[open] HGZIH HSRMRMT YIRTSG ZYLEV BLF / MRTSG YIVVAVH HVVN GL DSRHKVI 'R OLEV BLF'

[tetractys]

Who: Bill Cipher and YOU?
Where: Anywhere you're sleeping, Real Side
When: Any night, before, during, or after event
Rating: G, will update as needed
Summary: What are you dreaming about? How have your dreams changed since you got your happy ending? Bill wants to sneak around and gather information about you based on it.
The Story:

The sun sets over every side of Wonderland. Everyone is in their proper places. Eyes are hidden in many spaces. Night casts shadows on strange faces.

Going to sleep, are you? Well, I'm sure you think that's perfectly fine. But, of course, we often don't realize our greatest mistakes until far too late.

A shadow passes from the borders of the Dream Side but can't quite reach the Real space. Instead, it slips into the dreams of residents, invisible, to observe.

What are you dreaming about tonight, Wonderland?

Or, if you prefer: What do you usually dream about? How have your dreams changed since the event began?

Comments

[tetractys]

"IN WONDERLAND, OR YOUR DREAMS?"

Both true, but it's about how much she's guessed - or remembers.

"THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE OF ME HERE. TWO, ACTUALLY!"

[ssmisery]

"Oh yeah? I only got one of them. Lucky me. But I guess that kind of thing barely counts as weird in Wonderland."

[tetractys]

"I'M STARTING TO THINK IT'S THE PLACES WE ALL CAME FROM THAT ARE THE OUTLIERS! THAT ONLY HAVE ONE THING THAT'S WEIRD AND MAGICAL. INSTEAD OF EVERY KIND OF THING!"

[ssmisery]

"And we've all been living in watered-down spinoffs?"

Lapis probably isn't being very serious about this, but it's hard to tell for sure with her. Or maybe there just isn't much of a difference. Again, she tends to sort of vaguely regard plot stuff as not in her jurisdiction by default, but one can hardly avoid forming opinions.

[tetractys]

"YEP. BRANCHES FROM THE TREE! THIS IS THE SECOND PLACE I'VE BEEN THAT'S LIKE WONDERLAND."

The leaf gestures into the fire, where embers curl up to make two images - a manor on a broad lawn, and a cruise ship floating on something that isn't water.

"- THE ONLY REAL DIFFERENCE IS WHY EVERYBODY'S PRETENDING WE'VE ALL BEEN BROUGHT HERE! EVERYTHING ELSE RUNS THE SAME!"

The images both zoom in to reveal bars on the windows, and a figure clutching them sadly, unable to leave.

[ssmisery]

Okay, THAT'S news; Lapis frowns at the pyrotechnics. Whatever quiet understanding she does maintain about things, she's not sure how much this impacts it. A lot of this stuff really is pretty academic in the end.

"That's impressive. I didn't think this place even runs the same."

[tetractys]

"YOU STRIP IT DOWN AND IT'S JUST THROWING A BUNCH OF PEOPLE INTO A BOX TOGETHER AND CHANGING THEM MAGICALLY EVERY MONTH OR SO - TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS!"

He waves the images off.

[ssmisery]

"And was there ever a point to it there? An overarching theme?"

She sounds vaguely disgruntled by the idea more than anything. Also, she idly beckons to the fire, which dances in spiraling arcs of flame. This isn't her usual element, but Lapis can do what she wants.

[tetractys]

"THERE THE IDEA WAS REDEMPTION! EVERYBODY WAS SUPPOSED TO BECOME A BETTER VERSION OF THEMSELVES - AND THEY COULDN'T LEAVE UNTIL THEY DID! BUT OF COURSE, THE PLACE WASN'T RUN LIKE THEY WANTED US TO REDEEM. MORE LIKE THEY WANTED TO WATCH US FLAIL AROUND FOR SOMEBODY'S ENTERTAINMENT!"

Most people would choose the relative safety and certainty of the Barge over Wonderland. Bill is not one of those people. Here he doesn't have anyone telling him what to do, or what's right or wrong. Much better.

[ssmisery]

There's a pause while Lapis considers. "Wonderland acts like it has rules too," she says, reaching into the fire unconcerned and unaffected, "but the only one what matters is whatever the story demands."

She pulls out a chunk of flame, regardless of whether that's something that normally comes in chunks, and lets it sit in her hand like a docile pet, licking at her fingers. Who cares whether that's sensible or even consistent? Anything goes as long as it's ostensibly making a point.

[tetractys]

"EXACTLY."

You've never heard a tiny little leaf with a googly eye sound so bitter.

"IT'S ALL A SHOW BEING PUT ON, WHETHER WE WANT IT PUT ON OR NOT. WE DON'T LIVE OR DIE ON OUR OWN MERIT, JUST BY WHAT MAKES A MORE DRAMATIC MOMENT. YOU MIGHT AS WELL NOT TRY AT ALL. STAND THERE AND BE CUTE LONG ENOUGH AND THINGS WILL JUST DROP INTO YOUR LAP."

He's going from yellow to red, like his chlorophyll is degrading for winter in fast-motion. What an extra little fucker.

[ssmisery]

Is anyone around here not extra? Lapis's hand is on fire. Okay, no, that's an uncharitable way to put it, the fire is remaining well-behaved and contained. She gives a dry snort. Truly, nothing can bring together all kinds of weirdos like communal kvetching about jamjars.

"Pretty sure you'd have to work in some pathos. I've heard that sometimes it turns off the death mechanics just to get away with more drama." Granted, mortality is still a little abstract to a gem, one who has no intention of ever finding out what 'counts' for Wonderland's tastes, but she sure does understand it a lot better than when she arrived and that tells ya something.

[tetractys]

That's a new one on him and he lets out a long, belabored sigh.

"OOOOOF COURSE IT DOES. EVERYTHING'S A POPULARITY CONTEST."

[ssmisery]

What, the unfair bias towards people who can die for better drama? Yeah maybe. However...

"You don't exactly seem to be following all the usual rules yourself."

[tetractys]

"THAT'S MY SPECIALTY! RULES ARE SUGGESTIONS OF WHAT THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE DON'T WANT YOU DOING! THAT MEANS YOU SHOULD BREAK THEM TO SEE WHAT'S GOT THEM SO WORRIED!"

[ssmisery]

"Kinda like breaking into people's minds? That's another thing Wonderland usually decides to cause on its own."

You know, that's not entirely true. Indeed the biggest offender in causing psychic shenanigans from Lapis's personal experiences was, as a matter of fact, the previous Stanford Pines. She probably knows this, but it was a while ago and she's much more interested in bitching about the here and now. Which may or may not be for the best.

[tetractys]

The leaf raises a little hand.

"PLEASE. I'M NOT IN YOUR MIND! YOU'D KNOW IF I WAS, BELIEVE ME! WHEN PEOPLE DREAM, THEIR MINDS FLOAT UP HERE TO VISIT ME!"

He gestures around.

"THIS PLACE JUST LOOKS LIKE WHATEVER YOUR MIND WANTS IT TO! IT'S NOT ACTUALLY YOURS PERSONALLY!"

[ssmisery]

"Oh." Well, all right, that makes sense with the Dream Side thing. Lapis glances around at the surroundings that her mind apparently wanted -- they're still a bit vague around the edges, but familiar in a way she doesn't entirely appreciate if she's going to be lucid about it.

She tosses her handful of flame back into the campfire. It splashes like water, scattering bits everywhere within a few feet, which would be extremely dangerous if this weren't a dream and if the landscape were anything more flammable than regolith. (Bill might possibly be a bit flammable himself at the moment, but he can handle this, right?) It's that second part that's being addressed; where the sparks and gouts land they soak into the soil, and patches of grass grow instead.

Lapis, meanwhile, is continuing as if that background activity were totally routine. "That would be more reassuring if it didn't imply that I'm also out there with the monster."

[tetractys]

"YOU ARE!" Bill says, cheerily. The sparks from the campfire catch his leaf body, and he starts to burn with no apparent pain. He doesn't even seem to have noticed, actually. "BUT YOU CAN JUST WAKE UP IF YOU HAVE TO, RIGHT?"

[ssmisery]

This Is Fine™. Lapis prods the fire a bit trying to get it to spread more, but it's sluggish. Hrm.

"Now that I know, I guess. Must suck for the people actually need to sleep."

Not that she's going to stop sleeping, though, unless there's any indication that the Jabberwock invading dreams might actually become an issue. It probably would have done that by now if it were going to. Yeah, what are the odds of an event log like THAT going up in a couple weeks? Anyway, the point is sleep is a good hobby, and more importantly, one of the most reliable ways to get her mind off things. How the heck else is she supposed to pass this week alone and waiting?

[tetractys]

"AND ME!"

Don't forget about him!!

"MY WHOLE BODY IS IN HERE!"

Gesturing down at the ground, to this place, which is a prison.

[ssmisery]

It is, but that's exactly why she's trying to redecorate! Lapis makes a harsh sweeping gesture with one hand, and fire begins spilling out from the dinky little campfire. It meanders along the terrain in a vague, misshapen ring, leaving more new vegetation in its wake, though politely skirting around the gem, her chair, and her leaves. Even if it's too late for some of that.

"Yeah, but we've been over you already. Did you know you're on fire?"

[tetractys]

"HUH?"

Bill looks down, at the body that's mostly burned away by now, leaving a floating eye and limbs attached to nothing, and rolls his eye. He makes a gesture like he's brushing something off of his shirt and a new body sweeps in, this time his usual bright yellow triangle.

"EH, BEING CARBON-BASED AIN'T WHAT IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE."

[ssmisery]

"Isn't that the truth," Lapis mutters. She trucks with only the barest trace amounts of the stuff herself, except of course when species is what Wonderland feels like messing with, and isn't it lovely to have acquired all these impossible frames of reference. Anyway, she settles back down on her seat, picking her leaves up to set next to her although she wouldn't be able to say why she's saving them.

The plants start to become a bit more tropical as they grow in. A ridge takes shape as an enormous, beautiful cracked-open geode jutting out of the ground. The gaping fissure remains as it is, actually; the river of night sky is still a river of night sky, more out of place than ever. Somewhere just out of sight, the horizon evidently proves to be closer than it should be, and the actual sky catches on fire. That's still probably fine. Lapis doesn't think she intended this direction specifically and has mixed feelings about it, but at least it's nicer to look at.

[tetractys]

Bill tips back to watch everything change, floats up into the air a bit, cackles when the sky catches fire.

"HEEEY, LOOK AT THIS! WE'VE PRACTICALLY GOT A VACATION GOING."