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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[okay, Madoka can't help but think that Roxy is incredibly cute, and maybe that thought is projecting a bit more than she'd like. she would be so embarrassed.]

[and there's something oddly familiar about this scenario, too. helping lead her Mama to bed after a long day of work, and an even longer night of socializing with work superiors. staying in good standing with them. such is the life of a salarywoman.]

So there's royalty here, then? Have you met the Queen before?

[Roxy is adorable, so Dirk won't be disagreeing. He brings them to a tower and leads them in; inside is probably a room that looks a lot like this, but more in this kind of palette.]

I tried to punch the Queen in the face and she sent a brainwashed kid to teleport me away

[......]

I ... think I should probably be surprised at that, but. I'm not. [it's said affectionately - she's seen him fight sharks falling from the sky; it stands to reason that he would also try to fight a ruling monarch, if she deserved it.]

[Dirk sets down Madoka, so she can stand herself. He then pulls Roxy towards the bed. As he talks, he is carefully tucking her in under her sheets, like he's done so many times before. It's only the dream of Roxy, and he knows that. But still, he loves her.]

You kind of get over the surprise at one point. The Queen is the Condesce, who wiped out my entire species and killed my Bro, and sent agents after me and my friends, so I'm not entirely inclined to feel positive towards her.

[Madoka doesn't really know what to say to that; she just looks crestfallen, and is quiet for a moment. her own dreams are largely absent from here, at least for now - there has to be something she can do to help.]

... Is there even one thing about Sburb that's remotely fair?

Not that comes to mind. Her Imperial Condescension's thing wasn't especially related to the game, except in the way everything is. The Batterwitch just likes to get her mass murder on.

[it sounds like the Batterwitch and Walpurgisnacht would have a grand time together.]

[she doesn't like that answer (she very nearly doesn't like any answer she gets when she asks a question about Sburb), and she's quiet again, wracking her brain for something, anything she could say that might help make it at least a little better.]

[and then she suddenly starts, as if she'd been hit — wait, no, she just has an idea.]

Would it be all right if I tried something?

[With Roxy safely tucked in, Dirk turns around to look at Madoka. His shades hide his expression, but he's curious.]

Go for it.

All right. But, let me ask you something first — answer honestly, okay?

Would you say you're happy when you come here? [that might seem like a silly question, considering what he just told her, but he's here with Roxy, isn't he? and Madoka doesn't want to mess this up.]

I wouldn't call this 'coming here.'

[Dirk lingers a moment longer. He strokes back Roxy's hair, and then walks over to Madoka.]

You can go ahead with it, Madoka. I don't dream Derse or my apartment because I like them particularly. They're just familiar places to me. Do what you want to with the dream.

[Madoka tilts her head, considering both him, and what he's said, for a long moment.]

[then she smiles, and summons her Soul Gem in her raised palm, with little more fanfare than a burst of pink light, she transforms.]

All right. I'll do my best! But, I need to get back down.

[she can just hop off where they entered the tower, right? it seems like a long drop, but she is, after all, used to heights. and this is important to her.]

[Well. That's not entirely safe. After this long chasing after Roxy, though, he is more than in the habit of leaping out windows after flighty broads.

MADOKA DON'T GET HURT]

[it is starting to sound a bit like Madoka and Roxy would get along smashingly, actually.]

[in any case, he doesn't need to worry, because although she is not capable of flying, she is extremely well versed in the art of falling with style. and once they're out in the open again, it's suddenly obvious where she's heading: a spot within the city that's illuminated by a familiar pink starlight.]

[whatever it was that consumed the apartment never actually left completely, of course; Madoka had only tried her best to not think about it. now, it's falling from a single point way up in the sky (look close enough, and one might see that it's actually being poured by the faint shadow of a giant teapot), cascading down buildings and creeping menacingly across the ground.]

[the first step in this plan, she thinks, is to address her own dream — and so, she lands as closely as she figures she can safely without accidentally stumbling in. hmm.]

[That was, admittedly, a really well done fall. Dirk lands after her, watching the....

...Tea?]

You had a childhood trauma with Earl Grey.

[that gets a pretty good laugh out of her.]

Maybe ... I think everyone spills hot tea on themselves at least once, though.

[she watches it slowly creep closer to where they're standing for a moment.]

Actually, now that I look at it, I have this really strange thought — that, if you were to tell me to go home, my instinct wouldn't be to go back to Mama and Papa and Tatsuya. It'd be to go down there. [said with a wave at the infinite space tea.]

That's really weird, though. I guess it's just a dream thing.

[but it is a clue, at least, that leads her to a conclusion on how to be rid of it. Madoka isn't exactly inclined to just jump right in, but it does seem like it'd be best to give it what it wants.]

[after another moment of thinking it over, she brings a hand to her chest, pops the teardrop-shaped gem out of its casing, and, in a wide sweeping movement, tosses it into the stars on the ground. the only indication that there was ever something solid for the gem to hit at all is a small divet where it passed through and began its descent underneath their feet.]

[and there it goes. sayonara, Soul Gem.]

[What the fuck.]

I know that was only a dream representation of your soul, but I'm going to have to put down a general disapproval for chucking that into the abyss.

[His voice is flat and monotonous. His brain is quietly screaming. He knows she is fine? But also. What the fuck.]

I know. But, I'm almost positive that it was the right thing to do.

[it's well beyond reach now, not without diving in after it, but it is still in plain enough view to see what's happening: hairline fractures are snaking across the gem, and darkness is seeping into the expanse of stars not unlike tendrils of oil floating through seawater. something is trying to escape.]

[and, suddenly, this comes as no surprise to her. Madoka hadn't meant to bring a nightmare of hers here, much less carelessly allow it to devour anything that makes her upset, that doesn't seem like heaven to her — a reflection of the self-appointed duty of the Witch of Salvation.]

[no, despair should be faced head-on, it should be acknowledged, it should be cleansed — and so, she intends to deal with it in the same way that she handles any nightmare, whether it be Hitomi's, a stranger's or anybody else's.]

["I am the melon. When a melon breaks, a sweet dream is created." it's all right there in the song, after all.]

[the ground and the universe beneath them begins to rumble ominously, as the darkness ultimately breaks apart the Soul Gem. a monster is emerging — and, she can't quite shake the feeling that she's going to be startled awake when she destroys it. Madoka won't get a chance to see if this dream turns out like she's picturing it.]

[but, that's all right. her bow pops into her hand, and she smiles up at Dirk. she is okay with this.]

Lucid dreaming is really easy for you, right? Maybe, when this is over, and you like how everything turns out, you can come back here once in a while. And, since I was able to visit, maybe one day your friends can, too.

[so, a dream bubble. that's pretty much exactly what she's going to make here. with a loud, inhuman roar, an enormous pair of pitch black, furiously outstretched hands burst from the space in the ground and shoot up straight into the sky. they take hold of the teapot and rip it apart, painting more pink, starry sludge across the sky like a gathering thunderstorm. Madoka takes aim straight up, and a powerful energy, a pattern of pink circles, emerges above the broken remains.]

Because, I think everyone should have nice dreams — even if you don't think you deserve them.

[and so, she fires. the resulting explosion above them envelopes the entire world in a bright white-pink light, and hits like a harsh slap of wind. when it finally dissipates, and the gusts calm, the witch is gone, and the entire sky has shattered like a mosaic — bright blue peeks through the cracks of the night sky, casting a calm glow over the entire world.]

[Madoka is gone, too, like she had suspected earlier. but here's the world she left behind:]

Mitakihara

A bustling city with as many places to be lost among crowds as there are places to hide. At the center, a satellite tower stretches higher than any other building, and should one happen to sit on the platform at the very top, they could reach up and touch the mosaic sky above them. It's the perfect spot to be Batman, basically.

Enormous objects like bicycles, swords and teacups float across the broken pieces of the sky as if they were clouds. Actually, they are clouds — every once in a while, the sky darkens, and rain falls freely from them.

The people are nondescript, just as they likely would be in any dream, but they do speak English. And they have no shortage of information or directions to offer, should whoever's asking think to dream up the answer.

A few places of note:

A flower field: In one direction, the skyline of the city lies in the distance, blinking with activity. In the other direction, the flowers stretch on forever, no matter how far one might run through them. Turn around, though, and the way back to the skyline is always in sight.

The flowers also change color at random, and smell of sweet olives. Right now, they're a simple white.
A large walkway, surrounded by cherry blossoms: No matter the season a dreamer is feeling like dreaming up, the cherry blossoms are always in bloom, and petals are constantly falling from every direction. There are fish in the streams, and plenty of tables or places to sit and watch the dream world go by.

The clouds, for some reason, are much smaller, and closer to the ground. Should someone decide they need the object of whatever form the clouds have taken, it's as simple as reaching up and taking it. Grab yourself a bike horn, give it a honk and make some miracles.
A shopping center: Notably, there is music playing from nearly all angles of the building, both inside and out, though it's impossible to tell where it's coming from. Even more notably, there's a music store inside, which happens to be one of Madoka's favorite places to visit. Go find yourself some tunes.

There are a number of curious creatures scattered about the city, like mustachioed cotton balls and butterflies that seem to be moving at a slower framerate than the rest of the world. They're harmless enough. But curious. There are also a lot of cats.

A random corridor

Down a rather large alley in the city is an archway that leads to a blank space — a pure white area from ground to sky that feels awfully disorienting for whoever happens to step it in.

At least, it feels that way until someone unseen starts drawing the hallway for them, leading them forward. They are not good drawings, but they are honest efforts — and whoever is making them is also employing some Sick Shading Skills that she probably learned not too long ago.

The walls of the hallway are also peppered with random drawings of animals and people. They are all wearing angled shades.

And, at the end, whoever's wandered down this corridor will step through another archway into:

Derse

A dream planet that's largely been unchanged, save for this one entrance back into Mitakihara. Because if there is one thing Madoka has learned from this experience, it's that, despite the fact that she finds the story here profoundly sad, this isn't a bad dream. And it isn't necessarily something that warrants changing.

Besides, someone Dirk loves is probably still sleeping here.

Incidentally, a book that had fallen into the nightmare sludge earlier managed to get unintentionally caught up in the rewriting of this dream. It's now floating above both Mitakihara and Derse, larger than life, open with its spine facing upward so that the pages are exposed to the ground. It looks a bit like a pop-up book, and is easily reachable by flight.

The (paper) city of Houston

Every note and detail the book once contained about an ancient dead city is recreated in origami here. Every building, every home, every tree, every baseball stadium (Go Astros), and every highway has been carefully folded together out of the pages of the book, text, pictures and all.

It's nearly silent here, save for the sound of the wind blowing through paper. There are no other people or animals or familiars to disturb anyone who feels a need to hide from the hustle and bustle of the two worlds slowly spinning below it.

There is, however, one building in the center of the city that isn't made out of paper: a single apartment building. It's quiet, and maybe whoever settles down here might feel that loneliness again, but all they would have to do is look up, and they would see plenty of signs of life in the two cities above. Lil Cal is good company, too, hasn't he always been?

[it's by no means perfect. there's a lot more that she wishes she could have done, that she could have given, and now that Madoka is awake and sitting up on her cot in her hut, she wishes she were still asleep so she could have seen it.]

[but, she did the best that she could. sweet dreams, Dirk.]

[She's gone. And he can wake up, he thinks, or maybe he can't—controlling sleeping has gotten harder since he lost his dream self, and all that doesn't even apply here—but he doesn't think he should yet. He thinks, maybe, he should learn what she gave him.

So he does. A city he has never visited, in flowers and blossoms, full of people and life. A city made of paper, like a quiet refuge. Two places where he used to sleep.

Creations left behind for him by the dreams of someone full of hope. His hand closes around his chest.

Eventually, he wakes.]

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Hijinks Mingle

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