Shadow Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadowmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
outofshadows2013-07-01 11:18 am
shadowmods) wrote in outofshadows2013-07-01 11:18 am
Entry tags:
The Dreams
In order to help facilitate some discussion (and handwaving, if necessary) of the mysterious dreams, the full content of all of them is being posted here. They're under a cut, in case you would rather learn everything IC.
1. The Snow Globe
It's like the machine was speaking to you. Calling out to you. And you can't really figure why that is. For all intents and purposes, it's just a standard grab machine. The metal claw is rusted from disuse and the glass around it is fogged, neglected, and scratched up with graffiti (runes? maybe). The stuffed animals in the prize bin all look as if they've been there for ages, mildew and mold growing out of the plastic button eyes of bears and rabbits and what appears to be a stuffed version of Batman.
As you approach, you feel a jingle in your pocket. You reach in, pulling out a strange coin. It's gold, with a hole in the middle. Around the hole is an engraving. Although it's written in runes, somehow, you can read it: "All I refuse & thee I chuse," it says.
You slip the coin in to the slot on the side of the machine. It springs to light, although the lights are mostly burned out and the music that warbles out of it is disconcerting and out of tune. Grabbing the joystick, you navigate the claw for a few minutes, but suddenly, without your willing it, it plunges into the depths of the toys. The fingers snap shut and it rises, rolling back to the prize drop.
Something falls out, landing in your hand. It's a smooth, clear, glass globe. There's water inside of it, along with swirling bits of glitter that flash either pink or green, depending on how the light hits them. Eagerly, you shake it, excited to watch the way they swirl. But as you peer closer into the depths of your prize, you notice something else. Tiny shapes. Transparent at first, but becoming clearer and clearer the harder you stare.
Two tiny figures, two people, dancing in the center of the globe. One of them is easily recognizable as Tristan. You'd know that pristine, placid expression anywhere. And he looks incredibly handsome. But his beauty pales in comparison to his partner. She's a delicate girl, with blue eyes and long, flowing brown hair that seems to float in the water around her. Her ears are delicately pointed, like Adriana's, it seems. The way she moves, the way her eyes light up like sapphires, she's utterly entrancing. You can't look away from her.
But as the motion of the water slows, as the glittery flecks in the water start to drift down, settling on the bottom of the globe, the figures of Tristan and the woman vanish.
That's when you wake.
2. The Ferris Wheel
The first thing you become aware of, out of the darkness, is the sound of music. It almost sounds like a carousel, but the noise is hollow and rusted, like the mechanism of the music has rusted to the point where it's warping the music. A chill runs up your spine and you can't help but feel a little afraid. This is a place of disuse and disrepair. Abandoned. Empty. Left for whatever happens to find it.
At this point, your sense of sight begins to kick in. Out of the darkness, jagged, rough shapes appear. They're nonsensical, violent beams of wood or metal--you're not sure which--jutting out at awkward angles into the sky. Ragged flaps of material hang off of them, the colors faded. One was striped, red and yellow. Another was blue. Tents? Yes. Yes, they seem to be the ruined remains of tents. But what disaster befell them, it's impossible to know.
You start to make your way through the wreckage. You don't want to, but something is drawing you closer. More shapes emerge, small ones like the refuse along the path (old popcorn boxes and ticket stubs, crackled juggling balls and clumps of neon-colored curls) and larger ones like the skeleton of a horse and a boxcar, toppled over on its side.
All of a sudden, it appears. As if out of thin air. A ferris wheel. The support beams, wooden and rotting, crack so devastatingly, they almost block out the sound of the music. It was once beautiful, perhaps. But now the white paint is chipping and the frame wobbles so much, you're certain a strong wind could knock the damn thing over.
And yet, it's turning. Slowly, at first, but the closer you get, the faster it seems to fly. There are three cars intact, unevenly spaced around the wheel. In the first car is a beautiful woman, with raven black hair and green eyes. There's something about her, she almost looks like she's on fire. She's calm and regal, sitting in her seat as though it were a throne. She looks at you and speaks with a voice that echoes. "Sometimes, it works."
She's gone, but another car swings around before you. A woman is huddling in the corner. You recognize her, after a moment, as Casey. But this isn't any Casey you've seen before. Her hair falls around her shoulders in flowing, gold locks. She's more beautiful than you've ever seen her before. It's like seeing a most perfect and idealized version of her. Even her voice is sweeter as she adds, "Sometimes, you just don't know."
The wheel turns, carrying her away from you. And the final car appears. The woman in this car is unfamiliar in every sense of the word. Small and pale, with long and delicately pointed ears, she stares straight at you, blue eyes penetrating through you in an uncomfortable way. "Sometimes," she tells you, "it ends in death."
A breeze blows by, sending her dark brown hair across her face, hiding it from view. The breeze becomes a gale. The gale causes the ferris wheel to teeter to one side. Further and further it lists. Casey and the raven-haired woman vanish as the structure gives way. It collapses. You can hear wood and bone breaking. And then you only hear yourself screaming.
That's when you wake.
3. The Doll
There's a cheer from all around you. Excitement. Appreciation. You open your eyes to find yourself standing at a carnival stall. In front of you, there are rows and rows of bottles. A thousand different colors of gleaming glass, some of them utterly unrecognizable to you. They're engraved with runes and around a bright blue bottle, directly in front of you, there's a gold ring. A carnival barker fetches the ring, holding it up for the world to see. He wears a bright red and white striped vest, with a straw hat pulled down low over his forehead, so you can't make out the color of his hair or eyes.
"We have a winner!" he declares. And all around you, carnival guests, holding cotton candy and peanuts give you a good cheer.
A winner! Pride fills up your chest and you find yourself grinning.
"A prize for the winner!" the barker says, waving his hand to a wall lined with toys.
Every toy imaginable! There are cute, stuffed pigs and Nerf guns and dice, board games and playing cards and Tonka trucks. But what catches your eye is a porcelain doll. Its fine, white features are delicate. Real, human hair--the color of melted chocolate--falls around finely pointed ears. But really, its the eyes that catch your attention. You don't know how--it's a doll, after all--but those blue eyes somehow seem extraordinarily kind.
The barker sees you eying the doll. "No," he says, a hint of desperation in his tone. "No. No. Not her. Any one but her."
But you can't take your eyes off of the doll.
It's almost like invisible strings grab hold of the barker. With halting, jerky motions, he moves to the prize wall, taking down the doll. His grip on it is tight, even as those invisible strings pull him closer to you. Violently, his arms straighten. You reach for the doll, but the barker reclaims his agency in that moment. He tries to pull it back, but you hold on. It quickly escalates, becoming an all out tug of war. And it's inevitable, what happens next.
The doll's head snaps off in your hands. You fall over from the momentum, landing on your back, staring up at a purple sky. The doll's head crumbles, turning to dust and slipping between your fingers. You hear a wail from the barker as he vaults over the divider, reaching out to try to catch the blue eyes as they fall. His hat falls off of his head and you notice a shock of silver white hair.
That's when you wake.
4. The Tunnel of Love
The gentle sway of water beneath you is the first thing you notice. It's comfortable, like being rocked to sleep. As you open your eyes, you can see water beneath you, gently lapping up against the side of something white. You sit up, hearing a hollow clank beneath your hands as you look around and realize that you're sitting on what appears to be the tail feathers of an enormous, plastic swan. It's drifting lazily along some kind of channel, filled with water so blue it hurts your eyes a little bit. You never thought water could really be that color.
Quickly, you become aware that you are not alone in the boat. There's a bench seat in front of you, red crushed velvet and cozy. There are two people sitting in the seat, a man with Nysgod blond hair and...a woman? You're not sure. The form is slight, with long brown hair. But you can't see either of their faces. You move forward, hand poised to tap the man on the shoulder, but suddenly his arm moves, draping itself around the woman's body. It feels like an intimate, private moment. You feel like an intruder.
You turn, looking for a way off of the boat, but a tunnel suddenly appears ahead of you. Out of nowhere. It seems to swallow the boat and its passengers along with it.
Inside the tunnel, the walls are lined with more red velvet. Violin music drifts in and out, although there's no sign of a speaker or even a violin. There's a thick aroma in the air; a sickeningly sweet cross of toasted almond and lotus blossom. There's a soft whoosh from above your head. You look up to spot something flying across the expanse of the tunnel. A flying baby? No. On closer inspection, you can see the articulated limbs of the animatronic Cupid. You can even seen the wires holding it up.
Just as you're beginning to wonder if that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach is from seasickness or the saccharine nature of this ride, however, the swan suddenly jolts forward. It's suddenly moving entirely too fast and you need to hold onto the plastic, molded feathers so tightly that your knuckles turn white. The boat flies forward, the gentle pink light of the tunnel fading. It's getting darker, the music is getting louder. You try to scream, to call out for help, to reach for the occupants of the bench in front of you, but all your efforts are lost.
The tunnel is plunged into darkness.
The violin music transforms. It's an organ, blaring and wailing into the empty void around you. And it is a void. Your lungs start to burn as you realize that it's nearly impossible to breathe. Your head is spinning and you desperately want to get off the swan, which is flying so fast that ice crystals are starting to form on your fingertips as you cling desperately.
You can't take it any more. You'd rather plunge into the blackness and pray for water. You can't stand another minute of this wild ride. And that's when the lights suddenly come back on. There's no warning. In one instant, darkness. In the next, white light so bright that it blinds you. The swan has come to a complete stop. As you blink away the green afterimage from the light, you look up to the bench. The Nysgod man sits there a lone. There's no sign of the woman.
That's when you wake.
5. The Hall of Mirrors
The first thing you notice about the building in front of you is that the bright, blue neon lights displaying the name are on the fritz. The sign reads: "Hall of rrors." You find yourself wondering if the word is "mirrors" or "errors." And that thought alone is compelling enough to drive you forward. There's something off-putting and ominous about the entrance. It's a big, black, yawning maw in a wall of nothingness; no windows, no other doors, and nothing else to warn you of what lies ahead, except for the blinking lights. All of your instincts are screaming at you not to go. Yet you go forward anyway.
It's dark on the inside, a few dim lights along the ceiling just barely reflecting off of the surfaces of the walls. They're all mirrors, jointed together at wild and bizarre angles that carefully guide you along a pre-determined path. But you can just barely make out your own reflection. Stumbling, you reach out to touch the cool surface of one of the mirrors. And suddenly, it lights up from behind. Like a two-way mirror. Your reflection disappears and inside, you see a completely different world:
You recognize Adriana immediately. Her pale, red hair is piled up on top of her head, held in place by two long, ivory rods. She sits beside a woman you've never seen before. Her ears, like Adriana's, are Hylian, but her hair is long and brown, hanging loosely around her shoulders as Adriana slowly brushes it with a black comb. They are speaking, but you can't tell what's being said. Whatever it is, it's apparently funny, since the two of them are laughing. The brunette woman's blue eyes light up from behind. You're drawn to them, although you can't say why.
Shifting slightly, your elbow hits against a mirror, directly behind you. It can't be more than six inches from you and you wonder how you came to be trapped in such close quarters. Wasn't the hallway wider a minute ago?
Gently, your fingertips brush against the mirror behind you. It lights up, your reflection and a reflection of the two Hylian woman vanishing. The world the second mirror opens up into is a stark contrast. Two naked bodies lie on the floor of a largely empty room. The pale form on top is easily identified as Tristan. He has the second body, a dark-skinned woman, pinned down to the ground and the two of them appear to be engaged in an intense bout of love-making. Well, perhaps that isn't the right word. It's intense and erotic and it sends a shiver through you, an aching longing. But it doesn't seem like it has much to do with love. It feels wrong, sending a chill across your skin.
Tristan's eyes are not down on his partner. They're staring up, straight ahead. For a moment, one terrifying moment, you feel as if he's watching you. But his gaze seems more over your shoulder. You turn to look, back into the mirror of the Hylian women. The light behind them slowly starts to fade. They vanish from sight, replaced by your reflection and the reflection of Tristan's intense gaze.
That's when you wake.
Remember to keep posting into the IC dream discussion. You don't have to just make top-level comments. You can also talk to each other. This is metaplot! It will be rearing its ugly head again!
1. The Snow Globe
It's like the machine was speaking to you. Calling out to you. And you can't really figure why that is. For all intents and purposes, it's just a standard grab machine. The metal claw is rusted from disuse and the glass around it is fogged, neglected, and scratched up with graffiti (runes? maybe). The stuffed animals in the prize bin all look as if they've been there for ages, mildew and mold growing out of the plastic button eyes of bears and rabbits and what appears to be a stuffed version of Batman.
As you approach, you feel a jingle in your pocket. You reach in, pulling out a strange coin. It's gold, with a hole in the middle. Around the hole is an engraving. Although it's written in runes, somehow, you can read it: "All I refuse & thee I chuse," it says.
You slip the coin in to the slot on the side of the machine. It springs to light, although the lights are mostly burned out and the music that warbles out of it is disconcerting and out of tune. Grabbing the joystick, you navigate the claw for a few minutes, but suddenly, without your willing it, it plunges into the depths of the toys. The fingers snap shut and it rises, rolling back to the prize drop.
Something falls out, landing in your hand. It's a smooth, clear, glass globe. There's water inside of it, along with swirling bits of glitter that flash either pink or green, depending on how the light hits them. Eagerly, you shake it, excited to watch the way they swirl. But as you peer closer into the depths of your prize, you notice something else. Tiny shapes. Transparent at first, but becoming clearer and clearer the harder you stare.
Two tiny figures, two people, dancing in the center of the globe. One of them is easily recognizable as Tristan. You'd know that pristine, placid expression anywhere. And he looks incredibly handsome. But his beauty pales in comparison to his partner. She's a delicate girl, with blue eyes and long, flowing brown hair that seems to float in the water around her. Her ears are delicately pointed, like Adriana's, it seems. The way she moves, the way her eyes light up like sapphires, she's utterly entrancing. You can't look away from her.
But as the motion of the water slows, as the glittery flecks in the water start to drift down, settling on the bottom of the globe, the figures of Tristan and the woman vanish.
That's when you wake.
2. The Ferris Wheel
The first thing you become aware of, out of the darkness, is the sound of music. It almost sounds like a carousel, but the noise is hollow and rusted, like the mechanism of the music has rusted to the point where it's warping the music. A chill runs up your spine and you can't help but feel a little afraid. This is a place of disuse and disrepair. Abandoned. Empty. Left for whatever happens to find it.
At this point, your sense of sight begins to kick in. Out of the darkness, jagged, rough shapes appear. They're nonsensical, violent beams of wood or metal--you're not sure which--jutting out at awkward angles into the sky. Ragged flaps of material hang off of them, the colors faded. One was striped, red and yellow. Another was blue. Tents? Yes. Yes, they seem to be the ruined remains of tents. But what disaster befell them, it's impossible to know.
You start to make your way through the wreckage. You don't want to, but something is drawing you closer. More shapes emerge, small ones like the refuse along the path (old popcorn boxes and ticket stubs, crackled juggling balls and clumps of neon-colored curls) and larger ones like the skeleton of a horse and a boxcar, toppled over on its side.
All of a sudden, it appears. As if out of thin air. A ferris wheel. The support beams, wooden and rotting, crack so devastatingly, they almost block out the sound of the music. It was once beautiful, perhaps. But now the white paint is chipping and the frame wobbles so much, you're certain a strong wind could knock the damn thing over.
And yet, it's turning. Slowly, at first, but the closer you get, the faster it seems to fly. There are three cars intact, unevenly spaced around the wheel. In the first car is a beautiful woman, with raven black hair and green eyes. There's something about her, she almost looks like she's on fire. She's calm and regal, sitting in her seat as though it were a throne. She looks at you and speaks with a voice that echoes. "Sometimes, it works."
She's gone, but another car swings around before you. A woman is huddling in the corner. You recognize her, after a moment, as Casey. But this isn't any Casey you've seen before. Her hair falls around her shoulders in flowing, gold locks. She's more beautiful than you've ever seen her before. It's like seeing a most perfect and idealized version of her. Even her voice is sweeter as she adds, "Sometimes, you just don't know."
The wheel turns, carrying her away from you. And the final car appears. The woman in this car is unfamiliar in every sense of the word. Small and pale, with long and delicately pointed ears, she stares straight at you, blue eyes penetrating through you in an uncomfortable way. "Sometimes," she tells you, "it ends in death."
A breeze blows by, sending her dark brown hair across her face, hiding it from view. The breeze becomes a gale. The gale causes the ferris wheel to teeter to one side. Further and further it lists. Casey and the raven-haired woman vanish as the structure gives way. It collapses. You can hear wood and bone breaking. And then you only hear yourself screaming.
That's when you wake.
3. The Doll
There's a cheer from all around you. Excitement. Appreciation. You open your eyes to find yourself standing at a carnival stall. In front of you, there are rows and rows of bottles. A thousand different colors of gleaming glass, some of them utterly unrecognizable to you. They're engraved with runes and around a bright blue bottle, directly in front of you, there's a gold ring. A carnival barker fetches the ring, holding it up for the world to see. He wears a bright red and white striped vest, with a straw hat pulled down low over his forehead, so you can't make out the color of his hair or eyes.
"We have a winner!" he declares. And all around you, carnival guests, holding cotton candy and peanuts give you a good cheer.
A winner! Pride fills up your chest and you find yourself grinning.
"A prize for the winner!" the barker says, waving his hand to a wall lined with toys.
Every toy imaginable! There are cute, stuffed pigs and Nerf guns and dice, board games and playing cards and Tonka trucks. But what catches your eye is a porcelain doll. Its fine, white features are delicate. Real, human hair--the color of melted chocolate--falls around finely pointed ears. But really, its the eyes that catch your attention. You don't know how--it's a doll, after all--but those blue eyes somehow seem extraordinarily kind.
The barker sees you eying the doll. "No," he says, a hint of desperation in his tone. "No. No. Not her. Any one but her."
But you can't take your eyes off of the doll.
It's almost like invisible strings grab hold of the barker. With halting, jerky motions, he moves to the prize wall, taking down the doll. His grip on it is tight, even as those invisible strings pull him closer to you. Violently, his arms straighten. You reach for the doll, but the barker reclaims his agency in that moment. He tries to pull it back, but you hold on. It quickly escalates, becoming an all out tug of war. And it's inevitable, what happens next.
The doll's head snaps off in your hands. You fall over from the momentum, landing on your back, staring up at a purple sky. The doll's head crumbles, turning to dust and slipping between your fingers. You hear a wail from the barker as he vaults over the divider, reaching out to try to catch the blue eyes as they fall. His hat falls off of his head and you notice a shock of silver white hair.
That's when you wake.
4. The Tunnel of Love
The gentle sway of water beneath you is the first thing you notice. It's comfortable, like being rocked to sleep. As you open your eyes, you can see water beneath you, gently lapping up against the side of something white. You sit up, hearing a hollow clank beneath your hands as you look around and realize that you're sitting on what appears to be the tail feathers of an enormous, plastic swan. It's drifting lazily along some kind of channel, filled with water so blue it hurts your eyes a little bit. You never thought water could really be that color.
Quickly, you become aware that you are not alone in the boat. There's a bench seat in front of you, red crushed velvet and cozy. There are two people sitting in the seat, a man with Nysgod blond hair and...a woman? You're not sure. The form is slight, with long brown hair. But you can't see either of their faces. You move forward, hand poised to tap the man on the shoulder, but suddenly his arm moves, draping itself around the woman's body. It feels like an intimate, private moment. You feel like an intruder.
You turn, looking for a way off of the boat, but a tunnel suddenly appears ahead of you. Out of nowhere. It seems to swallow the boat and its passengers along with it.
Inside the tunnel, the walls are lined with more red velvet. Violin music drifts in and out, although there's no sign of a speaker or even a violin. There's a thick aroma in the air; a sickeningly sweet cross of toasted almond and lotus blossom. There's a soft whoosh from above your head. You look up to spot something flying across the expanse of the tunnel. A flying baby? No. On closer inspection, you can see the articulated limbs of the animatronic Cupid. You can even seen the wires holding it up.
Just as you're beginning to wonder if that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach is from seasickness or the saccharine nature of this ride, however, the swan suddenly jolts forward. It's suddenly moving entirely too fast and you need to hold onto the plastic, molded feathers so tightly that your knuckles turn white. The boat flies forward, the gentle pink light of the tunnel fading. It's getting darker, the music is getting louder. You try to scream, to call out for help, to reach for the occupants of the bench in front of you, but all your efforts are lost.
The tunnel is plunged into darkness.
The violin music transforms. It's an organ, blaring and wailing into the empty void around you. And it is a void. Your lungs start to burn as you realize that it's nearly impossible to breathe. Your head is spinning and you desperately want to get off the swan, which is flying so fast that ice crystals are starting to form on your fingertips as you cling desperately.
You can't take it any more. You'd rather plunge into the blackness and pray for water. You can't stand another minute of this wild ride. And that's when the lights suddenly come back on. There's no warning. In one instant, darkness. In the next, white light so bright that it blinds you. The swan has come to a complete stop. As you blink away the green afterimage from the light, you look up to the bench. The Nysgod man sits there a lone. There's no sign of the woman.
That's when you wake.
5. The Hall of Mirrors
The first thing you notice about the building in front of you is that the bright, blue neon lights displaying the name are on the fritz. The sign reads: "Hall of rrors." You find yourself wondering if the word is "mirrors" or "errors." And that thought alone is compelling enough to drive you forward. There's something off-putting and ominous about the entrance. It's a big, black, yawning maw in a wall of nothingness; no windows, no other doors, and nothing else to warn you of what lies ahead, except for the blinking lights. All of your instincts are screaming at you not to go. Yet you go forward anyway.
It's dark on the inside, a few dim lights along the ceiling just barely reflecting off of the surfaces of the walls. They're all mirrors, jointed together at wild and bizarre angles that carefully guide you along a pre-determined path. But you can just barely make out your own reflection. Stumbling, you reach out to touch the cool surface of one of the mirrors. And suddenly, it lights up from behind. Like a two-way mirror. Your reflection disappears and inside, you see a completely different world:
You recognize Adriana immediately. Her pale, red hair is piled up on top of her head, held in place by two long, ivory rods. She sits beside a woman you've never seen before. Her ears, like Adriana's, are Hylian, but her hair is long and brown, hanging loosely around her shoulders as Adriana slowly brushes it with a black comb. They are speaking, but you can't tell what's being said. Whatever it is, it's apparently funny, since the two of them are laughing. The brunette woman's blue eyes light up from behind. You're drawn to them, although you can't say why.
Shifting slightly, your elbow hits against a mirror, directly behind you. It can't be more than six inches from you and you wonder how you came to be trapped in such close quarters. Wasn't the hallway wider a minute ago?
Gently, your fingertips brush against the mirror behind you. It lights up, your reflection and a reflection of the two Hylian woman vanishing. The world the second mirror opens up into is a stark contrast. Two naked bodies lie on the floor of a largely empty room. The pale form on top is easily identified as Tristan. He has the second body, a dark-skinned woman, pinned down to the ground and the two of them appear to be engaged in an intense bout of love-making. Well, perhaps that isn't the right word. It's intense and erotic and it sends a shiver through you, an aching longing. But it doesn't seem like it has much to do with love. It feels wrong, sending a chill across your skin.
Tristan's eyes are not down on his partner. They're staring up, straight ahead. For a moment, one terrifying moment, you feel as if he's watching you. But his gaze seems more over your shoulder. You turn to look, back into the mirror of the Hylian women. The light behind them slowly starts to fade. They vanish from sight, replaced by your reflection and the reflection of Tristan's intense gaze.
That's when you wake.
Remember to keep posting into the IC dream discussion. You don't have to just make top-level comments. You can also talk to each other. This is metaplot! It will be rearing its ugly head again!