[semi-open] dreamgirl

[radioclub_jp]

WHO: Paprika + open to first 5 responders
WHERE: in the land of sleepy dreams
WHEN: late April / early May
WHAT: Paprika finally stops behaving, starts invading people's dreams. Nbd, right?
WARNINGS: none known

Ever since she'd been Ported in, Paprika hadn't had the slightest trouble falling or staying asleep. Maybe it was part of this expanded ability she'd acquired, or maybe it was a product of being here "by herself"... no to-do lists running through her head, no stray thoughts about office politics. The first night she'd thought excitement might keep her awake, but it didn't. The second night she'd thought apprehension might, but it didn't. The third night it was dread.

Dread! Imagine that, the dream detective, dreading going to sleep! But it wasn't for no reason, of course.

She'd lay her head on the pillow and close her eyes, but when she opened them she saw nothing. Even once she entered REM sleep, nothing. She was still lucid, she'd realized the first night, but not dreaming. It would have been a different story if she were simply dreaming about nothing; in that case she'd have been able to shape the dream herself. But she wasn't having a dream. It was as if her unconscious mind had been shunted off to a holding area and forgotten about for seven to eight hours, like an unclaimed bag at the airport. She knew her body needed the sleep, and so here she was, but there was nothing to do.

Or... no, not nothing, exactly. When she held still and quieted her mind, she would catch snippets of vivid color, far-off voices, faint smells... Even without looking too closely, she knew they were other people's dreams. Accessible without a DC Mini, floating there within reach, daring her to look, to touch, to open. Worlds of infinite scope and possibility. Therein lay the true power of dreams.

"It's too dangerous," she said aloud to no one, in the dark. "You know what happened last time." Her own voice sounded like Atsuko's.

Of course she knew. She couldn't forget something like that incident, still (as far as she knew) unresolved. Only a monster would want to see reruns of that. She didn't yet know if this power she had was safe to use. But how was she supposed to find that out if she never tried? Besides, she'd been wondering... what sort of dreams would someone from another world have, anyway?

In the end, it was too much. She couldn't resist after all.

The dreams drew into sharp focus as she approached, as if she were tightening the aperture on a camera lens. There were so many of them, she hardly knew where to start. But that was easy enough to resolve. Paprika closed her eyes and raised her pointer finger.

"Eeny, meeny, miney... mo!"

She opened one eye to peek, then both. Well, that looked interesting... "Yeah, that'll do," she said, and pulling the edges of the hole apart, she slipped through into the dream.

(NOTE: I plan to do the open dream logs on a regular basis, so don't worry too much if the slots are taken - I'm just limiting it to five people for starters so as not to overwhelm myself. Please fill out permissions here!)

Comments

lmk if this is okay! cw for surreal graphicish horror imagery

[iamtetsuo]

In his dreams, he's always dying. Sometimes it's right away. But sometimes, his mind's not so merciful, and it plays on and on in an endless loop of danger...

Birds sing through distorted sound, an eerie trill drifting in and out with the wind, ruffling leaves and shifting the shadows into a phantom river around him. Tetsuo tries to take a step back, only to find the leaves whisper when his foot crunches them, laughing carelessly. All around him, trees stretch up and up and up, forming a never ending looming forest. They sway and shift, becoming nebulous dark shapes looming over him. Skyscraper trees twist and creak in that phantom wind, small lights at the top casting an eerie glow amongst the ceaseless canopy before darkness envelops it.

He takes another step back, neck craned to try to peer into that infinite arboreal horror when that laugh sounds again behind him. Whirling around frantically, he grits his teeth, trying to see.

Above him, the bark of the trees peels away into bones, stretching and twisting together into a grisly, pulsing canopy. Behind him again, that same laugh - it's clearer now, youthful. Male.

British.

"Get AWAY!" Tetsuo screams into nowhere. No matter where he turns, he can't seem to get his eyes on his target. Somewhere out there, Pan's lurking, melting seamlessly into the dead trees and trailing green where only death waits. Somewhere in here, Tetsuo snarls, gathering his focus and bending his mind to.. stand there. Nothing happens. He doesn't shoot into the air, he doesn't manage to take down anything when in a whole new panic, he whirls around again, trying to cut through the air with a slash of his arm to aim the blow in his mind.

Not even a leaf twitches out of place.

He tries again, and freezes completely, unable to move as his enemy draws near. Above him, the forest pulses with an increasingly erratic rhythm, matching the panic rising in his throat.

Right behind him now, that high, gleeful whisper brushes against his ear, and the canopy shudders.

"Look up," taunts the faceless voice. "Do you know what that is?"

He tries to answer, tries to move at all, but he's rooted back into place as the trees curve and sharpen around him, locking him into a cage that would be white if it wasn't lost in shadow. The ground beneath him gives way, and all he can do is stare up into a menacing light, far away, growing brighter and brighter. It's a race - to fall forever, or let that hellish light catch him...

All he can do is scream.

sorry for the lateness! /shakes fist at finals

[radioclub_jp]

Paprika watches the nightmare unfold from above, taking on the form of a bird. It's a dark environment this guy's made for himself. A wicked, writhing forest of bone, a sinister voice - someone specific, definitely. Someone he knows. He's being hunted, he's paralyzed, he can't defend himself... The cage and falling into a bright white nothing is a little déjà-vu-ish, but she seriously doubts this would have anything to do with Detective Konakawa, worlds away.

Dreams of falling are common, and she expects it to wake him up, but it doesn't. He just keeps falling forever, screaming forever, the blinding light descending inexorably to meet him...

Poor kid, he's so scared. And she can help, but... he's not a patient or anything. Should she really do something so drastic? ... Well, "should" or not ...

A distinct sound echoes through the void - a single snap of the fingers, sending ripples through the infinite whiteness. Tetsuo's screams become muffled; his descent slows; the light dims. There's ground below him again, but he'll be able to land gently on his feet. It's a sea of grass, all vibrant, living green, as far as the eye can see. Some distance away, atop a low hill, stands a single cherry tree in full bloom. The terrible light stills, contracts, and becomes the sun.

A red bird flits past his ear, heading for the tree. From behind the trunk, a thin arm reaches out, and allows the bird to land on its finger. There's someone back there, but who? Was she there a moment ago? To Tetsuo, it'll probably "feel" like she's much closer than she appears. You don't get much closer than "inside their subconscious mind."

[iamtetsuo]

He couldn't say how long he was falling, or how far. Away from that light - it was meant to take you away, a dim echo pings through his mind like ripples in a pond, bouncing off and redefining everything to be more surreal, more strange, more distantly menacing...

But it's followed by a second, answering ripple. One that chases away the undefined horror, smoothing it out somehow. His fall slows, with the same gentle drifting sensation that his own power grants him.. but it's not him doing it.

Dimly, he's aware he's fallen completely silent, curiosity slowly winding around his terror. He risks a look down again... and instead of swallowing blackness there's serenity below him. Soft ground, gentle grass... like nothing he's ever seen before. His feet touch down to it, lowering him softly down into an endless meadow.

He whirls around, but there's no nightmare lurking just behind him. Above? Only sky, nothing from before; the bright light is nothing but the sun, making him wince and look away when his eyes stray too close. Pan's presence, that forest, the heartbeat wound into a pulsing light.. no matter where he looks, it's all gone!

"What the?!" He pauses, then adds another, softer question to himself, as if he'd know the answer. "...Where am I?"

Thomas had somewhere like this, in the depths of that hellish labyrinth. Where it's all calm and still, with grass and tame green... but here, there's no walls around this garden, keeping the horror at bay. This is endless, and open, and not full of mechanical nightmares just underneath the green waiting to be remembered.

Just before confusion fully overtakes him, a splash of red dances into view, almost clipping his ear with how close it came. His eyes follow it as it banks and flutters its way over to a distant tree he hadn't quite noticed yet, full of gentle, cloudlike flowers he instantly recognizes despite never having gotten to see in real life. Sakura!

There it is again, he realizes with a pang of panic. That all-encompassing feeling of not being alone. But the panic is short lived; this isn't something behind him, or trying to stay too hidden; he doesn't get that feeling of cold malice here. It's definitely not Thomas, either; he knows that mind way too well. And Thomas is long gone...

...

Grass crushes gently under his feet as he moves closer, head tilted to one side.

[radioclub_jp]

As he approaches, the person sitting against the tree trunk comes into view. It's a woman, older than him by some indistinct amount, with auburn hair and freckles under her eyes, and wearing her usual red t-shirt and jeans. She looks up when she hears him (though of course she already knew he was there), smiling as if he's an old friend.

"You made it," she says brightly. That probably means more than one thing. She pats a spot on the ground next to her. "Have a seat~"

[iamtetsuo]

"Okay..."

Almost against his better judgement, he does, walking slowly over to her as if expecting at any moment for her to suffer some grisly fate or explode into some nightmarish thing. When she doesn't, he sits down where indicated, sparing a moment to look around again. It's all so peaceful. Any minute now, the horror'll return...

His eyes refocus on the woman. Something doesn't seem right, somehow...

"Who are you?"

[radioclub_jp]

"A friend," Paprika replies, a playful glint in her eye. She can tell he's still wary, though. Fair enough, he just got here. She'll give him a little time to adjust, to realize nothing's going to hurt him.

A soft breeze rustles the tree, and a few flower petals float loose, spiraling down to join them. Paprika catches one deftly between her fingers. "Pretty, isn't it?" she asks. Not to toot her own horn for making it, of course - just to get him to acknowledge that this is what he's experiencing. "Soon it'll be summer."

[iamtetsuo]

It doesn't have a scent, even as soft petals float in the wind like lost clouds. Nothing descends after them, no sounds break this tranquility. He's been bracing for an impact that doesn't come.

There is no deadly light on the horizon. And he's still intact; when he holds his hand up, it's all in one piece. Finally, he looks up. Nothing but the soft sway of gentle flowers, and bits of blue sky peeking through. The sense of immediate danger dims.

"I've only seen these in pictures," he confesses. "Always wanted to see one for real."

The rich had them, as well as the places that could afford small patches of green. Those parks and green places were worth too much money in a permanently limited space; most places in Neo Tokyo were covered in cement or metal.

[radioclub_jp]

To be fair, he's still not seeing them for real, but.

"They don't have sakura where you're from?" she infers aloud. A lot of places don't, even in the world she knows, but to Paprika they're an annual tradition, with fond childhood memories attached. A little girl who was only Atsuko-chan, dancing among the falling petals with friends whose faces she no longer remembers. So it goes.

[iamtetsuo]

He shakes his head. "Sort of. The rich sectors had 'em, but you'd have to get through checkpoints to get there."

He's not sure why it feels so easy to talk about Neo Tokyo now. Usually, he dances around and away from the subject. It's just that something about here has enough of a surreal disconnect to it that he finds himself talking without the very thin filter between thought and action.

Huh. But he doesn't piece together why that's weird. It's just happening now.

[radioclub_jp]

"Rich sectors?" Paprika repeats. Her voice is like a cloud, soft and drifting along with the conversation. In her mind, she's beginning to piece together an image of his home. A place where checkpoints divide rich from poor, and cherry trees don't grow ...

[iamtetsuo]

"Yeah. The more money they have, the meaner the security is. You can't get into the good places."

Tetsuo looks back up, watching the soft clouds of petals directly above them.

"Cities here don't have 'em... there's rich places and poor places, but not like Neo Tokyo." He barely ever said that name anymore. It felt like something fragile, like a secret that he'd lose if he dared talk about it. But now... he barely even thought about it, and the words were there, narrating his thoughts aloud.

Something should still feel weird about that. And maybe it does, but only briefly.

"You can still head out somewhere if they don't let you in the Porters."

[radioclub_jp]

Neo Tokyo? Huh. Being from original recipe Tokyo, that sounds almost surreal. Just what kind of world is this guy from? She's intensely curious, but at the same time...

"That's true," she says. "Are you planning to go?"

[iamtetsuo]

"I dunno. Maybe."

He had been at one point. It's true that he knew places he could, and the thought's occurred to him more than once. His eyes slide from the tree back to her, then out at the meadow beyond them.

"I did, for a while... but there's not really anywhere else out there. I don't think about leaving as much anymore."

[radioclub_jp]

A breeze passes.

"You know, I hear they have cherry trees over in Washington, DC," Paprika points out. "Hundreds of them. They were a gift from Japan, I think, a long time ago." She doesn't know all the details, and hanami season will have passed for them already, but still...