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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What are you showing me?! You picked this one on purpose, didn't you!! [ He came here to play some games and explore a new world. Not watch an interspecies porno!! Josuke was actually looking forward to seeing what life is like in a world full of animal-like people too. This, though? He can't watch this. He averts his eyes immediately, fixing them on the wooden door. His hands go over his ears too in an attempt to block out the soft moaning sounds that are now gracing his ears. ]

Alright, I get it! Sorry ... if it sounded like I was looking down on you! [ He wasn't trying to, but he can admit that her appearance did give him the impression that she was weak and someone he needed to protect. Her personality is something else entirely, though. ]

[What?? Hasn't he watched any nature docs in his lifetime??

As Josuke looks away and covers his ears, Haru keeps her attention to the bed, covering her mouth with her hand as though trying to mask her amusement.]

Hmm...so that's how I look from this angle. Not bad... [Admittedly, this is making her feel nostalgic. When things were a bit simpler, even if Louis is a complicated guy. Watching everything play out again, the way they move together and sound together...

Well, they certainly have changed, haven't they?

Anyways she's still pretending not to notice Josuke's clear discomfort.] You said you wanted to see the gardening club. This is part of what I did!

[The apology is, however, a welcome one, and she keeps her hand at her mouth to keep from giving herself away. Turning away from the scene...because the memory of her and Louis has finished now, and it's just the typical post-coitus before returning to class anyway, she looks up at Josuke.]

Show me what your world is like then, if you really are sorry.

[ This rabbit-girl -- She's crazy! She's right there admiring herself while Josuke continues blocking out the sounds and trying his best to pretend he isn't seeing what he's currently seeing. At least, the deer in this scene isn't someone he knows. (Though, he does remember that one fellow who introduced himself as a red deer ...) Haru looks like such a handful, and he doesn't know how a soft-spoken guy like Legosi can deal with her at all. ]

Is this really gardening ... [ Of course not. Stupid question. It's probably something on the side that she likes to do, and he really doesn't want to know the details. ]

[ Finally, it does look like things are cooling down. Josuke turns to Haru with a sulky expression on his face. ] Sheesh. Going through all that trouble just to prove your point. [ He's still feeling a bit petulant, but it's nothing to be taken seriously. ] So how do I do this, anyway? Just think about where I wanna go?

[LOOK she never gets to see herself like this, okay? She's not enough of a voyeur to go out of her way to look at herself in these situations, even when she met with classmates at love hotels with mirrors on the wall and ceiling.]

It's sowing seeds. So...kind of, I guess. [She brings her hand down to her chin so Josuke can see just how much she's enjoying his discomfort.

But, things are cooled down, and she knows eventually the memory of Louis is going to walk out the door they're standing near, and that the memory of her is going to dress up and actually get to gardening.]

I actually don't really know how this works. When you opened the door last time I did think really hard about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. [She puts her hand on the door, looking at Josuke expectantly.] So yeah, just think about what you want to show me, and when I open the door it should take us there.

[And, before she does push the door open, she looks at him almost threateningly.]

And don't choose something boring.

[ 'Sowing seeds'. He actually does a double-take when that innuendo sinks in. It's something he might laugh at if he weren't also feeling so petulant that she was able to push his buttons so easily. ]

I won't! I mean, no pressure, right? [ There's a drip of sarcasm in his words. She's totally giving him a bit of pressure to choose something that won't bore her. How would he know what doesn't bore her? Of course, it's easy to assume she just means 'don't pick something safe just because you think I can't handle it'.

He figures he should show her a stand battle then. Maybe that battle he had with Okuyasu? It's got some action and seems appropriate to show someone he's just met. ] Come on then, let's try this.

[ He'll start thinking really hard. ]

[ The scene that does materialise after they walk through the door is that of a suburban neighbourhood. The sky is gloomy, like it's going to rain. ] Wait, why are we outside my house?

[ This definitely isn't the memory he was gunning for. He should be at Okuyasu's house. The scream of a young boy can be heard (00:06), and as that boy's form takes on more colour, it's clear that he's being choked by what looks like a ...floating glove. ]

Ahh, shit. This isn't the one I wanted. [ Though usually genuine and animated, the expression on Josuke's face becomes more difficult to read. ] We can watch on, [ Because he's not ashamed of what he does later on. ] but you're probably gonna think badly of me afterward.

[ The other actors in the scene slowly materialise into view: There's Josuke, a larger man who looks related to him, and a man whose entire body is encased in rock. It's a bizarre thing to see for sure, and he hadn't intended to show her this, but hey? She wanted something that wasn't boring, right? ]

[This! This is...! Well, it's not exactly what she wanted to see because, well, Haru has no idea what a world these humans are from would look like. But at least this isn't anything that's belittling her.

The scream of a young boy does set something inside her off, her usual instincts that have her kicking her legs, wanting to run, but she's so used to these instincts that instead she turns away from Josuke, looking at the direction of the sound, seeing the form of a young version of a human with a floating hand around his neck.

Hand at her mouth, this time in observation, she flicks her ears if only to shake off the rain that's falling.]

You watched me almost get eaten by a friend. You really think I'll think badly of you?

[She's looking at the memory version of Josuke now, then at the rock man, and then back to the memory Josuke.]

For a guy who freaked out over sex, you sure seem cool in this situation right now.

Who's freaking out? [ Actually, true, she did get him there. The scenes she had shown him did put him in fluster, but that's only because he didn't want to be a voyeur to someone else's sex life. That just felt perverted and wrong. He could defend himself, but he's less in the mood to now, so he lets that go with a tired exhale. ]

That bastard in the rock killed my grandfather, along with countless other women and children. He tried to kill my mom.

[ That's why he doesn't look particular apologetic for what happens next. The Josuke being replayed in the moment takes out his comb and starts fixing his hair, the expression on his face unreadable.

'It would appear that ... I didn't have enough rage in my heart for you.

The man in the rock starts hurling threats and insults, and one particular insult - the one directed at Josuke's hair - causes him to completely snap. Then, a large pink ghost phases out of Josuke and pummels the man and the rock encasing him into pieces, with Josuke not even flinching at the agony that he's causing. The pieces fuse back together in the strangest way, the man's human form distorting until he's become one with the stone. ]

He's taken so many lives, so now he's gonna live out his watching everything else go by. [ He pretty much turned a dude into a rock. This definitely wasn't the memory he had wanted to show Haru, but he's also not ashamed of what he's done, so he's fine with her seeing it. ]

You were. [She pokes him in the side, about to make fun of him more for how he reacted to the memories she accidentally and intentionally showed him. But she stops short when he tells her just what's going on, her hand dropping to her side, and she frowns, looking back as the scene continues to unfold.

But she watches unflinchingly, though the large ghost does give her pause, as the rock-man is pulverized to smithereens.

She's not going to tell this guy about how she watched Legosi kill (as far as she still knows...) the Shishigumi boss. How this is in fact less bloody, though still bizarre.

And as the man reforms into a full rock, with only the eyes staring out, Haru moves away from the real Josuke and towards the memory of the formed rock. Hands on her knees, she looks it over.]

Is your mom okay? [From the tone of her voice it's obviously she's not disturbed, nor that her opinion of him has changed. It's a genuine question. She places her hand on the rock, in fact, just under the eye, even as the scene continues if it does.]

[ The mention of his mom snaps him out of the simmering anger he was feeling as he thinks about that man, and like a bubble as popped, he's back to his relaxed and open self. The cold aura that was forming around him seems to have disappeared completely. ]

Her? Oh, she's fine ... We had her stay at a friend's place for all this, so she didn't even know it was happening.

[ Josuke also walks over to the rock, shoving his hands into his pockets and prodding at the base with his foot. The casual way he treats what might still be a living, sentient human trapped in an eternal agony (or at least, the representation of that human in the VR) shows how little remorse he has for his actions. ]

This place is actually a popular meet-up spot now for dates. Something about his ugly face just makes people wanna kiss here, I guess.

[ He doesn't get it himself, but the thought brings him a small kind of sadistic satisfaction -- a rare emotion for someone who normally skews toward the lawful good. It's poetic justice for a monster who raped women and little boys then tortured and killed them. ]

[She is appreciative of being shown this memory, even if it was entirely unintended. He may be a stranger, but he's someone who knows Legosi, and Haru is curious to see the kind of guys Legosi hangs around. Especially in a place like this, where nothing is familiar except for the small handful of people from home.]

I'm glad your mom's okay. I like thinking, if I was a bigger, stronger animal, I'd do the same for the people I care about. [But she's not, and she can only do so much.] And maybe the couples who come here to kiss kind of like having a voyeur.

[Says the girl who wanted to kiss a guy after staring at dead bodies up for sale to be eaten.]

[ There's a cringe at that. The couples who come here probably don't know that that rock used to be a person, but it's got eyes and everything, so they might just enjoy being watched. It's weird to him, but there is a part of him that thinks this kind of mockery is exactly what Angelo deserves. ]

We all kinda do what we can. [ He was just blessed enough to have a stand. Otherwise, the man in the stone would probably have killed them all. ] There isn't much left to see now, but if it's not gonna be too boring ... You wanna hang out in my room a bit?

[ He asks her, but truthfully, it's him that wants to relax in his own house for at least a few minutes. It feels like it's been so long since he's been home. ]

[She doesn't seem to mind the change in subject, nor the idea of the change of setting.]

Well, you did show me something that was dangerous. [Which she admittedly appreciates, though it was on accident. At least she doesn't feel belittled by him, and honestly this display of a particular memory does have her interest piqued in this guy.] I'd be happy to see your room!

Guessing you don't have much to hide there, huh?

Not really. It's just, uh, regular guy stuff. [ He wouldn't say he wanted to hide the memory he had shown her, but it's also not something he'll go announcing to the world about. Josuke moves away from the scene now, walking to the replica of his own front door. ]

Well, I don't know what regular guys have in their rooms in your world. Uhh, carrots ...? [ Way to perpetuate rabbit stereotypes, Josuke. He leads her into his house, opening the door to his room. It's all quite mundane. There are a ton of styling products and a huge mirror that should speak for this boy's vanity. There are also posters of famous singers such as Prince or Freddie Mercury up on his wall. It's really just a regular guy's room. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .011

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it's what he deserves!!!

be nice to his pure boy sensibitilies

it's impossible for her to be pure

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sorry i was doing tags at work this week and can't exactly watch jojo clips on the job!!!

i'm sorry for making u watch jojo clips

i made u watch a clip of furries boning it's only right for you to show me jojo.

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