prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .009

Entry tags:

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ the sexiest man in lunatia? kogami's gray eyes meet the stranger's own gold ones, and when exposed to that bright, sunny smile, he supposes that the critter isn't off base. the man is handsome in the way models are, as if he's stepped out of a glossy holo. the hugbug in his arms, however, wriggles impatiently in kogami's hands, stretching forward even when he offers the thing to the other man.

yeah. yeah, this thing only wants kogami hugs. he exhales an inaudible sigh because a man always knows when he's bested, and reels the thing in so that it can wrap around his neck happily. the other person, however, looks entirely at ease with two, of all things. ]

That's surprising. [ that the green critter is clinging to him, he means. ] You look like their hot favourite.

[ because look, one more is tagging along hopefully behind ryuu! nevermind that kogami has two attached to his calves, practically, too. ]

What's DNA?

[ ah, soon they'll be overrun... ryuu tries to force a laugh down at the sight of someone so serious and dour being hugged so wholesomely. watch out, this is about when the compliments start. shuffling the creatures off to either of his hips (implying he at least has experience with hopefully human kids, because it's a total mom pose), ryuu can at least more properly address the other man this way. ]

DNA are the apartments I live in! Somehow, I wind up cooking for a lot of my neighbors...

[ he's trying to put a perfectly normal spin on that compliment, at least. speaking of. ]

With these guys, I don't think it's necessarily about being the favorite. They just seem to respond well to kindness, don't they?

[ that's definitely, totally a mom pose -- you can't fake that kind of experience. babysitter? siblings? offspring? it's obvious he's not married. but there is something very... kind about ryuu, an open gentleness that he so very rarely sees. ]

Maybe. Or they just want to be hugged. And fed.

[ listen, it's really hard to stay dour when the thing is snuggling, and he reluctantly offers gentle pats before the hugbug thrills sweetly at ryuu: mr kogami can cook, too! and fight! he's handsome and strong and smart! and he can protect people!

the compliments, however, catch him off guard, and he's setting it down quickly before it can go on. ]

All right. That's enough out of you. Go fetch me some cigarettes.

[ but mr kogami -- ! kogami shrugs lightly at ryuu: ] I don't cook very well.

[ oop - it got him good, didn't it? of course, ryuu can't just shut his ability to hear off, and his disposition makes him inclined to think the best of people. so while he knows the critters can be a bit hyperbolic, there was at least a little truth to what they'd said about him! so he won't assume the same isn't true for the man opposite him. a hum meanders in his throat as he watches the green one toddle along on its way.

protecting people, huh... ]

Once you've got the basics down, it just takes practice, that's all.

[ okay, down his armfuls also go! wasn't there another one around here, somewhere? ]

[ thinking the best of people is so often a mistake, ryuu. people let you down, and believing in them so innocently will get you killed. nevermind that there are people kogami still believes in, nevermind that he cherishes the idea of faith and kindness even if he's steeped in world-weary cynicism.

ryuu is perhaps one of those people, he thinks. people like tsunemori, softness with that hint of steel, maybe, who smile readily at people they've only just met, who don't automatically consider all the things that could go wrong. after all, kogami killed one of the last guys he could have considered being friends with.

but they digress. one of the other purple ones is waddling up behind ryuu now, looking up at him hopefully. ]

Are you asking me to cook for you?

[ kogami asks, amused. is he teasing? maybe. ]

[ ah, there it is - with a quiet chuckle, he pivots on his knee to greet the purple creature. this one's quite fuzzy, isn't it... he makes a placating noise as if he's taking the hugbug for an actual toddler, taking its little paws in his hands and shaking them gently, little up-down motions. hello, hello, he has plenty of attention to spare. in fact, it seems as though he likes it.

of course, kogami's teasing hits home immediately afterwards, and ryuu flicks a sudden glance up to him, starting. ]

- eh?! [ too easy. ] Not at all! Do I seem that forward?

[ it's a question without an ounce, not even a drop of wit or sarcasm in it. for a moment, ryuu is genuinely alarmed that kogami took that away from the exchange, wondering if he'd overstepped his bounds right out of the starting gate. ]

I haven't even introduced myself. [ what had the green one said - ] ...Kogami, was it?

[ so easy, it's actually kind of cute. he watches how easily he takes to the hugbug and vice versa, the expressiveness in his eyes; this is a man not used to hiding much, maybe, and as the delighted hugbug plasters itself happily to him, kogami has to smile, just a little. ]

Just joking. But if you'd ever like to take a break from cooking, you could suffer through mine. [ he reassures him dryy, before he holds out a hand. ] Yeah. And you?

Come on, I'm sure it's not that bad.

[ looking on the bright side, as always. and more than that, it's not as though he declines the offer. just in case. and not understanding the rarity of the expression given to him, ryuu mirrors it, letting the moment stretch on easily.

climbing to his feet, ryuu reaches to accept his hand. the touch produces a spark of chroma, like a passing ray of light. expression smoothing, ryuu's gaze flicks up. ]

- ah, Ryuunosuke. Tsunashi Ryuunosuke.

[ oh. the spark of chroma doesn't go unnoticed, and it's a new enough sensation for him to be surprised, brows raising briefly. a passing ray of light, indeed. it's warm, welcome, like a flicker of sunlight. ryuu reflects it well enough. ]

Ryuunosuke. [ he echoes. ] You're a pretty optimistic guy, aren't you?

[ it's always such a lovely feeling, with someone new. especially a fellow moonblessed. to many, chroma is simply money, or energy, like food or water. to someone normal like ryuu, it's like having someone's essence in his palms. it has color, shape, weight. catching the surprise on kogami's face, the nature of which is a bit different from how his own had felt, he's sure - ryuu's smile takes on a curious tilt.

social as he is, extroversion playing at his polite edges, ryuu still feels extraordinarily small at times. ]

I suppose I am. It's not home, but I've gotten to like it here.

[ is it easy to feel small when he has a smile that can light up a room? there are people who carry the sun within them -- people who command the gazes and hearts of others easily; kogami is not poet, but saiga has taught him well enough to see charisma for what it is in others.

perhaps ryuu hasn't noticed it in himself yet; he finds that people like ryuu rarely do. the handshake lingers, and when it ends, kogami glances down at his palm, as if it could divine the secrets behind the pulse of energy he had just felt. ]

I've been hearing good things about this place. [ he concedes (even if he's sure there's a catch somewhere; there always is), not missing the curious slant of ryuu's mouth. it's mutual. ] Do you miss home?

Edited 2019-11-11 10:25 (UTC)

All the time! There's no way I couldn't, I think... [ with his hands free, he gives the lingering hugbug another pat on its head. ] My family's there, I have a career.

But I've had a lot of good experiences here too.

[ things that he wouldn't want to forget, if he were to return. maybe that's selfish of him, to want it all. but giving a glance back up, he allows that curiosity to fully form. ]

Saying you've been hearing good things - did you get here recently?

Yeah. A few hours ago.

[ homesick and still positive about this place -- he's really a glass half full kind of guy, isn't he? it reminds him of akane, and he can't help but feel an odd wistfulness as well. home. ]

Things are... new.

[ kogami is still finding his sea legs, as it were. it's been challenging, but not necessarily in a bad way -- he did kind of like the chroma generation. then: ] Were you a model?

[ that answer has ryuu's brows shooting upwards. a few hours - that's so little time... ryuu would like to think of himself as fairly well-adjusted, but it'd taken him way more than a few hours to calm himself down from the arrival process. stunned, he's about to ask, when kogami follows up with the question he least expects. ]

- ah, no... or, well. I do a little work like that...

[ had he been that easy to read? ]

I'm an idol.

[ it's easy when you know how to read a person -- it's a gift, or a curse, no matter how you look at it. saiga would've been able to make out his family history immediately, but at least kogami's got it half-right. right? ]

Ah. [ it doesn't explain the faded callouses on his hand. the last vestiges of a familiar accent that clicks in the back of his mind, sending nostalgia bubbling to the surface. gramps had a similar lilt to his words, too, as it turns out. and callouses don't really go away when you get them as a child. ]

You did some work fishing, too. When you grew up in Okinawa. [ home. but then kogami realises how coming up like this seemingly out of the blue can unnerve people, and he offers a semi-apologetic shrug. ]

Sorry. Occupational hazard. I used to be a detective.

[ it's clear as day that each new piece of information kogami turns on him dumbfounds him. each so reflective, as if he'd simply knelt and skimmed them from beneath his surface, easy as can be. with a halting breath that he hadn't even realized was so audible, he tells himself he ought to not be so still, but... the accuracy poured over him like a shock of cold water.

and yet he doesn't flinch away, or withdraw. ryuu just stares, feeling as though sight gives him only meager things to grasp about the man standing opposite him. ]

Amazing... [ low, awed. ] All of that from a handshake? And my accent too, isn't it - I thought I was pretty good at speaking standardized Japanese, after all these years...

[ finally, he relaxes, finding it in himself to laugh a bit. ]

You must be a wonderful detective.

You are. I just got lucky. A friend of mine was from Okinawa, too.

[ and his father. that ryuu doesn't withdraw from him is new; oftentimes, being able to figure people out, to observe and to an extent, solve them, has its costs. he wouldn't blame them, either. no one likes to be seen that closely, knowledge sifted from precious little. but in the words of a wise man, a logician could infer, from a drop of water, the possibility of an atlantic or a niagara without having seen or heard of either.

ryuu is that drop of water, although perhaps the good professor would be able to grasp his intricacies with more finesse. kogami is, after all, but a student.

he finds himself smiling again -- it's infectious, the way ryuu laughs like this is something to be appreciated, not feared. it's not often that wolves are seen with anything other than apprehension, and yet, here he is. ]

You're a strange person, Ryuunosuke.

[ strange, but fascinating. he thinks of tsering, whom he had become fast friends with, and his smile is one of appreciation, brief but sincere. ]

- ah? Am I?

[ shifting a little in place, only now seeming to feel shy beneath kogami's gaze, ryuu cants his head, giving his chin a sheepish scratch. not knowing the rarity of someone's smile leads ryuu to treat it as if was as normal as a dawning day or a setting twilight. he doesn't know any better, to point it out and chase it back into the shadows. face value is a powerful thing. ]

I would've thought anyone would be amazed by something like that...

[ kogami had been so blunt, it's not as though there were any smoke or mirrors to the process, nothing steeped in mysticism. ryuu believes him instantly. ]

Well, either way. With the ability to do that, I'm sure you'll get used to things here quickly. But if you'd like, I can show you around!

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. ]

[ in thinking about it, he recognizes the truth to kogami's words. were this home, maybe he'd feel differently - his origin story, the truth behind where his roots lie... already, those things had been turned on him once, by a man who knew too much. that thought settles in him, somewhat sobering. and yet, this isn't home. people know him by this face first, rather than the opposite.

with that in mind, his smile resurfaces, mellower but more resilient.

he leaves the appeased hugbugs to their tasks attending the pumpkin patch, and starts to step free from it with a shake of his head. ]

I don't mind! I just have to be careful to not breath any in. I'll get it from my manager, if I don't take care of my lungs.

[ that's his bread and butter in there, after all. ]

[ he considers that for a moment, then decides that it can probably wait until he's off by himself, and casually tucks the cigarette back into the pack in his pocket. with the wind coming from different directions at different intervals, it'll be a challenge to stay downwind and yet keep up a conversation; and kogami would much rather be keeping up a conversation right about now.

and also, if you asked him, kogami could think of a hundred other things that are less palatable than ryuu's humble origins, but then again, the world of show business is another ballgame altogether.

hands in his pockets, he's falling into step beside the man. ]

Your manager's here?

[ gaze flickering at the sudden shift of kogami's motions, it dawns on him slowly that he's forgoing the smoke, leaving him staring curiously for a few moments after the pack has already disappeared back into his pocket. because of him...?

somehow, the simplicity of the question catches him off his guard, and he looks away again swiftly, focus forward. ]

No, not our official one. We - ah, my group I mean... we were lucky enough to have people want to take on the job while we're here.

[ no one could replace anesagi kaoru, of course, but he still feels incredibly fortunate, all the same. ]

But with the way she is, I bet she'd be able to tell. [ a quiet laugh. ] Even from worlds apart.

[ don't point it out, ryuu, it's ok. kogami just does whatever he wants, it's his thing. besides, ryuu's doing him a pretty big favor, showing him around and all. more importantly, what he learns is this: ryuu's not alone, he's likely working as an idol here, too, and he and his group apparently have an unofficial manager. ]

I can imagine. A stern lecture across worlds. [ kogami responds blandly, amusement threaded in his tone. his smile is crooked now, with a touch of mischievous, inexplicable bad boy charm: ] So I shouldn't get you into trouble, then.

[ something about that tone of voice gets him square in the chest, right where that easy laughter of his comes from. so much that he finds himself swallowing it down. not precisely a threat, but - ryuu suddenly gets the feeling that kogami is all too capable of getting him into trouble.

less deterred than even he thinks by that thought, his expression leans bashful as they near the perimeter of the fields. ]

T, Trouble isn't necessarily what I'm looking for!

[ though, you know.

it happens. ]

But it finds you.

[ because there are three types of people, the troublemakers, the ones trouble finds, and the ones who run away -- and ryuu has demonstrated that he doesn't belong to that last category, not by a long shot. as they pass the perimeter of the fields and start towards the city, kogami regards him with lazy amusement because kogami himself most definitely belongs in the first category, despite best efforts.

it's kind of cute, how bashful he is; how easy it is for kogami to rile him up. unable to keep from teasing -- after all, tsunemori isn't here -- he asks, knowing the answer full well: ]

Do you always wear your emotions on your sleeve like this?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject