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

Not really. The flat they give us is nice, but...

[He pauses, moving to sit himself down at the base of a tree, patting the place next to him. Join him, partner.]

I still come out here a lot. Puts me at ease, y'know? Kind of...feels like home, a little.

[The spot is quickly claimed. Lovecraft slides the bags into a pile in front of the two of them.]

Familiarity is nice in an unfamiliar place. I like this more than the housing too. [...] I wonder if this world's oceans are similar.

[If they feel like home. Would he want to sleep there?]

Maybe? There is a beach not too far from here on this level...

[Though maybe he shouldn't say that, since Lovecraft might make a beeline for it like right this second.]

It is pretty alien. Everything else, I mean.

[HE DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE HE'S THINKING ABOUT IT... Only thinking, though.]

I would like to go to it sometime.

[Soon, but not now. He's content to sit with Steinbeck for now. They do have some catching up to do...

The term "alien" gets him to tilt his head in contemplation.]

Mm, it does have many things that Earth does not. I actually feel...like I fit in a little better here. Like I don't have to pretend as much.

[There are a whole bunch of obviously nonhuman people, sharing their inhumanity in all its glory. So that's one other somewhat relaxing thing to have around.]

[That's something that he hasn't even considered. Of course, on Earth, Lovecraft's quirks and mannerisms are off to the point where they can't be passed off as mere ability user traits. Here, though...]

You're right. That means people won't be staring at you as much. [Which is great!] Besides, a lot of us go through changes every month with the moons, so every one of us doesn't have to worry about fitting in at all.

[He reaches for his own bag of chocolates, popping it open as he stretches his legs.]

I guess you can't exactly sleep for years and years here, though...

[He's about to what Steinbeck means by "changes", but then-]

I can't?

[Like yeah, he should probably get back to Earth at some point, but can't he at least take a long nap here first?]

I mean, you could try, but...this place gets really crazy pretty often. Like invasions and creatures attacking and everything.

[He heaves a sigh.]

So that's...kind of hard to avoid.

[Can they sigh in unison? Because...]

I haven't even experienced this and I already feel exhausted... Haven't we dealt with enough fighting?

[Every time he finds one decent thing about this place, he finds another very glaring bad thing.]

[They can definitely sigh in unison. He's with you, buddy.]

The good news is that its not really our responsibility. I mean, there's tons of people like us from other worlds who are eager to help. Let them be the ones to sort things out. I just want to get home and not have to deal with all these damn moons and stuff anymore.

Oh. Good. It would be tiring enough to try to avoid all of that noise...

[Moons though, huh. He reaches his open bag of candy for something to nibble on that isn't his nails.]

Do the moons have to do with those changes you mentioned?

[A short nod.]

Yep. They call them "moon blessings". They feel more like curses to me.

Why is that...?

[Lovecraft is usually the one moaning about curses and whatnot, so hearing it from Steinbeck makes his anxiety spike a little.]

[He's silent as he scratches the back of his head, trying to figure out how to explain it.]

There's three moons, right? And each of us, whether we like it or not, are tied to a moon. Whenever your moon moon is in cycle, it, uh, make you act differently than you expect. And they give you...animal-like traits.

[A beat.]

I get fox ears, for example.

[Okay, the first part definitely sounds like a pain, but the second part...

...

He stares at Steinbeck, deep in contemplation.]

...I want to see you with fox ears.

[Lovecraft.]

[...]

[He almost chokes on his chocolate bar, doubling over in a coughing fit before he brings his hand up to cover his mouth, also attempting to cover the blush on his face.]

I-I don't think you want to see that. [PLEASE LET THE GROUND SWALLOW HIM NOW] Not worth it, trust me.

[HE'S GOT PHEROMONES WHEN HE HAS THEM, SQUID BRO!!! CAN'T HAVE THAT HAPPEN]

[UH.

That sure was a reaction.

Lovecraft leans in to pat Steinbeck's back, thinking he legitimately started choking. The whole situation leaves him thoroughly confused.]

What...should I do when you have them, then?

[He's disappointed, but he's also willing to compromise if Steinbeck really doesn't want him to see. Only because he's Steinbeck, though.]

[Thanks Lovecraft. That pat makes him feel better except it kind of doesn't because he has the mental image of running into Lovecraft when he's like that and...yeah. He likes Lovecraft too much to subject him to Pheromone Town.]

I mean, it's not like you can't see them at all, it's just... [Shit. How does he explain this.] If you're around me, it makes you feel weird. Like, the fox ears aren't all I have to deal with.

Oh...

[It's not exactly an understanding sort of "oh", though. Sorry you have to be the one to explain this, Steinbeck...]

Is it like...an aura? How would I feel weird?

[..................................he wants to die]

You'd feel. [His tongue feels so heavy in his mouth. But like, Lovecraft needs to know because this is just! The name of the game! In this messed up world!] For a better word, uh, attracted.

[Lovecraft.gif]

...That is weird. [But maybe not for the same reason Steinbeck would find it weird. It's just that attraction is such an alien concept to a being like Lovecraft.] Have I felt that before? It's been so long...

[Would this even work on him?]

[....................Yeah, that is a good question. Lovecraft? Attracted to someone?]

...Well, even if you've felt it or not, I wouldn't chance it. Like, I'm not kidding when I say this stuff is potent. [He rubs at his forehead.] Like, moonlacing? It feels great, and when you're under the influence you just want to do...more than that. Way more than that.

[Lovecraft's been around the proverbial block many more times than Steinbeck, and like it or not, he's been around humans for long enough that he can read between the lines on something for once.]

Those...acts bother you, then?

[WELL,]

I mean, it's not like I don't enjoy them, sometimes, but... [A nervous sort of laugh.] I mean, it kind of feels like you're drugged. Feels good, but you kind of lose control a little.

[Hmmm. He nods.]

Not being in control of your actions is uncomfortable.

[Not y'know, the concern of what the consequences could be. He just hates feeling shackled by anything.]

Yeah, it really is.

[Thank you, Lovecraft!!! Saying exactly what he feels!!]

But hey, at least you don't have to deal with that all the time. You might have a different experience, though. Like, you might be affected by a different moon than me.

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