[open dreamdive] no longer human

[thesettingsun]

WHO: You!
WHERE: Shuji's subconscious.
WHEN: August 18.
WHAT: Dreamdiving!
WARNINGS: Depends on how the dive goes, but a likely one is suicide.

[Maybe you weren't even in line of sight of Shuji. Just about everyone has a reason to be out and about on a Saruday afternoon, and nobody wants their day interrupted by the ground falling out from under them. Maybe you don't even instantly recognize that the library entrance you fall into would be part of Shuji's subconscious and not anybody else's.

This is how things ended up for you today, unfortunately. Might as well take a look around and see if you can't spot the man himself.

Locations are in top-levels added as divers enter them.]

Comments

LOUNGE

[thesettingsun]

[The left hallway takes you to what looks like a lounge. It’s dotted with comfortable chairs, coffee tables with vases of flowers, lamps - which are already on? Someone doesn’t care about their dreamscape’s electric bill - a china cabinet, everything you would need for a relaxing time.

A blond-haired young man in overalls is whistling to himself as he carves up a potato.]

[manufactured]

[...That's. Um. Well. It certainly is, he supposes.]

We've met before, haven't we?

[thesettingsun]

[Wesker gets a wave!]

Might've. Can't say for sure. You're talkin' to part of Shuji's heart, not the real guy.

[It's not like Shuji keeps tabs on all his friend's acquaintances.]

[manufactured]

...Of course.

[As one does, he supposes.

He'll take to wandering around the room, making his way toward the china cabinet to look at it while continuing to address Not-John over there.]

Might I ask what you're doing here? Do you know?

[thesettingsun]

[The china doesn't all match, and some of it seems to have been cracked and then awkwardly glued back together at some point.]

Guess I'm somethin' like a guide here. [A shrug.] Have you got a clue what you're supposed to be doin'?

[manufactured]

Not exactly. This isn't precisely something I do often.

[...He's noticed that things have feelings attached to them; he won't try to take any of the pieces of china from the cabinet, but does anything happen if he tries to touch them? Either cracked or whole, he'll try both if he's permitted.]

[vitis]

[ ohhhh my godddd ]

[ what is that? who is that? what is happening? john lingers in the entranceway at seeing himself. for a moment, he thinks he should just.. avoid this. turn around, go back down the hallway. ]

Hi.

[thesettingsun]

Hey.

[The voice is accurate, at least.]

So this is... pretty awkward, huh?

[vitis]

[ yes................ ]

[ he still lingers by the entranceway like a child would, a hand curling about an edge of wall. he thinks he should plant a grape seed into skin. does the other john have a grape seed planted already? he wonders. ]

Well, I'm the real one. [ just. positing that. ] How's there two of us?

[thesettingsun]

'Course you're the real one. [At least there's no argument about that.] I'm just another part of Shuji's heart. ...Guess it makes sense he'd have his 'platonic soulmate' here.

[vitis]

Shuji's heart--?

[ well, he'll give it to other!john, he seems to know his shit. pop quiz!: ]

Why am I here? [ ... ah. it's like a word that's been at the tip of his tongue: ] I gotta find him, right?

[maidofmistakes]

[Watch out, John, because there's a teenage girl flying, literally, down the hall into the room in a panic, and she's not watching where she's going, either.]

[thesettingsun]

Hey, watch where you're-

[It's too late, she's knocked over a lamp, which is now broken. Shuji's voice starts to fill the room:

'I'm worthless, I can't do anything right, I'm a disappointment to my family, I'm a disappointment to everyone...']

[maidofmistakes]

Oh, no! I'm sorry! [In a rush of super speed, she's cleaned up the pieces and looks around for a garbage, ignoring the cuts she's getting.] I really didn't mean to. I do this a lot, it's all my fault.

[It's partly to reassure Shuji's voice around her, but especially after seeing that nervous, lonely version of herself, she really feels it again, too.]

[thesettingsun]

[The pieces of the lamp being cleaned up quiets Shuji's voice down, and there's a convenient garbage next to the china cabinet, but...]

You oughtta be more careful when you're inside somebody's heart.

[maidofmistakes]

Heart? So that's what this place is? How's that work?

[strawberrypunch]

[Well, the rest of the scenery is nice and all, but also whoa.

There's a person here.

(What does it mean when there's multiple people wandering around someone else's soul? Souls are weird, Tatsuma is noticing, perhaps even weirder than his other self ever realized.)]

Hello?

[thesettingsun]

[It's not a seperate soul, for all that's worth.]

Hey. Lookin' for someone?

[strawberrypunch]

[Not that he can tell, there's too much Soul going on in here in general.]

Er... Shuji, probably?

[Just a guess after all those paintings.]

[thesettingsun]

He's around, but he's gonna be a pain in the ass to find. You're gonna need some ink, the book with his name on it, and an alchemist to get him outta the book.

[strawberrypunch]

[That sure is a list. So wait- he's inside one of those books...?]

Where do I find those?

[odasaku]

[ oda walks in calmly, and doesn't even bat an eyelash when he sees john...carving a potato. sure.

he walks up to him ]

Hey John.

[thesettingsun]

Hey!

[There's only so much you can occupy yourself with when you're a heart manifestation who stays in one room, okay.]

How's it goin'?

[odasaku]

Could be better.

[ after all, shuji's trapped in some book and needs saving. oda would much rather prefer for shuji to be safe at home. ]

I'm looking for a book that Shuji might be in. Do you know anything about it?

[thesettingsun]

Not here, definitely not the library. It'll have his name on it, that's how you'll know you've got the right one.

[At least he doesn't have to search the whole library...]

Might wanna look past the dinin' room next?