prismatica | video;

[ The camera turns on to reveal a young face, currently in transit. It's Rebecca, walking down one of the broad, bright streets of upper Lunatia. She's a little unused to mobile videos, so occasionally she bobs out of frame. You can see her short hair, the pink choker she perpetually keeps wrapped around her neck, and the top of a green baseball tee. It is the nineties, after all.

More of relevance is probably the flushed cheek, the slightly heavier breathing. Iris is in full effect, and it's not giving her a second of mercy. She gathers herself before starting, eyes flicking over the display to make sure everything is set up and working correctly. ]

...you guys really weren't kidding about the effects of these moons. The physical and physiological changes already didn't make any sense, but this is just-- [ She puffs out a breath, shaking her head. ] Maybe there really is some merit to the lunar effect. We have all sorts of old wives' tales back home about how the full moon makes people go crazy, and we've only got one of them.

[ She pauses, glancing up to cross a street. Once across, she flashes an embarrassed smile at the camera. ]

Anyway. That's not what I wanted to talk about. Now that I'm settled in and things seem...peaceful... [ Her expression creases briefly, a nonverbal "for now". ] I was wondering, how do you all fill up your day?

I'll start! I'm Rebecca. [ She gives the camera a little wave. ] I haven't settled on a job yet, so mostly I'm going to the gym or at the cafe if I'm not in my apartment. I love sweet drinks, so it's nice to just relax in the sunshine with a book. I like playing basketball, and piano too, but those sort of fell by the wayside. All that keeps me busy, but when the moon's full, I'm still kinda lacking strategies to...distract myself.

[ It's about the most polite way she can conjure of saying, "Jesus Christ, nobody told me the moon effects were this bad, I'm going out of my mind here." ]

I figure we should all be trying to help each other out, even if it's just with sharing coping mechanisms. I'm always here to help if you need a medic, or even just a sympathetic ear. So...let me know!

weiss;

[ And then, as if by divine providence, a familiar, stylish ponytail of white hair exits a building. Rebecca lowers her phone and squints after her. She's much more put together now, but...yes, it is the girl she'd had that talk with!

Rebecca's wandering route has taken her near to the theatre. Was that where she was going? She's briefly caught in internal debate, not wanting to bother the girl, before managing to push. She breaks into a light half-job and quickly catches up. ]

Weiss?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It does for me and for a few other people, at least.

[ Not that that's ever actually ended up badly for her, somehow. But it was still something she would prefer if it didn't happen.]

Some people are a little more lucky with it than others though.

We just happen to have the bad luck.

[ Considering her life...that tracks. ]

Is training enough to keep things at bay during Iris for you?

[Aqua shakes her head. ]

Not for me. If anything, sometimes trying to train while going through this just makes it worse.

[Of course, there was the other reason why she didn't usually train all that much during the moons. ]

Also, sometimes my body has some additions that throw my balance off almost completely. It makes training even more difficult when that happens.

Right, the transformations...I met someone the other day who grew huge wings. That must really throw off your centre of balance.

I'll just have to deal with it, then.

[ Aqua can't keep the blush off of her face at Rebecca's mention of "dealing with it", and part of her wants to kick herself for where exactly her thoughts were going with that.]

Right. I haven't had to deal with wings myself, but I'm pretty sure tentacles mess up your sense of balance just as badly.

[ Girl, same. She hears it as soon as she says it. Most people here have been nice, but not "do me right after you met me" nice. ]

They do. It doesn't take a lot. I've gotten to see some...pretty extreme mutations back home.

... Your used to transformations like this happening back where you come from? I thought you said you weren't aware of magic before coming here?

Well, 'used to' might me a stretch...there was, um, some bio-engineering happening. People and animals being mutated.

It was all science, not magic. They didn't look nearly as pretty as what we have here.

I... see.

[ That doesn't seem like it should be possible, but it's not like Aqua's much of an expert on science.]

I hope that's not a common thing where you're from, at least.

Not at all. It only happened recently, and it looks like it's only happening where I'm from.

[ For now...but that's further along the timeline. ]

Well... that's good. Though it's not good that anything like that was able to happen at all.

[ Since it was science that would imply that someone or a group of people were deliberately whatever it was that they were doing, but she's not sure if she wants to ask Rebecca if she knows who's responsible. It wasn't like they could do anything about it while they were here. Or that Aqua could do something about it at all.]

[ Also, super traumatic. That as well. She tries to shrug it off, even when an expression of pain crosses her face. ]

There's nothing we can do about it now but try and limit the spread. And bring the people responsible to justice.

Right. Do you know who was responsible for it?

video;

this time with not hitting the wrong button before the tag is finished

incredible work, 10/10

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Late as heck, sorry about that.

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