prismaticrap | ▶ TDM OVERFLOW .001

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▶ TDM OVERFLOW .001

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

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▶ 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ ...well. No one ever said, his luck was particularly good.

The beam he manages to re-direct for the simple reason it's his magic and therefore his to manipulate as he does most of the space around him. He won't have time to dodge another blow, not even close, so really, that leaves only one option.

Casting both arrow guns aside, she'll just about make it to him when a dark, gleaming Keyblade materializes in his hand. He blocks her strike (a little clumsily, as it's been so long), but it's good enough to keep him from being smacked again.

Shoving her back forcefully, the blades scrape harshly as they part, and he gives her the chance to absorb what just happened before he lets out a soft laugh. ]

Y'know, I'm surprised. You're usually a little less hot-headed than Ava and Aced.

[ This isn't what he wanted, but...it is what it is now. ]

You still hit like a truck, though....Invi.

[The clang is unexpected. She saw him cast away his weapons, what happened--?

But then she sees it. The familiar glint of steel silver, accented with black lining. A familiar shape in the hands of one who is unfamiliar to her.

Someone who knows Ava and Aced.

Someone who knows her.

She backs off in a quick motion, keyblade still held at her opponent who is seeming less like one than she'd think.

"Still hits like a truck"? Someone she's fought against before. But who? The darkness... It's unfamiliar. The Master had given Luxu his keyblade, before he'd left. But this... It can't be Luxu. They don't sound the same. Luxu had never had this much darkness in him.

But...]

I'll take that as a compliment.

[The name burns on the tip of her tongue, hotter than any firaza.]

... Luxu.

Heh.

[ The man in the black coat drops down from his high perch and catches himself neatly just before his feet touch the ground. A neat, cleaning landing.

The Keyblade stays, but of course, she hasn't let go of hers, either. ]

Sorry about all that, but I didn't really wanna contribute to any temporal paradoxes that seem to be happening here. [ She's clearly from a different time than he is, which is Problematic so say the least. ] You're a little more stubborn than I remember, though, so I guess that's my bad.

[ He tilts his head. ]

The kids call me Xigbar these days, but you can call me whatever you want.

[Temporal paradoxes? What does he mean by that?]

I'm as stubborn as I need to be. What's going on here, Luxu? [Xigbar is too foreign a name at the moment, she'll ask about it later. Why the name change? Why... any of this? He could have just told her.

And the Darkness... It's concerning.

She lowers her keyblade, finally, taking a few, tentative, steps towards him.]

What I'm saying is none of this is supposed to happen.

Based on what you said to me earlier, I'm guessing the Keyblade War hasn't even happened for you, yet. For me, it happened ages ago.

The simplest way to say it is, I'm from the future, and you're from my past. [ He gestures broadly. ] The Master didn't give me a Book of Prophecies like the rest of you. He just told me to survive the War and watch over this key as it passed from hand to hand.

It's why I don't look or sound the same. I haven't had my original form in quite some time.

Edited 2019-03-06 16:40 (UTC)

[It's hard to parse, the information he's giving her. He's.. from the future, she's from the past. Things that haven't happened.. Things that will, and the fact that this isn't supposed to be possible.

And yet it is. Luxu, who stands before her, who her heart aches for, and has been aching for since he'd left along with the Master, is now in front of her.

And yet, the darkness in him is concerning. But his roll... Surely it's been fulfilled by now, hasn't it? Her keyblade disappears from her hand, in a brilliant flash of blue light, and her hand drops to her side limply.]

Then... [She... can't ask. She can't ask what's to come or how, because if he's right, then temporal paradoxes are real. Yet there's a million questions on her tongue that she'll never have an answer to, because she simply can't have an answer to them, for risk of undoing what the Master's wishes were.]

I won't inquire about the future. If what you're telling me is true, then it isn't for me to know. But, Luxu, your heart. Can I at least know the reason for the darkness there?

[The concern lacing her words is real.]

[ He wishes things weren't like this. It's not how it's supposed to be, not even close, and he feels no small amount of frustration over this predicament they're both in.

Still, if he could keep a level head all these years, slogging through life after life, waiting for the moment they could all be together again, he can still do it here.

After a moment, he dismisses his own Keyblade and lets out a sigh. ]

Sorry. Really wasn't my intention to burden you with this.

[ It's why he tried to back out so many times, but...well, what's done is done.

As for how his heart came to be this way...honestly, it's probably better not to explain all the gory details.

He flaps a hand, a bit helplessly. ]

Ehh, it's a long story. The short version is I working with one of the successors of No Name to keep an eye on it for the last ten years thereabouts, and he was real into darkness. Lost my heart....twice? In the process?

Anyway.

He's gone now so the Keyblade came back to me.

You lost your heart twice? Luxu! [She shouts, and gestures wildly in her own shock. He'd lost his heart? Twice? Following a madman who had been interested in the dark. And yet... he'd still worked to carry out his roll. Still worked to see the Master's orders through, after all this time. After all he'd been through, following the keyblade.

He'd undoubtedly seen them all strike each other (and countless of wielders) down in the war.

He's stronger than she'd ever know. A job only he could have completed, and she can't help but wonder how she herself would have fared if their roles had been switched.]

Oi, oi! [ He waves both hands, trying to get her to hush. ] Don't yell so loud, geez!

[ This is a pretty deep hole they're in, but that doesn't mean he wants anybody to overhear. ]

I'm basically in one piece so don't worry about it. It's not a life sentence.

"Basically" in one piece isn't good enough! [Never have the gears switched so fast. She's closing the distance between them so she can-

She doesn't know what she can do, because it's not something she encountered, but Luxu is in trouble, somehow, some way, and there must be something she can do to remedy this.]

There's nothing you can do. Invi.

[ He sighs again and flips off the hood, finally, so she can she his actual face. An eyepatch, an ugly scar on his face, pointed ears, long dark hair streaked with silver, and an eerie golden hue to his single remaining eye. ]

This is just how it is for me now.

But it's not how it should be! [There's clear distress in her words, and it reads on her face too, even behind her mask.] Luxu. [Her voice is softer, but her fists are balled at her sides.

There's nothing she can do, he's right, but she wants to do something. She reaches out, but her hand falls at the last second.]

All the years... [He looks nothing like himself.]

[ He doesn't look anything like himself. Or at least, nothing like the person she remembers.

He can see and hear her obvious distress, and after a moment, Xigbar - Luxu - quietly takes her hand and gives it a light squeeze. ]

Listen. What happened is because of choices I made, not anything I was forced to do.

Should be, shouldn't be -- it doesn't matter. You shouldn't feel sorry for me, and I don't want you to. Got it?

[He can say that all he wants, but the fact remains, that the heart is beholden to no ones wishes, not even what one themselves desires. He distress stays, and behind the mask, she blinks back a wetness to prevent it from falling down her cheeks as he grips her hand.

She squeezes back, because what else is she to do? She can't help him, not in a way that matters, and she can't... Their friendship has long been over, from his standpoint. She's perished, as she's known she would, and he has been left alone. Without anyone. No Ira, no Gula, Aced, herself or even Ava.

He's had no one, for a long, long time.]

You always were the strongest out of any of us. No one of us could have carried out the roll you were given. The Master chose well.

[ It has been a long time. Longer than he can even find the words to express. When he first saw her, he thought the summoning had somehow gone awry, hence the reason he approached her cautiously. As things are, it feels like he's talking to a ghost instead -- someone who yet lives but is destined to die. This isn't what he wanted or envisioned, what he waited for all this time.

He exhales slowly, though. He has to take this in stride and do what he can in the meantime.

His fingers curl a little tighter, and there's the faintest flicker of a smile. ]

The strongest? Nah. Just stubborn.

[ It's all he had to go on sometimes -- a tenacious will that refused to be conquered by time or loneliness.

Finally, he release her hand. ]

Not really sure how long we'll be here or if there's a way to get back, but...anyway. We'll make the best of it.

[At the very least, the physical touch has... Not calmed her, not entirely, but it's done something that makes the weight on her heart easier to bear. To think of how alone he's been all this time still hurts her, but he's right. They have time, at the very least, and they can have their friendship back once more.

For how long is unknown. But isn't that always the case? Wasn't that the case? Both him and the Master had been there one day, and then gone the next suddenly.

To make the most of it... He's right.]

In that case... We should at least work on figuring out where we are. My portals don't seem to work correctly here. [In one side, and out... the other, not too far away.]

[ Calm is good. He's not the best at this, never really was, but it's better for both of them to keep cool heads. Especially since he has a feeling he knows what's coming once Invi and some of the others start running into each other. ]

Mine aren't working right, either, so...it might be another worldline or some other kind of interference.

[ He can't tell just yet, but...he does intend to find out. ]

Before I magic us out of this hole, though, there is one thing I'd like to mention.

Edited 2019-03-07 02:51 (UTC)

What is it? [She can get out of it on her own fine! She can airstep like a champ. She has double flight equipped!

But she won't say no, because honestly, she's just glad to be in Luxu's company again.]

[ Well, sure she could, but since he made the hole, he probably needs to, ah, unmake it.

What he's about to say isn't especially fun, though. ]

So...given the way things are here, I'd say the odds are pretty good that you're gonna run into some other people who are from the same time I am, or at least fairly close. Some might be Keyblade wielders; others might not. They'll have plenty to say, and most of them won't have anything flattering to say about me.

None of them know anything about this, though, and that's how I want it to stay.

Edited 2019-03-07 04:25 (UTC)

I... Think I may know who you're talking about. I met some keyblade wielders who weren't in any union... Who didn't know about us.

[Those must be the people he's talking about, though why they won't have anything nice to say about him...

Clearly he's done things in his time, for his roll, that are hard. It must coincide with the darkness she feels from him, though she wishes it weren't true.

It is as it needs to be.]

It’s been a long time, Invi. A lot of things have changed. The ones you talked to wouldn’t know anything about us, the Master, none of it.

I’m sure if the name ‘Xigbar’ ever comes up, you’ll hear plenty about the things I’ve done over the last ten years - all terrible and all true.

[ He’s become quite a nasty character, and he’s certainly aware of that fact. ]

I’m asking you not to contest what they say or let on you know me at all. I’m not the same kid I was and never will be again, but aside from that, it’s really nothing they need to know.

You're asking much of me, Luxu.

[Surely he knows that. To not defend him, and his actions, however horrific they might have been... She knows he had the Master's orders in best interest, and the Master surely only ever had their best interests at heart.

To hear people talk about him in a negative way... Just the thought makes her fists clench.]

I can pretend to not know you, and I can avoid explaining your roll, but...

They wouldn't understand, Invi.

[ All they've ever known, all they've ever seen is the man who taunted, prodded, and attacked them over and over again, in various forms, places, and times. It's an image he's cultivated, and really, he's done a damn good job of perfecting it. Everything he did, he did with the Master's orders in mind -- to stay close to No Name and keep his vigil over the Gazing Eye -- but none of that would make any sense to the people he's hurt along the way.

It doesn't mean he's sorry (he's not) or that he would ever apologize for it (he won't). He just did what he had to do to complete his role, and that's all there is to it. ]

I've got no interest in explaining myself to a bunch of kids who don't know anything about the world and the way things used to be. They're attached to their assumptions, and they can keep them. It's no skin off my nose.

[ After all, if he gave a shit about what other people thought of him, he never would have been able to do what he's done. ]

I know you don't like it, but...it's better like this.

Edited 2019-03-07 18:06 (UTC)

... I'll do as you wish. [Said softly, and her hands uncurl from their fists.]

But if they attempt to harm you- [A laughable notion, in her mind. He's Luxu, a foreteller like her, and powerful at that.] I will be there to stop them. This is something I will not negotiate on.

[Which... is also her own way of making a plea to him. Don't get into a fight with these children. Don't cause trouble.]

[ Xigbar waves a hand. ]

I doubt it'll come to that. The battle we were fighting is over now, and I've got no interest in picking fights.

You won't need to to defend me from them; that much I can promise you.

▶ TDM OVERFLOW .001

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