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

Famous chefs?! Ace, you're one hell of a lucky man. [he gives Ace a beam to match, and listens intently as he explains the Devil Fruit]

Magical fruits that grant special powers. I can't say I've ever heard of anything like that, but it sounds absolutely fascinating. Where I'm from, strength and skill come from months of good, hard, dedicated training. And people certainly can't turn into things like fire or rubber. ... These fruits, do they grow naturally in the wild, or were they specially cultivated?

Yeah! Thatch was the best chef to ever sail, no one could ever touch his cooking. And he was a powerful guy too. And Sanji, he's amazing. He was trained at the Baratie by Zeff himself. That's a big deal. I had such a good life. [Ace is very well aware that despite the pain, he lived a life that was amazing. He met wonderful people, had the best family ever, and was so loved.]

You gotta train with those too! If you don't, you won't have any real skill with 'em. At first I could just turn into flame, and catch stuff on fire. But it took about a year before I really mastered it and became worthy of the name Fire Fist. [Ace shakes his head, and looks a little sheepish then.] I dunno. A lot of people back home still don't believe they're real until they see the results for themselves.

Then it seems that mindfulness and control truly are two of the cornerstones of the universe, regardless of which world one views it from. ... How long have you had this power, then, Ace?

I think you're right. Even wild beasts rein themselves in to keep safe from harm. [Ace tilts his head, thinking again. He can't remember the exact date, unfortunately.] A few years, not too long. Most of my strength I got before then. Living in the mountains means you can't be weak.

It certainly does! I can't say I grew up in the wilderness, but I did train to become an Eagle Scout, which means I spent many, many weekends and evenings in my youth learning how to survive outside of civilization. There's something to be said for living off the land. A sort of clean, uncomplicated dignity. ... Though I will still laud the finer points of a well-made, soft mattress any day of the week.

What's an Eagle Scout? [He's never heard of such a thing, but Dale is obviously the kind of man that has integrity and his own sense of honor. He knows how to work hard, and likes food. So maybe the Eagle Scouts have to do with eating and growing your own meals...

Or they're birds. He never asked. Maybe Dale became an eagle through hard work.

Or something.] I'm still not used to the mattresses here. Out on mount Colubo we slept on the ground, on futons, anywhere we could all fit really. Then on Pops' ships they had bunks and beds, but they were good enough, y'know? Not like the beds here, they're really soft!

[Ace can see the place from here, and starts heading towards the entrance.]

It's the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. They were formed to prepare young people to make good ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes, and to be self-reliant, contributing members of their communities.

[he says it matter-of-factly, yes, but with a smile and a quiet sense of pride. not the sort of pride that comes with ego, the pride that comes of being part of something you believe in.]

You seem to me like you could qualify as an Eagle yourself, Ace. You've certainly got the temperament.

Yeah? But by who's morals? Who's ethics? That's what I'm curious about.

[Dale puts Ace at ease, though, and quickly. He settles into pace again, curious instead of outright defensive against something that sounds like it might be pre-Marines stuff.]

Wait, really? Usually when people throw stuff like this at me, they're sayin' it like I could never make it.

Well, the American people, I suppose. Things like looking out for your neighbors, being kind, and helpful, and supportive. All of which you're already demonstrating by showing me, a complete stranger, the way to our lunch.

[he gives Ace a brief, friendly pat on the shoulder at that]

And I am of the distinct impression that anyone who tells someone they cannot before knowing the full measure of their capabilities is doing both that person and themselves a terrible disservice. I'm sorry to hear that, Ace.

Is America the place you came from? I don't know much about it. [If anything.] The Americans sound like good people. That's what everyone should do. You never know who's hurting, or when you're gonna get attacked. So you might as well make friends when you can, right?

[For a moment, when Ace's shoulder is touched, he looks soft and young. He's still in the end a young man damned from before he was born, hated throughout his life for actions he didn't do, and who died violently before reaching twenty-one. He still feels dirty, like he's unworthy of praise. So when he gets it, and thinks it's sincere, it really does affect him.

Then the moment fades, and he nods in acknowledgement of what Dale says as he gets back to the conversation.] Well, I'm not exactly a good person. So I get where they're coming from. People hear about what I did for a living, and they think the worst about me. But back home, there weren't a lot of options for people like me.

It is, yes. Land of the free and the home of the brave.

[someone as good at reading people as Cooper has no difficulty catching that moment of youth, and feels for him. poor young man. in that moment, he decides he'll give Ace just as much positive reinforcement as he can. it's only right.]

Most of them are good, I think, at heart, even if circumstances beyond their control can make some of them behave otherwise. So ... I know what you're saying about options. Not everyone has the opportunities they deserve. You sound like you tried to make the best of it, though, wherever you wound up. And you still have a good heart. That's commendable. Not a lot of people come from a background with few options and keep themselves in spirits like yours.

Of the free? Really? They're just like we were back home! I dunno if I'm ever gonna leave, but if I do I want to see America. It sounds like it's full of my kinda people.

[Ace is thrilled at learning about these Americans. They sound just like what he wanted when he was younger. Full of good hearts and a lust for freedom, brave and true.

What could anyone want but to be good, brave, and free?]

That's how it was back home. I did the best I could, but piracy was pretty much my only chance at freedom. My gramps wanted me to join the Marines, but that's kinda complicated. [They're here! Ace opens the door for Dale, and follows him in.] Here we are! Time for sandwiches and coffee.

[it's the ideal, if not the reality. Dale can appreciate his enthusiasm for that]

Sounds to me like your Marines are a good deal different from what we call Marines in America.

[he takes a moment to look around the little cafe, grinning]

Thank you, Ace, this looks cozy. Do you have a favorite table, or shall we just sit wherever the mood strikes us?

[Ace is a little taken back anyway.]

So your Marines are the good guy ones? Do they still serve the world government?

[The cafe really is a soothing spot, and Ace points out a little table in the corner. It's isolated looking, but when they're seated they have a view of the whole place easily.] It's my favorite spot here! I like watching everyone go in and out. There's a lady who orders almost as much as I eat when Cordis is in effect. And there's a couple of prismal kids who like getting the pink smoothies.

So Cordis comes with a bigger appetite. I'll have to remember that, myself.

[he settles into the table with a smile]

You know, Ace, this is the perfect strategic seating location. You really would make a good scout. Maybe even a good FBI agent if you've got a keen eye.

[Dale claps him gently on the shoulder twice, the quiet Man Thump Of Friendship]

As for the Marines, they don't serve the entire world, just the country of America. So they operate under the same ideals and set of values. I haven't met a Marine who wasn't proud of their work and concerned for the welfare of their fellow man - or woman.

[pleased, he picks up a menu to peruse]

Tell me about these pink smoothies...

How big kinda depends on the person. It's probably best to read up on all of the weird stuff that comes with being a Moonblessed.

[It's so comfortable here. Ace really is having a good time.]

Well, I used to do some of that for Pops. And in my own crew too. If you don't look ahead and know what's around you, you could get caught.

[Oh god, the the quiet Man Thump Of Friendship. Ace grins widely, he knows when he's getting a moment of with a friend! And he sure as hell knows what approval feels like.]

Back home, the Marines had some good people. They wanted to change and fix things. But see, we have a ruling class that has the Marines catch runaway slaves for them and transport 'em, that makes them kill people who are in the way, who do whatever they can for themselves and to control whoever they decide is a criminal. Some areas don't see it, 'cause they pay the World Government. But the poor have to fend for themselves. Unless someone like my father claims their home as territory and supports 'em. [Ace picks up his own menu, even if he's pretty sure that his world revolves around fish sandwiches right now.] And that's just the tip of it. Here, I dunno how corrupt the government is. If at all. Things are iffy when it's this convenient and they have a chunk of their history missing. It's that way back home for us too, some of our past was hidden. [Oh yeah, fish sandwiches are on the menu.]

Oh, the pink smoothies? Okay, so they're on the menu, and it's ice and juice and stuff crushed up and it's bright pink. Then they put whipped cream and sprinkles on it, the kids go nuts for those. [Give Ace the chocolate ones any day though. Or hot chocolate itself.]

Understood. Where would you recommend I start? Is there a library?

[some of these things on the menu are completely new to him, words and food concepts he's never heard of before. he decides that for today, he'll stick to the familiar, but resolves to come back and try something new next time.]

Now, see that? [he beams as widely as Ace at his admission of being a scout. right on the money once again, that Dale Cooper.] That's exactly the sort of thing the Scouts rely on. "Be Prepared", that was the motto.

[when Ace starts to talk about home, he lowers his menu to give his full attention, and scowls deeply at the mention of the ruling class]

Ace, I'm not going to hold back on you: that sounds downright terrible and it's a damn shame. No one should have to live in service of another person against their will. In America, I'm sorry to admit, we did have a dark period in our history when slavery was encouraged by wealthy landowners, but one of our government's leaders, President Abraham Lincoln, was enlightened enough to realize how inhumane it was, and abolished it so that all men could be free and have the right to live as they wished regardless of race, color or creed.

[the waitstaff arrives and he tips them a friendly smile] I'll have a cup of coffee - black as you can make it - and the fish sandwich.

Never been to a library, but I figure that there's gotta be one here. Maybe a couple. You can search back on the network too, that can't hurt. And a lot of people are willing to answer questions. So making a post could answer more questions for you.

[Ace is beyond pleased with his interactions with Dale so far. It's nice getting that sort of praise, Ace has gotten a lot of positive feedback through moonlacing, but it's not emotionally the same as platonic praise and compliments. And Ace is thriving on this budding friendship.

But when Dale speaks on America's history, Ace listens. Brows furrowed, frowning. Corruption doesn't escape anywhere, it seems. But if American improved itself, through a great leader...

Maybe their world can find that peace too. Especially with Luffy as the pirate king, and Sabo helping lead the Revolutionaries. Leaders like Lincoln, even if not in the government.

Luffy can bring this dark period to an end, Ace is sure of it. He's absolutely sure of it. He has faith in his brothers, and their ability to change their home world for the better.

It just hurts a little that he won't be there to see it.] Our world's gonna get past that too. I believe it. There are people back home that can fight, and they'll do whatever it takes.

[It's easier to focus on the waitstaff than serious talk though.] I want a frozen mocha, and five of the fish sandwiches please!

Edited 2020-02-25 07:11 (UTC)

Here you go!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .011

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Mentions of death

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want me to make an overflow for this?

That might be a good idea!

Done Deal.