EVENT: Dreams and Portals and 4th Walls, Oh My!

[fatedhearts]

Well, lookie here! We have a new event! And it's a collab with another game, Missrecalled! How will that work, you ask? Here is the event info on their side:

https://the-spaces-between.dreamwidth.org/436.html

And on this side:

Jordan was not the only person desperately trying to fix things that had gone wrong. On Gaia, the Sephiroth native to that world had been running himself ragged for the last several weeks, frantic to find a solution to what he had caused by bringing so many there through portals. It had been an accident, and his intentions when inadvertently activating the portals had been innocent, but that hardly mattered to him. He saw only that he had tried to do something for himself—using the Ancients’ magic to be sane again—and everything had turned on its head.

The Heartless attack had been the last straw. That was dangerous, that was deadly, and something had to be done. He had to send all of these poor people home.

And so he was struggling to open the portals. His will should be able to override whatever was keeping them closed, shouldn’t it? He certainly thought so.

In hindsight, perhaps he should have asked the other Sephiroth for help, given that that Sephiroth had the power of portal-making. But he hadn’t wanted to bother or burden anyone more than he already had. He had caused this on his own. He had to fix it on his own.

So while Jordan dreamed, Sephiroth fought with the portals.

What could possibly go wrong?

As it turned out, a lot. Both magic users, desperate to correct the problems in their worlds, reached out through the cosmos ... and the cosmos answered. A piercing portal developed from Auradon, through the Isle, all the way to Gaia, with the two blue-winged Sephiroths the unfortunate conduits. The dreamscape mixed with the waking world and portals began opening in both.

When this latest disaster exploded across Gaia, Sephiroth stared out the window in shock. Portals were everywhere, but people weren’t going through them back to their worlds. The energy he could feel from them didn’t even feel like the portals that had opened to start this whole mess. He went outside, looking into the nearest portal. The bizarre world on the other side, of flowers growing in the sky and clouds on the ground, looked like someone’s fever dream. Several more inane sights led him to conclude that the portals were indeed all going to people’s dreams. And upon talking with the recipient of one such dream, he made another alarming discovery: the portals were going to the dreams in other worlds.

He groaned and slumped back, running a hand down his face. “What have I done now?” he cried in dismay. Would he never be able to fix anything, only cause more destruction?


OOC Info: This is a collaborative event with the RP Missrecalled (info below). Characters from different worlds can either meet on the dreamscape while sleeping or pass through to Gaia while awake via the portals. But even in the waking world, the dreamworld is insisting on encroaching. The longer the madness goes on, the more the strange sights from people’s dreams are creeping into Gaia.

While there isn’t as much awake time on the Missrecalled side of things (and less and less of it as the event progresses), the Gaia side allows for people to be awake and not asleep if preferred. (Or they can dream on the Gaia side as well, if preferred.) The Sephiroths are dream-walkers and can pass through the dreamscape both asleep and awake. They can also take others with them. Everyone else can also use the portals to wander amid other’s dreams or pass through to Gaia if they were someplace else. The portals popping up in the waking world must be closed from inside the dreamscape, which the Sephiroths will be trying to take care of along with those who volunteer to help them. But there’s so many, it could take some time. And while any are open, things from people’s dreams are getting loose everywhere. Monsters, weird disasters, any distressing scenario dreaming people can come up with. Go wild! Make top-levels and reply to others' top-levels from this post, or from Missrecalleds' 4th Wall at: https://the-spaces-between.dreamwidth.org/436.html
Just mark your threads accordingly if they have any content others may wish to avoid. Also keep in mind that as wild and weird as your dreams can be, you don't have the right to force that weirdness on others' characters unless they're okay with that. I.E., does your dream involve forced transformation into dogs or cats? Great! That's fine for you, but no one else should have to be changed if they don't want that. So either mark your thread that it's for those who want that weirdness, or have it open to all and expect to see some humans talking to your dogs and cats. :)

Given the nature of the event and the need to close so many dream portals, dream-walkers and characters with other dream-related powers will be especially useful. The Sephiroths could use all the help they can get! But everyone is welcome and all characters can help! Just know that if you’re going to try closing dream portals and you don’t have inherent dream powers, you’ll need to go with one of the Sephiroths. This is a combination collab event in which characters from both games can mingle, as well as a 4th Wall in which characters from anywhere and anything can appear, whether they’re in either game or not! Bring everyone! It’s like a test drive, only wilder. If you especially enjoy your time in the 4th Wall, apps are always open at Fated Hearts and open until October 30th at Missrecalled and we would love for you to join us permanently!

And the info on our collab partner: Missrecalled is a game based on an AU of Disney's Descendants/the Isle Of The Lost novels, taking place if the third movie ended slightly differently. The game is split in two parts; Characters who start in Auradon are welcomed to a seemingly-idyllic setting with only minimal power nerf that is exploration, slice of life, and working together plot lines. Characters who start on The Isle are in for a powernerf experience with survival and school themes. There are ways in game to change from one to the other, but they are not frequent and the pace is often player driven. The Missrecalled Mod Squad hopes to see you on the 4th wall... once upon a dream.

Things to note: Missrecalled has a magical no-swear filter, and requires FTB for physical intimacy scenes.

Comments

Agatha Heterodyne | Girl Genius + Wake CRAU | OTA | CW: Mad Science

[agathaheterodyne]

Entering another dream

Ever since returning home to find that most of the issues she had been trying to fix while in the living city had been fixed in her absence, lending to new troubles, she had been trying not just to fix things at home but also to find a way to reunite with all the friends she had made in Nautilus.

She had been working in her sleep again, thankfully this time still in her adventuring gear, when she saw the portal. Which opened in the middle of the workshop she'd been offered. She frowned, tapping a spanner to her lips. Was she actually awake now? She thought she might be. But she wasn't certain. Caution said to call her friends and guards. Caution said she had enough problems already from portals very like this one. Caution said find a way to close it.

Science said it needed to be examined. And that it could be ephemeral. And she wanted to experiment, itched to experiment. She didn't fear the experiment, for that was science. She feared the result. But that fear could not override her curiosity. And so she quickly gathered the bare minimum - a huge bag of tools and parts, goggles, a leather jacket with many pockets, her weasel, her Pokemon, and a few dingbots. She really should leave a note... But the portal....

She hesitated just a moment then took one of the Dingbots back out of her pocket. "Get the others, have them follow me." She considered. "And bring more tools."

There, that was enough, right? Right. And with that, and a nervous touch to her locket, she stepped into someone else's dream.

Her Own Dream

Agatha's dreams weren't always as weird as they had been when she was first Breaking Through, but for those not of her world they were probably still plenty weird.

In her dream she was in a version of Mechanicsburg. One that wasn't locked away and hidden, and that also wasn't half destroyed. The town, from a distance, almost could pass for normal. So long as that distance was extreme. The walls around the town were crenelated and dotted with odd bronze and glass structures. The main gate in the town had a stone carved dragon leaning out over it, and the portcullis looked disturbingly like metal jagged teeth. There was no moat, but there was a burned circle of ground outside the wall that implied some sort of defenses.

Unluckily for anyone who came to the town from outside it, the gate was open. They were being subtly welcomed.

The town, once entered, was one that got weirder the more you looked. Perhaps the adverts for new varieties of snacking snails and minimamoths on a stick weren't that odd. The clockwork pigeons were from her memories of Beetleburg, but hardly seemed out of place compared to the Dingbots running all over the place like a living metal carpet, carrying tools back and forth.

Because it was a dream, the statue of the Heterodyne Boys was visible as soon as anyone entered the gate. And the road went past the coffee shop - which was oddly large in this dream and issuing forth dark smoke that smelled wonderful, a large tavern called Mama Ginka's, and a museum of historical battle armor, up to the castle that hovered at the top of the hill.

Sitting on a bench outside the Castle was Agatha herself. She was building another small Dingbot as she chatted with... something. The voice that answered her shook the ground and sounded old and... petulant.

"I don't know why you are making such a big deal about a little remodeling," Agatha said, with a mix of amusement and patience. "The Jägers do far more damage dancing than I'm proposing. And besides, you're hideously over built, especially since we repaired you."

"I just rediscovered that lab!" the voice boomed.

"Yes, and it almost killed us all," Agatha said, still seeming amused.

"Exactly!"

"So you agree it must go?" Agatha asked, looking at the Castle, seeming suspicious in the extreme.

"No! So I need to study it! I do not at all care for the woman whose lab it was and would gleefully crush her if she even set foot in your town again, Lady," the voice boomed.

"Who wouldn't you gleefully crush?" Agatha asked, distracting it.

"Um... Well...."

"Well?"

"Well you, I suppose."

"Just me?" Agatha sounded a little annoyed now.

"And your minions I suppose..."

Agatha set down the now finished Dingbot and crossed her arms, somehow without impaling herself on the very sharp screwdriver she'd been using. "I need those. Who else?" Her voice was almost demanding now.

"I mean I wouldn't crush them until after you had heirs of course..."

"You won't crush them at all," Agatha snapped firmly.

"But... What if they really need crushing?"

"You sound like Bang," Agatha said flatly. "If they really need crushing, I am perfectly capable of crushing them myself!"

"Last time you did that you took out four of my walls! One was load bearing!"

"You survived," Agatha said. She turned to whatever poor unfortunate had wandered into her dream, green eyes flashing behind her glasses. "You agree with me, of course. Right?"

Another Dream

[3wingedangel]

Well, this was a complication. The blue-winged man had been just about to close this dreamer's portal when someone else walked through it. He grunted, giving them a deadpan look. "Hello."

An Eevee happily scampered around at his feet.

Re: Another Dream

[agathaheterodyne]

She gave a bright smile. "Fascinating! Is this part of Nautilus, by chance?" she asked, as she crouched to offer her hand to Eevee.

Re: Another Dream

[3wingedangel]

"It's someone's dream. I don't know where it is. I came through a portal from Gaia to get to it, but we've discovered the portals can lead anywhere."

The Eevee purred happily and moved to nuzzle her hand.

Re: Another Dream

[agathaheterodyne]

She considered. "Everyone in Nautilus was certain that that world was the real world and ours was the Dream, but I'm not so sure. This could be part of Nautilus after all if it is a dream reached though a portal. We should experiment."

Re: Another Dream

[3wingedangel]

"I am trying to close these portals because things from people's dreams are escaping into the real world. How would you propose to experiment?"

Re: Another Dream

[agathaheterodyne]

"Well... the more reliable one would be traveling to see if any of the landmarks are here. But the more interesting experiment could be Bending. I've done a lot of research on it since I returned home. It is something I had trouble accepting when I was here, but I could teach the theory."

Re: Another Dream

[3wingedangel]

That ... didn't sound something they should be doing right then. But he asked, "What is the theory?"

He should know, he supposed, if it was the type of Bending he had heard of.

Re: Another Dream

[agathaheterodyne]

"In theory, in the living City, one can Bend reality with their will because of our proximity to chaos. It is called Bending. Most people seem to use it to create things. I have never had the need though."

Re: Another Dream

[3wingedangel]

That is more or less what he was thinking of.

"I suppose I have done that to some extent, although I've never called it Bending. I've visited some worlds that normally force transformations upon visitors. I refused, and the world's magic bent to my will."

Re: Another Dream (Remind me, this is the KH AU of him?)

[agathaheterodyne]

"If you can Bend outside Nautilus then that variable would invalidate the experiment," she said considering. "We need to either figure out another experiment, or just go looking for landmarks I recognize. Some things with Bending probably changed, but that odd moon in one of the quarters should still remain."

[3wingedangel]

((OOC: This account is KH Seph, but which KH Seph is in the thread is another question, hmm. I don't consider him AU, though, since I'm just fleshing out what canon left us about him.))

He grunted. He really didn't feel he had time for this. But at least he hadn't seen any dangerous monsters in this dream. Yet.

"If looking for landmarks won't take long, then try to satisfy your curiosity. But I need to close this portal soon. The dream is peaceful now, but it could turn into a nightmare at any time."

[agathaheterodyne]

((Okay))

She nodded. "Well, it is to the west then. There were two moons there. A normal enough looking one and one that looks like..." she fished out a pad of paper rom her pen and an unnecessarily complicated looking steam punk pen. She flipped it open on a hinge and twisted to get the nib she wanted. Then she drew a quick sketch of the moon from the world that never was, complete with the crater looking dark areas. She did switch nibs for those from a smooth ink pen to something more like a charcoal pencil but without the dust. She turned the pad of paper to show him.

[3wingedangel]

Alright, now she had his attention. The wings went stiff when he saw the picture.

"That's in your homeworld?"

He wouldn't have expected that.

Given the person she killed was Vexen, he might get some interesting info if he presses

[agathaheterodyne]

"No, that's in Nautilus. It is a world a bunch of us got stuck on for a while. I learned a lot, even if some people were really odd about science." She sighed. It still bothered her how many people got upset at her transmitting her revivification experiment. She had only been hoping to share knowledge so they could study together. It wasn't really murder. Not if the other person was a volunteer and it wasn't meant to be permanent anyway!

Re: Given the person she killed was Vexen, he might get some interesting info if he presses

[3wingedangel]

He quirked an eyebrow. "How were they odd?" He likely would never suspect the answer to that.

Re: Given the person she killed was Vexen, he might get some interesting info if he presses

[agathaheterodyne]

"Okay so one of the others there, this guy Vexen, he came and asked me to set him on fire. And well, I was working on revivification experiments anyway. He wanted to learn the same thing I did, but with different variables, so we agreed to work together. I suggested a death ray, hurts less than burning to death. He agreed. And in the interest of science since there were devices to let anyone show anything to anyone else no matter where in the City they were, we set the device up to record and transmit, so that anyone else who wanted to learn could. Apparently that got a lot of people upset. I'm still not fully sure why, but I did agree to lock it to people who said they were interested in the future." she still was annoyed by that. "Finally it was just easier to build a lab with operating theaters."

Re: Given the person she killed was Vexen, he might get some interesting info if he presses

[3wingedangel]

He just stared at her. What kind of lunatic was this? One of Hojo's proteges? At the moment he was too disturbed by the story to fully process the person being someone from Organization XIII.

"You killed someone just to bring them back to life? What if it hadn't worked?"

Wow, deja vu. People were just as horrified in situ, lol

[agathaheterodyne]

"Science always has risks, we both had reasons to be reasonably assured that it would work, however. And honestly?" She shrugged. "He came to me begging to be killed. If I hadn't agreed, he's have just asked someone else. And I had a less painful way to do it, and some ideas he hadn't considered, so it worked out well for us both."

Lol. I'd think so.

[3wingedangel]

The man sounded insane as well. And ... wait....

"His name was Vexen?"

Re: Lol. I'd think so.

[agathaheterodyne]

She nodded. "I am still mildly annoyed with him. Why, do you know him? He left before he could give me his observations, after only the first test." She was irritated at that.

Re: Lol. I'd think so.

[3wingedangel]

“I know of him,” Sephiroth said. “I have not heard anything good about him in years.”

Almost missed this >.<

[agathaheterodyne]

"I didn't know him long, but he seemed intelligent enough to me." she did not realize that this was likely to only make him more wary of her.

Re: Almost missed this >.<

[3wingedangel]

"Intelligence is not the only way to measure someone's worth," Sephiroth grunted. Indeed, that wasn't helping.

Re: Almost missed this >.<

[agathaheterodyne]

She huffed a bit. "I know that. But I didn't get to know him long enough to know anything thing else about him, so it is the only measure I have in my calculations."