▶ TDM .001

[prismods]

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

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"Michael Sembello - Automatic Man (original music video)" (Watch on YouTube)

▶ Lisa Frank's LSD Fun House
anytime, anywhere on the moon Iris | top

Everything is darkness except for dim lights sparkling in the distance, a faint gleam that greets you as you start to unfurl from your dormant state. 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. Throat parched and skin dry and aching, you grope your body in alarm to make sure your possessions are still in place. 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 only rewards you with 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.

A ⬤ As you traverse the near-barren landscape, you feel something sting your skin. It's small and subtle at first, then you finally catch sight of it: an elegant, crystalline mosquito buzzing around from the corner of your eye. However, a pest is still a pest. After a while, marks near your welts begin to form strange patterns on your skin, mimicking ancient runes. Each rune has with it a particular side-effect that may hinder you on your journey:

✾ The Mark of the Enchanter: Hallucinations, hallucinations galore. Your character will see everything and anything their imagination can conjure and will have difficulty separating reality from fiction.
₪ The Mark of the Destroyer: Limbs start to cease their function, causing you to stumble or try and get around one-handed. Other certain body parts may be affected as well. Look at the bright side: you can stop worrying about jiggle physics and hiding your fear boner.
⍢ The Mark of the Sinner: Your hunger, your thirst, your fatigue and your desire are at an all-time high. Your impulses are rabid and uncontrollable. Maybe you experience only one of those symptoms. Maybe you experience them all. All you know is that you want relief now.

These effects will eventually clear up with a bit of accidental or purposeful physical contact with another person, making you wonder if there was anything wrong with you at all.

B ⬤ Hunger starts to gnaw at you vigorously. Perhaps you consider hunting the moon's creatures to sate your hunger. That's when you see it: a thick, meaty, juicy meal on legs. No, we're not talking about Alex Louis Armstrong. A wild silver-white pegasus runs across the purple landscape, its hair billowing in the wind as its hooves smack loudly against the ground. Try and shoot it, and you may find your efforts curtailed by its legendary rage. Eyes aglow and wings beating up a storm, this pegasus is no dainty horse. Two thousand pounds of pure muscle swoop down and charge at you, all blades and ammunition deflecting off its impenetrable skin. Taming appears impossible; it will buck anyone away and leave a sizable horn- or hoof-shaped hole in them for their efforts. Hunting it, however, should be easier. Relatively.

C ⬤ Or you may decide that you'd like to take a drink in the prismatic waters. A small pond can be found just a few miles away from where you first awoke, but gazing into it reflects what appears to be a window into your own world. You see the faces of loved ones or at least someone very close and familiar to you gathered around your prone body, shaking it frantically as though to try and rouse you, yet your image lies frozen and unresponsive, not even a whisper of life running through you. Did you die in your world? Is this your afterlife? The questions start to pile up along with the gnawing dread that you may never return home again.

▶ Camp Nowhere
anytime, anywhere on the moon iris | top

Time moves strangely when you're trapped on a moon with no sun to guide you. Hours feel like days, and days feel like weeks. Travelling has rendered you weak and tired. Luckily, a few crystal formations in the shape of a cavern may offer you a small place refuge as you decide to nap. You notice a few artifacts left over from previous explorers.

D ⬤ A comm unit abandoned within the cavern will display the former owner's idol obsession. As you tap the buttons indiscriminately, a holographic screen will appear, and you will see a fabulous recorded concert featuring three bubbly young ladies in animal print, singing to you about something called Cordis, a cat, and a bag of gems. Does this make any sense to you? Probably not, but the beat is catchy. You may even find yourself tapping a foot along to it. Don’t worry. We know it’s plastic love.

E ⬤ There's a small cooler-like container of preserved powdered food bags labeled with only the word “Edible” that can be safely consumed. Although the powder tastes as bland as you’d expect, it’s oddly filling, sating either hunger or thirst. But who will be the first — and the bravest — to try eating them?

F ⬤ A strange, pointed instrument is among the effects found in the cavern. It's silver, long, and thin with a curved end and a light. When you grip it with warm hands, it seems to vibrate enthusiastically and comes in three settings indicated by a frowny face, a neutral face, and a happy face. What could it mean exactly? No one knows, but you can fiddle with it to your heart's desire. Just don't ask yourself where it's been before. You don't want to know.

▶ Interstellar Action Force Assemble
prisma, iris | top

Over a day has passed when a group of people find you worse for wear. Some are full of uncertainty and fear while some are full of curiosity and excitement. They claim that they are scientists from the planet Prismatica here to investigate the sudden appearances of rainbow crystals in the skies. That means you and the others they’ve located within the area. You are all a surprising find to them, and they are quick to load everyone in their transport vehicles for examination and questioning.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? Why are the pegasi so ill-tempered? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They do have questions on their own, so it’s only fair to trade. They tell you about their world as they poke and prod you, trying to understand what you are and how you came into their land. If they’re not trembling in fear, some of them may ask you odd and invasive questions in return, such as what the rate at which your body achieves thermoregulation is, how long your refractory period is, and if you would be willing to submit various kinds of body fluids to them. It's up to whether you wish to comply or protest.

G ⬤ If you react violently, you will be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. They came prepared, so have fun with that! In any case, conscious or not, you’ll be brought into one of the transport vehicles. If you choose to peacefully cooperate, you’ll be provided any necessary first aid and a refreshing drink to help you recuperate after the rough time you had for the past few days. Each transport vehicle has a few small rooms to rest in, but due to the limited space, you’ll have to snuggle up with someone else on that bunk bed. Unfortunately, the moonshine fruit the ship is also carrying in its cargo has an extremely sweet smell that’s been permeating through certain areas of the ventilation system… Taking a whiff of it may inebriate you for the rest of the trip.

H ⬤ It’s a bumpy ride as terrain vehicles draw over various crystal formations until you see a large dome-like structure up ahead. Within its confines lies the seat of the Prismatica's government, Prisma. It’s a bureaucratic wet dream: skyscrapers practically touch the upper surface of the dome, windows glimmer with a prismatic sheen as daylight hits them, and small ships can be seen flying to and from its spaceport. The scientists, members of the Lunar Scientia, usher you into their facilities for tests. Arrivals are likely to twitch, tremble, and panic as Lunar Scientia fellows take and broadcast every embarrassing, unfiltered detail about you — height, weight, age, strange odors, estimated frequency of sexual activity —- to one another. These scientists will ask you politely to undress, too, but understand if you don't want to. They're especially fascinated by the readings of pure Chroma inside you, whispering among one another excitedly about the possibility of the new arrivals being a new moon species. What should they call them? Moonborne? Moonblessed?

I ⬤ At long last, the questions and physical examinations are done. They’ve decided to call the arrivals as the Moonblessed. They’ll take you under their care until they understand more about you. You're allowed a very refreshing hot shower and a warm meal for your efforts. Don’t worry, the meal was imported from their planet. “Planet?” you might ask, but you won’t need to wonder for too long. The ships are preparing for their next destination: the nearby planet Prismatica, where you will be dwelling for the time being. You're free to explore the government center until then.

▶ Wildcard
Lunatia, Prismatica | top

It only takes a couple hours for the ships to reach their home planet. The ships drop the characters off at the city of Lunatia, where they will be given their communication devices and a plastic card they can present to certain landlords at any residential district for their subsidized (read: absolutely free) lodging. Officials at Prisma instructed the newcomers to await further instructions from the government, but you have a lot of time to kill before then. Why not explore in the meantime? Learn the ins and outs of the world, get a job, transform under the full moon, and discover the many mysteries of planet Prismatica!

TDM OVERFLOW can be found here!

Comments

Riku | Kingdom Hearts

[oncebrokenway]

LSD FUN HOUSE - A

[Riku wasn't panicking. He wasn't even all that surprised, honestly. it's hardly the first time he's woken up on a strange and strangely beautiful alien world, and at least this time he's fairly sure that it's not happening because of any sort of cataclysmic event.

why it is happening, then, is an open question. but there's only two major possibilities he can think of. and since he wasn't tossed here as a castaway...

there's a very good chance he's here because he's needed.

and if that's the case, he wouldn't be worthy of his key, or his title, if he turned away now.

he barely notices the sting, and he fails to see the mark of the Sinner ⍢ slowly darkening on his shoulder. what he does feel, however, is the growing thirst; he tries to ignore it for as long as he can, but eventually it brings him to his knees.

it's not really how this spell is meant to be applied. but he's desperate. he has to try.]

W--Watera--

CAMP NOWHERE - E

[well, the presence of a container is at least a good omen for finding some kind of civilization. the fact that it apparently contains provisions... could be good or bad for his chances of finding that civilization soon.

Riku turns a bag over in his hands, studying it dubiously.]

"Edible". And... that's all you've got to say for yourself. Great.

INTERSTELLAR ACTION FORCE - G

[Of course he hadn't put up any resistance. Why would he? He'd been looking for people, and he's pretty sure he's on official business. He'd been... more than a little put off by the questions, and ended up giving more sass than useful answers out of sheer embarrassment, but he had cooperated.

sitting on the edge of the provided bunk, he sighs deeply. This is going to be a weird time, then.]

WILD CARD

[Time to kill? Exploring? Riku is on it. Maybe you find him doing something normal like seeing the sights or talking to the locals. Or maybe you find him doing some kind of ridiculous and physically-dubious parkour like a weirdo!]

E

[princessascended]

[She knows that voice. Oh how she knows that voice. And she is so excited to hear it for several reasons.

Sticking her head into the cave, she stares at him for a few moments, then runs forward to greet him as enthusiastically as he's ever been greeted before.]

Riku! You're here! Sora! Sora! Where did that boy- We'll find him later. Riku!

[And it's time for a very tight hug from behind by one of the BFFs.]

[oncebrokenway]

Wh-- Kairi!

[she actually manages to surprise him - rare indeed, these days. but it's a welcome surprise.]

Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes.

[princessascended]

You too! You have no idea how much.

[She lets him go just so she can get in front of him and grab his shoulders, not at all bothering to hide her excitement.]

Riku. Sora's here.

[In case, you know, he didn't guess that from her shouting for him a moment ago.]

[oncebrokenway]

-- He's here?

[he had not, in fact, guessed that. he'd just thought she was calling for Sora in the hopes he was nearby, or something.

look sometimes he's dense.]

Then that means--

[They can all go home together.

Well, you know. When they're done here.]

[princessascended]

Yes! And yes, that means exactly what you think!

[She's just... not gonna mention that she thought she might be dead when she first saw him and this might be the afterlife.

Look after everything they've been through it made sense at the time! But she knows Riku's alive so all's good!]

We're finally all back together! And we can go home... you know, once we find a way and all.

wwwwwildcard

[callmeven]

[riku doing weird and physically-dubious parkour in the city square surprisingly doesn't stand out too much among some of the other street performers.

but it is what catches ven's eye.

he stands at the foot of the building riku was currently bouncing around on, ice cream in hand and occasionally taking a bite from it as he just. watches him.]

You're adapting really well, I think.

[oncebrokenway]

[oh hey, he knows that voice. Riku springs away from the wall of the building he was climbing and spins around a streetlight before landing nimbly on his feet in front of Ven.]

Just getting the feel of the place.

[callmeven]

[this is certainly a better way of meeting than out in the bizarre wasteland they all arrived in first.

ven smiles at him as he lands.]

I'm surprised no one has tried yelling at you for that yet. You should try to be more careful. [coming from ven tho...]

[oncebrokenway]

I'll take that under advisement.

[read: I will absolutely not do that.]

So did whatever brought us here just grab all of us, or what? Feels like we've got almost the whole group.

[callmeven]

[wild child]

Really? [ven blinks, lowering his ice cream for a moment.] Who else is here? I know there's you, Sora, and Kairi... then there's Aqua too... [he starts counting the names off on one hand.]

G because idk

[darkcharge]

[ You know who isn't a fan of peacefully cooperating? This guy right here. He's sort of paid the price for it too, honestly.

Because while Riku does plop down on the bunk, there's already an unconscious body just laying there. ]

oh good I was having trouble thinking of how to tag your toplevel

[oncebrokenway]

[Riku hadn't been paying too much attention when he sat down - it had quickly become obvious that there were not enough bunks and he was going to be getting close with someone no matter what, and there are enough different mingling scents that he didn't initially pick out that one of them was literally pure darkness.

but after a few long moments, it suddenly occurs to him that his new bunkmate looks familiar.

he turns around quickly for a second look, and, yup. that certainly matches what he'd heard from Sora and Ven back before the battle.]

... Vanitas, too?

ha. I got to you first friend

[darkcharge]

[ Yupp. Vanitas too. Probably is a little strange to see your bestie's face on someone that's very much not him.

Probably why Vanitas prefers his helmet. But the whole gun to top of spine thing wouldn't work with it on am I right? Though where it's ended up at this point is anyone's guess.

Riku should probably be prepared to say something. The lump is starting to move. ]

[oncebrokenway]

[that is, yes, exceedingly weird and kind of hot.

... well. if the guardians are showing up here for a reason, then Vanitas must be here for a reason too. surely. he can be civil.]

Well, good morning, bunkmate.

[... he can try harder than that to be civil.]

[darkcharge]

[ Probably should get used to it. It's not going to get any better. Someone has a complex.

Hearing the voice, two yellow eyes peer at Riku over his shoulder. ]

Hmph.

[ And then he promptly shifts so he can use a foot to kick Riku off the bunk. Then maybe roll over again. ]

wild card.

[madannoshashu]

[ What a strangely colorful world they've found themselves in.

Xigbar, for one, finds it quite entertaining to explore. If he can't leave, then learning about his new surroundings is the best course of action. As such, he doesn't hesitate to wander around the streets and jabber with anybody who'll talk to him.

By the time evening rolls around, he's found a nice spot on a roof that's not too high but not too low. Clad in the usual Organization fair, he's looking out across the city and...naturally, there's Riku, running and flipping and jumping and all that other mess that kids do these days.

Fate is a strange thing, he thinks, pulling in all three of them together...

But! Might as well say hello. ]

You're gonna breaking your neck doing that in the dark, y'know.

[ Just sayin'. ]

[oncebrokenway]

[oh hey, it's this asshole.

Riku isn't caught so off-guard that he can't come to a graceful stop on that same rooftop. situational awareness, baby. (and a darkness-enhanced sense of smell.)]

Sweet of you to worry about me, but I'm fine.

[he literally spent a year blindfolded, come on, Xigs.]

[madannoshashu]

[ HONEY, I'M HOME, DID YOU MISS ME?

Xigbar just chuckles quietly. ]

Just offering some friendly advice, kid.

You can leave it if you want to.

[oncebrokenway]

[sits down on the edge of the rooftop]

Are we at the "friendly advice" level now?

[madannoshashu]

Well, apparently, your friend Sora and I are both back from the dead so might as well not waste that on squabbles that don’t matter.

[ He tilts his head. ]

Unless you’ve got a problem with that.

E (I've been told I should tag you, haven't touched this man in years though so be kind)

[chronometry]

[As a man who routinely hung out in Wonderland, Luxord absolutely went ahead and ate the thing when he found it. It didn't even have the decency to do anything cool when he did it either.]

I guess you'll just have to take a gamble.

[Luxord's approach was slow, deliberate, and frankly all but stating he'd been lurking.]

yeeeee

[oncebrokenway]

[ah, Riku thought he'd smelled someone there. bit surprised that it's that guy, though.]

Guess you'd know about those.

Any idea the odds on this one?

[chronometry]

[Fortunately he's probably one of the less directly threatening people it could have been, though to be fair that didn't entirely mean he was completely not a threat.

Which was why he went with outright announcing his presence rather than letting himself be found, no need to go picking fights or acting overly threatening when there was a whole world worth of nonsense and potential threats to him to unravel.]

Yes, but you wouldn't want to cheat would you?

[oncebrokenway]

[yeah, Riku's putting Luxord pretty low on the Organization Threat Scale.]

I'm a little more interested in not dying than not cheating.