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

[thecourier]

[This... is undoubtedly the weirdest thing that Wonderland has ever done while Dan has been here. At least it's enough to pull him most of the way out of the dark cloud that's been hanging over him for the last few months.

He's not sure how long he's been drifting, flitting from void to void, before he comes across the twins. Until recently he hasn't made much habit of talking to the Wonderland denizens, but now..?]

'ey. [When he's close enough, he speaks.] You two know what the hell's goin' on here?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

Things seem to be disintegrating.

[Tweedledee looks at Tweedledum thoughtfully.]

Is that the right word?

..."Mixing"? "░▒▓▓▒▒▒"? "Coming apart at the seams"?

...Yes, disintegrating might be the best.

[thecourier]

Yeah... no kiddin'.

[Okay, so it's not as vague an answer as he feared he might get. Dan floats in place for a moment, then decides to press on.]

Okay... so this got somethin' t' do with the White Queen, yeah? With what's goin' on right now.

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

Well she certainly did make a mess.

We're waiting--quite patiently, I must say--for her to clean it up.

[Tweedledee starts to say something, but freezes, her features pixelating, like a movie buffering.]

[thecourier]

[He wonders, while he watches the peculiar effect across the girl's face, just how much he might get out of this conversation... but damn, it's better than floating around this place in silence, not knowing what he might accidentally trip over.]

How'd she make that mess, exactly. Seen this kinda thing before, but it never went like this.

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

I'm sure she ░▒░░▓▓▒░▒░▓░▒▒▒░▒.

Contrariwise, she might have simply let things go as they liked without doing anything, and this is how it went.

[thecourier]

[Dan grimaces slightly. He never expects speaking to the locals to be easy, but the glitching isn't helping.]

Right. [Helpful. Not really. He tries a different tack, waving a hand vaguely.]

So... where's here?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

This place is in-between.

Or perhaps behind.

[thecourier]

[Why did he have to run into these two? With few other options of what to do with his time, he's just making the best of it.]

In-between. So... this ain't somewhere we can normally go. What is it t' you?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

We use it quite often.

Or more often than people like you.

It's the best way to get from here to there like that.

[And Tweedledum snaps her fingers.]

[thecourier]

[He glances to her fingers as they snap, raising one eyebrow slightly.]

Here t' there? Can y' be more specific?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

Well, say you want to go from the attic--

No reason, just say.

--to the kitchen.

Just for example.

[thecourier]

[This could give him a headache so easily.]

Y' tryin' t' tell me this is some kinda... liminal space?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

[The two speak at the same time.]

Precisely!

Sort of!

[And then they eye each other quietly for a second. Tweedledum starts to buffer, so it's Tweedledee who finally looks back at him.]

That is to say, it's not just a between space, it's a behind the scenes place.

[thecourier]

... Right. Got it. I think.

[And Dan floats quietly for a few moments, rubbing two fingers lightly along the stubble on his jaw line. It's giving him something to think about, and god knows he's needed that lately.]

And... d' you guys exist here, like this, when y' ain't in the mansion?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

We're usually ░▒▓▓▒▒▓░░.

[thecourier]

Usually--..?

[The way they're fritzing feels almost deliberate.]

Try that one again? Lost y' fer a second.

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

The attic.

We're usually in the attic.

[thecourier]

The attic.

[In all his time here, Dan's never been into the attic. There never seemed to be much point in it.]

... What's special about the attic?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

We like it there!

[It was that simple.]

[thecourier]

Huh.

[Maybe the place is worth a look, after all.]

Jus' the two a' you?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

Just us!

Did you think some of the others might have joined us there?

We prefer our privacy.

[thecourier]

Uh... really couldn't tell y', ladies. [Surely, they'd know better than him.]

So... do all a' y' have a place like that? Somewhere y' like t' be?

[twixt_dee_n_dum]

Some wander more than others.

But most have preferences.

[thecourier]

Preferences, huh. An' where else are some a' y' decidin' t' live in this place?