prismaticrap | ▶ TDM .017

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You awaken amidst the darkness with only a faint light to greet you. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. After an hour or two of wandering through the crystal wilderness, a group of people find you worse for wear. They are the gallant Moon Knights from the planet of Prismatica. Because of the strange phenomena during the past months when scientists observed the sudden appearance of rainbow crystals in the sky, the government has been feverishly combing through the moon for more Moonblessed to be rescued. You’ll eventually be brought into Iris’s moon government center.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They tell you about their world and about the first appearance of the Moonblessed as the medical staff give you an examination to make sure you’re not carrying any viruses or biological hazards. If you react violently, you may be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. Once the examinations are over, you’re informed that you will be provided accommodations on their planet during your stay. You will then be escorted to the docks, and led onto a large transport vessel that makes frequent trips back and forth between the Iris moon and the planet. Faces onboard vary from both old and new Moonblessed as well as the local Prismals.

The next destination: Prismatica.

▶ Welcome to the Jungle
07/08 - 07/15 | Iris Moon, Government Center (Arrival) and Planet Prismatica, City of Lunatia | top

Welcome to Prismatica’s hub, Lunatia, the city of your dreams! A bustling metropolis lush with bright lights, vibrant colors, luxuriant plant life, and all the conveniences of technology absent from your own world… It seems like paradise to all the uninitiated. After a quick tour of the city, new arrivals can find themselves getting cozy in their new homes.

A Settle in your new home at Level 2 to find new roommates and say hello to your neighbors! City officials will give you directions to the designated districts across Level 2 and instruct you to pick out a unit. Each apartment complex has a different aesthetic, some may look cozy, some stylish, and some bizarre. The free accommodations have a basic living space that can only fit two or three people at most in one unit.

Starter Chromaspace furnishings are provided which can be controlled with the touch of a built-in panel. Examples are color-changing curtains, transforming sofa beds, cabinets turning into tables, etc. Customizing your apartment or moving out will have to wait until you earn more chroma. Until then, why don’t you check out your new neighborhood or explore the city levels? Maybe your new roommates or neighbors can give you a “hand” with allowance for dinner.

▶ You’re as Cold as Ice
07/08 - 07/15 | Level 2, Crystal Beach | top

Summer strikes Lunatia with record high temperatures as the city is wracked by an unnatural heatwave. Residents will feel the burn the moment they head outdoors, kissing their skin pink as it drenches them in sweat. For a hot and sticky day like this, it's the perfect time to head to Crystal Beach for a refreshing dip in the water. All sorts of new stands have popped up by the shore, selling icy treats and frozen cocktails.

The morning news recommends befriending those blessed by Cordis, who can keep people cool with their magic touch. They also warn of overheating machinery and electronics! Establishments and residences may end up dealing with broken air-modulating units if they use them too much.

Having cleared their names, Suzaku and Kaya of former *BTSB fame have decided to reform as a rock band duo called The Nine Tails after leaving their boyband roots. They will be performing their most chill new summer jam, “Fox Girl Summer,” while incorporating Cordis magic of their own to keep the listeners feeling cool and refreshed.

B Those listening to Kaya and Suzaku’s summer anthem might find their beats too chill to relax and party to. And by that, we mean literally. Ice may start to form around the limbs of happy local beachgoers, filling them with unfortunate shivers that will send them running into the arms of another Prismal to thaw. Even more troubling is that some portions of the oceanfront may also start to freeze, trapping some unsuspecting swimmers inside and leaving them in need of rescue. If anyone goes unnoticed, a Prismal lifeguard will be quick to rescue them.

In a panic, Kaya winks at Suzaku, who reassures his worried partner and ends their performance by summoning a mighty phoenix above the stage. Of course, it is only an illusion for the audience as Kaya thaws the partygoers and the ocean with his magic. Suzaku might have gotten carried away with their debut...

▶ Boom, Badoom, Boom, You Got that Super Bass
07/08 - 07/15 | top

The heated beach waters have brought a large onslaught of aggressive super bass close to the shore. Needless to say, the boys with the booming system were not ready for the sudden and alarming increase in population of this particular fish. In response, the beach committee is hosting a fishing competition to see who can catch the largest super bass. They will be providing extremely durable fishing gear and sufficient bait to all worthy competitors, so come to the Crystal Pier with your best fishing know-how and try and break a record or two!

Due to the competition, job openings for lifeguards have become available. Their main task is to keep an eye on participants and the audience. They should be ready to pull them out in case they have trouble swimming back to the pier. Lifeguards will be provided official beach committee high-tech swimsuits (in the form of tankinis and speedos of your choice) that enhance their performance by allowing them to swim faster and breathe more easily underwater. In the dark ocean depths, they glow with patterns easily recognizable to the Prismal eye. They also accentuate the Moonblesseds’ assets very nicely.

C Although they are no different from sea bass in appearance, super bass are known for their monstrous strength and penchant for mischief. They like to fly in the air and slap whoever tries to catch them and their fellow fish with their tail fins. You think you like them better when they dolo? Think again. These fish will purposely grab a hold of something eye-catching such as rainbow-colored sea pearl or other treasures from the ocean and pull the unsuspecting fishers into the watery depths.

▶ Put on Your Red Shoes and Dance the Blues
07/08 - 07/23 | City of Amegahara | top

The city of Amegahara is in preparation for the annual Vulpus Astra Celebration which is coming up in a few weeks. This year is special as the foxes of Amegahara have never celebrated this occasion with the dragons of Lyestellus, making it the first time all three cities in the alliance will be celebrating together. This is all thanks to the Moonblessed, who not only healed their lands but also brought the Prismals closer.

And so for this special year, the upcoming event promises to be an even larger and more extravagant affair. In order to address the extremely high demand for traditional dress and other materials needed for the celebration, many job openings become available in Amegahara. Among these are tailors, glassblowers, florists, and dancers.

D The tailors will be sewing traditional clothes, such as lovely-patterned yukata, kimono, haori, and obi. Glassblowers will create pearl glass plates, cups, and trinkets such as hair accessories and festive souvenirs. Florists will be heading to work at Inari Highway’s greenhouses, caring for flowers and putting together flower crowns, colorful bouquets, and floral arrangements to use for street and interior decorations. It is encouraged to make use of pearl glass vases!

Lastly, dancers will be auditioning for a group of strict Amegaharan foxes who will not shy away from hurling insults if you underperform. The traditional Amegaharan dance features many layers of intricate fan work that is difficult to master, or dancers can choose to take part in the more uproarious Amegaharan drum dance. Be prepared for long and grueling rehearsals after passing auditions, where you will be forced to partner up with one another to bend each other’s bodies as flexibly as it could then dance until every single person in the room has the movements and timings memorized perfectly. Moonlacing will keep one another from collapsing in exhaustion, but your bruised ego may require more tender care.

▶ Questions

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[ Zuko may not seem to want his new toy — it takes more than that for him to show any obvious signs of excitement — but indeed it's the first thing he shoves at the cashier once the man's done bagging Sypha's things. He doesn't know why he wants it, exactly; he can make his own fire, after all. But whether he knows it or not, Sypha's got a good line of thinking about magic draining chroma here; he never had to worry about that at home. But there was the time after he switched sides when he lost his firebending, because it had been fueled by his rage to capture the Avatar, which was then lost when he decided to help him instead — and theoretically, that could happen again under this new situation. His thinking definitely isn't geared in that direction, though — not yet. He saw a tacky flamed thing and liked it, was surprised to see it actually made fire and liked it even more, and on a whim decided that it was worth what little money he had. He found this system very stupid — if he came up short, in theory in that same moment he could just touch Sypha, or even the cashier, to get more money. What's the point of that? He shook his head with a small frown at this annoying thought as he shoved the final thing of beef jerky at the cashier, and glanced at his total. More than he'd imagined, but — he had touched two (2) people today (or rather, they'd touched him, Sypha being one of them, both in attempts to comfort his sudden anger), and he had just barely enough to cover it all. Fine by him. He was relieved he wasn't embarrassed by coming up short and wouldn't need to steal anything — at least not just yet, not today, and not in front of Sypha. It could come to be a necessity even by tomorrow, though — which was less fine by him. He could endure poverty again, he figured, but he'd rather not go back to stealing, not after all his philosophical reorientation over the past few months. But hey, if it came down to it, food was food, and drastic times call for drastic measures.

But thankfully, not so drastic in this moment, and the boy collected his bag without issue. He locked eyes with Sypha and gave a nod — done. He starts to head toward the door, but as he walks out, is already digging in the bag to find his cool new lighter to play with. And he does just that as soon as they step outside. Flick, flame, flick, flame, flick, flame... Inexplicably entrancing. Sometimes it's the little things in life... The whisper of a smile passes over his face as he watches the flame a moment longer, before releasing and shoving it in his pocket, looking back to Sypha with a silent sort of "now what" implication. ]

...well, Prince. Now that that's taken care of, what's next for you?

[Took the words right out of her mouth, Zuko. She's tickled by his fixation on the lighter, keeping her own in her bag, and she almost notices an absolute ghost of a smile across his face and feels fulfilled. She wants to leave wherever she goes and whoever she sees better than she found them, and it's small victories like this that dull the stress of everything around her.

But the sun has fallen beneath the horizon, and as illuminating (heh) as this night has been, she doesn't imagine he'll be keen on her following him around for much longer. She knows exactly what she's doing here — she's giving him an out, if that's what he wants. She'll walk back with him to his apartment, sure, and she'll be checking in on her angry little revolutionary, but he's gotta go home to eat all that dried meat sooner or later.

She also doesn't have much of anything planned, so she'd also be fine with going back to watch the dancers for a little while longer.]

[ Zuko shrugs, not really sure of the answer. He hasn't known the answer to that question all day. He hadn't even picked out an apartment yet, truth be told. He didn't pay full attention in a lot of the explanations; he didn't even go on his welcome tour; he didn't visit the apartment complex or find a roommate... Boy just took off first chance he got and started losing it.

Comparatively speaking, Sypha would leave him better off than she'd him, indeed. In the morning, after his arrival, he'd been so infuriated, confused, afraid, all of it, that he'd lost control of his bending when he lost control of his temper, and accidentally started a small trash fire in some alley. Ended up screaming at the poor girl who'd helped him put it out, too... Likewise, he'd spent the noontime arguing with some weird, snobby rich kid on the beach who'd just came for him, read him to filth for no reason, wouldn't believe anything he said and mocked him openly, just like— the worst asshole to waste his time and emotion on, but waste it Zuko did. And even then, too, he'd ended up so angry over it he accidentally breathed fire when shouting back and scared the shit out of the guy. The fact that his small meltdown in the alley with Sypha not long ago had been a non-flammable incident was a real testament to how well the woman had managed to temper the boy, somehow. Some people just have that effect, perhaps...? ]

I dunno. ...Maybe eat and watch the drums, if they're still going...

[Zuko. Zuko. Now is not the time to throw caution to the wind and proclaim "fuck it, hobo prince." If Sypha knew half of this shit, she'd pull him by the ear back to her apartment and grant him domain over the couch. What is it with the men she knows and never sleeping in beds?

She's a little surprised that he doesn't say that he wants to be alone. Not out loud, at least. She might as well offer, then, right? This will be good for him. Take his mind off everything else after what's surely been a long day.]

Need the way back?

[She nods and flashes her device up at him, since he apparently doesn't have the strongest hold on Prismaps yet and they took a few turns to get here. Wouldn't want this angry teenager to get lost wandering an unfamiliar part of the city.]

[ Look, prince life is behind him, okay, Sypha — hot chip life, here we come... He'll eventually return to the apartments and choose a room at random by the end of the night, just somewhere to crash, but he's still trying to keep it in his head that maybe, by some miracle, he'd only need the room for tonight. Selecting an apartment made all this too real and solidified the hopelessness of the situation. If he kept pretending he could escape — even if it's not in the next 24 hours — it felt maybe he... could will it to be. Or at least just stave off another freakout till the next day.

In fact, the boy had had plenty of alone time throughout the day, and clearly stewing in his thoughts wasn't helping him much, based on how she'd found him. Whether he'd admit it or not, to himself or to Sypha, he actually didn't want to be alone just yet. It was the first social interaction all day that had gone, by Zuko-standards, well, well... All the others — even with other nice people — had exploded in his face somehow by the end of it. After all, this is a traumatic experience happening in the middle of his own traumatic experience, and he was pretty moody even before that ~~cuz of his other various traumas oh my god bb~~, so socializing wasn't exactly coming easily through all this. And at the end of the day, despite all his lived experiences far beyond his years, Zuko is a sensitive, scared, sixteen-year-old boy. He's had far too much alone time throughout his life, let alone now as a stranger in a strange world. He may not be so tuned into this himself — but if he wanted to leave, he would. Pointedly, probably. Tends to be his style.

He nods and lets her lead the way back, keeping to her left as they walk, unscarred side of his face toward her. He may appreciate the company still, but he's quick to find himself hard up for conversation starters. But at least the silence isn't so awkward. ]

Edited 2020-07-17 02:15 (UTC)

[Sypha mostly keeps her eyes on her map, watching her marker take the turns back to the plaza as her feet take her there. Every now and then she looks up to make sure Zuko is still following her, noticing there's something a little different in the way he carries himself. It's small comfort after a rough day and the panic that's sure to come by the end of the day tomorrow, but it's comfort nonetheless.

After a moment, she turns back and looks over her shoulder at him.]

So...do you have a name?

[Not that she hates calling him Prince, but it seems in poor taste given the events of the day.]

[ That snaps the boy out of his revery, and he'd in fact completely forgotten he declined to give his name to her. By this point, he figured it didn't matter — and "Lee" probably didn't need to make any cameos. Even if he did, Sypha is already so in the loop, it'd be pointless. ]

Ah, right — sorry... It's Zuko.

Zuko, huh...

[She briefly takes a moment to scour her mental archives, see if she can place it anywhere on the map, but she realizes that her "map" has been essentially obliterated. He's from an entirely different universe with different languages and etymology. Of course.]

Well, it's been nice to meet you, Zuko. If it had only been under more...pleasant circumstances.

Yeah...

[ The tone in his voice is searching. What else can he say? It's true. But even if they'd met at his home — he couldn't even say then it would have been under more pleasant circumstances. Come to think of it... have there ever really been pleasant circumstances for him to meet new people under? Ever? Maybe his time living under cover as a fugitive refugee under a false identity in enemy territory, secretly working at a tea shop with his uncle while warrants were out for both their arrests back home, but uh. Does that count as pleasant? Comparatively to nearly three years exiled at sea, it did, but by normal standards, probably not. The at-first-innocent thought sank him back into a darker mindset momentarily... What was he really leaving behind at home, in that light? What kind of life? Even his happy memories weren't happy. But an existential crisis wasn't needed on top of, well, his myriad other crises right now, so he tries to shake the thought away by reaching into his shopping bag for a swig of tea.

Which he's not pleased with. Alien equivalent of Lipton or Arizona doesn't count as real tea in his world — it barely counts as real tea in its own world... He's been spoiled by his uncle's passion for quality tea, even if he doesn't share the enthusiasm. He doesn't spit the sip out, but he makes his dissatisfaction known. ]

Blegh! This isn't green tea! It's so sweet! And bland! How can it taste flavorless and bad at the same time?

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▶ TDM .017

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i'm down to continue if you are! didn't you mention she bought pizza as well?

i'd be down! time for a pizza party

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