prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .010

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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 accidentally swallow the worm at the bottom of my tequila? — 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.

▶ I Heat Up, I Can’t Cool Down
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 After settling into your apartment, you notice a shiny silver indestructible mechanoid cube with a pair of tiny stag horns attached to it. The card attached says that it’s a gift from the Lunatian government. One touch of the cube makes it hover in place, light up brightly, and play the classic hit Last Firalia by Blam! on repeat. By the 7th listen, you get hot under your collar, beads of sweat forming on your temples and rolling down your neck, and your breath grows labored. By the 17th listen, you’re all but ready to burst into flames — a stark contrast to the plummeting temperature outdoors.

A bit of vigorous moonlacing should keep you from growing too hot and bothered indoors. Or you could simply decide to chuck the cube out the window and let it be someone else’s problem. That won't really stop it, though. The music only stops once the cube picks up enough Chroma in the atmosphere generated via moonlacing, so go forth, and spread the Firialia lust, love, and cheer!

▶ It’s the Moose Wonderful Time of the Year
City of Lunatia | top

In the city of Lunatia, the streets are emblazoned with beautiful antler decorations, gleaming gold and silver along every walkway. Snowflake holograms appear on shop fronts to announce their annual Firialia sales, and Prismals are all rushing to buy gifts and make preparations for the upcoming holiday.

According to legend, on one incredibly harsh winter, ancient Prismals were downtrodden and on the verge of starvation when the majestic stag king of the forest, Firi, emerged from his humble kingdom to bring them warm clothing, blankets, and gifts for surviving the biting cold. It is said that his spirit remains on the land even after the Calamity, appearing every winter solstice to bless the Prismals for the new year ahead. Every year, Prismals mount festive wreaths on their door, decorated with stag horns in Firi's honor, and exchange gifts to invite the benevolent spirit of Firi into their homes.

A Hanging fake deer antlers is a strong Firialia tradition that has endured for centuries — a success that can be attributed to its magical effects, which often compels two people caught beneath to share a bit of Firialia spirit with one another. One can find these trinkets everywhere, decorating even the most secluded of spaces. The antlers come in three colors:

RED: Causes a dangerous but intense feeling of desire to embrace the person you're with! You will want to roughly pin the closest person to you on a flat surface, passionately kiss, and/or aggressively hold hands.

BLUE: Causes people to want to kiss until they’re out of breath, hands liberally moving across each other’s body, and the errant temptation to go further, but no taking any clothes off in public or the Moon Knights will get you! You’ll simply be eager to tease and kiss beyond the lips and have difficulty feeling sated.

PURPLE: Causes people to want to caress each other's faces affectionately, steal soft kisses, and/or tenderly lace their fingers together. They may also feel compelled to offer up some sweet whispers and compliments!

B To combat the cool weather, Prismals will also be handing out cups of warm chocolate moose mousse. This light and creamy dessert is prepared in enchanted moose-shaped cups with a pair of festive graham cookie antlers poking out of it. Prismal traditions include taking a bite and passing it to your neighbor, enabling you to get a glimpse of one another’s Firialia wishlists left unspoken. Fancy a new fishing rod this holiday? Or perhaps that saucy leather subligar you’ve been eyeing since your arrival? The words and images that make up your list appear before whoever eats your mousse, so who knows? Maybe you might get it this Firilia...

▶ Are You Not Entertained?
Level 1, PrismaPlace | top

After the long wait and preparations, the League Match Action Online (LmaO) preliminary qualification rounds are now underway at the gaming hub in PrismaPlace in Level 1, as the city will be hosting the LmaO Grand Championship next month. Moonblessed old and new are welcome to take the game for a test drive and participate!

The award-winning VR MOBA boasts amazingly seamless first-person view graphics and a real-time combat mode almost as authentic as real life and guaranteed to wow and amaze. Players can explore and immerse themselves in the fantasy world of LmaO, where they can create their own avatars and either fight with or against players from Lunatia and the Kingdom of Lyestellus for glory and loot!

In co-op mode, you will be battling a selection of huge beasts chosen at random. The most notorious among them is Ogma the Dread Ogre, who has high defense and pesky unavoidable attacks. PVP mode pits you against other players, and getting KO’d three times in a row or having your base captured is a loss for you and your team. Fun mode featuring mini-games such as virtual basketball, rhythm step action, beat sword, and many more. Winning any of these modes nets you loads of in-game gold that can be used to buy aesthetic skins, cute in-game pets, fun game emotes, furniture for your in-game house, or weapon and skill upgrades to make you stronger for the next round!

Event emcees will be recruiting anyone passing by for the preliminaries and showing them into fully-equipped private rooms for teams of two to eight players. Each player will be given virtual headsets and tight suits for immersion and communication. Prismal players may be recruited with Moonblessed teams if necessary.

A The scenario for the preliminaries is a majestic coliseum filled with gladiators of all ages and species. In LmaO, weapon choices are currently limited to any melee and ranged weapons you'd find in an ambitious fantasy RPG setting (read: you can find dual swords and grimoires but also gunblades), including an elemental magic system of water, fire, wind, earth, dark and light. Choose your weapon and, with your team, fight for the top spot!

As you begin to battle, you notice that the more you get hit, the more your physical body shows visceral reactions to the attacks. Outside of the game, you lose balance. Bruises appear out of nowhere and mar on your skin. You earn minor abrasions and bleed. It’s possible to feel the sweat or saliva of other players or bots, the sensation of their virtual hands grappling you, or their teeth sinking into your shoulder as they bite. It's a new, tantalizing world of virtual stimulation.

B For those of you more interested in the glamour aspects of LmaO, you are welcome to compete against other players in either the in-game or a real glam-a-thon. Festive LmaO cosplayers will be scattered around the venue, dressed in colorful costumes of characters from the game, such as the ridiculously cool cyborg Kenji and the flirty immortal fox mage Yeri. As for the in-game contestants, they are located on a bright sparkling stage. Large monitors at PrismaPlace can be seen livestreaming everything.

Some of the many competitors are dressed in colorful gear, including stylish himations, risque chitons, and a bevy of glittery, neon gladiator sandals. Challenge other players to a fashion walk-off on the raised catwalk. Score high enough on either contests, and you will win an ultra-rare Firialia plump moose mount in-game. You are welcome to invite others on a scenic moose ride after as the plump moose very slowly waddles across the virtual snowfields and exhibits its adorable built-in feature where it decides to take a nap every few minutes.

▶ 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ What a warm wet Hell that Atsushi is in. Gogol doesn't envy where he is, but envies that he doesn't see it.

But since they're sharing thoughts, he'll share his own: ]

Everyone is unhappy with other people's happiness. There is no one that isn't hurt somehow from someone else being happy.

I know.

[Humans are jealous creatures by nature, and hateful by choice. Of course people are unhappy at each other's happiness.]

But does that mean it's bad to want to ease people's unhappiness?

Of course, it is.

[ He leans back in his chair -- dangerously so. ]

It's dishonest and unkind. [ Gogol closes his eyes yet still continues to smile. ] Because you don't even understand why I'm unhappy in the first place.

[Atsushi drops his hand to his side.]

Then, would you tell me why? So I can understand you better.

Since you're asking nicely, I don't see why not.

[ After all, he isn't really insulted by the dishonest and unkind act of before. Comforting a serial killer who wants to see the destruction of a truce and stability with everyone else just because he is sad, is just the morality that this Atsushi has. ]

I'm sad because they chose a sane action. They chose an action that is based on rationality and reason. I'm sad because they did not choose to destroy one another, because it would mean that they've given up on the desires of themselves. It's sad to think that even in a new world, a new place, a new life... they chose to be sane.

There's quite a bit here that's not sane. [He's been here long enough to know.] Surrounded by the insane, they cling harder to what sanity they can manage.

But rationality is what upsets you?

[He's heard stranger, really. After all, some of his best friends are writers.]

Right?

[ Atsushi gets it and he doesn't get it. They cling harder to what is sanity versus letting themselves be free of it. ]

They choose to be safe. They choose the decision that will let them feel safe. But it is not real... the truce and stability isn't real. It doesn't exist yet they say that it does. You see? It makes me sad that they're clinging to the inside of a cage in order to hold themselves together.

They're not free. They're not like birds. It would be better if they killed each other. [ Another small sigh. ] I won't kill them. I have no reason to kill them. They're not my targets. Only Dos-kun is. To kill anyone else would be the act of a madman that is only attempting to be mad.

[He's trying to get it, at least. Whether that's better than just not understanding is still up for debate.]

...I can't say you're wrong. A truce doesn't exist, it's not something you can touch or see. That stability isn't real.

They'd be free if they abandoned rationality. But they wouldn't be happy, you know?

[ Killing Dos-kun won't make him happy. Honestly, killing the one person that understands him that understood him in just one brief explanation is a painful, terrible thought.

Gogol chooses freedom over happiness. ]

Yes. I know.

They choose a happiness that is built on a lie and a cage in order to live. [ Like so many others. ] That is why it makes me sad. But I'm envious, too. If I could go back to living that way and not remember that all the things that bring me happiness makes someone else unhappy and is built only on lies I tell myself to stay rational...... it would be nice.

...It certainly would be nice not to see the cage.

[All senses are lies. All perceptions are lies. All emotions are lies, built on lies, and you have no real way of knowing if your lies are even the same as anyone else's. Society only barely works based on lies that are convenient for a good number of people.

Atsushi has spent too much time in his own head.]

But, since they're precious to me, I'm glad that they can live like that.

Now!

[ He claps his hands together. ]

How much of what I told you is a bunch of nonsense? [ He leans forward and two legs of the chair hit the floor equally loudly. ] You shouldn't try to understand things the ramblings of every person that is sad! You're just going to end up hurting the people that are precious to you that way!

[Atsushi jolts at the sudden loud noise and shift in tone.]

Um, ah, twenty percent...? No, fifteen? -If I didn't try to understand things like that I wouldn't be a writer.

[Unfortunately, it's part of the territory to piece together nonsense.]

Bzzt! Wrong!

[ He opens up his coat to take out a few more books -- these are on serial killers to toss onto the pile that he has already given Atsushi. ]

But here you are! A consolation prize! [ Gogol crosses his legs. ] Like I said... if you listen to the ramblings of your friends' enemies, you'll end up hurting them.

[ Though, he can imagine what sort of faces that the ADA would make upon hearing that he's in the city. He could imagine that they would grab onto this Atsushi's shoulders and ask if he is all right; they may even ask if Gogol said anything strange or did anything. Normal, obvious, rational questions. ]

[More books! He's grateful, he... thinks?]

That's kind of unfortunate, because I'm friends with people from all three of those organizations...

[Thank goodness he doesn't throw dinner parties, because he has no idea where he'd seat everyone without a fight breaking out.]

Pfft!

[ Didn't they just go over how they have a truce and stability and pretending to be okay with one another? Even if someone is friends with all of them, it doesn't mean anything because they "can't" see anything wrong with it as it disrupts the cage that they put themselves in. ]

You really are funny! They aren't enemies here, Atsushi! They're just people that don't like each other.

But then, doesn't that apply to you too? You even said you weren't going to pick a fight with them, so...

[So it's fine, right? Clearly it's fine?]

Nope!

[ Atsushi really is a prisoner to rationality. It is really kind of adorable if it wasn't so sad. The timid, meek writer that cannot understand the insane clown. ]

Even if I said that, what reason do they have to believe me? [ He lifts his hand up to remove the mask that covers his eye. ] They will believe me because they have more numbers and because they have more friends and connections here. They will believe me because they know they can destroy me.

[ And he puts his mask back on. ]

[ That is what it means to be enemies with a person. The Guild, the Mafia, and ADA all have reason to deal with one another. They have no reason to deal with Gogol, because from the start, the Decay of Angels makes no deals with anyone and so the rational step for rational people is to threaten to crush them if they even think of doing anything. ]

You see? I'm their enemy.

[No, Atsushi doesn't see. What about the reason for why the ADA and Guild and Mafia don't fight is much different from the reason why they don't expect Gogol to fight? What is the inherent difference between the Mafia and the Decay of Angels?]

...even if that's so. I'd still like to be friends with you, if I can.

[ Well, ask them, and they'll love that question and definitely not at all be upset about it! ]

You can't. [ Gogol stands up and stretches his arms up above his head. ] You don't understand me, so we can't be friends. And I like the ADA enough, at least, not to spit on their friendships with others.

[ It's the least he can do after he helped frame them for murder of many, many innocent hostages and make them enemy of the state back home. ]

But we can talk to each other. Pop quiz! What's the difference between someone you talk to and a friend?

[Oh, a question he knows the answer to! Probably.]

Trust. You can trust a friend but not an acquaintance.

Right.

[ And his hand suddenly appears in front of Atsushi's face holding a gun. ]

Congratulations! You win!

[There is only so far Inner Atsushi is willing to let his other personality try this 'talk to the crazy person' thing, and that right there was the line. Next time he'll cut the softer Atsushi off way sooner.

With a reaction too quick to be human - because he isn't - Atsushi sweeps his leg into Gogol's knees. Also much harder than any normal human would have been able to.]

Oof!

[ So he says!

As he falls, he slips into his cloak instead rather than falling onto the ground. He ends up sitting on the table instead as he shoots the gun in the air. Confetti comes out of it instead. ]

See? You trust your friends.

Pull something like that again and I'll kill you.

[Atsushi's speech pattern has completely changed, his tone lower and without any of the other's hesitation. He brushes his hair away from his face.]

He may be soft enough to try to understand you, but I'd see you dead to keep him safe from his own naivety.

▶ TDM .010

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