prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .013

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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.

▶ Welcome to the Jungle
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.

▶ Let’s Do the Time Warp Now
Lunatia | top

Time is relative, but the days do seem shorter — or longer — than usual. A minute passes like an hour. An hour passes like a minute. Everything appears to be moving along as normal, but the numbers and hands on clocks flicker and spin with an unusual and worrying slowness or quickness. Eventually you notice that the darkness of the night barely lasts long enough for you to fall asleep while the sun seems to glare down upon you for an eternity. The temporal shifts disorient your body, which now grows lethargic from being overworked and underslept. Soon, the temporal abnormalities reach a critical point…

B Due to the temporal distortions, Prismals and Moonblessed new and old feel their bodies sporadically transform in the strangest of ways. Your joints ache like they’ve carried a lifetime’s weight of misfortune and regret. Your voice turns high-pitched like a certain pair has yet to drop. You turn into a confused infant in one moment and the seasoned fighter you always wanted to be in the next. Your memories also shuffle around along with your apparent age, leaving you confused and unsettled. The transformations can occur and last for as long as the 11th, when everything turns back to normal without incident. That time your baby self peed in your pants? Never happened. Until then, moonlacing seems to stabilize the weird abnormalities.

▶ Starlight, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight
Lunatia | top

The city’s landscape is not spared by the erratic flow of time. Buildings and streets continuously flicker between the beautiful and vibrant paradise it has become to the ruins of glory days long past. Your eyes may struggle to adjust as you try and convince yourself of what is real and what is not. High rise towers one moment will become wreckage the next, filled with technological debris and the echoing cries of the terrified, and the mighty wingspan of an unknown creature continues to hovers in the distance. The illusion will only last but a minute before you’re back in the present, going about your daily business. However, your trip from the future and back is far from over.

Soon, breaking news reports will inform the city about the sudden vanishing of certain celestial bodies in the sky. Though the moons remain where they should, the nights grow longer and darker as the stars in the sky start disappearing one by one until only the sun remains, eclipsed by some mysterious force. Lunar Scientia has already sent capable teams to investigate the abnormalities, so they ask the public to be patient as they wait for the reports. Until then, they have issued safety guidelines and measures to effectively light the city. The Caelus Tower appears to burn brighter than ever.

C For these dark hours, Lunar Scientia releases their latest Chroma-powered technology for Moonblessed use: star lanterns. When a star lantern is held by two Moonblessed, it absorbs newly generated Chroma from them, enabling it to light up the missing stars in the sky as you travel from place to place. The light’s color and intensity will depend on you and your partner’s bond, the spectrum ranging from a violet of hatred to a red full of love. Indifference, however, will not light the lantern at all. It also comes with a float function so that it can be released into the atmosphere without needing to carry it everywhere. Since the technology is limited in stock, Moonblessed may only have one star lantern in their possession.

One of the issued guidelines is to never walk through dark alleys alone even with the lanterns, as the crime rate has increased lately due to those taking advantage of the chaos. This is especially rampant in Level 3, at the mouth of the Lightless.

▶ Oh, They Just Can’t Wait to be King
Outside Lunatia, Port Sylvel | top

On the ides of the third month, an emergency broadcast appears from Captain Natela:

Captain Natela

Greetings, Prismals and Moonblessed.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Port Sylvel has been completely crystallized. The Moon Knights are currently recruiting willing explorers and scientists to investigate the cause. Investigations are still pending, but the outlook is grim. The only survivors were among the few we carried out of the city last month. The rest perished from the crystallization.

Our heart goes out to those affected by this plight. There is no cause for panic. There is no sign that the crystallization is spreading beyond Port Sylvel. We Moon Knights stand with the people of Prismatica, as we have done for centuries. We are not mere defenders of a city but protectors of a planet. We endeavor to find the cause of this tragedy and bring peace and justice to the lives it claimed. Until then, we ask for your cooperation. Stay calm and press onward.

Those who volunteer to participate in the expedition will be rewarded for their efforts. They will be assisted by experts from the Lunar Scientia as well as the bear Prismal and Moon Knight Fahrouk, who looks worse for wear after hearing the news.

Officer Fahrouk

Oh, Moonblessed. It's you. Yeah, Hala is doing good. Won the spelling bee! I think she might make the nationals. ... I… I don't think I ever told you. Port Sylvel was our hometown. My wife is buried there. We’d go there every spring. Hala loved picking the flowers there. Did you know that different flowers grow in Port Sylvel compared to Lunatia? Haaaah...

Moonblessed! I know you think I'm not cool enough to hang out with you, and all I do is ask for your help, but please let me go with you! Please… This is something I have to do as a soldier, a husband, and a father.

… What? You always thought I was cool?

Finding strength and resolve after the participants tell him he's supposed to assist them on their mission anyway, Fahrouk distributes LIFE suits to the participants as he briefs them on what they're about to do. He and the participating Moonblessed will then be transported via a large transport vessel.

Port Sylvel is hardly recognizable. What was once an idyllic coastal town is now a site of tragic beauty — crystal formations encase buildings and Prismals like jagged glass coffins, as if preserving life in its final moments. Readings from life detectors tell you that everyone in the crystal has passed on, but you and your fellow Moonblessed think you can still hear their cries of distress carried along by the wind, warning you about the Prideful King.

D Gigantic crystal lions flank the passage of the port city, their wings spread open and blue flames pouring forth from their mouths. You hear rumbling guttural noises, and if you approach them, their roars will escalate to warn you about proceeding any further. Beware: a single bite from these lions can easily tear through the LIFE suit and cause your body to crystallize quickly unless someone rushes in to moonlace with you to halt the effect. These lions are unlike the beasts you’ve fought before: their otherworldly strength is overwhelming, and nothing seems to wear them down. Destroying them seems pointless, as they quickly regenerate the minute they are obliterated.

Eventually, transmissions from the LIFE suits announce an order for escape. Buildings collapse and shatter in your wake, and the ground quakes violently as something awakens in the far distance...

▶ questions

If you have any questions regarding this test drive meme, please ask them in the Questions thread below.

WHO CAN POST? ▶ Test drive memes are for new characters only. Existing players may not post starter threads in the test drime meme. 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.!

IS THIS CANON? ▶ 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.

ANNIVERSARY ▶ Happy first anniversary, Prismatica! Thank you to all of you who have been with us since the beginning. We appreciate it immensely! Remember that we always welcome input and suggestions from players. This event is a little out of the ordinary because of our anniversary celebration.

OPT IN AND OUT ▶ For current players, please do not be alarmed! As always, you do not have to be affected as there are safe areas across Lunatia that remain as is.

AGING UP AND DOWN ▶ You have free reign over how long and how many times your character will be affected. If a character doesn’t have a canon appearance from the past or future, you are welcome to provide one of your own from imagination and use your own PB. You are allowed to speculate on how they’ll look, act, their potential future, and so on. All of these will be temporary to this event. The intensity of the effect is also up to you: whether it will only affect appearance alone and retain their current memories.

IMPORTANT ▶ As a reminder, writing sexual content with characters below 15 years old is a violation of the game's rules and potentially Dreamwidth’s ToS. Players caught doing this will be banned from the game.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN

[What he remembers last is something idle. Lounging in a tree maybe, or sniffing out the strange wares in the big indoor market. It's lost on him which. The point is that when he first stirs, he suspects nothing is amiss. There was no holy arrow shot his way before he slept, no suspicious character lurking around, no enchantments uttered. Nothing.]

FUCK!

[Which is why he is cursing a blue streak as he snaps the shards off his body, snarling and rolling to the side as he finally cracks that last fucker loose. Panting, he comes to his hands and knees and looks to the sky. Lo and behold, there it is. That big old bastard marble, home to perverts and stinking cities and the tainted magic of its stupid fucking moons.

His face drops into despair.]

Not this shit again...

B) KNOCK THREE TIMES ON THE CEILING IF YOU WAAAANT MEEEE

[To say that he's thrilled to return would be an outright lie. Getting back on solid ground is no comfort. Worse still, the scents have changed.

The first place he checks is Kagome's apartment. Gone. Replaced by someone new, and all traces of her swept away. His heart clatters in his chest and he tries not to imagine the worst. Next he tries Matthias. That apartment is evacuated. Rosetta's too.

Most people, actually. They've vanished. Maybe this place stunk to high hell and back, maybe some of the muck and fumes are masking trails, but he just plain can't find them.

Against his better judgment he finds himself in the forest with one last glimmer of hope, but there's no trace of Sesshomaru either. He's not sure how to feel about that. Definitely not concerned. Not in the slightest.

He throws a fist into the nearest tree and grits his teeth, ears flat and brows knotted.]

Where is everyone? [He looks around, helpless.] How long was I gone?

C) SWEET CHILD O' MINE

[You've come home, it's been a day. All you want is some easy grub and maybe a beer (if you're legal that is, if not maybe there's some of that sweet Sunny D kicking around). The thing is, you can't quite put your finger on it but something's not right.

Are those scratches on your fridge door? The look like wee little claws. The inside of it looks okay but you definitely had an extra chicken breast in there. It's gone now, and the window is open. You're sure you left it closed.

You hear something shift. Was it underneath your couch? Behind the counter? If you chance to look underneath, you'll find two wide gold eyes gleaming back at you from the darkness.

That's when it makes a break for it. A blur of red and silver dashes for the window like its life depends on it. Only then do you realize that you're being robbed by an actual baby. Sucks to suck?]

D) STAR BABY, FLASHY LITTLE SHINY TWO-TIMIN' MAMA

I don't get it. Aren't they just supposed to be more suns, but really far away? [Inuyasha holds the lantern out in confusion. He's taking it from the science men, it's supposed to be important for whatever reason, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have questions.] Kagome said—

["I don't know who that is, just...just take it, you're holding up the line!" The man pushes the lantern back to him and hails the next Moonblessed to come forward. "Next!"]

Hey! I'm talking to you! Answer me! [Inuyasha will not be dismissed so easily! The nerve of this guy... He wedges back in at once with a fist slamming to the table.] How are these dumb lights going to work magic on some big fire too far away to reach? What are you playing at!

[We might need an intervention...]

E) SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING

[Even if he loathes these stupid clothes, all swaddled up like a damn baby and wearing a shitty glass bubble over your head, he's ready for a chance to do something meaningful for once. He never made it out this far on his last stay in this realm, so he has no vision of glory or life to supplant this crystal hell.

All seems quiet. The lions stand tall and proud at their gates, but as he draws closer his ears prick underneath the glass.]

Oi. Did you hear that? [He turns to the other traveler, eyes narrowed in suspicion.] Listen...

[If they pause, it can be heard plain. An animalistic rumble, low and faint.

A warning.]

F) WILDCARD!!

((I'm literally just here for shits and giggles so I'm game for pretty much anything, hmu with a surprise if you want anything different or pm this journal to hash stuff out!))

[Inuyasha isn't exactly quiet in the best of times, and when one can pick up sounds on the wind, that's only magnified. They managed to be on better terms by the time that he left. Not necessarily friends, but on semi-civil terms.

It's when she hears him ask how long he was gone that she decides to make an appearance. If he remembers this place, then he'll remember that much. A small contained cyclone about twenty feet from him announces her arrival.]

Yo.

[One difference Inuyasha might notice immediately is at her hip - there are a pair of swords sheathed there.]

Kagome vanished not too long after you did. Sesshoumaru was here until very recently.

[The cyclone isn't so much unexpected as it is abrupt. He steps back, hand at his sword's hilt before he can think twice.]

Kagura!

[Her sight and her scent are still enough to raise his hackles, but only for an instant. With a tight clenched jaw he forgoes the sword, drops the battle stance. Old habits die hard.

So had she, when he saw into her mind all those months ago. If this place had done anyone a bit of justice, it was her.]

Vanished? [She says it so casually. So not injured, or captured, or dead. Disappeared. Just like he had, only he's woken back up. Inuyasha frowns, his perpetual scowl muted for once.] ...Just like me then.

[So maybe they're safe. Just sleeping. They can't know for sure, and that's what kills him. He'd lived through it, and he still can't say what the hell had happened.]

How long has it been? [He cants his head, squinting ever so slightly.] You've been awake this whole time, then?

[She's not surprised at his instinctive reaction. It's good to see that he quickly reins in those fighting instincts, though. While she's perfectly content for them to both go their own ways for the most part, she cares just enough to come and talk to him when he's obviously troubled. If nothing else, coming from the same world means she can make things make sense to him in ways that others might not manage.]

Since you vanished? About six months ago. Sesshoumaru made an announcement on the network to let people know that you were gone.

[She doesn't know if that will make a difference to Inuyasha, but it doesn't hurt to mention it. There are other people who had met both brothers who are still here.]

Sesshoumaru has been gone for a little less than a month.

[ It was hard enough to accept being stranded on some backwater planet she'd never heard of not allowing her a chance to leave. But now there was this dog just yapping away, Lum didn't really care about the conversation going on in front of her, she just wanted to get whatever they were giving to figure stuff out.

It really wasn't until she had finally gotten the chance to step forward only for him to shove his way in again did it become a problem. Normally her first instinct would probably be to zap, but a general annoyance didn't seem to go that far. ]

Will you really understand if they explain it again?

[He doesn't know the peril that lurks in front of him...be gentle with your zaps, he knows not what his barks may bring...

Inuyasha is more or less used to his intellect being doubted publicly. By his friends. This girl is a stranger, what the hell is her problem?]

Yeah! Why else would I be asking, stupid? Besides, if they can't say how it works why should we believe anything they say? [He tosses his hair to the side.] It's probably just another trick to make people hold more hands or some shit. That's what they always make you do.

Must you always be so loud, Inuyasha?

[ Sesshomaru would never admit -- even on a good day, even with relations so much better with his half-brother -- that he feels the same way. He runs his fingers through his long hair to brush a few stray strands out of his face. The daiyoukai looks every bit like an untouchable being; not bothered by the crystals that are jutting out of his body nor that the two of them are on a moon instead of the planet itself. ]

However, it seems like you're the Inuyasha that was originally brought here. [ His chin bobs once -- a sharp nod to himself. ] Just like I am the Sesshomaru that was brought here once before.

[ His tone is almost conversational. Almost. ]

At least there is that.

[ What does the daiyoukai mean by that? Well, in so many and so few words, he has been under the concern of multidimensions and multiple timelines. Even if he is from the future and Inuyasha is from the past, that does not mean that they are the same "future" and "past." If he says or does anything, he has been worried that would create a different future -- a future where the Shikon Jewel wins.

However, he pauses to look at Inuyasha in a thoughtful manner. Unfortunately, the stare looks more like he is staring through the half-demon and sneering rather than collecting his thoughts on what he is going to say to him. But really, does Sesshomaru know how to look at someone in any other way?

Well, yes, but the person's names has to be "Rin." ]

[Pity that he'll never pass for Rin, then. ~~WHY WON'T YOU LOVE HIM BIG BROTHER???????????????????~~

He turns, sitting back crouched and cautious as the voice meets his swiveled ears. Ever the opposite of statuesque Sesshomaru, who bears the indignity of waking in crystalline hell with the poise of kings.

Inuyasha kind of wants to punch him for it.]

I'll be as loud as I want.

[You can't tell him what to do.

But before the concern even arises, Sesshomaru assesses and comes to the conclusion for the both of them. Inuyasha's eyes widen a notch. It could have been a different case. That they'd both fallen asleep and then woken next to each other (insult added to injury) is coincidence enough, but it's damn good luck that he's with this strangely merciful edition of his brother.

He and Kagura had this conversation. She came from a time after her own death, an event Inuyasha had no recollection of. She remembers the defeat of the Shichinintai, and his fight against them has only begun. He could have been given the Sesshomaru that blasted acid over Kagome and plucked his eye out in search of a sword.

Inuyasha can't figure out what to say to that. They have their memories of their time here. That helps. Sesshomaru had been confused when first arriving, so his placid acceptance now meant he wouldn't have to go through all that weird shit a second time.

And really, this was the weirdest shit. He could accept the magic and he could accept the futuristic nature of things, he'd encountered all that before. In Lunatia, the Sesshomaru's contradictions were the second biggest thorn in his side and the biggest conundrum on his mind.]

You don't sound even a little pissed about it. [He settles into an easier sit, not one bit eager to hunt down that little camp of moon folk. He can get shuttled back to hell later. Let him sit in relative quiet for a minute.] Did you really like it down there?

[Because he mellowed out about humans pretty quick. Heads would have rolled if the Sesshomaru he remembered was still carrying out his threats.]

[ Sesshomaru remains standing as Inuyasha seems to get himself much more comfortable sitting on the ground. In the past, the daiyoukai might made some comment about how the half-breed was better off in the dirt. Even though it looks as though he's sneering, the air between them lacks the usual heaviness of something waiting to explode into violence.

However, a frown spreads its way across his lips at his brother hinting that he might have liked being in the city. ]

Do not mistake my calm as compliance, Inuyasha.

[ His tone, however, is more dismissive than a snapping, sharp reply. He does not even manifest his light whip to strike at his brother for his insolent tongue. And he is aware because he did not lash out that even the thick-headed Inuyasha would know something is wrong.
First, he decides to make a point clear. ]

The trouble caused by coming to the city outweighs any benefit that came from being there.

[ He is, of course, somewhat lying. He found people that became his people. Knowing that he has now been separated from them for an unknown amount of time, it upsets him. Those that he drew close to became his weaknesses, but because they are his weaknesses means that he will protect them with all of his strength. ]

I believed that we had been sent here because of one last feeble effort of the Shikon Jewel to change its future. [ A beat. ] You may not be aware of it at this moment, but that jewel was nothing more than a curse masquerading as a blessing to all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

▶ TDM .013

Inuyasha | Inuyasha (not re-apping, just harassing old pals...feel free to ignore)

B

hey gurl hey

no subject

D is for dog

whoa......we gotta get some ranma and maison ikkoku in the house, have a rumiko takeover

a

reunited at last.......

REUNITED