#i still rlly love this verse a lot

[utsuboarchive]

VERSE: THE DREAMLANDS

triggers: death, violence, gore, eldritch horror, murder, abuse. and more, this one is going to be very very plot dependent. and very dark.

as we all know, malleus puts everyone to sleep. allowing them to live in their own perfect world as they dream. i love the idea that malleus is an omnipresent entity that sits and watches everyone's subconscious. i think on it's own, there are some small references to the dreamlands, from lovecraft's lore. the dreamlands are for the most part a mirror-image of our waking universe, having, as far as can be determined, the same planets, stars, and other cosmic and geographical features. 

it's also cool to reference some junji ito here too!! "the long dream" is a fascinating comic, about a strange illness. one that causes the man afflicted to live out complete lifetimes in his sleep. what is one night for those awake, is actually anywhere between 70-1000 years for him. it's a really cool comic if you're okay with the type of body horror that junji ito is known for!

everything starts off very normal for jade. it is a picture perfect copy, down to the smallest detail in his belongings. so he doesn't notice right away that he is in fact dreaming. but after a bit of time, jade notices a lot of key differences that don't add up with the actual reality he knows. there is also an uncanny perfection in general to the scenery, and the weather. it begins to put jade on edge, and makes him feel very uncertain about what's really going on.

as soon as he realizes it isn't real- jade feels relief. it's a dream. one he is clearly not waking from. as he attempts several times to go to sleep IN the dream-- only to wake up in the same simulated reality. with confirmation that it's not real, he begins to poke around so to speak. to ask odd questions( odd even for him ), to do things he might not normally do, and see how it responds.

without any clear consequences, jade's 'antics' grow more bold. he starts giving in to his impulses and whims more. because why not? who cares what happens? if he does not like someone, he tells them. if he wants to threaten someone, he will. if he wants to choke the life out of someone-- he does it. mind you, it's all gradual. but with each offense, comes no punishment. which only further twists his behavior.

eventually...jade starts having a pretty hard time telling whether it is or isn't real. or if this is just a new reality he has to adapt to and live with. time passes very strangely when you're in the dreamlands. and the world unfortunately, is going to continue to change according to your subconscious.

now im sure...? some would think jade's perfect world would be him back in the coral sea. and to some extent you're right. but, finding that he is no longer conscious- is what changes that. i do think potentially, jade's UM, and how i have it working in my own canon could have played a part in him getting 100% confirmation. considering it can force people to tell him the truth. and that a lot, if not all of it, is a fabrication of some kind by malleus. using it to find answers, could probably just tell him.

when he does wake up again- i do think jade would seem fine. but deep down he's really off kilter. he's not sure if he's actually awake or not. he'd be told what happened i'm sure. and people would reassure him that he's awake. but it'd take a while for him to really accept that everything is back to normal. and until then jade would be really off putting to be around-- a lot more than usual.