▶ TDM .003

[prismods]

Fear is never boring

QUICK LINKS ⬤ navigation ⬤ faq ⬤ world ⬤ moonblessings

"The Raisins : Fear Is Never Boring" (Watch on YouTube)

▶ Tales from the Crypt
Moon Iris | top

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. Even the few shy moon creatures you find in the wild have strange crystal growths on their hides. This is far from home— perhaps a dream? You pinch your skin and slap your cheeks, yet nothing seems to do the trick. Searching for answers yields nothing but an endless expanse of purple dust as far as the eye can see. You have four options: one, panic; two, soil yourself; three, admire it all then soil yourself; or four, go into survival mode. Eventually, you’ll realize that you’re not alone.

After a day or two of living off the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. After the strange phenomenon 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? Why did I eat those fifty cent street truck tacos last night? — 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.

While waiting for transport to be prepared, you may freely roam around the government center. Alternatively, you can ask the staff about the moon base. They suggest that you visit one of their excavation sites nearby: an enormous hole known as the Glory. The scientists have been excavating this site carefully for years, searching for a legendary ancient tomb sleeping within. They’re accepting volunteers if anyone is inclined to aid in their efforts. Perhaps the Moonblessed have the knowledge they need to make it a success!

A ⬤ A chroma-powered lift made of magically fortified crystal is used to access the lower grounds. Be careful not to fall off! On the way down, some translucent caterpillars and crystals light your way. Be quiet and keep an eye out for Queen Bowie beetles: these glowing neon bugs are attracted to music, and a single note will send them flying into your clothes and hair. Putting the beetles under pressure is not advised, as they will explode and send their sticky insides flying throughout the airspace, potentially stinging your eyes. This will make moving around in dark, cramped spaces all the more difficult! Thankfully, they get bored if no one tries to sing for one whole minute.

B ⬤ Scientists, engineers, miners, and archeologists are at the unearthed antechambers, hard at work. They will assign you to different tasks: recording observations and taking down notes, digging with advanced excavation tools, or collecting fragile relics with metal and crystal detectors. The Moonblessed may also assist with solving riddles the ancients left in the tomb’s doors, chests and walls. Solving them may lead to either treasure rooms or trap walls that close in on unsuspecting grave robbers. Others, well...

Golden jellyfish statues line the walls, encrusted with glistening jewels all over, some worse for wear. Tall pillars have numerous ancient runes which the Prismals are struggling to decipher. Soon, an eerie whisper reaches your mind: “Wander no further. A curse awaits all who enter our kingdom. Disturb not those who slumber in the deep.” True enough, the floor from this point onward appears to be blue sand combed in the pattern of ocean waves... Are you brave enough to continue drilling through?

C ⬤ If that is not enough to send you scrambling out with moist underwear, perhaps the seismic jolt to the ground will. A slimy substance begins to ooze out the tomb’s cracks, glowing lilac like the Iris moon... The Prismals are quick to usher everyone out before the shaking gets worse. As the lift may be too dangerous, climbing equipment will be provided. Watch out for falling debris or collapsing rocks while assisting each other out of cramped passages and up the walls to safety. Try not to get stuck in the slime!

This little adventure might leaving you wondering what or who exactly lies deeper inside, but the Prismals are just as clueless as you are. Cave-ins happen from time to time, but this might have been the strongest one recorded on this site.

Eventually you’re called to the docks and led onto a large transport vessel. Destination: Prismatica.




▶ Those Kicks were Fast as Lightning
Higher Lunatia, Level 1 | 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.

With the end of Harvest Boon, the city is calm once more. The streets of Level 1 and 2 are now sparkling clean as always, but Level 3 is still in the process of cleaning up. There are confetti and deflated balloons strewn all over the streets, but Swiffy bots are on the scene, sweeping up whatever waste they can get their hands on. Sometimes, they might even play tug-of-war with you for it. At one of the train stations, a Prismal doomsayer screams about the apocalypse returning. Passersby shrug at the conspiracy theory and move on.

A ⬤ In response to the unexpected rough events during Harvest Boon, the Moon Knights decided to hold free-for-all self-defense seminars at a large park near Lunatia Square. The live demonstrations include proper monster-wrangling procedures and how to efficiently keep a rogue moonheld (read: transformed under the moon) Prismal away. Participants are encouraged to learn and interact with each other to learn various safety practices and techniques. The training visors provided enhance the seminar experience, changing whoever your eyes focus on into a cerberus or other rogue moonheld Prismal on the visor’s display. Don’t use the visors for too long, or you’ll be seeing everyone as a cerberus well after you take the visors off! Fortunately, the effects only last for an hour. Energy drinks and free snacks are available to any worn-out Prismal or Moonblessed.

B ⬤ Virtual lunar conditions are also available via multiplayer VR pods in Lunar Scientia headquarters, simulating the Moonblessed/moonheld experience under full moons. Mental exercises and magic practice sessions are accessible in the virtual spaces, allowing people to test out their magical abilities and transformations. Simulation participants can either train by themselves, with a partner, or through a tutorial of instruction-based movements. However, the program is still in beta. You may experience errors or bugs like lagging, NPCs phasing into things they shouldn’t, weird physics, or body glitches.

▶ Meas Trees are the Bee’s Knees
Middle Lunatia, Level 2 | top

The rows of Meas trees planted this Harvest Boon are blossoming beautifully into view, painting the fields in Level 2 with colors of spring. Meas tree saplings each have a small sign next to them, displaying their owners’ written wish if they chose to disclose it. Interestingly, the color and aroma of each flower depends on the owners; fiery personalities might have red or orange flowers, those born in a coastal town might have flowers that smell like the sea near their hometown, and so on. Maybe you’ll encounter a familiar aroma if you’re lucky enough.

The Moonblessed who were most active with moonlacing the past few weeks have the largest trees, nearly rivaling the oldest Meas trees around. The older trees planted by Prismals over time can be seen in the next field, standing majestically with their swaying branches and flying petals.

A ⬤ Picnic grounds for flower viewings can be found near the fields. There are plenty of stalls selling homemade bruschettas, crostinis, sandwiches, wines, cheeses, and other enjoyable finger food. Notably, some wines may give you an insatiable desire to whisper things in someone’s ear. Sweet nothings, death threats, your secret kinks—no matter the words, you’ll want to kill someone softly with them.

B ⬤ The Swiffy bots that are assigned to the parks and gardens in Level 2 help keep things spick and span, but they’re due for maintenance and may attempt to sweep off any unfortunate picnics with their high-powered vacuums or leaf blowers. As they zoom across the paths, they chirrup about not treading on the grass and take off with picnic blankets, table cloths, and people’s clothes. Any nearby maintenance staff (who are all desperately trying to chase the bots) yell that a conk on the head will immobilize them. Once the malfunctioning bots are stopped, the staff approach to wheel them away while apologising profusely for the mayhem.

▶ Questions

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

Comments

Luna-Terra | Heaven Will Be Mine

[the_ghost]

crypt - base

[In a sense, being here feels very liberating. Luna-Terra has wanted to escape Earth's gravity since she was 13, and while she doesn't know how she ended up in a completely alien solar system who-knows-how-many lightyears away, she can't really ask for a more decisive escape.

In another, mouch more substantial sense, she still feels tired and shitty and perpetually worried aobut the dozens of life-or-death loose ends left back home, and whatever warped her here left her ship-self behind, so it's like, what the hell is the point. She also almost died a a slow death in a godforsaken desert, an experience which, now that she has food and water in her, she's prepared to write off as a mixed bag. It was definitely a good distraction.

Speaking of distractions, hanging out in the docking bay and watching various vehicles come and go is probably not doing anything for the separation anxiety about her big, beautiful, scarred-up, outdated, barely functional robot. At a solid 12 years without any kind of abandoment or messy breakup or outright acts of treason between them, Mare Crisium is literally more of a constant in her life than anyone she's ever met. Was a constant. She leans against a rail, moping, which somehow always looks more like brooding when she does it. But when she senses someone behind her, she feels just embarrassed enough to offer an unprompted justification for what she's doing with her time.]

Hard to get a bead on the tech level here. Maybe just because I don't understand magic? Things seem really simple but really effective.


crypt - spooky voice

[Depression or no depression, Luna-Terra doesn't deal too well with boredom, so it's not too long before she checks out the ruins, even if she's maybe not helping the most with digging. Mostly, it's just nice to see the architecture. Especially down here in the... jellyfish... room? If these are supposed to be gods, well, not the worst design for them. A little basic. She spent her adolescence imagining alien elder gods, and while tentacles definitely featured they were more interesting than--

It's not often her internal monologue is literally interrupted. At least, not by strangers. After a long, nonplussed moment, she... cracks a grin. Ancient curses should really try to consider the psychology of the individual with this kind of thing.]

Oh, well. If we're not allowed...

[It's not that she doesn't expect anything bad to happen. She just has one of those brains with a damaged "avoid pain and danger" center and an oversized "annoy anyone who gives orders" lobe. She moseys forward as if nothing happened, regardless of how the rest of the group is reacting.]


trees - wine

[Where Luna-Terra comes from, it's hard to really get good booze in space. While living on Earth was almost unbearable to her overall, food and drink is the one part of your life that definitely takes one for the team if you want to live in zero gravity. Of course, there's slightly better pickings on partially terraformed planets like Ares, but for the most part she's used to MREs and water that comes in plastic bags.

The point is, she was not prepared for drunkenness. Especially magical drunkenness. She's just planted her hand on the wall next to your head, in the middle of what was recently a normal conversation, and leans in. In a quiet, level... maybe slightly husky voice, she starts a philosophical debate.]

Okay. Listen. Do you think it's better to live on someone else's terms, or die on your own? Would you rather sacrifice your identity, or your life? You can't have both. It's either total, permanent surrender or a fight you can't possibly win. A long, boring, miserable life or an immediate, equally boring, pointless death. What would you do?

[Tomorrow, she's going to decide she's not the fun kind of drunk and more or less swear off alcohol. Tonight, unfortunately, This is Happening.]

spoopy

[witchwithoutacause]

Being cursed isn't that bad anyways.

[ Amanda's not very useful either, and she's also inclined to not listen to spooky idiots - especially when someone else is already taking that mystery voice up on what is, essentially, a dare.

Maybe it'll be a magical curse, and she can break it and show off a little too. ]

[the_ghost]

I've never tried it, but at least we have an expert on the scene.

[Luna-Terra gives the kid an encouraging, or possibly challenging, smirk. She gives off a pretty familiar vibe--the kind that says it's a little late to worry about being a bad influence. Also, it would be smart to stick with somebody who knows literally anything about magic.]

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Look at Luna-Terra, assuming Amanda knows shit that she's talking about. Not that she doesn't know a thing or two about curses but expert is a stretch. ]

Just leave breaking any curses to me, then.

[the_ghost]

[Oh, not for a second. But Luna-Terra likes giving people to chance to back up their big talk. If they crash and burn, they learn a valuable lesson. If they pull it off, they get their satisfaction without the extra impulse to rub it in her face. Either way is better than playing babysitter and trying to stop them.

Speaking of being cocky and stupid and learning a lesson about it, though, that was definitely a... tremor. She doesn't want to think the word "earthquake," and not just because she's deep underground.]

Oh. That's more straightforward than I was expecting.

[She takes a second to size up whether Amanda can probably stop a cave-in with her no doubt fabulous magical powers, but...]

Run?

[witchwithoutacause]

[ Amanda has crashed a lot, so she can take it anyways, probably, as long as an ancient tomb doesn't fall on and crush her. ]

Curse? More like some Indiana Jones junk.

[ Where's the boulder?

Amanda's already backing up a few steps though. ]

Good idea.

Trees

[iwillbetheirshield]

I, uh...

[Still taller than Luna-Terra, but not by enough to make this maneuver difficult, Brigitte is taken aback.]

I'd rather fight? What brought this on?

[the_ghost]

Grapes. And my exes. And self-esteem problems.

[Also, she's not exactly falling all over herself, but it's probably not too hard to tell she's drunk. There's a brief pause as she seems to shift gears without really being aware of it.]

You... are very tall. And strong-looking. Shouldn't you be pinning me?

[iwillbetheirshield]

I could, but I felt like that'd be kind of rude.

[An analysis she is reconsidering now that she's experiencing it first hand. Huh.]

[the_ghost]

I'd say manners are overrated, but no matter how I look at it, being big and tough and nice is more attractive than being an aloof, moody jackass. You've got a good system going.

[And yet Luna-Terra makes the latter approach work on a routine basis, usually by accident. She gets it, but her ability to relate to something absolutely doesn't mean it's not dumb.]

Anyway, you have my permission if you're interested. I didn't really have anywhere I needed to be tonight.

[iwillbetheirshield]

Are you saying you WANT me to pin you to the wall?

[Brigitte felt like she should be flirting right now, even though Luna-Terra generated an aura of "if you get involved with me you will probably be assassinated by people who want to get at me".

Unfortunately she wasn't any good at flirting.]

wine

[spacemutant]

[ Saturn has been kind of waiting for things to heat up like this ever since Luna-Terra started drinking, but the move still catches her off guard her just enough to make the little gremlin grin on her face widen in anticipation. She's been partaking, too, but it hasn't hit her as hard… yet. God have mercy on every cute girl around once it does.

She tilts her neck in a way that invites LT's lips to shift even closer, and in the process, it's hard for her to hold back a giggle. ]

Could your out-of-nowhere hypothetical be more of a bummer? Maybe you get a kick out of imagining the worst, but that's because you're you. Option C: defy the binary, create a livable solution from scratch.

[ Like she would ever play by the rules. ]

[the_ghost]

[Luna-Terra notes the shift in position, and it's almost enough to put a dent in her mood, but she doesn't visibly react. If Saturn wants to make out she is, as usual, going to have to work for it.]

No, I get it. Being cocky and stupid is fun when it's your own life on the line. You and I could probably get away with pissing off Earth for years.

[Actually, even if Saturn does come up the rest of the way for that kiss, it's gonna have to wait while LT leans back and takes another long, vaguely desperate drink straight from the bottle.]

Hah... I'm just thinking about how our actions affect everybody else. How big is your third solution that you haven't thought of yet? And how will it hold up if you can't get anyone else on board?

[spacemutant]

[ Indeed, Saturn takes potential makeouts with Luna-Terra Very Seriously. LT has a way of playing hard to get moment by moment that's actually fun, which she can't say for 99.9999% of other people. The act itself still annoys her, but in a good way. A highly motivating way. ]

We could keep their heads spinning until they all fell off, like a billion dolls you'd never have the time to put back together. But who cares about Earth?

[ Oh, Memorial Foundation does. Right. With only the ghost of a pout, Saturn resettles herself in her chair and matches LT's swig. Except out of a nice glass, because she's not a gross heathen? ]

It's as big as I want it to be. Super-massive. Dense enough that everybody gets pulled in, and they all end up loving it.

[the_ghost]

You know we've beaten about two of those billions, between us. Well. I've beaten 1.5 and you got the other half of the second one.

[You only need a glass if you're sharing the bottle. This one is all hers, because if she's gonna try something new that she'll inevitably regret, she prefers to regret it hard.

Said bottle is already too low for anything to spill out as LT turns around and drops haphazardly into the chair next to Saturn, leaning her head back against the wall and staring at the ceiling.]

That's a lot of gravity for someone so small, even with your ship-self. Speaking of which, our opinions are going to be a moot point if we don't get home in time.

[And if Saturn for some reason thinks Luna-Terra really needs an excuse to have a sudden internal despair spiral, there it is.]

[spacemutant]

Good thing someone is counting. That's very responsible.

[ It's funny because Luna-Terra isn't. But hey, who says she isn't sharing a bottle? Saturn's glass is also low and she pours the remaining contents of LT's bottle into it. This is clever because a) she doesn't have to get up to get more, and b) LT might feel a little less like death tomorrow if she stops at this juncture.

Saturn's expression does wilt when she brings up that. Of course she had to. Though Saturn was just sort of pretending not to think about it. ]

I'm small but irresistible. [ She glances at Luna-Terra sidelong, swirling her glass. ] That just makes me think: if it's Pluto versus everyone else, who wins?

wine

[bloodisthicker]

[...okay honestly these weird prismatica effects on the food they eat and drink are just getting really fucking weird.

he's pretty dang tall so idk maybe he's being kabedon'd by someone very much shorter than him, so.]

...

I think you drank the "extreme downer" drink instead of the "whisper sweet nothings" drink...

[the_ghost]

[She's 6'1" so maybe more of a tie? Who knows.]

No, the mood is pretty much normal for me. I think the wine just made me want somebody to be my armchair therapist.

[bloodisthicker]

[oh yeah that's pretty close so it's fine.]

...oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you want to sit down maybe and have something to eat...?

[the_ghost]

[She backs away from him before sighing deeply, mostly because she's sure her breath smells pretty drunk.]

Not really, but I probably should. Sorry for... whatever that was.

[bloodisthicker]

[Continued here!]

wine

[lssj2]

[A lot of this is too philosophical for a guy who's spent his whole life isolated from society. He doesn't have a chance of giving an answer at all.

So.]

...I think I want more food.

[the_ghost]

You know, that's probably the smartest response I've heard.

[Not that she tends to eat her feelings, or thinks that's what he actually means. But this is the kind of situation nihilism was made for.]

wine

[reflectory]

[ Joy goes from being excited someone is talking to her to thoughtful once Luna-Terra starts asking her a bunch of pretty weird questions. She takes her time to respond, thinking about it all very carefully. The more she thinks, though, the more confused she gets.

Eventually, she just tilts her head to the side with a furrowed brow. ]

I don't understand. Living on someone else's terms, sacrificing their identity...are those things that people do? I always thought that humans did what they wanted, it's what makes them so interesting. Why would they choose to do something that doesn't benefit them?

[the_ghost]

Ha. Haha... [Boy is that not the kind of laugh you get when something is funny!]

I think this is a parallel universe thing. You just described the exact opposite of the definition of the word "human" where I come from.

Humans can do what they want as long as it's within the pre-existing bounds of human culture. Any humans stepping outside those bounds would divide humanity, which can't happen, so the only possible expanation is that the culprits are choosing not to be human. Anything that's not human will eventually generate its own distinct and opposing culture, and any such culture will eventually become an existential threat. That's how the theory goes, anyway.

[I'm sorry you stepped in all this Metaphor, it's basically just space fascism Anyway, it's about time for Luna-Terra to take another drink. A long one.]