▶ 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

[byleth]

[ Where does he even begin explaining? Granted, he wasn't even present those five years, having spent most of it in some strange and deep slumber. He had only awoken to learn of what had happened, though he had a chance to bear witness to the beginnings of it. ]

Edelgard had declared war on the Church of Seiros and the rest of Fódlan. I was knocked out during her attack on Garreg Mach. You know which side you had taken.

[ He's not sure if there is ever a timeline where Hubert wouldn't support her. His loyalty had been well-cemented through their time together in Garreg Mach. ]

I had chosen the Blue Lions house and had sided with Dimitri, so we were seen as the enemy. You and I fought as we marched on Enbarr.

[ And Hubert was struck down, but there's no need to point that out either. This must be a lot for him to take in already, and Byleth is trying to break it down as easily as he can manage. But they all had made hard choices then. ]

[darkseal]

[Hubert nods at that; there's no point in pretending he didn't know what the plan was, now that this Byleth has experienced it. There would never be a world where he would turn against Lady Edelgard, he's certain of that much.

While he does privately question this Byleth's decision to lead the Blue Lions (because of course he does, how could the professor choose to help anyone other than Lady Edelgard?) it's the second part that catches his attention.]

I see. [He rests his chin against his hand.] I take it you killed me, then. I imagine this meeting must be fairly confusing for you as well.

[There isn't any real concern about his future self's death, and he doesn't seem particularly troubled by it either.]

[byleth]

[ His head shakes, expression growing ever more dismal. Fortunately, it doesn't have to happen this way in every path. There are timelines he becomes completely loyal to Edelgard, something he learned well from talking to his female counterpart. His memories are just one possibility among thousands. ]

I didn't. Ferdinand did, but neither of you here have reached that point yet.

[ And it hadn't been an easy battle. Hubert had definitely put up a fight, but it doesn't have to happen that way in every timeline. ]

You have no reason to suspect the one here will do the same. He doesn't even know of his own actions.

[ If Edelgard had listened to reason, this wouldn't have had to happen to begin with. Dimitri had given her a chance to be an ally instead of an enemy. ]

[darkseal]

[...Did you have to let Ferdinand kill him...

Pettiness aside, it's good to know that Ferdinand can be swayed to turn against Lady Edelgard. Not that he's particularly surprised by that idea, but something about it stings just the same. He doesn't even like Ferdinand, but the thought of their classmates turning against Lady Edelgard is—

Pointless. He knew from the start that there was no guarantee that any of them would side with Lady Edelgard. He knew better than to get attached.]

I have no intention of holding his future actions against him, if that is what you're worried about.

[It's a future, but that doesn't mean it's the same path Ferdinand is on. It's possible his future involves something else entirely.

Hubert hesitates for a moment, studying this Byleth closely as he carefully considers the question he wants to ask. His own death isn't troubling; it's something he's more or less expecting given the path he's chosen. But...]

...What is the last thing you remember happening before you arrived here?

[That isn't the question he wants to ask, but he finds he can't bring himself to ask about Lady Edelgard's death. Asking about the state of Fódlan will do to cover the hesitation, at least.]

[byleth]

[ As much as he's uneasy about repercussions, Hubert should know it's pointless to instigate anything here. It may not achieve the same effect were they all to return to their worlds. That Byleth and the Blue Lions may very well still be alive and still be a threat to them.

Bearing that in mind, he sees no reason to lie to him about what was about to transpire. ]

We were marching on Enbarr to defeat the empress at last.

[ And according to some who had lived through the battle, they had succeeded, though Byleth can only hope for the same in his own memories when he returns. All he knows is that he doesn't want to let his former students down or let anything happen to them even if it means having to take down the last of their former classmates. ]

Before that, the Blue Lions lead a series of successful campaigns to reclaim territory in Fódlan and started to unite the land. I know it's not what you want to hear.

[ If they had only agreed to a concord... but Edelgard refused to the very end. They weren't left with many other choices to put an end to the war, but he knows it still weighs heavily in Dimitri's heart as it does his own. Neither of them wanted things to come to this. ]

If you decide to take matters into your hands here, consider your choices carefully.

[ He doesn't want to have to kill either of them a second time. ]

[darkseal]

[Certainly not what he wanted to hear, but not particularly surprising either. Given what he's seen of the professor in battle, he's certain this one is equally as skilled, and with his support... well, it's certainly possible for Dimitri and his allies to have overcome them. As little as he likes to consider it, a future where Lady Edelgard's forces are overwhelmed and she's killed is a possibility.

Still, the professor offers some more information, and Hubert nods. The warning earns a smirk, however.]

Surely you don't believe I would do something so foolish.

[There are so many factors to consider, so many things to learn before he could even think of making a move against anyone here.

Hubert shakes his head.]

I have no intention of harming any of your students.

[That sounds like an excellent way to get himself killed??]

[byleth]

[ Byleth wants to take him on his word, but he's not certain how far Hubert's honor stretches. Perhaps, if he had lead them in the end... if he'd chosen differently... It had crossed his mind more times than he'd care to believe. He would have liked to have gotten to know both Huber and Edelgard a little better and to have a chance to convince them to reconsider their choices. Then again, he may have also turned blade on his current allies as well. ]

I want to believe you won't.

[ He leaves it at that before focusing on other matters. This must all be new and overwhelming to Hubert, and Byleth doesn't want to add to the stress of the whole ordeal by dumping more information about events that may or may not transpire in Hubert's timeline.

They have a chance to write a new history here. To set aside their complications and approach one another differently. To begin anew almost. Or so Byleth has convinced himself. ]

There are familiar faces to you. Edelgard, the other Byleth, Ferdinand, Linhardt. You won't find yourself alone.

[ It's a small comfort, but it's the only one he can offer at the moment. ]

You can also talk to me. My students may not be as amenable to your presence, but I would prefer we keep our fight to our own world.