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

Nope! Just two minutes! [So, basically forever.]

So much for that.

[She knew this wouldn't end any differently than her own attempts, but that didn't stop her from hoping. She was rooting for you, Yan Qing, she really was. And unfortunately, she doesn't even know what a cultivator is, and her grasp on exorcisms is pretty shaky. If she's ever met one, she sure wasn't aware of it.]

Proposal: Return to the seller and ask him for advice.

[She looks over at her Pod with surprise. Can she just....... do that? Just go up to him and make him tell her how to fix this? Surely, it can't be that easy.]

You think that'll be of any help?

Well excuse the fuck outta me for bein' tired of everyone's bullshit!

[He didn't know why he stopped. He could have easily gone to his room and waited out Lewin until the man got tired of it and left, or better yet - left himself and gone to find Kohaku.

But he stopped, hand on the handle of his door, gripping it once again with enough force to cause damage. He felt his eyes burning even as he squeezed them shut, so, so tired of never being able to please anyone.

He just wanted to be left alone.]

If you really wanted to, you woulda done it already, so don't sit there with that asshole grin like you're gonna scare me with threats.

[ Ah fuck now she let that spill. Well. If they're already bickering, what's one more topic in the pile, right? H-Haha...ha...ha...

Sakura doesn't elaborate, but she nods. And she listens to the rest of what Rin has to say, fiddling with the ends of her sleeves. ]

I think we might need to sit down and sort this out more, later, but, one more question...are you doing alright? I know the stress fighting can take on you, or anyone else.

[ big sis 8( ]

(ooc; trigger warning for potential imagery & discussion of eye gore, suicide, death. )

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY: A

[ at the moment of waking here, to panic had been his first instinct. the world remained dark, unfamiliar but what he remembered - what turns his stomach even now - is the memory of those last few moments before shuanghua's blade slid smoothly along his throat.

but he's not dead, or if he is, this is a peculiar afterlife to find himself in.

once released from the government facilities, he is left to get familiar and while he cannot appreciate the sights of this foreign place the sounds and smells are guidance enough for the moment. his steps are even, despite the slight tremor he hides by folding his hands inside his sleeves.

is being here a punishment? is he intended to atone? and if so, how?

though xiao xingchen is no stranger to solitude, he's not in the right frame of mind for it — this place, thankfully, is distraction enough. maybe it is the shock of being alive, knowing what he knows now - or perhaps it is something else entirely that keeps him going as he explores the area, feeling the autumn breeze.

while he has been sufficiently nimble and aware of his surroundings to avoid getting sucked into the automated vacuum tubes around, there is not enough space for him to move when one of said tubes decide to yeeeeeet someone in his direction.

oh no. ] Oh!

BIRD IS THE WORD: B

[ he cannot see the phallic looking pumpkins but he can touch them — calloused digits tracing the edges as he makes his way around the pumpkin patch.

at some point, he ends up in a knitting group — it is a little more complicated than mending baskets to use at the market but xiao xingchen is patient. after a few tries he manages to make something, though it is declared unsatisfactory by one of the other participants.

before he knows what is happening, he has been gifted a scarf and then the first bird arrives.

followed by another. and another - and oh, xiao xingchen is blind but he can feel the rustling of feathers around him, the chirps and honks and, he's clearly the disney princess in this scenario, surrounded by birds, one of which is poking at the white sash he wears over his eyes. ]

Please be careful...

If you're just gonna repeat things, at least pick something more interesting.

[He squints a little at the vampire, as best as he can from beneath the brim of his hat. He seems a little put off, somehow, that he didn't take the offer of help getting up. So apparently vampires have manners? This vampire does, anyway.

He should probably stop making assumptions about vampires. Seems like he keeps getting them wrong.]

Is that why you're out in the sun? 'Cause you're the opposite. Do you turn into dust at nighttime, instead?

People don't usually like being seen that way.

[ and yet, here he is, telling him that it's amazing and offering to show him around instead of making up some excuse to escape. ryuu is... sweet, the rare sort of kind that ought to be long extinct and yet. kogami feels comfortable around him despite himself, because it's difficult to be too suspicious of anyone who's practically an open book. ryuu is easy, comfortable company in ways that kogami prefers right now -- complex agendas just have to take a backseat. ]

But I'd like that. [ he adds, fishing out a cigarette from a half-empty pack. before he lights up, however, he has the presence of mind to actually be polite about it this time around. ] You don't mind?

[ the smoke, he means. he's in dire need of nicotine. ]

[ Jotaro catches on really quick. Then again, Josuke already knows he's smart as hell, and seems to be a walking encyclopaedia sometimes. That's how he sees the Jotaro he knows, anyway. It comes as no surprise that he was sharp in his youth as well. ]

I had a fever that lasted for 50 days. My mom had to drive through a blizzard to get me to the hospital, but they still couldn't help me. Was four at that time. [ Though he was four, his memories of that time are strikingly vivid -- slipping in and out of consciousness as the snow smacked against the car window, the face and hairstyle of the mysterious boy who saved him, watching the doctor's puzzled expressions as they checked his charts, his mother's worried expression and the few times he's seen her cry ... ]

We never found out the cause of it, until, well, you came and told me years later.

Nah, I'm not threatening you. I'm just making sure you know exactly where you stand.

[Only some of that makes any sense to Itachi. Ratings... He's a performer for sure. Movies, perhaps? He'd never had time for those. Or stage plays. It's possible he did reenactments of Akatsuki's battles. Such things could be entertaining for the general public, though he'd never heard of any himself. That, or he's somehow obtained information about him from his time in this place. There could be records somewhere.

He doesn't care for the latter option much at all.

His eyes have remained narrowed this entire time as he tries to take all of this in without appearing too baffled. Now the red leaves them and they return to their natural dark gray. He's on edge, but he can't afford to waste the energy by maintaining the Sharingan full time in this place.]

...You have me at a disadvantage. I'm not sure whether or not I should consider you a threat, and I don't know your name.

Fine. Your blood is filthy sewage.

[Alucard lets out an amused snort at the questioning.] Not precisely. My situation is a unique and rare one indeed.

But it doesn't concern you, vampire hunter. Simply know I've no desire to have anyone's blood. Mortals will be safe from my touch.

Though perhaps you should seek out contact in due time. That is how it works here, after all.

Where I actually stand and where you think I stand are really different places, sir.

[He barely manages to say it without seething, but surprisingly it actually does get him to calm down some. He's still pissed, frankly a bit emotionally bruised, and really does not want Lewin anywhere near his home let alone in it yet the door is less slammed and more firmly closed when he finally goes to his room.]

...It wasn't just me.

[Fifty days. What a terrible, awful, unusually specific number. Fifty days is the exact length of their trip. It's also exactly how long Avdol gave his mother to live.

It's kind of strange to think about, isn't it. Avdol gave her fifty days, and if Josuke is correct, she's still alive. Which means she lived the whole fifty days, right? And he'd said no more than, which means it could've been less. It could've been less than fifty days, except that it turned out to be exactly fifty. Exactly as long as it took him to get to Cairo and kill Dio.

It could have been less, but it wasn't. That means that all that time, his mom was at home fighting, too. Fighting to give him every second of time that she could, to save her. And Josuke, in the hospital, in a blizzard, did, too.

But somehow, it feels wrong to take all of (any of) the credit for that. Not when he wouldn't have been able to do it at all if he hadn't known the secret of Dio's Stand, and he wouldn't have had that without —]

I barely did anything. The guys I was with, they're the ones who saved your life. Not me.

Did you say "my blood"? Because I think you mean "your breath".

[WHERE IS AVDOL TO SUPPLY A COOL ONE-LINER WHEN HE NEEDS HIM oh right he's dead um. wow. that. puts a damper on things, huh.]

What do you mean, how it works here?

O'rhok's taken hits before, he's built and trained to do so! He has a split-second to turn his face and keep his teeth, but the blow to his jaw is punishing nonetheless. It pulls something, cracks something? And he takes the fall just to give himself the precious moment to take stock and evaluate. Deduction? Ow.

But not out! he drops, then he rolls and takes a kick at Inosuke's knee, hoping to knock his leg out from under him. From kick to kneel, one arm up to defend himself and the other in a fist to swing if he gets an opening.

A shimmer of yellow chroma is working up his shoulder and neck to thread around his jaw. He's no healer, but a patch is better than nothing.

Goodness, do you argue with children? I suppose you must one yourself.

[god it's like trevor 2.0 smh]

Did no one explain anything to you?

I remember the doctors saying some stuff before they electrocuted the shit out of me.

[It's mostly a lie. He listened to the explanation, because any information is better than no information. It's just that also at the time it was pretty obviously The Work Of An Enemy Stand™, and thus worthy of disregard.]

After that I was kind of preoccupied with the part about them electrocuting the shit out of me.

[ It's enough motivation for Akutagawa. He's not a man who's spurred by money or status. His ambitions are quite specific. He has a tendency to fixate on his goal, placing his whole being into making sure it comes to fruition. Although his overall objective is to receive his mentor's approval, Akutagawa also endeavors to show his superiority over Atsushi. He's already competitive with the man-tiger back in their world, so this is very familiar and probably the push Akutagawa needs to succeed.

Disappoint him? The urge to roll his eyes is strong, but he controls himself. As if he'll appear weak before his adversary again.]

I won't give you the satisfaction, jinko.

[ Akutagawa turns on his heels, preparing to go his separate way. There's nothing more he needs to say to Atsushi, but he's sure their paths will inevitably cross again.]

[ YES, REALLY, AWKWARD CONVERSATIONS ARE ALWAYS THE BEST TIME FOR TEA!!!!!!!!!

Ahem.

Archer shrugs. ]

I have questions. It appears you may have some of the answers. I'd rather not discuss such things out in the open, but if you would prefer to wait, that's fine.

[ She did just arrive, after all. ]

Edited 2019-11-14 04:27 (UTC)

Pretty sure you all did.

[ He knows the gist of things but not the nitty-gritty, mainly because the Jotaro he knows doesn't seem to open up easily about personal matters, and he just never brought it up in conversation with his old dad. It sounded like an epic journey that ended in both triumph and some tragedy. He does wish he had asked more now. ]

Realising now that I never thanked Mr. Jotar -- you or your friends. [ There was just too much to process at that time that it didn't occur to him. In the span of a few months, his normal life had overturned completely. He went from being a highschooler with a Stand who just going about their daily life, to suddenly having a dad and a nephew, suddenly having other friends with stands, suddenly being thrown into one battle after another, suddenly having to stop a serial killer ... Even in Lunatia, he and the older Jotaro fell into such a routine normalcy that the conversation doesn't come up. ]

Thanks for -- doing all that, even if you weren't doing it for me. I've had a great life so far. [ He's so loved, he has so many people that he loves, and if he had died at 4, he wouldn't have had any of these fantastic experiences. ]

Oh? And what did you do to aggravate them to the point of electrocution?

[yeah he not buying that]

[Emerald had told him once that the dead could show up in this place. At the time, he had only considered what he would do if a certain boozehound from his past resurfaced (to which he quickly decided the answer was "kill him as many times as it takes for him to stay dead"). The revival of Pyrrha Nikos hadn't really crossed his mind, but as he hears a passingly familiar voice, as his eyes catch sight of a more-than-passingly familiar figure power-walking away from a doll (???) it's time again to consider: what does he do? He's not a total idiot - he takes a moment to weigh his options.

He can just stay out of it. He'll know she's around, but she won't know vice versa. But what's the point? She'll run into one of Remnant's Finest soon enough and, given how unhappy most of them are to know he's here, she'll be warned anyway.

He can get in her face. She's already put off by this thing following her around, it might be fun to mess with her. He only really had the one chance to get under her skin by forfeiting their spar. Maybe second time's the charm.

...

Honestly, though, that doll is just a little too creepy for him to tolerate.

So here he is, Pyrrha, your knight in shining ~~legs~~ armor, walking right out of the crowd to simply punt the damn thing in what is, scientifically speaking, as far as fucking possible. ]

Don't you just hate when guys can't take a hint?

[ god. He really is time-displaced Shirou. Offering her tea to get her to drop deets. ]

I don't think they'll be answers that you'll like. But alright.

And why is that, Nacchan? Is the food here too "strange" for you? Or... Could it be that...

[Between the cozy atmosphere and cherished company, Kanata's eyes have already begun to drift shut by this point, but that doesn't stop a tinge of concern from seeping into his voice as a second, much worse possibility strikes him:]

...You have not been having trouble earning enough "chroma" to buy the fish with, have you?

The doll was his primary concern, because it was giving him the creeps. But hot coffee on his toes was a distraction at least.

Leonard let go of Qrow and hopped backwards, shaking off one foot, then the other, peering at Qrow. "Not again?" he repeated. "Not again about the coffee, or about the doll. Because if the damn dolls are a common occurrence, I want to know that going in."

He grunted a little, looking at the coffee-soaked shoes. "Sorry about that," Leonard managed to remember to say, if belatedly, glancing over his shoulder at the doll again.

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▶ TDM .009

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xiao xingchen | the untamed / 陈情令

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Sorry for the delay!

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Living Doll - B

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