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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"You may dare, of course. And if it's so difficult, you could have just not caught me."

It's playful, for how preposterous a suggestion it is. There's no reality where he wouldn't have caught her and they both know it. And while the sensations of this place are quite real, it doesn't feel absolute. The warmth is simulated, she can't quite make out the texture of his hands where she knows callouses would be snagging at her sweater. It's just that little bit of dissonance. She'll lower the bend of her legs that had her feet kicking up behind her in his hold, allowing him the ability to set her back down so they can signal to rise from the VR even as the scene about him closes up and fades.

It's like breaching the surface of the water after holding your breath. She 'wakes' with a start and awareness of different clothes than she'd just been 'wearing', removing the immersion headset and legs wobbly as she gets back to her feet too quickly, turning around and looking for him with the strange roundabout pods.

Angela always notices the little things. It's what kept her from finding the simulated reality correct, what has her nose catching on his aftershave, recalling the sharp sound of hard boot heels on the tile, and it's what cements reality for her. She finds her anchors in her senses as he climbs out of the other side, and she's waiting for him with her hands behind her back, curving forward and head tilted to await his steadiness.

The moment he's meeting her eyes and seems stable on his feet, she's going to leap right back into his arms, practically purring his name.

"Welcome back, handsome."

"I...cannot predict what my experiences will be during the Sanguis moon, but I know I'm not a man who actively seeks a confrontation," even through the drunken haze he could understand the gravity of what was being implied here and the memories of Hanzo's bleeding body on the floor are still fresh in his mind regardless of the years. The mage had no comforting words for that, it was a traumatic experience for both of them, but he did not regret rushing to the man's aide...had no question in his mind when it came to rescuing Hazo or having his back in a fight.

With Hanzo drawing him close again, Dorian wraps his arms around the archer, a comforting hand cradling the back of his head not truly grasping how much he'd been missed in all of the time he'd been gone. He couldn't find the humor where normally he had no difficulties at all, he only wanted to offer comfort, "I've no intention of avoiding you no matter the Moonblessing, perhaps an arrangement can be made if you're concerned?"

[That's a surprisingly reasonable response, all things considered. He kind of wanted to keep picking on him, but if he's going to ask the right questions, then maybe Gilgamesh is willing to give the right answers.]

That is correct, although it is no less troublesome. Or, well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say that it has troubles of its own. Even we are not immune to the influences of this world. [That was the simplest way of putting it. Of course, Gilgamesh, just by virtue of pure stubbornness, was probably a little more immune than most, but that's beside the point.] They are usually harmless, but you would do well to keep it in mind.

[Usually harmless, though he couldn't say that would always be the case. Still, he's actually being helpful. But is he gonna tell him about the tail? Only time will tell.]

On the other hand, you are no longer bound by the restrictions of being a Servant in a War, so at least there's that.

That will be helpful.

[he needs something forgiving, whether he's fully aware of it or not. flowers. people. zixuan works without looking at her. it's not uncomfortable, but if he thinks about it too much, if he allows it, the tension quickly builds.

she doesn't allow it. she continues on as if they'd actually traded a kind word, or a word at all back in their world, and zixuan finds himself grateful for it.]

It's the same for me. [all of it. his arrival. missing home. his retreat into this. zixuan finally looks over at her.] I-

[sect leader. his brows draw together at that, thinking quietly and trying to make sense of his confusion, though from already meeting those from different times and even different worlds, he should already know to accept more than he reasons.

...and when he realizes that he's just been crouching there like a lump, leaving her question unanswered, he gets flustered again. he quickly gets back to planting lotuses.]

Lady Wen, titles don't seem necessary here.

[say his name, say his name.]

[Not at first but once he realizes she can't swim either, Alphinaud's eyes light up a little with mirth.]

Here I thought everyone in Othard knew how to swim. [He says with a boyish grin.] It brings me much joy to hear I'm not alone----Allumette!

[Just when he calls her name, she's already one step away from being disqualified from this little game. Akphinaud cannot help but sigh but at least the Viera isn't injured.]

Please, there's no need for an apology. It's my fault for distracting you.

[The question throws him, just a little. Leaves him shifting from booted foot to booted foot, expression pulling tight. These matters are no big secret, not to him, but speaking of them...it's a reminder of things left undone, in a world left behind. One he's less and less sure, every day, that he'll ever see again.

He takes a breath, blows it out slow.]

Oh, ah, a few. Things I've seen on my travels, not all of them I really know how to explain. Depends, I suppose, on how you want to define spirits. There's uh, there's the ghost of a Count roaming about, unwanted, back at the palace in Vesuvia. Looking for a way to come back to life, trapped between worlds, as it were. I was trying to find a way to stop his return before um...

[He shrugs, spreads his hands as though to indicate this new world, and implicit in that, the one he'd been thrown into before it. Destiny, interrupted.]

And then there's...well. Not sure if you'd call him a spirit exactly but ah, more of an entity. From another realm. The Hanged Man.

[He blinks then, slightly wide-eyed, and that brightening of his face remains there poised, a little more overt. Because if this man has experienced it, if it's something people here know more about, if their hosts in this city are more willing to be transparent in regard to what keeps them here, what causes them to leave--

--it's a good thing, with some measure of relief in it. Because if it's true of this place, perhaps it's true of Duplicity, too. Perhaps all the dire things they'd been left to imagine were just that, after all. Imaginings.]

You have? Well that's ah, well that's good, isn't it? It means...well, it means the same could be said of anyone, who disappears in a world like this.

[He'd lost people. People who mattered to him. Knowing they might be back where they belong rather than dead, or tortured, or simply ended...it matters to him.]

Hah. Well ah, well good. Perhaps we can find something with a harder edge around here somewhere.

[He'll take his drinks like he takes his lovers, thank you-- strong and rough around the edges.]

It's a moment before he notices it. The shake and stutter in the younger man's voice, the slow fragmentation as his composure starts to erode. Julian blinks, looks down at him, really looks at him for perhaps the first time and sees all those sharp angles that shouldn't be there, the hard line of slim shoulders beneath Waver's clothes, the jut of cheekbones under skin. He hadn't looked this fragile, this close to breaking, the last time he'd seen him, had he?

And then the words come out of him in a whispered rush, leave the doctor looking vaguely stunned. He blinks his sea-storm eye, brows pulling tight around a look of concern, the one hand still holding the younger man going tighter, protective almost.

"My darling, I....months?" he remembers nothing of it, but again when he tries searching through his head for a clear grasp on the events leading up to the moment he arrived here, he comes up blank. There are gaps where memory ought to be, and the lines of worry that pinch his chiselled face only deepen.

"I'm so sorry. You weren't...were you all right?"

It's a loaded question, all things considered. They both know it.

"But look, I'm here now. And maybe there are others."

[It doesn't take much to persuade him. He crosses the boards in several long strides, leather-clad hands curling over polished wood as he peers down at the rolling waves beneath them. There's the familiar creek and snap of the rigging above their heads, the water below so desperately blue that something in him almost aches.

It has been a while. He's missed this.

Again, there's the bright ring of his happy laughter as he tears his singular gaze away from the cresting waves and back towards his companion.]

It all looks so real, doesn't it? Even ah, even feels real. What a marvel! I'm not sure even the very best magicians back home could conjure up something like this.

[And he really ought to know, having dated one.]

Well... The first three things I'd say are that the place is relatively peaceful, that contact is currency here in a more literal sense than you're used to, and that it's got a really bright shiny-colors aesthetic that I'm still not entirely adjusted to.

It's probably far-future technologically compared to what you're used to, as well. So... That's gonna be something to adjust to. Especially with say the phones.

I wouldn't mind that. I'm Julieta. What's your name?

[ It's something to do. She really should try to make friends. Lovers she isn't so sure about but she's learning a lot since she got here. ]

[ Fjord is fascinated, having only glimpsed the merfolk of the Menagerie Coast from afar (usually after Vandran would clip his ear and warn him to avoid looking at anything at sea with half a fish attached to it). He was always curious up until the party's encounter with Dashilla, after which the intrigue wore off fast. Fish themself is unlike the blank-eyed merfolk he's seen along the coast; they always looked more aquatic with two legs randomly attached, not nearly so much of an all-around pretty picture. ]

Thank you for telling me all that. Also, if I may ask, is that your real name, or ... ?

[ Even when Fjord was at sea with the Nein, none of them appreciated the ocean as he did. His love for it was often overcast by duty to the group, either pretending to be the captain or seducing the psychotic captain of the ship that captured theirs. It's nice to stand beside another sailor who sounds so pleased by everything around them, even if it's all fake.

Fjord glances over to find himself being watched. He cocks a hip and leans on the railing, letting the salty spray whip back his white bangs and cool the shorn sides. ]

I think it's the crazier wizards and sorcerers who whip up new realities for themselves, all the fun ones just want to make a fool of you.

[ Like Caleb making Fjord look like he was in a weenie bathrobe in public. Bastard.

He jerks his chin at Julian. ]

Not a student of the arcane yourself, I take it?

[ oh my god ]

It's ZENITSU!! You idiot!

[ Truly, boars are such wild animals. He should feel bad for Inosuke, having grown up in the wilderness without anyone to teach him proper manners, but...he's too busy feeling annoyed by this horrible breach of conduct. ]

And you won't be able to catch any of them without the pie, that's what they're for!

[ He says that but Inosuke is rapidly gaining ground on his winged foe. Dang it, he's going to be left behind at this rate. He's tired of being in last place!! ]

Hey! Wait up!!

[Tanjiro is an older brother and yet Asuna is leading him around. or maybe it's the little sister in her that feels compelled to drag the big brother around. and it's the big brother in Tanjiro that goes along with it.

Takeo follows behind, obediently, in any case as they walk through high grass and pass by another griffin here and there. they lift their head, curious, at their little troupe.]

Birds are omnivores. I bet if we made a meat and veggie pie, they wouldn't be able to resist it.

[Ace grins at the idea of tempura, and is happy to talk about that as he keeps walking.]

Tempura is good stuff, I like the kind with potatoes and pumpkin, bamboo shoots too, and all of the meat and fish ones. But I'll take 'em all. I'm not too picky about the type of food I eat, as long as it's cooked right.

[The flaming finger solidifies into flesh, the fires wicking into Ace's skin.]

Nah, but if it was sushi it woulda tasted a lot better. It's the devil fruit I got my powers from. It turned me into fire.

[ It's fun to goof off and not feel like Nott is going to make fun of him or he's going to wind up embarrassed somehow (bathrobes!!), wanting to make sure they both have a good time. Caduceus especially, as he didn't come to towns or cities before the Nein.

Not that Fjord has ever been in a city like this, but. ]

There's something called noodles, we should try those. They smell amazing.

[ Two bowls of vegetarian noodles it is!! And Fjord pays with his bracelet, since Caduceus is the reason he even has the Chroma in the first place.

He absolutely gets noodles stuck in a loop around a tusk. ]

Yes, I have heard as much.

[...mr.... human???]

You seem more experienced, so I am glad you are here to show me the ropes.

... Humanlike. Phones?

[Pidonus blinks a couple times.]

Yeah, like that to get the map. Scroll around and the like.

There's a lot to it, but once you've got the start of a hang of it you learn the deep end fairly quick, from experience.

Prove me wrong, shrimp!!!

[The blast, unfortunately, ruins the platform's structural integrity. It starts to make suspicious creaking sounds, so Katsuki throws another blast, this one meant to send Tanjiro flying.]

No, not like these. Nasods are ...

[ It's frustrating her to not be able to properly explain this. ]

... Nevermind, don't worry about it.

This map should help me out well enough, thank you.

[ Her ears are still drooped down instead of sticking straight up, nose wrinkled in displeasure. ]

Still, one can't expect people to just sit there and take punishment...! I suppose it's a good thing it's not a suspension and just a penalty.

Ready to move on your mark.

I ain't waiting for no slowpoke, dummy! This bird-cat has my name all over it!! Keep up with me or eat my dust!!

_{[ The griffin leaps into the air and takes flight, and, naturally, Inosuke grabs it by the back ankles and is lifted off of the air with it. Most people would be freaked out by this turn of events, but instead, Inosuke starts laughing. ]}

KEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, HIROMITSU!!

_{[ are they catching griffins or playing tag... ]}

[His eyes widen.] N-neighbours? Oh, like me and Rin, ha ha...

[Like being neighbours with Rin went so well back home. What is his life.]

Well... Even if that doesn't happen, you can have a key to my place just like before, so you can come over whenever you want. [And complain about the place being too messy, probably, but at least she won't feel like he's actively shutting her out.]

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▶ TDM .011

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he's a simple boy with simple dreams

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