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.

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[Persephone pauses upon hearing the voice, still fumbling with the silver cube. It's hard to tell given how pink she is but her skin is flushed from the heat, her cheeks practically glowing. Green vines with small white flowers grow in a crown around her lengthening hair, shedding white and pink petals all along the hall.]

N-no! [Her voice cracks a little with panic.] I don't know what this thing is but the song-- I'm pretty sure it's making me feel like I'm burning up!

[She thrusts it in his direction, silently asking if he knows how to make it stop.]

[Yuri's curious about how someone could just spontaneously produce flowers like that, but one thing at a time. He walks over and takes the cube off her, turning it over in his hands. There's no obvious way to switch it off... not that his opinion means much. He is technologically challenged compared to a lot of people here.]

Leave it to me. I'll take it outside and smash it.

[He can feel himself getting warmer now that he's holding it, too.]

[In all honesty, Persephone isn't great with technology either. She's learning, but this is different from anything she's dealt with before.

She lets him take it though the heat doesn't fade.]

Are you sure that's going to work?

Don't know until we try, right? [He's already heading outside. Even holding this thing in his gloved hand, it makes little difference to the heat rapidly spreading across his body, so he doesn't want to wait around.]

Who gave you this, anyway? Was it a gift or some kind of prank from a stranger?

[She can't argue with that line of thought. But she feels bad breaking something that looks so pretty, even if it is causing some unwanted side effects.

she follows after him, hands moving to gather up her nearly waist-length hair and try to twist it up into buns.]

It was a gift from the government. At least, that's what the card said.

[He clicks his tongue, annoyed.] Figures. There's probably some bullshit mechanism built into it like, "give us your Chroma and we'll shut this thing up." You know?

[By the time they're outside, he's as warm as she is, his cheeks and skin along his exposed arms and chest flushed red. He wipes sweat from his forehead and looks over to her.]

All right, stand back.

What exactly does that mean? [She had a brief explanation on Chroman and moonlancing but what he says doesn't make complete sense.

Persephone doesn't like the cold but the chill in the air outside goes unnoticed due to how heated she's become.]

If that's the case won't breaking it make things worse? [Despite the question she puts a little distance between herself and him.]

It means the government here sees us as energy sources, and they'll pull dumb tricks on us if it'll make us moonlace with each other and make more Chroma for them.

[And they don't get a choice but to go along with it, most of the time. Maybe he's being excessively cynical when the authorities here are generally taking care of Moonblessed, but he still doesn't like the idea of people being pestered or coerced into anything.

To her second question, he shrugs, and slams the cube into the nearest wall with as much force as he can muster, using his bodhi blastia to augment the punch.

It drops to the floor, and when he picks it up, it looks a little dented but otherwise unscathed. And it's still singing... That same song... Again...]

Ugh. The hell is this thing made from?

Oh. [Softly as she watches him. She hasn't been here long enough to develop feelings one way or the other toward the government but she's sure they're doing the best they can given the situation.

She watches the little box bounce off the wall, moving in to get a closer look at it once he picks it up again.]

Maybe I can try something? [She holds out her hand to take the box back.]

Go ahead.

[There's not much else he can do if brute force won't crush or smash it, so he turns to hand it over it to her.]

[She takes it back, her hand brushing against his just long enough to feel something she's unfamiliar with. She doesn't take the moment to analyze it, however, instead she focuses on the box.

A light glow forms around it before flowery vines begin to wind around the box as if attempting to crush it. After a spell she sighs and lowers the box, it's still playing that tune though a little muffled.]

There's not a single crack in this thing so I can't tear it apart.

[That's it, they've been defeated by this box.]

So...how much Chroma do you think it'll take?

[Yuri watches with interest as she uses her magic. At least it's a little quieter now that it's covered in vines, annoying as it is.]

Not sure. I don't even know for sure that moonlacing will do anything. So if you want, I can take it and find somewhere to dump it instead.

[Or maybe he'll throw it through the windows of a government building and see how they like their annoying gifts.]

If moonlancing is what they want then just throwing it somewhere might not change anything.

[And she's not sure she can deal with feeling this hot for much longer. Sure, she prefers the heat but this is growing uncomfortable. She feels like someone has dumped a bucket of water on her and she's wearing all white...]

Yeah... You're probably right.

[Looking grumpy about both being way too hot, and about admitting defeat, he offers his hand. It's the least intrusive way to moonlace and make a little Chroma; it might even be enough to satisfy the annoying box.]

We can just hold hands. If you're not comfortable with more than that or wanna find someone else to moonlace with, I won't take it personally.

[She smiles and takes his hand. Within seconds she feels that feeling again and it's nice, comforting and warm but a different kind of warmth compared to the heat caused by that box.]

I wouldn't mind cuddling if you don't mind. But, uh, not out here obviously!

[She hopes the box doesn't want anything more than that because she's not sure she's comfortable with that.]

No problem. Let's head back inside.

[The Chroma's a welcome distraction from the heat, if nothing else, and even if his theory is wrong, there's nothing wrong with a little hand-holding and cuddling. Getting Chroma is useful for both of them... even if the idea of cuddling anyone while they're so hot and sweaty is kinda gross.

As they head back inside, he glances over to her.]

I'm Yuri, by the way. Guess we're neighbours now?

[Persophone nods and follows along with him, keeping up that contact in hopes that it'll shut the box up. So far, no such luck but maybe it just needs time?

She hadn't really thought about the fact that them both being so sweaty would make cuddling be on the uncomfortable side.]

Persephone. [She responds, offering a small smile.] It certainly appears that way. Sorry, the circumstances are a little...um, strange?

Eh, it's about par for the course for this place.

[He waves his free hand dismissively. It's not like it's her fault, besides.]

Want to head back to your apartment to hug it out, or mine?

I see. [It must be frustrating for those here if this kind of thing happens pretty regularly.]

If you don't have a roommate that will mind I believe your apartment is closer. [She really doesn't want to step on any toes. Though she can't help the chuckle when he says 'hug it out'.]

Nope, my roommate's out right now. My other roommate is my dog, and he won't mind.

[As they get back to their floor, said dog roommate is waiting by the door as Yuri leads them both in. Once inside, the dog lets out a whine and nervously wags his long tail.]

Sorry, Repede. Everything's fine. [The dog tilts his head, looking from Yuri to Persephone, so Yuri adds an explanation for her benefit:] He probably heard all the noise outside and got worried.

[If the little bit of moonfasting wasn't enough to perk Persephone up the mention of a dog certainly does the trick. Forgetting all about the silly box she immediately lets go of Yuri's hand to drop down to Repede's level and give him scritches, assuming he doesn't avoid her.]

Oh, aren't you just the cutest!

[She doesn't get too long in loving on the dog before the music of the box grows louder once more.]

[Repede shies away from her, evidently not liking to be touched. Still, the dog shows no sign of aggression, simply regarding the stranger with a cool stare. Then, he moves over to the noisy vine-covered box to investigate it, sniffing it cautiously.]

Repede's not interested in petting. He only likes kids.

[Persephone takes no offense to Repede not wanting the attention, but she is a little sad. That is until she music from the vine-covered box breaks through her disappointment.]

I see.

[She makes her way back over to Yuri to take his hand again which works to quiet the box somewhat.]

[Repede is a heartbreaker like that, sorry Persephone. Yuri allows his hand to be taken, listening to that annoying song for any changes.] Well, it went quiet again. At least we know for sure that it works.

Maybe we could dump it in the closet under a bunch of stuff until it goes quiet? We can carry on moonlacing until it shuts up.

[Persephone nods.] That's a good idea. [At least then they wouldn't have to listen to the damned thing any longer.]

Might be able to just shoved it under the couch cushions, the vines are already doing a pretty good job of keeping it quiet.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .010

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dw ate my notif for this, weeps

dw has been hungry lately...

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