prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .009

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You awaken amidst the darkness with only a faint light to greet you. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. Even the few shy moon creatures you find in the wild have strange crystal growths on their hides. This is far from home— perhaps a dream? You pinch your skin and slap your cheeks, yet nothing seems to do the trick. Searching for answers yields nothing but an endless expanse of purple dust as far as the eye can see. You have four options: one, panic; two, soil yourself; three, admire it all then soil yourself; or four, go into survival mode. Eventually, you’ll realize that you’re not alone.

After a day or two of living off the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. After the strange phenomenon during the past months when scientists observed the sudden appearance of rainbow crystals in the sky, the government has been feverishly combing through the moon for more Moonblessed to be rescued. You’ll eventually be brought into Iris’s moon government center.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? Why did I inhale all those permanent markers in the third grade? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They tell you about their world and about the first appearance of the Moonblessed as the medical staff give you an examination to make sure you’re not carrying any viruses or biological hazards. If you react violently, you may be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. Once the examinations are over, you’re informed that you will be provided accommodations on their planet during your stay.

While waiting for transport to be prepared, you may freely roam around the government center. Eventually you’re called back from exploring, escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the moons and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals. The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ Whip It Good
Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Planet Prismatica, City of Lunatia | top

Welcome to Prismatica’s hub, Lunatia, the city of your dreams! A bustling metropolis lush with bright lights, vibrant colors, luxuriant plant life, and all the conveniences of technology absent from your own world… It seems like paradise to all the uninitiated. After a quick tour of the city, new arrivals can find themselves getting cozy in their new homes.

A Settle in your new home at Level 2 to find new roommates and say hello to your neighbors! City officials will give you directions to the designated districts across Level 2 and instruct you to pick out a unit. Each apartment complex has a different aesthetic, some may look cozy, some stylish, and some bizarre. The free accommodations have a basic living space that can only fit two or three people at most in one unit.

Starter Chromaspace furnishings are provided which can be controlled with the touch of a built-in panel. Examples are color-changing curtains, transforming sofa beds, cabinets turning into tables, etc. Customizing your apartment or moving out will have to wait until you earn more chroma. Until then, why don’t you check out your new neighborhood or explore the city levels? Maybe your new roommates or neighbors can give you a “hand” with allowance for dinner.

B At the Crystarium Moonports is a new family restaurant called Grapplebears, here to serve your favorite dishes from all around the galaxy at affordable prices! The menu ranges from the atomically hot and spicy Chamakshalan curry rice, delectable dragonsaur steak served with mashed space-tatoes, to the sweet and creamy Lunatian milkshakes that bring all the boys to the yard, all prepared by their handsome and huggable bear crew.

As you might have noticed, the restaurant staff is a ragtag group with members from planets unknown to both Prismals and Moonblessed. The waiters and waitresses in particular are tall, muscular, leather-clad bears who take your order by whipping you with a special riding crop that compels you to bark out your order — but only if you ask to be, of course! They might induce you to reveal other unrelated interests so make sure you’re not thinking about anything embarrassing!

If you chat up the staff or customers, you learn more about the restaurant’s origins. The bears say their planets* were also wiped by the Calamity hundreds of years ago, and life for them has been difficult for them since then…

*Further information about these planets is unavailable at this time.

▶ Night of the Living Dummy
City of Lunatia | top

The last vestiges of Geistnacht have officially passed and the first chilly autumn breeze ushers in the new season. The city is awash in giant piles of browning leaves that decorate every walkway.

A To deal with the mass collection of fallen leaves, many buildings across the city have been retrofitted with a new disposal system to help clean up. A sprawling network of automated vacuum tubes around the city will efficiently suck all those pesky leaves right up. While children love playing inside and using them to “teleport” around Lunatia, they have also been known to spontaneously suck up anyone who’s not too careful. You may find yourself falling on some hapless bystander on their afternoon walk, or crammed in a tube with your new neighbors. Lunar Scientia officials warn everyone to be careful of where you walk, else you might need to crawl your way to sweet freedom.

B A pop-up shop in Level 1 is attracting much of the locals' attention, run by a peddler who speaks in a low, elongated hiss and wears a hood over his face. He assures you that his face is of no consequence. What is more important is his selection of wares! In contrast to his cloaked, enigmatic appearance, his travel cart is a Barbie pink explosion of frills, hearts, glitter. He will tell all visitors he comes from the Valley of the Crimson Serpents, which Prismals and older Moonblessed arrivals find odd. Wasn’t the Sanguis moon uninhabitable?

Among the peddler’s wares are adorable, wide-eyed and heavily perfumed dolls in all sorts of clothes a child dreaming of rainbows and tea parties could ever ask for. Hug and squeeze a doll, and you will be greeted by a pre-recorded voice telling you how they’re your bestest friend ever. It’s like they were made for lovin’ you! But if you look away for one moment, you can almost swear you hear a snake’s hiss, its long tongue licking the shell of your ear… The next time you see the doll, its body will be in a slightly different position or location. Is it… following you? Fortunately, a minimal amount of moonlacing will make it leave you alone. You can wait it out too, but why would you?

Destroy a doll and it will later reappear wherever you are when you least expect it, good as new, but leaking from their porcelain heads is a strange pink, glitter-covered liquid. The peddler calls it the “love juice” giving the doll an extra dose of affection for you.

▶ Bird is the Word
Level 2, Greatmoon Groves | top

As autumn paints Lunatia with its golden hues, pumpkin decorations and desserts are now in vogue. This is thanks to Chroma-infused pumpkin seeds, which allow them to rapidly grow in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors. The Moonblessed are invited to visit one of the largest pumpkin patches in the city housed within the Greatmoon Groves, where they can enjoy the sight of oversized, colorful neon and sparkling semi-phallic pumpkins, expertly carved to greet you with their buck-toothed smiles.

A The pumpkin patch is full of toddler-sized creatures called hugbugs. When they are not tending to the pumpkins, they follow the Moonblessed around, requesting hugs and treats in exchange for their obedience.

Reward them and they will do simple errands for you and give you compliments. They will also be your personal hype men, talking up your strengths, talents, and physical assets to all those special someones you’re trying to impress. Once you earn their trust, they will be your friends for life!

Ignore them, hurt them, or bully them, and they will cry and place a curse upon you, reducing your self-esteem to nothing and magically forcing you to cry along with them. The effects of the curse may last for up to a week if you’re not careful! But how could you do such a thing? The hugbugs are sensitive and want somebody to love.

B If you manage to survive your encounter with the hugbugs, you are welcome to join in on the Prismal knitting group and enjoy creating your own fanciful scarf made of Galadrian thread, which is known for its bright, golden sheen and aromatic properties. Give it to a friend or wear it yourself, and you will notice a strange ability to attract animals and insects of all kinds. Live out your Disney Princess fantasy! Or a Hitchcockian nightmare. It’s all a matter of perspective as a whole flock of honking birds comes bounding towards you.

▶ Questions
If you have any questions regarding this test drive meme, please ask them in the Questions thread below.

▶ As a reminder, test drive memes are for new characters only. However, current players are more than welcome to use these prompts for their own posts in the IC communities, personal inboxes, catch-all posts, etc.!
▶ As our test drive memes are game canon, feel free to keep any threads that happen here as canon for your character should they be accepted.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ah. A little too much to ask, then.]

Then I won't push it. Sounds like a rough condition to be in.

[Engie smiles. Look, he's a curious guy, but he's not a complete asshole.]

Reignin' in time, though... your Winston friend sounds like a fine genius. You gotta keep that on all the time, then?

Mmm..

_{[ Gintoki makes a low, disgruntled noise. None of this makes sense, but he's willing to accept it. After all, it's partially a dream come true. Partially. If only Shinpachi and Kagura were here! They would get a kick out of this. Or rather, Gintoki would get a kick out of them interacting with characters like this. You know, recording it on his cellphone. True dad mode.

"And here's a picture of them with P*ccolo! Don't blow up any of the three moons, P*ccolo!" ]}

Is that what you think, huh? Someone brought us here?

_{[ Maybe Keigo is referring to just here on Lunatia, but Gintoki means this alternate world altogether. ]}

You don't think it's the afterlife or something weird like that?

_{[ Oh, my god. Thank goodness that is over. He doesn't want this to lead into the same Kakashi fate.
Speaking of Kakashi, that's someone he'd love to meet. He'd love to buy him a drink. ]}

Aaaa, yeah.. it's--it's just how things go with me. The gorilla mangaka loves parody. Honestly, I think it's what made our ratings go up. The more parody, the better. That's why we were always at risk at getting cancelled. I'm sure of it.

_{[ Kick the meta down a notch, Gin. ]}

D—Don't worry too much about it, Itachi-samaaaa. Your secrets are safe with me.

_{[ Maybe he's said too much. ]}

[ Complete obliteration?! Oh no!! She's about to react when...

He does that and she gawks at him. That was smoother than she expected, though... and once the tall man is standing before her, she shakes her head. ]

No, no! Don't blow them up!! If you do, they'll keep returning... over and over, with more of that shining liquid on them.

[ And, erm. It looks like whatever Riou has done is coming back to literally haunt them, because now there are dolls coming in for hugs, glittering with their love goo and she lets out a troubled sound as she quickly grabs his wrist. ]

We have to get out of here! You've just made them come back for more!!

[ Though, her action seems to make them stop and "stare" as it were. They're not moving all of a sudden? ]

Why did they stop...?

[But Grimm, we can't see your eyes now!]

I see... well then, Grimm, my name is Daniel Dickens, but you're welcome to call me "Danny" if you like.

[Does Grimm accept handshakes? Because Danny is offering his hand out now to do so.]

[Interesting. Danny would like to see them, but only if Caster is interested in sharing and he will offer polite nods upon doing so, but upon the question being asked--]

Ah, yes, that's right. Though, while I do have experience in surgery and medical examinations, my primary field is in therapy and counseling. [Danny finally sets back down the hugbug that he had picked up for the time being, before holding out a hand to Caster to shake.]

My name is Daniel Dickens, but you're free to call me "Danny" if you'd like.

( it definitely might have been the ideal if the ribika weren't slowly starving to death and dying out because of the twin effort of the sickness and the void. and not to mention all of the monsters prowling the forests of the island. but how is poor mika to know that? he just thinks cats are cute! it was a sweet thought nonetheless.

it was difficult to think about unforeseen ramifications of something when one is set to focus on the problem immediately in front of them. right now, that problem was asato being stuck in the tube, and they had fixed it! but that opened up the new problem of the suction that got them trapped in here in the first place now carrying them to its inevitable end. all asato can think is that mika had seemed so much smaller and more delicate, and so he had reached out to pull him closer, so he could try to protect him. asato was not a bulky cat, despite his height, but he was tough; he could weather the rest of their trek through this tunnel.

eventually they are spat out the other end with an almost comical thunk; they sail through the air and then land, blessedly, in the relatively soft pile of leaves gathered up by the tube. asato still emits a grunt as they land, but it wasn't nearly so bad as it would have been if it were concrete. he is slowly separating from mika just as the boy finishes the job by pushing away from him; he can see how red his face is... and he feels a little guilty, even if he thinks he looks really cute, embarrassed like that. )

Mm... ( the sound is noncommittal. he rolls over into a sitting position. he feels a little sore, and his tail aches from where it had gotten crunched in one of the last turns through the tube. but he could be much worse. ) I will be okay. ( he turns a critical eye onto mika. ) Are you hurt?

[On the contrary, he's spent a lot of energy un-crystalizing his living space. He doesn't hate them, he just gets enough of them by going outside.]

Most people call them apartments, since it's a whole bunch of living spaces under the same roof.

[You know, like an inn, but you own the rooms.]

Oh, about what you'd expect. Standard fare.

[He walks up to a panel near the divider between the living space and the kitchen. With a swipe, it activates and slides out of the wall a few inches. Larry gestures to it in invitation.]

The whole thing is totally customizable to your liking. Care to give it a spin?

[You thought he was going to get her into bed as fast as possible? No, he fully intends to Be The Tutorial right now. The sex comes later. In theory.]

Just--don't go too crazy. It costs money. [He giggles.]

( his eyes gradually focus; the streak of bright red that ends in the small pool of blood on the concrete was startling, especially considering asato had done it himself with his foolishness and lack of care. he shrinks back and away, using his renewed composure to detangle completely from the stranger and pick himself up off the ground. he crouches, folded up into a tiny ball with his knees hugged tight to his chest. his big, blue eyes watch her anxiously.

he would reach out to try to help her up, but he's afraid -- an innate fear of physical retribution that has been baked into his psyche. the demand is far easier for him to parse and follow through with. asato's hands wordlessly move to the collar of his shirt; he unwinds and removes his scarf, offering out to her the tattered dark article of clothing.

it was certainly well-worn, but not filthy or anything. certainly fit to absorb blood. )

Here.

Can't remember it, so can't really say!

[ She chinhands on the bar and sips some more, looking a bit wishful thinking about her best bud. ]

Not all the time! Prototypes yeah, couldn't take it off, but we worked it out! I can take it off, sleep without it, shower without it.

( sometimes the truth is harsher than anything one wants to hear.

if leaks had told him the truth, would he have believed him? would his brain have retained the information, even though it was something difficult to hear and to hold, simply because of the finality of it? asato could say that he never knew why the cats of kira hated him so, but that would be a bald lie. they had always been so honest in their loathing. it was his blood, tainted with that of the cursed meigi. it was his body, having been wrapped in the flesh of a monster upon birth. it was his mother, who had betrayed them for the enemy. it was his father, for being one of them.

he knew it, and yet he forces himself to not think about it. they have to be wrong. his parents committed taboo, yes, but that didn't make him a monster. the rumors of his birth were simply that: rumors fabricated to hurt him.

right? )

...No. ( he doesn't like to be lied to, even as he lies to himself.

he is free of his prison of yarn now, though he still feels entangled -- captured in the presence of this cat. his dark blue eyes narrow. ) You are still a cat. ( and that's what he means, even if leaks no longer wants to associate with the species that killed the only person he had ever loved. even bereft many of his emotions, he couldn't completely separate from that...

he can sense leaks isn't lying. and yet, he doesn't want to believe it. it makes no sense. if he hates konoe so much for such a nebulous reason, wouldn't he hate a cat so dedicated to him? and why on earth would he want that cat to hate him?

his gaze looks up to the string. his jaw sets, and his ears flatten. he doesn't like the feeling of feeling tempted, played with, especially in a conversation such as this. )

You... want to be hated? Is that why you did what you did?

( the sickness and the void... it was enough for any cat to hate him. they all suffered so much. )

( it's a simple, juvenile, and largely useless term, yes, but asato has to work with what he has; it works enough for him to differentiate between people who openly loathe him and who would like to harm him versus people who... wouldn't want to do that. yes, that's just how low his bar is. there is certainly so much more to bardo than what asato can sense, but a lot of it doesn't seem to matter past the most basic and tangible layer: he's nice to him. so he must be nice, right?

it's so much easier to work with assumptions like that.

his shoulders round and his ears droop at the reply. even if bardo was over-exaggerating just to elicit this kind of response, well... asato hadn't picked up on that. he's just shrinking into a remarkably small, yarn-covered ball for a six-foot-tall cat, his dark blue eyes flicking between bardo and the disapproving eyes of the sewing circle participants a short distance away. )

Sorry...

( not that bardo was the one that seemed upset, but it felt important to impress that none of this had been intentional or malicious. he just... had felt the urge. that overwhelming feline urge...

bardo's wide smile is incongruous with how he feels; it causes him to cant his head again, another loop of yarn falling from one of his ears to his shoulder. he's... pretty sure someone told him, but he's also certain he's forgotten. it sounded so complicated. it always does... even when konoe had tried to explain money to him. )

I didn't even know how to pay for things in Ransen... ( he admits it with some shame, his chin basically at his clavicle, his dark complexion growing a few shades ruddy. )

[She shrugs in response to the question of destruction.]

Nothing about their breathing, heartbeats or scent changed from when they were giving information easily proven true versus when they were speaking of the rest.

[Which doesn't mean that it's definite fact, but it does mean they were probably not lying.]

Why behave like a tantruming child when people are telling the truth as they understand it?

[As for his other question...]

At least one other...I suspect there may be a few more who are half human or very similar to us. You were just right there with no one else close by, so it was easier to identify.

Hmmm...you may call it a tiresome thing.

[The tone of their voice is completely neutral and the look on their face is even more neutral than the tone of their voice is. Still it is somewhat pleasant to see another Heroic Spirit here. To know that they haven't been the only one summoned into this strange, crystal world.

Finally they move to lift the hugbug and show it to the other.]

It looks better without clothes, don't you think? It seems to be quite comfortable wearing its own fur. [Apparently the hugbug takes that moment to drop the doll and wrap its arms around Enkidu's waist instead.] This creature does not dislike you, it merely wants to be touched and embraced. You have forced it into clothes.

[They are absolutely not judging the other. Every word is spoken calmly. Also, they don't really mind the weight around their waist and just stand there with a hugbug stuck to them.]

( "incredibly directly" is really the only way asato can think to describe anything. he is hopeless at social graces and subtleties; the vast majority of them go flying over his head. he has such a hard time understanding things about the world around him and other people that he explains everything as frankly as he can, not wanting to be understood or disliked because of that.

and if it just happens to appear as "cute," well, it's a welcome by-product. )

Milk? ( one of his ears flicks back in confusion. ) What... kind?

( listen, he's not so stupid he doesn't know what it is, but they don't have domesticated animals in sisa. he has a lot of questions suddenly. )

( they stand at a vital crossroads here, because one further misunderstanding between this cat and this robot will end up with asato trying to tug canti's television-like head off of his shoulders.

he watches him very carefully as he pantomimes; asato mirrors him, raising his hands in similar triangular formation to his own head -- to rest directly over his own catlike ears. oh! it's right around the time that the image of the cat face is appearing on canti's screen that he gets it. ) Oh. My ears? And... cat?

( asato recognizes that the animal on the screen is probably a cat... but he's never seen one of their four-legged ancestors depicted like that. only a few weird drawings in the books in the library. how strange, how eldritch...

the ribika's eyes blink owlishly as the words begin to appear in rapid succession. it's fortunate that the odd magical power of this place blessed him with the ability to read at all; left to his own devices, he would have been completely up shit creek here. ) Strange... No. This is how I always am. I am a cat.

( now it's his turn to pantomime the box-like screen on canti's head. )

Does your head feel strange?

[ Just what was she saying? Giyuu doesn't have it in him to take her very seriously. Try as he might to ignore it, the way she made eyes at the bears has confounded him. Was it even worth answering? Taking a short, short glance at the one mentioned, Giyuu shakes his head. ]

Everyone sees you.

[ Which wouldn't be far from the truth. With how much food she had ordered, that would have been a given. But it's in how much she's managed to eat that really draws the attention of onlookers. Giyuu glares at a few of them before they turn away and leave the two hashira to their business. Which leaves him with nothing to do but sit beside her. When he does, there's a pause in which he considers what to ask her. There was so much to start with. ]

...have you had any difficulties yet?

[Lovecraft...]

Well, uh, you could read a book. Learn to make art. Learn to fish, I could teach you that. Try lots of sweet stuff you haven't tried before - and, ah! You could learn to bake! I'm sure you'd like that.

(( It only takes a fraction of a second for Song Lan’s senses to sharpen. He’s been tossed about on night-hunts before now (admittedly, getting sucked into a vacuum tube was completely out of his realm of experience). His eyes fly wide at the too-familiar features he sees now that he isn’t spinning: the dark robs, the merciless eyes, the fall of hair around his face.

Eight years. That’s how long he spent in the thrall of this monster. Eight years he remembers. Eight years during which his hatred burned.

I have to warn Xingchen, flies through his mind. If Xue Yang is here, too, Xingchen is in danger. Even if he and other cultivator parted on poor terms… He can’t live with himself if he looks the other way.

He knows he can’t give Xue Yang a chance to speak, so he does the only thing he can while trying to disentangle himself from the other: Zichen clenches his fist while he squirms and drives it squarely into Xue Yang’s face. ))

Please calm down. . .

[ She raises her hands almost placatingly. She's just an innocent teenager that has done absolutely nothing wrong.

Regarding to this matter, anyway. ]

I assume you are new, right?

...

[...]

...

[...]

...Um... did you sew weights into it, Tanaka-kun? Like, as part of a training exercise?

[Her nose wrinkles as the alluring flowery scent reaches her nostrils. It is, without any doubt a pleasant fragnance. However, Ysayle's current situation was the direct result of an encounter with a shady but nice smelling individual. There was no way she was going to trust another one of that sort so easily, especially after this impressive display of magic she was not familiar with.

She glares coldly at the magus.]

And who might you be?

(( Huaisang isn’t wrong. While he’d know the Nie name, Huaisang is not someone he’s heard of (perhaps a good thing? Song Lan didn’t trouble himself with idle gossip). Chifeng-zun, that’s a name he knows. Zichen salutes in turn, brightening in a subtle way. ))

I had the honor of meeting Chifeng-zun once.

(( But wait… Did Huaisang refer to him in the past tense? ))

Has something happened to your esteemed brother?

(( Sorry, being a wandering cultivator and then a corpse for so long, he hasn’t kept up on the news. ))

Hmm... Why don't you tell me about where you're from, then? Are you familiar with humans?

Ja, if that's the case then there's no need to rush home. I'm sure the people here will appreciate whatever assistance you can provide them!

[Flippant as always, but hey, there are probably some more corrupt nobles for Yuri to take out or something. It'll be fiiiine.

...]

Thank you, though. You didn't have to tell me any of that. I appreciate that you did.

[It's still light, but it's nowhere near as aggressively carefree as he usually is. So there's some truth in it, at least.]

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▶ TDM .009

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behold my field of fucks, lay thine eyes upon it and see that it is barren! (PFFF U ARE CUTE)

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wow rude

whip it good - a

Prince of Scarfness

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