Once upon a dream... (4th Wall Event/TDM Combo platter)

[missrecalled_mods]

[((OOC note: This fourth wall is open to any character who would be game legal. If a character who posted here reserves or apps in September, these threads can be considered game canon as long as all involved agree. If a character doesn't app, for those in game already... wow that was a weird dream. Wait, what did you dream about again?))]


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For Jordan, still comatose after the magical mishap that had resulted in the first Misrecalled being summoned, it began with a dream. A dream so strong, that it had her stirring fitfully even in her current state; and eventually caused her to release an uncontrolled burst of magic.

For everyone else, unaware of what was coming, it began with falling asleep. Whether or not someone was tired before hand, whether they even could sleep, they simply fell asleep - or a reasonable facsimile - wherever they happened to be. Maybe they remembered falling asleep, maybe they didn't. But either way they suddenly found themselves in... a very strange place.

First all there was that they could see was a vast featureless plain in shining gold and silken draperies. But that was only a glimpse, for just by existing in this space, each dreamer warps it. Changes it. Not all at once, but bits, constantly changing between them and whomever they encounter. Each person brings with them bits of three places... where they had been last, a familiar place from memory, and whatever place they call home. But this is constantly changing and shifting, more so the more dreamers are present in any space. Before long, Bits of different landscapes, different environments, even different weather conditions will cover the landscape like some crazy patchwork quilt. Here a bit of a sunny, idyllic garden, there a section of shadowy, graffiti covered slum. To one side, a chunk of charming cobblestone streets under sunset tinged skies, to the other, a forest of towering trees, some of which seem to be moving. And glimpsed through the gaps between some of the odd terrain sections, some remainder of the poorly defined golden space, hung with colorful draperies could still be seen.

And the ground itself was not immune to the changes. While the ground on which they stood might seem stable enough, if someone walked more than a few paces in any direction, that could change. Solid ground could become shifting sand. Or water. Or a wall might suddenly appear to block their path. Doors might lead to places they definitely shouldn't or open to the edge of a sheer cliff. And if the complete lack of logic to the landscape wasn't enough of an indication that this was some sort of dream, then the unreadable signs would clinch it. Because any signs - or indeed, anything with writing on it that they didn't have on their person when they arrived - was covered with nothing but unreadable gibberish.

And it got even more surreal when a dreamer spotted anyone else in the dreamspace, or even looked at their own reflection - for each person appears in the dream in whatever way they see themselves. So someone with low self confidence might be short, someone with a huge ego might tower. If someone sees themselves as a horrible criminal who needs to repent, they might be in prison togs. If the change is dramatic enough people who know each other well might still fail to recognize each other within the dreaming.

Now normally such a bizarre dream might have been put down to stress, a meal that disagreed with them, or maybe indulging in some sort of illicit substance, but this clearly was no ordinary dream, if for no other reason than that in this dream, they weren't alone. The other people they encounter are not just figments of their imagination, and they too change the shared dream space.

Those already either on the Isle or in the kingdom of Auradon proper would find themselves all thrown together in the bizarre dreamworld. And that would have been strange enough. But more than the current populations of Auradon and the Isle could be found in this place. Maybe the faces where familiar. Maybe they weren't. But they definitely hadn't turned up in the physical world that was home to Ben and Mal. Yet anyway.

Given the extremely variable geography, exploring the area might be dangerous. At least as dangerous as anything in a dream could be. But investigating might help them find a way back to the physical world faster, for those who realize they are dreaming. Or they could just stand around and talk or complain about the latest bit of magical weirdness to happen to them and hope they woke up soon. Or they could go with it and enjoy the weird. It was their dream, after all. They could pretty much do what they liked. Or at least try to. Either way, they seemed stuck there for the present, for better or worse.

Comments

[queen_butterfly]

A little pause. Hmmm.... "Is that a request to try doing so...?"

[queen_butterfly]

Probably best that his eyes were closed as she took a second as it registered to re-school her expression. "If you're speaking of what sort of activity I think you're speaking of, then I assure you, I have no such intentions toward anyone. I was merely trying to seat us somewhere more comfortable than the stone hall."

[nobodys_puppet]

"But... that's what Xigbar calls me... and Axel says it is because he's mean..." But he didn't seem mean...

[professorsong]

"And you can't keep doing that, why? Going where you're least wanted seems to be the most fun way to find new things, after all..."

[kaylinneya]

"Ocean wall it, yes! Especially if you can fix whatever the actual happinesses is keeping me from speaking properly."

[gregorydeegan]

"Maybe a bed isn't the best place..." he mumbled, still flushing. "Maybe a nice hard metal bench or something..."

[queen_butterfly]

"It... depends," she said, hesitating. "One could call someone even the sweetest of love-names, but mean it as an insult, if they so chose."

[nobodys_puppet]

"I don't understand...."

[queen_butterfly]

"Well... Tone accounts for much. Sarcasm... condescension."

She paused, eyeing the little figure. "Do you... know what a poppet is...?"

[nobodys_puppet]

She shook her head, so confused. "It... is me? Like Roxas is a kiddo?"

[queen_butterfly]

"...Well... I don't know exactly how it might apply to you in particular, but I suppose it could well be said to be in the same vein as 'kiddo', yes," she said. She'd heard that term before, thankfully! "The humans, where I'm from, use the word to simply mean child, as a pet name, but it's... more than simply that, among my kind.

"You see, among my kind... there is a practice. A way to create others. But to do so is a deliberate act. It is an effort of love; the resulting being must be wanted, and cared for, to successfully be.

"And so, the meaning is rightfully 'beloved', more than simply 'child'.

"I swear, I meant no disrespect. It's... a habit of mine."

[nobodys_puppet]

"I don't understand," she said again. "That's not... why I was created... I don't think..."

[queen_butterfly]

"Not all parents deserve children," she said, very quiet, "But all children deserve love.

"I've never had children of my own... but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy caring for them."

[nobodys_puppet]

She shook her head. This Somebody didn't understand, and she didn't know how to explain it. She hunched in tightly to herself. She pulled her Keyblade in, tight to her chest. Then she swallowed and shook her head. She wanted Axel to be there, he could explain. But wanting never made things happen. Not for her.

She pulled away further, flinching.

[queen_butterfly]

"I never said that I wouldn't keep doing so. But we do have a particular aim in mind, which this strategy doesn't seem to yet be aiding much in accomplishing so far. We're trying to find a route by which to reach the Isle, and everyone on it, yourself included."

[professorsong]

"I am certain a number of us would appreciate that, if we knew. But rarely the way forward is actually the way forward. Trust me, straight paths tend to lead right off a cliff. Though that can be fun too. Don't fight so hard to go the way you think you're supposed to go. Follow the path as it appears."

[mist_the_point]

The treant either didn't understand her threat or didn't care, letting out a wordless roar as it stomped forward arms raised to strike again. Moving would probably be a good idea, as even if she attacked it, something that big and heavy can't exactly stop on a gil.

Wow hello there, link fail. X3

[mist_the_point]

Eventually, of course the song ended, but as Foulques opened his eyes to the moonlit scene, he found the peacefulness remained. "Hmm," he said. "Though it did not do what we intended, the result was well worth the attempt, I think."

[mist_the_point]

"Nay," he said. "But I had just fallen from a cliff. Had I not been plucked out of the air by this place's magic, I would now be lying dead and unmourned at its base, my body food for wild beasts. Though my current state of affairs is hardly pleasant, the mere fact that I live to experience it makes it preferable to the alternative."

[modified20]

Why not go with the worst of the worst? She pulled an unmovable rod from her bag of holding, activating it then stepping back behind it, to watch the thing shatter itself against the magical iron rod.

Re: Wow hello there, link fail. X3

[oneahn_ayesh]

"Most things are, even if it takes a change in perspective to see it," she said, bowing her head respectfully.

[ubuntu_programmer]

"Well... that's bleak..." Wow, and they thought Ben had it rough. Or... were they finding this out so that Ben could... ow. Who knew you could have a headache in a dream. Still, something to watch for when they got home.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Yeah, I think I only ever talked to him once there, but I did see him around," Lea said. "And he keeps talking to you because he likes you and wants to hang out. That's what friends do. Well, one of the things they do, at least."

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea began walking around too, making sure to keep Harry in sight. And it wasn't long before Lea stepped out of Castle Oblivion. Not that he went through its gates or anything so mundane; the part of the dreamscape that was the castle simply ended, leaving him standing in a weird vaguely defined space of gold and colorful draperies. "Okaaaay...", he said. "Not exactly out of the dream, but this is progress. I think."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"It's not 'nothing'," Lea said. "You shouldn't be hurting yourself like that to put on a show. If other people can work that hard it's probably because they've built up callouses in the right places over a long time so it doesn't cut them up like that any more." He'd heard that was a thing with musicians, at least, and his dad had had callouses in specific places on his hands from his jewelry work too.