▶ TDM OVERFLOW .001

[prismods]

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!

Comments

[finethanks]

Down they go, with a splash into the water. Thankfully, it's not a large pond, but it's enough that they're both submerged when falling into it like this, and Eichi sputtering means that he's trying to breathe while covered in it, and it's a horrible time.

But, blindly, and with panicked swings of his arms, he slaps Asra a couple of times before he clutches onto him desperately, using him for help to pull himself to sit up in the shallow water, coughing and choking to clear his lungs.

Once he manages at least enough to stop gasping so desperately and start catching his breath, he blinks rapidly and turns to see if Asra's okay, at last. "I... thought I would catch you by surprise, but I never intended for it to be quite like this. Are you alright?"

[finethanks]

It's like the entirety of this magical looking world vanishes from around them when he's kissed like that, and he responds to it in kind, lifting a hand to touch gently to Asra's cheek. He appreciates the closeness, even if he's also wondering if he might end up catching a cold from drenching himself like this. He can't reach and grab onto any of the magic he'd learned before, but in the moment, it feels like another limitation similar to the last they'd dealt with.

He has to breathe, after a point, and pulls back with a soft gasp, face flushed and warm as his own laugh follows afterwards. He's so relieved. He's so glad...

"You're here." Like a relaxed sigh, he speaks, some of the tension slipping out of him. "For a moment, I thought I was dreaming... Where is this place? Do you know?"

[finethanks]

"It certainly is incredible. I've never seen anything like it, outside of dreams..."

He smiles, fondly, slender fingers sliding across Asra's cheek before he stares back down at the water surrounding them. He had seen something, something that he's sure had been terrible. Asra must have seen something terrible, too, from how he'd stood up so quickly like that.

But there's no need to focus on it, now. Not like this. "Would you mind if we walked together? If we only move for a short while, then it should be fine even on this body of mine." He presses a faint kiss against the corner of Asra's mouth before he pulls back, eyes sparkling. "At the very least, we should move out of this water before we both catch a cold."

[finethanks]

He pulls himself up with the help, shivering slightly almost all at once. His body is aching, everything feels uncomfortable, but he feels at ease with Asra here. Wherever this place is, wherever they’ve ended up, he’s not too worried, at the moment. Curious, sure, but there’s no more panic eating at the back of his mind. Thank goodness.

He glances to the side, but whatever animal he’d just noticed has already scrambled out of sight, and the reflections that had been shining off slightly reflective skin and fur are gone again. But there’s this purple color everywhere, the crystals, where they woke up, and... some of them almost seem to form caverns? There’s not much else that he can see, though.

“Thank you.” For the help, for assuring him. He looks back to Asra, fingers intertwining with his. “As wonderfully gorgeous as this is, I’ll begin to worry if we can’t find some sort of civilization. I’m not any good at directing myself in the middle of nowhere without any technology, you know? Do you have any idea which direction we should try first?”

[finethanks]

Warm... it’s so nice, Asra’s magic, and he doesn’t need any special sense to feel that. But as Asra starts speaking about crystals, Eichi still looks distracted, staring down at himself in surprise and reaching for his hair with his free hand. It worked? It... He tries once more to call forth magic of his own, to see if he can’t ease his own breathing, but there’s nothing. No familiar feeling, no sensing Asra, nothing at all.

“Hold on...” It’s enough to trouble him, and his free hand drops again, touching to his own chest. “You’re able to use your magic? I can’t feel a thing. Did something happen? Even when I’ve been terribly exhausted, I’ve at least been able to recognize it.”

He’s trying to keep calm, but Asra knows him well enough by now to recognize that his insistence on explaining how this is unusual means he’s low key panicking.

[finethanks]

As always, Asra is so kind. Soothing, reassuring, always working to help him out, and Eichi appreciated it. But is it really fine? He's a little comforted, sure, but his gaze still drifts away from Asra's and down to his hands, focusing.

It's frustrating, he supposes, that he was doing so well, only to have it taken away. That it could be ripped from him so easily, and now it's leaving him useless. He's going to be annoyed about it for a while, trying to push past it, forcing himself to work too hard, to try the impossible. That's just going to happen, no matter what, because that's the type of person that he is, but...

He at least does feel ease knowing that Asra doesn't seem to be bothered. "You're kind, as always, Asra." To focus on him like that, while still dripping wet. Eichi's eyes snap back up to him, and he reaches to run fingers through his hair. "Dry yourself, as well, and then we can use these crystals as landmarks, as you said."

[finethanks]

Of course he's still thinking about it. But, at the very least, the more pressing issue is there situation, and he's distracted in how he follows Asra, holds onto his hands and focuses on his expression. That's right... it doesn't matter where they are, as long as he's here. He feels confident in that.

"How long, let's see... It's difficult to determine how time passes in a place that's so strangely colorful, but it certainly has felt like an hour or so?" He steps onto the shore, follows closely to Asra, plucking at those wet clothes of his as a constant reminder until he decides to dry himself. "Waking up was so startling that I couldn't move, for some time. When I wiggled out of those crystals, I felt sore, and tired."

He has no idea what direction to go, but he still stares around slowly, trying to see if he can guess at one, or reevaluate. "I suppose we don't have to move immediately, but isn't it alarming to be so isolated? We'll become dehydrated and die of thirst if this extends for too long, won't we?"

[finethanks]

"Not at all. I traveled quite often, as an attempt from my parents to help my health, but there's not a place on Earth that looks like this."

It's mystical, not civilized at all. It's beautiful for that same reason, but a little terrifying. "You have places like this where you're from?" He squeezes those hands, still staring hard at Asra's clothes before he nudges at him more insistently. "Asra."

[finethanks]

"...Fufu." He can't help but smile at that, even if he's mildly frustrated at Asra still being dripping wet. He's worried! But he's cute, and so he slips a hand free, pressing his finger over Asra's lips. "I'll only kiss you if you dry yourself, you know?"

[finethanks]

“Much better.”

This was a special sort of magic of Asra’s, wasn’t it? Not the spell to dry himself, but the way he smiles and pulls Eichi closer, the way he makes his chest feel warm and fully distracts him from the weight of the situation. Pressing himself closer, he wraps his arms around Asra in turn and finally allows that worry of his to fully slip to the back of his mind. He kisses him, slow and sweet, already out of breath from the reactions of his body, but unwilling to stop just for that.

[finethanks]

"You were interested in that sort of thing? How cute."

For that, he places his hands more firmly on Asra in this hold, sliding over his back, one moving up to the back of his neck. It's a nice embrace, and he even lifts his hand further to pet at his hair, too. "But why would it matter if you're wet? I'll touch you regardless of that, you know? Even if you looked a little like a drowned cat..."

He's teasing. "I wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

[finethanks]

"Is that true? That's scary, you know?"

He says, not sounding genuinely scared at all. But come on, not being able to catch a cold sounds unfair... And he's not sure he believes it, either. His hand not in Asra's hair moves, dipping until it's under Asra's shirt and he can press his cold fingers to his back.

"But you can feel cold, right? Fufu. Did I surprise you? My fingers are still cold, so hold me a little tighter, okay~?"

[finethanks]

He snuggles in easily at that suggestion, pressing his cheek against the side of Asra's head, slipping his cold fingers only further up Asra's back beneath his shirt to steal that warmth. He breathes in deeply, eyes closing for just a moment.

"I'm glad that I found you, Asra." Softly spoken, genuine and a little shaken, but calm, overall. "But even as tempting as it might be to stay lost, just the two of us... For the sake of my health, at least, we should move when we can, and rest when it gets to be too much. I'll be able to kiss you as much as I want once we find somewhere that I can feel is safe."