes in for that purple paint, though. ]

[ annnd a few seconds later— ]

Finished!

[ grinning, john picks up a nearby mirror, holding it out for howard to take a look.

apparently, largely contained to the upper half of his face, john's drawn some large, blooming flowers. they're mostly monochromatic, but now with splashes of purple color. it's apparent he doesn't have any expertise relating to the natural contours of the face (particularly the sharpness of howard's), but hey, he does have the details of plants put to memory.

tbh it looks pretty... weird. ymmv. ]

...

[Oh.]

[He wasn't expecting flowers. He reaches up, as if to touch them, before he reconsiders and lets his hand fall back to his lap.]

They're purple...

[He turns his head this way and that, trying to get all the angles of it, before he settles his lidded look back onto the cheerful, bright face of the other man.]

It's not bad. [He lets the words sink in, and then adds:] Maybe I won't be so eager to wash my face after this, after all...

[ oh! ]

Not bad, really? [ all right, even if john's a teensy proud of his handiwork in the face of it being objectively Not Amazing, he certainly didn't expect the statement that follows. ... it's actually pretty flattering. there's a chuckle: ] Reckon I could be the next Claude Monet??

[ pls. ]

Edited (words) 2017-10-26 01:37 (UTC)

Really, really.

[Is his hand wandering to the brush that John just put down? It sure is.]

Hm. Practice does make perfect. [He slides the containers of paint over to himself.] May I, John...?

[You're not the only one getting away scott free here, John.]

Edited 2017-10-26 01:45 (UTC)

[ oh my god, john shakes his a little head at that, amused. and then it's a simple feat to guess at what's occurring here, what with that methodical gathering of art supplies. after a moment of false contemplation, he lifts his shoulders in a shrug: ]

Sure. Practice does make perfect, and fair is fair...

[ etc. ]

[ can't be worse than a little sibling painting. probably? but anyway, it's john's turn to lean forward. immediate downsides of him as a palette: talkative, probably way too smiley. ]

[He has to think on what to paint, for a moment, before he languidly dips his brush in the red paint before he slowly outlines something over and around John's right eye.]

I'm not a painter. A pen's more for me.

[Still doesn't seem like it's stopping him, though.]

Don't move, if you can.

[ john blinks-- he seems pretty for serious about this. and it's true: the paint feels strange once applied. his eyebrows almost reactively raise at the coolness of it, but then he recalls that instruction. ]

Ohhkay. [ beat. ] ... Any other rules? I don't got any, myself.

[ also known as, he's free to take his time with that. ]

...I don't think I have any other rules. Though you should keep talking.

[The edge of his mouth moves upward - a momentary smirk.]

You don't want me to fall asleep while doing this either, do you?

[Just imagine, just a line straight down John's face and onto his clothes from a dropped brush held by a narcoleptic face painter. A funny mental image, though probably not one John would be happy about.]

[ —no, no he doesn't quite want that.

john's eyes widen briefly at the mental image, glancing to the side and then back to howard (there isn't any movement of his head there, no worries). honestly, it's a pretty real card to draw. ]

Is that the secret to keepin' you awake? I mean, for others, just hearin' someone drone on is enough to have 'em snore...

Edited 2017-10-26 14:48 (UTC)

No. It's actually quite rare, when there's someone who can talk to me for long periods of time that won't make me doze off.

[He's reaching for the yellow paint now, and gives a shrug.]

You simply have a voice I don't mind listening to.

[ ah. ]

[ that' not the answer he expected to hear, not really. usually, it might just give him pause accompanied by some polite acknowledgment. instead, it's him getting stuck on the word rare; his thoughts flashing to the lovecraft and wondering if he'd think a similar thing of steinbeck. he ends up staring a second longer than he intends. --but, no, it's not that big of deal.

it doesn't matter. howard's shrug even reminds him of that. ]

... That's good. [ lamely, lord. and oop, he needs to keep talking. that's the point. um, ] I'm guessin' you won't tell me what you're doodlin', huh.

[ he's seen red and yellow... he hopes it's at least a hammer and sickle and not mcd's ]

[He smiles, briefly - it's a strange expression on his thin, pale face, but it's genuine all the same.]

It's a surprise.

[He lets out a him, spreading yellow away from where he had just put red. His brush moves over his forehead, his nose, his cheek, just lines coming out from...whatever it is.]

I'm sure you'll like it. I hope you will.

[He needs this to be perfect! Or as perfect as he can make it, anyways.]

Those're some lofty words...

[ a contemplative remark, complete with a light laugh. but, nah. john has faith?? he thinks.

there's the paint down his face, and john has to resist crinkling his nose at that, too. it tickles. but regardless, howard's smile gets met with a renewed smile of his own. ]

I know you're all 'bout writin', but you ever draw anythin' related to that? [ ... he belatedly realizes he hasn't read as much of howard's work as he'd like. going to silently make a note to himself to fix that... but also, gosh. where is he going with this? he hopes it's not a weird question. ] ... I guess it'd be tough to get a shipwreck just right.

[ or like, precisely get down a horror thing from the imagination. ]

Ah, well, perhaps I am putting too much faith in my artistic abilities...

[The question gets John a quick shake of his head, but after a moment, Howard seems to reconsider.]

Actually, well...maybe a few sketches. Hardly anything to write home about. Like you say, ships and shipwrecks are hard to draw. My attempts have just been random scribbles...

[His shoulders move up and down in a shrug. Finally, he puts the brush down, pulling up the mirror to show John his masterpiece. It seems to be a lopsided sort of red sun shape situated over John's left eye, yellow lines emanating from it to mimic rays of light.]

You said you liked red, so...

[ john thinks to comment on that, maybe correct himself in that he didn't mean to imply that it should have to be stellar in composition— but, ah. he mirror's lifted, and he gets a look at howard's creation. with red and yellow and the direction of the strokes, he probably should've better seen that one coming. and still. a sun, huh... ]

I do. And I do like the sun a lot.

[ his grin becomes wider. ]

Thanks! I'll keep it, too.

I'm glad.

[And really, he actually looks glad, judging by the sheepish smirk that crosses his face. His hands crossing in his lap, he sits there for a moment, staring, before he stands up. Well, they can't stay here forever.]

I guess we're all prepared for Halloween, are we? I can't say we're very scary, but...at least we look nice, don't we...?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OCTOBER TDM

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