Dreaming Wide Awake [Fourth Wall/Open]

[revenancemods]

Who: Everyone! Current characters, fourth wall characters, whoever wants to show up.
What: The portals are closed. Everyone's in Traverse Town, including a whole bunch of new people. This should be interesting.
Where: Traverse Town
When: Throughout the day
Warnings: Depends on the characters. Expect language at least.

You didn't expect to be here. You really didn't. The technicolor buildings are a surprise, as is the little white flying bear telling you you're in the dream world. He gives you a bag full of what looks to be currency, enough shiny things to create a creature of your own (or so he says), and sends you on your way.

Good luck.

Comments

[eveninglistening]

A man - not tall, not short, not fat, not thin, but definitely a man - checks his watch. He checks the sky. He checks the air. He checks all of these, looking at each of them in turn, with an expression of growing concern and confusion.

"That's strange," he says to himself, but with no particular mind paid to volume and as such it sounds less like it's to 'himself' as 'no one specific'. "There weren't any mass, inescapable dreamings scheduled until at least next month."

[bugger_quantum]

THAT'S BUREAUCRACY FOR YOU, says the tall, robed skeleton sitting at the edge of the nearby fountain in a voice like a grave marker falling into place.

[elementofloyalty]

"Whaaaaat's going on?" the pegasus said, from her position a few feet up in the air. She drew the first vowel out to emphasize just how weird and not-right this was, and how completely unbelievable.

She looked helplessly at the pile of figments she held in her forelegs, clutched to her chest, than at the buildings around her. Rainbow Dash was very, very confused.

[sailorlaughter]

"Dreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeam magic~!!!" Pinkie sang, as she rode past on the back of her galumphing Meowjesty. Galumph, galumph.

After a moment, he made a wide turn and she came back again. "Hiiiiiii, Dashie~!" She's just drawing out all her first vowels for fun.

[guerriera]

Well. This is definitely not where she expected to be.

For a moment, Carolina was disorientated, eyed blinking rapidly behind her visor. She didn't remember falling asleep, exactly, but she was fairly cerain that her room didn't have lighting fixtures like--

MEWF

Something bright pink and alarmed leapt onto her chest, Lela all but frantic at finding her Person flat on her back outside. Why are we outside? We were Inside and there was Sleeping, PersonPersonPerson--

A spikey tail pulled her off, Dax hissing reassurances at the younger spirit as the ex-Freelancer sat up slowly, then looked at herself in alarm. "What the Hell.." she muttered, eyeing her armor, her weapons, and then the rows of chairs still spread out around the tables in the First District's outdoor cafe. Rising to her feet, Carolina pulled out her communicator, only to hang back when she noticed just how full the square was. The Dream was odd, but this seemed off, even for it.

(The rapidly moving moogle, presently distributing the little helper bags, didn't look a thing like Steven, either. What was up with that.)

[allfunandgamesuntil]

There were a lot of ways to say hi to someone when you waltzed back into their life after dying (again. Sort of. He only died the once but she had to deal with it twice and he wasn't sure how he was going to face Wash and North if they were still around.) He could play it cool and say hi. He could be hurtful and ask if she missed him.

Or his new meow wow could slam into the back of his knees and send him completely ungracefully face-first into the cobblestone.

[userless]

Gibson doesn't believe for a second that he's in the "dream world", but then he had hit the ground rather hard after that lightcycle crash. Maybe this was some side effect of being corrupted by the virus? It doesn't really look like how he'd heard the User world described, despite the strange architecture, and the little...creatures aren't Gridbugs. Well, his Pricklemane is, because that's what he'd named it, but apparently they're something entirely different. The big problem with this being a dream world is that programs don't dream.

Yeah, he's pretty sure his integrity's been compromised. Gibson keeps a hand on his baton holster at his thigh, though nothing's yet attacked him.

[lessabrasive]

"You all right?"

There's a firm voice behind Gibson, followed by the sharp sound of metal boots on stone as Lin makes her way over. The pricklemane at her heels looks uneasy, looking back and forth at so many people in one area. Lin's peepsta hoo is absent - but merely from line of sight.

"You don't want to wander too far. We don't know where the Nightmares might show up."

[pomergeist]

Small and playful animals have never been a surprise around here. Spirits are well known for enjoying playtime with one another, carefree and excited and just glad to have friends. Most will probably have more pressing things to focus on, now, than the little critters squeaking and tumbling on the ground.

Though, this one doesn't look neon enough for a dream eater. In fact, he kind of looks like a normal dog, playing excitedly with the Spirits, and barking a lot. Like a lot a lot.

Any with a more direct connection to the spiritual or death might hear something else.

"HI! Hey! Hi there! Hi! HEY!"

And so forth.

[guerriera]

HI!

Fruit and feline was probably not the combination that the small fluffy thing was expecting, but Lela liked new arrivals, and this one was an unusually small Person! The six limed frootz cat danced over, spinning about as she mewed her greetings.

Hi hi hi are you new? You must be new! NewPerson! We have a white fluffy Person too, have you met her yet?

South Dakota (S6)

[petitions]

It was quite a shock to find oneself alive, forget awake. One moment she's facing down a very irate Washington and the next ... South Dakota isn't even really sure what to classify her position as. Even after she's yelled at nearly shot talked to the Moogles, she's still thinking this is the trippiest afterlife ever imagined.

For now, she's in armor, her damaged helmet tucked under her arm, she tries to step back into the shadows to watch rather than engage. Stealth, however, is so much harder when they're an enthusiastic Komory Bat trying to instigate play or nest in her hair.

[cl4ptr4p]

Claptrap's own komory bat is fluttering around in circles above it, and the little robot starts to wheel by the Freelancer when it stops and gives her a once-over. "Whoa, impressive armor! I've never seen any Vault Hunters with armor quite like that! Is it Hyperion? Oh...are you Hyperion? Because if you are we can just pretend you never saw me and I'll just move along!" It rolls backward a bit as it says these words, crossing its appendages over its front.

[deadlyvelvet]

"So this is how humans experience dreams... how quaint."

This statement, directed at a fluttering Komory Bat, comes courtesy of a - young? - girl in blue, looking around at her environment with a sparkle of curiosity in her golden eyes. It's all so different from her previous experiences, all so new...

Currently, she's investigating the postbox, poking and prodding it like she's never seen one before. "And this is their method of sending messages..." She leans in to the letter slot to speak into it, slowly and carefully - "Hello! Can anyone hear me?"
(Someone might want to grab her before the post office swallows her whole.)

[armabreaddon]

"I can hear you!" The cheerful voice that pipes up in response comes from a bright red dinosaur-like creature with equally golden eyes and a much wider toothy smile, turning to observe her from a few yards away. "But that's not how they work, silly! You gotta have a letter first."

Beside him, a bouncing Hebby Repp skitters to a halt on the cobblestones and nods furiously in silent affirmation.

[chatterbox_recon]

Jun is wary, but he's decided the best course of action right now is to just roll with it. To be perfectly honest, he could use a wacky dream outside of the tension of the waking world.

He consciously tugs at the sleeve of his suit. He'd been off the field for a while now, but it still felt unnatural. Now more than ever he was missing his Mjolnir kit.

At his feet, a rotund Meow Wow whuffled concern and bumped his head against the 6'10.5" Spartan's leg.

"Don't worry, buddy. We got this."

[spaceracist]

That extra half an inch isn't so noticeable when you're not in armor, is it, Jun? Which is to say there's an old ghost making his way down to the plaza where all the hubbub seems to be happening.

"Look who finally decided to show up."

But Jun should still be able to read his stance well enough to know Emile is pleased to see him, crossed arms and trail of bizarre creatures following him notwithstanding.

"The hell happened to your armor, Three?"

[cl4ptr4p]

Claptrap doesn't really have hands. But it can take the sack in one of its metal clips, and it wheels away, just far enough to find a place to set the bag down and begin assembling the dream eater pieces.

"Let's see, we just place this one here and, okay, that's not what I meant to do!" It manages to turn the wayward piece over, clasping it in one clip and then the other by turns. "Here we go!"

The komory bat flutters to life, and settles in to ride on top, while the little robot waves its appendages around as it rolls along on its one wheel, exploring.

"Well, hello Traverse Town! I never expected to find myself in the land of dreams! As a matter of fact, I've never even had a dream! Or gone to sleep!" It seems to have forgotten to pick up its sack of loot when it moved on, but that doesn't deter it from keeping up a running commentary as it rolls forward. "Everything's so bright here! I wonder what kinds of things—" It spins in a circle. "Oh no! I seem to have left my munney behind!"

[letteropener]

"Why, hello there."

The alicorn had come to investigate the sudden storm of new arrivals -- but she'd never seen anypony, or anything, quite like this little fellow before!

[fromearth]

Upon first awakening, Sparks took several long moments just rubbing at his temple, heaving out great grumbling sighs.

"Got to be violatin' like... like four different laws here. Minimum. These parts sure as shootin' ain't in my district, though." He squinted at the technicolor landscape. "You know, with the... not... red."

He consulted the Hebby Rep nibbling at his vest. "Brain laws ain't nothing to sneeze at," he explained, pushing it off him. "Gonna take tons of paperwork. Loads."

[unrecovered]

"Brain laws." Because that was the most important thing Wash got from that...conversation, such as it was.

...well, no, it wasn't the most important thing, but it was the only thing that caught his interest. Plus. Cowboy.

"Why do you have brain laws."

Fang was infinitely more interested in the brand new Hebby Repp, and he flapped over to it, squeaking enthusiastically. Hi! Hi! Hi! Are you new? Your person has a really cool hat!

/dusts off account

[thefinaltarget]

This was not the Yonoa.

Definitely not, since the fact that there were buildings around at all was a huge tipoff; you couldn't build buildings in a submarine. Lynne isn't sure whether she's still waiting for death, or for time to change. Maybe time has changed already, but that wouldn't explain how different wherever this was from where she lived.

Confused, but curious, she tries to ignore the weird lizard thing behind her as she begins exploring - she hasn't yet found Yomiel or Kamila anywhere, either, and she's worried about what might happen if they were alone.

[sponsorigami]

"W-Wait! Come back here!" Ivan chases after a fuzzy bat zipping through the air and out of his reach. Playing with those shiny objects had been a huge mistake because now he's stuck with a hyperactive creature who wants to both leave him in the dust but also won't leave him alone.

Ivan's toes catch on a raised bit of pavement, and it's enough to send him flopping to the ground not too far from where the woman is. The Komory Bat lands beside Ivan with its head--body tilted, almost as if to ask why he thought tripping was a good idea.

[her_mouse_jesty]

Wait, what?

Last Minnie knew, she was in her castle, trying to set things back to normal after Maleficent and Pete's latest attack. So as she observed her surroundings, she tried to connect the pieces, but far too many were missing. She'd heard of Traverse Town before, thanks to Jiminy's journal, but... why was she there? Was this a kidnapping? Magic gone wrong? Whatever it was, it had to be fixed. It wouldn't do for the kingdom to be without both rulers.

With a heavy sigh, she began to walk.

[dork_of_keys]

Sora wasn't exactly expecting this turn of events either. Last he'd checked, he was in the Dalmatians' house, fixing to go out and poke around for some clues. Next thing he knew he was outside somewhere in First District. Then again, nothing had been normal since he'd arrived... wow, he wasn't even sure how long he'd been here.

All attempts at figuring out what was going on were put on hold when his Spirits suddenly perked up and took off the way they always did when they sensed either someone new nearby or friends they already knew nearby. Well Bruce, his Komory Bat, perked up and took off. The still unnamed Escarglow followed at his own slow pace, though he was equally excited.

The familiar round ears and pink dress said everything he needed to know about who was there, but given the jumped from where he had been to where he was now, he had to wonder if something weird was going on. "Queen Minnie?"

[detlance]

((No idea his canon point at the mo'. Def not this week's ep because I haven't watched it yet. I'll also be MIA this weekend so sorry!))

Why the hell would he ever expect to be somewhere like here? Why would he even expect that those "shiny things" would actually make some kind of creature (he only tried to make one purely out of curiosity and to prove that bear thing wrong)? The Meow Wow is joyously bounding around him, and Lance can only ogle it.

Give him the mess of vigilantes any day, he can't deal with this.

I may have made loud happy noises when I saw this on the signup post okay

[unrecovered]

A Komory Bat comes out of seemingly nowhere, making a beeline for the Meow Wow and squeaking happily all the while. Hihihihi! So many new persons and spirits today! He's making so many new friends! You should totally be his friend too!

Wash isn't too far behind his bat, at least. He looks from the Meow Wow to the new guy. "For what it's worth, it's not going to eat you."

[frienemy]

For all the surprise and confusion running g rampant in Traverse Town today, there is at least one new denizen who seems to be making himself at home right away. He has the image of a creature that doesn't quite make sense -- likened to a chimera of sorts. Discord is stretched out high on a rooftop, lounging and tormenting his poor moogle guide.

"You know, I bet those Nightmares aren't so bad," he proclaims, tail lazily swaying in a breeze that doesn't exist. The moogle is currently trying to figure out why the poof on his head keeps changing colors. "Maybe you should reconsider your position on the whole thing."

He'll snap his fingers again to change the color to a dizzying, hypnotic pattern that keeps the moogle flying in circles above him -- at least until he puffs a particularly strong breeze from his lungs and sends it flying into the distance.

If one hadnt heard Discord before now, they will certainly hear him cackling after that. Priceless.

[letteropener]

"Now that is hardly kind of you." Wings furl abruptly as the Princess landed on the roof, all serenity and gentle smiles. "You will find yourself cut off from the Moogle shops at this rate, and then how will you buy toys to keep your Dream Eater entertained?"

With a thousand years of royal practice under her wings, Celestia kept her true thoughts and feelings off her face and out of her body language perfectly. Discord was the last person she'd hoped to see here, especially given the situation with her sister...

[sponsorigami]

Ivan Karelin stands there holding the bag and all the shiny things, but the white teddy bear's quick explanation only gives him more questions. He needs to get back to Stern Bild. The Justice Bureau had just called for the heroes to take action, and Miss Joubert will be furious if he's missing. As much as he may normally jump at the chance to participate in something that sounds like a video game or anime, he really doesn't want to face the producer's wrath.

"Um, excuse me, but I don't know what to do with any of this or how I got here..."

If he accidentally sneaked up on you and started talking, he's sorry. Ivan appears suddenly from the background a lot.

[avengingarrow]

"Yeah, well, join the club," Clint snaps.

He's not always so snippy, but he'd been enjoying so much needed time off after a certain realm hopping adventure. He'd already dealt with fairies, elves, Asgardians, and was frankly just about DONE with the whole traveling thing. Couldn't he just stay in one place for, like, five minutes? A break wasn't so much to ask for was it?

He sighs, he knows it was a little uncalled for and looks up from his perch. He'd been leaning against the railing of a nearby stairwell. He looks the young man over and holds up his own bag of goodies. "Something to do with dreams and this stuff is supposed to help. If it's really a dream it's the weirdest one I've had in awhile."

[endlessnight]

Not quite sure what the tall trees that stood i the city were, Simba is having quite some trouble getting used to the area. The moogle that confronts him gives him pause, unsure what sort of creature it is, but so long as it was an animal, he's okay. The lion, who really did look like a man in his late teens, perhaps early twenties moves forward, leaving his newly received pack behind two trash cans, hidden from view. The smell should mask his being there, though he has no idea what their purpose is.

The air was much colder than the savanna as well, bare arms crossed and a little huddled, tail dragging behind him. "What sort of place is this..." Wide eyes take in more of the city, barren of the life he was so used to, but...at least the stars shone brightly. That much was the same.

[spaceracist]

Emile has noticed the...odd way this one is moving and keeps an eye on him. There sure are a lot of new people showing up tonight and he has a bad feeling about it, but this one is definitely one of the newer new one. He lets his feet fall a little heavily so the young man can hear him coming. For once, his weapons aren't drawn (although they're within easy reach).

"Let me guess. No idea where you are?"

Okay, so a seven foot tall space marine in futuristic armor isn't exactly going to be reassuring to a lion, but then, Emile has no idea he's talking to a lion.

[grifshot]

"What. The. Fuck?"

That is the exclamation from Dexter Grif. The orange-armoured soldier has lived through a number of bizarre things, but this? This is taking the cake. The last thing he could recall, he was on Chorus, training his squad. And by training he meant steal that tray of brownies he saw earlier that was probably for desert. But it still counted. Stealth and all that.

Now. Now he was god knows where with god knows what padding around his feet, completely and utterly confused.

[donutsandwhich]

Donut was struggling to finish drying off his armor with the hand towels he always carried just in case he accidentally fell into non-magical fountains, and was struggling getting underneath the plates of his armor on his lower back when he saw a set of orange armor just like his.

"Grif!" He exclaimed and ran over to his comrade. "Oh Grif did you fall into the crack too?"

[originalcopy]

[Church had intended on just tossing the 'creature pieces' instead he ended up a fat happy Meow Wow bouncing around and occasionally running into things. Most of those things being Church.]

Would you watch where you're going?

Mrph? [the MeowWow cocks it's head to one side.]

Stop running into me.

Buf!

No you know... better yet, just go away. Far far away.

[The MeowWow prances around and does a flip. Oh, his person is so silly! It just makes him love his person more because he is such a great person.]

[laughingsword]

"Oh, look at him!" Souji crouched, holding a hand out to the prancing Meow Wow. Yes, all right, perhaps he should be finding out just why they'd come here... but he couldn't resist that particular variety of Spirit. They were so cute!

"They're very good at fighting, you know," he added, waiting for it to notice his offered hand. "There's no need to chase them away."

[seasaltkeys]

Roxas figured that at some point in his life he was going to get used to unexpected happenings. He wasn't at that point yet.

He'd been in Twilight Town at one moment and now he was back in Traverse Town with no memory of how he'd gotten there. Oh, and the fountain was missing.

"What now?" he sighed, scuffing the ground with his foot.

[donutsandwhich]

Donut does not approve of little sad blond blue eyed boys mostly based on the fact that he was one so he automatically finds himself finds himself trying to cheer up the little boy.

"Hey there buddy, why the long face?" he asks sweetly

Splash Down!

[donutsandwhich]

Donut wakes up gasping fro air and flailing about in the now non-magical fountain. He finally falls out onto the cobblestone.

"Oh Boy, that crack really was bottomless." He gasps as he pops up to his feet shaking off his armor. "I better dry off before this armor starts chafing!"

[sailorgenerous]

Rarity gave a rather undignified shriek, stumbling backwards to avoid the majority of the water splashing out of the fountain before it ruined her coiffure. "Don't do that! If you must splash, do it at somepony else!"

[obviousisntit]

While new worlds were a new one for Benton, he took in stride. The UNIT soldier had seen enough action with aliens to realize that a brand new world would happen eventually. There wasn't much he could do about it, except maybe locate the Doctor (because chances are this involved the Doctor. Strange happenings usually did) and do whatever he could to set things right.

"Come along Trap One," Benton called to his Meow Wow, who waddled along behind him.

[allpurposescarf]

Eventually, yes. And even if it is a new world, there's at least one familiar face around. Of course, it's the Doctor's Pricklemane that shows up first, but the Doctor himself isn't far behind. He usually isn't, although it's more trouble that he tends to follow. Or maybe it follows him, but either way he's there.

"Well, as I live and breathe. Sergeant Benton, wasn't it?"

[oncewasroman]

Rory buried his face in his hands for a moment, expelling the deep sigh he'd been holding in. Maybe if he took a deep enough breath this technicolor world and the white flying bear would go away.

Another breath and he drops his hands.

And the bear is still there holding out a bag to him. Rory doesn't know what else to really do so he takes the bag and mutters, "Thanks...I think."

He knew he should listen. That anything might be a clue as to how to get out of here and back to Amy, River, and the mystery of their daughter...but he was still processing. Finally he shakes his head, focusing on the bear.

"Right...sorry. Could you repeat that again please?"

A few minute later Rory is wandering away and picking at the contents of the bag. He doesn't particularly pay attention to where he's going either.

[allpurposescarf]

Fortunately for Rory, there's at least someone around who might have the answers. Somewhat less fortunately, he's rather run right into that someone. Not that he minds - it'll take more than a simple collision to put him off his stride - but it's most certainly not something that he can say that he'd expected.

His Pricklemane, meanwhile, starts nosing around at Rory's ankles. New people are always worth some amount of interest!

"Ah, hello. But I really wouldn't have thought the contents of that bag would have been quite so interesting."

[lickedthat]

"Now, there's one thing I don't understand," Benton Fraser said as he rearranged the oversized handful of brightly colored plastic-like shapes, "if you could just go back one and one-half sentences and explain how I am supposed to make a creature out of-- oh.

"You're gone," he said, blinking at the space where a white-furred winged teddy bear had been addressing him a moment ago.

He turned in a slow circle, taking in the street scene. There were others here, mostly human, although he thought he could see some sort of dyed miniature horse on the other side of the plaza, and he certainly hoped that they had used a safe dye on the animal.

Unless this in fact was a lucid dream or elaborate hallucination. Benton was forced to admit that hallucinations were not wholly out of the question, and if he happened to in fact be standing in his office closet, he could only hope that Constable Turnbull rather than Inspector Thatcher would be the one to open the door.

"Oh, dear."

Absently, he sniffed the plastic-like objects -- which had rather less scent than one would expect from plastic -- and touched the edge of one against his tongue. It tasted very slightly of salt. With a tinge of slight acidity. Static?

It showed no signs of turning into an animal.

He stowed the handful of creature blocks in his pocket, picked a direction that appeared slightly more populated, and broke into a brisk walk.

[defrostedpride]

The person he first encountered managed to look simultaneously too odd to be a lucid anything and too normal to be a hallucination. Or rather, he himself looked fairly normal - tall, human, wearing a labcoat out of doors but these things happened - but the creatures bouncing around his feet were far too brightly colored and far too...any number of things to be credible. One appeared to some form of extremely large lizard that - just disappeared into the ground only to reappear from some kind of black puddle. The other might possibly qualify as a sheep, if sheep were a) pastel and b) completely spherical.

Even found the spectacle of a person without a Spirit almost as bizarre as Fraser must find a person with one.

"What happened to your Dream Eater? Did it wander off? Because I haven't seen a loose one come this way."

[brodakota]

North hasn't quite caught on to the weirdness of the day just yet, and is embarking on his daily task of walking his spirits. Cactus the Pricklemane is bouncing along beside him, while Tank the Kab Kanon scans the perimeter ahead.

Still, it seems a lot busier than it usually it.

[guerriera]

Finding North was something of a stroke of luck rather than judgment, but it was hard to miss the aqua blue armor bearing down on the purple armored Freelancer. Her helmet was in place, Lela and Dax were at her heels, and her stride was getting wider as she moved to intercept him.

Only once he's in earshot does Carolina waste no time in telling him: "York is here."

...You'd think she'd sound happier about that.

[uninvitedguest]

Maleficent allows the moogle to finish its instructional spiel, and graciously accepts its gifts. The munny vanishes into her cloak (somewhere there is either a pocket or a pocket dimension), while she deftly manipulates the Dream Pieces. Perhaps they will be of some use, and if not, whatever results can be broken down for parts again.

A bat? Hmm. That is acceptable. The colors, however...She waves a hand, and the bright pinks and yellows are replaced with something she considers more suitable.

The 'Dream Eater' may be a decent start, but she really does need some more...associates. And information. She sets out in search of both.

[ooc: Maleficent's Komory Bat is, unsurprisingly, Nightmare colored.]

[raisethemoon]

"I would not advise painting your companion in quite those colors." Luna has a bat of her own perched watchfully on her back as she speaks. He's painted in much more somber colors as well, but deliberately different from the Nightmare patterns. Her personal distaste for garish colors is no reason to risk friendly fire. "Someone may mistake them for a Nightmare and attack."