+ FOURTH WALL EVENT: FOREST PARTY +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: E V E R Y O N E
Where: The Forest!
When: Sept 7th to Sept 10th
Rating: G to PG-13 (please label higher ratings, thank you!)
Summary: Could it be that you (GASP!) don't want to be here? Do you maybe want to make like a tree and... leaf? Then how about you do the next best thing, and come to the woods to party! And don't forget to have a look at the Fourth Wall Master Post for event rules, puzzle clues, and more places to mingle!
The Story:

Beginning on September 7th, colourful ribbons will hang from several trees by the forest. Whoever follows their path will be guided deeper, right to the scene of a forest party.

Wooden benches, swings in all shapes and sizes, tree trunks, and other arrangements give plenty of opportunities to sit together. Tree houses and tents provide shelter, and come nightfall the festivities will light up for you.

Campfires provide additional light and warmth and a great place for ghost stories. Camping coolers store more than smores, and all around you nature twists and turns to give you room to dance to the music, to wander in the quiet, and to simply have a good time!

(...Are you the curiously perceptive, or the perceptively curious sort? If so, then you might also notice the small bird sitting on a branch nearby.)

Comments

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Well, that they can agree on. Wonderland operates on a rather unfunny sense of humor. If he knew to whom he was speaking, Victor would be doubly convinced of that.

He blinks. If he were a drinker, he supposes he'd want one to dull the senses, too.]</sub>

I haven't partaken myself. _{[Surprisingly, he hasn't resorted to morphine yet, either, which is his vice of choice. That's some small progress.]} But I have not heard of the food or drink having strange effects in the past few days. I think you're safe enough.

_[Probably.]

[jolting]

It could be that the rules are bending in favor of all the visitors. That is, if Wonderland even has "rules". [still, just to be safe he's going to watch someone else drink first]

Guess it doesn't matter. I won't be sticking around.

[lifeskills]

_{[In his experience, said rules aren't easy to predict. Probably for the best they're both careful.]}

You sound certain of that.

_{[It seems safe to say the other man isn't a resident, from the way he speaks about Wonderland. Sometimes it's difficult to tell; Victor isn't the most social person in the world.]}

[jolting]

It's easy to travel between realms if you have the right tools.

[and he figures if the Enchanted Forest crew can go between realms that easily, who not him? Having a project to focus on will also keep him from the madness of Wonderland. He's gotten to be an expert at avoiding magic-related madness]

[lifeskills]

This one has been known to pose some challenges in that regard, or so I've heard.

_{[Victor... has his doubts, but best of luck to you, other Victor. Maybe you'll succeed where this version of you has so far come up empty.]}

You've unfortunately arrived at an odd time. I can say these gatherings generally aren't the norm.

[jolting]

I figured. Still, I'm not one to back down from a challenge.

[he takes in their surroundings again] So there's a "norm" in Wonderland?

[lifeskills]

_{[Unflappable fellow, isn't he. Victor angles his head as he answers.]}

Somewhat. Parties hosted by mysterious benefactors are a new feature. As is the sudden influx of visitors. Admittedly, I haven't seen anything quite like this before.

_{[The theme of "welcome home" is unsettling, to say the least.]}

I apologize, I'm forgetting myself. _{[He shakes his head, dismissing the bad feeling fermenting in his stomach as best he can, and extends his hand.]} Victor Frankenstein.

[jolting]

[well, after all he's been through, he just goes with it. Or he normally would, but hearing that name derails him. He stares at this kid for a solid minute. Then he cracks a smile and laughs]

Well, nice to meet you. My name is Victor Frankenstein. [just lets that sink in]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Victor keeps his hand out a beat longer, then realizing the endeavor is a pointless one, lets it drop. His identity is hit or miss around these parts; he tries not to take it personally. Tries.

The mockery--and that's what it seems to be, in all its amused glory--already has him narrowing his eyes, but when the other man says the unthinkable, they narrow further in stark incredulity, appraising the other man in one hard, disbelieving sweep. No. No, absolutely not. He doesn't even know which part he's denying. Some of it? All of it?

No.]</sub>

Wonderland. Of course.

_{[This is said mostly to himself. Fuck you, Wonderland, fuck you.]}

[jolting]

[he is honestly trying not to laugh, but the situation is just too funny. He manages to calm down fairly quickly when he sees the other Victor react to the laughing]

Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just... a part of me figured there were other versions of me-- us out there.

[lifeskills]

_{[Wow, it's not funny, this is serious business. Victorian gothic horror-levels of serious.]}

There's not.

<sub>[It falls out of his mouth automatically, a protesting blurt, and upon realizing what he's said, Victor shakes his head. This Victor's probably forgotten how to laugh, forget actually having reasons to do so.

Being warned there are other incarnations of him hadn't prepared him for the reality of actually meeting one of them.]</sub>

That is-- We're obviously not the same. An identical name is just the kind of trickery Wonderland is known for. An identical face, perhaps.

_{[But not identical people. A part of him resists even considering it.]}

[jolting]

Obviously not exactly the same, but I bet we have some similarities. Stop me when I get something wrong here. [clears his throat, fishing for things that should remain the same in the Frankenstein story] You are a doctor; you have a laboratory in your house somewhere; you have at least one brother and your mother's death inspired you to study the whole life-and-death thing; you have access to corpses and have either attempted to or already succeeded at reviving the dead... How am I doing so far?

[lifeskills]

Stop.

<sub>[What if he tries to stop you before you even get going?

It's a futile effort, but he still shakes his head, harder than before, not wanting to listen, not wanting to hear it. He's never been eager to meet one of these alternate versions and he's not now, it's written all over his face, in the tension in his jaw, in the stubborn resistance.]</sub>

I refuse to play this game with you--or anyone. You may speak glibly about events in history like they're predictable, easily explainable, but I will not. Your life is your own, as is mine.

[jolting]

True. But for future reference, don't go throwing your last name out there for the world to hear. I lived through being Frankenstein; the rest of the world just knows us from books and movies, and their perception is painfully skewed.

[he decides to go ahead and takes a drink. It isn't half bad]

[lifeskills]

I'm well aware after two years of being told about myself.

_{[Victor sniffs in displeasure the way only a Frankenstein can. It's partly because of other Frankensteins that he has the poor reputation that he does.]}

Perhaps your name is easily discarded, but mine is not. I am who I am.

_{[And there's no living through that, there's just living with it.]}