"dreamcatcher" miniplot!

[limitstorm]

Around the July 16th (date subject to change in case of any plots) someone's gonna be taking a trip to the VR room, and while they've done it before, it's not been on this scale before. So, the question becomes: who likes cute animals and sleeping well?



This plot'll enact some bonding time with an adorable loving pet, possible CR, and if your character has nightmares--possible help with banishing those bad dreams away. For a little therapy after the past few months, Riku's decided that giving a little bit of cheer and giving a place to release pent up frustration might help.

The virtual dream world that Riku's going to create will be full of Dream Eaters--these are creatures from his canon, and there are two types.

Spirits: The good ones! Spirits are nice Dream Eaters; they eat bad dreams and leave good dreams behind in their wake. They're usually pastel-colored and adorable. They are complacent to bounce about and if your character should start interacting with one, they'll likely bond with them immediately. Expect lots of sparkling and hearts, notes, etc. If they have bonded with you and you encounter Nightmares, they will fight Nightmares for/with you.

Nightmares: The bad ones. Nightmares eat good dreams and plant good ones; they're available to fight against if that's more your character's thing. They are very aggressive and will immediately start to engage in a fight if your character approaches them, or might just materialize in front of them because they want to be jerks. Nightmares are neon or mostly black colored with a definite mean streak. Note: Nightmares cannot birth new bad dreams in your characters; this VR is based in Riku's mind and Riku himself is a Spirit; even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to birth new nightmares.

Here is a comprehensive guide to both Spirits and Nightmares.

Cute animal therapy will help in relieving some nightmares, as Riku has the power of a Spirit Dream Eater himself. (Which also means if anyone comes in contact with him, he'll probably sparkle and shimmer just like the other Spirits.)

However: if your character has a slew of bad dreams, Riku will likely be able to sense this and will confront your character to ask if he can help get rid of these nightmares. Characters can refuse this extra help, of course, but it will be offered to everyone and anyone who has a lot of nightmares or is constantly plagued by recurring nightmares/trauma/etc. Think of it as personal dream therapy by one Dream Eater.

If your character does agree, Riku will dive into their heart (it won't hurt I promise) to fight off their nightmares outside of the VR. This will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Anyone is welcome to this plot, if it gets off the ground! I'd like to see if anyone is interested in this first before implementing/talking it over with other muns.

Comments

[maddeninghatter]

Xerxes Break is canonically a poor sleeper, who has recurring nightmares based on past misdeeds, and is having even more of them these days, related to current events.

At his canon pull-point, his tendency to not accept help caused a major crisis. His friends staged an intervention of sorts, and he has admitted that he needs to change, and has started to move towards this - with varying degrees of success. So I think it's likely that he would accept help, though with a great deal of ambivalence!

Question: how does leaping into a person's corrupted heart affect Riku?

[limitstorm]

Leaping into a corrupted heart canonly does nothing to him but give him the possibility of being trapped in said corrupted heart forever if he should fail his mission.

You know, just the usual.

In essence: this wouldn't stop Riku, but more than likely, a corrupted heart probably has a big boss battle at the end and would be harder than usual. This would certainly be a cause to talk it out before it happens.

But it's implied that Riku is pretty incorruptible himself at this point in time, so it wouldn't do anything to him except up the stakes. However, if you meant for that to affect him in some way, it could be talked about?

[maddeninghatter]

Break is a mass murderer, and he's repentant about it, but still given to fits of murderous rage. So I imagine Riku might find more than he bargained for if he leapt in, but whether or how that would affect Riku in the long run is of course completely up to you to decide.

So Riku can't get out until he purifies a heart? Ouch, man.

[limitstorm]

... that is definitely more than he bargained for, and very interesting, given Riku's position back home. He was just granted mastership, which in his world is basically "hey go save worlds and people and keep balance" and uh, possible fits of murderous rage is definitely something to... protect people from. How would Break react to Riku wanting to stick by him, as a conscience-friend-type-thing?

By canon (sadly, only one example to go by, but I'm going to assume that this is the case) hearts that are filled with darkness are pretty dangerous to dive into... but the fucks Riku gives are 0 when it comes to people being anything less than okay, especially when it's nightmares. Since he has incredibly horrible ones himself that this can't solve. Break's definitely would be hard, but it would probably pay off quite a bit, if that's the end result you'd like.

[maddeninghatter]

ahahahaha Break would be seriously cheesed off by a plucky kid friend/conscience character fffff. But that could make for an interesting character arc, as Break's sentient weapon is synergistically more effective if he is cooperating with someone rather than always going off and doing his own thing.

OH by the way, as a complicating factor, Break's soul is, uh, "chained" to a gigantic crazy supernatural Hat (this canon!!!). Mad Hatter (the name of the chain) isn't part of his heart, it's a separate entity, but it definitely influences him when it's active (most of the time it isn't) and is slowly killing him from within.

[limitstorm]

pfft well i wouldn't describe riku as plucky, really--

but this complicating factor intrigues me :|a given riku is actually a host to another entity that's locked away in his heart, which isn't the same but has similar... overtones, from what i gather (but i could be completely wrong)