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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[When Gil says it like that, Enkidu starts to chuckle softly. For a moment it takes the heaviness out of this moment and it leaves all those questions for a next day. And maybe it is better that way, to not speak of fears and worries that are growing inside their head.]

I am glad to hear that. [The tone of their voice is slightly more teasing this time.] For you to allow my foolishness once again. [Another chuckle.] You are truly generous. [And while talking they keep on stroking Gil's cheek, as if they still have to determine that he's really here.]

I still wish to be at your side. [Grass is green, sky is blue and Enkidu will never leave your side, Gil.]

Hmph. Knowing you, you'd do whatever you wanted regardless of what I, or even your Master, had to say about it. You must be quite the handful as a Heroic Spirit. Then again, I suppose the same can be said for me as well.

[Unlike them, Gilgamesh was not yet a Heroic Spirit, though he knew he would be, and he knew already exactly what form he'd take. He'd probably say that self is his truest self, but he is, most certainly, a handful.

He loosens his hold on the other now, but he does not step away, content to keep the proximity between them. He wasn't the sentimental type, usually, but it was different with this one. It always was.]

Perhaps I do not mind your foolishness.

[If that was what would make them happy, then he was more than alright with it. It would make him happy, too, truthfully, but more than anything, he simply wanted them to live the way they wanted to. Nothing more, nothing less.]

[Gilgamesh's comment makes them laugh and their hand drops to his shoulder, squeezing softly.]

Hmm. Absolutely. [And they also know that Gil would always give them the freedom they need. After all, they aren't the type that sits around at one place to wait for someone to return. Not in a world where is so much to see and so much to do. Not when there are humans around and interesting stories to listen to.] But, Gil, as fond as I am of you, you do have a certain ability to be extremely difficult. Perhaps even now.

[Enkidu is curious to find out exactly how much his best friend has changed. All they can see right now is that the change has been a good thing, that their death has made his soul grow stronger.

The sheer thought alone fills them with a sense of pride but also something they cannot really name. It is a somewhat heavier feeling. Maybe they would come to understand that later.]

I think I do not mind you being difficult either.

[Finally they move to look around themselves again, slowly letting go of Gilgamesh as well.]

How long have you been here?

[How nostalgic, being able to talk like this again. Their voice, their tone, even the teasing jabs... Gilgamesh got along with people in general now much better than he used to, not unlike when he was much younger, but there was still nothing like this. They were literal worlds away, yet in this moment, he truly felt at home.

(Nevermind the presence of the hugbugs. At least Gilgamesh is pretty used to unwanted attention.)

As for their question...]

A few months short of a year now. Compared to the time and place we left, it is somewhat peaceful here, though it is strange and not without problems of its own. I imagine you will find much to busy yourself with here, however.

[They were naturally curious, and there was plenty to see and do. Gilgamesh was not impressed easily, but he, too, found plenty to be curious about.]

[Enkidu watches the hugbugs for a moment. They are still around the both of them. Some are watching intently, others are still busy babbling and praising. They smile at them before they move to look at Gil again, cocking their head a little when he starts to speak.

Despite the fact that they know that everything has changed, for now it feels as if nothing has changed at all. It is just them again and an entire world to discover.]

Gil, there is so much to see here. [Their eyes widen a little because being reminded of that excites them. All the knowledge they can gain here, the things they can learn and, oh, all these different beings. Not only humans but also other creatures. There must be millions of stories they can listen to.

They show their friend the object they've been given when they arrived here.] They have given me this machine for communication. If you put your name in it I can send you messages and pictures. A device made to preserve memories. New memories.

[Finally they reach out again, their fingers carefully wrapping themselves around Gilgamesh's hand.]

Have you been happy here? [Then they look around.] Should we go?

[He doesn't mind it. It still doesn't feel real, so the gesture is welcome, and he takes their hand in his and nods. They can walk while he explains (and while their small friends follow, apparently).]

Yes, they are quite convenient. [Gilgamesh couldn't say he was terribly fond of modern technology, but he certainly had no problem adapting to and using it.] Aside from communication, some also use them as tools for information-gathering or for entertainment purposes. You may use it as much or as little as you wish.

[It did make communication easier, but he had a feeling they'd have no problems with that, regardless. For the two of them, there was no one that knew them better than one another.

He also definitely uses the device more for trivial things than useful ones. But that's beside the point.]

"Happy" is a strong word, but I suppose I do not dislike it. It's annoying to be here when there's still work to be done, but it's a passable distraction, if nothing else.

[He'd much rather be doing something productive. It wasn't the ideal place for a forced vacation... but he didn't really hate it, either. It wasn't that bad, being able to take a break.]

[Gilgamesh's hand feels somewhat warm and once again they find themselves overwhelmed with a heavy feeling of nostalgia. It doesn't stay for long because this is most definitely happening right now. It isn't some dream born from hope or melancholy. ]

I wonder what happened to just talking, though. Wouldn't it be strange if we would do all the communications through some sort of device, unable to see each other's faces? Of course, you may send me all these pictures and messages but I would prefer to look at you when we speak.

[Still, that doesn't stop them from being curious about it. They look over their shoulder and notice that the hugbugs are following them, wobbling right behind them, chattering softly.]

Hmmm, I take it they have the wine you like, then. [There is a small, knowing smile around their lips for a couple of seconds. After those seconds the look on Enkidu's face turns neutral again.] Have you met other people? [Because they know very well how Gilgamesh had lived, how it had shaped him. All that loneliness hidden underneath a thick layer of cruelty and arrogance.]

Have you made new friends?

["FRIEND" IS... ALSO A STRONG WORD... It catches him off-guard a little bit, even though it probably shouldn't. He remembered how Enkidu saw themselves, and he'd had far too much time to think about the things they had said, from the beginning of their friendship until their dying breath. He understood why they would ask such a silly question, but...

Well, he'd made himself clear on that matter before.]

You are my friend. That is a title for you alone. [That would always be true. As long as he lived, and long after—none would ever be more important to him than them.] But I suppose I have met some tolerable people in my life. You are a Servant of Chaldea, correct? Then you should be familiar with some of them already yourself.

[Calling them "friends" was a lot for someone like him, but he had still grown quite fond of them when the world was supposed to end. They were probably the next best thing, though, at the very least.]

The alcohol here is nothing like home, nor the food, for that matter, but it serves its purpose well enough. [Still, the thought makes him smile. Of course they knew would think of something like that.] You'll have more time than you know what to do with here, so there will be many opportunities to try them.

[Enkidu is well aware of the weight of that last question and they do not really know what they want to hear. There is relief in knowing that Gil would not live a life in solitude anymore. There is relief in hearing that they are their friend because that would be the sweetest sort of nostalgia.

Ah, and the answer they receive makes them smile. Unconsciously they place their free hand on their chest, right where their heart is. It is the sweetest feeling and for that moment they want to hold on to it as long as possible. After all, nothing lasts forever.

The only proper response they can give to that is holding on to Gil's hand a little tighter while a soft sigh escapes their mouth.]

Quite a good choice, Gil. They are very tolerable. Strong willed and ambitious too.

[They are getting closer to the city again, leaving the quiet pumpkin field behind them. The hugbugs, however, are still walking right behind them.]

Now how should we celebrate our reunion? [They nudge their friend, smiling broadly.] We could fight one another, not holding back. But we could also eat and drink until we are drunk and full.

[He had many good things to say about the Master, about Mash, about the doctor. They had more than earned his respect, and maybe he kind of looked forward to the day that he would be summoned so that at least some version of him could bully Romani into taking a nap. Perhaps he'll tell them about it sometime, if they have not already heard stories about the Demonic Front.

The next question, at least, is far less embarrassing, and much easier to answer.]

Hmph. If I fought you as I am now, you would only be disappointed. [He's probably underselling himself a little bit, but the fact of the matter was that he was no match for Enkidu now. After Enkidu's death, as a mage, he'd simply never planned to face anyone quite as powerful as them... Goodness knows how well that turned out. But anyway—] But I wouldn't mind a drink, so I suppose I can indulge you in that much.

[He makes it sound like it's for their sake, but isn't he just indulging himself?! (Yes.) Maybe it's another way in which he's matured, or maybe it's just... sentimentality, but the idea of just being near them for a while... that sounded nice. That was all he really wanted.]

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▶ TDM .009

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