Beast Boy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thebeastwithout) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
recolle2018-08-18 08:14 pm
thebeastwithout) wrote in recolle2018-08-18 08:14 pm
Entry tags:
[open] 006: The Human Zoo
WHO: Beast Boy and You
WHERE: Dreamdive
WHEN: August 20th
WHAT: You know what
WARNINGS: Some mild body horror, violence, can definitely opt out of anything that you'd rather not see.
[He hasn't wanted to make a fuss over it. The timer on his hand... The timer that everyone else had... Of course it didn't feel quite right. It would probably end with the detonation of a bomb that leveled Recolle or something horrible like that. So he ignores the pulsating feeling... ignores the increasing tension and pressure...
Until it is too much to bear.
He collapses in the middle of a street and the world around him vanishes.]
[I: Admission]
[You are in a zoo.
A dark, dilapidated place, falling to pieces. The sky above you is blanketed with billowing, purplish-black clouds. The cages are rusting and all of the animals inside are restless, uneasy. There is not enough space to maintain these exhibits. There is no bedding, no food, no habitat. Just... an empty steel cage.
The animals are commonplace, at first. Raccoons and squirrels and chipmunks and finches. One animal to a cage, every one of them staring out warily at those who pass by. But as you progress, the animals become... more exotic. Cassowaries. Leopards. Caimans. And then... and then you turn a corner and you are face to face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, barely constrained within a cage in which it can barely move, its razor sharp teeth mere inches from your own.
But it does not attack. It simply glowers... And you are free to move on. ...There is much to see here, if you care to linger. Every animal you could possibly imagine. Maybe some you can't.
...Is that a unicorn?]
[II: Feeding Time]
[The path through the zoo is circular. A wide subtle loop, so that it might not be obvious that you are going around in circles. But as you clear the outermost loop and you progress further into the heart of the zoo, the exhibits change.
Monkeys become apes. Apes become unidentifiable simians. And then...
Humans. Humans in masks. Masks and costumes, each of them standing stock still as if they are made out of wax. There is a boy in a domino mask wearing red and green with a cape billowing out behind him. A tall man, perhaps still a teenager, half his body made of mechanical parts. There are more like this, people who look... exactly like one would imagine superheroes to look. Superheroes... and supervillains. You can take a closer look if you'd like.
At the end of this path, one of the exhibits glances up as you approach. And without any provocation whatsoever...
The figure draws two swords, casually slices through the bars of his cage like butter, and begins to walk straight towards you.]
[III: Special Exhibit]
[You've escaped Slade. Or perhaps you managed to miss his exhibit altogether. You're through the second loop and you're closer to the heart.
And now, the cages become few and far between, but as you approach the first one, you can see that trapped inside... is Gar.]
H... Hello?
Hey... Who is that?
[But if you begin to speak with him, you might find that it's not quite the same Gar you know. For each person who comes by, they'll find someone a little different in each cage...]
[IV: The End]
[You've satisfied the various manifestations of Gar's anxieties and hidden desires and needs and longings. Perhaps they were a little too needy, but... they've let you on towards the end. And it really is the end, at last.
At the very center of the zoo, sitting cross-legged on the ground, Gar is contemplating a thick, tangled knot.]
...Hey, dude.
It's me.
Like... really me. [...] You can tell 'cause I said 'dude'.
WHERE: Dreamdive
WHEN: August 20th
WHAT: You know what
WARNINGS: Some mild body horror, violence, can definitely opt out of anything that you'd rather not see.
[He hasn't wanted to make a fuss over it. The timer on his hand... The timer that everyone else had... Of course it didn't feel quite right. It would probably end with the detonation of a bomb that leveled Recolle or something horrible like that. So he ignores the pulsating feeling... ignores the increasing tension and pressure...
Until it is too much to bear.
He collapses in the middle of a street and the world around him vanishes.]
[I: Admission]
[You are in a zoo.
A dark, dilapidated place, falling to pieces. The sky above you is blanketed with billowing, purplish-black clouds. The cages are rusting and all of the animals inside are restless, uneasy. There is not enough space to maintain these exhibits. There is no bedding, no food, no habitat. Just... an empty steel cage.
The animals are commonplace, at first. Raccoons and squirrels and chipmunks and finches. One animal to a cage, every one of them staring out warily at those who pass by. But as you progress, the animals become... more exotic. Cassowaries. Leopards. Caimans. And then... and then you turn a corner and you are face to face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, barely constrained within a cage in which it can barely move, its razor sharp teeth mere inches from your own.
But it does not attack. It simply glowers... And you are free to move on. ...There is much to see here, if you care to linger. Every animal you could possibly imagine. Maybe some you can't.
...Is that a unicorn?]
[II: Feeding Time]
[The path through the zoo is circular. A wide subtle loop, so that it might not be obvious that you are going around in circles. But as you clear the outermost loop and you progress further into the heart of the zoo, the exhibits change.
Monkeys become apes. Apes become unidentifiable simians. And then...
Humans. Humans in masks. Masks and costumes, each of them standing stock still as if they are made out of wax. There is a boy in a domino mask wearing red and green with a cape billowing out behind him. A tall man, perhaps still a teenager, half his body made of mechanical parts. There are more like this, people who look... exactly like one would imagine superheroes to look. Superheroes... and supervillains. You can take a closer look if you'd like.
At the end of this path, one of the exhibits glances up as you approach. And without any provocation whatsoever...
The figure draws two swords, casually slices through the bars of his cage like butter, and begins to walk straight towards you.]
[III: Special Exhibit]
[You've escaped Slade. Or perhaps you managed to miss his exhibit altogether. You're through the second loop and you're closer to the heart.
And now, the cages become few and far between, but as you approach the first one, you can see that trapped inside... is Gar.]
H... Hello?
Hey... Who is that?
[But if you begin to speak with him, you might find that it's not quite the same Gar you know. For each person who comes by, they'll find someone a little different in each cage...]
[IV: The End]
[You've satisfied the various manifestations of Gar's anxieties and hidden desires and needs and longings. Perhaps they were a little too needy, but... they've let you on towards the end. And it really is the end, at last.
At the very center of the zoo, sitting cross-legged on the ground, Gar is contemplating a thick, tangled knot.]
...Hey, dude.
It's me.
Like... really me. [...] You can tell 'cause I said 'dude'.
no subject
[She steps back and thinks. Wait. It's a dream, like Mr. Tsushima's. Why would the actual Gar be inside when everyone in the last one was just the person's impressions? So this is...]
Gar, hold on. Come on, it's okay. You're still my friend, all right? It's okay... Oh, this is so not gonna work.
no subject
just a manifestation of Gar's mind... Certainly, nothing good. Perhaps, one of his fears or the demons that haunt him.
The creature growls, its eyes maddened, before it lunges forward towards Kara, seemingly deaf to her pleas.]
no subject
[She runs to the side and stands between him and the wrecked cage.]
Hey, wake up already!
no subject
The monster lunges again, snapping forward with vicious teeth.]
no subject
Look, I don't want to hurt you, but if I gotta do it to save you...
no subject
The monster is shrieking and growling beneath her hands... its form, too, doesn't seem entirely stable. It's just... mutating.]
no subject
[Uh, okay, just gonna let go and leap back, flying up into the air.]
Look, this isn't you, and I know you know that! Even if you...
["And then Earth would be safe."]
...don't wanna be a superhero.
[Now, she thinks she can guess why.]
no subject
...I don't know what I want.
[There is a voice, now. It is not coming from the monster - or from anywhere at all. It seems to be speaking straight to Kara's mind.]
I just know I'm a monster.
...Look at that thing.
no subject
Look, I... I get it. Being scared because people are already gonna pick on you, and on top of that, you suddenly have these weird powers and it's tough to control them. But you're already learning how to manage, even if it's tough without anyone to teach you. You're gonna do fine. Trust me.
no subject
You can't say that.
That's what people just say... because that's what they need to believe. But no one knows.
It's not going to be fine. It's already... not fine.
[The monster shrieks hideously.]
...Destroy it.
You have to destroy it.
no subject
[In a panic, she meets the monster's lunge with a powerful punch.]
Gar, listen, I know it feels like no one knows how you feel. And sure, I'm not a bunch of animals, and I'm sorry! But my sister and I are aliens, and that's terrifying. I have to barely touch anything, from my perspective, or else I break it. It's like if the entire world were made of paper mache. I do know!
no subject
There's now an obvious crack running down its body.
As if it were made of... glass or something.
Up in the sky above Kara/Lina, there is a sudden flash and a very similar crack runs through the ominous purple-black clouds. She might not have the time to look through, but... If she does, she'll see something that perhaps she won't find familiar.
It is a moving image - like a video - ...there is a red-headed boy and Lina herself, and it is displaying a memory of winter time. One of the first days together - that day when they had stuck to one another.
It had never happened here - this world's Gar never would have been bold enough to invite Kara to his house.]
You don't know! That's what I'm saying. None of us know if any of this is ever going to be OK! It doesn't matter how many times you say it...
I'm scared of what's happening, and I don't know how to not be.
I'm not brave. I never have been.
[The cracked monster comes back. Its head is now that of an alligators and its jaw cracks open wide as it snarls.]
no subject
Is that...
[That other her, from Mr. Tsushima's mind. The one who was always afraid, who didn't have a family and didn't know if she could form attachments.
She's barely shocked out of staring in time to dodge the chimera and then tackle it towards the ground.]
Maybe that's right. Maybe we don't know if things are going to keep going wrong, or what we'll end up as, or what'll happen to this world if everything we know really is just an illusion! I'm scared too. But you're not a monster. You're just a guy who can help other people. Someone people care about. Brave or not, you're my friend!
no subject
Supergirl is far too strong. And perhaps she can actually use her powers here without fear of breaking anything.
In the sky, the clouds break apart at the same time. More cracks - more memories. Gar is chasing her with a giant rubber hammer. Gar and Kara are atop parade floats, cheering for themselves. Gar is moaning to her about homework. These memories... of a confident, cocksure boy and a shy, timid girl alone with no connections...]
...OK.
[The voice is quieter.]
...OK. I just want to hear... someone else say it, too. I can't keep smiling and pretending and... hoping.
I just want it to be... OK. For it to not be OK.
no subject
"Believe in your super self." Something like that.
[And with one more breath, she punches the creature in front of her without fear.]
I'm scared too. I'm gonna try and make it better with everyone else. But I'm scared too.
no subject
With one last howl, the creature explodes into a thousand shards that fly apart... but hang... for a little bit, in the air. Above them, the clouds have parted and the memories on display...
They, too, fracture, becoming motes of light.
Everything is still for a few moments... before the shards from the broken creature float upwards to meet the shards of the memories and they mingle and swirl and spiral around each other and as they meet... they begin to coalesce and take shape...]
...I've always been so scared. I... don't hide it very well. What I'm scared of most... I'm scared of who I am. Who I... should be or want to be or need to be. Even... before all of this happened.
[It is, perhaps not surprisingly... Gar's shape. His body hangs in the air for a moment or two before he rapidly falls from the sky.]
...He's scared, too.
He won't ever say it, but. ...That's a part of him. I'm a part of him.
...You're still going to be here, right? Me and him and you -- We can be scared... together. And I hope that's... OK. And if you're OK with who he is, then maybe he can be... a little less scared.
no subject
[She floats up and holds her arms out to catch him.]
Okay?
no subject
...Bye, Lina.
[And in her arms, Gar's eyes open.]
................Uh.
[...Immediate observation: Kara is holding him.
Before she can even blink, he's scrambled out of her arms and onto his feet, his cheeks glowing bright red.]
Uhhhh, yikes.
That was... totally super embarrassing and I'm not entirely sure what just happened but maybe we can like, pretend nothing did.
Are you... OK?
[He's pretty sure she had been attacked. He had attacked her? Something?]
no subject
[She flails her arms a little and steps back for good measure.]
Okay, just to be clear, you fell out of the sky, nobody did anything weird. At least not uncomfortable weird. Still. Uh. Sorry. ...I'm fine.
no subject
[...It's odd. He kind of understand what just happened, but the specific memories are... vague and indistinct. He feels... as if a fog has been lifted, though. For the first time in a long while, he feels... like himself.]
Hey.
We still gotta get outta this mess, right? C'mon, we're almost at the end.
no subject
no subject
[He gives a nod.]
There.
[And he points down the path, away from the cages, away from the animals, away from his fears. At the end... is a small circular space, in the center of which sits a strange object.
It looks like a mass of frayed knots...]
no subject
Okay, so if this is like the other places, it's some kinda puzzle the people who come in here have to solve. It represents something. Probably, I mean.
no subject
[He gives a great shrug.]
But it kind of looks like... it's already coming apart.
[Without any hesitation, he reaches down and gives it a good yank.]
no subject
[She starts pulling at a loose piece.]
(no subject)