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:

Moonlacing does not require direct skin contact.
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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ If only Noctis were a better stalker and had paid more attention to the other threads before just starting his own. rip ]

Who was it?

[ Does that sound heartless? Or nosy? He's not trying to be, just... ]

I'm just worried about them.
Even if they came back
You can't just go through something like that alone

[ And knowing some of Noct's asshole friends, they'd die like that and then not tell him about it. ]

I don't feel it's my place to share their name, but for what it's worth, I'm told they're not on their own here. They won't be left to deal with it alone.

[ he does solemnly swear because as the guy who built, tended, and left offerings at the er... shrine/burial platform he'd made for Binghe, Shen Qingqiu has no intention of letting his foolish disciple try to handle it alone.

But don't worry, Noctis! If you do up your stalker game at least you'd have some inkling of who's involved in the process, possibly, probably? ]

If they choose to come forward on their own for those kinds of questions is a matter best left to them. I'm hear to share the information... but not breach their privacy.

Yeah I get it
They probably don't want you to tell, right?

[ Just because they're not "on their own" doesn't mean they're talking to anybody about it, though. And keeping something like that bottled up... (Are we really going to give Noct that much credit? like he's smart and everything, ambitious enough, but... maybe if he thinks long and hard enough about it, he'll figure it out. Just asking outright is easier, though.) ]

Whoever told you, can you give them my u/n?
I'm Noctis by the way
If they want to talk... Even if they don't know me, they can message me
I've got way more experience with this stuff that I wish I did so
Not that it was me who died but
Anyway
It'd be nice to talk to somebody about it, that's all.

[ Says the guy who hates talking about things. But sometimes, it's necessary. Don't want to have any regrets. And it's better than feeling alone. ]

[ Noctis... you're a good person, Shen Qingqiu decides, based on this alone. Then again acts of goodwill toward Binghe, even unknowing ones, can draw that response from him more easily than he'd like to admit. ]

I'll pass your u/n on to them. Thanks for giving them that option, Noctis.

[ He does hope that Binghe... considers talking. With someone named who also isn't the fraught tense relationship he has with his Shizun. ]

It's what anybody would do for me

[ He has no idea if this anonymous person will actually follow up with what he says and pass his name along. Honestly, it seems to Noct right now like the anonymous person he's talking to was probably the one who died, which at least would be one way he'd be sure the person found out about his offer, if they didn't just read it on the network like he is. Either way, Noctis still has a lot of reading back to do before he decides for sure. And there's no way to help somebody who doesn't want to be helped, so that's the best he can do for right now. Put the information out there, just like this person did. ]

Thanks for sharing all this by the way
Take care

[ He wants to say more, ask more, but... an anonymous post isn't really the place to get to know somebody. He's done all he can, and the rest is up to them. ]

Then you have a good number of kind hearted anybodys around. Which is nice to hear being true for some people out there.

[ Bright sides! He did share this information with the man who died... or at least with his device, which he thinks Luo Binghe knows better how to use since he was commenting on this post in the first place. Has to mean something, right?

The second, ironic point to Noctis being he's not wrong about the author of this post having died... twice... just never here. Or not here yet, which he'd rather keep as it is now, thank you. He's also not talked about his first death and his subsequent transmigration, but there are levels of believability, and that one might just stretch things too far.

... As if they aren't all presently transmigrated to Prismatica. Ahem. ]

You're welcome. May the path you walk be clear.

anonymous text post

Chroma, Moonlacing, and You

What is Chroma?

Why should I care about Chroma?

What the fuck?! Why do I lose Chroma?

Then what is Moonlacing?

How do you Moonlace?

Can Moonlacing help heal?

What happens when we die?

What happens when we disappear?

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5ever anon

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