prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .011

Entry tags:

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

A more rational Hanzo might realize that it was no fault of Dorian's that he'd been taken away from the place. It happened often enough now that people have even grown used to it on the network (the few times he checks that thing). So while he has missed the mage terribly, he doesn't think he was left out of spite, at least when he hasn't been drinking. In his current state, Dorian may as well have walked out on him and taken up his best friend as a lover the night before his wedding with the amount of disdain in his stare.

"I missed you, you fool!"

Something about being met with charm and flirtatiousness while Hanzo was very much upset seemed to amplify his rage on his approach. Unfortunately, Hanzo is completely disarmed when his hand is grabbed and he is pulled in. All of his usual balance while sober is nowhere to be found so he falls into Dorian easily despite the frown on his lips and the crease between his brows as he glares at the man. He doesn't remember it being this hard to resist his charms before, and if Dorian moves in for a kiss, Hanzo wouldn't fight him. At least not right away.

But then. "Is that all you have to say to me? After all this time!?" He puts his hands on Dorian's chest in case he decides to push him away--or pull him closer. He's still very much undecided about that at the moment.

Dorian's mental state wasn't much better, honestly and he was just barely keeping his own graces about him, but in spite of his levity, he could see that Hanzo was genuinely upset about this. Like the Archer, however, he was in a similar state where he could hardly account for leaving even though it was out of his control. While he did enjoy teasing Hanzo, he was truly happy to see the man was whole and okay and as beautiful as ever. Well, okay n the sense that he wasn't bleeding out on his floor. Of course, he wasn't thinking about that awful memory at the moment, he had his mind preoccupied with something else...well, for what it was worth.

"It...must have been very difficult for you, being deprived of me for so long...it's been years...I can understand how difficult it is being deprived of me for so long."

But by the way he'd taken to stroking Hanzo's face and the line of his Jaw, the one who was truly deprived was Dorian who, even though he was teasing was still patiently taking Hanzo's drunken upset. Being in his own drunken state as well, it's more difficult for him to differentiate whether he was truly right or wrong, it was just good to have this bundle of saucy indignity giving him the finger wag for whatever the reason. It was good to be missed even though he knew it must have been a rather lonely experience. His brain was not fully processing that at the moment, but he's very aware of the fact that his presence or lack thereof hadn't gone unnoticed.

"I have an apology ready, amatus," amatus and amicus were easily confused, Dorian rarely came out and called anyone amatus, but he didn't seem aware that he'd made such an intimate error in his niceties. The mage did, however, tip the archer's chip up so that he could dip down and meet him in a kiss that he seemed to be promising Hanzo. It was very clear that he hadn't forgotten some things, and puzzling his mouth against the other's own so that they fit together naturally was a memory he clearly clung to. Of course, he wasn't entirely certain if Hanzo would push him away or not, but that did not factor into the kiss.

Sober Hanzo would have been able to more effectively communicate his thoughts on seeing his former lover after what had been a rough couple of months without him. Drunk Hanzo wants to give him a piece of his mind.

“It has been only months here, but I...years?” His anger seems to dissipate momentarily when he thinks about the mage having spent that much time away from him. Maybe he wasn’t the one who had been deprived, and the thought was sobering.

Hanzo doesn’t know the difference between the two terms, they seem so similar. He assumes Dorian is just trying to lay it on thick to make him feel better. It doesn’t work nearly as well as the familiar way that their lips come together. The hands that had been ready to push the mage away were now grabbing at whatever fabric he could grip to pull him in closer. Without drawing away from the kiss, he speaks against Dorian’s mouth.

“This does not mean I am not upset,” he mumbles quickly so he can deepen the kiss, not a care in the world about their PDA for a change.

And honestly, drunk Dorian is enjoying how ruffled Hanzo is, in his mind this is adorable, this is sweet, and being missed by someone was refreshing in a lot of ways. It wasn't often someone missed him to the point that they looked like they wanted to throttle him.

"Mmm...years...I've gotten a little older, hope you won't hold it against me," only a few years, and not much has changed about him in terms of his appearance. Certain life events have happened, but they weren't important enough to talk about at the moment. And he'd returned this time as a fellow Sanguis, that hadn't entered into his thoughts either, though that would make interactions interesting.

Conversation for another time, right now he was engrossed in kissing Hanzo, slowly and wetly working lips apart allowing his tongue to gently glide over lips and into the archer's mouth. Always intoxicating, though at the moment this was true in a literal sense as well. He only withdraws a bit to allow for a few words to pass between them, a drunk grin arranging itself onto his lips, before he dips Hanzo's head back so that he could drag some more of his drunk, sloppy kisses along the line of his throat.

"Please continue...a thorough punishment for causing you an upset is fitting for such a crime..." he made his way back up to the archer's mouth again, completely unaware and not at all concerned with their public displays, happy to deepen the kiss, the soft bites and enthusiastic licks, the damp breaths passing between them for the moment.

Years? How could that be? Even in his drunk state he seems to understand the significance of it. Enough that he briefly pulls away from their kiss to study Dorian's face.

He looked about the same as he remembered, the few years of extra age treating him more kindly than Hanzo would like for leaving without warning. An irrational thought since moonblessed were often sent back without warning or reason. The archer takes Dorian's face by the jaw to turn it this way and that. That serious expression on his face melts away when he realizes just how much he'd missed the mage's mustached face.

His face is tilted back as lips move down his throat, and he releases Dorian's face to give him the freedom to kiss where and how he pleases. Hanzo is inwardly pleased that his mouth finds its way back to his own without making him fight for it.

"You smell different," is what comes out of his mouth the next time he's able to speak. In his drunken state it's the best he can do to express that Dorian no longer smells like his previous moonblessing. In the end it's not important enough for him to harp on because he doesn't care how he looks once or twice a month, just that he's back. "I like it."

Two years in Dorian's time had not aged Dorian in any noticeable way, though events have transpired between his leaving and returning. If they got around to speaking of the matters then he would indulge Hanzo, right now his lips were preoccupied with the archer's own, delicious, the hints of champagne and ever-present sake lingering on his own tongue. There was always the taste of masculinity about him as well heated, savory, combative. His mind conjured wicked thoughts of pinning Hanzo to the closest wall and grinding him through his clothes until he was twisted up with need.

He managed a modicum of self-control. Instead, he allowed Hanzo to look at him, to turn his face this and that way as though searching for something and finding only a soft grin, pleased that the other man's irritations were waning. He wanted nothing more than his breathless kisses and to feel his compact, well trained body and memories of what that body felt like slowly eased into his mind.

His passions cooled a little, but only just when Hanzo withdrew to comment on how his scent was different, for a moment he thought about his grooming routine. It hadn't changed. Though it wasn't long until his brain quickly caught up to what was different, last time he was here he was a Cordis and they naturally had an intoxicating scent, he waspleasantly surprised that change to Sanguis didn't repulse Hanzo...but perhapsattraction to the headier Moonblessing wasn't uncommon. He dipped down to nip at the archer's lips, "Sanguis..."

There was something about Dorian that Hanzo constantly found himself quickly swept up in. Without much effort the mage was able to disarm him, and push just the right buttons to get him derailed from whatever train of thought he might have been going down. The temptation to ask about what the other man had been through in that two years is there, but he doesn't want to do anything to keep those lips from his own.

Unfortunately that one word is enough to sober him in an instant. Hanzo draws away, finally pushing at Dorian's chest to put a bit of distance between them. His interactions with other Sanguis have been unpredictable at best. The majority of them ended violently, and the worst had been the one where Dorian had to clean up his mess. It makes him stupid, aggressive, and unable to think things through completely.

"No... Are you sure?"

In Dorian's case, he was quite glad of his ability to derail Hanzo with whatever charm entranced the pretty archer, if he could catch him off guard or make him smile, or get him to feel a little taken aback at inappropriate moments...it was always a good thing. Tempting Hanzo in places he should not be tempted as well, quite possibly the mage's favorite pastime and when he left the last time he was fairly certain Hanzo was easing into letting go of his proprieties a bit.

When Hanzo pulled away from him, however, Dorian immediately thought that it was because of this proprieties sneaking up on them and their public make-out session was a bit too public. He blinked owlishly at him and attempted to decipher what was going on wondering if he'd actually done something, but apparently the Sanguis thing was the issue. Should it be? Not that Dorian had so quickly forgotten Hanzo's issues with Sanguis.

"Quite certain."

It isn't overtly bad news, but it also is very easily not good news either. Hanzo would much rather be too drunk to consider the ways that might have been difficult, but with the vivid memory of Dorian coming to his rescue after foolish decisions made during sanguis, the archer is not thrilled at all.

He sighs as he steps closer again to draw Dorian nearer, dropping his head onto the mage's shoulder for a moment. "Please do not do anything stupid. I would rather you not end up similarly to the time you helped me." Although that hadn't been the only time the mage had come to his rescue, though it was the one he associated with his worst traits during the Sanguis moon cycle.

"I have only just gotten you back, and having to avoid you several days per month is going to be an annoyance."

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

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

Hanzo can't imagine ever wanting to cause physical harm to Dorian--well, outside of things that happen as a result of their usual--interactions. That was the pleasant sort of pain. The thought of interacting with the mage he did with other Sanguis during that time makes him frown. Hopefully it would never come to anything as violent as a fight.

Best case scenario (or worst, depending on whose judging) is that he'd be extremely territorial in regard to Dorian, and he's not sure he wants to let the man know how irrationally possessive he can be. Even if it is in part to blame on their shared moonblessing. "I am afraid I might hurt you. Or worse, hurt others because of you."

The later only being worse because it's a failed attempt at a bit of humor as he leans into Dorian's hold easily. "What sort of arrangement do you think would be appropriate?"

Dorian felt the same way, naturally, he had no desire to harm Hanzo and though he didn't think he was capable of such a thing this would be his first time experiencing a Sanguis cycle. He wasn't entirely certain what he would do under the situation, but wanton violence was not in him, especially against someone he was rather fond of in many ways. He'd have a hard time forgiving himself if he inadvertently hurt Hanzo never mind intentionally under a Sanguis frenzy...the only frenzy he was remotely interested in was something primal in nature.

"I'll be certain to have plenty of potions on hand...monthly for our personal use if that suits you," In addition, Dorian would certainly recommend the removal of weapons, though their bodies were one thing they couldn't really control, it would help not to have any sharp objects about. Or those arrows of his, Dorian really didn't want two in his eye.

When asked about what Dorian thought might be an appropriate arrangement the mage grinned in response coasting his hands down each of Hanso's arms until both hands wrapped around each wrist in turn, "thoughts of keeping you in a Sanguis-proofed room all to my self...a little tied...up or vice versa if you'd rather...sweating out all of those Sanguis urges..."

"I would appreciate that."

Weapons and arrows could be avoided easily, but claws were a more difficult thing to be mindful of when they couldn't just be removed entirely. Though that would be a concern for another time because the appearance of them was just as random as the other changes that found him each month.

As he listens to Dorian's proposition, his head lowers to watch where those hands are going before they catch his wrists. If it were anyone else he would have been hit with the urge to pull away or resist. Being tied up, or more vaguely, being outside of his usual amount of control, doesn't interest him at all unless there's enough trust--and Hanzo trusts Dorian more than he trusts himself most days. Which is quite the feat considering the sort of aptitude the mage might have for manipulation if he played his cards right.

"You make it sound so easy. What happens when you're blinded by the urge to claim me as your own and I am too tied up to defend myself?" Hanzo lets himself laugh at the thought, because even then he's not sure he'd protest so much. The reverse is what's more worrying. "Or what if I become aggressively possessive of you? Would you let me take out on you for a few days?" He's dealt with Sanguis changes long enough to know that he would want to mark Dorian with his scent both inside and out to make it clear to anyone else who he belongs to. Rational Hanzo thinks like the mage should have a choice, but rationality isn't something that can be counted on.

Dorian would make potions a priority as soon as he was in the right mind and instead of glass vials he would use soft leather pouches. Anything to reduce the risk of them hurting one another, while transformation dangerous were more difficult to deal with like fangs and claws, he figured they'd do less damage than having glass or weapons about. He can't be certain what he would do, but he 's well aware that his heart wouldn't change so much that he'd want to hurt Hanzo out of any sort of malice, but what he did in a state of passion...well he couldn't predict that.

Sliding his hands from Hanzo's wrists to twist around his fingers he raised both of the archer's arms so he could kiss the lower part of each thumb near the heel in turn. Trust was never something Dorian would abuse, especially given that it was trust in the mage and he wasn't used to people trusting him or valuing him in such a way.

"I would endeavor to make it up to you," Dorian chuckled softly, hoping they would both be in quite a frenzy at that point, but anything he did during that time he would make it up to Hanzo. He would not cross lines, he was certain, no matter what this change did to him he wouldn't allow it to take him over to that extent. "Aggressively possessive of me? Lord Hanzo...what an honor, I give you my full consent!" It was levity, certainly, but he was giving permission in advance, but to assure the archer that he was serious and not just joking, he pressed their foreheads together, his eyes penetrating Hanzo's, "if it's you, then yes...I can take it. Something as silly as a Moonblessing shouldn't deprive you of my company, you've been deprived long enough. As have I."

Hanzo wants to believe he would never do anything to hurt Dorian even in that state. It'd be more likely he hurt someone else, but if the two of them were together with no one else to bring out that side of him, it was very possible it would be fine. However, the moment he has the thought he remembers flashes of some of the things he's done. He's well-trained and very capable of hurting people, even those he cares about, so trust in himself is what's lacking. Perhaps if it goes well the first time he may be less defensive about it every following month.

The archer is easily distracted from his thoughts when Dorian brings fingers to his lips. His heartbeat quickens, but he tries not to give anything away outside of a slight smile.

"You will absolutely make it up to me. I would do the same, of course." The way in which Dorian enthusiastically declares his consent up front and well in advance puts him more at ease than anything else. He feels like they could figure it out together and everything just might be fine. "Good. Staying away from you after that would not be far off from torture. Though I have some suspicion that you have a taste for torturing the men who admire you."

Hanzo rests his head against Dorian's, brown eyes meeting gray with less than subtle intensity. "Lucky for you I am sturdy enough to manage a little torture."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .011

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject