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.

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[see, here's where things very clearly diverge ways, because wei wuxian takes one good look at the man he just walked into and he gets-- well, animated is one word for it.

they look the same. almost exactly the same, if not for the hair and the clothes and the nuanced distinctions that come with age. is this how he looks like in a few years? is this himself? wei wuxian almost forgets himself and points at the man's face in surprise - as if his wide-eyed stare and open mouth aren't enough to communicate the emotions he's going through at the moment.]

You look just like me!

[wei wuxian shuts his eyes, then slaps himself in the face a couple times. when he opens them, the man is still there, as solid and present as anything else.

not a waking dream, then. perhaps a concussion?]

Are you... Wei Ying???

[Well, if anything else was needed for Moran to be certain that this person, whoever they are, is not him, the attitude is enough. he was never this... wild, not even at sixteen years old.

But at least, they do appear to agree about the fact that they look similar enough to be mistaken from the same person. Strange.

The name, however, is unfamiliar.]

I am not, I am afraid. Not do I know anyone by that name. I am called Beitang Moran.

I assume you would be Wei Ying?

[It doesn't seem like he is talking of a twin, so it's a reasonable assumption.]

Edited 2019-11-08 16:45 (UTC)

[wei wuxian isn't sure how to feel. on one hand, he's relieved that he's not hallucinating; the man standing in front of him is indeed a separate entity from himself, with their own name and (presumably) body. on the other hand?

what in the world is going on that there's someone out there with the same face as himself???

ah! wei wuxian's face crumples up in confusion. at least i know what i'll look like in my twenties, he reassures himself, seeing as there's little else to lose now at this point. i still look good, though i should probably do something about my hair.

he can already hear jiang cheng's voice ringing in the back of his head, telling him to mind the situation and not make fun of it; it draws a surprised huff of laughter from wei wuxian.]

I am Wei Ying, by the courtesy name Wei Wuxian. It's-- Do I say it's good to meet you, when we both have the same face? I'm afraid I don't know the etiquette for this kind of situation.

[It's not just the hair, even if the style does not agree with Wei Wuxian. If one looks closely enough, the robes Moran are wearing, although simple in design and color, are made of the finest silk, and several of his many layers are so fine they are actually sheer. The flowers embroidered on the wide sleeves of his outer robes shimmer, the silk thread mixed with some metallic ones. The hair pin in his hair is obviously pure silver, the semblance of leaves and flowers exquisitely crafted.

And then, there is the way he holds himself, supremely yet quietly confident, obviously aware of the eyes on him - and there are quite a few because yes, you will still look good as a twenty-something, Wei Wuxian - yet unbothered by them. There is something regal in his posture and attitude.

And he seems unruffled by the more carefree attitude of his... younger twin.]

We are all strangers here, so all meetings are good until they prove not to be, are they not?

[He gives a small nod of greeting, that of someone more used to being bowed to than bowing to others.]

Well met, Wei Wuxian.

((OOC: also, Moran is a precog and I am very much a Mo Dao fan so if you'd like to play with that, you can hit his permission post. I'm caught up on all versions of canon.))

I appreciate that. I certainly hope our meeting will be pleasant from here on out.

[ wei wuxian replies politely, while his mind spins nearly out of axis from all of these discoveries that he's making in such a small amount of time. waking up on a bed of rocks is surprising enough, as it is; everything that followed in its steps after that felt like one escalation after another.

the hulking, hovering ship was a marvel, and then they were flying through the sky, landing on a foreign land where everything looked sleek and gleaming. metal spires rose from the ground, monolithic buildings cast shadows over great patches of land - and the technology! the devices present!

all of it has thrown wei wuxian into a blender of confusion and curiosity - and then he met lan sizhui, who alleges that he comes from further into wei wuxian's future, and the implications of it are enough to make him dizzy.

he can't be blamed for being on his guard, in his own way. there's only so much information a person can take all at once. ]

May I ask which region you're from? I can't say I recognize your manner of dress, even if the fashion of it is strikingly similar to what I'm familiar with.

[Moran also almost had a fit about being in space and then on spaceship, although in his case it ended up mostly in a nerdgasm and then annoying a million people asking about how it works... maybe they are more similar than they think.

But Moran would not fault anyone for being on their guard upon meeting a stranger. His own guard is up too. he wouldn't have it any other way, and this is smart and sensible, and meeting someone with your own face should not make you lower your guard, quite the opposite, actually. Moran knows himself enough that he would not trust himself one bit. Ten years of having to basically rule an empire in someone else's stead will do that to you.]

I come from a country called Zodiac Land. I would not fault you for not having heard of it, as it seems not many people have.

[He will keep his own status within that land to himself just a little longer, just in case. Normally, he'd say there is no way anyone can sue the information for nefarious purpose but... this man has his face. Of anyone could impersonate him... although he trusts that Su XunXian at least would be able to notice the discrepancies easily enough.]

[wei wuxian nods in acknowledgment; he hasn't heard of such a land before. there's so much new information to digest that even he's having trouble keeping up. it's a lot to process.

when he's eaten and bathed come sundown, he'll meditate on everything that he's come to encounter. but for now —]

I haven't heard of it, no. It seems that there are a lot of things about this place that I have yet to truly grasp. It's a little embarrassing to admit, haha! But I have faith I'll learn quickly enough. There must be libraries here, at the very least, given a city of this size.

I just have to find it... Ah! Beitang-ge - may I call you that? - would you know where the libraries are here? We could make a trip out of it! I'm not obliged towards any tasks at the moment, if it's not an inconvenience for you, please lead me to the libraries. I won't forget such a kindness!

[Moran immediately stiffens when he hears himself being addressed as 'Beitang-ge'.

It's not extremely visible, but to someone like Wei WuXian probably still noticeable. It's not the lack of respect in the address that bothers Moran - first, because it's clearly not intended as such, and second, he hasn't even disclosed his own status so how could the other man even know - even, if that still rankles a little bit because no one in his life ever has called him 'Beitang-ge'.

No, it's mostly because to him, the only Beitang that he called 'Ge' was his own older brother that he had to watch be assassinated ten years ago int he event that precipitated the rest of his life so far.

So now, he is torn between the sudden awkwardness of having feelings in front of a virtual stranger who looks exactly like he himself did on that fateful day, and the fact that said person likes libraries which is of course to be celebrated because fellow nerds should always unite.

Thankfully, he has been in the arcanes of power for his entire life and in charge himself for ten years, so he manages to regroup more or less gracefully.]

Actually, people usually refer to me as 'Lord Chen', so it is fine to use that.

As for libraries, as it happens, I am a fellow of the Lunar Scientia and I was just heading there myself. It can definitely introduce you to the public access library there, and show you how to find the others that exist.

[ wei wuxian watches as the fleeting moment of discomfort visits the other man, and wei wuxian looks away out of respect. in the back of his mind he can hear jiang cheng reprimanding him. ]

Lord Chen. My deepest apologies, I had no intention of being so familiar with you.

[ etiquette demands pride in this situation, and wei wuxian bows to the young lord as is his duty. it's his fault, after all - he'd made assumptions, and had forgotten himself in the strangeness of this city. ]

The Lunar Scientia... I presume it's a sect of scholars, Lord Chen? Does the sect conduct lectures? I— Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I. Please, take me to the library. I would be much obliged.

[Moran spares a small smile and shakes his head.]

No offense take, I assure you. You could not have known.

Come with me. I was on my way there myself, so I can introduce you.

[He'll start walking down the street again, and as Wei Wuxian follow, they will make quite a few heads turn. After all, they look almost identical and both of them are handsome, one looks particularly regal and the other has a cute smile... there are quite a few eyes following them, although Moran doesn't seem to give any of it attention.]

The Lunar Scientia is a scholarly association who is trying to better understand what happened before the Calamity. They have amassed dome vast knowledge, and recently uncovered an ancient tomb full of texts that need to be deciphered. It is rather fascinating work if one is so inclined.

Lectures are held at the Academy I believe. A different institution. There are several schools in the city as well.

[wei wuxian is used to having eyes following him wherever he goes. he's handsome; he knows it. back home, his looks and the title he carries are more than enough to get tongues wagging with every misdeed committed, every mischief accomplished. jiang cheng has suffered it countless times. shijie has assigned it to the foibles of youth, as surely as their father must have. and then there's his skill in cultivation, and the confidence that comes with the knowledge of being one of the best, near-unmatched and nigh-unchallenged at the top with the best of them.

certainly, his name doesn't carry any weight in this strange place. but wei wuxian was raised with no small amount of self-assuredness.

he and lord chen make quite the pair, the way they take to the walkways and streets like they were born to part crowds with a single smile.]

These lectures, what are their requirements? Can one attend freely? Is there a record of history for all that's happened to this city after the calamity that struck it ages ago - I recall as much from what I was told, though the details were lacking when they spoke of it to me.

[their steps, while not hurried, nonetheless are urgent and purposeful. wei wuxian keeps abreast of lord chen as they weave their way through the crowds.]

Can I see the tomb?

[So many questions! But Moran will smile indulgently at that, since he is much the same.]

I have never been to one myself, but I was told the lectures are free, so anyone can enroll and attend at no charge. At least at the Academy. Other private establishments may require tuition or entrance examinations.

I do believe there is public record of events post-calamity. And the excavation is, as it happens, on the Iris Moon, but it is not freely accessible as the chambers are still home to many traps and very dangerous. Only accredited personnel is allowed in. A lot of material has been transferred to the Library, however.

[Of course, the public Library is much smaller than what full members can access, bus as they get tot he building, Moran points out several places.]

You can buy books at the bookshop, and the drinking establishment here serves hot and cold beverages and provides a relatively quiet environment. The public library is through this door. Everywhere else is reserved for members of the Lunar Scientia, but it is free to join as long as you have a thirst for knowledge... which you do not seem to lack.

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▶ TDM .009

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DID YOU JUST DISS HIS HAIR WEI WUXIAN

a gentleman always prefers to not comment on such accusations, excuse

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can we keep this thread game canon?

Absolutely!