bakerstreet | △ inceptus nolanus overratus

△ inceptus nolanus overratus

THE DREAMSCAPER MEME

Welcome to the mind - your mind, to be exact. Inside your dreams, anything is possible. You can do whatever you can imagine... and a great deal about someone can be reflected by the world their psyche creates.
Of course, the dreamscape isn't only a place where the normal laws of reality do not apply. It is also home to one's fears, hopes, and memories... now free for you, the visiting dreamscaper, to explore. What will you discover in the maze of a thousand doors leading to each memory? What terrors and aspirations will you uncover? You have until it all fades away, as the dreamer wakes up.
So sweet dreams... and beware of lurking nightmares.

HOW TO PLAY:
△ Post with your character, giving a description of their mindscape! It can be as simple or as detailed as you like, but try not to leave your post blank, so others know what kind of dream world they're going to explore! Example: "Lucy's dream world is a kingdom made entirely of desserts. Her memories are located inside a giant chocolate castle."
△ Choose a scenario from the list, or use RNG if you're feeling indecisive!
△ Tag other characters and explore their dream worlds!

SCENARIOS:
1) EXPLORING THE DREAMSCAPE: The world inside the mind is as vast as you can imagine, and no fantasy is too great to be brought to life. What sort of incredible things are waiting to be found?

2) MEMORY OF A MEMORY: When searching through someone's memories, it's almost like experiencing them yourself as past events unfold before you. Perhaps you stumble upon a happy recollection of childhood, or a horrible, terrible secret locked away...

3) HOPES & DREAMS: We all have our goals, our desires. You can learn a lot about a person from seeing first hand what they want out of life. Are you involved somehow, and is it a surprise?

4) FACING FEARS: Where one holds their fears can be a dangerous place to tread. Do you have the bravery to conquer a phobia? Or maybe, you're just here looking for something to exploit...

5) AND YOU WERE THERE...: You've found yourself in this dream, whether you were meant to be there or not! The dreamer may not even be aware this isn't really happening. What's going on, and is it even something you want to be a part of?

6) IN THE DARK OF THE NIGHTMARE: Seems the pleasant dreams are over and the fears have gotten loose. As darkness takes hold of the dream world and you come face-to-face with a nightmare, it may become difficult to remember none of this is real... none of this is real...

7) BATTLE IN THE MIND: It's a dream fight! Whether it's against a strange dream creature, a horrid nightmare beast or another dreamscaper, you can conjure whatever you can conceive, so just think of cool fighting stuff and it'll happen!

8) YOUR WILDEST DREAMS: Obligatory wildcard or mix-and-match option! It's all up to you!

Inspired by episode 19 of Gravity Falls.
Meme created by

donotsummon. Reposts welcome!

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"There is. There always is." That was something he knew from experience, no matter where he ended up in a dream, there was always something below, just out of sight, waiting for a chance.

He nodded however, "Might as well. Nothing's going to happen if we just stay here." He said, pushing himself up away from the tree trunk, starting back out towards the next branch again, not surprised at the almost perfectly spaced span of branches coiling down the tree trunk itself.

"Of course not." Niko followed amiably, but there was still a distant note in his voice. He was thinking, calculating, and definitely not dissociating. He could tell the difference. He followed along, down and down. The ground seemed no closer, but Niko could see the little splash of sunshine down at the bottom; pale blonde hair spread careless against a dark forest floor.

It seemed very far, of course, right up until they stepped down once more and were at the bottom, in a dizzying shift of perspective. The child's body sprawled on the leaves was intact and unmarked, only the doll-like tilt of the head showing the death. Niko tipped his head, listening for a looming ambush.

The forest floor was thick with moss, the plants here just as outsized as the trees, ferns that towered over their heads, mushrooms big enough to climb up and sit on. The ground cover was lush enough that footprints faded quickly, which made it difficult to gauge just how recently whatever Cal knew was stalking them had passed.

Finally it dawned on him and he cursed softly, shaking his head, "Jurassic park. The Auphe hunting T-Rexes for fun. We're fucked."

"On the upside, I still have some grenades," Niko offered. "On the downside, I'm more worried about the velociraptors than the T-rex. What about you?"

He thrust his hands in his pockets. Yup, grenades. Because going against a dinosaur with a sword? Just didn't seem too bright, though Niko was willing to try killing anything at least once. "By the way, Cal is anxiously waiting for a visit from you. He enjoyed your company a great deal."

He nodded, "Exactly. I mean, T-Rex you can at least get out of the way, those little nasty fuckers will follow you. Then strip you clean like a school of goddamn piranhas."

It was entirely possible that Cal was confusing velociraptors with compsognathus, and considering that most of his dinosaur knowledge came from the Jurassic Park franchise, that wouldn't be a surprise.

"What, no comments on the fact that my little brother wants you to visit? Damn cold, Cal, damn cold of you." Niko smiled, but it wasn't very nice. He shifted his weight, balanced himself on his toes, and pointed off to the left. Something over there, though what, no wasn't sure.

"Still processing that." He replied before falling silent, head cocked, listening more than watching, but still definitely paying attention out of his peripheral vision.

What he wasn't expecting was the sudden swarm of insects, not exactly locusts and not exactly ants, and maybe just a little like cockroaches, though they were all oversized, roughly the size of fieldmice and crawling over each other in the rush, devouring all the plant life in their path and leaving stripped bare dirt behind.

"Fuck," said Niko, succintly.

"Back up the tree or run like hell?" he queried. "I don't suppose you can gate in a dream?"

Well, it was a question worth asking, as the swarm descended. Niko shivered. He hated roaches. Really.

"Can't." He replied, "Not reliably." He wasn't quite frozen on the spot, but the fight or flight was warring against itself and even he wasn't sure what option to take, which was how he ended up just launching himself at Niko, tumbling them both into the outsized undergrowth and out of the path of the beetles.

A few still broke free from the swarm to follow them, probably drawn by the movement, but definitely not the whole wave, and that was something Cal was glad for if nothing else.

Niko's arms closed around Cal and he instinctively took the brunt of the fall, shielding Cal from it. He waited until Cal scrambled off to get to his feet, and said dryly, "You could have just asked, you know." There were several of the large bugs after them, still and Niko experimeted with a pair of daggers. They were fast, but Niko was faster, and lo and behold, they did die: in dying they left large decaying puddles of an oily-looking goop that smelled astonishingly bad.

"Could have." He replied, shrugging one shoulder as he knelt to retrieve his spear from the thick ground cover. It hadn't been there before, but it was now, and that was good enough for him. While he wasn't sure if it was because he'd regained some control of the dream or not, he wasn't going to think about it too hard.

He kicked one of the remaining beetles, sending it smacking into the trunk of the nearest tree where it burst like a rotten egg, which made Cal grimace, shaking his head, "They left us a path, at least." Though he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to backtrack to where those things had come from, it wasn't like he had any better ideas at the moment.

"They did, though there's probably worse where they came from, Niko retorted, and shook his head. "After you, then, little brother."

The use of the moniker was again deliberate, because Niko felt like being difficult. He gestured ahead of them; blood still dripped from his fingers, steadily. It wasn't likely to stop any time soon, but he was used to that, in his dreams.

If Cal had noted the bleeding, and there was a good chance he had, he didn't mention it. Dreams were weird like that, and as far as he was concerned the only real problem with the bleeding was that it made them easier to track.

"Only way we're going to get out is to keep moving on." He replied, "Just how these things work." He knew that much, that no matter how weird or how dangerous the dream got, backtracking got him nowhere.

"I bow to your superior wisdom," Niko drawled, falling into step behind Cal, a flanking position that was definisible. Despite his needling, he was guarding Cal's back, and he moved warily, watchful of any further attacks from bugs or other unseen dangers. Dreams, after all, could double back and bite, like a viper held by the tail.

Cal just snorted at the statement, shifting his weight as he walked, keeping most of it forward, ready to spring or ready to bolt, whichever became necessary. The bare dirt where there had been thick moss was still just as soft, tumbled and uprooted as if they hadn't just stripped the foliage, but had dug down to devour the roots as well.

"You think they'll be coming back? Or was it some kind of bizarre mass exodus?" He was still keeping alert to his surroundings even as he asked the question, not sure if making noise would bring more peril down on their heads or not.

"There is no telling. I do not dream of insects, though I have dreamed of any number of odd and macabre things," Niko answered, calmly, and though of something. He grimaced. "At least you're still dreaming me with my eyeballs. Cal tells me he often has dream where mine have been pulled out. He often has such pleasant nighttime adventures."

Niko's dreams were downright mundane compared to some of the thing Cal dreamed about. Both Cals, it seemed.

He heard the slither and hiss, and reached out to grab Cal's shoulder, drawing his katana even as he dragged the younger man back. The blade glittered through the air and sliced the viper in two as it dropped from the branches above. Niko snorted and wiped his sword down on his jeans. He'd left a bloody handprint on Cal's shoulder.

"Well, that was entertaining."

"There'll be more of them." He grumbled, "Death from above, should have guessed." Considering how often that was Cal's own tactic, he wasn't surprised about his subconscious using it against him.

He studied the path ahead, trying to determine snakes from hanging vines and shadows, not entirely sure that he could until one of them started to move, but he figured that was just the risk they were going to have to take.

"C'mon, knowing me there's some kind of mega-boss ahead and once we kick its ass we can get out of here."

"Mortal combat," Niko said, gravely, in the famous tones of the video game. Resuming his regular voice, he went on. "I wouldn't be surprised. Can you top the squid?"

That would be interesting, certainly, to see what Cal could come up with. Niko wasn't sure if Cal was just mor imaginative or more in tune with the supernatural things of their world; either way it made for exciting adventures.

The smile in reply to that question was far too toothy and almost entirely Auphe, sharp and predatory, "The Kraken was just a warm-up." He replied, "I've had the Kraken dream more times than I can count, it's nothing new."

He made a circular gesture with one hand, indicating their surroundings, "This? Not as familiar. I know I've seen it before, once or twice, but it's not predictable." He caught a movement at the edge of his peripheral vision, pivoting easily and bringing the spear still in his hand around in a sweep, it didn't have the same kind of cutting blade that a sword did, but it still worked to catch the snake trying to sneak up on him under the jaw. He used that catch to yank the snake out of its tree, puncturing its skull and pinning it belly up to the forest floor, just watching it writhe through its death throes.

"Excellent. I do so enjoy being well entertained," Niko commented, watching the snake as well. Snakes took a long time to stop moving, even after they were already dead. Simple nervous systems, complex responses. Vipers would still kill after death. Niko considered the idea, and reached up to briefly brush his fingers through Cal's ponytail. Not the nape of the neck, not, but very close.

"I suppose the giant cat up there isn't exactly friendly, then."

Not with all those teeth. Niko gripped his katana afresh, blood dripping from his knuckles.

He gave Niko a flat look, "Since when are cats unfriendly to me?" He supposed things might be different for his double, but he doubted it. He wasn't sure when he'd first started dreaming of the cat, only that it tended to crop up when he got too deep into a dream, or had been there too long.

"Not going to call it helpful, but it's not our enemy here." He added, starting walking again, flicking the snake's blood off the spear point with a flick of his wrist. Once they'd passed, the cat practically oozed down from the tree to bat at the viper's still-wriggling carcass.

"Since never, but what do I know about your headspace?" Niko returned, following along. "You might have some deep-seated worry about nothing ever liking you - which would be horribly incorrect, almost everyone we meet likes you."

'Like,' in their world, being mostly interchangeable with 'want to taste your liver' it wasn't exactly a lie. Niko glanced at the cat for a moment before using his katana to flick another viper from the branches, slicing the serpent in two as he followed Cal. He didn't so much as miss a step.

"You know enough to be able to find it." He retorted, deciding it was best to just ignore the statement that had followed, because he knew what Niko had actually meant, that, at least, seemed to be something he and his double had in common. Cats liked them and everything else wanted to dismember and eat them.

It was something Cal had realized a long time back, and had finally gotten used to when he'd started traveling like he did. There was another jab-and-yank with the spear, breaking his stride only to pivot, leaving the dying viper behind them instead of beside the path, almost an offering for the cat, but not quite.

"Well, of course," Niko returned, almost dismissively. He could always find Cal. "I always know where my little brother is."

Whichever one he wanted to find. Though he hadn't been looking specifically for this one, but he would in the future. He followed closely, eager to see what next Cal's oddball brain could produce for them. He was enjoying this adventure immensely.

Traveling along the ripped-bare path left by the bugs, the trees around them were gradually growing smaller and further apart, which made it more difficult for the snakes to continue dropping on them, something that Cal was thankful for, because he almost knew what was coming next, but only almost, it was an instinct in his bones, but nothing solid and certain yet.

Though seeing the trees give way to buildings helped to cement things a little. It wasn't New York, not exactly, but the had the same sort of towering steel-and-glass monstrosities, except that it also looked like some kind of bomb had gone off, broken glass littered the streets, pavement was cracked and even the asphalt was blistered where it had been heated and then re-solidified like a lava floe.

"Shit." Was all Cal said, having fallen silent otherwise, moving almost silently, using his spear as a walking staff, aware that the cat was still following even though he couldn't see it even with his peripheral vision.

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