Mila is sitting in a room, that is rapidly losing all color. She could go back, where it's nice and peaceful and everything is happy. It's so easy from here. And all she has to do is go through that door, and take a left. Nobody else can follow her, nobody can go that shortcut, and she won't have it hurt anymore. The other lady that did not exist didn't follow her here, but she can hear the whispers, she's not sure if it's self doubt or Her but either way they want her to give. Up. Nobody's coming to help, nobody cares.

And then there's rattling at the door, and a reminder that it's her turn. It's pathetic, says the whispers. She's just humoring you.

Mila seizes at it like a lifeline, as color returns and the sobs start dying down to hiccups. "One... one minute?"

[Storytime: 2/9
Adventure GET: 4/21
Up to Date: 1/15
Something To Deal With 1]

I flash my most winning grin at the people in the room, the ginger and the spirit. “See? She just needs a minute and she’ll be fine. Besides, what horror story doesn’t have a moment of personal trauma? It’s what makes it horror. And, hey, at least neither of us got our faces stolen... yet...”

Outside, the rain’s starting to lose its power, isn’t it? Puddles lie like lazy cats, reflecting the marbled greys of the sky, and in here, everything’s dark (because someone turned off the lights) but there’s the warm smell of cooked eggs, and warm air coming in under the door, and I’m sure that by the time I start tucking in to my omelette, everything’s going to be okay. We’ll all laugh about this later.

Right?

The rain falls heavier and heavier, the outside storm spending all its fury. Inside a little cafe in progress there are tears wiped away with paper napkins and kept away with veggie omelettes that are way better than they have any right to be. And inside a little ramen house there is warmth and laughter and a sunny girl with oh so sticky hands as another takes copious notes on what is obviously a research study that no sane person could possibly mistake for a date.

[Note as the week transitions, double check the OOC post before you post here, as there's a big end of week update with Issues coming]
******

The rain sets the tone for the next few days, but then something quite unusual happens. Well, maybe it's not really that unusual, but it is different. You see, Shokyou, bless her heart, got so excited about her singing and meetings with her friends that she went and found Jasper and asked her to stay over with her. Then, when it came time to go down to her private little space and breath a wish to her magical wish-granting engine (which, I hasten to add, is far inferior to Dulcinea's nightmare science engine, so much so that the fact that I am even comparing there here is probably some kind of grave insult), she just couldn't help herself and wished to participate in a singing contest!

Now, obviously, a teen girl's wish-granting engine wasn't just going to say how do you do and conjure up a little dinky country show. No, no no, that would not do at all! If Shokyou wanted a singing contest, then she was going to get lights, costumes and, yes it's true, even backup dancers! Think of this as a sort of overlay over the rest of Fortitude. There's a big stage right near the water with huge stands for everyone to sit and watch. It's got lights and curtains and all sorts of options for smoke and mirrors and whatever other effects you might want. There are hangers-on offering freelance services. The entire Fortitude tai chi club has turned out to offer their time as backup dancers (they're all geriatric, but very enthusiastic as is Fortitude's way). The stores around the area are selling (and renting!) all sorts of outfits as the heart may desire, with sparkles and sequins being the expected order of the day.

You all somehow know that Shokyou has already been working on an act, some kind of Alice in Wonderland thing where she's the normal girl darting about from unusual magical performer to unusual magical performer as she sings out her emotions, and she is a natural at it. There's nothing Shokyou is better at than seeming totally normal in any context! She's not out there yet though, the day is still young and she's not exactly an early riser.

Speaking of normal, you can hardly have a singing contest without entrants and all of you feel that you absolutely must enter and create an act for the show! (Unless you want to suffer some wounds to avoid the wish, which I do not know why you'd want such a thing but it's an option I guess). You'll need to start the day by making plans, then getting dresses, props, and setting elements, not to mention some rehearsing before the big number.

So EVERYONE!
What's your act going to be? What kind of costume do you plan to wear and what sort of music are you performing? Tell us all about it.

Rinley, Sessily would love to be in your show because you are good friends, are you okay with that? She's a little clumsy, mind you.

Mila, Seizhi is torn with conflict over being in your show or Shokyou's show. She is Shokyou's best friend, but also fully in the role of your cook right now and might be running about frantically trying to be in both.

Jasper, you're staying over with Shokyou. She was shockingly convincing in her dorky way, walking up to you after you and Dulcinea had parted ways for the afternoon, blushing a little with her ponytail bobbing and asking without looking you in the eye if you wouldn't mind staying over with her while you practiced your singing. She maybe sort of thinks you're an angel, but she clearly couldn't help wanting to hang out with you. She sleeps in, so you're probably a little behind starting the day compared to some of the other acts that may have been rehearsing since dawn. Breakfast is sweet, sugary cereal in rainbow colors: it's not at all like the ramen you had with Dulcinea, but it's probably pleasant unless you hate sweet things and Shokyou obviously enjoys it. How is it going staying in someone's house for the first time? What did you say to Shokyou when she first brought you inside? Tell us how you greet her this morning.

Dulcinea, tell us how you cut loose and, if you want, a theory about what all this could mean. But you might be too caught up in it all despite yourself to be theorizing right now, so feel free to go all out!

[Storytime: 3/9 (+1 here)
Adventure GET: 5/21
Up to Date: 1/15
Something To Deal With 2]

Okay, back it up one cherry-picking minute. I’m Rinley Yatskaya. I can sniff out the joy in someone’s heart when they sing its song, and you know what? Sessily puts her whole heart into her dancing! I’d rather have Sessily as my dance partner than a dozen handsome boys with perfect rhythm, so there! And that is why we’re doing this together as Scheherazade and Dinazad, Warrior Princesses!

(Caroline told me their stories to help me get to sleep when I was little and missed Mom. Two sisters with an unbreakable bond, fighting ghuls and evil viziers and creepy old magicians, all told in flashback as Scheherazade won them a stay of execution every night from the wicked King Boney! I don’t think we ever got all the way to the thousand and first night, but that’s okay. I think it’s better that we never ended them. If I close my eyes, I’m in King Boney’s underwater castle, with Dinazad dangling over the lobster pit, and another story to tell...)

The only problem is trying to figure out what the perfect costuming choices are, and how to get Dulcinea to help us with our animatronic giant snake (specifically, the part where it doesn’t exist yet), so we’re digging through the stacks at Party Warhouse (the E fell down years ago) trying to find some jackets that would look right with paste jewels glued on, but secretly? I’m trying to find the perfect gift for Dulcinea to bribe her! I can always use a clean hankie as a veil, but an animatronic snake is essential for “Follow: 1001 Visions Adventure,” and I need my number to be perfect.

Because I made sure to leave flyers all over the shrine, especially plastered on the coffee maker and the wall outside Caroline’s room. With the date circled. She’s totally going to come out of her room and leave the shrine, for once, even if she does it cradling a cup of coffee and wearing an evilish witchy robe over her tank top. She’s going to get to see me do something cool. A celebration of bedtime stories and sisterhood and giant snakes!!

That’s why I am going to find the perfect Dulcinea bribe. It will be flawless, and Dulcineaey, and I will have the only one, and she will throw herself around my ankles and beg me, Rinley Yatskaya, to give it to her, and I’ll look down and say, “After you build the giant snake.” And then I’ll laugh like this: nyahaha, nyahaha, nyahahahaha!!!

[Will 2 + Dulcinea Bond 1 = Intention 3 to find the Perfect Dulcinea Bribe in the stacks at Party Warhouse.]

The sky sharpens to blue long before the sun comes over the distant mountains. Light enough to write by.

As soon as she'd seen Shokyou's blank notebook she'd begged for it, and she didn't regret it. Not only was it a treasure in its own right, imitating Dulcinea's process of writing everything down in real time was as relaxing as she'd imagined it to be. Her pens flowed, curling past each other in intricate dance, a waterfall of celestial calligraphy. The first hand was dedicated to marking all the strange flows of physical sensation, the second was detailing everyone she'd met here so far, their traits and possible interactions, the third was reflecting on the place itself and the strange manifestations of physical law, and the fourth held a large mug of corrupting acid Shokyou called 'orange juice' to her lips. She reflected in motion, like a sky caught in a mountaintop river.

She paused and looked up at the sun as it crested the horizon, pursing her lips thoughtfully, tapping her self-pen against her lips as the others continued to write.

She sun turned around and went back the way it came, dipping back below the horizon.

Never backwards, never down, unmoving am I, the worlds are drawn to me, bound by me, the center point, I will hold them close and bring them love and never ever fall

The self-pen lowered back to the paper and noted its observations on the return of the water-response. It continued to do so until the sun rose over the horizon for the second time, and the pain in her chest loosened a little.

Finally, as Shokyou blearily emerges from the little house with a bowl of cereal, she folds away her arms and closes the notebook. She took a deep breath and her mind cleared in a moment, organizing and clarifying. She was again called to duty. She took a perverse little pleasure in standing and giving a formal bow to Shokyou - she'd never been outranked before, but such was the nature of being a guest. She had already come to the conclusion that Shokyou was a Buddha - who else could live so simply? Who else could seem so tranquil?

She needed to be careful. Buddhas were dangerous.

She accepts the cereal and starts to diligently eat it using her pens as chopsticks, not understanding the significance of the spoon that came with it. As the taste sets in she stares at it in shock for a moment.

"There really are infinite varieties of ramen," she murmurs. "Thank you for your gift, Awakened One."

JOURNAL ENTRY NUMBER: ACTUALLY, SCREW IT

What a disaster. I can't believe I'm in a position where I have to be grateful to Shoykyo. Guh. Gah. Urgh. Noises. Just barely spared the agony of having to explain what a 'Ninja Gaiden' is and how that factors into the sorting of good or bad 'bzzzts'. I mean, what was I gonna do, tell her to go back to walking around in the rain? Little idiot doesn't understand her own mortality down here. She's so cute, though. I can't stand it.

Regardless! My real problem right now is this overwhelming compulsion I feel to join a musical competition despite the fact that I
a) can't dance
b) can't sing
c) have zero (0) sense of rhyme or rhythm
d) hate it when other people look at me

So anyway yeah obviously I'm just going to do a cover. I could build a machine to spit mad bars and maybe, like, some kind of hell pony to autotune whinny my backup vocals and draw the most perfect vision of my innermost thoughts into lyrics out from the purest crystals on earth, but... y'know, like, I've got plenty enough to be getting on with already. That's why instead of that, I'll be testing out my Adaptive Suit. It's the very latest in both Adaptive and Suit technology!

Well actually point of fact it's not so much a 'suit' as it is a... hm, what's the word? Oh yes, a bio-mechanical, chitinous exoskeleton. It's got morphic camouflage features and mechanically perfect muscle memory recorders, such that it can always repeat back the physical motion you intended instead of the one your dorky useless body actually wound up doing! With a sufficient power source, it could even enable voice alterations and project upwards of seven independent Solid Holograms (Soligrams) for much more intricate choreographs. Plus! And this is the really good part! The shoulder spikes spit acid! The feet have retractable dewclaws! And on top of that for some reason it can also spontaneously grow human-scale dragonfly wings capable of limited flight.

So you may be expecting this part to be my project right now. But you are wrong, Hypothetical Journal Rinely Person! Point of fact, the Adaptive Suit is already built! I finished it a month ago, actually, put it through all its initial tests. Works perfectly, except that it's very power hungry. And, uh, by default? It draws energy by feeding on the unwilling flesh of the wearer. Which is... you know? Not? Ideal?? So instead I'm spending my time trying to develop an alternate energy supply. See, first I'm gonna...

Actually, wait. Wait wait wait. Hold up. Why do I already have something like this? Usefulness notwithstanding, it's a heck of a coincidence to have something so bizarrely purpose built for something I didn't see coming until last ni-- hm. beerb, checking my archives for a sec.

JOURNAL ENTRY NUMBER A MONTH AGO (THE RETROACTIVE ONE)

“She got me,” Retroactive Dulcinea said of the Wishing Machine. "That f***ing Shoykyo boomed me."
Dulcinea added, “She’s so good,” repeating it four times.
Dulcinea then said she wanted to add Shoukyo to the list of people she competes with in a music contest next month.

JOURNAL ENTRY NUMBER ?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

I gosh darned KNEW it! That stupid wishing machine! I swear to... how did somebody like her even BUILD something like th-- I just! Do you have any idea how hard it was to build the Nightmare Engine? And I mean, like, I really don't mind the comparisons at all, even though the Engine is literally incomparable and therefore any such attempts to are pointless by their very nature. I don't mind! I don't! I just don't understand HOW it works. Or WHY. Whydoit? Mark my words, there's something incredibly fishy going on here. And I'm not talking about the lake. Or the fishery. Or the eel farm. Or the... you know what? There's a lot of fish here, now that I think about it. That's weird, right? I should look into this!

Regardless!

The true tragedy here is the realization that I've just had an entire project thrown into my lap from outside the proper flow of time by a wish, which means I'm probably going to lose it when it's done enabling all this nonsense. But I'm not going to let it get me down! Temporary or not, the Adaptive Suit will still be an excellent test of the Theoretical Sympathetic Cables, and my third (3rd) attempt at generating a stable portal to the realm of eternal Nightmare. Last time everything exploded because all of my cabling got caught on things it shouldn't have and destabilized my experiments before they were finished drawing on the UNLIMITED POWER OF THE VOID, AHAHAHAHA... oh dear.

The, uh, the point is... well I mean, kind of that thing I said? With functionally unlimited, if slightly horrible and distinctly icky tasting power to draw on, the Adaptive Suit should fully realize my vision for this contest with power and functionality to spare. I won't win, I should think, but now that I know why I'm here I don't really care about that anymore. In fact, I'd have have a mind to blow the whole thing off, except personal experience has taught me that when wishes are being granted it's best to just ride the wave until it passes. I've gone against them before. That's, uh... story for another entry, yeah? It wasn't pretty, I'll tell me that.

Double Regardless!

I am determined to be able to stabilize this portal, because it would make material gathering vastly simpler if I could just step into the world of everybody's collective bad dreams instead of needing to keep cutting my way in there any time I need a cup of xorth angles or whatever. And just think about how many inventions I could build without needing to design power sources! Incredible. The knowledge is worth the risk. The plan is to fully shield this one except for the small holes I'll need to connect the Theoretical end of the Sympathetic Cables to. I'll write the runes with the intent that the portal will be self collapsing inside of three (3) weeks.

It's going to work this time. Everything's going to be perfect...

Seizhi is of course, totally able to be in both. That's because, as a magician's assistant (or rather the dance equivilent, which means a bit more of precise movement and a bit less of actual deathtraps) she's there to be distracting and occasionally put in a box which is then chainsawed apart. Though Mila did scrap that idea, in the end. But, the point remains: we want to make sure that Seizhi is able to be fairly passive during the dance, which is why she's able to put together a fairly regal, but incredibly distracting, outfit inspired by a peacock, what with the train of fabric made to look like feathers.

Next to that, her own outfit fades into the background. Just as planned. She's got a tiny top hat set at a jaunty angle, a jacket with tails and just enough subtle sparkly bits sewn into it to be pretty. Fairly normal suspenders with tiny eye diagrams, black pants, she's there to actually do the dance and the pyrotechnics, and not mix up which is which. That's the plan at least. She... doesn't know much about the pyrotechnics side of things. Which is why she's trying to find another person to help out. And it's... not going great. Who knew trying to avoid knowing people would backfire?

Rinley, Scheherazade and Dinazad sounds like a great combo. Sessily is having a grand time. She's got Totem clasped across her back so he doesn't get too much in the way and she's spinning and dancing delightedly through the party store, practicing her moves while you browse the aisles. She's really a lovely sight, her straw hair's bouncing up and down like a windy wheat field, and she's got on a red dress with thick puffy shoulders that spins up above her ankles when she twirls. She's going to need lots more sparkles for the show, and also she's kind of bumped into you and the aisles a few times (fortunately, everything that has spilled so far has been securely fastened, so you've only had to put the things back on the shelves).

So, a bit awkward, but also a fun friend time full of a happy heart that's bursting to the brim with effort. That's really beautiful. What does it feel like to you, anyway, when someone is putting their whole heart into something and you get those Rinley feels about it?

[Indeed, one storytime point.]

Oh and I'll leave it to Dulcinea (on or off camera) to tell you exactly what gift you find to her taste, I'm sure it will be great.

*****

Jasper, Shokyou gives you kind of a funny look. She's been giving you lots of funny looks since you came by. She's obviously enchanted with you, but also kind of confused about why a deity would come to earth without, like, studying up for it. Mostly you just think she's giving you funny looks. This does appear to be making her less reverential than she was before though.

"You know, you act like you've never been here before" she says between bites of multi-colored crunchy Os. "Like, this is cereal not ramen. And, I think any kid would know that. Sure, you eat them both out of a bowl, I guess, but you eat cereal with a spoon and ramen with chopsticks, so they're, like, totally different!" She punctuates this with a demonstration of eating ramen with her spoon. "Also, my name's Shokyou, you don't need to call me 'Awakened One' or 'Your Holyness' or 'The Redeemer' or any of those things you've said, really. Just Shokyou is good."

She gives you a friendly smile, which she immediately shatters with a big yawn that she only covers up about halfway through, making you want to yawn in response. "So, big show day, right? I was thinking Alice in Wonderland, do you want to be in the show with me?"

[Jasper, I think you're building towards a shared reaction here, but not quite yet. Also, if you want, you could ask Shokyou about Jade Irinka, they knew each other, though you might not know that.]

*****
[Dulcinea is spending 4 will on this, I am told]

Dulcinea. You've nearly got your nightmare invention done, and this will absolutely and certainly cause you to get a working nightmare rift going, probably without any complications whatsoever! Let's see. The key principle here, which you will be able to extract from this wish state and apply easily hereafter is the principle of entropy. No, not the guy that sometimes rides around town on a motor cycle, that's Principal Entropy, this is the principle of entropy. Anyway, what's important here is that all nightmares have a natural cycle and degradation that they undergo. As they do so, energy from the nightmare balances out with the dream state and settles the sleeper's mind or forces them into a sudden awakening. To properly stabilize the portal, you need to align its energy output with the nightmare's natural entropy. If dream takes an energy dip and your device doesn't, you'll end up injecting extra nightmare due to the imbalance and sudden nightmare injections can be explosive in their consequences.

So, you've got the energy modulation controller all set up and your adaptive suit is functional! This is going to lead to the best dance routine!

Also, there are two things you should be aware of as a result of this research and your prior research.
Thing 1: The way the Outside storms are targeting people recently? Same energy modulations that you just figured out for nightmare structures. This is, if not your fault directly, at least an extremely unlikely coincidence that you are, by several miles, the best equipped person to address. I'm sorry, but it's totes your problem.

Thing 2: There's an odd little fluctuation in the nightmare energy. It's not large and it won't affect your devices right now, but there's no mistaking this. Energy is leeching out unexpectedly somewhere else. There's another portal to the nightmare realm that you didn't make somewhere in Fortitude.

Well, anyway, those two things are problems for future you, not current you. Current you has a dance contest to absolutely crush beneath the sole of your adaptive suit's extremely sexy boots.

You should probably emote about your theory here and then tell us what's coming next now that it's working.

[Dulcy, this is the motherload of quest things. First off, you just took an out of genre science, faith, sorcery! action. That's 1 XP and grab another point of Blue (In Over Your Head) Issue.

Second, you advanced your science chibi quest, 1 XP

Third, apparently talking about your engine compared to Shokyou's is worth a quest XP for hidden library, so boom check that one off!

And fourth, I just handed you responsibility for the Outside Stirs, which is worth a whopping 3 XP for that quest unless you hard reject that in your response (in which case I'd say this didn't count since nobody else is actually forcing it on you).]

*****

Mila, the Fortitude explosives and pyrotechnics club is out here in force (this club may or may not exist outside of this wish, but as far as you're concerned, it is completely normal that Fortitude has this). The rep who approaches you has a bright pink mohawk to complement her pink kitty-cat ear headphones (currently lowered around her neck) and her leather jacket, which is black, not pink.

"Hey, name's Aila Foleiu, saw you kind of standing around glancing at our stuff. Can we help you out? You look like you're dressed for a show, one of the backup dancers maybe? They send you to give us an order? We've got a ton of stuff. Sparklers, rockets, two for ones and multicolor whatever you're looking for. It's pretty sweet, seriously."

She seems pretty up for doing business. You're still a bit thrown from before though, feeling a bit down. What's your approach here?

[No XP yet, but you're pretty set up to be suspicious or in need of aid.]

"WHAT IS MY MOUTH DOING?" said Jasper, experiencing her very first yawn. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?"

This was a rebuke! A curse! A... a... a Buddha-thing! This was what she got for not obeying the Enlightened One's request to use her desired title! Her mouth was contorted into a terrible cramp, trying to bite the air, breathing the essence of sleep. Buddha magic! One time she'd tried to foot race a Buddha and he'd revealed that the entire racetrack was actually in the palm of his hand and it had made her head hurt. Like, she'd won the race, but he'd somehow made it like it hadn't mattered. How can a race not matter!? They - they matter, okay!?

She stabbed at her ramen with her chopsticks moodily.

She hadn't considered the show, honestly. A big musical event where everyone would be singing and dancing in the midst of elaborate pyrotechnical displays honestly sounded like the most boring and mundane thing she could possibly do with her time, the celestial equivalent of going to Shanghai and ordering a hamburger. But she did owe the Buddha for hosting her as a guest and had no desire to end up as the subject of a koan. So she nodded. "If you desire it, I would be honoured to serve," said Jasper. "You will have to inform me of this story. And, of course, the role you have in mind for me."

With any luck this would be a straightforwards role with minimal weird Buddha concepts.

[Storytime: 3/9
Adventure GET: 5/21
Up to Date: 1/15
Something To Deal With 2]

It’s fantastic!!! Oh, my gosh, watching Sessily in action is like watching a baby kitten fumbling around as it learns to use its legs! Everything’s new and wonderful and when it ends up doing a cartwheel on accident everything is adorable and pweshus and aaaaah!!! I’m barely getting any done because I keep getting distracted watching her put her whole heart into shopping, letting it outstrip her coordination and grace in favor of giving 110% right here and now!

Other people might say, oh, Rinley, isn’t it even better when you’re really good at something? And, yeah, it’s cool. But just because it’s clumsy doesn’t mean it isn’t heartfelt. And sometimes, it means it’s moreso. That your passion and love are bigger than your skill and you don’t even care.

I am on the side of finger painting on the walls. I am on the side of kids playing the piano as hard as they can. I am on the side of people crashing their bikes and cringy poetry and scratchy voices as your throat gives out. I am on the side of the heart, which permits no barrier. I am on the side of love.

After all, eventually that kid might grow up and learn skill, but it’s really hard to learn passion. Some people might say it’s impossible, but I know better. Nothing’s impossible if you put your heart to it.

Such as finding the objectively perfect Dulcinea bribe by putting my hand down on it while I’m watching Sessily and wagging my tail so hard I’m knocking things over, too, much to the distress of the employee (1, singular).

Dulcinea stares bleary eyed at her latest batch of notes. She blinks stupidly. Pulls one hand behind her neck and squeezes as she rolls it from side to side, wincing at the popping sounds that are so loud you can't help but wonder if she didn't just die. Her head slumps forward again and her attention returns to the numbers and the conclusions she's written about them.

She stares at the ceiling. She sighs. Back to the notes. Ceiling. Sighs. Notes. Tap tap tap goes her pen. Ceiling. Floor!

"Owowowowow owies! Heck! Darn! Shoot! Expletives! Ow ow ow!"

On the plus side, writhing around on the ground clutching the back of her head where she bounced it off the carpet is an excellent distraction from today's rather unpleasant surprise discovery. Not to mention how effective it is as a stimulant! Why, she's not sleepy at all anymore, even though she hasn't rested in four days! Hooray!!

But all good things must come to an end. She blinks and groans as she stands up and immediately slumps over her cluttered desk again, adding a potential bonus bruise to her forehead to go with the one on the back.

"Ho...kay then. This is proooooobably my fault? But, consider this! It's very definitely not! Maybe! I mean, you know, it couldn't be? Really? Cause, like, I haven't done this before now. At least... not successfully. I don't think. That I remember? And it's not written down anywhere either so that's, like, confirmation. Probably maybe. No, it can't be me. I can't be the source of what's destroying this place. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not an apocalypse. Even if my high school elected me most likely to be. Jerks."

Tap tap, tap tap. She flips her notebook closed in frustration. Ok Dulcy, it's just like they say in... Texas? 'When in doubt, do the math!'

"Aight. Aight, aight, alrighty. So there's two obvious possibilities here. Option A: there's a heretofore unknown Dulcinea-adjacent genius in this rundown Podunk sticksville towny Town... thing who's conducting high level nightmare science and/or sorcery without my having noticed prior to this incredibly serendipitous coincidence, quite possibly with ill intent given how many of these manifestations have explicitly gone after innocent rubes. Er, people. Yes, the sweet and darling citizenry whom I have nothing but love for and hold in no contempt whatsoever. Those guys. And gals. And non-binary expressing miscellany. Possible? I mean, never say never.

Or! Option B: the person I already know about who I also know has been conducting experiments with various Nightmare Technology for over a year has, through some combination of neglect and willfully devil may care boundary pushing (not to mention dynamite good looks) has... uh, you know, either spawned or forged connections to the Great Beyond that turns mortal works and minds to rot, et cetera et cetera and so forth. Referring to you, in case this is at all unclear. You meaning me. Dulcinea D'Avingon. That person. That I am. Bluh."

Her head thumps softly on the desk as she contemplates the extremely lopsided probability of these two realities. Sleepiness creeps back into her life. She can't let it get her. Not here. With the suit and the... other experiments in various phases of completion, it would be a disaster beyond the reckoning of even a god, probably maybe. She groans and rubs at the dark circles under her eyes.

"Suppose the question would answer itself if I just tracked down this other portal and saw it for myself. Let's see, I'm gonna need a... hm. A Nightmare... uh, Altimeter? Yeah, an altimeter. It's the spikes and valleys you wanna watch for with nightmare energy. So it, I, yeah. Yeah. Height. Relative to nightmare sea level. Uhuh. So for... do I have one of those? Uh. I'm gonna need..."

She trails off for a long moment. With an exhausted, heaving sigh, she pushes herself away from her desk and trudges (though admittedly with very light, ginger steps) through her darkened apartment and around all of the Lego-sharp objects scattered around the floor.

"Air. Air is what I need. Air and coffee. Cause I gotta... blarg. I would commit legit, real live murder for an espresso machine..."

Her fingers find the doorknob. Sweet air kisses her forehead. And Dulcinea, wearing jazz slippers she's forgotten to replace with real shoes, worn out slacks, and a blouse she's only sort of buttoned the top half of, steps out into the "real world" once again.

"I... yes. I am after..."

She pauses and licks her lips, nervous. She knows, in general what she wants: a lightshow, grand, stunning, and very distracting. Specifics, on the other hand, she's a lot less knowledgeable about. She could probably muddle through, but weighs her options and goes for the risky leap of faith: telling the truth.

"To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what I'm after. It's a magician themed dance, a lot of "look over here, now over there there are doves" sort of stuff. But I don't know what sort of tools and things you can do for that. So what would you suggest?"

Mila!

Aila gives you a look up and down, her mohawk bobbing just a little as she takes you in fully. You almost feel like she's staring right through you, when suddenly she snaps and fingers and goes "Ah, got it. Now I getcha. You're the set designer! Say no more, say no more. You want misdirection, well, baby we have got your misdirection right here. Oh yes!"

Suddenly she's animated, and she's walked around you and is putting a hand on your back as she guides you over to an area behind their tent. There's a big pile of explosives. There really shouldn't be this many explosives in one place. Really, really questioning how they got this many explosives into town. Is this tent larger on the inside than the outside quantities of explosives in here, is what you're looking at.

But Aila ignores most of them, shoves a few rockets off a chest, which she pulls open and inside is a series of several color and white striped rockets (some blue, some red, some green) attached to narrow poles. They aren't humongous rockets, probably not bigger than your hand, but they have a certain aura about them. "Aight, these babies here, they're designed to be set off right in front of the stage. They can do a buncha different patterns, few colors, and they're a two stage explosion so people will who don't look at first will go 'wait what?' and draw their attention. You want to distract, you could draw ship onto the stage while one of these babies is going off and the audience would be all like 'oh wow, where did that mysterious ship come from?'"

There's no way that fireworks like these are cheap, but they're truly perfect. Nobody will pay any attention to you with these, and you'll wow the show for sure. Maybe not first place, but you'd be hard pressed to miss top three with these kind of special effects. So, what are you going to do for them, Ms. Changeling?

[I'd suggest this is a good time to spend will and act suspicious. Still no XP for the moment, though you could react embattled here by saying how much you're struggling for money and how this hurts if you want.]

*****

Rinley (and Dulcy)

Rinley, you've got your gift. I'm going to call fiat and tell you that you found Dulcinea an extremely cute pink sweatshirt with glitter hearts on it unless either of you tells me otherwise. You're going to run into Dulcinea on the street, so your job here is to set the scene for us. What kind of crazy adventures did you and Sessily get up to in transit? You could just ask her for the latest gossip around town if you want too, she'll tell you en route before meeting Dulcy. But mainly tell us about how you pitch your bestest best friend for her help building a giant animatronic snake!

Dulcy, you're reacting to Rinley here, so sit tight.

*****

Jasper!

"Oh...my...god, a spoon. Use a spoon for cereal. Here!" Shokyou cannot stand watching you try to pick out fruity sugar Os one by one with chopsticks. You may be literally destroying her. Perhaps that's why she cursed you with that weird mouth thing that she said was called a yawn after she stopped giggling. Now she marches over, takes the chopsticks out of your hands and puts a spoon in them. Then takes the spoon back out, puts it in again but this time facing the right direction when you didn't fix it. Then, seeing that you're not moving fast enough, she picks up your hand, moves it into the cereal, picks some up with a little milk, and directs that to your mouth. "Just...spoon, for cereal. Which is not ramen. If you can't handle that it's...uh...cereal ramen, which everyone just calls cereal and never says the word 'ramen' got it?"

You may not have thought it was possible to agitate a Bodhisattva, but then again, that other one did race you, so maybe this is just par for the course.

After a few moments of just letting you eat, correctly (and staring), she relaxes again. "I think you should play the Cheshire cat. Um, Alice in Wonderland is about a normal girl who gets lost in a magical land and there are all sorts of different creatures she meets, like a rabbit who's always late, and some different bugs who talk to her, and the queen of hearts, who gets mad at her for, um, painting her roses wrong or something. Anyway, the Cheshire cat is kind of like her special, mystical guide. He's very mysterious, and kind of appears and disappears with just his grin, but he also kinda guides her and also he's a cat. I thought, well, you're pretty and kind of weird and mysterious so I thought it would be perfect for you!" She blushes, worried that maybe she insulted you.

[Jasper, you and Shokyou are having a shared reaction for this scene. Take 1 XP and a point of Purple (Calling) which gets you up to purple 2. This should give you the nagging feeling that something is off, like you need to do something but you've forgotten what and you want to talk about it with people, though it doesn't have to be immediate.

Also go ahead and take an emotion XP for your very kind offer to help, Shokyou appreciates it. Also, I think you did enough in suggesting that all food is some kind of Ramen to get a Mortal Life XP too.]

No culture on the planet had ever drawn any association between the sun and cats - chariots, sure, boats, absolutely, eagles, makes sense, wolves, could see it, dung beetles, well, still more logical than a cat. These associations held true in this new incarnation of the sun - cats were just like lazy foxes right? And foxes were basically dogs that laughed. And she understood how dogs worked!!*

"Alright!" she said, brilliantly, grinning. "I shall perform the role of cat!"

And as far as she's concerned, that was it. Rehearsals were an alien concept to Jasper Inkra - music and dance came as naturally as conversation. She finished her cereal-ramen and presented Shokyou with a handful of leaves she'd gathered earlier, in replication of the strange exchange Dulcinea had made yesterday. "When shall we begin?"

* Dogs are tiny horses

[Storytime: 3/9
Adventure GET: 5/21
Up to Date: 1/15
Something To Deal With 2]

So, Dulcey! You’re coming down Apricot Lane (which, ridiculously, is lined with peach trees) when you see a girl up in the air, teetering precariously as she reaches up for a fresh, juicy peach juuuuust out of reach. She’s got to be just so tall. Too bad you can’t see her legs behind the hedge, because, wow! Those would be some legs, right? Real stunners!

Then she happens to notice you and she gasps! Like a real gosh-to-goodness gasp! Not like someone caught stealing peaches but like somebody who’s recognized you! “I think I see Dulcinea,” she squeaks, and up from her legs floats your favorite voice in the whole wide world: “See? I told you this was a good idea!”

She careens out around the hedge at high speeds, shrieking and trying not to lose her balance, and it is revealed that, in fact, Sessily is sitting on my shapely shoulders! “Heya, Dulcy! If you climb up onto Sessily, we can get to the really high peaches!”

“Rinley,” Sessily squeaks, “weren’t we going to give her the present?” And I gasp and hit my fist into my palm, even as Sessily sways unsteadily.

“That’s right! Dulci! I’ve got the best present in the whole world for you, the kind of thing that would fit perfectly with what you’re wearing,” I say, willing the words to be true. Maybe a splash of bright glittery pink is exactly what all that black needs. “But! You’ll only get it after you make us a giant snake!”

“Doesn’t that make it a bribe?”

“No, it’s a present! She’ll freely get it after she freely makes us the snake for the performance!” This is sound logic. Probably the most logicful logic that you’ve ever heard in your life!

This is the part where you drop everything and beg for the chance to help us. When you’re ready. Just go ahead.

Dulcinea blinks stupidly. Only, well, that's not true at all, is it? She blinks with genius-level acuity, but by the standards she sets for herself it feels like a pretty stupid response. She has to crane her neck to look up at Rinley from her girl-perch, which also feels pretty stupid to be quite h with you.

She reaches into the pocket of her slacks and pulls out an intensely tiny notebook she immediately starts scribbling equally tiny notes into. She looks up again. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. And she blinks, because actually that's the smartest answer she's got left to her right now.

"A giant... snake?" she slurs.

Her mouth widens into an enormous yawn, which she makes zero effort to cover. She looks up at Rinley one last time before rubbing uselessly at the dark circles under her eyes. She pockets her tiny notebook again.

And then she turns away and resumes her exhausted trudge down the street without bothering (remembering?) to reply.

[Storytime: 3/9
Adventure GET: 5/21
Up to Date: 1/15
Something To Deal With 2]

"After her!" Sessily is hard to steer, and I have to frantically wave my arms to keep my balance as we turn and chase after you, Dulcy! Don't think you're getting away that easily! Especially at the speed you're moving, which is keeping pace with a concussed and very sleepy snail. That snail's careening all over the sidewalk at half a mile an hour, can barely keep its eyes open, and doesn't even really look forward to arriving at its destination, which is the snail doctor's office, because it's getting a salt removal, and that really stings, and it's not looking forward to its snailsthetic which always makes it light-headed after an operation, and the snail's still keeping up with you, so really it's no wonder that we're able to catch up pretty quickly.

"Well, yeah," I say, leaning one elbow precariously on your head in a familiar and friendly manner. "A giant snake! A real one would be inconvenient to get out of the lake at this time of year, and besides, the handling requirements are killer! So we need you to whip up a mechanical one for us so we can win the competition!"