spellbinders | Hijinks Mingle

Hijinks Mingle

Who: Everyone!
Where: Anywhere around the hub!
When: Days 103-105
Open/Closed: Open mingle!
Notes: See this post for details on the moon prompt and this one for the telepathy/dream/spirit prompts!

[A | Flower Gleam and Glow]
[The nearby moon is still passing close to the hub island, meaning the effects are still in play. Perhaps now is the time to stop and smell the large lit up sparkling moonflowers that have bloomed? Or be annoyed by the mosquito-like insects that came with them.

Alternatively, the deer seem to draw some sort of energy from the moon's light. Given their size, at least their sudden aggression and proximity to the base camp isn't the worst thing in the world but a kick would still break a rib or other bone so be careful! Possibly help each other deal with these cute but troublesome fauna.]

[B | Eavesdropping]
[For some reason, the telepathy will suddenly get rather wonky. Characters won't know why it's happening, though of course no doubt there will be ponderings, but it means characters won't be in control of their ability to broadcast — or more specifically, not broadcast — their thoughts. Time to find out secrets of an embarrassing nature. Or maybe something sadder is going on in your character's head.

If this wasn't bad enough, the area around the signet might experience burning or tingling. Just try to keep a lid on your brain for the day and distract yourself from any annoying pain.]

[C | Talking In Your Sleep]
[Or maybe your character just doesn't have the most interesting thoughts. Maybe they're busy thinking about pie instead of their upsetting childhood. That's fair. Pie is great.

But surely sometimes it haunts their dreams. With the telepathy running amuck, it's no wonder dreams and nightmares are leaking through, too. Of course, it doesn't have to be an accident. Feel free to grab a friend and share a fanciful dreamscape together on purpose! But for those nuts that are tougher to crack, accidents can and will happen.]

[D | Who You Gonna Call]
[Last but not least, as Friday rolls around, there seems to be something odd going on with the island. If your character is inclined towards the spiritual or supernatural, they'll no doubt notice the strange heavy thickness hanging around. There are whispers in the air and all of new energy just feels solemn. Might be good to give people a heads up and keep an eye on it.]

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Yeah.

[THEY CAN KEEP SWIMMING! are there any other distinguishing features to investigate or cardinal directions with lowkey but intriguing descriptions to pursue down here?]

I didn't know you were a dreamwalker too...

[As it so happens, there are a full set of cardinal directions to consider. To the NORTH and WEST, the buildings seem to be in the same decayed pattern as those immediately nearby. To the SOUTH, the buildings seem wider and flatter.

The EAST seems odd, and familiar. You would be advised to go EAST, but this is the exact flavour text you were looking for, isn't it? You monster.]

I'm not entirely certain what you mean about dreamwalking. The situation from my universe is possibly a little different, and absolutely more complicated and stupid.

I don't really get mine, either. There's a lot that I don't know about what I can do. But I showed up in Vern's dream before, and I knew it was his dream, and this is the same way...

[he nods to the east.]

What's that way?

Did that happen here, or is it because of the way your souls are connected

[Dirk glances Eastward. It gets darker, and... a little off.]

It was Baytown back on Earth. Its actual nature in my dreams is currently indeterminate.

I really don't know. Maybe we're connected another way through Qri's things.

[he should probably be more resentful of that than he is, since they're all sort of lowkey mad at Qri's interference in their lives together, but... on the other hand, he desperately wants connection with the people around him. so he can't even begin to muster up any bitterness when he says the words.]

Do you want to go look?

[He didn't even Try. Dirk's kind of neutral on it. He has naturally mixed feelings, regarding how much he doesn't want to go back to....

Well, back to what they are unknowingly swimming into.]

Sure. The best thing about that idea is how it in no way will ever come back to bite us in the ass ever.

[Time to swim towards glitches!]

[You swim EAST. The further you go, the darker the WATER becomes, until it seems to be black as NIGHT. The further you go, the more the ruins break off from the ground and seem to float. Indeed, the further you go, the less and less convinced you are that there is any GROUND to speak of. The water has turned darker, and also strangely NOT WET.

You start getting a WEIRD FEELING. It's the weird feeling of kind of GLITCHING OUT. That is definitely a real feeling, and probably a HUMAN EMOTION while we're at it, and you are experiencing it with increasing frequency and duration.]

Wow. Irony called, and it fucking wants its drama back. It wouldn't even go on hold. We are experiencing a direct line to its semantic distances with no way to cut the wire.

This is something we need to leave.

[spoilers: he can't until we let him]

Where are you--

[Geir has the opposite reaction to the long-ago Dirk in this situation: he immediately twists to locate his companion and grabs for him. his first moment of frightened reaction is to avoid getting separated from Dirk-- revealing, and kind of cute, and probably embarrassing. Geir loops a coil of his tail around Dirk to keep him close as soon as his claws are on him.]

What is it?!

Edited 2017-10-25 04:33 (UTC)

[Well EXCUSE ME, princess! Not all of us have dragon tails! The glitching CONTINUES, and an unpleasant sense of URGENCY surges over you.]

It's a memory. We're either going to be stupidly bored and stressed out for about three hours, or shit's going to get—

[You experience another GLITCH, a superimposition over your reality: attacking a girl and impaling her on your sword. But the feeling is fuzzy and altered. You feel it as COMPLETELY REAL but also DIFFERENT, and every flickers and glitches again and you are where you were: moving fast through the stars with your tail curled around Dirk.]

—unpleasant.

No guessing which one-- argh. What do we do?

[Geir's not deeply dismayed by the memory of attacking someone, but this feels out of control, and the urgency certainly makes its presence known. he keeps his hold on Dirk, as though he's afraid he's going to be yanked away from him somehow; again, kind of a revealing reaction.]

[Very, and also kind of hard to move.]

Swim up for air.

[It's the only thing he can do. They glitch again, unpleasant.]

Either you're going to have to let me go or tote me up there, bro.

[Geir doesn't answer; he just grabs Dirk in one claw again and swims hard for the surface. if swimming even still works in this context...]

Sure, why not. You swim surfacewards, but your vision is blockaded: you are now wearing a SWEET PAIR OF SHADES. They are, naturally, scaled up to match your face.

You are also bearing witness to a conversation. The exchange, though glitchy, brings feelings of further panic and distress. It is rather akin to the feeling of reaching your hand out to someone you love while they fall, and missing.

You break the surface. The world around you is still dark and starry, and the water below is its perfect reflection. There are vague, indistinct objects in the distance. Everything continues to glitch.

The human that you have in your claw makes a noise deep in his throat so quiet that you may miss it. He does not say anything, but he does seem to go limp in your hold. Maybe he's relaxing?

[obviously, this is an eventuality that we are prepared for. i'm also just going to go out on a limb and assume that the fact that Geir cannot READ is bypassed in the way of dream logic, so your Photoshop efforts are not wasted. you're welcome.

Geir doesn't react much to the mostly-nonsensical text regardless for now, but he shudders at the associated feeling. he checks Dirk anxiously, stretching out his wing to make a literal wall between the two of them and the rest of the stupid glitchy landscape. humans are fragile. he's worried.]

[That's right. I knew that and intended that. In fact, this is all part of the dream. For the sake of the dream, Geir has been handed a KIDDIE CAMPER HANDYSASH. And what's that there? Is that a badge not unlike the GIFT OF GAB? That's right! It's the RIGHT TO READ. There. You can now read shades in a dream thanks to me, your thoughtful and considerate narrator. You're welcome.

Natural ability to rock this look aside, Geir's wings only block out the landscape, not the glitching. It's everywhere. It's even in the space inside his protection, although Geir himself hasn't been affected.]

[Dirk shifts; the tiny human isn't broken yet.] I'm fine. This plan can just add itself to the pile of my failed machinations. That's should it manage to defy all expectations and in an ironic twist have the constitution and fortitude to scale the tallest figurative object ever known to mankind. The failure pile doesn't stop from getting taller.

[He's losing his grip. Even with all his familiarity and expertise in dreams and dreaming, this moment was too much. He knows what is up ahead. He knows where they are and what is happening. He knows that whatever John might do to fix it, it won't save Jake or Roxy or Jane or Dave, it won't save Jade, it won't save anyone. He failed, and they're all going to be wiped out. A better timeline will be enjoyed by other splinters.]

Since that plan sucked, we need to come up with another one.

[It's the kind of push that comes from necessity, not hope.]

[Despite his protests about his state, the human is not fine. You will in your draconian wisdom, and also despite your new fetching eyewear, notice something about the human if you look at him for long: like everything else here, he is breaking down into distorted pixels.]

Edited 2017-10-26 10:31 (UTC)

Yeah, another plan-- Dirk! Pay attention to me, not the dream! You're not there!

[that glitching on Dirk is terribly frightening, but Geir is clear enough about the fact that this may not be fully literal that he's able shove at least some of his panicked reaction down and focus on his dream buddy here. he tries to catch Dirk's eyes through the two pairs of shades, shaking his own off irritably if he's able to.]

Maybe I can do something--

[Your WICKED NEW SHADES fall tragically from your face and into the abyss. Like so much else, they dissolve into glitches, and probably that godawful dust candy that Caliborn eats. I mean, I eat it too, so I can't judge. But I'm judging anyway. They are gone, but you still have DIRK. And he still isn't looking entirely without jpeg loss.]

I know, dude. I'm lucid. Don't worry about me.

[The truth is, Dirk doesn't need the wing pushed away. He can always see it even with his eyes closed.

I failed.
Always.]

[Well. That sure isn't good. And it's getting worse. Perhaps you should try to think of something from your own world? Perhaps there's something that you can transition to out of this that will break him free? It's not like he's in any real danger, of course, he's going to wake up and so will you.

But still. That might not be a bad plan to try.]

Of course I'm going to worry...!

[something from his own world is definitely what he's going for, if only because that's the strongest and most instinctive imagery he can draw on. he's never tried to direct himself from dream to dream or influence the places he's walking in before, but this is clearly an exception to that rule. how to shift this ocean, these stars, into something else...

he reaches for it, clawing for it and twisting. an ocean, a storm, fire in the sky, water that stays wet and froths instead of fragmenting-- that image is part of him somewhere, at some unconscious depth. it has been since he was born.]

[The pixelation begins to fall away, but it still clings to Dirk. Even so, he looks around.] Geir, what the fuck.

[wait]

Is this Ragnarok.

Odin's balls.

[by his squawk, Geir didn't really consciously intend to send them here-- it was just the strongest image he had to draw on.]

Sorry, sorry, sorry--!

[he claws at the water, trying to keep both of them afloat; somewhere far over the water, an enormous, malevolent red eye is watching them, as visible as the sun through the darkness and confusion.]

GO AWAY.

Cool, it's Sauron.

[Dirk is helping here.]

No, it's me! That's worse than whoever that is! Can you fly here?!

[it's pretty obvious why Geir is asking; the water is starting to sting and burn as they try to keep above it. whether Dirk can fly or Geir has to carry him, it's not going to be safe to stay in here much longer, the complete inadvisability of flying in a maelstrom like this notwithstanding.]

Yeah, it's still a dream.

[He will zoom onwards and out as necessary]

Right-- come on!

[Geir explodes out of the water in a frenzy of flapping, though he keeps out of Dirk's way well enough. they're instantly buffeted by scorching winds instead of stinging water, but flight is doable, at least for now.

he hesitates once he's in the air, though; not sure, in his own nightmare, what the best path out of it is, whether that's towards or away from the monster.]

[Dirk follows quick after. It's brutal winds, but he can fly, and if he keeps close to Geir he doesn't take the full brunt. Also, he doesn't get swept away in wild winds.]

Now would be the time to tell me if you think anything in Ragnarok can help you dream your way out of it.

[Something familiar, or something safe.

Vern? Dirk doesn't dare suggest it, not when nightmares are wild like this. It's too dangerous.]

There's nothing here except my stupid family wrecking everything--!!

[Geir has softer memories of family -- Loki laughing after a prank, the smell of Aghi's fur when they curled up in front of the fire -- but he's not sure those will stand up against this raging turmoil. he backwings desperately, avoiding a river of wind that's about to turn into a tornado.]

You think of something too! Back me up!!

[if they both focus on something (family? other positive associations?), perhaps they'll create something new instead of pulling each other into a new nightmare. but whatever mutual dream-landscape they come up with to try to wrench themselves away, it's going to be weird.]

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splinten - 2017-11-01 01:09 (UTC) - Expand

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