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[prismods]

SHOOTING SHARK

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"Blue Oyster Cult - Shooting Shark" (Watch on YouTube)

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.

▶ Keep all Hands and Feet inside the Burning Vehicle at all Times
Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Outer Space | top

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 mix tequila with xanax 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. Eventually you’re called back from exploring, escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the moons and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as Prismal locals. The next destination: Prismatica.

A. After settling into the ship and selecting the current in-flight movie, Back Door Slugs 9, you and those around you may eventually feel a bit of turbulence during the movie’s highly anticipated climax. Did anyone notice it, or is everyone too focused on the hot characters?

At first, it’s a small jitter that’s easy to miss or brush off. But as the transport vessel travels on, the shaking progressively escalates to erratic tremors strong enough to cause severe nausea. A minute later, a voice over the speaker announces the ship will have to make an emergency landing, citing technical difficulties.

Sparks can be seen overhead as more ship parts malfunction. This is a good time to hold your neighbor’s hand, say your last goodbyes, and apologize for that horrible thing you did in the sixth grade. Grip your seat with the might of every god you can think of.

B. Another minute later, a follow-up announcement states that external entities have breached the transport vessel. Everyone is warned to be careful and watch out for each other. Small fires will have to be put out before they worsen with either magic or emergency equipment onboard such as extinguishers. In-flight robotic attendants will be scuttling around to perform immediate repairs.

Eventually, an entire power panel bursts, and prismatic jellyfish unnaturally spill out. The jellyfish will try to latch and suction onto any technological devices close by such as the television screens on the seats or communicators and will show preference to Iris Moonblessed over the rest. Be ready to help and pull numerous jellyfish off both the faces of Moonblessed and Prismals!

▶ Jaws IV: Jaws Harder
Planet Prismatica, Outer Lunatia | top

The emergency landing successfully completes and the transport vessel will safely land on top of a gorgeous lake filled with tiny glaciers floating by. When reached out and touched, you’ll find out that the “glaciers” are surprisingly cool crystals and not ice.

The ship will be left hovering idly on the water surface while passengers are ferried to solid ground using portable emergency boats. However, civilization is still a distance away.

A. You’ve probably heard of flying sharks from a veteran Moonblessed. But how about sea lions? These aquatic lions are born with scaly skin and gills outside of their crystallized manes. Unfortunately, they haven’t tasted fresh meat in quite some time. If there are any injured onboard or near your boat, the chances of the sea lions detecting people will be higher as they are drawn to the scent of blood. Growling hungrily, they will be quick to latch onto the boats, biting the edges, and trying to knock everyone overboard for dinner.

After surviving through so far, the Prismals guide everyone to a nearby encampment run by humanoid rabbits. They are tall, built, and have a habit of mentioning their virility an awkward amount of times. They are also generous and will share their game meat and fresh crops while allowing everyone to rest for the night at the only inn in their village.

B. There is no running water all the way out here, so if anyone wants a bath, they’ll have to do it traditionally. The village protects a natural spring, which is a good place to bathe away the sea water. Around the spring, the rabbit folk’s friends — little scintilla chinchillas — will shock away any predators that dare to approach their sanctuary! Be at ease and feel free to offer your friends shampoo massages.

The next day, the rabbits can be seen hacking away at some of the wilder-looking plants for an easier pathway. If you wake up early enough, you can ask some of them for a tour of the beautiful greenery. They mention that it’s thanks to the Moonblessed that their crops have been doing so well lately — the result of all the chroma influx. The rest of the journey to the city will be smooth sailing.





▶ It’s Free Real-Estate
Level 2, 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. 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. A new high-end boutique, Prissy Polyp, has opened in Level 2. As compensation for what happened, both Moonblessed and Prismals that were affected in yesterday’s flight will receive 50% off their total purchase. Those unaffected will receive 30% discount coupons as a promotional gift. All are encouraged to visit with their friends or special someone, try on some things together, enjoy each other in the fitting rooms, and deal with the loud, ear-blistering background pop music.

Their clothing collections are characterized by bright iridescent designs, some features such as design patterns may glow ethereally in the dark. One of their signature dresses features a one piece (also available on their trench coats) that can amplify the appearance of one’s decolletage, gluteal muscles, and/or bulge with the press of a neon button. Another item among their collection is the maiden sweater: a sleek, backless sweater that shocks those who attempt unwanted touches. Others include skin-tight leggings (also available on their shorts or pants) which produce pleasant and relaxing vibrations on all lower extremities and fashionable polyp-shaped hats for all kinds of people. It’s a huge shop, you never know what else to find in there.

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

▶ IMPORTANT! By request, we've uploaded image samples for the Prissy Polyp clothing collections! Note these are merely samples for a visual guide and we will leave more selections to players.

▶ As a reminder, test drive memes are for new characters only. 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.!
▶ 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.

Comments

wildcard i-ish because they're not nice to one another.

[unsea]

[ the jellyfish is an unwelcome accessory, obscuring half of his vision with tentacles and emitting all sorts of strange, infantile sounds as it flexes and generally makes a nuisance of itself. resolving to leverage it off with the blade in his sleeve, he spends a moment prodding at the limits of its clutching tendrils with his fingertips - the makeshift, fleshy eyepatch coos and flinches but does not give way, instead clutching tighter, to the point where he feels it may attempt to crawl inside of his eye to hide. jellyfish are such agile and flexible little beasts, after all. ( they also taste decent when marinated and added into a salad, in his experience. )

the blade, grisha steel, only finds its way to the flesh of someone's throat - held tautly there when he hears the sound of a voice he recognizes. it is a jaunty little voice, one that leaves him wondering if nikolai lantsov had bothered learning the lessons he'd sought to teach him.

the darkling slips the blade around nikolai's throat, in mid-conversation with one of the other moonblessed - a jellyfish attached to their face as well. I can never remember the proper etiquette, lantsov is in the middle of saying, when he presses the sharp edge of the steel blade to his throat's pulse and jerks back, leaving little to imagination: he'll gladly cut this man's throat. ]

Lantsov, [ he greets, without fondness ] it was too much to ask that a captain go down with the ship, I see.

[ the jellyfish eyepatch does take away from the severity of his hiss ]

hello darkness, my old friend

[reznikolai]

[A jaunty little voice that is not as smooth as it once was, thanks to the "lesson" the Darkling had inflicted upon him back during the civil war. Those scars endure all over his body.

But the voice Nikolai hears is as smooth as ever, cool and dark like obsidian. It pierces him more sharply than the kiss of the blade at his throat. It is the voice of a dead man, a ghost who still haunts him at night, both in his dreams and out.

The blade withdraws from his throat, but breathing naturally remains a challenge. And everything usually comes to him so easily. Like the flippant remark that is now forming on his tongue, clumsier than usual, slower than he would like.]

You do me honor to acknowledge me as my father's son.

[Rather than the bastard he is. The words come with so little of the usual gilded glibness; a hard edge cuts through. His eyes are hard too, steel forged to hide fear and uncertainty. He squeezes the jellyfish so hard that with a spasm it relinquishes its grip on the stranger's face. Limp in his hand, it looks like a bizarre organ that somebody coughed up. Its tendrils glow and ripple with electricity, but its sting is dampened by the leather glove that sheathes Nikolai's hand.

He tosses this to the floor, then shifts his gaze to the poor woman sitting beside him, who has pressed herself as far back into her seat as she can. His voice turns apologetic.]

You may wish to find a different seat, miss.

[She needs no further convincing, sliding out of her seat and slipping past Nikolai to get to the aisle. Nikolai keeps his gaze sharpened on the Darkling.]

Death suited you better, I must confess.

[unsea]

[ the blade flips over in his hand, a fluid gesture betraying the well-practiced ability of his: that of death-dealing by direction or by his own hand. with his unhindered eye locked on lantsov, he pushes the jellyfish's body flat against his own face and slides the blade into its soft body. the blade bites deeply, hitting a vital organ and within seconds, the little creature is limp and bleeding sluggishly in the cupped palm of his hand. his face, of course, has little suction marks all over it from where it has been clinging and clutching.

behind him, one of the ship's small fires explodes and sparks threateningly, and he heaves the jellyfish back into the burning bowels of the machine from whence it came. ]

Is it an honor?

[ enigmatically, he lifts a brow while his eyes flick down to lantsov's hands, hidden so precisely under leather gloves; similar to his own, but not at all the same. the lantsov line terminates with a monster, as he recalls last. the talk of his death is, well, it is not new to him. death and the darkling have always fallen into and out of favor throughout the years upon years of his life. ]

Don't look so put out, Lantsov. You're not a child anymore.

[ he smiles; it's a cruel thing. ]

Not really a man, either.

[reznikolai]

[Everything around him is, quite literally, falling apart. Inside of him burns the instinct to do something, to prove himself useful and necessary. To play the hero, as he has grown so fond of. Instead he remains where he is, battling old demons — of the metaphorical ilk, and of flesh.

He does not allow it to show in his features how keenly the Darkling's words cut. How precisely he aims the blade of his words for the wounds that still rankle. He raises an eyebrow. He is calm. He is rational.

The monster curls up in his belly, in his heart. In his bones and sinews. He is the cavern in which it hibernates, and he is the monster itself.]

What is more a monster than he who becomes one willingly?

[He asks this as if posing a question of mere philosophy. Something in the abstract, not something — someone — who sits before him. Then comes that steeled edge as he continues.]

You would have rather a hard time trying to swipe a throne that neither of us can reach in the present circumstances. What titles I possess, and what honors you once seized, are as meaningless here as the paper crowns children decorate themselves with. So what do you want from me?

[unsea]

Of course.

[ lantsov believes the same as alina, blindly marking him down as the root of all evils. as the true thing that they should rally against, rather than the insidious damage that has been done unto grisha. the pains they have suffered, generation after generation. it is no matter, the words cannot reach his heart - that icy, steadied thing that has indeed given itself willingly to monstrous things. he performs merzost and is merzost - and he has infected the lantsov bastard with it as well.

which

is why he is so perturbed in this moment, the emotion written in the furrow of his brow and the twist of his mouth. lantsov is meant to be a beast, sleek and black and falling to mindlessness. he should be suffering, in his punishment. yet, here he stands without a mark upon him. unblemished. ( or so, he thinks, glancing at the gloves on the man's hands, he portrays. ) his own hands, equally bound in leather glove and for reason other than lantsov's, spread evenly. the gesture is a helpless one, though he is anything but. ]

I am older than your family's claim to that throne, Lantsov. Had it been the throne I desired, I would have had it long before you ever existed to wear a crown on your pretty little head. I merely want to make myself known to you. Would you rather agonize over my every move from the beginning, or agonize about what I could have done before you had knowledge that I was even here?

[ either way, it is clear he means to haunt nikolai. it's petty, but what more does he have right now. ]

[reznikolai]

[The Darkling thinks he is meant to be a beast, yet Nikolai thinks he was meant to be purged of that darkness. It was meant to have shriveled and died along with the Darkling and the Fold, and free from those fetters, Ravka was meant to move only forward. He was meant to move only forward, for he is the beating heart of the country he lives to serve.

Instead, in the dark bowels of night the beast unfurls its wings and sharpens its claws. Nikolai loses himself. He loses every time.

He certainly isn't winning now. His hands tighten into half-formed fists within his gloves — fists that unravel as soon as he catches the Darkling's knowing eyes on them.]

I don't suppose you'll tell me what it is that you intend to do to cause me all this agony.

[He succeeds in holding his voice neutral, for the most part. It is the twitch in the muscle at his jaw that gives him away. Then he makes to rise.]

I'm afraid I haven't made much room in my schedule for agonizing. Now if you'll excuse me—

[There is something he can do right now: assist the other passengers as the aircraft plunges toward the ground and fills with billowing clouds of jellyfish. However, Nikolai does not get to say one word more, as suddenly the craft completes its emergency landing. Running out of air to plunge through, they connect with something more solid with quite a lot of metal groaning to go with it. And for all his grace, the king of Ravka sprawls forward to collide with the very person he was hoping to get away from.]

such a shoujo moment

[unsea]

I'm sure you'll find your personal experiences

[ pause ]

inspirational.

[ below his feet, the ship rumbles and quakes. it rips up through his knees and even he must brace himself against the sudden way that the ship dips, the way that the pressure surrounding them plummets and drags his stomach into his throat. to be unaffected, he would have to be much more than he already is - and he is very much. one hand slaps against the nearest wall, pressing against it as he seeks to seize his former seat by the arm, before tumbling to the ground -- and he hits the ground regardless, as Ravka's last heir to the throne collides with him as the craft comes to a sudden, violent stop.

his head bounces off the floor, his ribs compress under the weight of lantsov and he snarls into the man's face the moment the haze clears from his consciousness. around them, the craft cracks and groans mechanically. the darkling spends time blinking blood from his eye, wrenching a leather glove off to be able to press his fingers to the wound at his temple. ]

Get up, [ he bares teeth, elongated canines the only hint of what change has overcome the so-called 'moonblessed' among them: ] And answer me. You know craft like this, what's the most immediate danger?

[ what must he stop, in order to preserve the lives within? is it the engine? the crumbled structure? lantsov's experience is not to be underestimated, and as antagonistic as he is towards him - he knows better than to dismiss good information. ]

doki doki

[reznikolai]

[The Darkling's words are ringing in his head as the craft rumbles around him and he falls in a frenzy of limbs. His knees bang against the floor. His wrist strains in an attempt to slow his momentum by slapping his hand down. His ribs jar against the hard angles of the body crushed beneath him, and his chin crashes into the knob of a shoulder.

When he lifts his head, Nikolai finds himself face to face with the Darkling. Looking into the cruel eyes and sharp mouth of the man who killed his brother and countless more, who would have killed his entire family if allowed to. There is a flicker of satisfaction, petty and vindictive, for the trickle of blood down his face — but overall, this is a view he would rather not linger on.]

I'm going—

[When he tries to push himself up, however, his aching wrist buckles under his weight and he slams into the Darkling's chest all over again. A wince. He must have sprained his wrist in the fall.

And the fall must have addled his brains as well, because he finds himself thinking of how warm the body beneath him is. It comes as a tingling under his skin, this insidious warmth that for a second surprises him into lingering. Then he snatches up his wits. Steadying himself with his uninjured hand, he climbs off of the Darkling. Back on his feet, he cradles his wrist only a moment. It has become second nature to hide weakness.]

The most immediate danger is likely the fuel. Highly flammable and reactive, I'm told. [He nods to where a panel in the ship's wall is sparking.] I wouldn't want to see what happens if a spark gets anywhere near the fuel tanks.

[Nikolai is very glad that he had asked so many questions about the ship he would be boarding. Although the technology is far more advanced than what he knows — a realization like kindling to the fire of his curiosity — he has gained a decent understanding of its basics.]

[unsea]

[ to speak to a king so sharply is his right; he has spent lifetimes serving a lineage that had come to bear this -- bastard. the command is nearly on his lips again, when lantsov fails to take his weight off of him as the craft rattles and creaks around them. then the weight is gone, only to return in a tumble of motion akin to a puppet collapsing as its strings are sliced through. the darkling, still capable of being surprised, lets out a huff of breath as he's shoved unceremoniously back to the ground. the fall must have addled his brain, beacuse he also feels the rush of warmth - it curls through his throat and settles behind his sternum, shocking and painful all at once.

to lose control of himself is -- it is not a thing that happens, yet as lantsov peels himself away, he finds his hand moving to nearly grasp at the other's elbow as the warmth fades and the chill returns to him. it is an obscenity, he thinks, withdrawing his hand to be able to wipe blood from his temple and gingerly feel for where the injury is, so as to not swipe away coagulating blood and re-open the wound. on his feet, he listens for the answer he's demanded and sets to work. a flicker of dark motion, smaller than lantsov but fleeter, that plants a foot against the sparking heap of metal nearest to him

his wrist moving, sharp and precise

to cleave the entire side of the craft from itself with the Cut. he hacks into it, and pushes metal away, severing wire from electric source. ]

Where else?

[ this is what he will do, to prevent further injury to anyone who is still trapped near or within the craft they've shared. he will eliminate the threat, provided that lantsov remains able to direct him. ]

I don't want to see it happen either, so get to work.

right I should wrap this up

[reznikolai]

[His shoulders tense as the Darkling makes use of the Cut — a weapon that in Alina's hands had reassured him, but in the hands of this man, this monster, slices into the sorts of fears he drowns deep within himself. But he has schooled his features into the steeled look of a captain.

As Nikolai explains what details he knows of the craft's construction, and directs the Darkling to isolate and dismantle potential problem areas, it strikes him how well they might have worked together had things been different. But they are as they are. Each holds tight to ambitions which he would release with greater reluctance than he would his own life. And these ambitions were diametrically opposed to the other man's.

In this, however, they are aligned for once. How strange life is.]