Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us no more | OPEN

[vitaelamorte]

Who: E V E R Y O N E (Including our 4th wall guests!)
Where: Everywhere, one both Mirror and Real Side!
When: December 19th - December 26th (ICly December 25th) (WEEK TWO)
Rating: PG-13, warn if going higher
Summary: After a particularly intense week of holiday cheer and holiday scenes, Wonderland simply cannot take any more. The form it takes will no longer hold. Wonderland sheds its holiday skin and remains in the barest form of itself.
The Story:

As of the 19th, no one will be able to use the network to make posts. A new error message will appear on all screens, but again, it's probably fine.

This will quickly prove to be a problem though, as Wonderland has completely abandoned any sign of the signature mansion or its grounds. All of a sudden, it cannot hold itself together any more. At this point, Wonderland has become a series of holiday past, present, and future scenes instead of a collection of rooms, and none of them connect together in any sensical, linear way. If you find a friend wandering, you may want to stay with them. It will prove difficult to seek out people on purpose (though very easy to stumble across people by accident).

In between the various scenes, instead of the halls of the mansion, are one of three voids. Gravity does not seem to exist in them, and characters will float, swim, or spin around until they find a new scene to be in. There is no up or down, and no ground to stand on. Scenes are entered suddenly and without warning, going from floating along to suddenly standing in a memory or a vision (unless you have come from the second void). Characters can also find themselves traveling from void to void, but there is no precise place where they overlap, and if they turn around they will not be able to return to the void they were previously in. It is almost as though perhaps, the voids and the scenes are moving around, and that Wonderland no longer has a static form.

Wonderland will remain this way until the end of the event. What happens then? You'll have to wait and see. ♥ For now though, please enjoy the horrible voids that make up all of Wonderland at the moment. If you have any questions, please report to the plot post or check out our Fourth Wall Masterpost for all your other fourth wall needs!

Comments

[tinyfoods]

Oh yes! I mean, not everything all the time. Magic is more restrained than that. But there are places where the landscape shifts constantly, and that has to be magic. Even the most advanced tech I've studied can't do that on such a large scale.

[She sits down cross-legged on her hair, making herself comfortable. This is the most fun conversation she's had since she got here!]

Of course, the most advanced technology on Etheria is techno-organic in the first place, so it seems to follow that magic and technology could be linked in the same way.

[slapfight]

Techno-organic... Yes, yes... That makes sense. Gem tech is based entirely on a geo-technological scale, so of course a planet that is primarily made up of and controlled by organics would have a similar basis. [She abandons the crate she's been trying to use as her soapbox and it floats away, while she paces in midair.] So if a planet's nature is inherently magical, then the technology could draw entirely from that that. Hah!

[She slams a fist into her palm.] You're clearly of an intellect nearly as superior as mine, and your limb enhancements are of a variety I've never seen before. [She points at her hair.] Did you build them yourself?

[Yeah, she's gonna... touch the hair.]

[tinyfoods]

[Entrapta looks silently blank until Peridot touches her hair.]

Oh! My hair! No, that's natural. [Somehow.] So I guess in a way I did build them! But probably not in the way you meant.

All princesses in Etheria have something--well, I'd call it magic, but it's not always magic in a classical sense. But all princesses have some kind of innate power. For some it's a connection to a runestone that gives them elemental powers, but for others it's more like this!

[She lifts both sides of her hair as though shrugging.]

[slapfight]

[Peridot lets go of her hair as it moves on its own accord, and gawks in amazement.] That's... cool. [She's still a little uncertain about the use of that word, but it seems apt in this circumstance.

Okay, okay. This is clearly a person she wants to know and talk shop with. She's actually never been in a position since Lapis where she wanted to make friends with someone. Friends just... happen to her.

Step one: introduction.]

I'm Peridot. I'm formerly from the Gem Homeworld, but currently a protector of the planet Earth. I'm a certified technician and I control metal. I'm basically the full package.

[She grins. Right. Definitely overselling herself here, but HOW ARE PEOPLE SUPPOSED TO LIKE HER IF THEY DON'T KNOW ALL OF HER SKILLS.]

[tinyfoods]

[There are several things there that Entrapta has questions about and she's practically quivering with suppressed energy. People don't like it when she interrupts.]

What is a gem? A species? Or is it more like a Princess? What is "Earth"? A planet? What is it like? How is it different from your homeworld? What are its inhabitants like? What does a technician do in your world? How do you become certified to do it?

[As she speaks, her hair retrieves a pad of paper and a pen from her pockets and is poised to write down Peridot's answers.]

Tell me everything.

[slapfight]

[This has never happened to her before.

Never. In her entire life. She has had managers who have not been this attentive to her reports. Even Steven never took notes on her very important Camp Pining Hearts hot takes. NO ONE HAS EVER REBLOGGED HER META ESSAYS.

Her cheeks flush indigo and she looks briefly overwhelmed.] I've been waiting for someone to ask me that for cycles. [She clasps her hands together.] We'll start with the simplest answers. A gem is a race of interstellar beings created by the Great Diamond Authority who govern our world and control everything. We're made to serve them and in serving them, we create more of our race and extend our power across the galaxy... Or, least- heh- that's what Homeworld-aligned gems do. I've learned how draining planets of their resources in order to produce more gems who will then go on to steal resources from even more planets to make even more gems is a broken system that needs to be adjusted. Unfortunately, my Diamond- Yellow Diamond- didn't see it that way.

[She pauses here, like she expects more questions.]

[tinyfoods]

[Oh, there are absolutely more questions. Entrapta scribbles a few notes with her hair before looking up again.]

How is a gem different from, say, a human? You appear more or less human. I assume it has something to do with the gemstone in your forehead.

[And she reaches out with one hand like she's going to touch it. Because personal space isn't a thing for Entrapta.]

[slapfight]

[Peridot recoils just a bit, and then relaxes again, but keeps her head turned slightly away so her gem isn't in reach.] It's... Better if you don't touch it. We're inorganic. Everything we are is right here. [She points with both hands to the gem.] Our forms are just hard light manifestations provided by our gems so we can perform our basic functions.

[tinyfoods]

[To her credit, she does withdraw her hand.]

Fascinating. To think that something inorganic would develop sentience!

[Hopefully saying that isn't offensive. And if it is, she has no idea.]

What else?

[slapfight]

[It's a little offensive, but Peridot lets her flat look speak for itself. She's on a roll here. No time to correct ignorance.]

Well, as a technician, my role used to be maintaining the Kindergartens that created new gems, but... Heh. Like I said, they drain planets of their actual resources. Other planets mostly have organic life, and Earth is full of it. There's so many things on it and they all live.

[Her voice rises an octave, excitement building again.] They just... thrive and they're not bound by a rigid caste system. They aren't born knowing what they're going to be from the day they emerge from the ground or-or whatever organic beings emerge from! Homeworld is... It's cold and harsh and everything is so structured... Which, admittedly, is nice. The chaos of Earth can be a little intense, but... but... I can be and do whatever I want. I would've never known I had metal powers if I hadn't decided to stay on Earth.

[tinyfoods]

[Entrapta takes some more notes.]

Hm...Earth sounds a little like Etheria, where I'm from! It's all organic life from what I've observed--that is, my bots aren't really alive like other creatures are. They have no will of their own. Most of the time.

[A pause as she considers this. She's practically quivering with excitement because this whole conversation is the best thing that's happened since she got here.]

Then again, the First Ones tech I've been experimenting with almost seems alive at times. The code written into the crystals I've worked with is so advanced, it seems to exhibit some kind of sentient will to survive. And the rune stones--

[And she seems to realize at that point that she's gone off the subject of Peridot's world, so she manages to rip herself away from her tangent and steer herself back on course.]

What can you do with "metal powers"?

[slapfight]

[Bots... Robots? Peridot perks up, and as Entrapta goes on, suddenly she's the one with all the questions. What she describes as "First Ones" tech sounds almost like gem tech. Could this Etheria place be a world that Homeworld colonized and abandoned that somehow managed to thrive afterwards? If she had a heart it would be thudding against the confines of her hard light body.

But first thing's first. She snaps her fingers.] I can manipulate metal to my will. Heh. Observe. [She points upwards into the void.] Featureless void, give me something metal.

[The void produces a metal javelin, likely tapping into what she subconsciously wanted to use it for. She can't make it float, since... They all float here, but what she can do is way more impressive. She holds her hands out in front of it and screws up her face and the javelin goes flying off into the distance as if it was shot out of a cannon.

...Hopefully... that doesn't hit anyone.] Hah! See? A simple metal object turned into a weapon and all with the power of my brain. Heh.

[tinyfoods]

[Entrapta watches the javelin disappear into the void and claps her hands, looking back at Peridot.]

Impressive! That must have all kinds of practical applications in building and working with different kinds of tech. Weapons, too, as you just demonstrated, but that's of secondary importance to the other things you could potentially do with that kind of power!

[slapfight]

[You'd think Peridot would have already used all of those applications by now, but so far she has mostly used her abilities to make art and throw cars. Whoops.] Pfft. Of course. I'm brilliant.

[Anyway, moving on. She shuffles a bit closer.] Now. Tell me about this technology you've found on your planet. What activates it? What does it do? It could be ancient gem technology from another planet that wasn't fully destroyed. We could basically be from the same galactic system!

[tinyfoods]

The First Ones were a race of people who came before us on Etheria. Their technology makes ours look like children's toys. I've been able to learn quite a lot from it. It's how I was able to build my bots without needing an external power source for them.

[Aw...she misses her bots. They did...everything for her. Everything except science.]

Their technology runs deep, all the way to the core of our planet.

[slapfight]

[Peridot sucks in a gasp.] It really could be gem technology. This could change everything for both of us! [...Oh wait. Hold on.] Erm... Once we figure out the Wonderland problem anyway... and figure out how to retain our Wonderland memories once we're disengaged from the system.

[tinyfoods]

Retaining memories... Now that's something worth working on! I'm not that well acquainted with neurobiology or...neurogemology or whatever the gem version of that is called. But I think I could figure it out!

[slapfight]

[Peridot is so enraptured.] You have to stay here. You cannot just vanish on me like some others do. Do you know how long I've been waiting for someone to come along who has even a fraction of my intellect? [She sounds a little desperate now.] We could blow this whole place wide open. This is what I've been waiting for. Yes, yes.

[tinyfoods]

[Entrapta doesn't seem at all insulted by the implication that she's not as smart as Peridot. If she even noticed it.]

There aren't other scientists here? How odd. There seem to be so many kinds of people, I'd expect there to at least be a few.

[slapfight]

Well, there are scientists, but they're Earth scientists. They're limited by a lack of perspective on the wider universe and their technology- eugh. It's so primitive. [Also not a single one of them takes her seriously because she's tiny and bossy and green even though she's had thousands of years of experience. Hmph.]

[tinyfoods]

I'd still like to talk to them! Even people who aren't um. Gifted scientifically can be useful.

[Look at her being all tactful. It's a rare thing.]

[slapfight]

Oh of course! Just use small words. It'll save you a lot of time and energy and needless questions, especially when it comes to terms they insist mean something different in their world. Do you know how many conversations have gotten derailed because Earthlings don't know what a kindergarten is?

[SHE'S SO OPPRESSED, ENTRAPTA.]

[tinyfoods]

I don't think I've ever heard that word either!

[She gets her notepad back out. Tell her what a kindergarten is.]

[slapfight]

It's where gems are formed. Usually a cavernous space on a planet and mineral rich to help the growth process. [She leaves out the part where the process strips the minerals entirely. This is science talk, not newly found morality talk.] But people from Earth think it's some school where Earth children go to learn. It's ridiculous! Why would I be describing that when I refer to myself as a Kindergartner?

[Maybe because you look and act like one, Peridot.] It's entirely contextual, but they have to make their jokes.

[tinyfoods]

[Entrapta makes a "hmmm"-ing noise and nods, although she doesn't seem all that outraged on Peridot's behalf. Instead, she's zeroed in on something much more interesting.]

So gems are grown. That makes sense, it aligns with what I know about mineral generation on my own planet. Does it take a very long time?