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

[Raised eyebrows. Cat is winking at him. Before he wished he could talk to cats because they are the best friends but now he's having second thoughts. Uhh, what was the first question again?]

Hm? Ah, not really. Just a bit tired from that [godforsaken] cube that someone left in my apartment. It's really [annoying] inconvenient.

But I'll be fine, thanks! [He offers a wide smile.]

I've seen bear turn into human, if that counts. Nothing with cats.

Edited 2019-12-09 04:33 (UTC)

[It seems to be confirmed by now then...]

Well it's nothing a little moonlacing won't fix you know.

[Winking. Again. Maybe he should tell him but...nah just let it dragging on for a little more.]

Oh I understand. I'm a human normally, but I do have a cat at home that will get angry at you calling him a cat.

[Riiiight, moonlancing. That's a thing here.]

Do people here fix everything with moonlancing? Isn't that inconvenient?

[You need at least one more person for it and what if you don't have anyone nearby? Do you just die when some stupid cube drains all the chroma from you?]

...a cat that denies being a cat. That I didn't hear before.

[...huh.]

Well depends what type of person you are, I suppose. Didn't think it would be a problem for you. Holding hands and just hugging would be fine. If you put it off for too long you get really needy. Sometimes you get really needy without any reason.

[Maybe he should start...letting the cat out of the bag.]

Well he wasn't exactly a cat at first either. It's a long nose of a story.

[.......]

So you fix everything with moonlancing?

[You didn't really refute his point. He's still right.]

A long nose story... [He can almost see Margaret singing in the velvet room. He's not sure how he feels about that. The Empress is... well. Empress.] He couldn't turn back to human form?

Pretty much.

[:D]

You seem like the type who wouldn't mind it, but maybe I was wrong about you.

[His tail swishes back and forth as he looks at him and...brings his paw to one of his eyes? Would have been easier to use that first, but finding out from him was far better.]

No. He never was human. He was born in a special place to aid us...and well me especially. A little different from your bear friend, I think.

[Souji quirks an eyebrow-]

Do I now? Well, maybe. But not at the expense of making the other person uncomfortable, regardless of how common it is here to do this thing.

[The cat gets another pat on the head, to distract that paw- don't take his eye out, he needs it.]

I see. Curious that it persisted, that place.

[Hand remains on top of cat's head as his mind drifts off for a moment- didn't Izanami say that he won? But if you count everything, they did threaten that they'll return as needed. He finally lifts his hand.]

A persona user, huh?

Well no. I wouldn't want that either.

[If anything he'd do everything to avoid making others feel uncomfortable. Well, unless it was harmless. Probably.

No don't stop him, he's just trying to bring it to his own eye! But what do you know, he got it on his own.]

Not bad to catching on that quickly, Souji Seta.

[Probably.

His lips twitch in a small smile and he takes a seat on the bench again. If he's going to give the cat some head pats he might as well be comfortable.]

I see you met me before. [His expression goes from happy to serious in a flick.] Yosuke mentioned that there was 'me' here before 'I' arrived.

[The mysterious cat will accept all the head pats. He knows that look too. He's practised it in multiple situations. It's just too bad he can't have this conversation human to human.]

So you spoke with Yosuke already. [The cat's playful nature also becomes a lot more serious.] That's' right. I had the same situation happen with a friend as well. That's why I decided to speak with you first to see how much you remembered.

[Look, Souji can't resist. It's a cat. He has to pet it. He's pet all the cats in his neighborhood. Have mercy on teasing.]

Yes, I did. I ran into him earlier. [Somehow, Yosuke has a penchant on finding him- whether it's crashing his bike into a lampost or trashcan, or just randomly running into him at weird places.]

Nothing about this place, [Souji says honestly.] I've never met you before. And the last thing I remember is coming to Inaba for Golden Week, to see my uncle, niece, and friends.

So like my friend, in that case.

[It does hurt, having to start at square one. And this Souji certainly sounds somehow the same and yet different.]

Well you told me once that you never lie, so I trust you.

[Something that was built over months, although his sudden pacing back and forth before he settings next to him on the seat, means he's not completely comfortable about it.]

This place is strange but...I had two friends who were taken to a different world before this one. They disappeared from here one day, and never came back...one of them showed up last month, but didn't remember anything from that other place. I just hope they are back home and not back there.

[He'd tear into universes if he could save his friends.]

So 'you' of now aren't exactly 'him' but you share a lot of who 'both' of 'you' are.

Edited 2019-12-09 07:54 (UTC)

[Souji blinks, a bit surprised, then nods with a smile.]

That's correct.

[He doubts that there ever be any version of himself that lies. Maybe holding secrets and more to himself but lying is not the way he goes. Souji listens carefully for what the cat has to say and rubs his chin in thought.]

How worrisome. Is there no way to prove or check to see if your friends returned home?

[Souji would lend him a hand in doing so because that's how he is.]

I'm sorry, [he sighs, gaze falling a bit,] it must be pretty rough facing me after things you've experienced with 'him'.

May I know your name?

No. I'm not sure they understand everything themselves.

[The cat's ears and tails twitch back and forth even as he says that.]

Not that I trust them.

[He doesn't think he ever will. Then he looks back at him and smiles.]

Why would it be? If anything it made me realize it was possible.

[He leans back, chuckling.]

You know, that took months before I shared my name. I feel like Yosuke might have already told you.

[Souji nods. He can understand that. There seems to be an entire economy system built around them being here so of course, they wouldn't want anyone to return.]

Knowing myself, I would've tried to befriend you, [Souji says with a smile; maybe he's a bit too honest.] So, starting it all over with a look-a-like might be different and not what you expect.

Is that so? [Souji rubs his chin,] The only person Yosuke mentioned that I didn't know was 'Ren' but he didn't tell me whether he transforms into a cat or no.

[Head-tilt at the cat-] Ren? [Shot in the dark. He knows no other name.]

Let's just say the first time we met, there was a lot of weed whacking involved.

[No, that was surprisingly not innuendo.]

Don't be so hard on yourself, or even that other Yu you. He also came from the same world as my friend had been. While this place... encourages ...contact, the other was cruel and horrible, from what I understand. My friends told me a little about it and...it didn't sound pleasant.

[So you can...probably guess why Ren was so amendment to knowing if they returned.]

He called me just Ren? Well I guess he's letting the cat out of the bag too early. I don't turn into a cat usually...sometimes it just happens during Cordis' moon.

[Weed whacking? The cat gets a flat stare before-]

Catnip?

[He has no idea what you're talking about but he's trying to be useful.]

So, that version of me was somewhere else before this too. Hmm... [What kind of magic is this? To make them jump from world to world, timeline to timeline. Is Izanami going off the rails again? Sounds like bullshit she'd pull for entertainment purposes.]

...uh yeah? He didn't give me many details on you to be fair. [...] Except that you flirt with everyone that walks. [Yosuke's words, not his. Souji doesn't look too bothered though.]

I see. I don't know which one I am yet, but I'll keep in mind that I might transform. [Damn, he wishes he could be a cat.]

Pffft. No. Gigantic vines taking over the city.

[Honestly he would rather not find out if catnip does anything to him, he already has enough problems. He looks at him again, before chuckling.]

Ahhh...is that how he presents me? I don't do it on purpose, you know. Well, unless I am.

Huh. Weird. How did that happen?

[That's mostly a rhetoric question, he doesn't expect an actual answer. And unless Ren asks for catnip himself, he won't bring it over. He likes cats! He doesn't want to hurt them and he always thought it was weird that people thought giving them catnip was fun. Poor guys...]

That's the first thing he told me. Later he added that you tend to jump down from the skies and surprise people

Still not completely sure, honestly.

[So he gets none, just as planned.]

Well, maybe if I wasn't a cat right now, I suppose that's how'd we meet again. It took a few meetings before I even told you my name last time.

I see... so your name was supposed to be a secret then.

[Cat gets another pet because obviously he can't take guy totally seriously when he's a cute cat with bat wings on the back.]

Should I call you "Ruler of the night" then?

[Because all black...]

With Yosuke involved I'm not too surprised he told you.

[Ren is super serious.]

No. When we first met, I said to call me "Phantom". I suppose Ren will do for now.

[Yosuke doesn't really keep secrets from him, after they dealt with his shadow so... yeah. Sorry about that, Ren.]

Phantom... aren't phantoms white though? [Focus, Souji.]

Ren it is. Souji or Seta is fine with me, whichever you prefer.

[It's okay Ren's going to have a talk with him ;)]

The Phantom of the Opera is much more fitting.

[Other Souji got it, but it made more sense back then than face-to-face with a cat.]

I'll call you Souji for now. Maybe Seta if you start to bother me.

[Wow.]

[~~If there's a hair missing from Yosuke's head you're done for Thief boy~~]

I guess. [...] Do you actually watch opera?

[He has some doubts that he does but you never know.]

Then Souji it is.

[He doesn't mind either of those.]

▶ TDM .010

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sorry for late, dreamwidth ate all the notifs

No worries I've been bad too

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