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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[Guangyao slowly shakes his head and then gives her a mildly exasperated look.]

I have the strangest feeling that the young lady might be having a laugh at me... Have I missed something amusing?

[ peter gives an empathetic wince at that. ]

Yeah, tell me about it. [ although- every few years did sound a little more than his city's particular brand of invasion. ]

We've only been attacked twice. [ a beat. ] I think. [ because timelines and secrets and all that, but. you know. he's relatively certain. as for skrulls, that definitely pings some part of his memory. ]

I mean, I've never heard of them back home, but someone else here asked me the same thing. They mentioned some other alien too, though- uhh, Krest? [ no, that was a toothpaste. ] No, it was Kree, I think. Do you have those?

[She covers her smile and tries to look contrite]

I apologize. I don't mean to be rude, it's just... this is the last place where someone would think anything bad about me for being alone with a boy.

Yes, this is essentially a detour. Though we haven't been able to ask anyone who has gone home if nothing has changed when they get there. We can assume it won't.

[Is he going to do something that his uncle doesn't approve of? Probably at some point, but Jiang Cheng will still look after him. He's not going to disown him]

How long have you been here?

[ Byleth shakes his head gently as he peers down into his own tea. ]

Time moves differently in our world. No one even noticed the first of us who came here were missing.

[ Assuming they even came from the same timeline. It's difficult to tell at this point when so many memories do line up rather perfectly. ]

From what I learned, we could spend a year here and not even a second would have passed in ours.

[ Otherwise, someone would have gone looking for Dimitri and the others by now. It's not unlike the time he took a five year nap in a ravine. When he'd woken up, he'd been wholly convinced only just a few hours had passed. ]

Do you have any questions for me?

[ He's not sure if he has the answers Ashe wants, but he'll do his best to provide. ]

[Guangyao laughs a little, softly and under his breath with a shake of his head at himself. Apparently his way of thinking might be considered 'archaic' here, but still...]

Be that as it may, please indulge me, my lady. My sensibilities are delicate.

[He pauses then before raising his hands in front of him to bow politely.]

I am Jin Guangyao, the Sect Leader of the Jin. Though I suppose such titles don't carry as much weight here in this world.

Did they?

[Interesting. Means there must be someone from his neck of the woods here, though that could be any number of people. He can't even begin to count the people who'd be familiar with Skrull from his own world, but what Peter asks next makes him stiffen slightly, his muscles going tense.

Yeah, he knows about Kree.]

We do. We don't see too many up close, but... they're around.

[There's half of one right in front of him, in fact.]

Are they troublemakers for you guys?

Someone would come out of that with a whole lot of money, I'd bet. That's how it always works in multiverse fanfics.

[He Knows.

He nods, folding his arms across his chest.]

Can't blame you for being pissed about that. That's fair. But as for all the rest— I don't think you have to worry. We're not going to be enemies, we're not even really fighting, we're just...

[He sighs.]

I don't know what we are. Not what we were, but I still care about him. I don't see that changing, whatever else might.

( even with her encouraging words, legosi looks deflated. it seems a little forced, to tell a wolf that he's doing a good job simply because he isn't attacking strangers (or loved ones) and trying to eat them. isn't that kind of the bare minimum of being a kind and respectable carnivore in their society? it shouldn't really be celebrated... but regardless, he is still aware of how much he has improved in his discipline and self-control, even if his internal view also is just enough to keep him wary of potential slip-ups. if there was anything he had learned from his researching herbivore and carnivore couples, it was that one must always be aware... )

It was just good that something happened before I could make a mistake I couldn't take back later. ( even if that occurrence had ironically been louis injuring his leg. hm -- was it the same leg? legosi can't remember clearly, but it's funny how things work out.

she's right, though. haru has her own philosophy, her own way of living her life shaped by who she was, what she was, what hardships she had been forced to face while growing up... everyone does, whether they contemplate them or not. he gives a faint smile at her admission, and is unfortunately mid-way through taking a sip of water when she continues. surprise causes him to splutter, then cough; he sets the glass of water down and is forced to recompose himself, muzzle uncomfortably and embarrassingly wet from the water and sweating faintly besides. ) I - It wasn't really about letting you, Haru-chan...

( as if he didn't really, really, really want to?? but legosi's just not the kind of guy who can set aside very serious and very real concerns about what he might be tempted to do (what he might do without even being able to think through it), and not to mention how even if all went well -- would it even work? did they come to a conclusion on whether or not they were even physically compatible? she was still talking to him about it, so he has to think she isn't that concerned, but...???

a lizard or a frog? hm... he tries to imagine haru as a komodo dragon, but the image just doesn't materialize in his mind. it seems to incompatible. )

Mm... I'm just going to not be worried, I think. Even if you end up much bigger than me, I'll be able to hold my own, you know. ( what with all of that training that he did with gouhin. he smiles, though, intending it a joke; if such a thing happened he's pretty sure he wouldn't put up a fight for real...

and speaking of food -- the server stops by to talk to them, their gaze a little over-interested but not in a way that seemed overbearing. though legosi does have to be careful in telling them that he doesn't eat any meat ("vegetarian" as they said here), causing them to point out the parts of the menu that were meat-free... he ends up ordering a very veggie-heavy omelette before the server turns their attention towards haru. )

[ At least he’s learned his lesson somewhat, and just sips at the drink rather than downs the whole thing. ]

What do you mean ‘do you cook’— of course you don’t! You’re the Sect Leader for one of the most powerful sects in the world!! Do you cook...

[ He scoffed, and took another sip. ]

I don’t know, we eat pretty much everything. Lanling doesn’t exactly skimp on dishes! We’re not Lans!

Yunmeng is a little more - I kind of like the food there more, I guess, it tends to be heartier. Like people actually eat it rather than make it look pretty. Not that it — it’s still pretty!! It just is always nice to eat there because then I have plenty of energy to do anything, afterward, and you always make sure I’ve eaten plenty!

[It wouldn't have been a mistake if you did eat me...

She goes back to fiddling with her straw, not going to voice the automatic response that comes to her. It's still natural, ingrained in every fiber of her being to feel that way even when she so desperately wants to live too.

Honestly, she'd have no idea what her life would be like if Legosi didn't suddenly come into it. They are where they are now, but had he eaten her...it would have definitely been better than not having met him at all. She'd have still been pining after Louis, she would have certainly been eaten by the Shishigumi. And she certainly wants to be alive, and yet--

Haru remains smiling though, laughing genuinely at his sputtering, and leaning forward she offers him a napkin for his wet muzzle.]

I know! You dropped out of school and are holding your own with your own place and are living like an adult already, after all. Even if I did wind up super big, I'm still just a female who graduated normally and went to college.

[She's about to say something else, but it's then the server stops by, and Haru does take notice of the way they're looking at both her and Legosi. She sits up on her knees once Legosi is done with the meticulous explanation of his order, and looks over the menu.

The boba has made her quite full, and she knows too much sweets is awful for a rabbit in one go. So she gets a light salad with some sunflower seeds and seasonal veggies. And unlike Legosi she's taken at her word without any need for explanation.

As the server takes the menu and leaves, Haru looks at the server and towards the small kitchen just past them.]

...do you think the rabbit-like Prismals here eat meat?

[Pardon her morbid curiosity.]

[ Steve is quick to nod at the question. He's found that to get information from others, you often have to reveal a little bit about yourself too. His history back home had been no secret, so he doesn't see much point in hiding it here.

The remark about smell, though -- along with just being odd, it's also familiar. Steve narrows his eyes, looking Geralt up and down again. The only real resemblance between him and Inu-Yasha is the white hair, but maybe that means something. ]

Funny you say that. I had someone here once tell me I smelled human, but a little off because of my enhancements. But yeah, I was given a serum that changed me physically and also made me faster, stronger -- that kind of thing.

[ It's explained so simply Geralt can't help but eye Steve with some suspicion. There's undoubtedly more to this story he's not hearing, but he's not one to press when he hardly reveals much about himself. There are plenty of rumors around about witchers, anyway; how they're made or trained or feel, and he's never gone out of his way to confirm or deny those rumors. People will say what they want to say. ]

Sounds familiar. [ Without the mages, it makes sense Steve seems more human than Geralt does. His mutations are likely much less severe. It strikes him, too, that Steve still considers himself human. ] Here's to surviving the odds, I suppose.

[ There's just the faintest undercurrent of bitterness. It doesn't occur to him that Steve might have gone with it willingly. He's only curious if Steve is the only one they tried on or if there were others. He assumes there were others who died in the process. ]

( they tend to differ on their stringent views of requisite biology and personal philosophy. for legosi, it absolutely would have been a mistake. not only would he have never really met haru, he also would have never "awoken" from the long, drawn out episode of sleepwalking that had been his life up until that point. that, and he fears he would have ended up something, like, well...

a monster. a monster just like riz.

he carefully dabs at his damp muzzle, feeling simultaneously as though he should've given up long ago at caring that he looked so silly in front of her so often but also unable to completely shed that self-awareness. ) Mm... But graduating normally and going to college is still special and impressive, in its own way.

( his ears droop slightly at the thought. not really at that thought, but at thoughts connected to it by fibrous tissue. he had felt confident in his decision to drop out, and he still largely does, but even if he had wanted to finish school, it would have been difficult or impossible (certainly at cherryton). "predatory offender" is a dangerous label to wear, and the tendrils that it reached into his life and his hopes and his dreams were the reason why he was pursuing a dangerous criminal in order to expunge his record.

well, that, and the fact that he felt the same about melon as he did riz: facing off against him was a battle of mindsets, standpoints, philosophies. it would be impossible for him to stand down even if his future with haru wasn't on the line.

it all comes with its own disappointments. he had to bid farewell to childhood dreams of becoming an entomologist or terrarium-keeper. he assumes they need more schooling than this delinquent wolf had...

there's a moment of silence in the wake of the server's departure, though haru fills it with a curiosity that he had felt once or twice upon arriving here.

legosi shifts awkwardly in his seat, and then he leans forward, one hand to the side of his muzzle to aid in his conspiratorially-given answer. ) Probably. I don't think changing would make them less inclined to eat it... I think it only might make them more so...

( he frowns, settling back, still seeming unsettled by it. he's spent enough time in the back alley market to come to terms with the reality of their world, but how brazen it is here... how little the humans and prismals seem to think about the things they eat... )

I've talked to a few humans about it. It's not something they usually think about... and when I talk about how things are back where we're from, they start to feel guilty. But - ... I don't know. I don't think they should have to change how they are just because of that.

( legosi's of the belief that it has to be a conviction that comes from within. so many of the meat-crazed animals that he had helped rehabilitate with gouhin had become that way because of conflict in their lives around what they were doing. to either eat meat or not... it just took an awareness of what you were doing. )

[ Geralt's words make it pretty clear that he's gone through something similar, even if he doesn't outright say it. Are his golden eyes and white hair a side effect of what was done to him? It's hard to know when a lot of people around here have strange hair and eye colors, but it seems like a safe bet in this case.

"Surviving the odds" is a good way of putting it, even in Steve's situation, and he doesn't make any attempt to hide his wry smile. ]

Yeah. At least at first, I was the only one the serum actually worked on. It wasn't a situation where I could ask that many questions, but... pretty sure I know how some of the others washed out.

[ It's not something Steve likes to think too hard about, but as far as he's aware everyone who they'd enrolled into the program had done so voluntarily. It doesn't make it okay that some of them may have lost their lives in the process, but at least it isn't anything like what Hydra did to Bucky and others. ]

[ Funny. The last thing he expected was to run into someone like him. There are so few of his kind he'd entered entire villages or towns before where people went their whole lives without ever seeing a witcher. Even he rarely crosses paths with one of his own anymore unless he returns to the keep.

Now here, of all places, he finds someone not too different. The first, no less. He knows what certain people would call it. Geralt doesn't like buying into the destiny bullshit, but sometimes he lingers on it. Something about it makes him say a little more than he normally would've, anyway. ]

It never stops them.

[ Subjects washing out, that is. They do it, anyway, scratching off names like tickets. It's been a long time. But he remembers there were a few dozen boys when Vesemir first brought him to the keep and by the time he set off to take his first contract, there were a handful left. ]

Never heard of them before here, either. [ peter admits, shrugging a little. ]

Biggest alien troublemakers for us were, uh, one Asgardian and a lot of Chitauri, and this... big purple guy. [ the best way to describe thanos, for sure.

but, it does seem like this guy might be uncomfortable with the conversation. bad experiences with aliens, himself? peter can relate. so he gives him a smile and holds up his bag. ]

I can help you find an apartment if you want? I'll even give you some noodles as a like, housewarming gift.

[ It's only four words, but there's a lot behind them, and Steve nods as his expression sobers. Geralt is right. It seems that for certain interests, no price is too high to get what they want, whether that's turning the tide of the war or simply having a powerful trump card hidden up their sleeve.

That doesn't mean that Steve and Geralt aren't their own people, regardless of what they went through and whether or not it was their choice. Steve suspects there are some haunting details to Geralt's story, but he isn't going to push too hard when this is their first meeting. ]

Yeah, it really doesn't.

[ Steve heaves out a breath and pushes away from the bridge's edge, nodding to Geralt in both acknowledgment and the start of a farewell. ]

I should probably get a move on, but it was good to talk. Feel free to reach out if you need any help adjusting here, all right?

Huh. So there are other people here who know about Kree... I wouldn't mind talking to them once I'm settled. I have some questions.

[Understatement of the year, but there's a lot to sort out here. He offers Peter another easy smile in reply, shoving his low-key identity crisis aside for the time being.]

That'd be cool of you. It should be real quick and easy, anyway— as long as I have a roof over my head right now, I'm not too picky.

Captcha won't defeat me

Cu laughed at that. "Yeah, I guess. I wouldn't put it past Prismals to actually open all the locks on arrivals day though."

Weeeell, his chroma (the currency of this world) is abysmal. In other words for the meal, he already has zero chroma in balance. One gains chroma through moonlacing, which means and requires holding hands or touch to generate chroma for money.

Mu has very little chroma to start with. "You don't have to. I'll pay. The meal is on me." For him, it's not really a problem, paying for a beautiful stranger.

"So take my word for it, but it's fine. Enjoy your tea and your meal. I think it's just a lovely day in this world to have a cup of tea with you, at least."

Chroma, it was something she was also low on just due to the fact that she doesn't know how to gain more and also, she has been trying to keep to herself.

"If you are sure, Mu." She feels a little guilty but she goes to still smile up at him. He was very handsome for a Beorc.

"A lovely day to enjoy a cup tea with a handsome Beorc." She goes to sip her tea and take a small bite of her food. She will have to slip in a proper thank you to him. One way or another.

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▶ TDM .011

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