▶ 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

I always appreciate people sending me Kado art <3

[fractaljesus]

[He really did hit the nail right on the head with that observation.

Though his body remains still and mannequin-like, zaShunina's eyes alone follow the path of magic as it forms a cage around the two dolls. It is unfamiliar magic as far as the varieties he's read upon during his time here... it will require investigation once the current situation is resolved.]

You are the one whom the doll is haunting. Should I leave, there is an 84% probability it will not follow me. [He turns his eyes back to Merlin, once again the only part of him that moves even a millimeter.] It would be more practical for me to continue to observe it while you leave.

if i see anymore i promise to show u i just thought it was fate c:

[observing]

I know! It's horrible! I'm not too good with being haunted, y'know? ( he's too busy having fun, laughing as he stays by the two dolls with a wide grin on his features. it makes perfect sense that zashunina should stay behind and caster takes his leave to see what may happen but there's just no way he could do that to him. so a hand raises to his chin, rubbing softly in thought as he nods. ) There's a 16% chance that it could and while that's there, isn't it better if I handle my own little demons.

( that same hand leaves from his chin and moves to tapping at the other's shoulder as he finds that this person is thoughtful towards caster's success and while it doesn't go unnoticed — )

I'm not really practical, I'm all about doing the opposite of what should be done! So this is one of those cases, don't you think? ( playfully, he uses his other hand to lightly tap at the male's nose and even a petal slowly appears out of nowhere as he removes his finger, falling down onto the other's clothing. with his attention back on the two dolls, the cursed and the one fixed to look like him, he is curious as to what may happen. so with one last pat to the other's back. )

You can trust me, you've helped me this far, right? Why would I betray my prince charming!

[fractaljesus]

Prince Charming? [The concept isn't foreign to him, but Yaha-kui zaShunina fails to see how it applies here. At least he doesn't seem bothered by the strange man's touching, in fact he barely reacts to it at all. He's hardly less a doll than the one Merlin had made in his likeness. The only thing that even gets a response is the sudden flower petal on his nose, resulting in zaShunina crossing his eyes to try to focus on it as it falls.]

I do not trust you. [And yet neither does the tone in which he says it carry any semblance of suspicion. He voices his distrust in the same manner as someone stating that they had eggs for breakfast that morning; simple and factual, with no room for debate.

It's also very likely that his understanding of the concept of "trust" is wildly different from Merlin's.]

[observing]

Aw, thought it'd work! Flirting with you does nothing for me, does it? ( he laughs softly to himself, slightly defeated from how easily the other accepts caster's words — brushing them off as if he's never said them. now, they're between a rock and a hard place because neither of them decides to move. )

Why do you want to stay here and watch the doll? It looks like me so obviously I should stay, it'd be different it was still you. ( no it wouldn't but caster knows nothing about the skill that zashunina used and it's best to make sure that if anything happens to this doll doesn't effect him in reality. what if it pulls off an arm and merlin's just wind up missing? he can't have that. he decides to rest one of his hands on the ground in front of the cage, a faint glow of purple as flowers begin to bloom outside of the bars. )

But it's me which you've done fine work but better safe than sorry, amiright?

[fractaljesus]

[It's difficult to flirt with a being who lacks an inherent concept of sexuality to begin with. Sorry, Merlin.]

I do not. [Want to stay and watch the doll, that is.] I had suggested it merely because it was the course of action most likely to produce a desirable result. [But if Merlin is so insistent upon it, then...]

I will leave. [He agrees at last, and turns upon his heel to depart the mage and his dolls without any more hesitation.

Meanwhile, the doll he had altered won't have any different of a signature than the original version Merlinhad created. Everything about it is the same as it was before... it's only the appearance that has changed. But even if this is the only thing altered, the likeness will be remarkably accurate down to the tiniest detail, as if it could start moving at any moment. It won't, of course, (unless Merlin had instilled this property upon the original doll, in which case all bets are off), but it is incredibly true to life.]

[observing]

( it's a shame that this creature can think because if that's the case, then someone has won today. as soon as his companion leaves, merlin stares straight at both the dolls, trying to see if anything would happen and it seems the creature is hesitant. caster turns around to make sure that zashunina hasn't turned back around, he's met with his back still and accepting that the male is true to his word. he removes his hand from the ground, the flowers steadily going away but the cage remains in place, keeping the doll confined with the other and it takes a couple of blinks to see that the doll that had been created is now ripped up into multiple pieces — cotton scattered around the inside.

there's a shiver that runs down merlin's spine, laughing softly as he picks up one of the pieces of fabric that's found itself outside the bars and feeling the texture of it. it feels real, so that other person truly did their job with the material as well. ) You're upset, huh? Is it because that guy is leaving..?

( he questions. in turn, the doll slowly raises to its feet, hyper-focused on one person only and that happens to be zashunina who has left from by merlin's side. caster sighs, shaking his head as he points towards the doll and his voice holds a mocking tone. ) You're like a child, it's too easy to trick beings like you. ( sure, caster may have placed an illusion over the creature's eyes to make it seem that his mysterious companion is actually him and the doll is growing frustrated thinking that caster is getting away. because of the delusion, the other should hear a loud hiss sent his way that comes from the doll but luckily for him it can't move outside of the cage.

well, that's until caster removes the barrier around it which allows the doll to move from it's spot, following right behind the other but there's a good distance between them for the most part. so merlin begins to pick up the tattered pieces of the doll, holding them in his hand as he raises to his feet to follow. )

[fractaljesus]

[Yaha-kui zaShunina does manage to get a fair distance away before Merlin releases the cursed doll from its cage. The loud hiss stops him immediately in his tracks, however, and he doesn't have to turn and look to see the thing has resumed its pursuit--with himself as the target now.

Yet still he does not run, for as life and death are not applicable concepts to anisotropic beings, he lacks an inherent survival instinct. He merely turns his head to look back to the doll.]

I see. Because my information was used to create the doll, its target has transferred to me. [His eyes then turn upon Merlin not far behind it.] Is that correct?

[observing]

Oh? It's because this creature is like a child, I really did try to make it like you.. I did! ( but even the doll was unimpressed by the friendship it was meant to have with the other, finding the situation annoying, and with that mindset — the doll was destroyed. the creature demands more than just a fake, it's friendship is formed from a tight bond that it decides upon the first show of affection. with that in mind, it'd rather have the real thing. )

It just thinks that you're me! We're not too far off, but have you ever thought about letting your hair get longer? Anyway! ( he's following right behind the creature that's insistent on zashunina, it's always funny to see oddities tricked by mediocre magic tricks. as soon as the other turns to look back, the doll is quick to sit down with it's head cant to the side, and a smile on its face. )

Now that I think about it, I could have done this to anyone. I just think you'd handle this better, am I right? ( caster's now standing right next to the doll that does nothing to him. ) Before you ask, yes, I'm sure it thinks I'm... you!