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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

[dj_jiraiya]

I was fortunate enough to have had my music player follow me when I first arrived here. The phones they give us allow for our files to be transferred after some finangling. And uh...

[He looked down at his phone, wagging tail slowly to a slight sway and he sat down on his haunches. He let his arms rest on the edge of the rooftop, his phone playing on the ledge.]

I went home for a bit. At the end of August. Only three days passed by here but I was home for over six months. Got to add to my collection after that and get a new player to hold more.

[He reached over to phone, pulling up the playlist with more music from the 80s on it in a similar vein to Takeuchi.]

You can swipe through that and see what you like. I've honestly got all sorts on there, so we'd be here all day if I listed them all. [he gave a soft laugh here.] From movie soundtracks to 80s idols to... I dunno, Nickelback and stuff.

[chichichi]

[ Hold the phone. ]

You went home? As in, you left and returned voluntarily...?

[ And that's without touching on the professed discrepancy in time, which sees her blinking rapidly in trying to sort that out. Three days here, six months there? Still, she steps forward to join him, wondering. He doesn't sound intensely upset, but he doesn't sound entirely thrilled about his circumstances. She's not about to pass up that invitation, though, coming to stand opposite him with his phone between them. ]

I just arrived in this realm from Tokyo and I've been trying to figure out how to get back since.

[dj_jiraiya]

Not voluntarily.

[He shook his head, slouching a little further. It wasn't that he was upset or thrilled. He was just homesick. It was like a tease. You get to go home, yay... oh wait, you have to come back and you still don't get any say in the matter. He sighed through his nose.]

Sorry, don't know what to tell you. You just... go home one day. I'm from Inaba, although I've lived in Tokyo before. I'm Yosuke Hanamura.

[chichichi]

[ Inaba, huh? She can hear Muchi's trademark laughter in her head and she's quick to banish it. If she had to guess, that's a town in the area of the old province. She's sure a lot has sprang up since she traveled the country freely. ]

Setsura Yamaguchi. It's nice to meet you.

[ She means that. There haven't been a terrible number of positives since she arrived in this place, but she weighs them. She's keeping count. ]

Guess I'll have t'see about doing something about that, though. [ The whole come-and-go thing, and she stretches as she says as much. ] Who knows how many hit singles we're missing out on while we're stuck here.

[ And that might be a hand reaching to give Yosuke's shoulder a squeeze as she turns her gaze over the ledge at the city sprawling before them. She joked, but she gets it. Home is why she's so intent upon finding a way back and she'll suffer neither Heaven, Hell, or gods from some obscure realm in keeping her from it, him, them. No doubt. ]

[dj_jiraiya]

Heh.

[The joke was enough to get a soft bark of laughter from him, the squeeze to his shoulder was comforting as well. He folded his arms over the ledge and placed his snout on them. His tail swayed lightly on the ground, no doubt turning the white fur grey. He wasn't quite used to the upkeep of all that fur yet.]

Well, that's one thing we won't have to worry about. When we go back, it's like we never left. So, we won't miss a thing.

[And no one will miss them, because they'll literally not at all realize they'd been gone.]

1/2

[chichichi]

[ Hold the phone again.

Setsura blinks in turning violet eyes on Yosuke, her expression nothing short of surprised and a bit avian should one happen to squint. Did she hear him correctly? Of course she did. She's nothing if not confident in her hearing, which has always served her well except when it hasn't. Now isn't one of those times, she thinks, but it is certainly something. ]

2/2

[chichichi]

[ She pulls it together. Smooths the surprise from her face and thinks as she regards him.

He seems like an honest kid. There's no reason she can think of that he'd lie to her about this despite that they've only just met, no verbal tic or tone that suggests as much. In fact, she thinks it's just the opposite given his own experience. It's just that outlandish a thing to hear. Sure, she's met gods, spirits, and youkai of all elements and subjects. She's briefly visited the odd realm or two throughout the course of her lifetime in handling business and experienced first hand some measure of discrepancy in time, but for time to be... honestly, she's not entirely sure what it's doing by his account with relation to them. She's good at math, but she's no physicist or time wizard. It just seems too convenient, too good to be true. If time doesn't pass between the time of her abduction and presumably haphazard return, then Sukuna, the tea house, her odd little family are safe and she's not... she's not entirely sure what to do with that, the way her heart clenches and unclenches with the thought. ]

You're sure about this?

[dj_jiraiya]

[It was kind of funny watching this lady’s face change expressions like that. But he waited it out and nodded.]

Unless the whole town was in on some joke, pretending I never disappeared for three months and stuff. My friends are here too, most of ‘em anyway and I know they would’ve said something.

Also, the date never changed. Came back same day I left, probably the same hour or something too.

[chichichi]

That seems unlikely.

[ On all counts, but she's inclined to agree with his initial point. From the way he's speaking, it sounds like he has a pretty healthy social structure built around him. His friends and family would have said something and the government doesn't play about truancy if he was gone during school months. It would have been a big to-do. Missing persons, all that. Like a crime drama. ]

I don't understand how or what purpose this serves, but if that's the way things are, it's preferable.

[ It won't do anything for her indignation, the ache for familiar persons and scenery that's already gripped her heart, but knowing hers are absolutely safe means she can breathe a little easier, can being the keyword here. That doesn't mean she's going to give up finding a way back, of course. Her first thought had been meddlesome gods, but maybe it's some sort of anomaly...? If familiar faces may arrive, it's not a singularity. She leans forward against the ledge, crossing her arms atop it, only to put a pin in that train of thought as the song changes again. ]

So, what now? You're waiting it out?

[ Had Sukuna arrived with her and this knowledge had come to light, she might have considered as much. Maybe. ]

[dj_jiraiya]

Exactly.

[He wasn’t as disliked as he had been during his second year, so he doubted the town would have done something like that. His friends and family for sure wouldn’t do something like that. He could only shrug as he gazed up at her, yellow eyes peering as his ears flickered a bit. Then, he gazed back out at the city.]

For now, yeah. I don’t have much to go on. My friends don’t either. [And some are focusing more on their own lives for now.] I’d like to go home again, but I’m not even sure where to start.

Not to mention all of this [He gestured to himself.] is pretty distracting and hard to live with sometimes even for the few days it happens.

[His paws clenched on the ledge, nails digging into the concrete a little. It was a lot. Like a lot a lot. He didn’t know how the others did it. Sleeping around, multiple relationships, changing body parts, sudden urges and hunger... he let out a breath and slouched, resting his muzzle on the ledge with his ears flattened a bit.]

[chichichi]

[ She listens to Yosuke intently, turning his words over in her head. She's got a good idea where to start and she might have pitched the Lunar Scientia had he not drawn attention to his transformation and his difficulty with it. The scientists at the moon base had explained that the Moonblessed might receive strong "blessings" from one of the three moons. "Moonblessed" indeed from his words, his tone, his posture, and her mind runs straight to the idea of meddling gods yet again and how much simpler this could all be if it were a matter of straightening them out. Then again, it could be that much messier. Abductions, involuntary "blessings" --

'They'd better not dare.'

That posture she knows well from so many decades spent in Kureno's company, though, and Setsura doesn't hesitate in turning and taking a large step to bridge the gap between them. Doesn't hesitate in lifting her hands and reaching to search out that spot she knows to be behind those ears of his and simply scritch, prepared to adjust speed and arch as necessary. ]

Change is one of the few guarantees in this life. How long do you have left?

[dj_jiraiya]

[His ear immediately flicked up, eyes widening when he realized right then what she was intending to do.]

H-Hey w-...mmmmh.

[Yosuke leaned into the touch, head tilting as his eyes relaxed and he huffed softly in contentment. He wasn't a dog, lady! But damn, that felt really nice. The warmth of the chroma made him want to melt and, indeed, he suddenly found himself bodily leaning into the much shorter woman. He was mindful not to lean too much and knock her over given he was almost two feet taller than her when standing up. Combined with the city pop playlist coming out of his phone, he resigned himself to this. Besides, he was feeling better.]

Mm... day after tomorrow I'll be back to normal.

[chichichi]

[ That's better. For him, for her -- that's Setsura's initial thought when he leans into her touch, fingers arching just so in their continued scritching to work the angle well. That, and a small measure of surprise at the warm energy flowing through her fingers, how pleasant that sensation, because while she'd gotten the run down at the moon base, she hasn't exactly engaged up to this point between dealing in the unexpected abduction and post-abduction affairs and repelling the occasional violent marine life en route to Lunatia. She feels better in that instant where she'd felt even more tired than usual during the trek and it makes her wonder, has she been energy deficient this entire time...?

She'd been off, sure. Being spirited away to another realm could have some bizarre effects and consequences on a person's body and spirit, so she'd kept her energy, her abilities close to her chest. Hyped up on adrenaline to start, with everything in between, though, it seems obvious now and it's something she files away to figure and sort immediately for the sake of her safety and health. As mindful as he is in leaning, she's not in any sort of immediate danger right now, though, except, perhaps, from something like a cuteness overload. ]

There. That's not so bad, is it?

[ Not that she's going to be stopping with the scritches just yet. It's a selfish little indulgence steeped in reciprocity and there's something frankly precious about the good boy enjoying them even if he isn't a dog. ]

[dj_jiraiya]

[He makes a sort of rumbling noise, a pleased rumble from his chest, as the scratches continue against that spot by his ear. He really doesn't want to acknowledge what he's doing, even if he probably should. Kanji seemed to accept what he was and was practically thriving in his wolf form, got tons of shit figured out. Along with having an Iris for a girlfriend and he was pretty sure them disappearing for these three days during the triple moon meant a lot of action.

Not that he really wanted to think about it, that's their business and he has been trying to lay off being pervy with his thoughts. This place kind of overloaded him with all that anyway, which meant it was actually a lot easier to not be so, well, perverted? It was odd and kind of a welcome change given that was usually the reason for his bad karma aside from his foot in mouth problem.

His head tilted a little further into her fingers and without really realizing it, his paws rested on the ground between his feet and were anyone to join them on the roof Yosuke would look just like a rather large white wolf sitting next to a petite woman, leaning against her even.]

No... I guess not.

[His tail was even wagging, gently swishing on the ground with a quiet noise.]

[chichichi]

[ There it is. When his tail starts wagging, Setsura knows she's hit the mark and she keeps at that spot, enjoying the contact, the warmth flowing through her fingers. Chroma aside, it's different than when she's with Kureno, she thinks, and that's fine. He and Yosuke are two different people, after all. ]

You've got a playlist or two for this sort of thing, don't you? You could always try to sleep through some of it, too.

[dj_jiraiya]

I can’t sleep that long, but staying at home isn’t so bad. Just gets lonely.

[Yes, he had a playlist or two. More like way too many and growing with the addition of Lunatian music. But while he could listen to music at anytime, anyplace, it didn’t mean that’s how he wanted to spend his days.]

[chichichi]

[ After seven, going on eight decades of life in her present form, one might think Setsura would remember that not everyone can sleep the way she does, nor does everyone aspire to sleep as much as she does. She makes a note of it, pausing as she considers his words. Truthfully, it's none of her business; and yet -- ]

I claimed an apartment on the top floor here, [insert specifics here]. Don't know how often I'll be there. I've got some things to look into at the Lunar Scientia, but the door's open to you.

[ She might just be leaning into him a little bit now. Just a little. ]

[dj_jiraiya]

[He could feel that lean and it made him feel... odd. Not in a bad way, he just didn't expect someone to open up to him like that so soon.]

Oh, um... thanks. Y-You too. [insert specifics here.] I work at a restaurant not far from here so I'm not gonna always be home too. But most of the time I am.

[chichichi]

I'll keep that in mind.

[ A restaurant, huh? She's utterly unbothered by her own leaning. It's a simple gesture that had felt right a moment ago and it feels no less right now; though, she doesn't miss that stutter. Wonders if, perhaps, she made him a little nervous, but he didn't pull away or shun the scritches she's keeping up and there's no point in making a big deal out of something that isn't. ]

So, how did you upload you library into the communication device they gave us? I've got my phone here. Wonder if that'd work, too.