I'm Dreaming of a White Ewaymas | OPEN

[vitaelamorte]

Who: EVERYONE
Where: Your dreams!
When: December 15th - December 25th, whenever a character is asleep.
Rating: PG-13 (Warn if Higher)
Summary: A catch-all for everyone's mysterious alternate Wonderland dreams!
The Story:

At first, it will seem like the decorations are the only change for the season. The days will proceed as usual. No other holiday magic to be seen. But when night falls and everyone is nestled, all snug in their beds, they will not have their usual dreams. Instead they will "wake up" in an alternate version of Wonderland - one where those white decorations are displayed on top of white walls, white furniture, white everything in the common areas of the mansion. Even when the holidays are over, this mansion would go back to a mostly white color palette. There are others in this pale place, your friends and loved ones, but something is not right. They are all nice enough and everyone seems content, but it will become apparent the more you speak to them - they do not remember anything outside of Wonderland. None of them do.

This alternate dream Wonderland is free for you to explore, and will be mostly the same as the one in the waking world, aside from the excessively white decorations. ALl of your belongings are there, all of your familiar locations are there, but there is just one room that is different. Deep in the basement, there is a room with the white Queen's symbol on the door. When asked about it, the people of the dream will say that it is always locked, and many of them are content to let their Queen have her privacy, after all that she has given them. Some might be more concerned, but either way the door is always locked.

Except when the person having the dream tries the door. It will open for them. And inside that mysterious (and evidently very large) room is row after row after row of jars, all faintly glowing in different colors.

Upon inspection, each jar is labeled with the name of someone in Wonderland and a series of numbers and letters. They are labelled by number and not name, but each person has hundreds of jars in this room. The dreamer might even see their own name mixed in among the thousands. They might want to take a jar, and if they do an alarm will go off to alert Her Majesty that she has been robbed. They will only be able to reason take one jar - the first one they pick up. The door will slam shut behind them and every time they try the door after that, it will be locked. No magic or lock-picking will open it.

If they take a jar with someone else's name on it and give it to that person, and that person opens it, that colorful glow will rise up and sink into them and they will regain one random memory from home. If they open a jar with their own name, they will remember a memory so vividly it is as though they're reliving it (since they already have all their memories) and if they open a jar with someone else's name it will drift off to go find its owner, and restore that memory to them.

EACH THREAD IS ONE PERSON'S DREAM-CATCHALL FOR THE WHOLE EVENT and the content will differ slightly from dreamer to dreamer based on what they do in their dreams (so just because someone has a memory restored in Character A's dream does NOT mean it is restored in EVERYONE'S dreams). Prose or [Action brackets] are fine and if you have any other questions or need to plot more with this new information, head over to the plot post!

Comments

[circlejerked]

<sub>[The nudge earns a huff of uncertain laughter. Enigmatic? Maybe.

He doesn't mean to be cryptic and bury the lead, but perhaps it comes off that way with him skirting around the details. It's just that he doesn't think it's something they want to casually chat about in the hall where anyone could walk by. Normal dreams are personal. Wonderland's artificial, whitewashed dreamscape where everyone except him seems to have drunk the koolaid is something else entirely.

He sets the pace toward the dining room, bringing last night's adventure in the room with the containers of bright light into focus in his mind's eye. Another way these "dreams" differ from their normal counterparts is that the experiences don't fade from memory as quickly. He can still recall everything with crystal clarity.]</sub>

I stayed a while in my dream, trying to get a sense of what Wonderland wanted to show us, you know. Maybe see this White Queen for myself. No such luck. But I did find an interesting room in the basement.

[heroica]

[ Robyn waits, allows Anders to take his time in explaining. Clearly, there's something on his mind: that's become more than obvious. He isn't usually so contemplative, though, which has her even more curious than usual about what the bottom line might be. ]

An interesting room? [ She hadn't ventured into the basement and, as such, frowns even more deeply as she tries to suss out where he's going with this. ] Is that what you think Wonderland wanted us - wanted you - to see?

[ Which begs the question: what was in the room? ]

[circlejerked]

_{[In the dining room, the first thing Anders wishes for with all his sleep-deprived heart is coffee. Of the things it does right, Wonderland has quick and timely coffee delivery down pat, at least.]}

To put it lightly.

<sub>["Interesting" and also kind of disturbing. He imagines entering the lair of a serial killer with organs in jars would look much the same--only in this case, their contents had been memories, not body parts.

Pouring himself a steaming cup, he frowns a little to remember the events of last night.]</sub>

I don't know about want to see, but I sure saw it. There were jars inside--I'm talking thousands of them, all labelled with our names. As soon as I picked up one with your name on it, an alarm went off, I'm guessing it's not a place her color-allergic majesty wants us rifling through.

[heroica]

[ Anders isn't the only one who opts for coffee. Robyn dreams up a cup - black, no cream or sugar - and then settles into a chair nearby. ]

Mine? [ ... Oh. Hmm. ] I'm flattered that you took it for me, whether out of curiosity or otherwise. I'm only sorry it got you into trouble.

[ Nothing he couldn't handle, though, she assumes. ]

Do you still have it? Or... was it taken back?

[circlejerked]

_{[He shrugs, one side of his mouth kicking up in a small, roguish smile. It hadn't been anything so noble as what she's thinking.]}

It was the first name I saw that I recognized. _{[He would've looked at more if he'd had the time, but Anders has a finely-honed sense of when to get when the getting's good. When a warning alarm is blaring, that's a pretty clear indicator.]} Wouldn't be the first time I've broken into a place, and I doubt it'll be my last. Locked doors means something valuable's usually waiting behind them--I'm just not certain what this White Queen was intending by this.

_{[The steaming coffee goes down just a little too hot, but the burn in his mouth does the intended trick of waking him up.]}

The jar? I left it in my room on that side, we'll have to stay tuned to see if it's still there. I don't plan on returning just yet. _{[Though if given the chance, he's sure he certainly could fall fast asleep right here on the table.]} Whatever was inside it... flew away? It was like a light that knew to find its way back to the other you. I think they're memories, because after that you weren't quite your empty-headed Tranquil self.

[heroica]

Well, in that case, I'm deeply offended. [ Not. ] I'm only glad that your roguishness didn't get you into any worse trouble.

[ As to what the White Queen intended... well, maybe the rest of his story will help to clear that up. ]

Flew away? [ As if it was alive, or because something drew it from the jar? ] So... those memories, if that's what it was, left after you absconded with it and went back to... the Robyn you saw in your dream?

[ What memories, she wonders? What did the imagined version of herself have to face, and how much of it does Anders know now? ]

[circlejerked]

<sub>[He'd hardly been worried about himself at the time--it's the dream people he's concerned about, more than he's willing to let on. What if there's some kind of link between them and their real world counterparts? What if what had happened affected the Robyn here?

She'd said she felt fine, but Anders still watches her over his coffee.]</sub>

Yeah, exactly like-- _{[Curling his fingers into a loose fist, he flicks them outward in a poof motion.]} Out flew this little light like a firefly on a mission. Since it was your name on the label I had a feeling I ought to check on you, and when I found your twin she was...

_{[How to put this? Anders is uncharacteristically gentle in how he chooses the word.]}

... distraught. You're sure you don't feel any differently this morning?

[heroica]

[ Distraught. She'd thought she'd imagined that little feeling upon waking, that... strange, unsettling stir. Robyn swallows, looking increasingly more puzzled and nearly concerned as she reflects on it. ]

I can imagine a number of things that would make her distraught to remember.

[ Where to even begin, with the past year or so of her life being... what it was? ]

I'm touched that you're so worried about me, Anders. [ She says lightly, with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. ] It... may be that I felt strange earlier. You think this is because of the jar, then? Of the memory?

[circlejerked]

How would I explain it if my sticky fingers caused the brains of one of Ferelden's most celebrated Wardens to turn inside out?

_{[That's a joke. Sort... of... It's closer to the truth than he'd like when she admits she might have felt a little differently after all.]}

Strange... how? _{[His gaze is probing, the question careful. Seriously, he doesn't want to be responsible for breaking you, Robyn, tell him he didn't break you.]} I don't know if they're connected or not. It could be possible, like the Fade?

[heroica]

[ 'Most celebrated Wardens' has her wrinkle her nose distastefully, but there are more important things at hand. ]

I'm not sure that I could... put words to it. [ Had she been sad? Felt some connection to the dream-Robyn once she'd been told about Highever? ] It may have just been... something lingering from my sleep. [ Then, quickly: ] You didn't do anything to me, Anders. Don't worry.

[ As far as she knows, anyway. ]

It's possible there's a connection. I wonder if any of the others had similar experiences...?