anonymous text post

[peerlesscucumber]

Chroma, Moonlacing, and You

a breakdown by Anonymous for the Moonblessed
Congratulations! You're now on the planet Prismatica, in the city of Lunatia, population: Prismals and Moonblessed. (That's you!) What do you want to know about Chroma, Moonlacing, and your survival in this place?

What is Chroma?

To recap what the Lunar Scientia should have said when you were processed, Chroma is a form of energy that we, the Moonblessed, generate. In Prismatica's history, Chroma was also produced through various means on world, but since the Calamity, Prismatica has only been processing energy crystals for demichroma to keep things working. Demichroma is both a less powerful form of energy and the standard currency throughout Lunatia, and is what any person working in the city will be paid in. Weird enough yet? It gets weirder.

Why should I care about Chroma?

You should care because if your body's Chroma levels fall too low, you'll begin crystalising. You need direct infusions of Chroma to reverse the process, and the only way of getting that Chroma is through moonlacing.

If your body loses all Chroma, you will completely crystalise and die. This should be difficult. Should be! If you're feeling horrible, take at least one hand held out to you so you don't get to this point. See What happens when we die? for more information.

What the fuck?! Why do I lose Chroma?

Chroma is a form of energy. It seems like it may be linked with your life energy here on Prismatica. Living your life means burning energy, and now you don't only use the energy of food or whatever the fuck usually keeps you functioning, but also use Chroma in order to stay functional on this world.

You lose Chroma because you burn it up like any other energy source by existing. Which is why you need to moonlace for more Chroma to stay active and healthy.

Be warned, Moonblessed! You can burn through Chroma faster by doing any of the following:

• participating in any non-moonlacing related physical activities that take a lot of normal energy;
• using any special or advanced abilities you may have (magic, superpowers, energy manipulation, psychic abilities, any and everything, even whatever you're thinking about now, probably);
• or being under the influence of outside forces. Are you influenced by the Cordis moon? Sorry, Moonblessed, but you may find your Chroma consumption goes up whenever your moon's in phase! Have you been drugged with Glow? Welcome to your new energy vampire urges!

It's fucked, we know.

Then what is Moonlacing?

When one Moonblessed and another Moonblessed come into physical contact, they generate Chroma. Think of it as a reaction that naturally occurs when two Moonblessed come into contact and maintain that contact, though it does not appear to work well or at all in instances of senseless violence or force. Sparring is a different matter, but punching someone for no reason or choking them for Chroma if they're not into breath-play and haven't given consent is not going to work.

Moonlacing is the name for this process of Chroma generation between two Moonblessed. No one knows what the fuck is up with it, only that it happens, and can be measured for how much Chroma-energy is generated at a time. Chroma is weird, because you need it to live, and yet it also is credited as "energy" you've added to Prismatica... and since energy is money here, it's money you've earned.

Now, Chroma that you naturally lose seems like it's absorbed by the world around us, or by some technology the Prismals in Lunar Scientia use, or maybe both or something else, which is how it's out there getting measured by Lunatia. Chroma you consume directly to use any abilities you have does not get released out into the world, but still appears to be counted as currency "earned" at time of moonlacing. This Anon doesn't understand it either. Financial records are visible and yet still mysterious.

How do you Moonlace?

Any way you can imagine that isn't rejected by one or more people involved. Two things of importance to note:

1. Moonlacing does not require direct skin contact.
2. Moonlacing will always feel good, but that does not mean all moonlacing will feel arousing. (Arousing can be of any associated emotion, okay! Any emotion! Any emotion!)

Addendum: While moonlacing is necessary, we advise you only moonlace with people you find tolerable. We advise against forcing yourself to moonlace with people you can't stand.

Forms of moonlacing contact can include, but are not limited to:

• Napping on or in physical contact with someone. (Also ideal when you have a full animal moonphase form.)
• Clasping a shoulder or upper arm.
• Holding hands.
• Brushing each other's hair.
• Shoulder massages.
• Wrestling.
• Supporting your drunk friend home. Or at least out of the bar.
• Carrying someone.
• Hugging.
• Cuddling.
• Snuggling. (Is there a difference between this and cuddling? This Anon just does not know.)
• Leaning shoulder to shoulder.
• Kissing foreheads, cheeks, hands, anywhere really.
• Everything remotely sexual does too. I'm not making that list for you. Sexy Anons out there can make that list for you!

The take away point is this: moonlacing is necessary to keep your chroma levels high enough so that you don't crystalise and die. So don't be a fool: moonlace. Survive. Those who want to go home under their own choice are only going to have that chance if they don't kill themselves along the way.

Can Moonlacing help heal?

For those who participated in recent tournament events, the answer appears to point toward "yes." However, it should be noted that increasingly more intimate levels of moonlacing were better at helping bodies recover quickly: kissing provided more than hands held over wounds, but massaging helped muscle aches, embraces helped generate enough Chroma for people's natural abilities to take control, and so on.

Short of something incredibly ill advised with someone suffering fatal injuries, moonlacing is not enough to save you when you're already dying. Talk to Prismals, and they'll tell you even in their general knowledge, "healing" was for minor injuries. It's what all those kisses exchanged before people swaggered out onto the arena were about, and all the hugs from Daddy Dearest before we went down. Moonblessed seem to be able to heal more than minor injuries with enough moonlacing, but it is not! Enough! To prevent you from dying if you've lost all your chroma already. Understood?! Don't go testing this out!

What happens when we die?

When you die, either because you used all your Chroma or because you managed to kill yourself or get yourself killed... your corpse is encased in crystal. Just your corpse. You're movable by anyone who can manipulate the crystal sculpture you've turned into, and as this Anon has been assured, the Prismals will take care of the crystal body if your friends don't want to.

But wait! There's more! Like everything else here, it gets weirder. After enough chroma has slowly seeped back into your body... you resurrect. Not entirely okay, but at least you're not fucking dead because you fucking died.

Prismals find nothing weird about this. Crystalising when you die is normal here. The not normal part is coming back out of the crystal, which if you remember waking up on the moon? Sounds like the same fucking process.

What happens when we disappear?

Great question. No idea. Does anyone have an answer from Lunar Scientia about this?

---

This is "as accurate as it can be right now," which means if you have information to add, comment for Anon to update. If you have questions, ask and this Anon or any of the other people reading can speak up and try to answer.

A question for anyone who knows: is there any noted increase in overall moonlacing if more than two people are involved in an act of moonlacing?

[ What follows is an audio version of this post with a big, green play arrow for anyone who doesn't read; it will narrate this post and replies in a voice oddly similar to Samuel L. Jackson. ]

Comments

text

[codecmoment]

Thank you for the newbie primer! Hopefully there is a way to pin messages to the network, or at least folks can circulate this.

I did not know about the death thing, and I find that more terrifying than death just... being that.

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

Might be easiest to forward to newbies when they show up. Even if it was pinned, enough people have never dealt with tech like this.

It means death isn't an end here. Most prisons you can escape with that kind of end sentence. Not here.

text

[lifehacker]

can confirm moonbless touch helps heal
DM me if you're >20 and want Chroma
i'll give you the good shit

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

Thanks for the confirmation.

Are you really using this post for hook-ups or

Well, you're in the spirit, so... thanks!

Anon text

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Oh, thank you anon! I knew some of this stuff but having it in one place makes it easier for me to remember, and to explain it to others!

I heal, so I can also confirm that magic shares with your chroma.

5ever anonymous friends

[peerlesscucumber]

Welcome, welcome, glad if it helps.

So you've noticed that in your healing? Just to confirm. Getting a number of different people's insights into their abilities seems helpful when there's no saying if it all feels or presents the same for everyone.

voice;

[bailian]

That's not true.

[ For such a seemingly combative comment, it's obvious that what's said isn't meant to provoke a fight. There's no irritation, nothing that resembles that particular edge that follows before an argument breaks out. If anything these words sound quietly unsettled. ]

If you don't want it- [That intrusive feeling any contact gives off.] It doesn't feel good at all.

[ But a certain touch averse half-demon does take issue with the assumption that Moonlacing is a universally good experience.

Something can give a gratifying sensation, even in the most innocent sense, from the feel of a breeze to the warmth of a hot bath. But pleasant connotations have no obligation to stem from anything that feels pleasurable simply because those nerves have a response. Least of all when it happens without explicit permission the moment contact occurs with anyone at all, for any reason. ]

[protomateria]

[ he's not here, but hard agree. ]

( text )

[nihonkoku]

That's actually helpful to know about death. I was a bit concerned that I could die here, but if I'll be resurrected anyway, I suppose things will be fine back home.

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

That may be true but as someone who prefers not to have people dying regardless of coming back please don't fucking test this out. I'm sure everyone who knows you will prefer that you not flirt with resurrection, crystal encasing is not a good look! Absolutely not a good look!

[wildsorcery]

You come back after dying??

[peerlesscucumber]

Yes. You do.

1/4

[fashionicon]

toler

[ Someone pressed enter too soon. ]

[fashionicon]

whydeosnthiswaitfor

voice | this was inevitable and he hates it

[peerlesscucumber]

If the process is truly the same, it might indicate how it is that those brought here wake at different times, all in the same manner on the moon. Perhaps a natural, slow building of chroma is responsible.

As for the rest, this one would clarify that even when one is dying [ he says this so very, very carefully ] moonlacing will attempt to heal. It simply will not succeed if the injuries are too great, and the need for chroma too large.

[ Another pause, and then a slight clearing of his throat. Why did he end up talking about that part. That's the part that's... fuck. ]

I appreciate the addendum. Also... echo words stated earlier. While the associated sensations are compulsory, it's a physical sensation unrelated to one's personal feelings. Clarifying a difference may help demonstrate that while there is an intensity to touch which may be entirely unique to this world, it does not change a person's mental state. Your heart remains your own.

[ Until the moon cycles kick in, and then it gets harder to make things clear, but this isn't about moon cycles! He's sorry, Luo Binghe, for arguing with you earlier......... as Anon.......................... ]

text | 5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

[ hi self how you doing ]

I don't know, that's a question better for Lunar Scientia. Feel free to bring it up with them or any of the Moonblessed working with them.

Are you recommending another addendum, then? And if so, for which portions? I don't know that it needs to be mentioned that healing happens but fails to help, but if you think that'll help dissuade people from making unwise decisions...

If you and the other person think the difference needs to be clarified when it comes to what physical contact generates as a "sensation," that's fine. I want to check, is that indeed what you're saying?

[ He won't respond to himself until Luo Binghe has responded to... himself. No, wait, him. Argh! How did this happen?! ]

text

[holycurse]

Thank you very much for this informational message. Everything seems very sensible when you put it this way!

Are you saying death isn't permanent here, though? Wouldn't that mean everyone is functionally immortal?

[peerlesscucumber]

[ functionally immortal in the STUPIDEST WAYS EVER please xie lian don't. don't say it like that! people will read this and be dumbasses! it's inevitable! ]

Death isn't permanent as long as two conditions appear to be met: they're capable of slowly recovering chroma from the world, which means that other Moonblessed around around and producing chroma, and second, they don't disappear in the process. I don't have an answer for where disappearing people have gone, but I know that people have been here then disappeared, out of contact. You can see at least one example in the past on this feed.

So... yes, they are, but not free from experiencing the full pain and effects of death. Who knows how long each resurrection takes? Who knows what multiple resurrections might do to a body, or a mind? We don't have that information. I don't recommend we trying gathering it either.

text;

[bratworth]

Surely one cannot classify this crystallization as true 'death' if it is possible to recover from it.

[peerlesscucumber]

Was Frankenstein alive when he was simply stitched together body parts? When he had no pulse? No brain activity? No breath in his lungs? Before the lighting struck the pole and went shooting down to his table, sending electricity through that collection of organs and skin and bones?

You're going to need to give me your definition of true "death" if you think that just because you can resurrect means you didn't "die" in the first place.

text ∞

[tartes]

So the rules don't respect a firm belief in personal space. Good to know... I guess.

[ Funny how the gripe seems more aimed at part of an institution than at the people comprising it. ]

I think I do have questions. What's the Calamity? And does chroma happen anywhere else in the universe, like with a different name? I'm kind of interested in its alive-again properties, or different versions of it in other worlds. Like without the crystal stuff or with different rules.

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

As a culture, Lunatia seems to have little concept of personal space. It's not surprising to find that extends to what allows us to co-exist here. Not to say it's convenient—it's not. It's consistent, though.

Ah, the Calamity... the best information you'll get for details is by heading to the library at Lunar Scientia. The earliest Moonblessed arrivals should be able to say something about how the city commemorates the event, but a short version has to deal with the battle between a dragon god and ??? hard for this Anon to say. Either way, at the point when Lunatia was rebuilding some two hundred years ago in the aftermath of this Calamity, the Moon Knights held off this god and the city itself was saved. So the Calamity, such as it is, was what changed the landscape of Prismatica, and may be when Chroma stopped being naturally produced.

As for that, can't say. I don't know that in anything I've read so far that intra-solarsystem travel provides sources of Chroma. If anything, Chroma might be something tied into more active living systems, where Demichroma is more inert ones... if that's the right word to describe a crystal. Could Chroma exist elsewhere in the universe? Sure. Could it have another name? Sure. I don't believe current Lunatian technology allows them that far reach, and their own energy complications would help guarantee the farthest they go is between their city and the moons above. Right now. Maybe they went further in the past. Maybe they're planning to go further once they have better stable energy resources.

[ hastag moonblessed. ]

If I was blindly guessing, I'd say its properties are not unique in all the universes, but that the means of our being brought here has made it something we all reflect. This Anon heard nothing from Prismals claiming they wake from their final crystal forms, but they also don't have a capacity for Chroma production or storage. Maybe the crystal is a protective measure... certainly makes for different funeral practices here. No one decays.

anon throwaway un: dragon.daddy

[yakiniku]

I fear a friend of mine has disappeared. Let me know if you find out what happens to people like him. I am worried.

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

This Anon can make inquiries, though I also invite anyone who already has to share if they know. Regardless, would you like this username contacted if information surfaces?

text

[onerous]

[This is all very discouraging to someone like Yuri, and she stares for a few minutes in dismay, reading and re-reading it.

The answer's been the same every time she asks this question, but she figures she'll try again:]

And there aren't any alternatives to being physical with someone in order to moonlace?

My abilities make touching people difficult. I don't want to upset people or hurt them.

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

[ He's sorry, Yuri! ]

As far as this Anon knows, there isn't.

Do your abilities work through layers between skin? Or have an effect on the mind or body which can be mitigated? It may be a case of also seeing if we can find a means of helping your abilities not overwhelm those you'd be comfortable working with... because by no means is it your fault that something difficult is being asked, and that you care about not upsetting or harming people.

For example, the dampening bracelets and anklets from the tournament in the Lightless didn't inhibit moonlacing, but they did inhibit abilities. Would something like that be helpful for you?

video;

[sheisthewind]

[Kagura's not even bothering with trying to text anon. Forget that noise.]

This is interesting. Why hide your identity, though?

text | 5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

This Anon's identity isn't as important as the information. Anyone can contribute more information as we learn more, or are better able to understand this process. Tying it to one name would make a false expert out of this Anon, where-as like this, the knowledge can be claimed by all.

[ doesn't that sound nice??? really though he doesn't want to be pegged as an "expert," doesn't want his tech know-how to be obvious, and doesn't want Luo Binghe to know how much of this is his active, driving concern and grief over what he's been dealing with the last three weeks. ]

voice; [ At a later time. ]

[bailian]

What if someone has no interest in ever going home?

text | 5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

[ In that later time... Shen Qingqiu listens to this voice clip, sitting carefully at attention. Binghe... ]

An awareness of how to send people willingly to their homes means the same ability to keep people willingly here, without the uncertainty. Disappearances are not presently explained. Solving that issue... solves the issue of being able to ask people where they prefer to be.

text

[witchwithoutacause]

who waaants to liiive foreveeer

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

Are you singing, asking a rhetorical question, or asking an actual question?

Text

[foolishjustice]

Have you been able to find any information on how Chroma was produced before the Calamity? I've been working on trying to figure out alternative methods, so finding a way to send us home won't result in the Prismals facing the same problems they had before our arrival.

[peerlesscucumber]

That's one of the frustrating things in the texts I've read. Chroma existed, the levels had been reduced, and then something related to the Calamity and the attack on Lunatia led to Chroma ceasing to be naturally produced. Or even artificially. Most often it reads like something we're meant to understand is so widespread and happens without being commented on so that no text actually deals significantly with how Chroma was produced... so far. I've only been able to read what I can find.

I tried looking online, but the theories were all over the place and even less backed by research than some of the more out there books on shelves.

I did read one theory from the last few months wondering if Moonblessed produced Chroma might be able to store up until it hits a point of some other kind of Event, causing Chroma processes that went offline hundreds of years ago to start again. Absolutely nothing to back it up, but it's one more thing to wonder about.

I agree that there needs to be some alternate energy source for the Prismals, but... wonder as well if it's something in their genetic make-up that has Chroma and Demichroma work for them in ways that solar energy or something like that doesn't. Since there's nothing like that here.

Text un: redkey

[princessascended]

On the subject of Chroma healing people, I should probably pass on that strong enough moonlacing can reverse the effects of drugs, like that Glow stuff.

It took a couple really deep kisses to reverse the effects of one bullet, and honestly, even with that group taken out, that's probably gonna be something people need to know.

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

Thank you for the additional information! Having an idea of what people found effective in the case of handling those Glow incidents down in the Lightless is good... we don't know that this means Glow isn't being produced or smuggled out to Level 3 anymore, since the arrests as far as this Anon heard were just of the head of the criminal group responsible and his bodyguards.

Anyway, have you noticed this with any other drugs you've encountered while here? Also, how bad was the injury for the one who'd been shot?

text

[hoasen]

Like my brother, I was worried about our condition and if we are now mortal here, but if we are resurrected. I surely hope no one has actually died yet for this to be put into practice. It's painful.

I also did not realise that supporting a drunk friend out of the bar will also count as moonlacing. I will make note.

[peerlesscucumber]

It's a process that's been documented, for what that's worth. Not just a theory.

[ And it was very, very painful, from both the side of the one dying and the one who lived. ]

I won't say it's top notch quality, but considering all things, it's an easier little feedback loop helping keep them calmer and content instead of just... whatever else their drunken state is usually.

text;

[mcring]

[ Most of that stuff about Chroma and whatever is pretty much what they've all been told or what Noctis has figured out for himself, so he doesn't even read it all, just skims it. Then he gets to the part about death, about crystalizing, and that... Yeah, that gets his attention. ]

Did somebody die??????????

[ Kind of blunt but what if it was somebody he knows? And even if it wasn't... Did that really happen to somebody? Getting turned into crystal like that? That's... That's death here? It's a lot to take in. ]

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

[ He's thankful there's enough of them that in no way is it possible to say who, specifically, has witnessed this death (... it's two people, himself and Binghe) or who else may possibly have died in whatever situation and set of circumstances. ]

There's at least one confirmed death I'm aware of.

[ Which given how people talk at him in his not-anon state up in earlier threads maaay make it apparent who part of the involved parties is, while not quite giving a full answer. ]

text;

[itsaname]

thank you for sharing this.

[ His question might seem oddly specific, but he asks anyway: ]

after someone is resurrected, do you know what condition their body is in?

5ever anon

[peerlesscucumber]

You're welcome. This Anon felt it was worth putting into words for any who cared to read or listen to know.

[ He kind of loves and hates that he has an answer for this, so he ends up... answering it, if not without a bit of a caveat unnecessary in truth, but necessary given the nature of this post. ]

From what was communicated to me by one who knows, their physical condition was whole, healthy, and unmarked by any indications from their death. The same was not true for their clothing, or the blood shed. That's to say they weren't clean on resurrection, just healed.