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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( awe, how sweet, he thinks as he watches the other offer the doll up to the creature and while he knows that his good friend king gilgamesh no.2 needs some encouragement — he doesn't move. oh no, did caster not give him enough hugs. if the doll won't become enkidu's best friend which is understandable, sometimes a doll just won't cut it like the real thing. )

King, you can take it! Big bro Caster knows who this being is, they're good! They haven't done wrong by me. Right, Lancer? Right!? ( he seems excited as he begins to fix the outfit on his hugging creature, trying to calm it down because the last thing they need him to do is cry... merlin has seen what happens to other people when they become upset. )

Hm. Look a' there.. ( now he could point out the other's smile, and if merlin is lucky.. maybe he can get some sort of reaction but that's probably no good, not right now anyway. so instead, he watches how his minion accepts the doll from them, it'll work for the time being for him to hug because there's only so much energy caster can give towards those creatures. ) Maybe you should hug him too, the breed really likes that! Maybe we can find you one, I managed to collect three so far.

( don't ask him... but as king gilgamesh no.2 moves, his little headgear falls off and caster sighs right after. ) Maybe I need tape to keep it on..

Of course, Caster. [They pause a little and finally let out a small sigh.] I must say...your presence is rather...tiresome.

[Still, Enkidu does not move away and they watch how the other adjusts the costume.]

Perhaps it doesn't like to be dressed. They have furs. [The creature looks somewhat upset and overwhelmed and it surprises them that it finally accepts the doll and starts to hug it fiercely. Yes, it seems a true friendship is born right here, right now.]

I am fine. [They move to pick up the little hat and hand it over to Caster. After that they place a hand on the creature's head for a short but intense petting session.] And you should remove its clothes.

Oh? Hm. Should I carry you if you're so sleepy! I think I have enough mana to make you a bed right now..

That cannot be the case, we know many back home who has furs and still dress! I could name a couple but then they'd kill me when they arrive. ( and listen, he's thinking his immortality isn't working here because things just don't feel right for him! he'd know if this was a projection but he seems to have been taken completely from his.. paradise. or maybe that's just how this place makes him feel.

he takes back the hat, fingers smoothing against the fabric and he contemplates. ) Then it'll be naked and cold, it's unfair for us to walk around fully dressed. ( wait. he gives enkidu a swipe of his eyes. ) It'd be bad for one of us to walk around fully dressed, there has to be two or we'll look out of place!

( oh no.. its pats. king gilgamesh no.2 must be pleased, enough that the doll drops. this one is just clumsy, maybe merlin didn't give enough hugs when he was out getting another. ) You could be right but maybe you shouldn't pet so hard, My King has dropped the most cherished person that it knows!

Edited 2019-11-09 21:03 (UTC)

No. That is not what I meant... [Enkidu's face is still perfectly neutral when they address Caster.] You seem to have some sort of ability to tire others.

[While the other keeps on going and going, Enkidu continues to rid the poor hugbug of its clothes. At times they stop to pet it and soothe it a little as if it were some sort of wounded animal left behind in a forest.

And then Caster gets the idea that there should be two without clothes. And that does not make sense.]

Hmm. Humans do not walk around naked. [They hand over the rest of the tiny clothes.] And their fur is thick enough to keep them warm. [After saying that they hand the doll over to the hugbug again.]

But feel free to undress, Caster.

I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.. ( maybe enkidu means it in a nice way, there's no other way that they could be referring to it as. besides, merlin has that fresh aura about him that must help with easing a person's mind that makes them tired. perhaps enkidu is onto something which caster smiles at them, nodding his head. ) Maybe you're right! I am very tiresome..! Yes, I love that.

( he knows for a fact what enkidu was trying to get at but for merlin's own peace of mind, he'll accept it like this. slowly he watches as enkidu removes the clothing, all that hardwork caster had put into making them which makes him frown. he's reaching out to them, gripping at the fabric of their clothing and tugs like a child. ) Lancer, Lancer..! C'mon! I thought it was cute, why don't you agree! ( caster's disheartened, shaking his head at the response about his own clothes which he has no problem with doing so.. he really doesn't. )

Time and place, y'know? ( there's also no one who needs to see him undressed now.. gotta wait on that, but he's releasing lancer's clothes, taking the fabrics of clothing into his own hand and tossing them up in the air they seem to disappear in an instance. ) Well, I can't get rid of those clothes so I'll save them. ( give him a moment to look at enkidu's clothing, wondering if he makes them bigger... would the other wear them. probably not. )

I mean, the hugbug was absolutely cute in the get up. ( as the hugbug takes back the doll, it seems even more pleased than before — most likely agreeing with lancer's words than casters. though, can hugbugs switch from the people they become attached too? can that happen? ) It's going to like you so much better than me now..!

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.]

Tiresome.. hm, never heard the word associated with me. ( enkidu please, hear him out.. he's just doing his best! it's not like he's trying to make things hard for all three of them but he just believes that gifting the hugbug clothes is only fair of him! he's staring at the creature, taking in the copious amounts of fur and the colored horns that is in desperate need of the hat — he wants to put it back really bad but he's sure lancer will just hold the hugbug away. )

Hm.. I guess, you would know best, huh? ( caster reaches a hand out to pat non-king gilgamesh no.2 and his fingers slowly move through the thick fur and maybe he agrees, maybe the fur is more than enough. it could be that enkidu is actually right about this, they are more in tune with animal life when a person thinks about it and even with the way the hugbug exchanges them for the doll is actually amazing. )

I just didn't want it to walk around naked, are you sure it hates the clothes? Maybe I can dress it up like you but.. ( he should go fetch one of those green ones .. now that he thinks about that, he's ready to suggest it but there's a hissing sound that emits into the air for them all to hear. the hugbug becoming completely still as merlin looks down towards the doll on the ground. )

... So, as I was sa— ( hiss, hiss. ) Hm.

I think I do, yes. It is not difficult for me to speak to animals. If you wish to know what it wants, you can ask me. I will translate.

[They don't seem bothered by the clingy creature at all. It is hugging on tight and Enkidu allows it to do so.]

Why did you dress it up in such a way? [They raise their arm a little when Caster reaches out to pet it.] Why do you want to dress it up so badly? [Wait, what is he saying now? For a second Enkidu's eyes widen. No.] No. [No. The look on their face doesn't betray anything but there's somewhat of a hard undertone in their voice.]

Hm? [There's a hiss coming from somewhere.] Did you hear that as well?

Are you saying what they say now isn't really how they feel? Now I didn't think that far. ( he didn't, he's already humoring the idea in the back of his head, but he is a little disheartened if his psuedo-kings weren't fond of him at all. sure, he's unable to hear nice words from the real things so he's taking what he can get, but with that reality dawning on him.. it's hard.

aside from the truth.. violet eyes drop down towards the doll as he holds off one of his many excuses, analyzing the creature while curious if something will happen. he's had this problem before, but the problem was solved easily — pawning it off on someone else. now he knows that he can't do the same to lancer, oh no, he'll only find himself in trouble. it's not like he can hide away from the other either, they're aware of who each other are, and their time in chaldea. )

I did! You're the animal expert here. What did it say? ( he's staring into the other's vibrant green eyes, wondering where they'll look. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .009

STOP... SOMETIMES YOU JUST WANT UR KINGS TO PRAISE U WHEN THE REAL THINGS PROBABLY WONT!!

PLS MERLIN DON'T BE SO THIRSTY

STOP... I HAVE NO THIRST SHOWING... I AM JUST HAPPY TO SERVE... U SHOULD FEEL THE SAME!

THATS WHAT SHE SAID (also, your Merlin is fantastic, please don't ever stop)

SHHH!! my kings will kill me for sure (smacks ur face how dare u.. when ur enkidu is SO CUTE wtf)

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

SHHH they're not ready for the truth.. its the hardest pill to swallow (I COULDNT BE CUTE W/O U...)

sometimes even hard pills need to be swallowed, Merlin (pfff no u)

i mean if you feed them to me maybe, i like to be hand fed c: ( points my eyes @ ur eyes!!! NO U! )