NOVEMBER TDM

[recollecters]

TEST DRIVE

NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE The city of Recollé... What do you mean the city's behaving for once? I. The Mayor's growing desperate with Thanksgiving right around the corner as those gosh darn turkeys continue to elude him. The birds that escaped at the beginning of the month continue to wreak havoc over the city as they mingle with the crowds and lay their golden eggs in less than convenient places. However, with the clock counting down to Turkey Day, the birds appear to be a little more aggressive. You may find yourself actively chased out of a shop or your classroom by one of these wild birds gobbling angrily all the way. Perhaps a bird is nesting in the middle of the sidewalk forcing you to take a new path. Or perhaps you've come across one of their golden eggs, but be careful! It doesn't take more than a gentle touch now for these eggs to explode, showering anyone nearby with surprises such as candy, shaving cream, mud, bugs, plastic cars, crayons or other small tokens. Will you attempt to catch the birds to turn them into city hall for the $50 reward? Or are you too busy running around to avoid them? II. Even with the turkeys on rampage, that doesn't damper the holiday season. Citizens from all over the city are preparing for the festivities of the month. Over at Tribunal Terrace several members from various volunteer groups and the Community Center are organizing their small annual Thanksgiving day parade that kicks off the city's potluck dinner. Grocery stores are swamped with shoppers picking up last-minute supplies for their big meals and you may find yourself fighting for that last jar of gravy. Over at the community theater, children prepare for their Thanksgiving pageant and it's a flurry of activity from costumes to rehearsals to last-minute stage preparation before the big day. There's plenty of work to be done whether you're acting in the pageant or working on-set. The theater will need as many volunteers as possible to pull this show off. Granted, there are plenty of things to go wrong in the chaos. One of the parade floats begins to drift away from Tribunal Terrace and rolls down the street on its own leaving volunteers to chase after it and fight off an onslaught of turkeys. Lights blow out in the theater and some wiring and set pieces need to be repaired. And did that person's grocery cart of food just hit your car? Good luck. Are you prepared for your celebrations and willing to help your fellow neighbor? Or are you a last-minute straggler left high and dry? III. Earlier in the month several stores had discounted prices on all things blue and it looks like the prices just keep dropping. With green fully restored to all items in the city, items such as clothing, art supplies and food change prices every hour, on the hour. The city of Recollé knows a good bargain when it sees it and hundreds of people hit the streets to snatch up what stock they can. It's like Black Friday came early and after a while some stores can't even keep up with demand. Maybe you're among the crowd hunting for just the right shade of green for your holiday packages, or perhaps you're some poor sap who got called into work at 6am on your day off to deal with a swarm of customers. No matter who you are though, you will find yourself having to answer the age-old question: which color is better, green or blue? IV. The blue skies have only been back for a few weeks before the gray of winter rolls in again. The wind picks up a little and the ocean crashes against the shore down at Peach Beach. The city grows dark each day beginning at about 4:30pm and the temperature drops little by little. It's on November 18th that residents will find that there's a bit of frost on their windows when they wake up that Saturday. Toward the early afternoon, the first snowfall of the season begins. It's nothing much, mostly flurries that swirl and dance through the air and cause a burst of excitement among people. Some residents may even remember it's very similar to the Founder's Day holiday. Though this won't be the last time it snows in the city, there's something magical about the first sign of winter as fall exits. Get out there and build a tiny snowman or catch snowflakes on your tongue. At least the turkeys seem to retreat from the snow itself. BONUS. Over the course of the month residents will find that the spotty reception they've always had has grown even worse. Static rings out over the line and long-distance calls stop going through. Emails bounce back despite numerous attempts, and don't even think about getting clear audio or video through Skype. No matter how hard one tries, by November 30th it will become incredibly clear that all phone calls, texts, emails and video chats to people outside of the city have been shut down. The internet will continue to function as normal (browse and share those cat videos to your heart's content) and inner-city communication functions just fine. You can try calling your service provider...but who knows if you'll get through? And last but not least in the world of inconveniences, in some instances your calls and emails may be rerouted to fellow Retrospec users. Sorry about that! 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, 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 November TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

Comments

III

[runwaying]

[ NEESAN TO THE RESCUE

ok kind of. this poor kid looks like he's suffering? and arashi is well versed in the art of traversing crowded shopping centres! so Tsukasa is going to feel someone grab onto his wrist tightly and yank him out of the way into a small alcove where there is at least some kind of breathing room.

she's got sunglasses on, so it's probably hard to see the concern. ]

Are you alright?

[stressweets]

[ this was not a gentle rescue at all, and tsukasa wheezes a little more as the breath's pulled out of him. just give him a moment to catch it, his other hand pressed to his chest...

he's being talked to. no, asked something. he should reply. ]

Yes... I think. [ ...he should thank his rescuer! —eeeeeeeuh, this is closer than he'd expect to be (being fair, anything but a foot and a half is "too close" for him), and he steps back a little, then bows. as best he can. ] Um—thank you! I appreciate the help... I wasn't expecting everyone to be so...

[ a weak wave. they're nuts, arashi. ]

[runwaying]

[ well, neesan will probably be more gentle in other ways but when you're one person against the very force of nature that are holiday shoppers, one has to definitely give up gentle rescues in favour of more extreme measures.

he has a heart, okay. ]

You're not used to this. [ it sounds amused, although it's definitely stated matter-of-factly. will we ever know the magic tricks that arashi employs to survive a stampede of holiday shoppers? especially since he's somehow managed to save tsukasa from impending doom despite the massive number of bags that he's holding. ]

It happens~ A sale like this happens only, what, once in a lifetime? ☆ [ MORE OFTEN THAN THAT, ACTUALLY, BUT NEVERMIND. ] If you're not used to it, you might want to sit at a cafe and wait it out before you rejoin the fray~

[stressweets]

[ arashi's so impressive... all of those bags. that magic. the ability to inject audible stars into his speech. he sort of wants to learn how to do that too—that probably isn't important for him though, never mind. his parents wouldn't allow it. ]

I feel like this sort of sale has been going on for a while, actually... [ maybe it's just almost dying getting squished that makes him feel like it's been longer than it actually is. a small sigh. ] I thought it'd be a little less... hectic today, but I was wrong.

[ obviously. ]

A cafe does sound nice though... [ ♫ ] You helped me out, so please allow me to treat you, sir.

[runwaying]

[ arguably, the ability to insert audible stars into his speech is something that is Very Important, but that's a discussion for another time. audible music notes are just as important, though! ]

Since the colours came back, actually. [ said completely casually, like that wasn't a huge world change that just happened? ] So, are you a blue person or a green person?

[ there's only one correct answer here.

and of course, arashi pauses, like he's not used to random offers of being treated to cafes (not really). ] ... Only if you don't call me sir, it makes me feel old and gross. [ another wry smile. ] If anything, I prefer onee-chan.

[stressweets]

[ he's going to learn how to do audible music notes one day and it's going to be terrible.

but... onee-chan?? tsukasa stares at him for a moment, confusion plain on his face, before he rubs the back of his neck and glances away. he shouldn't judge, people can feel more comfortable being referred to any way they want!! but it's still strange—not to mention he doesn't really use japanese unless it's with his family. ]

I don't have a preference for color, actually... [ his eyes are blue so he likes blue, but hinata's eyes are green and he likes hinata, so?? ] And... I don't really like to call anyone onee-chan aside from my actual older sister, so is there something else I could call you instead...?

[ like your name I Guess ]

[runwaying]

Blue would look good on you.

[ the day they join forces and have both audible music notes and also audible stars it's going to be amazing~! kind of. they're both not wataru, thank god

and ah. arashi can't say that he's surprised, or anything of that sort - considering the large japanese population here, he's bound to run into someone who understands what onee-chan means sooner or later. but still, there's no embarrassment there, but there is a pause while arashi looks over tsukasa carefully. that's. fair, he supposes. ]

I don't usually like giving out my name. [ it's said lightly, especially since you never know. crazy fans and the like? but then again tsukasa hasn't shown any kind of recognition and it's noisy enough so. ]

... Arashi.

[stressweets]

[ it'll be marvelous

he can't imagine blue looking that good on him, and he fidgets a little as arashi looks him over. it's not that he isn't used to being looked at—though there's that—it's how careful it is. no one looks him over carefully, like he's being weighted or something.

tsukasa's surprisingly relieved to get a name though, especially after his other comment, and he exhales softly. ]

It's a good name... [ oh, uh— ] Mine's Tsukasa. It's nice to meet you, Arashi.

[ despite circumstances, but that should go without saying. ]