prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .012

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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.

▶ I am the Terror That Flaps in the Night
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 Your new flat is covered in a sprinkling of feathers here, there, and everywhere! They appear to be coming through the air vents. This seems to be a city-wide problem in all buildings, as many news outlets are informing people to stay alert. They believe the feathers are from the masked seraphim, King Majestas, who attacked the Elaran Amphitheater a few weeks back.

You are advised to destroy the feathers on sight. Prolonged contact with these feathers cause hallucinations and paranoia. You will feel as if winged creatures are always after you, be it one-winged angels or dark-winged ducks. Other side effects include hearing the chanting of voices in an indecipherable language out of this galaxy. These hallucinations may cause headaches, dizziness, or nausea. Thankfully, a bit of moonlacing will heal these symptoms away.

▶ Got Milk?
Level 2, Crystal Beach | top

With the Coiled Hearts Festival fast approaching, local fishermen have already begun procuring food across Crystal Beach’s clear waters to meet next month’s demands. Around this time of year, the popularity of octopus dishes dramatically rises. The Lunatians have an annual tradition to prepare flavorful octopus dishes for the romantic season, such as the much-lauded dark chocolate-coated octopus or the mouth-watering octopus braised with red wine.

Everyone is welcome to join this heart-throbbing affair. During the Second and Third months, everyone is encouraged to give your loved ones something special for a long, successful relationship. Friends, family, and new acquaintances are traditionally given a small amount of Demichroma in tiny cute cases, while lovers are given something that reminds the gifter of their homeland.

A Interested in catching your own octopus? Horned taurus octopi very frequently migrate to the shorelines to perform their elaborate mating rituals. It’s easy to find clumps of taurus octopi participating in a vigorous dance, filled with undulations and strange moaning noises that octopi should not be making. You can lure the octopi by either using a special flute which mimics their moans to gather them in heavy droves. It’s ideal to have a partner with you to scoop the octopi quickly into water containers once they’ve become entranced enough.

Play the flute carefully! If the taurus octopi grow too excited by your music, they will squirt white ink. If you are spritzed with the thick substance, you will start either randomly puking or uncontrollably secreting a milky sweet substance from any body part that secretes liquids. Luckily, the high-end boutique Prissy Polyp is nearby in case you need a change of clothes due to any sizable stains. Effects will naturally wear off after an hour.

B Come with a friend and enjoy learning some octopus recipes together. The Crystal Beach Resort has opened a seminar where several professional chefs will be demonstrating and teaching how to cook various dishes of different flavors and ingredients guaranteed to impress your date, and taste-testing is free!

One dish makes use of horned taurus octopi skin as the star ingredient, renowned for its irresistibly delectable scent. The chefs explain the palatable skin is a potent ingredient in various love potions and aphrodisiacs, so add or mix them to your dishes in moderation! The effects have a significant delay, so you may feel fine for a while, but when it hits, it hits hard. You will become enamored with every little thing — hey, you just met them and this is crazy — but that person’s smile, the sound of their voice, or the way they say your name will make you unable to resist the urge to shower them with your affection.

▶ Going Viral
Level 2, Moonlight Medical Center | top

“Help Wanted” posters can be found on virtual forums and announcement boards across Level 1 to 3. The Moonlight Medical Center has put out a call for volunteers due to a recent shortage of medical staff. The work involves filling in for overworked nurses, performing tasks such as feeding patients their meals, wiping away their sweat, changing their clothes, encouraging their spirits, and so on. Any volunteers may directly walk-in at the hospital. You will be provided a nurse uniform and any necessary equipment while on the job.

The shortage has resulted from the hospital recently taking in a severe number of patients from a nearby small village to the west of Lunatia, Port Sylvel, a known shipping and freight destination. The number of patients worryingly keeps on rising by the day and will soon fill all available rooms.

A Some of the patients are experiencing varying degrees of paralysis. The worst cases have crystallizing parts of their body. The hospital staff will stress that you should be careful around patients with crystallized limbs. Patients like these have a history of aggressively biting anyone who comes close hard enough to draw blood. Those bitten will exhibit similar symptoms as the victims, including crystallization on their bodies, and experience a steady drop in Chroma. An uncomfortable heaviness will cause you unable to move without the aid of others as well as an uncontrollable urge to aggressively bite someone.

While affected Moonblessed can cure it by moonlacing, the Prismals can only be cured by a gluteal inoculation the Lunar Scientia has recently managed to develop. The sick and beleaguered will probably hate you less if you aren’t the one trying to stabbing them with injections in the hindquarters.

B Aside from nursing duties, other available tasks to be completed include making coffee for fellow nurses and doctors, delivering flowers to patients, and general housekeeping. Specifically, disinfecting medical equipment, tidying up rooms, and cleaning the spaces around the hospital. As a result of the current situation, many crystal shards can be found decorating multiple surfaces, such as floors, walls, toilet seats, and so on. These will have to be swept away!

However, as your work day progresses, some of the shards can be seen suddenly moving on their own. These crawling shards will start clustering together to turn into elaborate, floating monolithic formations that will then begin attacking anyone nearby. Their main ability includes shooting diamond spears to impale any unfortunate victims in their line of sight. In the midst of the chaos, nurses and doctors will beg the Moonblessed to please protect the sick and wounded. The crystal formations can be destroyed by any method, though because of their incredibly sturdy composition, they require multiple hits before they shatter into dust.

▶ Questions
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▶ 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

Xiao Xingchen is not going to let Wei Wuxian go off with stained robes, but hey maybe the cooking thing will work out.

"I see." He waits patiently until Wei Wuxian returns with the spices and gives him ample room to work while he keeps stirring the mix. "Oh, so there is a specific order to this? Maybe that is where I went wrong last time."

He had dumped everything together in the pan without heating it and the oil first.

"Tell me how I may help. I am almost finished stirring this, and ah -" He nods towards another, smaller bowl with vegetables. They haven't been cut yet. "- the vegetables are there, I washed them already.

Should we cut them in thin slices or does it not matter? The chefs didn't say anything about it. Though I saw one make his slices into heart shapes."

Heart shapes? It sounded too difficult and too tedious.

"Just chop them small enough to fit in your mouth," the oil was a bit too hot and was starting to smoke, but he swished it around in the pan to cover all the sides. The way he was working made it seem like he knew what he was doing, and to a point he did, just the results were no good for anyone else.
"Ah! Here here, put the octopus in, quick!" he was already throwing chilies in, both fresh and dried!

Way too difficult.

"Oh, alright." He does as instructed, easily filling up the bowl with the neatly cut vegetables to go into the pan. It is clear that Xiao Xingchen has full confidence in Wei Wuxian's cooking here, to him, his nephew looks like he knows exactly what to do. So, he's going with this.

Everything is going to be fine. (spoilers: it's not.)

Granted, the smell that begins to emit from the pan is rather good, spicy and hot and fishy now that the octopus bits have also made their way into the mix. The vegetables are just about ready to go in a few moments.

A chef that is supervising walks past and gives them both a thumbs up, clearly pleased that this has gone better than Xiao Xingchen's previous attempt. Plus, the spicy smell is delicious.

Wei Wuxian is also pleased at the validation, his cooking isn't so bad!

He tosses the stuff around for a moment mixing it all in, and then adds chili paste, and another chili sauce he had found, slowly what was a decent dish with many different colours turns red.

"Now vegetables," the chili smell was becoming over whelming and some of the others trying to make their dishes start to cough and their eyes water.

And things had been going so well - right?

Xiao Xingchen tosses the vegetables in, and there is a loud hissing sound and a few drops of oil fly in all directions, staining the pink apron. Well, oil and chili sauce are going to be far too difficult to remove without a few washes but ...

"I - it smells good." Or it had smelled good, now the spice was becoming rather overwhelming and even Xiao Xingchen has to take a step back away from their...cooking.

"It looks like it tastes about just right as well," which meant no one else would be able to eat it without gagging. Or at least have an incredibly high will to force it down through sheer stubborn determination.

Wei Wuxian gives it a few once overs in the pan, flipping it a little and then turns off the heat. "I think this is ready now. Let's try it, where are some chopsticks. Let's have a bite."

Way too spicy, the octopus skin and the vegetables are taking on a reddish tint from the spicy peppers that were thrown in. It does not smell bad or burnt, but the overpowering scent of the chili is making Xiao Xingchen's eyes water uncomfortably.

"Here." He passes a set to Wei Wuxian first, polite and waiting his turn to try the dish. Even if his common sense is already telling him to not. do. it.

The pan has not melted from the chili yet but — well, the people across from them have begun giving them looks and coughing.

"Thank you!" He he searches around for various pieces and tries them out. He has no issues with them and finds the dish excellent. "Perfect!"

He quickly starts dishing out some onto a small plate to offer Xiao Xingchen to try it as well.

Xiao Xingchen waits until Wei Wuxian has finished serving him. His eyes are watering. This is probably a bad idea, but since when has that stopped him doing anything? The answer is: never.

Good luck.

He takes a bit and the initial flavour is not bad, a little pungent and strong but then — the spiciness kicks in. He is too dignified to gag but his eyes are wet and his mouth is on fire.

This is how he dies, by spicy octopus dish.

"Maybe a bit on the spicy side?" he's looking around for something to properly dish it out into, ready to split it into two so they can each take half. "Sometimes I might add a bit too much, but it's still good."

"This is suppose to go to your loved ones, right?"

He will not make any comments as to the quality of the cooking, besides the spicy it is not bad at all. Of course, the spice might yet kill him before he even makes it home and he - he cannot see Zichen, A-Qing or Xue Yang enjoying this at all. Well, perhaps Xue Yang had the palate for this, assuming he handled spices as well as sweets.

"That -" He coughs, "That's quite alright, you should take it."

"Are you sure? We did this together so we must share," he couldn't be selfish after all, he had been trying to help.

"Oh no, it is quite alright. I do not believe Zichen has much of a taste for spices." He smiles and moves slightly back so that he can offer a formal bow.

"Then it's a pity. I hate to take it all myself.... It's almost as if I gave you no help at all," he can't help but feel a little bad about that.

"On the contrary, I think it was your help that made this attempt actually edible." Even if the spice was over the top. But hey, those things happen.

"Was it so bad before?" He was almost glad he hadn't seen it. "Still, if you leave empty handed, did you not accomplish anything"

Xiao Xingchen grimaces, looking embarrassed as he nods his head once in confirmation. "It really was that bad."

But — Xiao Xingchen smiles, wide and bright as the light of the moon. "I did accomplish something, Young Master Wei, I got to meet you again. Is that not something?"

He was almost curious what it could have possibly been like, but maybe he was lucky not to have seen it.

"Well, I don't disagree since I am quite happy to have met you as well, though I can't help but feel a little lacking. But perhaps next time we can do something more productive," he would definitely take him somewhere or give him something next time he saw him, it was just the right thing to do.

Wei Wuxian you are absolutely lucky you did not see that horrific burnt mess. Do you know how weird burnt octopus skin smells? Do you? Well. Xiao Xingchen does and he is not willing to repeat the experience.

He bows, "I would be more than happy to spend time in your company. I do not live very far, on the residential level. Do you know how to find your way around here?"

"I'll figure it out. It's always good to wander around a place a bit first, then you'll learn it like the back of your hand," he already had a good idea of where things were and how to get there. The mental map was slowly getting filled in.

"Please be careful, this world is sometimes dangerous in ways we do not expect." He straightens from his bow, and folds one hand neatly behind his back, "There are many people from home here too, so that they may help guide you if you need but."

He taps the communicator, "These are the best way to get in touch with someone if required."

He wondered how many would even bother acknowledging his existence. But whatever.

"I'm curious how this place is dangerous in a unique way," and he really did need to study the communicator. He loved tools, and even as he thought about it he started messing with his own. He could probably work it out without too much effort.

"I do not believe there is a pattern to it. A few months ago there was an individual who... turned several of the inhabitants into puppets of sorts." That had been when Xiao Xingchen arrived, how he had scooped tiny, puppet Song Lan in his arms and carried him off. "A lot of people here are kind, but this place - it has it's own... uniqueness."

He flushes, not sure how to explain moonlacing and everything else without sounding crude.

"So like any other, unique eccentricities to be learned, and phenomenon to be understood," it sounded like life would never be boring, and as long as he didnt have to deal with war and bloodshed he was alright with that.

"New experiences are fun! Wouldn'tit be boring otherwise?"

No war, no bloodshed. Well, some bloodshed — it was complicated, this world and it's eccentricities. But Xiao Xingchen is glad that he sees Wei Wuxian, this Wei Wuxian will have no trouble adjusting.

Or very little.

"I cannot argue with you there, young master Wei." Xiao Xingchen smiles, "And I assure you that this place provides them aplenty. Call me if you require anything and I will do my best to help."

▶ TDM .012

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oh my gawd

Of course he's immune to his own poison.

RIP

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