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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[ He's very well acquainted with maidens who make the most of their charms, to win over the hearts of naive young men. The way she's looking up at him, her wide eyes, her smile warm as summer sunshine: all of this moves his heart, but at the same time, he's aware of his heart being moved.

Two can play at that game, so he answers her charming smile with one of his own, accompanied by a quick flutter of his peach-blossom eyes, and asks, sounding amused: ]

Hm? Am I angry? Should I be?

[ He winks at her, and then he looks away and up, in the direction he's going (past a little forest of crystals): ]

I'm Gu Yun, called Sir Zi Xi. What's your name?

[Admittedly, it's hard to function with a hangover. When Glenn opens his eyes bright and early the next morning, his head pounds hard enough to mimic the vigor of a live concert on amplifiers. Shifting to roll over, he barely has space to gasp when he lands on the floor. His tendrils shifting to help push his body upright, he uses a few to hold his head as if to curb the wave of dizziness that hits him.

[...He's grateful that he's not nauseous. Just dizzy. Stomach growling, he pushes himself fully upright and to his feet, and starts making himself useful in the kitchen, using his power to form a set of sunglasses to protect his eyes from the light. Taking stock of the ingredients, it isn't long before a warm, inviting scent starts to curl in the air. He works not just with his hands, but with several tendrils. The scents of rice, egg, and other lighter food choices curl in the air.

[In the meantime, he keeps his hearing attuned to the space around him, not wanting to be startled and cause property damage.]

Lady...?

[he didn't catch her name and he should have. unacceptable. being here should not shake him to the point of forgetting basic courtesy. she's quiet now, and he suspects that she's figuring out their strategy. but it's difficult to stand in one place for too long when these things are constantly batting against him.]

'Watching' isn't an option.

[blindfolded. he knows what she means though. zixuan takes a step and suddenly feels a rope dangling next to him, and snorts before removing his hand. do they really think that he's naive enough believe it's there to help him?

even that's a trap, and it's too late. he didn't need to pull it, the touch was enough. zixuan hears something opening above him, and barely makes it to the last plaform before the slime starts splashing down.

it doesn't stop there though. it sounds like it's moving, and zixuan grits his teeth and braces for it...except it doesn't sound like it's moving towards him.]

Maiden, look out!

[he tries to run back in her direction, but the platform starts to spin. his only hope is that he can reach the rat before the trap reaches her.]

[ Shifting on his feet as a dozen more questions ready themselves (Where are they? Will you take me to my friends? How do you know them?) they all evaporate the second he hears that one name.

Molly.

A lot has gone on today, but. That's a little too much to process on top of the insinuation that the rest of the Nein have gone (and gone where, besides, before Fjord even had a chance to catch up). The excited butterflies in his belly turn to a lead ball as he tries and fails to make sense of what he's heard, a frown sinking in while icy dread creeps up his spine. ]

Mollymauk? Mollymauk Tealeaf.

[ Who is very much dead. ]

Edited 2020-01-15 00:17 (UTC)

[ Oh. That is... that is not a good face. The frown has Connie's tail sink between his legs and catch around his ankle. The young sorcerer can't quite see the difference between anger and pain, so he immediately thinks he's made a mistake. ]

...um... I don't think... I don't think it's my place to say more.

[ What if this person was Molly's enemy? ]

Soren eyes Ranulf's hand with initial uncertainty, his instincts and frazzled mind torn up about whether he wants to receive or repel him. In the end, he does not withdraw from that carefully orchestrated touch, but he cannot shake the guardedness from his comportment, either.

He... doesn't remember. And despite how reassuring it should be to be reminded that he's not so alone here in this foreign place, that he's currently standing next to the closest link he has to Tellius, a friend Ike made during the war who shared a special sort chemistry Soren finally understands... it only makes him feel lonelier than ever. He lowers his head so that Ranulf can't fully see the private desolation scored across his heart. It becomes hard to speak, to find words for this.

"..."

Was his memory wiped? No... Space and time are fickler concepts than he's ever been comfortable realizing. Maybe the other explanation here is that this is some version of Ranulf who has never been forced into tests that brought out the worst in its participants and tampered with basic human dignity. For Ranulf's sake and not his own, that would be for the best. But he needs to know. Determined to get to the bottom of this, he wills his tongue to work again and raises his head to meet Ranulf's stunning and patient heterochromatic eyes.

And... oh. There's a pleasant and irresistible sensation rooted right where the cat laguz's hand sits, a warmth that tingles through his nerves like soothing but powerful magic. He shivers against it. It's nearly too much, but it feels unusually good against the chill of reality affronting him and he doesn't want this glow to go away. Best of all, it aids in calming him down.

"...I must sound like I'm babbling nothing short of nonsense," he says after recovering. "It... will take me a while to properly explain all that I've been through. The shortest answer I can give is that... this is not the first time I have stumbled across a world that is not Tellius. Am I right in presuming that this is your first?"

[ Fuckshitballs. The way Connie reacts has Fjord realise how it must look — a scowl at the mention of a name — and he forces it away, hands waving in front of him as he crouches down to be of a better height. Less intimidating (as he inwardly scrambles to get his shit together). ]

Connie — It's okay, I was Molly's friend. It's just that, well — [ Molly is rotting in the dirt that Caduceus told to remember him ] — I didn't expect to ever see him again. Molly was very dear to everyone he knew.

[ Still doesn't think he can see him, this must be a trick; there's too much of the horror of Obann's undead minions being summoned, too much he's seen of Yasha being mind-controlled, to make Fjord immediately hopeful, instead fearing the worst. ]

Are you saying you've seen him here, walking around?

[ If someone is wearing Molly's face as a disguise, Fjord inwardly swears to rip their head off without the help of a Barlgura. ]

Bull chuckled at the declaration of what Dorian would supposedly do to the chair. All while making a mental not to remind him about it when he'd sobered up again. His epic loss in the great battle with a damn chair.

Shifting to make sure that he wouldn't run his horns into anything, he glanced down at the mage in his arms. He was actually pretty damn cute like this. Drunk off his ass and yelling about fighting chairs and everything. "Yeah. You and your big scary magic will take on that whole army of sneaky chairs. They won't see you coming."

Except they would if they had eyes given how this mage was currently the least stealthy person in the universe right about now.

"Never know what those chairs will get up to you if you don't show them who is the boss."

No.

[ Easier, perhaps, than either of them had expected, and still accompanied with the measuring tilt of Lan Wangji's head. Mercy can't truly limit academic curiosity. ]

You speak. [ ] Spirits lack sentience.

[ In their majority and dubious splendour. There were fewer guidelines than Lan Wangji cared or the elders of cultivation troubled themselves to reveal during training, but this much was certain: the dead only held on to awareness amid possession.

This... green stirring of bone and flesh looks the part of a natural — composite. This was his form, whenever he was built, by whatever ungainly hand. This must be the body's first awareness, his first conscience.

Therefore. Not possessed. Not a spirit.

Only... deformed in colouring and stature. The giving of sickness, perhaps, or poor blood. ]

[ He takes a step back when Fjord crouches down, but he doesn't run off. Months ago he would have, but he's gotten stronger, more secure in himself. Less damaged - and it was in a great part Molly's doing.

The way Fjord talks about him doesn't make much sense, though. Was.

Then he remembers their conversation about relationships. 'I'm not going home, Connie. So far as I know, this is my last stop before ceasing to exist.' ]

...is Molly dead?

Edited 2020-01-15 00:40 (UTC)

[ This is Duo's life now and it's fine. It's always been his life, really, just switch out the morons and the exact degree of danger. Duo isn't one to panic, but with the spinning around and Rin's extremely unhelpful exclamations he is one to start yelling. ]

Oh come oN JUST PICK ONE?!

[ Thank god he finally gets a direction, but it's a direction that sees him hopping from his whirling platform right into a slime trap... SPLAT.

They didn't even get very far, so Rin might even get a bit of slime, too. ]

Your deduction skills really are in mint condition. [ Testy, Fjord fails to contain an eye-roll and backs up a step. ] I'm half-orc, more than real enough.

[Well.

He deserved that.]

... I did say I couldn't promise anythin'.

[He's a little sorry?

Mostly because that stuff is on his face. Gross.]

[ How the fuck does he even have this conversation when he doesn't know anything for sure anymore? Waking up in a field of crystals was only the beginning of a full plate of bullshit being served up without warning. ]

... He can't be if you've seen him, right?

[ Trying not to scare the young one comes out a little more lack-lustre than intended ~~bc i rolled really shit on Persuasion~~ as Fjord's shoulders sag. ]

Wouldn't you know it, but I actually am an expert dodger... well. Not expert enough to stay out of jail, but that was just the two times. Three? The handful of times.

[ Duo shrugs, no big deal. Upon following her into the pod and settling into a seat himself, he also takes a look around at the cramped space. It's pretty weird, sure, but after his experience with the Zero system he's willing to believe just about anything is possible. ]

Do you fight the ghosts, or do you just dodge them yourself?

[ Without a word, Duo slowly turns around, peeling off the blindfold as he goes. Before long, he's staring Rin down with a dangerous glint in his violet eyes. ]

I'm comin' for you, buddy.

[ He scoops up a generous handful of goo, and sprints across the platforms to sling it right at the moron responsible.

Duo will NOT be the only team member who leaves this place slimed! ]

Oh.

[ Connie's voice is very small, but he tries to calm himself so there's no sudden wild magic in the street. Fjord's words do not exactly help, but he talked to Molly the other day, he has lunch with him and Fish all the time. He isn't dead.

...at least not in Lunatia. ]

He's, um... he's here, though. I mean, you could... meet him, I guess. He's here.

[ Whatever that meant?? Connie had heard of different timelines here, but this was a much more difficult version than someone being a year older since you saw them last. ]

Urk--!

[Rin tries to, quite literally, turn tail and run but that hit is spot on. Smacked in the back of his head he tumbles forward and lands with an unceremoniously squishy thud in to the ooze, coming back up sputtering with bits dripping off his hair in to his face.]

Ghuh... yuck...

[ he lets out a sigh of his own as ranulf's hand fully sneaks under his. he's never given anything like this much thought before, mind always too focused on what he needed to do. but spending time with ranulf, ike started to wonder what it would be like to hold someone's hand. to kiss them. to do more than just that.

with ranulf's forehead pressed against his cheek, he'll definitely feel the heat from ike's blush. ]

I honestly have no clue. This... [ squeezing his hand ] is all new to me. But it's an adventure I want to go on with you. Do you know where we could start?

All of them? Wow... You've got a lot of friends, then!

[Seriously! That was a List of People, dude. Dazai is used to having like. Two. Friends. Okay. So three-plus is wild.]

No kidding... He's nothing like me, is he. [Maybe there's some wry disappointment there. Even if he doesn't want to be copied, it might be nice to be... copied... Dazai logic.]

Ahhh.... I just realized, I'll live... by myself...

[ his smile becomes a smirk as he reaches up with a hand and pushes up the blindfold off his eyes ]

You tricked me.

[ doesn't sound too upset here ]

[Sanity is both relative and overrated. Ask anyone from his home, really. They're all in it.]

A fashion guru? No, I'm very fashionable, it's true, but I'm an author by trade. You wouldn't know it from how cool I look, right? Everyone I associate with is this cool...

[He droops slightly.]

They're not even here, but I promise they're cool.

[And Dazai doesn't even know how many of them he's Basically Dating. Plus his other friends...]

You can live with me.

[Easily offered, like it ain't no big.]

I'd worry about you adjusting to your moonblessing if I wasn't there to help you through your first cycle, anyway.

Heh! You're going to worry about me? It's not like I need somebody to look out for me, but if you're lonely, I'll just have to move in with you!

[Feeling important makes him feel better. You might know this.]

I don't even know what mine is... How am I supposed to find out?

I was a bit lonely...

[Not even exaggerating for Dazai's ego, he really was feeling the weight of being the only one here.]

Which moon did you wake up on?

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