▶ 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

it really was i'm sad it wasn't canon but alas...

[kiritin]

[ So he isn't aware.

Here, Arjuna wonders, should he voice such concerns to someone blissfully ignorant of them? Would Shuu cause another uproar if he heard such thoughts, and would that bring further troubles for them? Would answering his question with utmost honesty be cruel of him, perhaps even impulsive, or would it be food for thought, and raise Shuu's carefulness? ]

Certainly being in an unknown place of which its citizens' seem to be able to find answers to questions far less straightforward such as "height" and "weight" should be of utmost concern, [ He pauses, and takes a careful look at the one next to him. Despite his - rightful - outburst, he seems hardly as immature, if just a tad impulsive. ] however, do take a look around you.

Scientists who have asked to run tests on us, and even asked us to strip out of our clothes, only to then broadcast rather personal information. Does it not raise you any flags?

[resound]

[ it's not that he didn't notice, but rather... it's the sort of thing you willfully choose not to think about, until you have no other option. burying your head in the figurative sand and all that.

but that's not something that can continue, after arjuna's addressed it so directly. shuu's expression darkens, though he doesn't immediately fall back into kicking up a fuss. he actually doesn't say anything at all, at first. it's a lot of information he's been blocking out that he suddenly has to consider and reach a conclusion on. ]

... They could force the issue, but they aren't. [ the, undressing and all. that's probably what stands out to him the most-- they clearly know how to mandate cooperation when necessary, for the rare cases when someone felt the need to protest more than vocally. shuu shifts his weight from side to side, agitated. uncomfortable. ]

I don't know what to make of it. [ direct honesty. it's a dire situation when he can't think of anything else to give in its place. ] But you sound like you've already reached a conclusion.

[kiritin]

[ It's a sensitive spot, he notices. The fidgeting, how standing there has suddenly become too uncomfortable. It is, however, surprising this time, that Shuu does not yell, or argue against it. He's more rational than Arjuna would have expected moments ago, and there's something to be appreciated here. It's much easier to speak with those who can make sense of the situation than those who strike panic when it is not needed. ]

I am simply wary. It wouldn't be wise to reach a conclusion this early. [ He does not trust as easily as Shuu does, here: it is true, they have not forced anything. But just as one could approach this situation with the use of force, the wise play with something else. It starts amicable, and when one's trust is won... -

Arjuna sighs low, and turns to Shuu with a weak, almost apologetic smile. ]

I apologize. I had no intention to involve you in my own concerns. I know nothing of this place, and as a Servant it's within my nature to have my guards raised at all times.

[resound]

[ wary is probably the sensible state to be in. shuu still sits somewhere between that and outraged, each warring with the other. arjuna’s calmness, however, is a boon. of course, trying situations are always better when it doesn’t feel like you’re in them alone—

he doesn’t want to think about that part. ]

Huh? It’s fine— [ he seems caught off-guard by the apology. if anyone should be sorry over dragging someone else into their business, it’d be him. (not that he actually is.) that isn’t the only thing that stands out from arjuna’s words, though— ] A servant to who?

[ he doesn’t know it’s a proper noun yet, but that’s what handwaving the rest of this is for. ]

[kiritin]

To whoever summons me.

[ It probably likely makes no sense - to which he then explains his nature as a Heroic Spirit and Servant both. A shadow of who he used to be in life, of the well-known hero Arjuna of the Mahabharata, his body entirely made of magical energy that is sustained by the Holy Grail and a Master both, who summons him to aid them achieve victory in the Holy Grail War.

It would likely explain why he hasn't fucked in over a thousand year, I guess. ]

However, this place seems different. I am not connected to anyone. My mana reserve is rather limited... [ And if he runs out of it, back to the Throne of Heroes he'd go. ] This was a long-winged explanation. It's nothing you should concern yourself with.