▶ TDM .017

[prismods]

Tropicana's heat

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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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Comments

[steely]

What a creative threat to use — [ In the end, it is a weapon — softer than an ax above her head, but a weakness he exploits all the same. But perhaps that is what exists at the very heart of love, she thinks — trusting that he will not use that vulnerability to break her. ] — to keep me captive.

[ Strangely — or predictably, for Jude — it rings with pride beneath her sarcasm, with a fondness reserved for these moments. Though Cardan may be the one on his knees, he has still found a way to bind them to one another again.

It's impressive, really, if not a page from her own book. Jude's huff of breath sounds suspiciously like a laugh, the curve of her smile imprinting itself against his mouth as she seals that promise with the searing press of her mouth. As though she can steal them from his tongue and lock them away for safekeeping before they can be taken back. ]

[greenbriar]

[ He's wanted her for so long. In general, in his life -- and also in the specific here and now -- he's wanted her for longer than he can remember. His hands find her shoulders again, then her face, cradling her sea-damp hair as he tilts his face up to meet her mouth with his. There are no onlookers here -- no one to interrupt, to leer, to disturb.

He kisses her like a drowning man, drinking in her smell, her taste, the way her skin feels against his fingers, the heat of her mouth. It feels fitting to be on his knees, in front of all her glory. ]

I have missed you-- [ He speaks the words between breathless kisses, his eyes dark on hers. ] --immeasurably.

And if I must trick you to stay by my side, so be it.

[steely]

[ Loving him is its own prison, a power over her he already possesses. His mouth burns away those words before they can take form, preserving them as her best-kept secret, until there is only the sigh that melts out of her and breathes itself into him.

It's another weakness to crave this so desperately that her fingers tremble against his cheek, that a kiss alone shakes her axis until she's dizzied. It's a weakness she welcomes, all the same, clutching roughly at the nape of his neck as though she may float away if she releases him.

The starving, ravenous way he kisses her tells her he might just fear the same. She forces herself away and straightens to her full height as the revelation shudders through her bodily, lungs burning for air she doesn't care to breathe if it demands separating. Even in the twilight of the corridor, she looks the part of a half-feral creature — all bruised kiss-swollen lips and dark, watchful eyes. ]

Then keep me. [ Cardan may have his vices in wine, but Jude's voice has gone hoarse and thick all at once, intoxicated from his confessions. Addicted to being missed, to being wanted, so perilously by him. ] Tell me how much you've missed me until you've lost your voice, and make me stay.

[ Kiss me until I am sick of it. From her lips, it nearly echoes with the command of a challenge — and beneath it, a need she cannot put into words. ]

[greenbriar]

[ He follows suit, rising to his feet. Sometimes he is keenly aware of the height he has on her, even if she could doubtlessly drop him with nary an effort. Like when he steps into her body, his arm coming up to brace against the hallway wall, catching her in the space between it and him.

Not that he imagines her to be very trapped.

His smile is sharp, hungry. This is how they are, after all: two monsters, bound together by blood and love and fate and betrayal. ]

Shall I show you the letters I've written? The hapless poetry composed in your honour?

[ Is he joking? It's possible, except he's definitely not. The letters are tucked into the same drawer where he keeps his crown.

His free hand traces her cheek, the curve of her lips. The smile fades; for a moment, he just looks at her. ]

...it is difficult for me not to be greedy of you.

[ They both know he is no creature of particular restraint. ]

But-- [ he takes a breath, his hand dropping to his side ] --it has not been long for you, has it?

[ Since she last saw him, he means. ]

[steely]

[ Heat pricks across her skin, uncertain of which is worse — the possibility that he's mocking her, or the traitorous pounding of her heart in response to the possibility that he isn't. Her mouth instantly parts to ask if three months have taught him how to write more than just her name, but the shift in the way he's looking at her —

It draws her up short. Something in her gaze gentles before turning grave.

Fingers curling in the soft linen, she drags him impossibly closer by the shirt, until her back meets solidly with the wall. Every self-preserving instinct she has learned rebels against how she's effectively caged herself, but it makes the statement she wants to convey: she has already chosen to stay of her own will, without any need for tricks or traps. ]

A night. [ Conveniently, she fails to mention that it had taken that same night to flush the sedative they'd given her from her system. ] Long enough to wonder who I would have to go through to find you.

[ Just as he had once bargained for her release despite what it had cost. As she leans into him, the warmth of him chases away the lingering chill of the ocean on her skin, and all of the unwelcome memories of the Undersea it helps evoke. ]

[greenbriar]

[ He closes his eyes; his thoughts are jumbled, scattered. There are a million things he wants to do to her, to tell her, and yet he finds himself momentarily tongue-tied, caught by her closeness. It is his turn, now, to smooth his hands down her sides, her hips, over her arms -- a halting exploration of all the ways in which she is whole. ]

Am I to forever be in your debt?

[ Because he is; in many ways, in many shapes and forms. She is the one who plans, who rescues, who searches.

He... had given up. Oh, he'd thought he'd return home one day, but until that time came, he was content enough to live within the rules he had been given. To miss her unbearably, but impotently, from worlds away.

He knows, with razor-sharp clarity, that she would not have made the same choices.

His hand comes to rest on her head, tender fingers slipping through her hair. ]

I am sorry I did not find you sooner.

[ He lets it hang between them, just for a moment, and then he pulls away just enough to peer into her face. ]

...will you stay here?

[ It's a practical question, not an emotional one; she must have assigned lodgings of her own, and this place is not exactly palatial, but--

But he's anxious to hear her answer regardless. ]

[steely]

[ At his apology, her gaze drifts and remains stubbornly focused on ... his chin. His remorse only serves to remind her of the strange look in his eyes when she had returned from the Undersea, weak and withering, and the days she had spent hoping he might miss her.

It gives her the time she needs to choke down on the emotion that lodges itself in her throat, overwhelming and sudden, and carefully compartmentalize it — tucked away where it can't harm her. Her head tips, subtly welcoming the soft stroke of his fingers through her hair, as though that touch might prevent the past from haunting her. ]

We made an agreement, didn't we? "As long as you remain by my side."

[ Finally, her eyes flit back up, that earlier burst of emotion vanquished from them. Like it had simply been a trick of the light. She holds his gaze, steadfast as ever. ]

I've sworn myself to stay. [ Her mouth feels dry when she adds, after a halting pause, ] If you'll still have me.

[greenbriar]

[ If you'll still have me.

He thinks back to what used to be -- all the ugly things they've said and done to each other, the years of anger, the months of betrayal and lying.

But even all the way back then, maybe there was only ever one answer to that question: ]

Always.