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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[Oh god oh god oh god.

It's him.

What did he do to deserve this?

Is it his dirty blood to blame?

Was death not penance enough?

Of all people, why Garp?]

Edited 2020-01-09 03:01 (UTC)

[Ace winces when the closed fist lands on his head, it hurts. A lot of stuff in Impel Down didn't hurt that badly, why does shame make it so much worse? He rubs his head, groaning at the way it feels, he sure as hell didn't miss that.]

[And then he's pissed.]

What the hell, Gramps?! I'm an adult, I can do what I want with anyone! It's my choice! Not that you saw anything, right? You've got no proof! [Save for the bite marks, bruises, and messed up hair.

There's a weak sob from the bathroom in response to the argument, and Ace looks over just long enough to groan in embarrassment, he sure picked a winner this time. It's pretty humiliating. And Ace decides to just ignore the man. He's definitively not worth doing this with again.

Anyway. Back to the subject at hand. Including Dodging. Sorry, this apartment isn't going to make it] Wait, are you getting soft in the head? How can someone die and fake their deaths?! It's impossible, and you saw what happened!

Be quiet in there!

[Saying to the poor soul trapped in the bathroom. Yeah, they may never see this person again, good for both their sake.] This is a family matter.

This isn't your apartment!

[Like that's suppose to mean something... Yeah, this apartment won't survive for much longer.

The next part though, it hits him, like a bullet to the head. He slams his palm against his head like damn, reality check.] It did happen, didn't. Here I was hoping it was some bad dream.

Dammit, Ace.

You don't know that it's not my apartment! It could be mine.

[Ace is about to strike back at Garp, he's not going to just take hits today. But then Garp quiets, hand on his head, and Ace can't help but to soften in stance. Shit, it was hard on everyone. Ace still holds some very hurt and justifiably angry feelings about what happened. About how sides were more important than family, even if Garp hurt for Ace and loved him? He still chose the people that damned Ace before birth. The people that murdered infants and pregnant women, the dogs of the Celestial Dragons...

But Garp is still his grandfather.

And Garp still hurt for him.

And Ace's heart feels like it's crumpling somehow when Garp's voice comes so low and he seems so exhausted by this.] Hey, Gramps. It's okay. I was gonna die one way or another. It was pretty good that I lived that long, huh? [Ace's own voice is wavering.] And besides, they brought me back to life here! So it's not that bad.

[It was hard on everyone. Garp thought he could convince himself if he shouted his loyalty to the navy, alas he was a fool and Sengoku saw right through him. How could he... How could a grandparent turn against their own family? Memories of both Ace and Luffy as toddlers flooded his mind, their innocents and honesty were too pure. Their huge grins when they looked up to him.

How could he?

That damn war brought nothing but grief, migraines, regrets, and mixed emotions. He fell quiet. At this point Garp can't decide whether to hug the damn brat and don't let him go or punch him for the headaches.

He exhales, tone remaining low.] That's it? So you're telling me you're just fine what this old man done in your last hours? Absolutely nothing?

No. How could I be? And it hurts. Gramps, they wanted me dead as a baby, they didn't even want to let me survive to get born. You know what happened on that island, how could you have kept sittin' back when so much bad was happening?! How many of those people had to die, because of me? You know what they were willing to do to kill me.

[Ace's voice raises up, and his eyes are filling with tears. This is something he wanted to yell at Garp about, to confront him for, but now he's just tired. And he's mad at himself too, he can't stay calm enough to have what he considers an 'adult' conversation right now.

And the tears stream down his face.]

How much blood was running in the streets 'cause they wanted me gone?

[Another upset noise from the bathroom clenches it for Ace, he's done with this interruption. He walks to the bathroom door, and tries it. And when it's locked, he opens it anyway.]

Get out. This is important and you're interrupting.

[Ace's poor paramour, who certainly won't have this role after today, runs from his own home through the hole Garp made, covering himself with a bath towel. Ace groans in frustration, tries wiping his face without much success, and turns back to Garp.]

Now that he's outta the way...

It hurts, even now. Gramps, I can't forget what happened. I still feel it, like the wound is right there. I wake up at night remembering.

[He sighs, deeply, trying to calm himself down.]

But it's not like I was the only one who hurt. And I think some Marines are good. I think some of 'em just wanna fix the world. One's like you> And maybe that means doing it that way for some, under that flag instead of a ship's flag. That's how you are. You don't like people getting caught in the crossfire. Neither do I. I helped too, wherever I could, didn't matter if it was a dirty Marine or a dirty pirate, I-[Fuck, he's rambling. And crying again. He's worse now than he was when Luffy was little.]-I didn't want to be the person that stepped back and did nothing. No matter who was cruel.

[He makes a gross noise, reaches down into the laundry on the floor, and blows his nose on an expensive looking shirt.] Besides, you're my Gramps. I can't hate you no matter what happens.

Edited 2020-01-10 04:12 (UTC)

[Garp prepared himself if Ace chose to retaliate with his fists, hitting someone in the face was the best method for anger and rage. Instead, Ace was sobbing. If Garp could choose between a fist to the face or tears, he'd take the hits. Garp inhaled his snot, resisting his tears to fall.

That damn war... Garp had to make a choice and hated it. He didn't have a proper answer to it. Instead, he threw a fist to one wall close to him, and shattered expressing his rage and anger. Garp exhaled when it was finally his turn to talk.]

You have any idea how much I wanted pick you up and throw you back? [His voice almost cracked.] That's why I chose to stay back. There's no telling what I'd do. I have all this damn power in my fist and it couldn't do a damn thing.

Which is why I finally decided to step down as Vice-Admiral after the war. [And release some stress for Sengoku. Those two were burned out afterwards.]

Know this, I'm proud of both you and Luffy, pirate or not. Heh, I've laughed every time we get updated from HQ of you kids and your mess, and I get blamed for it!!! [He expressed a huge smile at the end of his sentence.] Yeah sure, a lot of the higher ups don't like it when a pirate can clean up bigger messes they can't touch.

[He takes a step forward, arms out as if he was about to---oh wait, unexpected embrace. He's holding Ace close just because....]

Yeah, and I can't hate you either, no matter the mess.

[There was never any winning.

There was never a chance for Ace back home.

He was born to die, marked as a criminal by blood before he'd ever raised a flag for piracy.

So it's hard for him to be mad at Garp now, but it's even harder on him to hear his grandfather's voice nearly break from emotion, and hearing about him stepping down. And harder yet to hear that Garp is proud of him, he doesn't know if he really believes it. But it burns through him, making him feel like crying again for a different reason. And that smile makes Ace smile wider. He really doesn't know how to process this. But he does know one thing. And that thing is that he really does love his family.] Guess you don't get too many updates on me anymore, but Luffy's a big name! He's gonna be amazing!

[The embrace is surprising, but he returns the hug. Ace needed this, he needed closure and love and a reminder that someone besides Luffy in his early family still thinks of him. Still cares about him. Still loves him.]

No mess anymore from me. You've just got Luffy to deal with, and he's way stronger than I am now. [A pause comes. And the voice that comes out is way more quiet than he intended for it to be.] Hey. I wanna ask one more time. Are you glad I'm alive? Is it good that I existed? 'Cause I want to know how you feel.

[Oh God, he can't help but laugh hard there when Ace mentions Luffy's name getting big. Ace, son, if only you knew what everyone else in the world is saying. Of course Garp's laugh means something there because he wasn't making fun of Ace or Luffy.

Give him a moment, he will quiet down.

No. Wait. He busts out laughing again. Way stronger, he got that right. Once again news feed back from the Navy base.

Then his pause comes to a brute stop when Ace falls quiet.]

[His laugh cease, closing his eyes, and crossing his arms. In truth, he's so close to hitting Ace again for asking the damn question he should know. One arm rises over Ace's head ready to drill it, before it can make contact, Garp's fist opens to a palm and messes with the kid's hair instead.]

Why are you asking me something you know damn well?

[Because he isn't going to give him the answer that easy, maybe more difficult than Luffy. It runs in the family.]

Now I got a question for you.

[Ace is nearly heartbroken at being laughed at, and then teased with the you know damn well. He doesn't. Love doesn't mean anything here, and he wants to hear it from his grandfather's mouth.]

No. I'll answer any question you want, no matter what it is. But I want a damn answer from you!

[God. It's as if Ace is haunting him. It takes him back years ago when he met with Rodger back in Impel Down and the conversation taking place. Rodger was right, Garp isn't the type to kill a child no matter how bad the blood the parent's is.

Then years went by, Garp learned later how Ace picked fights with random adults, and the same question resurfacing.]

Ace. [He begins quietly, this time a little more serious.] You are a troublesome kid, my kid. I was able to raise two kids--[Let's be real, he didn't do all the raising.] and Luffy got a brother. For that, I'm grateful I was able to find you first, and more grateful I was able to see you here alive again.

I know I can be eccentric and my punches hurts, but do you know why it hurts? It's a good reminder we are still alive. [A pause.] Eh, scratch the last part, it probably doesn't make sense.

I think Dadan would have another take on it. [Not that she did much better, the boys were pretty much on their own after a certain point. But that's not important. Even if Garp didn't say it, directly, that he's glad that he was able to find Ace first, to see him alive again, means it. It's good enough, for Ace. He doesn't think he'll get better than this, and his grandfather is being sincere. And that's what counts.] It doesn't. Hurt just hurts.

[After a pause.] I wish you had the guts to just say it. Why are old men so difficul?

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▶ TDM .011

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CW: Talk of murder, non-graphic

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