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

No, I don’t think it will.

[ he sounds calm about it, but there’s a sudden edge to his voice that could be called icy at best. it’s as if he’s thrown a wall up between them, when the conversation previously had been friendly, if not shallow.

yet his expression doesn’t change. ]

I’m sorry. You’re trying to be helpful, and I’m being difficult.

( pulling his hand back, leaks shrugs noncommittally. it's not that he needs the chroma, but rather... wanting to give this other cat (with two tails) an opportunity to help himself. a brief moment of charity that is not taken, but it doesn't faze him in the slightest. )

Do what you want. I am not here to judge you for it.

( with a flick of his ears, leaks, crosses his arms across his chest. )

You are not ribika. ( otherwise he would've turned tail by now. ) So, are you just some... cat?

[ ribika. not a term that seimei is familiar with, but one that he commits to memory. it could also be a name, but then the other man accuses—or simply guesses—him of being just some cat, and seimei is inclined to believe that ribika is a species. ]

Shouldn’t you apologize to the cats of the world after saying such a thing?

[ seimei barely laughs. it’s more like he breathes with a smile. ]

I’m human. I was joking about becoming a Nekomata. [ he’s never in his life had to think about his own features so much. this world is testing him. his ears twitch. ] Did you expect something else from me?

The cats of the world should apologize to me.

( and then he thinks for a moment, blinking warily at seimei. would he have continued with his ruse if leaks didn't inquire about his features? a shame, because they fit him so well. there's something familiar about his mannerisms that is distinctly feline-esque and a reminder of perhaps even himself, somehow.

that would be a shame. there can only be one constantly angy cat around these parts!!! myaa. )

... hm. I do not expect much from anyone. ( so yeah, he's a little disappointed. with a huff, leaks shakes his head. ) But I suppose that is my fault.

( staring at those ears again, his twitch back. )

[ oh, oh. seimei gets it now. what is human in his world may not be defined the same in others, and he realizes he’s given the wrong impression. it’s just so hard to tell when there’s a fair variety of animal features walking around. ]

The ears are natural.

[ then he reaches back, guiding and curling one fluffy black tail forward. ]

And so is this one. The impostor quite surprised me. As for whether or not I’m a demon… that’s up to personal interpretation, don’t you think?

( he doesn't like this... whatever this happens to be. being a little confused, somewhat caught flat-footed, by a definition of human that certainly doesn't fit the mold he's used to? even if leaks believes seimei, it's hard to say where the truth starts and ends.

what are humans even, honestly. )

I do not know much about demons. Devils, yes.

( and the demon he knows here is actually quite kind. tactile. handsome af. if all demons are like that, then leaks could almost say he's met two. )

But you are not wrong, though if you are demonic... I would say I am used to such presences. ( a beat, then: ) There are better ways to describe one's self than 'demonic', too.

My, my. There are so many interesting things here it makes my head spin.

[ his tone is dry, though—it’s hard to tell what’s sincere and what isn’t, or if there’s any sincerity in him at all. ]

I think human is the best thing I could be. Demon, devil… where I come from, those are just words the weak apply to the strong. It’s sweet. It’s useless.

[ he drops his tail. ]

But that’s a lot of philosophizing for our first meeting, don’t you think?

Interesting at times, annoying at times.

( though he does stay quiet, letting seimei say what he does. curious--- what is strength and what is weakness? leaks from an earlier time might have different opinions than he does now, something shortsighted and lacking any empathy for others. even now, he might be more selfish but... seimei isn't wrong. those words were born from fear, and even leaks was considered to be something Not Ribika after some time.

but that's a lot of inner philosophizing for their first meeting, for sure. )

It is, but it is refreshing.

( even if it's shallow in the end. )

... I am Leaks.

[ well, what is interesting often is annoying. seimei makes a good show of liking mysteries, but the reality is that things he can’t truly puzzle out are things he would rather destroy. though, it’s not childish anger: it’s cold efficiency.

he smiles. ]

My name is Seimei. [ pause. ] What was that you said earlier? Ribika?

Yes, ribika. ( a flit of one ear as he looks to one side. ) That is what I am.

( and then leaks cocks his head to the opposite side. )

I suppose you have never heard of one... to be somewhat expected. However, I do know what humans are. They existed in our world at one point.

( but if they had cat features like seimei... that would be an interesting discovery. )

[ seimei finds it interesting, too, and he holds a finger to his lips as he thinks. ribika, humans—there’s clearly a distinction between them in leaks’ world, but is the only difference that humans have no ears and tails? they must have done something quite naughty to lose them as a race. ]

I see. I suppose, in my world, you could say my ears are merely proof that I’m not yet an adult.

( yes. very naughty. so naughty that they all died from it, probably? )

So you shed your ears and your tail once you are considered mature. ( which then would make seimei look like a normal human. how boring. ) At what point do you become an adult?

( personally, leaks can't relate. he always felt he was above and beyond the average cat. )

Now that’s a dirty question.

[ seimei doesn’t seem flustered, despite the cheeky comment. it just gives away what the answer might actually be without him saying it. ]

But to tell you the truth, there’s no good answer. The government counts it by age. Society counts it by appearance. The pressure is on to get rid of them as quickly as possible once you turn twenty or so.

( the more answers he receives, the more confused he is though he's able to keep that somewhat buried. above is his curiosity which continues to be piqued by seimei, whose youthful appearance... it's like his own. only, he's pretty sure that if what he says is true, then leaks has him by quite a few years. )

Get rid of them? ( huh, who knew humans could be so cruel? ) In what fashion?

( is there a felineoplasty or something? hmmmmmmm...... )

Edited 2020-03-20 20:12 (UTC)

[ don’t interrogate the world of loveless too closely. ]

Intercourse.

[ it’s not like seimei has any experience with it, and he doesn’t know what it feels like. he hasn’t asked, and he knows that it simply won’t ever occur for him. ]

Who knows what happens after that? But that’s the key.

( he squints. stares. squints harder. both ears fold and leaks opens his mouth to say something, only to close it again. )

... I see.

( leaks raises a hand to his own forehead. )

Life continues per normal. Nothing changes.

That reaction… does it shock you so badly?

[ he seems as plainly amused as he had in saying it in the first place, and who wouldn’t be, watching leaks’ react in his ears first? ]

I assume that virginity still exists in your world. It just looks different.

Some do not live long enough. And some choose not to participate.

( because the number of female ribika? very, very low. also sisa is kind of a shit-show, mostly due to leaks. )

But you are not wrong. There is no 'look', however.

( he's not judging seimei. besides, cat is a good look on him. )

I like that. Choosing not to participate. I’m not really interested in it either, no matter what this world or the next wants of me.

[ moonlacing… icky. ]

Lucky for you. Though I would rather be alone, I need to moonlace in order to use the magic I have spent time researching.

( and he certainly doesn't like it when he's with specific people, that's for sure. he's not some cat hungry for constant attention and affection! )

Otherwise, I could live with the company of my books and that is all.

[ magic.

it’s not that seimei doesn’t believe in it—he does. he has to. spell battles are named spell battles for a reason, and it would be a little obtuse of him to write off another world’s magic as being unrealistic. still, it’s hard for him to wrap his mind around magic as being something that needs “research.” either you can use it, or you can’t. ]

Hmm.

[ he shakes his head. ]

I’m sure there’s something they’re not telling us. No one’s died from avoiding their moonlacing duties, have they?

( leaks shrugs and sniffs in minor irritation. )

I do not particularly care about the lives of others, but without the chroma, I lack the energy to utilize my knowledge.

( though he knows he'll never get to the point of raising the dead again, being able to teleport is a difficult thing to do with finite power. )

Though, I am sure their libraries have that information, but I have spent more time poring over how to become more efficient in how I approach things.

( he closes his eyes. )

[ seimei can respect that. it isn’t the approach he would always take, but the answer seems to please him—whatever that really means, to be pleased by a disregard for the safety of others. ]

And have you succeeded?

... more or less.

( what's he supposed to tell seimei, that giving into the embrace of moonlacing has actually helped? to openly admit getting pet or hugged or kissed actually did something good?

he'd rather die or something like it. )

It is selfish and effective.

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▶ TDM .013

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