#isola event: phantasm amalgam

[isolaradiale]

Hey guys!

We're excited to see so much creativity being used for part 1 of the event, but we just wanted to make a couple of clarifications / reminders based on some of the questions and concerns we've had brought to us!

You cannot use the dreamworld to access a location not within the city! Everyone is in an overlapping dream version of Spirale at the moment. If your character dreams that they're somewhere else, it won't work. They'll still be in the city! They could teleport around the city using dreams, however!

Characters have full control over what they're dreaming at the moment! They wouldn't experience a "nightmare" unless they willed those elements into the dream city themselves! If you're interested in exploring that kind of thing, you will probably get your chance in part 2! We want members to focus more on what they can create or change rather than thinking up entire dreamscapes, as we would rather you all put that on hold for the possibilities part 2 may entail.

We've seen that there may be some slight confusion on how the dream works. It's a shared dream amongst all the inhabitants of the city. For example: say someone dreams that the sky is purple. Someone else could dream that it's orange. Another could dream it back to blue. The dream is changing at any given moment, as much or as little as you want it to.

We apologize for leaving room for ambiguity on these points! We weren't expecting people to see the concept and immediately think of how dark they could make things, and we split the event to have a lighthearted half and a darker half so that members who preferred one or the other could have something to do by the end!

-- the island stars.

[sanguineouspitch]

With things established, let's go for an uncapped event AND non-event starter call! If you have a particular preference in mind let me know, otherwise I'll do whatever feels right! Just a quick bit of heads-up:

EVENT: Crona will be Not Okay. (with their full arsenal and corrupted dreams coming to life, they will very likely be pushed to attack your muse) NON-EVENT: Crona will be slightly less Not Okay. (they'll be anxious as shit but likely not outwardly hostile. Ragnarok on the other hand...)

Just leave a like and let me know which one you're feeling if you wish!

[thenameoftheflame]

Compared to space whales and candy streets, an open-air concert stadium was certainly one of the more mundane elements to be conjured up within this dream world Spirale had been plunged into. From its stage and the numerous speakers set up blared loud punk rock music that carried an almost otherworldly catchy quality to it. The crowd was absolutely electric, the sound of their cheers and applause nearly drowning out the rather ghastly-looking band and the charismatic rock diva they were backing.

“That’s it, babies!” She pumped a fist into the air, a wicked grin spreading ear-to-ear. “Tell me who you love!!!”

An uproarious chorus of chants answered her. “EM-BER!! EM-BER!! EM-BER!!” As she reveled in their adoration, Ember’s fiery ponytail blazed bigger, brighter, and hotter than it had in some time, a spectral inferno framing her in a moment of pride and triumph.

God, she’d missed this feeling.

[foreverembrace]

"Oh," there's a giant building in front of him, freshly formed and something he hardly recognizes. Tilting his head to the side, he observes the building from every angle.

It's definitely new, and doesn't quite fit the aesthetic of Archimedes at all. If anything, "I suppose I'd place it in the Victorian Era...But that hardly fits the Grecian sensibilities here."

The plaque on the building reads:

[SPIRALE ISLAND COLLEGE OF MUSIC DORMITORY]

He hadn't noticed it before, but he was in a uniform with the same emblem emblazoned on the doors to what he knew was a college dormitory.

Turning to the person next to him, who also now had the school's uniform on them, he chuckles.

"Looks like we're in college now." At that, buildings start to sprout up around the dormitory. "Welcome to school."

[badluckgoboom]

"Sincerest apologies, madam- perchance I shall ruminate on the employment of my locutions so their manner of presentation may be one of exemplary sophistication and delicacy."

"As for the emotional toll the stuff people dream up'll take on them? Considering that sounds a lot like my day-to-day...I hope they at least have fun with it!"

"I was thinking more about the emotional toll this may take on people, but all of that is true as well, I suppose. Crudely put, however."

[wingherc]

｢𓆄｣ "Hey! Everybody!"

"The shrimp at the hibachi grill is cooking!"

[amoirsetpacis]

★ --;; The landing isn't graceful.

With where it sits between the city proper and the desert dunes that so closely resemble home the Mistwood seems to be the place that continues to see Vash crashing through it, wood splintering and enormous trees marked by his impact, not for the first time.

He doesn't make it far; the last time he'd smashed a bike against one of the huge trunks had been ages ago, on the opposite end of the forest, so close to where it gave way to sand and rock. This time he hardly makes it past city limits before he's free-falling back to the hard earth. He just barely clears the tree-line, but that doesn't stop twigs and branches snagging his feathers on the way down. caught in the mass of them or yanking them free in equal measure.

Dirt and rock and foliage get kicked up into the air as Vash makes impact, amalgam of feathers and wings unable to soften the blow before his body lands shoulder-first into the crater of his own making, knocking all of the breath out of him. Pain ricochets down his spine, making him gasp with it, but it's nothing in comparison to the white hot pain that had already been zipping through his nerves the moment he'd fled from his own home.

Just as Vash had felt when he'd first caught sight of himself in that mirror, nothing but the colour of his hair had changed; that bone-deep exhaustion, having steadily grown in the past weeks from his own negligence of himself, hadn't left him. He feels like he's burning up from the inside out, a dying star, each nerve singed. Black flows freely from his nose, the corners of his eyes, lines like cracks in marble creeping up his jawline.

"I'm sorry," he gasps to himself, so quiet it's a wonder even he can hear himself, voice layered overtop of one another. For not having control of himself. For being the monster that he is. For breaking not only his promise to Wolfwood to stay, but the one to not burn himself up again as well. "I'm sorry."

@tornticket

[punishercross]

It was the boar, not the boy, who approached the priest first.

Looking somewhat desperate, he ran up, tugging on the priest's arm in an uncharacteristic display of ill manners.

Like as not, it's only with the boy holding the equally juvenile thoma approached, grabbing onto the boar's harness, that the priest may understand why the giant animal seemed like it needed an adult.

"Whoa, Razra, leave him a..." The boy's eyes flicker in a faint recognition as he lapses into silence.

"...Who're you?"

@punisheye

[thegreatfraud]

@kleinstar

"See? I told you there no way he be here! I mean who in their right mind go to their job while in a literal dreamscape? Honestly with how chaotic things get i doubt he even at home. Can we go now? I wanna go do a job. We should be stealing the secret of the rich like that one Nolan movie. "

Huey and a black hair man arguing in front of a certain XXX store owner front door.

[Well find him you idiot! I thought you how to track people. I don't spend almost a decade raising you to be a asshole and not apologize. I mean it's one thing if he had it coming. Jeez that why you always had a hard time making friends.]

The two brother seem to not notice anybody nearby as they starting to pull each other faces and fighting like kids.

[eusarca]

"Hey, listen! This is incredible! Every time I open this box there's a bowl of a new kind of noodles!"

It was a normal cardboard box, blank but about the size of the average microwave. It was tilted on its side, and sure enough, when they next opened the flaps a new bowl was present and piping hot.

"Want some? I'm still only halfway through mine."

@ostentumm

[nicawlette]

❝ Wang Yi? ❞ She recognized the sight of his back, but hesitated under a wave of nostalgia. ❝ Is that you? ❞ Gone were the white robes and long hair she'd endeavored to get used to, replaced by a familiar red jacket and short pink strands curling along his nape.

With another strange development unfolding across the city, Nicolette's focus had shifted, entirely captivated by a waking daydream shared amongst every Spirale citizen. Ironically, it had only been thanks to Mary Sue's curiously active imagination that Nicolette found herself coming back to reality. As handsome and suave as fantasy men might be, there was only one on her mind, whose eyes she feared wishful thinking would not be strong enough to open.

So imagine her surprise upon arriving back at his apartment to find the bed his sleeping form had occupied for weeks, empty. The shock of it was unsettling enough, but a lack of contact from his end left her wildly concerned. The entire atmosphere of the city seemed to shift in a moment, growing dark and ominous where it had once been bright and carefree. Despite his belongings remaining to prove otherwise, Nicolette could not shake the fear that he was gone— that it was her turn to lose him first, this time.

Please, anything but that— not yet, please.

She had walked the streets with a rising panic, seeing familiar faces from the corner of her eyes that dissipated like smoke the moment she turned to look closer.

Seeing Wang Yi now, Nicolette considered the possibility she may be hallucinating, despite him being the first figure not to disappear before her eyes could fully adjust; however, it did not stop her from moving closer, hand reaching out to seek comfort as it pinched the fabric at his upper arm. ❝ Where have you been? I've looked everywhere for you. I thought... I thought you— ❞ Disappeared, again. Though she could not say the words, they hung in the air between them, anyway.

@nobully — worst boyfriend award goes to the bitch who didn't call me when he woke up from his coma?

[isolaradiale]

phantasm amalgam: questions asked in discord

Just a quick little post to provide event-related answers to questions that were asked in the Discord server! We'll update this again if more are asked!

Can we use memory-based dreams for the event?

Not for part 1! You're trapped in the city itself and so you wouldn't be able to re-experience memories at this point!

Can I make my character stronger in the event?

Powers are uncapped for part 1, so this would be fine so long as the powers have some basis in canon! You can't do things like give your character abilities from other series, for example. Just remember that damage during this part is temporary and other dreamers can just dream themselves not getting hit if you intention is to fight!

Can we access the branches during part 1 of the event?

No! It's limited to the city for now!

[sanguineouspitch]

@vermillionadvent

When one's world is suddenly cloaked in darkness, it was never an easy thing to adjust to. For Crona, however, they had ample reason to believe this wasn't their world- certainly not a part they'd ever been to at least. Why was this city underground? And...why was what they could see of the cave walls wet? And it looked more like flesh than stone, upon closer inspection...

This was entirely too new. They never had a chance of being able to deal with so much change and unfamiliarity. They needed guidance, something to ground them, to keep them from being immobilized by despair...and it was then that she had appeared. Different than they last knew her- much more powerful, as they'd grown up knowing her. Though she had vanished from sight after their initial conversation, she was still there. They knew. She rarely tried to hide her presence from them, even if her physical form wasn't around.

Even so, the memory of that woman slipped their mind upon running into someone. Mere contact with the burly man caused Crona to stumble back a bit, shaking like a nervous dog as they forced themselves to make eye contact. He certainly gave the air of knowing this place more than they did...or at least being secure enough to make it seem that way. Maybe another time they could've taken some pointers from him about appearing confident in the face of being totally out of one's depth.

Today, though? No such luck was to be found.

"U-uh...? Sorry, I'm...really trying to be alone right now...I don't think you should be here..."

[viladlind]

the sky doesn't darken, it stops. all sound and motion disappears. in the middle of the blue skyline, a purple portal rips through clouds, and with it, a mindflayer ship appears above spirale. like an enormous nautilus shell, rubbery tentacles potruding from its front that reach down below, into the crowd of people. fiyero doesn't resist as one snatches him up, but he does watch in horror when other people are taken alongside him. strangers, not infected yet, not like him. the tadpole in his brain squirms for the first time since his arrival— and when he finds himself in the familiar, fleshy surroundings of the inside of the ship, he's determined to get to those involved before one is put into their brain.

event time! for part two of the event, i thought it fitting to include the original abduction of fiyero by a mindflayer ship. i'm making this an interest check for a group thread, capped at 3!

but you can also feel free to grab the nautiloid and use it for your own purposes. be wary, though— it will be filled with imps, hellsboars, intellect devourers, and of course, mindflayers. the ship can also teleport to other planes of existence, so you could technically go to the nine hells, the material plane of faerûn, or even your own home! the world is your oyster.

[veilstricken]

that being said hey i'm gonna put up an event starter call, come and dream nightmare with me. capped at 3, castmates exempt.

[paaperboats]

This wasn't supposed to happen.

The time they were given here, the chance to be together again-- neither one of them wanted to admit that it could end, that what they dreamed of truly was just that. A dream. Not the reality they long sought for, that they fought tooth and nail for every waking moment they spent in Cloudbank.

Hadn't they suffered enough? Wasn't it time for them to be given back all that was taken from them? Here, or at home-- it didn't matter. It didn't matter as long as it was theirs. As long as it was them, together.

But their bright world had plunged into darkness without so much as a warning; the lights of the Empty Set going dark, as the scarlet curtains warped and withered away. Red clutched at Boxer's chest as his arms curled around her, shielding her from the chaos that threatened to pull them apart again. It felt like the world was ending, but all Red could hear was the sound of her heart pounding loudly in her ears; her grip on her lover's jacket growing stronger by the minute.

"We have to go," he urged, although where, he didn't know. "Something's wrong, Red. I'm.. I'm not.."

.. but suddenly, Boxer's knees began to buckle; losing strength all at once. His arms fell to his sides, sliding past Red as she gasped; reaching for him as she travelled with him to the ground.

"Why am I.. like this? I'm not--" it felt like it took every ounce of strength he had, but the man raised his bandaged palms; looking down at them as his body began to tremble. "I'm not supposed to be here, like this. In this body, I'm--"

"I'm dead. I.. died.. why aren't I in the country.. why can't I see the sky..?"

The words all but broke Red's heart, tears immediately erupting from her eyes as she grasped as his shoulders, doing everything in her power to ground him.

"Auden, please-- it's okay. You're okay, I'm here, I'm right here..!" but the look in his eyes grew dark, almost lifeless; and the heartbeat in her ears immediately silenced. His body slumped against her shoulder, as his fingers weakly circled around hers.

[ Red. ] And when he spoke again, his voice sounded different. Hollow. Slower. As if he was speaking from inside the Transistor again. [ Red.. don't.. don't let me.. go.. ]

Without a word, she pulled Boxer closer to her; squeezing her eyes shut as more tears cascaded down her cheeks. She couldn't lose him again. She couldn't watch him die again..

She refused.

As the comforting scenery of the place they built together disappeared, a field of wheat erupted below them; dancing in the wind as it pushed the hair out of her face. The sky remained dark; orange and red hues obscuring the sky, as hundreds of blades similar to the Transistor burst from the ground. They stood in various sizes; some disappearing beyond the clouds, while others remained closer to the ground, sticking out in all angles.

But neither Red, nor Boxer, seemed to care.

Not even when the world threatened to swallow them whole.