prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .009

Entry tags:

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

[ don't point it out, ryuu, it's ok. kogami just does whatever he wants, it's his thing. besides, ryuu's doing him a pretty big favor, showing him around and all. more importantly, what he learns is this: ryuu's not alone, he's likely working as an idol here, too, and he and his group apparently have an unofficial manager. ]

I can imagine. A stern lecture across worlds. [ kogami responds blandly, amusement threaded in his tone. his smile is crooked now, with a touch of mischievous, inexplicable bad boy charm: ] So I shouldn't get you into trouble, then.

[ something about that tone of voice gets him square in the chest, right where that easy laughter of his comes from. so much that he finds himself swallowing it down. not precisely a threat, but - ryuu suddenly gets the feeling that kogami is all too capable of getting him into trouble.

less deterred than even he thinks by that thought, his expression leans bashful as they near the perimeter of the fields. ]

T, Trouble isn't necessarily what I'm looking for!

[ though, you know.

it happens. ]

But it finds you.

[ because there are three types of people, the troublemakers, the ones trouble finds, and the ones who run away -- and ryuu has demonstrated that he doesn't belong to that last category, not by a long shot. as they pass the perimeter of the fields and start towards the city, kogami regards him with lazy amusement because kogami himself most definitely belongs in the first category, despite best efforts.

it's kind of cute, how bashful he is; how easy it is for kogami to rile him up. unable to keep from teasing -- after all, tsunemori isn't here -- he asks, knowing the answer full well: ]

Do you always wear your emotions on your sleeve like this?

[ isn't that the truth.

of course, that's just how life works. ryuu knows better than anyone, even with the disposition he has, the hopes he harbors, ceaseless as waves. ever the truthful creature, he allows a smile to eke its way back through his expression. he might be easily daunted on the surface, but that belies a heart that's taken its fair share of licks. ]

You're teasing me! [ at least he's realized that much. ] Wouldn't anyone react?

[ listen he doesn't want to believe it's only him that's easy to hassle! ]

[ kogami can tell; at least, on the surface, the strength of his heart -- anyone who can keep coming back for more of what kogami deals out is strong in their own right. ryuu might be easily daunted on the surface, but something tells kogami that appearances are deceiving.

after all, isn't it the same thing with tsunemori?

kogami's faint smile warms. ]

Not the way you do. [ it's... endearing. then, perhaps by way of explanation: ] You remind me of someone I used to know.

[ call him sensitive, but it's actually the shift of kogami's smile that has him finally looking away. not in the way he might expect, either - though he still looks somewhat skittish, there's part of him that's soothed by the comment, too. they're all so far from home on this planet... even the smallest of reminders can help, can't it? as they walk further from the groves, the sight of level 2's more bustling areas come into view. it's bright and efficient, mostly full of residences and everyday businesses. ]

I see.

[ at last, he laughs a bit. ]

Well, I don't exactly want to say "tease me as much as you like" - [ because he'll die. ] but I'm happy if that puts you at ease! Arriving here can be jarring.

[ it was for him, though kogami looks leagues more at ease with the situation. ]

No one's trying to kill me, I consider that an improvement.

[ kogami tells him blandly, like this kind of thing happens every day. it's jarring and unnatural, yes, and he isn't entirely sold on it being real and not just some kind of elaborate hoax, even if there are more and more things popping up to shift the needle.

he senses it, the way ryuu gets a little more comfortable around him at that comment. he must like helping people. ]

Was it difficult for you, when you came here?

[ such frank words make ryuu fall a little quieter, a little stiller. part of him almost thinks he's being teased again, but in truth... kogami was being honest about it, wasn't he? part of him dims, hearing such a dire thing be said so easily. ryuu's left chewing over the words and trying to digest their meaning, though he hasn't tensed in response, or looked like he's changed his mind. ]

...it was difficult. There was a lot about this place for me to get used to. Things that anyone would think of as fantasy, back home.

[ and him, being about as normal as normal gets, dropping right down in the middle. but he doesn't seem interested in dwelling on himself; he's here, and he's adjusting. ]

That little creature... said you protected people. Is your work dangerous?

[ it's the strangest thing, how it feels like the sun's gone and hidden himself behind the clouds, just a little. stranger, too, that ryuu doesn't peel off from him with a hasty excuse, as if he walks with people like him regularly.

kogami listens quietly when he speaks; this place is a lot for anyone -- hell, even he is struggling a little, even if it's not apparent. he thinks about his answer for a moment, thoughtful. where does he even begin? ]

Yeah. When I was a detective, years ago -- well, you see a lot of things. [ his fingers twitch, now, itching for a smoke. ] The very worst of humanity, if you could even call it that. You don't win. Not even with the organisation you work for.

[ and either you make your peace with that, or you become like him. he exhales before dryly adding: ]

It's a pain in the ass.

[ a detective... so that's it. in that moment, ryuu becomes aware of the true gravitas of what kogami had shared with him. the silence that stretches between them is heavy, curiosity the foremost reason, but it's not so cold as to be only that. ryuu's expression creases with that mix of emotions, something genuine and without shame, that strives to understand the shape of something without ever truly experiencing it. ]

I can't imagine how difficult a job like that must be. You are -

[ he pauses, wondering if what he wants to say is too simple, if it carries with it any of the awe he feels. ]

...really strong.

Am I? [ kogami blinks, taken by surprise at that observation -- as it turns out, it seems as if ryuu sees much more than he lets on, after all. he can see it written all across that handsome, aesthetically perfect face, the warm golden eyes, open and unafraid. ]

I quit.

[ he says by way of response, wry and quiet. ] I learned that the law cannot protect people.

[ bait, he supposes. will ryuu say the same thing tsunemori did? will he see things similarly? does it matter? the law cannot protect people, but neither can kogami, so much of the time. ]

What do you think?

[ now it's ryuu's turn to be caught off guard. his gaze flickers aside, brightly sticking on kogami, but ultimately, he winds up looking away just as quickly. there's nothing to discern from a man like this, who deserves much more than his snap judgments.

...so ryuu thinks, until kogami just straight asks him. ]

Me? I don't have the right to judge anyone, let alone someone who's done the work you have.

[ sure, it's not like, say - superheroes, or huntsmen, or any number of other professions he's heard about while here. law enforcement is something that lives and breathes right alongside him, everyday. ryuu is naturally inclined to trust it, but he knows that corruption exists. that's at its worst - at its best, it can be open to interpretation. quietly, he can't help but venture: ]

People have to be there to uphold the law, don't they? If you quit to find another way to ensure that, I don't necessarily think that's bad.

[ a thoughtful, insightful answer -- measured but so much like tsunemori (and yet not) that he can't help but smile. a soft, appreciative little flicker before something else catches his attention. something big, glaringly obvious.

ryuunosuke tsunashi's face, sensuously smeared with lipstick, together with two other beautiful faces, emblazoned right there on the immense billboard before them. ryuu, who exudes raw sensuality with lips parted, the smear suggestive of a possessive paramour, perhaps, marking him for the world to see. and ryuu, sultry, wild, loaded with a wordless promise that can snare a woman's (or a man's) heart, stirring the embers of desire simmering desire.

kogami, who usually cares little for the material excesses of advertisements, pauses and stares up at it. how different he is from the man beside him, the bold, 'come if you dare' smoulder in gleaming gold eyes a stark contrast to soft, gentle ones. ]

Huh.

[ ryuu isn't so much desensitized to marketing as he is someone who just considers it natural, something so intrinsic to his everyday that he often doesn't pay it any mind until it's pointed out to him. kogami's sudden shift in attention has ryuu glancing upwards, following his line of sight until it lands on -

...himself. expression startling, ryuu's cheeks immediately flood with color. his gaze drops and he shifts on his feet, not so much embarrassed as he is taken by surprise thanks to his own visage. ]

...a, aah, that's a surprise for me too... I didn't realize they were putting those ads anywhere outside of level one.

[ kogami takes his time, taking in just how different the ryuu plastered all over the billboard is to the ryuu beside him now. that one practically simmers with sex appeal and all things primal, and ryuu --

-- gentle. thoughtful. a man who doesn't impose his opinions as much as offer them, as if the receiver is more than entitled to discard it wholly. he has the grace to be surprised by it, pink high on those pale cheeks.

this time, kogami doesn't tease -- why should he, when this is something he ought to be proud of? kogami isn't much for advertising and marketing, but it doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate or understand its functions in a society.

he turns to look at him with quiet, unspoken understanding. ]

You're a pro, right? This looks very well done.

[ ryuu doesn't expect that kind of reaction, and it shows. his heart is often on his sleeve in spite of his profession - what should invite a healthy measure of distance in defense of his own soft heart only makes ryuu more honest. it's the least of what he owes in exchange for a love like what he gets, isn't it? most people coming from a place of fame might argue otherwise, being put under the scrutiny that they are, but for ryuu... it reminds him to count his blessings, and to never give anything less than what he gets.

so, that's how the person on that billboard came to be. a diamond in the rough, an unbreakable foundation. a facet of himself that would dull his clarity if it wasn't present. most people level disbelief at him, and he's left rushing to explain himself.

instantly, kogami has proved that he's not most people. ]

...that's right. It's my job back home.

[ again, his gaze rises. ]

All of Japan knew our name. This may not be home, but... I can't be satisfied if I'm not trying to achieve the same thing here.

[ there it is.

the rise of life's blood, passion struck so deeply and profoundly that it roars to be fulfilled -- kogami is seeing it in a different form, the way another facet of ryuu awakens when recognised for what it is.

no explanations, no need for anything else to gentle the force of that ambition. ryuu is a beast in another form, someone hungry for more, and kogami's impressed. fascinated, drawn to the duality of what he presents before him, and he feels something stir, deep down in his chest.

after all, kogami has always been drawn to people like him -- vibrant, hungry, unapologetic for who they are when given the chance to shine.

it's a small smile now, something almost wolf-like, as if he'd just had a taste of something forgotten, something secretly cherished. ]

As you should. [ he tells him. all of japan knew our name, and kogami knows it's not a lie. incredible. ] This is what gets you up in the morning, isn't it? It's more than a job to you.

[ this, too, is his job. evoking the smiles of others. ryuu has just never seen one quite like this before. it's as if the expression has weight, and ryuu is bearing it, the pressure pleasant in its newness rather than overbearing. in his severity and wisdom, in that amazing ability of his to understand - kogami is seeing him for who he is, isn't he? just like that. it's incredibly warm.

at last, he smiles in return, the awe of the moment mellowing into something more comfortable. ]

Yeah. I love it.

[ he could say so much more, but that's the long and short of it. ]

Somehow, I get the feeling you can see right through me! But it's not bad. You... must really like people too, to be able to do that.

[ kogami pauses, and has the grace to look startled by the insight of that comment. he forgets sometimes, how people can look into him as clearly as he does -- and ryuu, well, he's a man of different talents, isn't he? but maybe that's the hallmark of someone who prefers to listen rather than talk; they see so much more than others.

still.

something melts between them. distance, perhaps, between new acquaintances melting in the blossom of common understanding. a genuine human connection so rarely found in the framework of sibyl's manufactured peace. ryuu presents something new for him to consider before he exhales, relaxing.

it feels almost comfortable, being seen by ryuu. his easy acceptance is profound in its simplicity, and he concedes: ]

Yeah, I suppose I do. [ hah. what a thing to be able to see. ] I don't get to meet many people like you, where I'm from.

[ ryuu wasn't expecting him to deny it, but the equally frank answer has his expression deepening in small, important places: the edges of his smile, the corners of his eyes.

starting forward again, into this lovely, quiet residential skyline that comes from the prosperity of this multileveled city, ryuu hums. doing the work that he'd done, of course kogami would see the worst parts of humanity bared in such a way that few people would dare to look, day after day... but maybe - no, surely, it's more than that. ]

Is that so? I'm pretty ordinary. [ even as far as idols go. ] But that sounds difficult... and, well.

Lonely, I think.

[ lonely, is it?

makishima said that once before, a lifetime ago, wielded like a weapon and an embrace both -- an unwelcome realisation that they were both, at their core, so much alike. saiga had said that too, didn't he? but ryuu's words are an observation, delicate but precise, and as kogami walks with him he takes his time to respond. ]

You're anything but ordinary.

[ it's not a compliment tailored to please; that ryuu would think he's ordinary is remarkable -- most idols tend to be so far up their own asses that they could give themselves brain surgery. but ryuu is grounded the way others aren't, and he remembers the faded callouses on those hands, the sturdiness of his gait. ryuu, too, sees so much more than kogami thought he would, and he simply looks up at the buildings. ] In the place I came from, you could find a substitute for anyone. People never had to need each other. All they needed was to be told what to do. [ then, he adds. ] You would have hated that Japan.

[ those words sink into him, making ryuu feel flush with the kind of reassurance it imparts. he sighs quietly, calmed. ]

But it's true.

[ next to people like tenn and gaku, he's plain. his aura is warm, but earthy, grounding, the foundations over which stars rise. right now, he's even having that sort of feeling about kogami. everything about him should read as steely and unforgiving, but that's not the case at all. he has just as many beautiful facets and inflections - ryuu wonders if he'd just look at him forever, trying to find them all with his natural curiosity. it'd probably take him that long to figure it out, when all kogami had to do was reach in and grasp his heart, a gentle clench all it takes to understand its shape.

and having said his piece, he continues on listening, lulled by the rhythm of footsteps. each new understanding he has about kogami's home leaves him with just as many questions. some are probably smarter than others, but he finds himself with just one: ]

...did you hate that Japan?

[ and this is a part of why he's so extraordinary, too. the unassuming humility that should not belong to one with such obvious star power and charisma, and yet sits so sweetly that it's hard to look away.

his smile, when it touches the hidden corners and captivates -- ryuu is extraordinary in all the quiet ways, a beacon to kogami's wild instincts. in a world that rewards showmanship, his gentle defiance of an superstar's norms is compelling. ryuu shines like the autumn sun, golden and warm, his illumination lending space to more vivid colours.

just as well that ryuu hasn't realised how extraordinary that can be, yet.

as they pass the shops, he thinks about that question for a moment. ] No. I hate the system that made it that way.

[ how can he hate japan, his home, the heart of all that he loves? ]

Tell me about yours.

System... [ he repeats, slow with curiosity. ] Then... I'm sure I wouldn't have hated it either. At least, if I saw the things in it that you did.

[ and that's that.

they travel further in, and the blocks stretch out before them, clean, beautiful, and efficient. there's green and white, washes of neon and crystal. everyday establishments are full of prismals, and it's mostly apartments that tower up alongside them. ryuu looks skyward in thought. ]

My Japan is... well, normal. As far as I see it. There's no magic, or monsters, or space travel. The sun rises and sets just the same. I came here and suddenly, the place I came from felt so small.

[ but there's a fond smile in his voice when he says so, as if it just makes him all the more aware of his home's importance when faced with a fantastical situation such as this. ]

[ oh.

if he saw the things in it that kogami did, huh? kogami watches him instead of the crystalline brilliance soaring around them for a moment -- for all of the beauty that surrounds them, ryuu proves to be the most alluring of them. the matter-of-fact honesty, the way he paints an image of japan before the sibyl system came along.

what he wouldn't give for japan to return to what it once was, free from sibyl's yoke, where people can be people again. so he listens, caught on the softness of that smile, his love for home. to bear that much feeling and still be strong enough to carve out that happiness here, that's something, isn't it? ]

Do you miss it? Okinawa?

▶ TDM .009

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