▶ TDM .009

[prismods]

Now whip it

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"Devo - Whip It (Video)" (Watch on YouTube)

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.

Comments

b

[graftage]

[What a familiar sort of scream.]

[Steinbeck twists his head, this way and that, trying to figure out where the hell it's coming from-]

[And then he just gets barreled over by one (1) Louisa Alcott.]

H-hey! [THE HELL? He doesn't realize who this is yet, he's just squirming, trying to get out from under her.] Get off!!

[littlewomen]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-

[The apologies come automatically as she's scrambling to get off of whoever this is (with a very familiar voice). It's only after she's on her feet that she can properly take a look at him, and-]

Mr. Steinbeck?

[graftage]

Geez, people just falling out of nowhere-

[He straightens himself, rubbing at his lower back, peeved - and then blinks with some surprise. That voice. This girl, it could only be-]

A-Alcott? [What??] What are you doing here?

[littlewomen]

[Alcott points up to the tube overhead.]

I didn't mean to get sucked in, it happened too quickly for me to do anything about it... I'm sorry.

[Unless he means 'what are you doing in Lunatia', in which case, your guess is as good as hers.]

[graftage]

No, I'm not talking about the tube-

[Well, at least he's no longer the only one from his group around here. Steinbeck heaves a heavy sigh - hey, at least it's Alcott and not that golden idiot of a boss.]

...Sorry. It's just...I've been here a couple of months. Did you just arrive here? To this world, I mean?

[littlewomen]

It's only been a couple of days. Is anyone else from the Guild here?

[Hawthorne's been missing for a while, maybe this is where he ended up?]

[graftage]

No.

[Well, he hasn't run into Lovecraft yet...]

There's other people from our world, though. People from the ADA, for one.

[littlewomen]

Oh.

[Well, that's awkward. At least they aren't currently at conflict, but...]

Have you gotten into fights with them?

[graftage]

...

Nothing major. They seem to want to keep the peace, at least.

[littlewomen]

That's good. We don't have the resources for a battle here, and we all have better things to focus on. Like figuring out how we came here and how to get home. Have you found anything...?

[Sorry, she's already starting to slip into Strategist Mode.]

[graftage]

[Kind of just. Stares at the ground and frowns.]

Not really, no.

[Too busy turning into foxes and dealing with jellies and all that fun stuff.]

[littlewomen]

[It's okay, John's not the strategist here.]

Well... I'll see what I can do, at least...

[graftage]

Hm. Well, honestly, I do feel a little better now that you're here.

[She does have quite the brain on her shoulders, and that he can definitely respect.]

...By the way, kind of an odd question, but...what do you remember before you came here?

[littlewomen]

[Steinbeck believes in her, or at least believes her being here is a good thing. That's both terrifying and relieving at the same time.]

Mr. Fitzgerald was telling me about a two for one sale on coffee makers.

[Her voice has that mix of exasperation and fondness that it only does when speaking of Fitzgerald.]

[graftage]

...Hm?

[C-coffee makers???]

Uh. What did he want coffee makers for?

[littlewomen]

I think he's gotten a taste for coffee recently?

[Fitzgerald's acclimation to the not-fabulously-wealthy life has been an experience for everyone involved.]

[graftage]

[He............doesn't know what to make of that.]

...He's not the leader of the Guild anymore, is he? That's the last thing I remember.

[And now he's the leader of the remnants, but well! Details, details.]

[littlewomen]

The Guild no longer officially exists, but he's still working towards his goal.

[The Book, and saving his wife from her madness.]

...by the way... he looks terrible with a beard.

[She thinks Steinbeck will laugh at that.]

[graftage]

[He does laugh, a sudden, barking sort of laugh, because Fitzgerald? A beard?]

Haha, what? [Somehow, laughing over his stupid boss with a familiar face...there's a bittersweetness to it. It's so familiar, and yet it's a stark reminder that he's here. Not there.] What got into his head to make him grow a beard, of all things?

[littlewomen]

I don't know. [Maybe he just couldn't find a razor? The slums are a strange place.] The first thing I had him to after I found him was get rid of all the scruff. You'd have never let him live it down, if you saw him like that.

[...it's sad, because she knows Steinbeck won't come back to the Guild. Not even if they return home. Although she wasn't very close to him then, she does consider him more than just a coworker.]

[graftage]

Mm. Maybe I would've let him have it for a little bit so I could find more ways to laugh at it.

[Hehe.]

But still. [A beat - there's something more somber in his expression, now.] Can't believe you're sticking with him despite, well, everything.

[littlewomen]

[Her face falls.]

...He makes me feel like I can do something with myself. Like there's a part of me I can be proud of.

[That's why she'd kept up hope, why she'd searched for him in a foreign and dangerous land. She can't go it alone.]

[graftage]

[He frowns at that.]

You have that part already, Alcott. You don't need him to realize that.

[littlewomen]

It's nice of you to say that.

[She doesn't believe it, but it's still nice of him.]

-I'm happy for you. You'll be happier not working for someone you hate.

[Even if she'll miss him being around.]

[graftage]

...

[Haha, working for someone he hates...he's his own boss.]

[Not really much of an upgrade in that category.]

Ha. [A pause.] Well, I'm kind of out of a job, at the moment, so...

[Better to lie. He doesn't want Alcott to know what he's doing with the remnants of the Guild.]