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

[Ranpo's had a rather... interesting month, all things considered. He can't deny that he hasn't been in the best headspace as of late, and his actions are certainly a reflection of that. But in contrast to all of that, having one of his best friends from home show up here was more than enough to lift his spirits! Even if it comes with the added challenge of trying to hide a number of things from someone who was honestly rather difficult to deceive.]

[But right now, they're just out and about, Ranpo doing his best to drag Poe out of his apartment to show him around. They're just about on their way to one of Ranpo's favorite restaurants, when a pair of purple antlers awkwardly hanging overhead catches his eye.]

These things really are everywhere, huh... what do you think the colors mean?

[And yet even as he looks up at them he suddenly finds himself seeking out Poe's hand to grab onto without even thinking about it.]

[ It's bizarre here. Not even he would think to write anything as out there as the rules of this planet. Besides, this is the wrong genre.
The adjustment is easier when there's someone literally hand-holding him through it.
This time Poe has enough decorum to accept the hand hold with no panicked commentary. When he laces their fingers together it has everything to do with the fact that they've done that before and not with a suddenly unchained desire for tender intimacy.

Poe continues to eye the antlers with some suspicion. That's a nice shade of purple. This would be an aesthetic he could get behind if it wasn't guaranteed that they had a purpose other than that. Has Ranpo really not figured it out or is he just waiting to see if Poe figures it out? ]

I've seen the same motif and color scheme around often. I'm not sure yet but their purpose should be obvious eventually...?

[ Poe cups his own chin in thought and leans incrementally into Ranpo's space to get a better look at the antlers. Instead of feeling daunting it just feels pleasantly warm. ]

I'd say their purpose is obvious enough.

[Earth's equivalent to mistletoe -- but he won't say as much, indeed goading Poe into figuring it out with him.]

[But while Poe merely steps closer, Ranpo ends up leaning against him, suddenly desiring that familiar warmth of moonlacing.]

But a lot of things here run on magic -- and by definition, there's no logic to it. So it's harder to figure out without trial and error.

But I can these things must be magic. Too many people have been stopping under them for it to just be a tradition.

[Themselves included, it seems.]

As expected, you already knew. That's why you're the only one worthy of my attention. The only one worth my admiration!

[There's a short huff of a laugh. That came out more personal than he intended? Ranpo is so distractedly warm, that must be why. Poe winds his free arm around in a half hug. To maintain both of their balances. He's pink in the face when he responds. No longer looking at the antlers. Just Ranpo.]

But that does sounds like something that's possible here. It could be magic based coercion. Unless it simply amplifies things that are subconscious?

[P-PRAISE....]

[God he missed Poe.]

Well, I certainly am worthy of all that!

[His ego is delighted -- but gosh, that sure is a lot, coming from Poe. It gets his own cheeks flushed, especially when Poe slides an arm around Ranpo's shoulders. He can't exactly return the same with their height difference, so instead he wraps an arm around his back, resting his hand on Poe's hip.]

Magic-based coercion sounds likely. But whether it simply amplifies what's already there could depend on how powerful it is! When they're strong enough, sometimes you don't even know they're having an effect at all, even when they're extreme!

[The irony is strong in this thread.]

Exactly! You never fail to amaze me. I think that you're absolutely right about it, of course you are.

[♪Two rivals, chilling under the magic mistletoe antlers, five millimeters apart, because they're not gay♫

But, oh, if he isn't feeling strangely giddy at the hand on his hip. Embarrassed too, of course. But it feels so nice that Poe gives their handhold a squeeze and laughs in a way that's almost a giggle. Almost ...Oohhh god what's going on here? He saw that precious look on Ranpo's face and wants to see more of it so badly.]

Mmm, you think so?

[This feels nice. He ends up chasing after that closeness, wanting more than just a side hug -- and so he shifts, so he can give Poe a proper hug from the front, craning his head up so he can still see his face.]

[But oh, that's not all that's going to happen. Ranpo hadn't mentioned it before, but he got more than just permanent cat ears.]

[He also purrs when he moonlaces. And he has very little control over it. So Poe now has a purring, cat-boy Ranpo clinging to him.]

Ah, say-- Poe-kun? Can I ask you something?

[This feels very nice. Like it's scratching an itch he didn't know he had- but the purring instantly throws Poe for a loop.
Patpat. He rubs a hand along Ranpo's back to verify that, yeah, that IS the source of the sound and vibration.]

You don't usually ask for permission to ask a question.

And we don't usually make a habit of cuddling in public, either.

Or at all, actually.

[It's definitely the source, and will keep going strong even with what he's about to ask, arms still nicely wrapped around Poe's waist. Can't escape!]

Don't you think something strange is happening right now?

[A wheeze. Good thing Ranpo thought to hold on. It looks like the auto response to it being pointed out would have been running.
Ranpo can't stop him from hiding! Poe hides his face in his shoulder as best as possible.]

...Yes, I think that something very strange is happening right now....

[He absolutely guessed that Poe would run, and that's at least 50% of the reason he's holding on.]

[...well, maybe 25%. Even despite acknowledging it, Ranpo isn't putting up much of a fight in terms of listening to it, petting at Poe's hair when he leans in.]

It doesn't seem too malicious at least, but we should probably avoid other ones. We might have just gotten lucky.

[Poe hums blissfully and leans into the hair petting before he can stop it. Oh, oh no, he didn't know he liked that?
Yet, the urge to nuzzle against his companion's neck is so strong. The warring wants are sickening. It's exquisitely painful. He settles for doing the latter.

This is crossing the line. One of many they had before coming here, Poe thinks. 'But, this place makes it impossible not to.' If he lays the responsibility at the feet of the circumstances it's less anxiety inducing.]

Lucky-!? With that comparison you're right but...! Ranpo-kun, do you really not mind doing this, [pause.] with me?

[So much for nothing anxiety inducing. Silver lining! No one can see how nerve-racked he is if he stays exactly like this.]

I like doing this with you.

[The wording is intentional -- removing whatever traces of doubt Poe might have been otherwise able to find had Ranpo simply said he doesn't mind it.]

[In any case -- he's still petting him and still purring, the low rumble in his chest easily able to felt with just how close they are. And feeling Poe clinging more, nuzzling against his neck, causes a small shiver to run down his spine.]

But I don't want to do anything that would just make you uncomfortable. So I can stop us if you are.

[The unambiguity of that reassurance hits Poe like a gut punch- but a nice one?
It means that Poe is a significant blip on Ranpo's radar. Besides achieving a victory over the world class detective- this is the next best thing. Hopelessly, so helplessly, Poe grins wide against the skin where the nuzzling has paused. He's going to have this look on his face for a while. Still,]

T...This happening out in public during the day is very uncomfortable.

[Have a non-answer. Yet, Poe hasn't pulled away. Only interrupted what he was doing.]

...I have a suggestion I could make, but I'm not convinced you won't run away if I suggest it.

[#ominous]

[Leans back to look Ranpo in the face. #trust]
I chased after you for a very long time. Even if I do run it won't be far.

--somehow, that sounds worse than what I was going to say.

[Why is he Like This?? He knows it's true, but still!]

[But maybe this will only sound worse to Ranpo, who's come to associate it with very specific activities.]

[The look on his face isn't going to help, face a bit flushed due to his own mind going to cursed places.]

...do you want to move somewhere private?

[Just one millisecond too late:]
No, wait, don't make that weird!

[Enjoy that front row seat to the loss of face. Poe bats at Ranpo's shoulders in what appears to be a flustered out-burst.]

P-...Pr-private?! How is my phrasing worse when yours is like that? There were other ways to say that! I could've agreed, easily?

[Poe slumps forward. Apparently losing energy. Very quietly:]
Either way, I don't think any of this should continue here.

It's impossible not to make it weird!

[He chased him for six years after getting beaten once. Poe has no chill and needs to be called out on it!]

[But in any case-- they're certainly not cuddling anymore, Ranpo pulling his arms back to cross them as he pouts.]

And that was just easiest way! We're in public now, so moving somewhere private is the opposite!

[Well somebody has to call out his weird obvious pining. May as well be 6 years late. But, oh, his poor high-strung nerves right now. Poe means to shakily grab onto Ranpo's wrist to get a move on if he lets him.]

Then let's just stop wasting time and go. Somewhere with no one else around.

Right...

[Yeah yeah, he'll let himself be led, but where can they go? The only private places around are alleys--]

[...]

Why don't we just go back to my place? It's not that far.

[Unaware of any thoughts of alleyways Poe sheepishly pipes up:]

I wasn't about to invite myself over- but there aren't a lot of options, are there?

[...Sheepish because he was already leading them off in that general direction.]

B as if I wasn't gonna pick this one

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