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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[A: social anxiety]
[Mother and Father, I've been taken to someplace very strange.

If it's a choice between living alone and rooming with complete strangers, Alcott would like to live alone. Unfortunately, after some time searching, she's been unable to find an empty apartment.

So she should ask to room with someone. It's the only way. Just knock on a door and ask if they need a roommate... ask a complete stranger if they will do her a huge favor... aaaaah...

Louisa is pretty sure she's been standing petrified in front of a random apartment door, with her hand raised to knock, for about ten minutes now. The idea of actually knocking is no less terrifying than at the start.]

[B: a series of tubes]
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!

[And that was Alcott dropping directly on top of you from one of those vacuum tubes, screaming the whole time.

At least she's light.]

[C: please stop hyping her]
[The hugbugs are actually terribly cute, and it had helped Alcott to relax enough around them to hug one. And that's where her troubles began.

Find her attempting to hide behind a large pumpkin while one of the hugbugs calls out.] Louisa? Louisa, where did you go?

[Visibly panicked, Louisa holds a finger to her own lips. Please don't give her hiding spot away, please please please.]

[D: wildcard]
[I live in a hell of my own making]

[ Well, it doesn't matter that she's light because Inaba has absolutely no muscle, which is probably why she winds up screaming herself.

Rest in pieces, both of them.

But mostly Inaba, because she is the victim here. ]

A. The Drugged and Dirty Outlaw - Iris Government Center

[Here comes the Big Omnic Butler...better known as B.O.B.! In his arms is a groggy white-haired woman with a black wide-brimmed hat pulled low over her groaning face as she hands limp in his giant, gentle arms. Very carefully he sets her down on the bench, where she immediately slumps and mashes her cheek against the wall. Her glassy eyes are half-lidded. Guess who got a little rowdy during the physical exam? Eventually the numbing sedatives will pass through her system and get worked out of her blood stream.]

[B.O.B. sits patiently beside her. His tiny green eyes are alight, flicking back and forth with muted whirrs and whines. Pass the odd duo, he'll tip his little bowler hat in greeting, while Ashe emits a feral snarl...from her stomach. B.O.B. visibly jumps, both hands held up as if to say 'Oh my!' as he stares down at her. Then he takes a little notepad out of his fur-lined vest, a sharpie, and he makes a few quick sketches before turning it to you. It looks like a roast turkey and an apple. His head jerks indicatively toward Ashe and her growling, empty belly. Please feed this human.]

-----

B. Roommates?! - Lunatia, Level 2

[Ashe barges right in, not bothering to knock. Protest, she'll flash the key she was given, and plant a hand on her hip.]

You must be the roomie. Can't say I've ever had one of those before. Hope you don't mind that I make myself at home. B.O.B.!

[At her sudden bark, a giant robot appears in the doorframe, carrying a suitcase. He turns sideways, barely squeezing through, and catching his hat when the top of the doorframe knocks it off. The hat goes back on. He looks at Ashe's roommate, but says nothing, instead moving to stand beside the smaller woman.]

The name's Ashe. This here's B.O.B.

[He tips his hat. How do you do?]

Now...which room's mine?

[The corner of her mouth lifts in a smirk.]

We should probably discuss just how much moonlacin' you're fixin' to get so we can work out a schedule.

-----

C. Sucks to Be You -- Lunatia (anywhere)

[First the vacuum tube snagged Ashe's hat. Then it snagged the rest of her too, and boy did she raise a ruckus the whole way through. Blink and you'll miss her shooting past, a streak of screaming snarling curses left in her wake.]

[But eventually, the tube sees fit to spit out the flailing woman, who rockets straight into the hapless person who was probably enjoying a nice walk on a crisp fall day. Down they go in a tangle of arms and limbs. Or, maybe, their reflexes are fast enough to straight up catch her in their arms.]

And just what in blue blazes was that all about?!

[Is she yelling at the person, or the tubes? Both? Either way, there's not much sting to her words when her white hair looks like so much dandelion fluff sticking every which way after her surprise wild ride.]

Who puts a mess of--

[Oh hey, there's her hat, blown smack dab into the middle of her face.]

[As soon as Alcott's sure she hasn't broken anything and actually can stand up, she scrambles off of Inaba.]

I-I'm so sorry, are you alright, I swear I didn't mean to-! I'm sorry!

[ A: That one prompt where someone's gotta figure out cuddlebucks ]

Hey. Uh-

[ Alas. Woe. To be without Chroma is truly a terrible fate, all the more so at dinnertime. Clearly, the solution here is to awkwardly ask someone to hold her hand for a while, so they can both make a little cash and- ]

I'm hungry. Buy me dinner.

[ -or that. ]

I probably won't be paying you back.

[ B: Lunatia is a Series of- shit this joke already got used ]

[ You were probably having a very nice time walking through the freshly-cleaned streets, weren't you? How horrible it would be if there was suddenly a hand around your ankle.

Which there is, as Trish grabs on. It feels like she's clinging for dear life, but if you manage to reisit being pulled into the tube for more than a few seconds (...which is something of a feat), you'll see her trying desperately to punch the mouth of the tube.

If not? Congratulations, you're going on a waterslide date with a cute girl. Except there's no water, the slide is full of leaves and trash and said cute girl is swinging her fists around in a manner that's liable to cause collateral damage to you. ]

[ C: Your fave is problematic - she bullies small cute things. Also, assumes she's your fave. ]

Geez. You're the really ugly sort of cute, aren't you?

[ That was all! All she said! And it's true, she stands by it, they're really kind of ugly!

But fate does not care that she doesn't deserve this, and so two minutes later Trish is sitting in the mud (ew.) and curled up in the centre of a circle of glittering rainbow dick-pumpkins, bawling her eyes out. ]

[ D: Wildcard! ]

I'm open to whatever! If you want to plot hit me up by PM or at

oglops. Note that Trish is 15/16, if that would change your characters' reactions to her.

Edited 2019-11-08 00:40 (UTC)

[in a way, it's actually a good thing that Louisa has been waffling over knocking on the door for so long. its occupant is actually out at the moment, having wandered off to take in the city with all of the wide-eyed wonderment of the child he is...on the inside, anyway.

his outside certainly projects a different image: hulking in every sense of the word, all in black with the faint clinking of some chain from his belt loop adding an unnecessary extra bit of danger to an appearance that already screams bad news. and wouldn't you know it? he's returning home while his jittery solicitor is still standing in his doorway.

this is Styx's apartment; he's absolutely certain of it as he ambles up to the woman's side, even if he has to run through his memory a few times to reach that conclusion. despite this knowledge he remains standing behind Louisa for a few moments, noisily slurping on his iced drink as if he too was waiting for someone on the other side to open the place up. he means...people don't just stand in random doorways for no reason, right? so something must be about to happen.

after what is probably several excruciating moments for the smaller of the pair he speaks, wholly unaware of how terrifying this whole thing must appear to literally anyone who isn't himself.]

Uh...what're we waiting for?

ooc note: CRAU from yoshiwara nights. please don't hesitate to PM if you have any questions or concerns!

I.)

( it takes him no time to settle into an apartment--- after all, leaks doesn't care for much when it comes to material wealth. he doesn't really care about the fact his door is wide open either, and if one is to walk by and peek in, they'll find that the walls are completely covered by bookshelves. empty and clean bookshelves, with nothing on them as of yet. and in the middle, where not even a bed or couch or chair adorns a mostly empty floor, is the dark-robed cat whose ears and tail are completely still as he addresses each one with a very soft sound of contemplation:

'hou'

though, as soon as he feels someone's eyes, leaks will spin around on the ball of his heels and immediately glower. for someone to catch him by surprise is unwelcome, but he's already chiding himself for allowing anyone to peer into what will be his future (and hopefully temporary) home. )

Unless you have books or clean paper and pens, what good are you.

( he stares, waiting for an answer. or a challenge. or both. )

II.)

( he's been distracted by the color of the falling leaves as they drift past him, the occasional one or two landing squarely on top of his head and making him have to shake them off immediately, lest he make himself look picturesque. the idea of changing seasons is something he'd brush off if he were back home, but at this point? he's had two, and the second one is currently fresher in his mind: a small apartment that had a shared living space with others that was clean and let him have his privacy when needed. the walk to his prior job would allow him to enjoy the scenery and it's one thing that leaks missed most; consistency.

but suddenly feeling his tail get sucked, along with the rest of him? incredibly unexpected, and this is why leaks is hissing in irritation as he feels himself getting dragged through the series of tubes, ending unceremoniously on top of something.

or someone.

he's not sorry, by the way, and his claws are already out. and even if he's in someone's arms already, he'll make sure to exasperatedly huff out: )

Do not touch me.

( hiss. )

III.)

( his hugbug has been safely secured back in his room, and now he's back at the grove in order to knit. yes, his personal gnome-sized creature is still alive; the magic it must contain in order to cause amazing fits of crying and depression can totally be weaponized at some point... probably. either way, the opportunity to make something with his own hands cannot be ignored. though he could easily use his magic to conjure up some kind of accessory, being able to use the thread from this world means more from a learning perspective.

but it doesn't take him too long to knit a long scarf, one that's easily as long as his body, and he wraps it loosely around his neck and shoulders. it's soft and comfortable and the scent within its fibers are soothing to say the least. the flock of birds? not as soothing. but as he raises his hand and fires mingle around his fingertips? )

Move.

( he's saying that to the closest person, almost out of courtesy. but in reality? he doesn't want to take a risk of someone else catching fire and potentially ruining his new scarf. )

IV.)

( obligatory wildcard. meow. )

Housing

[What happens when you have someone from a Vaguely Historical world and put them face-to-face with this level of tech? Hilarity.

What happens when you have someone from a Vaguely Historical world who's also never seen anything nearly as fancy as the city and put them face-to-face with this level of tech?

Imminent disaster, apparently, as Cassim is tired, sore, overwhelmed as heck, really pissed at this stupid touchscreen lock, and about ready to just smash it to bits. He starts looking around for something, anything to get him in the damn apartment.]

Vacuums

[So, the first thing Cassim did after getting settled and figuring out how money works here (and getting dinner) was buy a cigar. He needs it after the insanity of this place, alright, no judging.

The vacuum tubes, however, seem to take offense to Cassim's addiction because no sooner does he light it then he's being sucked up into the tubes. He's spat out on you poor unfortunate soul a short moment later, cigar thankfully extinguished. He coughs and swears as he struggles to get up.]

The hell--you okay?

Hugbugs

[Cassim sits on one of the less-phallic pumpkins, head in hands as a pack of about five or six hugbugs try to cuddle or otherwise compliment him. Someone made the mistake of assuming they were children and bought candy to give them.

The hugbugs have a new favorite person, and it's Cassim. Help.]

[There is someone behind her. A big person. Out of the corner of her eyes she can see him in all black, and she's terrified.

Maybe if she stays very still and quiet, he'll leave? That's what you do with predators, right? So she doesn't move a muscle.

At least until he talks to her. Then she screams.]

I'm sorry I'm sorry please don't hurt me!!

likelihood of adopting a hugbug as a pet......./roommate? 👉👈

[a person big enough that he's probably all she can see out of the corner of her eyes...at least until she screams suddenly, and Styx is nearly leaping out of his own skin in surprise. it's a wonder his drink doesn't goes careening all over the hallway floor.]

Ah, s-shit! I-

[his instinctive confusion fades away almost immediately as his slow brain grasps the situation at last, one far more familiar than it really ought to be. of course. he hadn't been acting with awareness of it since coming here, too rattled by the severe change in location, but that didn't mean anything had really changed. he still looked like a back alley serial killer, no matter where he went.]

Oh, uh, no, uh - shit, I'm sorry, 'm not gonna touch you or anything.

[he wants to reassure her but doesn't know how, and under the intense pressure of a clearly terrified person his already feeble mind simply ceases producing useful sentences. desperate to make his intentions clear despite his own babbling, he settles for waving his free hand around. because that's helpful.]

Whip it

A

[Lancer had no master, thereof had no mana. This wouldn't really be a problem except he was still wearing rather bloodied clothes. His wounds were alright, especially after a doctor's appointment, but he had had no chance of cleaning his clothes. He was pretty sure he could substitute this 'Chroma' with mana if necessary. Especially since he wasn't summoned to another war. War rules weren't in place now.

His to-do list was as such:
- Find a place to crash
- Find someone to "moonlace" with
- ... or just get a shower and find new clothes
- Find new clothes anyway

Right now he was dealing with finding a place to stay, so he was checking the various apartments one at a time. Sorry if a man with bloody clothes suddenly spooks you. It looks like he was stabbed to chest.]

Oh, this taken? Sorry, my bad.

Night of the Living Dummy

A1

[Lancer got sucked into a tube. Now he was on his way somewhere.

Most likely straight onto someone once he exists. Hi stranger (?) meet Lancer.]

A2

[Alternatively, it's easy to hear Lancer yelling from one of the tubes.]

Hey, a little help? Kind of stuck here!

[Or you might be stuck in one with him. Either way, it'd be good to get out.]

Bird is the Word

A

[Of course, Lancer is nice to his new friend, giving it treats. So he has one dark green hugbug following him around and giving him compliments.]

Ah, man, it's nothin'. I don't need to eat so might as well treat you, right? Here, have another.

Wildcard

Plot with me either on plurk (

sasageyo) or Discord: Shiranna#8997!

[It's the bawling that gets his attention, because here he is! Trying to have an okay time! WITH PUMPKINS. Sure they're dick pumpkins but he takes what he can get sometimes. But anyway, someone is crying, and that someone is--]

Trish?!

[Honestly, with the pink hair, he almost thought it was Reimi for a second, but nah. It's Trish Una. What the fuck.]

What the hell is the matter with you? [She's not really the kind if person to lose her shit, at least not in public.]

[ well.

isn't this how all meet-cutes begin? someone falling from above, strong arms to catch them, some cheesy line about heaven losing one of its stars, etc. etc.

except— well. reality is sharp-clawed and fang-bared, and Bardo wavers on the balls of his feet as he tries to set the newcomer onto the ground and out of his grip. yeah, yeah, he gets the hint. ]

Alright, fine, but you have to pull your claws out of my arm f—

[ "—irst." ah.

a closer look, a twice-over. he notes the ears, the tail, the sand-brown hair. familiar, but vaguely unfamiliar. ]

...Konoe? [ that was his name, wasn't it? that country cat with his crooked tail, wearing caution and discomfort like the cloak he came shrouded in. ] Oi, it's really you, huh.

Edited 2019-11-08 00:54 (UTC)

WHIP IT + ARRIVAL

[ It's the same type of bullshit he's heard from everyone else wanting to put their hands on him. So, of course, when they finally drag him in from whatever place he's been trying to survive through, they have to subdue him to finish the exam. Slightly disgruntled might be the word for it, but he's actually pissed. Questions don't matter when he's spent the better part of an hour with three separate people before they finally hit him with something that makes everything delightfully and annoyingly numb.

And par for the course, they toss him on some transport to go to some city when it's all said and done too.

The place itself isn't bad, just something he isn't used to. There's a lot of light, a lot of people, a lot of noise. Space had been one of those weird things where it had been too quiet, almost eerily so, and Cain hisses out another complaint when he's left to his own devices. Finally. He shoves his hands into the pockets of the jacket he's wearing, purposely pulling his shoulders forward as he eyes the situation and tries to figure out what to do. He'd never heard of any place with these names back home, even if he hadn't been all that well-traveled, and it honestly feels like some drug-induced dream he should be waking up from. Except – ]

What the hell are you looking at?

[ He visibly bristles when someone takes more interest in him that he cares to acknowledge, and caring little for who it actually is, Cain steps forward, loosening his hands so he can curl his fingers into fists. Maybe a fight would help to ease this weird tension running through his body. ]

BIRD IS THE WORD

[ If he thought about admitting it, the change of season is kind of nice. It's different, more life than the cold emptiness of space, but really, he's in no mood to admire it as much as a lot of these other idiots happen to be. Cain still wanders around though, kicking at the ground as he lingers just outside of the patches with their weird-ass vegetables that seem to stare right at him if he looks too long. There's not much to actually say and little he wants to do, but causing some trouble seems to be the only real entertainment around here.

So, casual as can be, he finds the closest person – or maybe even group of people – to start a conversation with the slightest tilt of his head and a smarmy smile. ]

You could do a lot more with those. [ Considering their shape. ]

WILDCARD

[ Open to anything else too, honestly! Unsure about current canon point, so flexible there for anyone canon familiar. If you want to plot something else, throw me a PM and we can work it out c: ]

A. the road less traveled
( first: asato is confused.

this is a cat whose entire world had been, up until very recently, confined to a single remote village and the territory surrounding it. he would have lived his entire life there, thinking there was no world and no living outside of those boundaries, but konoe had led him away, and he had discovered the world was so much bigger and more confusing (and more exciting!) than he could've ever imagined. but from the moment he woke up, startled and confounded, ensconced in crystal on the moon, to now, wide-eyed and dumbfounded in this city, he's realized even ransen was the tip of the metaphorical world. the world is not just a village, and not just a city, and isn't even just an island — planets! space! people, so many people, and they weren't even cats?! not that he's seen, anyway. what are they even, then??

most of the explanations had gone in one feline ear and right out the other. all he knows that is that he's in a foreign place surrounded by strangers, that konoe is not here with him, and that he is about 70% terrified and 30% thrilled.

the people were for the most part the source of his fear, so as soon as he's loosed on the city, asato immediately runs and finds a place where he can scale up onto a building. he's remarkably good at finding hand-holds and ledges, alternating leaping and parkouring up the sides of buildings and bridging the gaps between them. he is cautious and practiced, but his skill is by no means perfect. perhaps he ends up crouching on the balcony to your apartment, taking a breather and a look around. or perhaps he dislodges something from a rooftop, causing it to clatter to the ground nearby where you stand, causing you to look up and see a very sheepish-looking, dark-haired face disappear over the roof's lip. or perhaps you just see the dark form flit from one place to another out of the corner of your eye and decide to track it down and investigate it.

regardless, one would do well to keep in mind proper etiquette when approaching a strange cat: do so cautiously and non-threateningly, unless you wanted it to run away or become aggressive... )

B. curiosity killed the cat
( next: asato is stuck.

how he ended up like this is not important. or, well, maybe it is, but it's also very embarrassing, and you'd have better luck pulling one of the teeth out of his head than trying to extract the truth from him (unless you witnessed it happen, which, if that's the case, it's probably best to leave it unsaid regardless).

one of two things happens:

a) you actually run into asato in one of the tubes — almost literally. he seems to have panicked, while on his adventure through the thing, and is currently contorted into a bizarre shape which has also gotten him completely stuck. his eyes are wide, wild, and scared, and the fact that you are a stranger is not helping him. whether you actually want to help assuage his fears or just get him out of your way so you can get out of this thing, something has to be done.

or b) asato manages to become unstuck on his own and eventually gets spat out the other end of a tube. maybe onto the ground in front of you, or maybe directly into you. either way, he's stunned and discombobulated, only muttering a low and half-growling, ) rrrngh... ( as he rubs his head. )

C. spin a yarn
( lastly: asato is going to get in trouble.

somewhere nearby, people are knitting. those knit goods are being given to friends and strangers, worn, and fawned over. asato doesn't care about any of that. because where there is knitting, there is yarn, tons of it, all wound up into yarn balls. though textiles certainly existed in sisa, he had never been confronted with them like this, and it awakens something in him. something deep, something ancient, something primal. asato's pupils go wide and round and dark, then he crouches and sprints, tackling into a collection of where many of the currently-not-in-use yarn balls were being kept.

several of the people orchestrating the event and a handful of those knitting take notice and begin to raise objections, a few of the former getting up to try to approach and intervene. but asato doesn't pay them a single iota of attention, all of it absorbed into the thoughtless, instinctual glee of pawing at the yarn balls, chasing them, and eventually getting utterly entangled.

he's purring the whole time... it's cute... maybe that's the reason why no one's bothered to try to extract him yet. either that, or because he's a six-foot tall catboy who is very nearly part of the yarn at this point. )

D. wildcard
( anything else that comes to mind! )

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY

( There is the sound of a pop.

Perhaps it's in the distance or immediately in front of you (or directly on top, if you're particularly unlucky), and a middle-aged blonde woman appears from thin air, clutching a crocodile-skin handbag and looking incredibly frazzled. She gives off the air of being an individual who cares very, very much about her appearance, which is quite at odds with the leaves sticking to her emerald-green robes and strewn through the tight curls of her hair.

Her eyes narrow behind the lenses of her spectacles, and she barks: )

What do you think you're looking at? I haven't got all day, you know!

( Full of self-importance, this one. )

BIRD IS THE WORD

( Rita is quite the sight as she storms out of the pumpkin patch, leaving behind a gaggle of angrily crying hugbugs in her wake. Annoying, irritating, insignificant things. At one point, she twirls around on one foot, and draws her wand from within her robes. ) I'm not the one who's snivelling and pathetic!

( She's Rita Skeeter, journalist extraordinaire! All the same, there seems to be tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.

Utterly ridiculous. )

IN AND AROUND TOWN

( If you've captured Rita's interest, she'll stroll right up to you with an air of confidence and arrogance. She looks far more put together than her previous appearances, her hair perfectly put in place and her nails repainted. )

Do you have the time for an interview?

Edited 2019-11-08 00:59 (UTC)

[It takes a minute, while Alcott is still trembling in fear and awaiting death. But after a little bit passes and she's not dead - or, indeed, injured at all - she calms down enough to at least turn around.

She's still trembling a little, and she still can't look him in the eyes, but that's the same with any stranger, not just the particularly terrifying ones.]

I, I'm sorry... i-is this your apartment?

meet the neighbors
[You've left for the day, and forgotten to lock your door.

That's a mistake, because it's time for a round of new arrivals looking for housing, and one's already claimed your living room. Don't worry, he checked to make sure there was an open room in your apartment beforehand (if there wasn't obviously space, it wouldn't be worth his time to even be here).

The man sprawled on your couch is more than a little scruffy-looking, with shaggy hair and an unshaven face and clothes with way more holes around the edges than is socially acceptable. He waves lazily when the person who actually owns this apartment opens the door, taking his feet off their coffee table with a thud of dirty workboots on the floor.]

There you are! [He says, perpetually cheerful.] I wanted to talk to you about the empty bedroom in this apartment.

zoom
[There's the whir of vacuum tubes and occasional yelp of some poor Prismal or Moonblessed caught up in the nonsense this cleanup attempt has turned into. Or, you know, someone reaching a hand out of the opening of a tube and grabbing at anyone passing by.

Help a guy out?]

wingbug
[Lewin is a nice guy, or something like that. Nice at least, especially to weird little creatures asking for some friendly physical contact.

As a result, there's a sctuffy-looking guy with a little swarm of hugbugs around him, chattering for hugs and headpats.]

Come meet this guy! [The little creatures chatter, waving you over to their new best friend, who grins from under the shadow of his bucket hat and shaggy, eye-concealing bangs.]

He's really nice, and he has a great smile! [They're uh. trying their best to play up Lewin's good points, but it's hard when he's a hobo type with dirty clothes and an unshaven face.]

if you ask the owners to work at grapplebears part-time because you're broke as shit and just want to look like you're successful in life.. will they let you?

[it's a reaction that he's incredibly used to, even if it never fails to get him down a little. at the very least it's something that he can react to properly, backing up practically against the opposing wall to give the woman ample space.]

I mean...I guess? Put my stuff in it and all, but nobody made me sign anything.

[the officials had told him to pick out an apartment, but it still felt strange to just...show up somewhere, and expect to be allowed to exert some measure of ownership over it. shouldn't he at least sign in or something downstairs? how would anyone know he was here??]

A: A New Place, a New Adventure, New Housing

[He wished he could say ending up in strange places suddenly and without explanation was a strange and new thing, but sadly it was something he was getting used to. Almost expecting now. There wasn't much he could do about it, so might as well explore the city now that he was somewhere with people. Even if it was all strange.

But even if he was a little jaded to strange sudden happenings, there were a few things that still surprised him.]

Wait... so, if I understand this right, I can just... I can just live here? Everyone who arrives just gets a basic apartment?

[He didn't have to rent an inn room, he didn't have to buy a space? He didn't have to try and compete in a violent housing market?]

That seems far too generous....

[What was the catch? What was wanted for that exchange?]

2: Merchant of Dolls

[Yehn'a had stopped at the merchants cart curious of his wares. It was always important to know what was sold and where, but... something about the dolls felt unsettling. He didn't exactly like such dolls, bringing up rather unwanted memories.]

It gives me a bad feeling....

[Like a curse.]

3: Gardening Bliss

[When one of the hugbugs ran up to him he wasn't sure what to do at first. It didn't ask him to do anything other than give it a hug, that seemed simple enough, who was he to deny it that? It was when it offered to do errands for him it threw him off more.]

I don't really have anything that needs to be done, but I appreciate the sentiment.

[But, being followed around and being old how great he was definitely was too much.]

There must be a way to get them to go... somewhere else, right?

4: The calmness of Crafting.

[After somehow getting away from his new friend for life, he found a group that was knitting scarves. That seemed pretty interesting, and most important calm and simple, so he joined in. He wasn't that practiced with a knitting needle, but the group seemed more than happy to lend him some advice. It was nice to just sit down and do basic things for once. Not have to run around, kill things, and solve whatever crisis was going on.

Was it wrong to want to stay...? At least have a vacation.]

This is pretty nice, there's a soothing repetitiveness that's rather calming.

They told me, um, that there might not be any more empty apartments, so I should look for a r-r-roommate...

[But paralyzing social anxiety is not a great thing to have.]

[To say that Rin looks shocked to see him would be an understatement. When did he appear? Oh, is it new arrivals time again?

WHATEVER, MORE IMPORTANTLY -- That's Lancer. Or some version of Cu anyway.

... What the hell happened to him?! Give a girl a moment to remember how to breathe and speak at sudden (un)dead man in front of him... ]

What the hell, don't just appear in front of anyone like that!!

Edited 2019-11-08 01:21 (UTC)

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QUESTIONS

Louisa May Alcott | Bungou Stray Dogs

b

Ashe | Overwatch

no subject

Trish Una | Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

a is for apology for this

Leaks | Lamento ~Beyond the Void~

Cassim | Magi: The Labryinth of Magic

beautiful

no subject

no subject

Lancer | Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works

C:

ii.

cain ✮ starfighter

asato | lamento: beyond the void | ota!

Rita Skeeter | Harry Potter | ota

no subject

Lewin "Lightning" Light | Blue Exorcist

no subject

no subject

Yehn'a Amariyo (WoL) | FFXIV

no subject

A