▶ TDM .009

[prismods]

Now whip it

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"Devo - Whip It (Video)" (Watch on YouTube)

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.

Comments

[menphina]

So did I. Been traveling since I was a wee kit.

[ No need to go into details yet, and while she is taking what he's giving her at face value, she knows that's usually not the case with folks they encounter here.

The handsome and mysterious ones usually are, though she'd be pleasantly surprised if what she saw was what she got.

All the same, she does take in his expression— perhaps something she wouldn't have paid too much attention to, before, but now she keeps her observations in mind before she chuckles and slides her device back into a side pouch on her belt. She then moves to let her hand slide down the inside of his arm, over the sleeve, until her fingers and palm press against his. It's a rush of warm chroma building and even she feels a slight shiver from it, before she motions ahead. ]

We can buy anything with chroma, aye. The Prismals here can't generate it, but they call us Moonblessed because we can.

[ She's making her own observations about him, but who needs to be interrogative now? At the same time, whatever happens, he is new here. May as well set him on his way, even if she never sees him again after this.

Not that she would mind if she did. He's caught her interest so she might even look out for him after they part. Lifting their joined hands, she shows him what she means about contact too— if he's observant, he might even notice the gentle faint glow emanating from their joined hands. ]

But we can. Feels nice, doesn't it?

[ There's a twinkle in her eye, even if there's just a hint of resignation— it's not him, but perhaps the weight of memories behind the contact and what it implies for her, and the affirmation that others may not see things the way she does.

But he doesn't need to know that. ]

If you're hungry, we could stop by Caihong. That's a popular place around here, and the one with the best food, too. At least, from what I recall. Got any favourites, handsome?

[ They can talk as they walk! ]

[dissimilates]

[ moonblessed, there it is again. kogami doesn't actually feel altogether blessed, but that's a story for another day. that megumi has been travelling since she was young explains so much, and he carefully files that information away, too, as he does everything else that she generously shares with him.

it takes awhile to get used to such an alien place, but kogami is nothing if not adaptable to strange new environments, curious and observant -- he keeps his hand twined with hers even if he's never been one for displays of affection of any sort. no, this generates chroma that he'll be able to use later, so why not? besides, the faint tingle between their joined hands is quite something, and if nothing else, is proof that just about everyone he's met here isn't all in together in some kind of elaborate lie.

no, it's something worse; a shared reality and glowing hands. ]

At this point, I'd settle for any kind of food. [ caihong sounds chinese, however, and chinese works perfectly fine with him. there's more he has to discover for himself, and megumi's already been a big help, so he really has to ask -- ]

And about this Moonlacing thing. It's all true?

Trudges back after sick

[menphina]

As true as can be. Seems like everything runs on chroma here. Mostly us, but—

[ She holds up their joined hands. ]

This is called moonlacing— simple acts like this, or more intimate acts. The less of it you do, the more chroma-drained you get. And that just makes you unable to be functional unless someone moonlaces with you.

[ Slightly serious, but then... she wiggles her ears. ]

And it's where your money comes from, too. I suppose there's some benefit to it, aye?

[ She'll walk alongside him as she does, though she obviously seems to be taking in the sights just as much as him— as though reacquainting herself. ]

Huh. Suppose it hasn't been that long at all. Anyroad, we can talk about this later. For now, food.

[ Her gaze is softer now. ]

And don't worry. It's fine for you to have your secrets, but sooner or later, you may want to open up. Moon lacing is doubly effective when there's care involved.

[ And with a wink, she'll lead him off to the brightest and most colorful part of Lunatia— it's definitely a near-space Asia themed world down here, filled with delicious scents and bight colours. ]

Almost feels like home, doesn't it?

[dissimilates]

The world's oldest profession, huh.

[ kogami comments -- people probably might not take kindly to kogami comparing this to prostitution of a sort, but it is what it is, underneath all the nice words and rationalisations. intimacy and sex for money and the power to function, and it doesn't feel all that different from a leash around the neck, after all.

he keeps his hand in hers, his expression unreadable right until she reaches right in and gently prompts him. she's a sweet and observant one, all right; that their conversations have been mostly about her is not lost on her. and yet, she engages all the same. kogami exhales quietly, looking from her to lunatia, the sprawling, brightly-lit metropolis that feels familiar and alien all at once. ]

...Almost. Was your home like this, too?

[ ...he's doing it again. it's a bad, bad habit. ]

[menphina]

You're not the first to call it that.

[ Then again, she doesn't see prostitution as a bad thing— as he said, it's the oldest profession in the word, and everyone needs relief. Everyone ends up wanting to feel loved, if just for a price.

It's what she's been doing to fulfill her own needs ever since her divorce.

He is guarded, but— who knows. Maybe this will be the only time they meet. Maybe they'll keep meeting, depending on how long he stays. Her ears flick up and lower at his question, letting out a huff of a chuckle. ]

Some parts of it. There's a port city called Kugane, on the isle of Hingashi. It has markets like this, though people from all over Othard trade there. From Thavnair to Yanxia and further. Not that those names will mean anything for you, but—

[ She chuckles. ]

I've been told Hingashi sounds a lot like your world's "Japan"— so who knows. I live around Eorzea now, back home. Maybe you'll be able to see it sometime, if the kinds of technology in this place is anything to go by. Can't send us home, but it sure can let us pretend.

[ She stops in front of a street vendor selling her favourite noodles and dim sum, and she waves. The vendor remarks that she got a new hairdo! And a new handsome treat. She just ends up laughing, her ears wiggling before she motions to Kogami to take his pick. ]

My treat for this treat, then.

[ She winks at him. ]

Take your pick. Mr. Takoyaki is my favourite here.

[ He's also an octopus prismal! ]

Is this familiar to what your world offers? The food, not the big tentacle man.

[dissimilates]

[ is it real, when you get paid for it? not that kogami has anything against prostitution, it's just not really his thing -- this kind of affection seems contrived, somehow, but he's willing to be proven wrong. who knows?

that she's some sort of japanese doesn't escape him -- her features, her name, the places she names. perhaps there were japanese people who settled there. ]

I'd like that. [ seeing another world through new technology; he's largely come to terms with the fact that he's on an entirely different planet, and he can't help but crack a smile at her wiggling ears, the way she's so excited about getting a treat. she's becoming easy to read, too, in these unguarded moments, and he looks down at the range of food, brows raising and not in the least minding he'd been termed as a handsome treat -- so megumi seems to be a favourite here, then.

ah, there are some things he's only seen in history books, others, what kagari used to make, others when he had been travelling, and he turns to her after a moment. ]

Yeah. [ he pauses, trying not to snort at the fact that the octopus prismal is named after fried octopus balls. ] Been awhile since I've had ramen. How about that?