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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[ The use of "they" isn't missed, and his demeanor seems to shift with it a bit, looking at Rin more thoughtfully and like he might have relaxed a touch. Ah, what had they called him... "Moonblessed"? She's one too then?

But no, he didn't know that, and he's a bit annoyed with himself that the one time since being imprisoned he doesn't think that something being put into his food—also because he's been back in the kitchens and is one of the ones serving everything—that it might actually be true... Okay, not the one time, but it still pulls a mildly horrified look from him. ]

No? [ Aghast. Why would they do that? Why does she seem so nonchalant about that if it's true? ]

What kind of "weird stuff"?

[Good, judging by that horrified expression he seems to get what she is saying.

Wait, why does she have to explain it???!!!! Rin looks annoyed and now she is also fiercely blushing!]

Well, they sure want to make us moonlace and they don't care how far they have to go to make that happen.

[DO THE MATH YOURSELF!]

B-but you seem fine after eating them, so... Maybe they skipped that on everything here.

[ "Moonlacing" sounds... well, it's familiar. Also ominous. That's something, right? Look, all the details of everything they were going on about kind of went over his head because he was a bit focused on the bigger picture of I Don't Belong Here And Need To Go and none of what they were saying really made any sense. Also he was sedated a lot because of, um... disagreements, and kind of fuzzy at the time.

But mostly he's always sucked at paying attention to details. ]

"Moonlace"? [ Speaking of details though, wait. Is she blushing? ... why is she blushing?

?????

He hesitates. ]

Everyone keeps saying something about that... [ but not what it actually is!!! ]

[ Rin can't really judge on the not listening part. Or she could!! But she won't... It is a lot to take in, they bring them from all kinds of life situations here... Even if some of the worst parts of her arrival were things she found out after arriving to this city about her sudden new life situation compared to people she knows back home.

That's none of his business though. Is this like some random info at school to someone, who hasn't paid attention in class from the top student of the school? Almost feels like it for the moment, she's sure it will change soon again, it's always an emotional rollercoaster with Rin. Let's see how he'll react...]

Because this world is all about moonlacing and almost everything working via moonlacing... That's the local term for all kinds of physical contact between you and anyone else, who has been brought here from other worlds.

Edited 2020-01-08 22:53 (UTC)

[ Thank you, Rin, for answering that in the least offensive way for his (hit and miss) Victorian sensibilities. It sounds familiar to what little of the explanations he was given that he remembers, even if the whole thing sounds far-fetched and surreal still. Couldn't everything just run on money? He understands that ~~and how to cheat the system~~. But the food is sometimes dosed with stuff that makes people... touchy? Like alcohol?

He's going to... quickly wipe the remaining crumbs from his face... just to be on the safe side. Also because he just noticed them. But he gives a small nod at her answer. ]

I'm sorry. [ It's a bit gentler and with genuine apology. Empathy? But he feels a bit more certain at least that they are at least in the same general sort of situation. It's as comforting as it is worrisome? ]

Have you been here long then?

Edited 2020-01-09 01:11 (UTC)

[ She's so used to answering questions like that at school and explaining things to Shirou, that it's easy to answer it like that instead of ... well, mocking or something else even if that could have been an option too.

That may be a good decision but really, everything seems to be normal. So far. So, nothing in the cookies. Maybe she'll eat them too now when he's been a guinea pig... She'd eat them either way or even without the knowledge, probably. It's complicated but that's how everything always is.

W ha t? What kind of a reaction is that? Rin looks surprised.]

Why are you apologizing? I didn't say I mind it.

[She has a love/hate relationship with moonlacing and her feelings about everything starting from even being here are complicated. That's one hell of an understatement.]

I arrived around this time in October, it's January now.

[ ... Huh, that's a ... surprisingly short time now when she thinks about that and everything that's happened... Nope, let's focus on this moment!!]

[ At the surprised look— oops, he realizes that might have come across wrong, and he raises a disarming gloved hand with a quickly sheepish smile. It isn't that he meant to presume her feelings but... ]

No, I didn't mean to imply— [ Recover, Allen. Just recover.

He pauses, considers her for a moment, and then looks towards the rest of the party that's continuing on a short distance away. ]

I just meant...

...I just meant there isn't anything easy about the entire situation, is there? [ Not just... "moonlacing". Even with just an incredibly bare bones kind of answer he's going to purposefully try to not think about that. Something about it just goes against his sensibilities. But it's just a detail in the sea of a bigger issue. ]

Even if there's nothing that overtly terrible about it, or even that it's anyone's fault... [ though if cookies and food do get spiked to "encourage" certain behaviors his righteous indignation might swing back in full force ] ... it isn't easy for anyone to find themselves somewhere strange they're not supposed to be without any idea how to get back. Where there might be expectations of them they never would have agreed to and aren't comfortable with, but don't really have any choice in the matter.

[ There is an irony in that. He can feel that, even if he tries not to dwell on it because he knows how depressing the answer would be. ]

I'm sorry that anyone has to be in that kind of situation. Even if it might feel a little better to realize we're not alone, I feel bad that there's other people besides myself that don't belong either. Any one of us might be leaving behind so many people who would worry and not understand, let alone what sort of impact our absence might have on any battles we may have been fighting.

[ Though in Allen's case... it's arguable if that might not be a good thing for his own. In fact it's arguably a very good thing. Painful as that might be to admit.

And yes. His thoughts are that composed on at least the overall situation already, spacing out on the details or not. He had a long flight to the city without anything else to keep his screaming anxiety at bay, and being able to compartmentalize and quickly figure out his thoughts and feelings in an ever-changing sea of chaos is literally the only way he's stayed both alive and as (relatively) sane as he is. It's literally a survival skill. He couldn't even manifest his Innocence if he couldn't figure that out... probably. Not well, at least. Which might explain a lot.

And he looks back to her and smiles then. Gently, and in a small sort of way that's distant and faintly a little sad. And doesn't quite reach his eyes. ]

It's sad. And I'm sorry that it's something that has to be dealt with in the first place, even if that's all we can do now. Move forward.

That's all I meant.

[ So very simply, like that's so obvious and natural. ]

Edited 2020-01-09 09:49 (UTC)

[ ... Great, so he has Archer's hair color but now he sounds like what reminds her of Shirou. Not like those couldn't be Rin's thoughts too, some people are just much better at putting thoughts into words. It is really sad, all those things he says and Rin agrees to them a lot. But she's not about to get emotional here. ~~Watch her cry her eyes out later when not-her-Saber appears.~~

Rin's definitely not as comfortable with the whole moonlacing thing as she seems to be. Or anything else either. It's a stupid combination of wanting to keep people away and being used to doing so versus all of her greed and want and starving for the opposite. Besides, she's decided to do her worst here for reasons. Everything is different here. Foul vixen life here, sure, whatever if that's what this challenge wants from her, nothing can stop her.

But that wasn't all about moonlacing ... Stop trying to hit her unbreakable walls about timeline differences, losing her best friends, losing everything again after just letting them in... Well, she's not losing everything, that sounds way too dramatic. This is a place where she can still spend time with Archer and the only place, where she can hear about Shirou and Sakura... ]

Yes, and? So what?

[Hello, Ice Queen. She's glad she's got years of practice with keeping her poker face like nothing ever bothers her anyway, the walls of her pride are supposed to be undefeatable. ]

That's just life. You never know what that throws at you either even if it's just things during a normal day or unexpected twists during a war.

[ Good thing she's not going to talk about irony here because this place has just been full of all the ironic twists of her life. ]

Besides, who knows, time magic exists and maybe we'll just return to the same moment where we left off, so no one's going to worry about us being here. Someone from my future sure had no idea I was here and he'd have known if I had vanished.

[Lancer is a stalker but only because he's been told to stalk Rin a lot.]

Anyone can show up here from any point in their life. For some this is the only place where many things are even possible because either that never happened where they're from or they or someone else they know are already gone there. But they can still meet each other here.

And that's indeed what you do. Move forward, one step at a time or whatever mad rush this place may cause to you during all of its insanely crazy times. It's definitely not just intoxicating some food or drinks either, you never know when you run into something -- anything -- spiked here.

[ Ouch. Yes, and? So what? That's withering, and a lot more bitter of a response than he was expecting. Did he say something to make her defensive...?

No, she didn't let anything slip with her expression, her poker face is intact well enough that he wouldn't even think of it as one. But that's too biting a response for there not to be a reason for it. Especially when she... doesn't actually seem to be disagreeing with him (which is what he expected, or for her to stare at him like he was an idiot, he's just used to that), in fact she's agreeing to most of it but still seems kind of mad...?

???

He blinks, a corner of his mouth twitching in a bemused sort of smile, and he would almost point that out and ask her why that is except he has thankfully far more savvy and mannered than that. At least with girls and people who don't irritate him.

He also didn't miss that she brought up war, even if he mentioned fighting, and that is a very particular thing to bring up. Someone who's directly caught up in it—which is also not something he expected. ]

That would be nice to believe... [ He says it gently and diplomatically, "but that isn't something I can risk believing" hinges in his tone. Not without wholly concrete proof, and maybe not even then. That just isn't who he is as a person, laying back and passively accepting something. He does genuinely mean what he says though, his tone is as warm as it is a practiced diplomacy and not a contrary sass at all.

It's all a moot point anyway, without a clear direction or idea about how to go about returning. Until then, it doesn't really change much.

Other than it might be a nice mirage to believe, if troublesome. ]

I hope that's true and that everyone will be there waiting for you when you return.

[ With just as much warmth and sincerity. And with leaving himself and his own situation out of the implication entirely. ]

Edited 2020-01-09 22:58 (UTC)

[ Ooops, too late for her to realize how that gives things away since that hits her too late. Oh well, it doesn't mean he has any idea of what else it means and yes, she knows he said fighting but she said... War. She's seen two. They're much like common knowledge here, Masters, Servants, everything. Magic. It's like a whole new world even from that point of view to her. Culture shock? No, she can be free of any magical secrets here but that's ... that.

Well, whatever. He'd better get used to the fact that she's often mad if he is ever going to see her again. Not that it would be totally out of her style to try dodging after a slip like that...]

Ask the network for anything, some have been here much longer than I have.

[Not that Rin herself has used the network at all, so look who's talking but... yeah yeah, she wouldn't believe the time thing either. Does she? She's not sure. Her world has timeline messes too, it's complicated as hell and she's trying to shut it all out most of the time to enjoy her time here.

There's a polite smile while she says that even more so when she doesn't ... let... it show how much that line about everyone waiting for her back home hurts. There's no one. No, that's not true. There's Shirou. He shouldn't be there although she doubts she can get Saber back from Caster alone but ...

ANYWAY!! ]

And this is where I remind you, that I don't mind being here. I'm fine [more than less honestly fine] staying here and this was about you suddenly arriving here from whatever fight you've been in the middle of or whatever else life situation you're in back there along with everything else.

[It's okay if you leave yourself out, she'll insert you in there instead of her. Because Rin hates talking about / sharing her personal information and always shuts people out of her isolation but then she's curious about everyone else's personal businesses...]

So that line should be from me to you for whenever you get to return there. Unless you'd rather find some people from there stuck here just like you are now because that's also possible.

[But thanks for being a guinea pig for the cookies, she'll get some of those now.]

Edited 2020-01-15 23:27 (UTC)

[ Net-work? What's a net-work...? Ah well, it doesn't seem that important, so he files it away to be more or less forgotten. Because he blinks a little at the mild admonishment. For someone who's supposed to be "fine" with the situation and being here, she sure is going out of her way to remind him of that..

But something else she said catches his attention more, in a bothersome sort of way, and if she starts eyeing some of the cookies on the tray that he hadn't shoved into his face yet he'll offer them to her somewhat automatically. ]

"Stuck here just like me"? [ His brow furrows slightly as he parses that. ] "From there"?

[ Something tightens a little in his expression, because there's a cold sort of dread when he thinks he knows what she means, and he doesn't like it at all. He should be polite and just let it slide but that, honestly... ]

Surely you don't mean to suggest... that someone [ would be so selfish ] might actually wish this happen to on someone they know?

[Yes okay, thank you for the cookies because a greedy Cordis like her doesn't even hesitate at all with taking them...]

Stuck here just like you and me.

[ Ahahah... Rin is so selfish, that she ignores all about her little sister still being alive and her motives for saving Shirou in the beginning and never goes to rescue Sakura... Just to have Shirou all by herself. This place is great for letting her know that it doesn't happen in all of the timelines.

Shrug, finishing a cookie before she says anything.]

It doesn't matter what we wish, they don't care about that. But they can bring anyone here and even if you just arrived, anyone you know may have been here for weeks or months. And that can be anyone from your past, present or future or whatever else they feel like doing and yes, that includes anyone who is dead too.

...As I already said earlier but whatever, that still goes for anyone.

[Ever lost anyone close and dear to you? Congrats, you might see them again here and maybe they'll even like being here.]

Besides some worlds are much worse than this.

[ She keeps wishing for some to appear here, then next moment she kicks herself about it mentally because no one should be stuck here. Even if this is the only place where she could possibly reconnect with Sakura while she is from timeline where it never happens... but Sakura should stay there where she gets to be happy with Shirou. Rin misses Saber all the god damn time but she can't even decide if she would really want her here. Wanting her to show up here sounds so selfish and besides it also sounds really bad for her jealous side... unless Saber would be from that other timeline too, then she wouldn't be Rin's at all to make things better or worse. She could show up from when she doesn't even know Rin at all but that would be the worst. But this sure is the only place where she can still have priceless memories with Archer and some others and she sure as hell wishes he'll never leave while they are both here.]

Edited (here is me, realizing she's repeating but rin be like whatever.) 2020-01-21 19:51 (UTC)

[ It's a slightly mollifying answer, because it doesn't seem like she was actively suggesting he should hope for that, or that people should, which would get his righteous outrage going. And instead it just feels like she's being... kind of overly thorough about all possibilities. It reminds him a little about how some of the science team would attempt to over-explain things.

—academic. It's very academic, that's what it is.

Also, that statement... Besides, some worlds are much worse than this, is a very chilling sort of answer indeed. Especially since, well... though Allen would expect there to be more to this world than what he's seen, that there's a darker truth behind it because that's just how his intuition feels...

...even so, his own world would absolutely fall under that. Though for someone like him, that's even more reason for why he has to return.

Aaaah, screw it. He takes a cookie himself, bollocks to her earlier warning. Besides, she just had some, and he had so many earlier and isn't feeling weird. Though, breaking off a piece with his mouth, he's silent for a moment as he seems to just be watching the party and taking in what she said. ]

Is that what it's like for you, then?

[ It's not combative, not spiteful or sassy. In fact he's speaking quite gently and with as much compassion as shrewd thoughtfulness, with wide and piercingly clear grey eyes slanting towards her. Even as he chews on the cookie for a moment. ]

Grateful to be somewhere else even if you don't like why?

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▶ TDM .011

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i didn't sign up for this either, sorry this took time... lmao

it's fine!!

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