Absolute Immersion - A Child's Nightmare - Backdated [OTA]

[spiritwalks]

Who: 1.) YOU, 2.) some nightmares??? and 3.) either Vyng spiritwalks, Tuck bardbarous, or Billie wapples! (Or you can tag all three, that's fine too!)
What: Repressed trauma ensues after your character reads a magical book from the Absolute Immersion prompt in August's TDM
When: End of August + all through September
Where: A dreamscape that can be simply described as "the stuff children's nightmares are made of"...

Content Warnings: Image of blood; Description of dead or bleeding animals; Vague references to intimate partner violence; Wartime violence; Apocalyptic imagery; Other canon-specific content, depending on who tags in



More info beneath the cut. Prompts in the comments.

What

Nightmares

Are Made of

Absolute Immersion - September TDM Prompt

So. You read the magical book.

An anthology of short stories about three idiots who thought it'd be a great idea to tote around a bottle labeled:

A CHILD'S NIGHTMARE

Unfortunately, it 100% bites them in the ass. And as you tumble face-first into the book's contents, you realize it's probably gonna bite you in the ass too. Sorry about that.

---

> What the hell is happening?

1. Congratulations! Your character read one of Gaze's books and got sucked into a dreamscape comprised of terrors that keep children up at night. More specifically, it repeats characters' recurring nightmares on an infinite loop. Nightmares can be literal or abstract. Characters may or may not be aware they're stuck in a nightmare, or they may gradually figure it out.

2. If a character is "killed" by their own nightmare, OR their nightmare is "killed" by anyone, two things happen: First, the loop resets. Second, the character is restored to the state they were in during the previous loop. Injuries sustained from your own nightmare are gone, and deaths do not "stick".

3. Characters CAN be seriously wounded or killed by the nightmares of OTHERS. These consequences will not reset with any loop. Also? If you die in the dream, you die in real life.

> What if my character's nightmare is some world-shattering, cataclysmic inferno?

Y'all better run. And pray you stumble into somebody else's personal hell ASAP.

> Any souviners?

1. Why, yes! Adorning your character's finger is a pretty obsidian ring that softly glows. Alternatively, the ring can hang from a chain around their neck. This item enables the wearer to share memories with others who bear the same ring.

2. If your character has not already taken a canon item from a different Absolute Immersion book memory, they are free to take the ring back to Trench. Note that it will emerge as a mundane ring...although it does retain its subtle glow. Curious!

3. The ring's original magical properties CAN potentially be restored. You will need to ask either Vyng, Tuck or Billie for more information about it back in Trench.

> How the hell do I get out?

Simple. Reclaim the power you always had — by taking off your ring!

Of course, that assumes you can think clearly while your deepest fears come to life. Or while your friend is getting hurt fighting your personal demons. But maybe, just maybe...you can shape a better reality through sheer willpower and dream logic. For some Sleepers, it's a well-practiced survival mechanism.

> Can I do a separate spoopy thread with a character who isn't in the Spout Lore cast?

If two characters would feasibly be reading the magical book together in Trench, then sure! Knock yourselves out.

> More questions?

Feel free to reach out to Jansen at jackets or Jansen#8997.

CODING

Comments

I

[justoscar]

Oscar didn't have time to get his bearings and thing. He saw the wolf-- and he moved.

Running towards Vyng, he grabbed the Druid by the arm and pulled him along as they ran into the darkness and the unknown with a wolf on their heels.

"I know you talk to animals," He said quickly, his breath coming out in short bursts while he tried to speak as he ran. "But you can't just expect them to listen!"

[spiritwalks]

Vyng doesn't fight against the person dragging him; He assumes they must be one of the locals. Or the specter of someone his mother once knew. Still, his face pinches with frustration at the lecture.

"And running," he says between breaths, "is a better idea?"

[justoscar]

"I don't know!"

He shook his head-- continuing to run with the stamina imparted upon them by being in a dream.

"Maybe it'll give us a little time? What do wolves like? Why doesn't this one like you?"

[spiritwalks]

"Because that's my dad!"

As if context actually matters here. Psh.

"—What, you don't have nightmare representations of your parents in your personal hellscapes!?"

[justoscar]

That's alarming, actually. Vyng knew that was alarming, right?

"I don't usually have nightmares, actually..."

[spiritwalks]

He knows it's alarming. But also, they're in the shit now, so! What else are they gonna do except go through it?

"Yeah," Vyng pants as they continue running through the snowy woods, "that you don't remember, maybe!"

[justoscar]

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I dreamed my dad was trying to kill me!"

He panted as they ran, his lungs burning from the cold but uncertain about where they could go to avoid their attacker. Searching for a thicket, a cave, anything-- Oscar added:

"Why is your dad trying to kill you, anwyay?"

[spiritwalks]

"Kind of a loaded question!"

Especially coming from a stranger. But also understandable, since they are both getting chased by that very same murderous wolf-dad. And so far, there hasn't been any shelter in sight. Just endless trees, the sharp wind, and the day-long dark of winter.

"You saw the dead owl," he puffs, "in his jaws, right? That's my mom!"

[justoscar]

"But-- you don't look like an owl-wolf!"

Oscar blurted out, so snowed over by dream-logic in that moment that he forgot how symbolic dreams could inherently be.

"Wolf-owl? Owlf?"

His lungs stung from the cold-- but, adrenaline and desperation pushed him forward. Whatever the situation was, he didn't want to meet the same fate.

"How do we stop him?"

[spiritwalks]

"Wowl," Vyng (un)helpfully adds.

How do they stop him, though? How does anyone stop Death? Vyng isn't sure it can be done. He's died in his dreams more times than he can count. And his father has murdered scores more. That definitely isn't helpful, though, so all Vyng says is:

"I'll buy us some time — if you find us some shelter, I'll catch up!"

[justoscar]

"Wait-!!"

Oscar called, hoping to curtail this Owlf before he vanished.

"Didn't you just say he was going to kill you?!"