▶ TDM OVERFLOW .001

[prismods]

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

QUICK LINKS ⬤ navigation ⬤ faq ⬤ world ⬤ moonblessings

▶ Lisa Frank's LSD Fun House
anytime, anywhere on the moon Iris | top

Everything is darkness except for dim lights sparkling in the distance, a faint gleam that greets you as you start to unfurl from your dormant state. 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. Throat parched and skin dry and aching, you grope your body in alarm to make sure your possessions are still in place. 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 only rewards you with 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.

A ⬤ As you traverse the near-barren landscape, you feel something sting your skin. It's small and subtle at first, then you finally catch sight of it: an elegant, crystalline mosquito buzzing around from the corner of your eye. However, a pest is still a pest. After a while, marks near your welts begin to form strange patterns on your skin, mimicking ancient runes. Each rune has with it a particular side-effect that may hinder you on your journey:

✾ The Mark of the Enchanter: Hallucinations, hallucinations galore. Your character will see everything and anything their imagination can conjure and will have difficulty separating reality from fiction.
₪ The Mark of the Destroyer: Limbs start to cease their function, causing you to stumble or try and get around one-handed. Other certain body parts may be affected as well. Look at the bright side: you can stop worrying about jiggle physics and hiding your fear boner.
⍢ The Mark of the Sinner: Your hunger, your thirst, your fatigue and your desire are at an all-time high. Your impulses are rabid and uncontrollable. Maybe you experience only one of those symptoms. Maybe you experience them all. All you know is that you want relief now.

These effects will eventually clear up with a bit of accidental or purposeful physical contact with another person, making you wonder if there was anything wrong with you at all.

B ⬤ Hunger starts to gnaw at you vigorously. Perhaps you consider hunting the moon's creatures to sate your hunger. That's when you see it: a thick, meaty, juicy meal on legs. No, we're not talking about Alex Louis Armstrong. A wild silver-white pegasus runs across the purple landscape, its hair billowing in the wind as its hooves smack loudly against the ground. Try and shoot it, and you may find your efforts curtailed by its legendary rage. Eyes aglow and wings beating up a storm, this pegasus is no dainty horse. Two thousand pounds of pure muscle swoop down and charge at you, all blades and ammunition deflecting off its impenetrable skin. Taming appears impossible; it will buck anyone away and leave a sizable horn- or hoof-shaped hole in them for their efforts. Hunting it, however, should be easier. Relatively.

C ⬤ Or you may decide that you'd like to take a drink in the prismatic waters. A small pond can be found just a few miles away from where you first awoke, but gazing into it reflects what appears to be a window into your own world. You see the faces of loved ones or at least someone very close and familiar to you gathered around your prone body, shaking it frantically as though to try and rouse you, yet your image lies frozen and unresponsive, not even a whisper of life running through you. Did you die in your world? Is this your afterlife? The questions start to pile up along with the gnawing dread that you may never return home again.

▶ Camp Nowhere
anytime, anywhere on the moon iris | top

Time moves strangely when you're trapped on a moon with no sun to guide you. Hours feel like days, and days feel like weeks. Travelling has rendered you weak and tired. Luckily, a few crystal formations in the shape of a cavern may offer you a small place refuge as you decide to nap. You notice a few artifacts left over from previous explorers.

D ⬤ A comm unit abandoned within the cavern will display the former owner's idol obsession. As you tap the buttons indiscriminately, a holographic screen will appear, and you will see a fabulous recorded concert featuring three bubbly young ladies in animal print, singing to you about something called Cordis, a cat, and a bag of gems. Does this make any sense to you? Probably not, but the beat is catchy. You may even find yourself tapping a foot along to it. Don’t worry. We know it’s plastic love.

E ⬤ There's a small cooler-like container of preserved powdered food bags labeled with only the word “Edible” that can be safely consumed. Although the powder tastes as bland as you’d expect, it’s oddly filling, sating either hunger or thirst. But who will be the first — and the bravest — to try eating them?

F ⬤ A strange, pointed instrument is among the effects found in the cavern. It's silver, long, and thin with a curved end and a light. When you grip it with warm hands, it seems to vibrate enthusiastically and comes in three settings indicated by a frowny face, a neutral face, and a happy face. What could it mean exactly? No one knows, but you can fiddle with it to your heart's desire. Just don't ask yourself where it's been before. You don't want to know.

▶ Interstellar Action Force Assemble
prisma, iris | top

Over a day has passed when a group of people find you worse for wear. Some are full of uncertainty and fear while some are full of curiosity and excitement. They claim that they are scientists from the planet Prismatica here to investigate the sudden appearances of rainbow crystals in the skies. That means you and the others they’ve located within the area. You are all a surprising find to them, and they are quick to load everyone in their transport vehicles for examination and questioning.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? Why are the pegasi so ill-tempered? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They do have questions on their own, so it’s only fair to trade. They tell you about their world as they poke and prod you, trying to understand what you are and how you came into their land. If they’re not trembling in fear, some of them may ask you odd and invasive questions in return, such as what the rate at which your body achieves thermoregulation is, how long your refractory period is, and if you would be willing to submit various kinds of body fluids to them. It's up to whether you wish to comply or protest.

G ⬤ If you react violently, you will be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. They came prepared, so have fun with that! In any case, conscious or not, you’ll be brought into one of the transport vehicles. If you choose to peacefully cooperate, you’ll be provided any necessary first aid and a refreshing drink to help you recuperate after the rough time you had for the past few days. Each transport vehicle has a few small rooms to rest in, but due to the limited space, you’ll have to snuggle up with someone else on that bunk bed. Unfortunately, the moonshine fruit the ship is also carrying in its cargo has an extremely sweet smell that’s been permeating through certain areas of the ventilation system… Taking a whiff of it may inebriate you for the rest of the trip.

H ⬤ It’s a bumpy ride as terrain vehicles draw over various crystal formations until you see a large dome-like structure up ahead. Within its confines lies the seat of the Prismatica's government, Prisma. It’s a bureaucratic wet dream: skyscrapers practically touch the upper surface of the dome, windows glimmer with a prismatic sheen as daylight hits them, and small ships can be seen flying to and from its spaceport. The scientists, members of the Lunar Scientia, usher you into their facilities for tests. Arrivals are likely to twitch, tremble, and panic as Lunar Scientia fellows take and broadcast every embarrassing, unfiltered detail about you — height, weight, age, strange odors, estimated frequency of sexual activity —- to one another. These scientists will ask you politely to undress, too, but understand if you don't want to. They're especially fascinated by the readings of pure Chroma inside you, whispering among one another excitedly about the possibility of the new arrivals being a new moon species. What should they call them? Moonborne? Moonblessed?

I ⬤ At long last, the questions and physical examinations are done. They’ve decided to call the arrivals as the Moonblessed. They’ll take you under their care until they understand more about you. You're allowed a very refreshing hot shower and a warm meal for your efforts. Don’t worry, the meal was imported from their planet. “Planet?” you might ask, but you won’t need to wonder for too long. The ships are preparing for their next destination: the nearby planet Prismatica, where you will be dwelling for the time being. You're free to explore the government center until then.

▶ Wildcard
Lunatia, Prismatica | top

It only takes a couple hours for the ships to reach their home planet. The ships drop the characters off at the city of Lunatia, where they will be given their communication devices and a plastic card they can present to certain landlords at any residential district for their subsidized (read: absolutely free) lodging. Officials at Prisma instructed the newcomers to await further instructions from the government, but you have a lot of time to kill before then. Why not explore in the meantime? Learn the ins and outs of the world, get a job, transform under the full moon, and explore the many mysteries of planet Prismatica!

This is this TDM's overflow. Feel free to move your threads from there and continue tagging!

Comments

SORA

[serpentillusion]

[continued from here]

I'm afraid I don't either of these "Masters" that you speak of. Rather, there should only be Seven Masters. [And she does sound highly disapproving to learn that there are those who have taken to calling themselves by that title.

Which is understandable. It's a sensitive topic, with the Master's disappearance, and Luxu's as well for his mission.]

[keythatconnects]

Oh, um... Well, there are seven guardians? But not all of us are Masters. The Masters are the ones who passed their Mark of Mastery test.

Are you saying that you became a Master some other way?

[serpentillusion]

I was chosen by the Master of Masters personally, along with my close friends. [She says, softly, but firmly.] I don't know what this "Mark of Mastery" test you speak of is, but unless they were chosen by my Master himself, they have no business calling themselves as such.

[Though she cannot fault them for being lied to. But these "Masters" themselves... Had they been lied too as well? How long had this gone on? How had she not known of such a thing?]

[keythatconnects]

[Sora just seems to think this is all really confusing.]

Uhm.... who's the Master of Masters? I've never heard of him.

sora please, shes dying

[serpentillusion]

The one who originally created the Keyblade, of course. The first to wield it, and the first to become well versed in its abilities. He also was the one to originally create Spirits, and myself and five others are his apprentices, and Masters ourselves.

[keythatconnects]

Whoa, whoa. Wait.

[He has too many questions from that. Like, to the point where his head is hurting. He starts with one subject for now.]

Someone... created the spirits? You mean like Dreameaters and Nightmares and stuff? Really? I thought they were just natural to the Sleeping Realm? Kind of like humans and birds and dogs and stuff are to the waking worlds?

[serpentillusion]

Of course someone created them. However, Nightmare's only occur when a Spirit's owner falls into Darkness. And from there, the Nightmares try to tempt other Keyblade wielders into the same fate.

[keythatconnects]

[Sora just sort of looks at her for a looong moment. Because none of that makes any sense to him. None of the spirits he encountered had 'owners.' Sure they teamed up with him, but he would have considered them friends more than property or pets.

Even if Meow Wow liked to get his belly rubbed.]

That... doesn't make any sense. I've been to the Sleeping Realms. There are no Keyblade wielders there. But there sure are a whoooole lot of spirits.

[serpentillusion]

I'm afraid I don't follow. "Sleeping Realms"? And Spirits without owners? That simply shouldn't be.

[keythatconnects]

Well, I mean... that's how it is? So I'm not so sure about 'shouldn't be.'

As for the Sleeping Realms... Well, I'm not the best at explaining this stuff but basically, there are different realms right?

So you have the Sleeping Realm, which is where spirits live. It also is we dream and sometimes worlds that have fallen to darkness go there too when they can be restored fully.

Then you have the Realm of Darkness, which is where the Heartless come from. Anything that is overcome by the darkness goes there too. And time is kind of... messed up there?

And then there's the Realm of Light, where the waking worlds are. That's where all of the different worlds everyone lives on stay. This world, for example. And my islands. And all of the different worlds where my friends live. I used to travel between them and help people, even though the borders between the worlds make it hard to cross into them. We could do it with my gummi ship.

Man, if we only had a gummi ship now. We could get off this world and go home.

i cant believe invi got info dropped like this by SORA of all people

[serpentillusion]

[This is... a lot to take in. But from it, she can surmise with certainty, a few things.

This boy is not from her time.

The state of the worlds after the war... Had the war caused this? It's likely. It's the theory she's running with for now. Nothing he's saying makes sense in her time otherwise.

Slowly, she speaks.]

I believe.... that we're from different times. What do you know of the Keyblade War?

[She's certain that he knows of it. He simply must.]

she might need someone else to explain it to her properly. XD

[keythatconnects]

Which one?

[He asks it so simply and innocently, as if telling her that such a calamity has happened more than once isn't something that would rock any union member to their core.]

shes dying, thanks,

[serpentillusion]

There's... been more than one?

[THIS WASNT IN THE BOOK.]

[keythatconnects]

[Sora frowns, catching on at least enough to realize this is all probably terrible news for her.

After a moment he moves closer and gently puts a hand on her arm.]

Yeah...

[He says it more carefully this time.]

I don't know all of the details, but the first one was pretty bad. It... broke the world into different pieces and darkness won. The x blade shattered and Kingdom Hearts was lost.

From that, the worlds as they are today formed. And now each one is separate and different, with borders that prevent normal travel between them.

[serpentillusion]

Those events... Those haven't happened for me. The first Keyblade War hasn't happened, but it is looming.

[He says it with such sincerity, that she fully believes that he's truly ahead of her, timeline wise. An odd thing, but it's the only thing that makes sense.

The touch is a little surprising too. No one normally dares, she's a Master, and truthfully, the subject isn't as painful as he thinks. It hurts, it makes her heart ache to know of what the eventuality is, but it is a roll she must follow.]

I know for a fact that I do not survive the Keyblade war. Only a few do. [An odd thing to say for someone who says the events haven't happened for her yet.] Still, there should be more than just the handful you claim left. [Ava's group had been small, but not that small.]

[keythatconnects]

[That's terrible, and Sora isn't sure how to comfort her. He has faced his own death too, and he doesn't know what there is to say that will help.]

There is a story, you know. My, uh, my friend's grandmother used to tell it to her.

It says that after the darkness won, there was light left in the hearts of children and those children brought light back into the world. Their light is what saved us and allowed us to continue.

So maybe, not all hope is lost?

[serpentillusion]

I'm not familiar with the story, however, I do know what "children" you are referring to. They were chosen to "inherit" the world after the war, to not get involved with the fight.

[And to know that Ava had completed her roll... Invi is relieved.]

[keythatconnects]

There you go! So they made it possible for me and my friends to exist. And now we have Keyblades and want to protect the worlds from falling back into darkness.

[serpentillusion]

[Again, she remembers. She remembers The Masters words, which Ira had told her.

The Keyblades aren't for protecting Kingdom hearts. What were they for, then? There were still mysteries surrounding them to solve. Why have them in the first place?

... It's not for her to know, and so she banishes it from her thoughts. If that is what these wielders have decided they're for, then so be it. Perhaps it was just not what the Master wanted them to do in their time.]

I'm glad to hear it. You have an awfully big burden. Keep your friends close, and you'll find a light to guide you through the darkest depths.

[keythatconnects]

That's what I think too! My friends mean so much to me and they've helped me through the worst of times.

[serpentillusion]

[She's smiling, behind mask and scarf, and she can't help but adjust said scarf a little bit, to cover her mouth a little more. This boys light is infectious.]

I'm not sure what I could offer you, but should you need any assistance, I'd gladly offer up my abilities to you and yours.

[keythatconnects]

Really? Thanks! That's gonna help a lot. I mean, it's not every day you meet a real keyblade master!

Maybe you can even teach us a thing or two!