prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .011

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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. After an hour or two of wandering through the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. Because of the strange phenomena 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? — 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. You will then be escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the Iris moon and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals.

The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ There and Back Again
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 As a Remooning gift from the Lunar Scientia Headquarters, the dedicated team from the Amphoria Room has released their latest perfected technology: Amphoria Pods. These VR Pods, which can fit up to four people at a time, have been set up in the gaming hub within Level 1’s PrismaPlace. They allow users to upload sceneries of their world in order to create a realistic holographic landscape of their homes that others can access and play around with, granting everyone the means to relive past memories with their loved ones as well as interact with the bestiary of other worlds. The pods also use the same technology that enhanced the popular virtual game, League Match Action Online (LmaO), which means you’re liable to feel the chill of cold environments, the burning heat from boiling water, the hard slap of your ex-lover, or the biting sting of a stray wasp. All who use the Amphoria Pods for the first time this year will also receive a small amount of Chroma in case things get too real.

▶ God Save Us from the Queen
Level 1, PrismaPlace and Level 2, Greatmoon Groves | top

The first month of the year is packed with two of the most important winter events this season: Queen Elara’s birthday and the League Match Action Online (LmaO) PVP semi-finals. It just so happens that the Queen of Lunatia is also a huge LmaO fan. Coincidence? Definitely not! LmaO players and royal family fans alike can meet her at PrismaPlace, where she will be appearing in cosplay of her favorite hero, Ah-Kari, while holding a body pillow of Commander GareBear. You, too, can get an autograph or selfie with the birthday girl if you’re willing to fall in line! Her bodyguards will also be in LmaO cosplay, keeping the crowd under control during the long wait.

Queen Elara

Good day to you all! This may come as a surprise to our guests the Moonblessed, but I am a normal person despite my exalted position. Please do not think of me today as Queen Elara. Instead... my name is Ah-Kari, sorceress of the crystal! With my soul fan blades, through the darkness, I shall slice all who dare hurt my commander in twain!

But when she is not meeting and greeting...

Queen Elara

My comrades, we're going to make history today. We're going for a new record. Perhaps the highest kill counts or the fastest clear for this map — it matters not. We’ve practiced day and night for this tournament, so let us show everyone that we’re not to be taken lightly! Also, the livestream is going in the royal archive, so make your successors proud!!

... she will be furiously grinding her character and training her skills in LmaO in the hopes of qualifying for the finals. Spectators will see her bring her own team full of hapless palace attendants who are there to either serve as her practice match partners or provide support to the one-woman army that is Queen Elara.

PrismaPlace is packed with giant crowds, many of them also in cosplay. While the semi-finals are taking place, new and old LmaO players alike can participate in the game’s current campaign: players who form teams get an improved chance of spawning unique monsters as well as winning rare items and skins in those prized lootboxes! Teams can also try to clear the event’s story together, featuring an aerial battle fought on griffin-back, which is heavily inspired by the popular Lunatian epic, The Battle of Abraxas, a colorful and complex story about the conflict between two families fighting over the fictional land of griffins, Abraxas.

A Progression in the event requires acquiring a griffin mount and getting it ready for battle. You can lure a wild one to yourself with a special veggie pie on a fishing pole. Should the griffin reject the lure, your character will be caught in a wind gaol and can only break out with the help of other players. Should you succeed, raising the griffin is a tedious task that involves players training alongside their respective griffins, running laps with them, taking them to hunt monsters, and feeding them properly. Depending on their diet, the food you give them will affect the color of its plumage and their battle stats.

Or you can skip the hard work and simply moonlace with your teammates through all the progression bars and required materials to save time. Once finished, you’ll be able to battle one another through the thunderous aerial domain of Abraxas. Clearing the event will net you an event-exclusive skin inspired by the royal family’s shining celestial robes and a weapon skin of a body pillow with your favorite character, so do your best!

B In celebration of Queen Elara’s birthday, the office of the royal household is hosting a modest tea party in the Greatmoon Groves. Swiffy bots that are normally programmed to remind visitors to keep the groves clean are now playing a birthday jingle on repeat. For people who prefer to be away from the blinding neon lights and the thumping techno music of PrismaPlace, this is the ideal escape. Unlimited tea and cookies are being served!

The tea is a soft-colored lilac concoction made from Ehrysian tea leaves that are known to cause a huge spike of alertness and is popular to Moon Knights and office workers with long night shifts as well as gamers for those all-night grinding sessions. The assorted cookies have either Ah-Kari or Commander GareBear printed on them. In case it isn't obvious yet, both are the birthday girl’s favorite LmaO characters.

Any Moonblessed looking for extra income is welcome to be royal attendants for the day; the hours are paid by Demichroma. They must be properly dressed up as maids or butlers (outfits provided by the royal household) as they serve tables.

▶ Say Cheese
Level 3, Caihong | top

Meanwhile, Caihong is in the midst of Remooning festivities in celebration of the new year, and merriment usually lasts a fortnight, filled with fireworks in the sky. Upon entering the district, beautiful Prismals with rat ears and tails greet you with a Happy Remooning and eagerly tug you along to join in.

Those welcomed will receive a pack of multi-colored sparklers, mooncakes topped with cheese, and a glowing drink called Champagne Supernova, poured in a thin glass in your hand. If you are over eighteen, the rat Prismals will ask if you prefer your drink with a kick. If you say yes, then they will add flavorful ice that causes extreme intoxication and might leave you to be susceptible to all levels of suggestion. Saying no (or if you’re under 18) will simply leave it as a sweet drink.

A One of the party games being played by the locals is called Lucky Tail, which is basically pinning the tail on the holographic rat stand-in — with a twist, it must be played with a partner! Another participant will blindfold you, spin you around, then push you forward. The stand-in is located at the end of unsteady elevated platforms forming a maze, filled to the brim with distracting objects underneath. They’re long, they’re thick, and they’re vibrating furiously in an attempt to knock you off the platforms.

Your partner must guide you by voice to successfully navigate through the maze! The game is rigged with various mechanisms, so stepping on specific platforms will activate a number of traps against you or your partner: machines that may tickle, drop colorful slime, or cause the platform to repetitively spin, and who knows what else?

Should you manage to get through the obstacle course and pin the tail successfully, you and your partner will win copious amounts of Demichroma, courtesy of Buwan from Buwan’s Stop.

B Another attraction is a fun magic glamour booth known for its face or body swap features. The booth staff, clad in their festive rat paraphernalia, will encourage you and your friends to take aesthetic shots using an illusion generator. The effects last an hour. Photographed images can be instantly uploaded and shared in Prismagram. New year, new you! Why not take the chance to celebrate this momentous occasion in a unique fashion? It’s all in good humor.

There are two buttons to press: (A) CUSTOM or (B) RANDOM. Pressing A will allow participants to customize their desired effects. Pressing B will cause the illusion magic to randomly rearrange participants in questionable positions, new outfits (or lack thereof), and you may even come out of the booth looking like your best friend or your worst rival. The possibilities are endless!

▶ 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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[Give him a moment as he thinks that one through. The animal features, frivolities doubled, affections running high-- it translates to...what? Animalistic orgies of the most debauched kind? Or is that sort of wayward thinking only an aspect of his own nature, the way his mind tends to stray, heightened and intensified by his time spent in a city where sexual activity had been so intrinsically wound?

Yet again, very slightly, he colours up. Blushes from ears to the bridge of his strident nose. Flashes a grin.]

Well that ah, that sounds like quite the time.

[Perhaps Sephiroth's assumption of Julian finding it a grand ol' time isn't especially far off the mark.]

[ At least she's achieved her goal, then. All those creams and everything she spends her time on hadn't gone to absolute waste, despite all of that mess she's heard lately about 'sagging' and the like.

This is why she'll continue to slap Goku as much as possible. ]

Oh really? Why's that? [ She can't imagine she seemed too baby crazy after the whole Majin thing, but who knows, after all. ]

Clubs? It's been a while since I've been to one, but like that's ever stopped me.. [ Bulma would 100% still go clubbing and probably beat out the younger people there.. bet her. ]

I'm already planning a trip to that library as you talk about it. I want to see what else this place has up its sleeve to do with technology.. and of course how I can augment it, if I can.

Edited 2020-01-13 19:20 (UTC)

[ like, marginally ]

There's no pattern at all—?

[... So this really was that Osamu Dazai. As someone who was pretty much a walking Wiki on history for various written works, Shizuha's pretty stoked. Thankfully, it's not to the level of hype she usually reserves for rare encounters and drops in games, so she's able to still pack it in with a demure smile. The slight sparkle in her eyes and chipper edge to her calm words tell it all, though.]

But of course. Quite a few of them are excellent pieces for monologues in which despair and alienation is the centerpiece, and I quite like how vivid you describe emotions in a way that makes you easily fall into the narrator's perspective. Especially Flowers of Buffoonery and No Longer Human; I found it quite fun to experiment with different ways on how to express Oba Yozo.

If you'd like, I would be more than happy to perform a passage of your choosing for you sometime.

[Vincent startles at the voice and the hand on his shoulder, and despite his fairly drunken state, Katherine sneaking up on him is like being doused in a bucket of ice cold water. He whirls around to look at her, eyes wide.]

K-- Katherine?! How did you-- ['how did you follow me here', is what he wants to say, but that would be implying she's some kind of crazed interplanetary stalker and would not go down well. He bites it down and tries again.] Uh, when did you get here?

[With this level of VR technology, even Shizuha is in awe of everything around her. It was somewhat nice, being able to publicly wield a scythe and accomplish physical feats as if they were nothing, like she could in the Auditions back home.

Of course, those things were not needed in... diplomacy? Trade agreements? Whatever this is. She'll need to tread carefully.]

My, thank you. You see, I had heard that there was a way to progress through the objectives at a quicker pace. And that is through "Moonlacing" within this game.

[Yep. As if she really didn't just drop a major bombshell, Shizuha outstretches her arms towards this stranger in a welcoming manner.]

How about it? Might I interest you in a hug or a kiss on the cheek? Fully platonic, of course.

[Listen. Early Clear in events are very important to her, okay. And since this is all 100% digital, it shouldn't be too weird. Right? Right??????????]

[And in the course of a year Hifumi's friends forcibly booted a corrupt man from taking control of the country. And then beat the snot out of a god. You know, like you do.]

I suppose I've gotten used to it, though it helps that I've had friends here from the start.

[ Honestly, Fjord can't say he isn't overwhelmed by the modernity of the place either but then again he accepted it all in his stride and had his freak-out quietly, in his own room last night. That was the smart thing to do. He watches the human play with the door pad over and over, lips pressing into a concerned thin line as the minute goes on. Maybe the man is simple, it would surely be cruel to leave him there much longer. Stranded. Clearly friendless.

Not that Fjord is a bleeding heart but there's only so much pity he can handle for a stranger before his conscious kicks him in the head. ]

Pardon me, but are you ... alright?

[ So says the half-orc towering over six-foot tall, with a polite ~~British~~ accent. ]

[God, this is getting weirder by the second, and this was already pretty high on the weird scale.] Uh, Glenn? You can let go now...

[He's going to carefully try to prise one of the tentacles off, which may or may not work. Why does this stuff always happen to him?]

[ As a drink spills over his arm, he swears and twists around to see who the culprit is: a short blonde woman, human perhaps but who knows in this city. Fjord's scowl softens a little as he shakes his sleeve off, eyeing her (suspiciously) not entirely sober-ish gait. ]

I have my own drink, but thank you for the offer.

[ The flattest humour. ]

[Ah, so the griffins would compete on a somewhat separate field than their handlers. She had nearly expected it to be entirely on griffinback, much akin to that wizard sport that we will not go too deeply into to preserve the fourth wall. She puts an armored hand to her chin and tilts her head to the side with a distantly thoughtful look, absorbing all the information this person was laying on her.]

I see... That's definitely straightforward, but with enough of a twist to hook people in. How about the human players, then? Surely there would be something else they can do and contribute to during the game besides serving.

[If anything, he clings a little harder. Blearily opening his eyes, he uses a newly formed tendril to make sure the door's closed, and then just.. hugs. Hugging Vincent with both arms and six tendrils now.]

Warm...

[Never mind that he's got cat-like body heat.]

[ That guy's partner is going to get him dick-drowned, prompting Fjord to step in; rather, to literally step in front of the person guiding the brunette human from the edge of the pit and blocking them out with his broad six-foot frame. His accent is ~~British~~ upperclass, cutting cleanly through the babble of onlookers. ]

Clockwise, two steps a foot apart. The next platform is narrower.

[ Fjord wouldn't want to fall into that pit either, it looks. Dubious. ]

[ viren drinks about a third of his flute, opting to set aside on the table rather soon. if he had less composure, perhaps he would've choked on his drink at the mention of others from his home having arrived before this individual; it makes sense, of course, that perhaps he wouldn't be alone here --

-- but it's troubling to think of, all the same. ]

Not so much looking forward to it, but the war. My Kingdom's future, and that of humanity's, hangs in the balance. [ does that sound dramatic? that's because it is, but viren's gaze (and tone) is weighty enough to lend itself to the statement. ] And.. You also have something pressing..?

It's worth a try.

[ As she nears the beast it rears up and gnashes at them. She's already taken enough damage just to contain it. For this she's going to need some help. ]

I'm Julieta. What's your name?

That's good to hear. How is it?

[ She may be considering one for herself. It was hard to tell if he was drinking so much of it for the taste or the effect. ]

[ Makoto can’t help but still feel a little pensive as he stared at the odd maze. The threats weren’t life-threatening sure, but this place was... ah, something else. He pulls his hands from his pockets to take the blindfold. ]

I know you will do your best, Aigis. I think I’m more worried about what the state of the maze will be in than myself when we reach the end.

[ Has the utmost confidence in her, after all. Even if he isn’t aware that she doesn’t know him, not yet. Seeing a familiar face, especially Aigis’, was blinding him to the fact that she didn’t seem to recognize him. Something Minako warned him about, but quickly forgot about in his understandable relief at seeing his friend. ]

Try not to use your guns too easily.

[ A small tease, but he says it with a small smile of his own. ]

Edited (Format) 2020-01-13 20:16 (UTC)

[He remembers the last time he saw this god was back at the lantern feast, when he rushed off to beat up his followers for a play Xie Lian didn't entirely understand. Having someone like that decide to sleep out here because he felt like it.....somehow doesn't seem too far-fetched, honestly......

He looks up at former roadblock Quan Yizhen with a friendly little smile.] Wouldn't you like to sleep somewhere more comfortable? A bed, maybe, or a nice patch of grass? Sleeping on the ground like this might be nice at first, but you'd be feeling sore in the morning.

[Helpful advice from a former hobo!]

[ This is ... a lot to take in. It looks like an underground bunker made from metal, clearly in the process of fucking itself up as Fjord stands wide-eyed in the middle of the room as a woman rushes around yanking on levers. He glances around to pick up an idea of what he's seeing and his spirit of adventure (these machines are like nothing he has ever encountered before) sinks upon realising that this memory, the very environment, already happened for her; however the VR pod machine works, her mind wasn't ready to stray from whatever thoughts summoned this place where her friend is dying.

(Well, shit.)

Feeling pretty useless (and truthfully, a bit awkward), he calls over to her amid the flashing red lights. ]

Is there anything I can do to help?

[ !!

thankfully, viren's already been informed about the possibility of others from his world also appearing here - alas, it doesn't do much to conceal his brief moment of shock, his eyes rounding, shoulders raising, as he's lost for an answer. it doesn't stop the initial bemusement tumbling from his mouth, ]

Aaravos--?

[ yes, there he is. because, wow. simple as that, apparently, in the full flesh. pleased as punch and all, smooth as silk. in contrast, viren struggles to shift gears, with how thoroughly grounded he's been in refusing to indulge this supernova drink. ]

[ he gives a solid shake of his head, dispelling this. ]

I, no. Whatever a "kick" means, I would think it means some distortion of the senses. [ his eyes narrow. err, ] If we both just arrived here, we should keep ourselves lucid.

[His brow crinkles at the question. He's just sheltered enough that he doesn't instantly recognize the shades and the walking stick for the indicators they are. What he does recognize is the unspoken "I can't tell" within that question. It reminds him of when he needs to word things carefully when it comes to talking about pain or touch. The last thing he wants is other people figuring out that his senses aren't like others'.]

If cheesy sweets are your thing, then I guess.

[ A touch at his shoulder has Fjord looking ... across, funnily enough for once, to a human man of a similar height. Rare for that to happen. Having been eyeing the VR Pods for a while, he shrugs and folds his arms as he debates actually jumping into one. ]

It looks complicated. [ But he's not saying no. ] Where would you want to go once you stepped inside?

...ah, no, I should have been a bit more attentive myself.

[Maybe the other dude popped out the door a little suddenly, but Seteth was looking around to see if there were any other new neighbors around...]

It's a bit overwhelming at first, so if you need assistance, I will... try and do what I can, I suppose.

[Ah, yes, he thought so. Well, more power to this doctor and his whims. He will undoubtedly adjust with far more fervor and ease than Sephiroth, who still struggles to this day to even initiate a proper hand-holding session without frowning down at the contact.]

You already seem to be fitting in well enough. Look for a reliable Moonlacing partner, and I don't see you having any trouble acclimating, doctor.

[He'll probably be the type to be rolling in Chroma in no time.]

Ooookay.

[Vincent realises he's not going to be able to move, so he just kind of. Sinks down onto the couch with Glenn and accepts his fate. It is warm, comfortably so, and the mix of drunkenness and Chroma makes it feel nicer than it otherwise might.]

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▶ TDM .011

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omg i have been blessed, hello!!

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t&ba.

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say cheese.

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Say Cheese

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t&ba, b.

oh god

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say cheese, a.

I

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