▶ TDM .010

[prismods]

to someone special

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"Wham! - Last Christmas (Official Video)" (Watch on YouTube)

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.

Comments

[scarcastically]

Just a fan.

[ he's just ticking off the boxes to make himself seem normal. ]

[inducings]

Let me guess - hockey?

[ He is very good at checking off boxes, enough that she's continuing the conversation, anyway. ]

[scarcastically]

[ a low chuckle. ]

No way. Basketball, through and through.

[inducings]

Ooh. [ She nods, smiling a little. ] I should have guessed that.

[scarcastically]

Hey, no big.

Guess I fit into the stereotype.

[inducings]

[ Stereotypes happen to be one of Piper's least favorite things, for many, many reasons. But she doesn't see any way of bringing this up without it being a bit... Much. Especially since he's going out of his way to own it. Which is weird, but people get to deal with being pigeonholed however they want to.

She shrugs a little. ]

If you say so, though I think a lot of people are into basketball.

[scarcastically]

[ erik certainly uses it as a tactic. he doesn't enjoy it but right now, he wants it to work for him. after all, there's power in it. and there's power too in seeing how people react to it. that response lets erik know a little where she stands. ]

Not doubting that.

[inducings]

[ She tucks a piece of unevenly chopped hair behind her ear, drawing attention to the beads and feather braided into it. There's something about this conversation which is nagging at her attention - she's been asking most of the questions, but she knows that her responses are also as revealing as his. Which is fine, because the things she doesn't want to talk about are so outlandish that she doesn't fear anyone stumbling into them by accident in casual conversation. But this definitely feels to her a little bit more like two people circling each other than a straightforward conversation, and she knows why that's true on her part, but she doesn't know why that's true for his. She does know that the last thing she presents as is a threat.

So Piper decides to try to cut through that feeling a little bit and be very direct. ]

What's your name?

[scarcastically]

[ he smiles, congenial. there isn't a hint of fang in it and maybe even the slightest brush of softness. ]

It's Erik. Erik Stevens.

[inducings]

I'm Piper. [ She smiles a him, polite and lovely and without attaching her last name. Alternate Earth or not, as much as she loves her father, she could do without running the risk of being tagged as Tristin McLean's daughter. ] It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stevens.

[scarcastically]

[ erik pretends to grimace. ]

Please, Mr. Stevens was my dad. Erik's just fine.

[inducings]

Erik. [ Piper makes a face. ] I'm not used to calling grown ups by their first names. I'll try to remember, though.

[ You, sir, are old. But she also believes that people have the right to determine what they are called by. So. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]

[scarcastically]

[ wow, he's a 90s child, lay off. ]

I won't get mad if you forget.

[inducings]

[ That was like 30 years ago!

She huffs a breath of a laugh. ] Good to know.

[ And then she takes a sip of the drink she's been cradling this long, waiting for some desire to be somehow revealed... but apparently they have to share the graham cracker antlers for that to work, but Piper's ADHD kicked in during that part of the explanation and she did not fully get that bit. ] ...huh, no visions of Firialia wishlists.

[scarcastically]

[ erik blinks. ]

Visions?

[inducings]

Weren't we supposed to see other's wishlist if we share a cup of this? [ She tilts the mug and stares at it a little skeptically. ] At least, I think that's what the guy said. Some sort of tradition?

[ She's not sure and not particularly fussed. It'd seemed overly intimate to her anyway, so if anything she's a little relieved it didn't happen. The focus this place has on enforcing layers of intimate connection would likely please her mother, but it freaks her right out. Connections should not be forced or manipulated. ]

[scarcastically]

[ ah. comprehension dawns and erik nods slowly. ]

Pretty sure that's the gist of it.

[inducings]

[ She takes another sip and is happy enough to report: ] Yeah, nothing. Maybe that's just something they tell tourists?

[scarcastically]

[ hmm. ]

Probably means it more literally. Like sharing the same mug.

[inducings]

[ Piper's brows wing together and then she nods a little wryly. ]

Yeah, that does seem on brand for this place.

[ She wants to know if it works. She's not Annabeth, but she doesn't have to be to realize that there's a lot of value to figuring out if the people in this place mean what they say and can do what they want to do, but it also seems like that's something to do between friends and not with someone who's name she just got a few minutes ago. ]

I can hear my health teacher yelling about it now.

[scarcastically]

[ another low chuckle, a smooth drawl. ]

Yeah, you can just hear 'em screaming away in your mind.

[inducings]

[ His chuckle and comment takes her mind to a different kind of yelling - the kind that had been at her and not about unsanitary practices and health hazards. School had never been a pleasant place for her.

And he's right. Sometimes she can still hear them screaming away in her mind. Worse, she can remember the hot flush of shame and humiliation as her failure to pay attention were brought to light, her attempts to fade into the background destroyed either maliciously or callously. (Sometimes with kindness, but she was a half-blood in a world that did not accept her, and she was her father's daughter, and she was not what anyone wanted her to be.)

Something about his tone both invites her to open up and spill out some of that pain as it pricks at those old wounds. Her shoulder hunch for a moment.

But Piper had always refused to let them keep her down, and now more than ever she was no longer that girl. Her chin lifts slightly. She smiles a little and shakes her head. ]

There was a "coach" in the last place I was sent to who actually would use a bullhorn to yell at us. My friend Leo got a hold of it one day and he actually changed it so that it would shout out random stuff instead, like 'the cow goes moo.' You should have seen the coach's face. It was great.

[scarcastically]

[ erik doesn't talk about his childhood. he doesn't need to. his childhood is the childhood for many poor, incarcerated black people. his story is their story and he doesn't feel the need to differentiate. he's not different. ]

Yeah? That's pretty neat. Wish I had done that.

[inducings]

[ She shrugs a little, glad that he didn't ask questions about what she'd done to be sent to a place. If he had, she would have probably ended the conversation. ]

Not everyone can be Leo Valdez. He'd be the first to tell you.

[ She misses him. ]

[scarcastically]

A friend?

[ wonder what that's like. ]