Summary (Dream) Marlene Collins 2024/03/18(Mon)14:37 No. 1086690 ID: 2eb1da
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Marlene has returned to the dreamworld each night since the first experience. There is another who accompanies her: a boy her age named Carter. He, too, doesn’t understand what’s happening--and claims to be from Norris Creek, a town far far away from Springford where Marlene lives. Marlene is braver than Carter to seek answers; despite his anxious protests she opens her eyes to look around and sees Carter as a frightening figure.

She instantly wakes up in the real world (as far as anyone would presume) with her heart racing. The next night, they both return to the same dreamscape.

Together they discuss whether any of this is real at all or a fabrication--as well as discover the ‘rules’ of this dreamscape.

• Positive emotions are amplified, and negative thoughts are suppressed or otherwise exhausting to think about. The desire to open one’s eyes is absent and even frightening to commit.
• Despite closed eyes, their senses amplify to ‘see’ or otherwise sense their surroundings clearly, floating in a sunlit void.
• Opening one’s eyes sees a different world: a terrifying flash of despair and fear. One can describe their bodies as biomechanical or cyborg-like contraptions. A glimpse is enough to shock Marlene awake and instantly end the dream.
• The ghostly tethers protruding from the back of their heads stretches out for miles with no end. They don’t appear to show any signs of purpose.
• Both Carter and Marlene are somewhat omnipresent. They can be miles apart yet a whisper can be shared. To merely wish to be close or far is granted in a thought. Movement is difficult to decipher whether they drift or the world moves for them. A heightened sense of proprioception keeps both of them aware of their placement in the dream.
• When either subject wakes up, the other is kicked from the dream. The dream invites them back in as long as they’re both asleep.
• The effects of the dream may linger in the ‘Mundane World’ (real world). Outbursts of emotions have occurred. Marlene has sleepwalked before in high school, but the dream seems to trigger it again.

Marlene Collins 2024/03/18(Mon)14:38 No. 1086691 ID: 2eb1da
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Am I imagining it?

I can feel... grass.

Grass between my toes. Warm grass.

A whisper.

Carter: You feel it too?

Marlene: Huh?

Carter: It’s... familiar.

Marlene: Yeah. It kind of is.

He places a warm palm to my back. It’s like the sun raining down on my skin.

Carter: It’s nice.

Marlene: I wonder why it’s all here now. Is this really grass or are we imagining this?

Carter: If I had the answers, I would tell you~

I feel a breeze coursing past my twitching ears.

Carter: I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again.

Carter: I guess I’m always anxious to know if each dream we’re in together would be the last.

Carter: I hope that doesn’t sound strange. Maybe you've felt the same.

>>1086691
Hmm, not exactly. At this point you expect it to happen every night. Something this significant won't just end arbitrarily.
Ask him why he hasn't called you. Ask for his number instead, some way for you to contact him rather than him contacting you.

>>1086691

Oh, weird. His horns look like they're broken.

>>1086705

We already discussed this, they're there but don't look normal in this place

Its not strange, dreams are unpredictable, although this seems more than just a dream.
Pick somewhere to meet up irl if the dreams stop.

It's probably evil robot cilia but really, does it matter? You're where you need to be, and nothing is wrong. Why do you keep coming here though? That's what you're wondering is why this dream you're in together isn't the last. There's something bringing you two here. Something you need to do... something important.

Haven't worried about it being the last time, not yet anyway. Still feels like there's a mystery to solve in this place. We keep coming back to this place every night for some reason or another after all.

Share the news about your new job and how hard you partied it up with Maebe.

Marlene Collins 2024/04/02(Tue)14:19 No. 1087812 ID: 2eb1da
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>There’s something bringing you two here [...] something important.
>Still feels like there’s a mystery to solve in this place.
Marlene: Well, I hope it doesn’t upset you to say I wasn’t worried. This seems to be a common thing now. But it doesn’t sound strange at all--aside from all this happening in the first place.

Marlene: I have been looking forward to every night, though.

Marlene: This dream we’re in will probably not be the last; something brings us both here. Something important, even. We must figure out what.

>Ask him why he hasn’t called you
>Pick somewhere to meet up irl if the dreams stop
Marlene: But it can’t be solved here, alone. We should discuss more about it outside the dream. Why haven’t you called me?

Carter: You never gave me your number.

Marlene: I-- Wait. Didn’t I? Come on! Seriously?

Carter: Nope~

Marlene: Alright, heh. Enough of this.

I get up; walk a short distance to think. I’m starting to become irked of this... avoidance? Is whatever may be controlling this place trying to keep us separated?

Marlene: I want to meet you, Carter.

Carter: You are!

Marlene: In person. Not this. This doesn’t count!

Carter: Of course it does. Why wouldn’t it? What constitutes a meeting of two souls? Only by the vessels they pilot?

I groan and exhale a heavy huff.

Marlene: It’s not the same and you know it’s not the same.

Marlene Collins 2024/04/02(Tue)14:20 No. 1087814 ID: 2eb1da
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I get chills every now and then. It really feels like I’m naked in the middle of a field on a sunny day; it feels like someone will see me. While it may be humiliating to be discovered, there’s a ticklish response within me. A risk of being found.

I’m relaxed again.

...

No! I can’t let that go just yet. I keep my tone light because it’s important to me--I wouldn’t want to put the pressure on him.

Marlene: Carter. I want to share a coffee with you. Meet your friends. Meet my friends. My band, even! Fuck it, share memes on our phones for all I care.

Marlene: I just want closure that you’re real and not some figment. You’re just a guy in Norris Creek and it’s all I have a lead on.

Marlene: Seems like every time I bring up a way to reach you we either trail off and forget about it or--

Marlene: --maybe you’re actively avoiding me.

Marlene: You can trust me, Carter. Is there something you’re not telling me? Or afraid of? I know this place gives us conflicting emotions--but if you can focus just for a short moment, I want to know the truth.

He sighs and looks out into the distance.

Carter: Marlene...

Carter: I... can’t meet you. Not yet. It’s not a good time. Can we just idle for a bit and enjoy what we have?

We already have. Give me a concrete reason to wait. What are you afraid of?

Tell him you are alright with that, but you want to know why considering he was worried about not seeing us again. Is everything alright? Hes not in a coma or hospitalized, is he?

I guess he wasn't real after all. Oh well. It's still a pleasant dream.

>not yet
You don't need to rush him, but a contingency plan would be good. Something for if the dreams do end.
He doesn't even need to give a phone number or address. Just a landmark, somewhere you could leave a message if needed.

>>1087814
Okay, just give him your phone number then. Properly. Make sure he remembers it.

>>1087814

Wait, what? Not a good time?

Why? It's been days of this.

Should we go where he is? Would that work better? Fuck, we got paid, so we've got the cash to get a few bus tickets if need be.

"No excuses, Carter. I found something, in the physical world. Something powerful. If a mix it with this world... everything will fall into place. But I can't do it alone. You're the only other person who truly knows this experience - I need you.

Whatever is wrong, whatever you've lost, I'll do my best to bring it back. With this place and my project, I can."

Well not much you can do about that, can you? If he's going through something, you can't really force a meeting. Besides, would you want the first time you meet to be under bad circumstances? You're about to go into your new job, is it the best time for you?

>>1087853
He's probably got something going on in his personal life. Hell, maybe he's in the hospital at the moment.

There's probably something personal, maybe meeting is bad, but we can at least talk and text or something! I need more to go off than this avoidance! Why don't we swap phone numbers and emails at the very least??

Give him your phone number and maybe he can text you just once. You don't have to talk in the waking realm any more than that until he's ready to. Should be a reasonable compromise, right?

Tell him altight, but if he turns out to be the spooky metal man that shows up when you open your eyes disguising as cute little goatboy cuz he's lonely you'll be very upset he didn't explain earlier.

That being said, let's frolick through the dreamscape and will a lovely lake with our imagination!

Marlene Collins 2024/04/10(Wed)11:25 No. 1088445 ID: 2eb1da
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Marlene: Not a good time? Look. You can’t drop it like that. This is day four for chrissakes! Give me a concrete reason to wait.

Marlene: I can buy a bus ticket and be right at your doorstep. I mean, I can’t do that immediately since I recently got my job back. But I have the means to!

Marlene: Otherwise I suppose you’re not real after all. Or a ghost.

Carter: I may as well be.

...

Marlene: I’m sorry--

Carter: No, I shouldn’t have said that. You’re right. I guess it’s a mix of things. There is no absolute answer to why I’m... avoiding you. But it is my fault.

Carter: I’ve been alone my entire life; I’m somewhat of a shut-in. But everything is so easy here--the confidence comes naturally now. The intimacy of two close bodies. The desire to feel you--someone--in my arms.

Carter: Yet when I awake in the real world, I just find the thought so ridiculous to commit. I’m only kidding myself; we’re not two high school internet lovers. You have a boyfriend and ambitions, and I probably won’t fit anywhere in your life. Even as a friend in the real world.

Marlene: Is it agoraphobia?

Carter: tch--fuck if I know. I just don’t have a place ‘out there’.

Carter: Sometimes I believe I’ve imagined this place growing up. Maybe it’s a wish come true. I finally get my deserved reward after bearing all the loneliness and pain.

Carter: I wish I could stay here even when you’re gone.

Marlene Collins 2024/04/10(Wed)11:25 No. 1088446 ID: 2eb1da
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>A contingency plan would be good.
>Why don’t we swap phone numbers and emails at the very least?
I calm down a bit. I believe I understand what he’s going through. I can’t really force a meeting if he’s falling on difficult times. But I know with enough patience we will one day meet face-to-face.

I kneel down to him.

Marlene: Hey. I get it. I really do. I’ll try to back off a bit.

Marlene: We won’t know for sure if this may even be our last dream together. But if you can’t share an address or a number--why not a landmark in case we split?

Marlene: Or while I’m at it, I’m giving you my phone number now.

Marlene: And you better remember it. I’ll be quizzing you.

Carter: Alright. I’ll try.

The area code isn’t too important; if forgotten he can just look it up online. With the remaining 7 digits I try a mnemonic as best I can.

Marlene: And if you muster up the courage to leave home--you ought to stop by Brook’s Clove: just ask for someone named Emmylou, she’s my best friend. She’ll get in touch with me one way or another.

Marlene: If... for some reason we lose our phones, I guess.

Carter: Okay. Thank you. I’ll do my best.

Marlene: Come on, let’s walk a bit; this is a nice place. Maybe there’ll be a lake or something. Who knows?

Marlene Collins 2024/04/10(Wed)11:26 No. 1088447 ID: 2eb1da
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We travel; it’s hard to tell if it’s been days or minutes. But it’s pleasant. Our closeness makes it feel like I’m on a first date. I feel both the autumn breeze and summer sun. It’s an evening with a never-ending sunset with Carter by my side.

Marlene: All this wasn’t here before. I wonder why.

Carter: No animals. No insects. Yet I can hear or strangely feel distant cicadas. Or ambience of a faraway highway.

Carter: Do you know where you’re going?

Marlene: I don’t know. Yet--I feel like I’ve been here before. I can’t describe it.

Our walk continues for miles every step. Carter gently nudges my shoulder and stops walking.

Carter: Marlene, do you see what I see? Over there. There’s a building.

Marlene: For real? No way.

Indeed I see a house.

Carter: Do you think someone’s there?

Marlene: I see no tether busting through the roof. Besides. I know who lives there.

Carter: What?

Marlene: I think I figured out where we are.

Marlene: That’s the house I grew up in.

well, what are you waiting for? Go on in!

Hopefully this pleasant place wouldn't throw something sad at you. Check it out

You can “see” it with your eyes closed? I wonder what it’ll look like if you opened your eyes inside it.

Something evil probably. You don't need to open your eyes though. Just get a feel for the building and what might be there to find.

Go inside and get lost in the warm nostalgic smell of your mom's home made sweets.

Approach with enthusiastic caution

Marlene Collins 2024/04/29(Mon)11:39 No. 1090010 ID: 2eb1da
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>You can ‘see’ it with your eyes closed?
Marlene: This brings up more questions. I’ve always thought I could indirectly see you because I sense your presence--even going as far as to say you’re a part of me, like another limb.

Marlene: But my house... it’s not alive. It’s not a part of me at all and I didn’t notice it at first. How does an object end up here?

Carter: It’s only a different part of you.

Marlene: That makes no sense.

Carter: I mean--uhm, not by feel, right?

Carter: --but by memory.

Marlene: Well I’m obviously going towards it.

Nearing it, the building is somewhat incomplete; it’s not quite held together correctly. But it’s definitely my house. I suppose my fondest memories would be my childhood--so yeah. Despite its unfinished state in the dream, I still feel ‘at home’.

Carter: Marlene?

Marlene: Yeah?

Carter: Are you going to be okay?

Marlene: I think so. Come on, let’s go inside and see what the hell this is all about.

Marlene Collins 2024/04/29(Mon)11:51 No. 1090011 ID: 2eb1da
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Marlene: Helloo? Anybody home?

Marlene: Mooom? Mads?

Marlene: Eleanor?

No response. I didn’t know what I expected. Such as the outside, the interior has its basic shapes down to recall each room--again some patches look unfinished.

It’s been too long since I’ve revisited home and I’m realizing that I’m forgetting some details. Minor things like the exact length of the hallways as if I was still seven. Or what was in the closets and pantries. Or all the hiding spots I've made with my siblings.

Marlene: Home sweet home, I guess. Feels like I have so much to catch up on.

Carter: It's a nice place. It isn't often that I’m invited to a friend’s house.

Marlene: Heh.

Well it’s a trip down memory lane. What sort of things should I reminisce about?
>my neighbors
>my bedroom
>the kitchen
>basement
>the town
>my family
>___

Remember the most traumatic repressed memory in your life. This is the safest place to unleash it.

Remember everything here is a metaphor. Whatever is here is a metaphor for your house, but not your house. More worryingly, what this place is might be broken, or damaged. Check your bedroom first. It might be some sort of... interface with your sleeping self. Reminiscing on family to check your old hiding spots might also be helpful to understand what's going on.

Why is it your old house, not Carter's?

Check bedroom.

Also, briefly talk to carter about the story youve been reading about on your way

>>1090011

Bedroom, probably, since it's likely to be the most concrete place. That or the kitchen.

Unless it was a hangout spot, I suspect the basement will have some bad vibes.

the bedroom, the most familiar to you, should be the most complete in this memory construct. See if anything stands out, something connected to an important or, perhaps, repressed memory.

>>1090011
The kitchen! Let's see if you can eat in here.

>>1090011
bedroom, maybe check for some old notebooks filled with poems or stories you've written growing up.

The basement!

Marlene Collins 2024/05/16(Thu)13:51 No. 1091062 ID: 2eb1da
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>Why is it your old house, not Carter’s?
>Remember [...] Whatever is here is a metaphor for your house, but not your house [...] What this place is might be broken, or damaged.
Riiight. Nothing is as it seems here. Maybe it’s more than a memory of simpler times. There’s a reason why it was plucked from my mind and showcased. As I ponder my way up the stairs, I give Carter a quizzical look.

Marlene: So, tell me. How come the dream is centered on me? Where’s your house? Where’s your cryptic metaphor?

Carter: If I knew, I’d answer ya.

Marlene: Thought as much...

Carter: Well--it could pop up. It could manifest as... an adult section at a blockbuster or a McDonalds ball pit.

Marlene: I suppose I’ve had my fair share of traumatic moments in a ballpit.

>Bedroom, probably, since it's likely to be the most concrete place.
>Check bedroom [...] briefly talk to Carter about the story you’ve been reading on your way.
The stairs spiral up. I’m doing my best to remember anything shocking in my life. My household was as pleasant as any can be--so no traumatic spankings or belts. I keep the conversation going.

Marlene: I’ve been reading a story lately.

Marlene: It’s about a boy who experiences many parallels of his life. The things he could’ve accomplished and the lives he ruined for himself.

Marlene: And he’s sometimes in the middle with nothing ever happening in his mundane life. Like a limbo. And everyone moves on without him.

Marlene: He tries to deal with it; knowledge from one life can help another life.

Marlene: But sometimes he feels hopeless with too much on his mind.

Carter: Sounds daunting. What do you think of it? Any good?

Marlene: It’s good. There’s something about the main character I can relate to--somehow. Maybe I’ve thought about the choices I’ve made and whether there’s a Marlene better or worse off.

Marlene: Little bits of stuff like that. Perhaps you’ve thought of a better path--and the possible chance that it could be real, all happening simultaneously.

Food for thought.

Marlene Collins 2024/05/16(Thu)13:52 No. 1091063 ID: 2eb1da
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We reach my bedroom--it looks just as it was over a decade ago. We must be in a memory before high school; mom had rearranged it by the time I entered 9th grade.

Marlene: And here it is. My own corner of the house. It feels a lot smaller than I remember.

>Check for some old notebooks filled with poems or stories.
Hey, yeah! There should be some journals I’ve hidden from mom. It’s the first thing I check for.

Marlene Collins 2024/05/16(Thu)13:52 No. 1091064 ID: 2eb1da
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Ah dammit; as if I could really remember every single word I’ve written. I was excited for a moment there. Some details in my bedroom are crystal clear in my mind--like the posters and polaroids on the wall, and other details are blurred or incomprehensible: such things I overlooked.

As for my journal, I do remember some lines that stuck with me to adulthood. Then there are memoirs of embarrassing moments. There are even doodles, particularly of a local monster myth in the woods--aptly named the Hartwoods Monster. And then the middle school crushes.
There are cringy teen stories; one set around medieval fantasy lovers Tryce and Lye as they----actually I forget what their story was all about. That part is blank and muddled for it’s been an abandoned story long, long ago. All that remains are the faces of those characters.

Carter: Read some to me! I never kept a diary in case there was any chance my parents would find it.

Marlene: Alright, I’ll try. But you’re gonna regret it.

“Cindy says I make two faces a year. I told her out of all the faces she could make; it had to be ‘bitch’.”

Carter: Hahaa. Gottem.

Marlene: I never cared about her--but nowadays I wonder where everyone’s gone in their adult lives.

I rummage past some pages.

‘When I fall | When I go down deep | Wanting you here with me | My sweet waterfall.’

Lyrics of made-up songs. Yet they still pop in my head now and then. I flip ahead a few more pages.

‘The mouth is a powerful ingress.’

Marlene: That sounds very wrong in hindsight. I don’t remember the context behind that one.

Carter: Lol.

‘I gave Liam a note during class but he passed it on to Ashton ahead of him. It was meant for Liam, that stupid idiot. I’ll wonder if I should ask him to the Spring dance.’

Carter: Did you ask him out?

Marlene: I never got around to it. I wimped out. But that’s all in the past now.

Marlene Collins 2024/05/16(Thu)13:53 No. 1091065 ID: 2eb1da
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Carter leans on the edge of the bed, scanning the room in its orange glory. The house holds together despite its unfinished patches seeping through the walls.

Carter: So. Have you accepted your traumatic past and moved on yet?

Marlene: Tch, not yet. But do you hear that?

Carter: Hear what, exactly?

Marlene: I think it’s coming from outside.

There’s a ringing of chimes. Distant laughter of children. Spokes and chains. I look out. I can’t quite make the details, but something is out on the street. I peek my head out.

Marlene: Hey! Hey who’s out there?!

The figures don’t respond but talk to each other; I can’t make out their words.

Carter: What’s going on?

Marlene: We need to get back outside, quick!

Marlene Collins 2024/05/16(Thu)14:02 No. 1091066 ID: 2eb1da
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Carter: Wait, Marlene! What did you see? Who were you yelling at?

Marlene: That’s what I aim to find out. We can cut through the living room. Come on!

I usher Carter along with a tug of his wrist. Running around the house gives a vibe of muscle-memory as I imagine myself as a little girl. Even rushing down the stairs with my heels thumping against the creaky wood.

It was then we move upon an unexpected sight: A row of bunk beds stretch down the room. Now I definitely know that wasn’t here before. Everything looks old and dusty. I hear footsteps down the aisle--a combination of small and large hoofs.

But as the house constantly shifts and churns--I don’t know how long these blips will remain here.

>go outside to see the figures on the driveway
>explore further into the hall of bunk beds

The figures may already be gone - out of sight means out of mind in dreams. Explore this bunk bed broadway.

probably not a good time to think about it, but those lyrics you wrote could actually be used in the song you're making with the band somewhere.

If someone else is out there, they could be important. Go out to see what they're on about

>>1091066

Check the figures. Something about them was enough to grab you; that's more important than funky dream-logic.

Also do you remember this room of bunk beds? If not, ask mister Carter cause it might be his memory now.

But yeah, examine the bunk bed room. I think the people and driveway is no longer out there if this isnt your living room anymore.

>>1091066
check the figures, ignore the weirdness of the backrooms and head outside, odds are it could be either a memory from you or Carter's

Those figures weren't memories. They could be people, or some sort of mechanical process activating. Approach with caution. Their eyes may be open.

Maybe the house is starting to shift into Carter's past and memories now?

Check out those mysterious figures!

>>1091066

I think we found Carter's cryptic metaphor.

Marlene Collins 2024/05/30(Thu)17:37 No. 1092144 ID: 2eb1da
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>Do you remember this room of bunk beds?
>[Is] the house starting to shift into Carter’s past and memories now?
I pause for the briefest moment to see if I can recollect anything instant on the mind. It could be Carter’s own memories, but I don’t think I’ll pursue this path anyway. I won't press it yet.

I’ve been in summer camp and a week-long school trip in the Appalachia--

>Check the figures, ignore the weirdness of the backrooms
>If someone else is out there, they could be important.
>They could be people, or some sort of mechanical process activating.
I tug Carter’s wrist to get moving.

Marlene: Come on! There could be people outside! Actual people!

Carter: B-But I don’t...

Carter: ...I can’t sense anyone like I sense you.

Whatever inner feeling I have about the outside, I hold my attention towards it--I don’t want to lose it.

Marlene Collins 2024/05/30(Thu)17:48 No. 1092145 ID: 2eb1da
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We step outside onto the front steps; I can still see the figures huddled up, and running across the sidewalk. In fact, I can hear them more coherently. The sound of three girls push a bike.

???: Come on! You have to push your feet down! Push it down!

???: I am! I am! It’s not working!

???: You have to lift it up too!

???: And faster!

???: I’m gonna fall! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stoooop!

The one riding the bike wobbles and tumbles over. There's a yelp and the other girls catch up.

Watch and see how this plays out.

Poke the memory before it fades.

Do you know these girls? This seems like it could be a formative memory, though maybe not yours.

Hmm, say, has anything changed about the landscape?

>>1092145

Marlene, is that you? As a kid?

Did you have sisters / friends who taught you how to ride a bike?

Either it's a fond memory of skinned knees in your childhood, or it's three out of place entities trying to get some sort of device working. If the former... why?

Stay back and observe. Do any of their voices sound familiar to you?

Marlene Collins 2024/07/23(Tue)19:13 No. 1094656 ID: fa7b90
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>Watch and see how this plays out
>Do any of their voices sound familiar to you?
>Is that you as a kid?
I think I know who they are.

It’s the three of us. Me with the Meadow sisters: Lori and Emmylou. It’s a memory that pops up every now and then; a snippet of childhood: a rainy day like any other, a flash of a television show, walking down a school hallway. A moment in time you can remember a bit more vividly than others. It sticks with us the most, while worthwhile memories still fade.

Still, a nothing-memory.

I fell from my sister’s bike--I think my legs were too short for it. The fresh scrape on my leg burnt.

Marlene (kid): I don’ wanna do this anymore!
Marlene: I don’t want to do this anymore.

>Has anything changed about the landscape?
The details of the environment fade the further out it goes, centered on the three girls. It does not restrict Carter and I from leaving.

Lori: You’re bleeding!

Marlene (kid): Maaaaah!

Emmylou: It’s not bad! Blow on it.

Marlene (kid): Ffffftt!

Marlene Collins 2024/07/23(Tue)19:14 No. 1094657 ID: fa7b90
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Carter: What’s this about?

Marlene: I fell from a bike; my friends Lori and Emmylou had tried to teach me. It had no training wheels.

Carter: Do you treasure this memory?

Marlene: ...

Marlene: No. Not really. It was hot. My knee was scraped. Bugs buzzed in my ears. I was mad and annoyed. And I remember hating them. I didn’t know how to articulate discomfort as a child, as we all don’t at that age. So I told my friends I hated them.

Marlene: Hate this. Hate that. I hate the sun. I hate the ground.

Marlene: I didn’t talk to them until the next day.

Marlene: ...

Marlene: I eventually learned to bike though.

One of the Meadow sisters confronts my younger self.

Emmylou: Maybe you shouldn’t be dumb like dirt all the time! Get up!

She pushes me down as I try.

Emmylou: Come on! Get up, stupid!

Marlene (kid): Stop pushing meee!

Marlene (kid): Stop!!
Marlene: Stop...

Lori walks over to her sister--but she only laughs at my attempts to stand. I could barely defend myself. Why would they have done this?

>interfere
>keep the memory playing
>leave, it’s too much

Getting too painful. Time to leave

Keep playing. Pain is part of life, when you don’t feel any pain, that’s when you know you’re dead.

>>1094657
Interfere. Help yourself up.
Your friends were being shitty little kids, reacting to vulnerability and hostility with hostility of their own. It's just how kids are.

Hang on I wanna try something.
Kid Marlene: "STOP SHOVING ME AND START KISSING ME!"

Interfere. Help yourself up. Provide words of encouragement. Give yourself the words to express what you feel. This kind of roleplay can be part of healing.

Oh, how wholesome. This illusionary world is trying to help confront your past issues!

Let us keep watching, hold Carter's hand or make light of the situation if you need it, but seeing- err, witnessing this as an adult, with fresh ey- uh, senses will do you good in the long run.

>>1094657
Keep watching, don't interact, don't interfere.
It's something you might need to see.

>>1094657

Would interfering change things, provide new insight? Would it let us better understand why it's THIS, of all memories, that stuck with us?

Maybe not, but perhaps it's worth a try. If that doesn't work, just watch as it unfolds.

>>1094705

It's possible you will remember the interference retroactively. You could be the gentle, understanding, beautiful angel that young you absolutely needed at that point in time.

Marlene Collins 2024/07/27(Sat)13:57 No. 1094817 ID: 92a30c
File 172211386731.png - (253.82KB , 550x500 , 018.png )

>It’s something you might need to see.
>Keep [the memory] playing. Pain is a part of life.
>Let us keep watching, hold Carter’s hand or make light of the situation.
We were both thinking it; I couldn’t tell if my hand reached for his, or his to mine. But we hold hands. I knew he understood the pain--even if children are shitty.

We watch. There’s a strange feeling within me. I knew what would happen next yet it surprises me. Like a déjà vu; you play into a moment unable to change direction as it unfolds.

Marlene Collins 2024/07/27(Sat)14:02 No. 1094818 ID: 92a30c
File 172211413040.png - (270.21KB , 550x500 , 019.png )

I manage to get away at last; I scramble. Home is close; and I can escape crying. As an adult, I finally have the words to describe what I’ve felt. Trepidation. I felt afraid for my life--

Why?

Lori: Look, she’s getting away!

Emmylou: Yeah! You run, loser!

Emmylou: Go home to your mommy!

One of them grabs a rock, throws it at my younger self--hitting square against the temple as I turn to run. The horn blocked the brunt of it--but it hurt all the same.

I feel the side of my head. I can hear ringing in my ears.

Bawling, my past stumbles but makes it to the front door.

What compelled Emmy to have done that?

Marlene Collins 2024/07/27(Sat)14:02 No. 1094819 ID: 92a30c
File 172211416666.png - (235.51KB , 550x500 , 020.png )

Carter gently turns me away.

Carter: We don’t have to be here.

Carter: We can go anywhere we want. Far away.

Carter: Maybe... maybe even skip ahead. Try to relive times that were better.

Carter: I want to know if it gets better for you.

It does. You might be struggling now, but you have people that care for you. And nobody is throwing rocks at you, literally or metaphorically.

You and Emmy are good friends in the present. Here, it seems she believes killing you is an act of justice. What the hell did her parental figures teach her about your parents and origins that could make her hate you so much, and did she ever truly get over it?
Or is she unaware of her own 'loving' tormentor within her own family and projecting that hatred on to you?

What was that, a lesson from the school of hard knocks? I'm glad to see Emmy's at least straitened up since then. Unless this was a false memory implanted to you in the dream.

Instead of fast forwarding to a specific memory though, just go with the flow. See what else might come up naturally.

"Yes, it does get better."

Focus as much as you can on picturing the time you and Emmy became friends.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/13(Tue)11:53 No. 1095787 ID: 92a30c
File 172357518041.png - (255.27KB , 550x500 , 021.png )

>I’m glad to see Emmy’s at least straightened up since then
I agree. I was taken aback by her actions. But... she was always an assertive girl. Out of the three, she was the tough one--protective mostly. She must’ve learned from this mistake; I’m surprised I haven’t discussed this moment with her before.

Somehow, despite the jolt of fear, I must’ve forgiven them both and we continued to stay friends.

Still, it didn’t feel right. I thought this place was supposed to be blissful--yet--if it uproots pain like this, what exactly is the dream trying to tell me?

If it’s even telling me anything at all.

--

>Instead of fast forwarding to a specific memory though, just go with the flow.
The idea of moving on prompts me to ride far away from this cul-de-sac. Without having to think hard I pick up a bike like I’m ready to go to school.

Marlene: Come on, let’s get out of here.

Carter: Where to?

Marlene: Anywhere. Can you bike?

Carter: Sure, I can bike!

Marlene Collins 2024/08/13(Tue)11:53 No. 1095789 ID: 92a30c
File 172357522582.png - (248.33KB , 550x500 , 022.png )

Well there’s one thing once I got the hang of biking as a kid--I started riding everywhere. In the days before modern smartphones, the whole town would be full of unsupervised children.

As we bike, everything fades into view ahead of us--I haven’t been home in a while but muscle memory takes the lead. I take a scenic route; there’s an overlook of the town this way. I have frequented this trail pretty often. But there’s a stop at the top of this hill.

It’s the same as my house: the streets and buildings below are but wisps of memories barely filled with information.

Carter: What is this place?

Marlene: Hartwood. It’s where I grew up before college. It was a lumber town up in northern Appalachia. --A bit of a dead-end town as the mills were moved elsewhere. It all stopped before I was born.

Marlene: Not many leave this place, and those who do eventually come back despite its slow withering. Maybe it’ll call to me and Emmylou and we will return together. Lori lives here still--she gives us the scoop whatever happens to our high school mutuals.

Marlene: I come to this spot to just... see it all. As a kid I liked to pick out buildings and study them--wondering what goes on in there. All of them full of little people. One by one they’ll be left alone and abandoned; windows crack and vegetation grew.

Marlene: But it’s in a different light as an adult now.

Marlene: To see a town dying your whole life--it’s almost unsettling to realize that in hindsight.

Marlene: Those abandoned buildings, however, are the ones I remember more clearly than the rest.

Carter: It’s still beautiful.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/13(Tue)11:54 No. 1095790 ID: 92a30c
File 172357526946.png - (226.15KB , 550x500 , 023.png )

Marlene: Hey, do you see that water tower? It’s the really far one among the trees.

Carter: Yeah. It looks like the only thing that’s not dissolving.

Marlene: I don’t know if it’s a me-thing, but some days I would imagine myself standing on that tower--and pretend to look back at this very spot.

Marlene: Wondering how it would look from the other side.

Marlene: And I would imagine a copy of me looking back.

Marlene: If I had the power to teleport, that’s probably what I would do the most. Just to observe everything so far away.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/13(Tue)11:55 No. 1095791 ID: 92a30c
File 172357535661.png - (241.24KB , 550x500 , 024.png )

Carter: Why not do it now?

A blink and I suddenly find myself high up on the tower with him; a flash of vertigo waves over my body as I find my bearings!

Marlene: Whoa!! Heck-- What the fuck, dude?!

Carter: Sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just... tried to think what you were thinking. Physically. With you.

Carter: I thought you would like that. Sorry.

Marlene: It’s fine... Shit, you don’t spook me like that.

Carter: Was this how it looked?

Marlene: I don’t know; I’ve never been here. It’s uncharted territory in my brain.

Marlene: Like... yeah there’s probably a bunch of trees below us but there’s no clarity. We’ll be making up as we went along.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/13(Tue)11:57 No. 1095792 ID: 92a30c
File 172357546977.png - (296.36KB , 550x500 , 025.png )

I look down at the woods below, soaking in the autumn-colored leaves that reflect the dream-sun back.

And in the midst of slow-waving branches, I catch a glimpse of someone.

It looks like a kid down there. I think they’re lying down.

Another memory? Perhaps. But will it be mine, or is it Carter’s? I can’t pinpoint a significant moment about frolicking in the woods until more plays out.

Ask carter to teleport you down there

>>1095792

Might as well ask who that is and go investigate!

Hop down there and take a look

Maybe hold back on the teleportation. Hopefully this will be Carter's. We know so little about him, even now.

>>1095792
If it is carter, assuming we think that it is him, it might a good time to revisit your home when you wake up from this spiritual realm. Assuming that it is a realm in the first place.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/17(Sat)11:13 No. 1095968 ID: 92a30c
File 172391842453.png - (268.36KB , 550x500 , 026.png )

>It might be a good time to revisit your home when you wake up
This place has stricken me with heavy nostalgic vibes; it has succeeded in making me homesick. Perhaps I could see Lori too. Hartwood isn’t exactly next door to Springford, but once Seb affords a week off we can probably take his car to visit.

>Ask carter to teleport you down there.
>Might as well ask who that is and go investigate
Marlene: Hey could you blink me down there too, while you’re at it?

Carter: Uh, have you forgotten?

Carter: Just think it. If you want it, you get it. You can be anywhere you want to be in this place.

Marlene: Oh. Right. I guess I could just...

We’re already deep in the woods. The trees seem to stretch pretty high up. They seem taller from the ground than the view from the water tower. The shade of a child rests below a canopy, a stick in his hand swishing above him. I don’t believe that’s me. I’ve gone cloud watching in my own backyard, but nowhere like this.

???: ♪ Six. Twelve. Eighteen. Twenty-four. Thirty. Thirty... six. ♫

I notice the air; it’s crisp. Autumn-like. The leaves are going away.

Marlene: So, is it safe to assume that could be you lying in the grass there?

Carter: ...Yeah. There is an air of familiarity here. It’s giving me goosebumps.

Carter: I... spent a lot of my free time alone as a kid. I didn’t have many friends to visit; and I lived in the middle of nowhere. And I guess... I would’ve been easy to pick on anyway.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/17(Sat)11:14 No. 1095969 ID: 92a30c
File 172391848083.png - (239.77KB , 550x500 , 027.png )

The child sings in the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’. The words are instead replaced by multiplications of seven.

Carter (kid): ♫ Seven four-teen, twenty-one. Twenty-ei-eight. Thirty-five...

Marlene: Forty-two-o. Forty-ni-ine.
Carter: Forty-two-o. Forty-ni-ine.
Carter (kid): Forty-two-o. Forty-ni-ine.

Carter: Fifty-si-ix. Sixty-three.
Carter (kid): Fifty-si-ix. Sixty-three.

Marlene: And Seven-deee~

I quite enjoyed singing that final note.

The child sits upright and turns his head to face me. Or I think he does? It’s another memory playing on a script, right?

Carter (kid): Huh? Hello? Is someone there?

Marlene: And for a minute I thought he was speaking to me.

Carter (kid): Oh. Who are you?

Carter (kid): Are you an angel?

Look behind you and see who he is talking to and looking at.

If there is nobody behind you... you might want to cover yourself.

well this is an interesting memory. Can you see who he's talking to?

"Be not afraid."

Carter saying he has goosebumps from this memory... i wonder, ask if he remembers seeing you at that moment in time.

For the other carter, remind him not to talk to strangers

What if you pictured yourself having angel wings? Let's really see what kind of dream powers we can pull off.

Smile at the child and say something ambiguous like, "I was going to ask you the same!"

>>1095969
Try not to look too angelic and accidentally give him some weird lifelong artistic obsession with some naked ethereal woman that appeared in his dreams. Unless you want him to become an artist or something like that.

These seem to be memories, but that might be your own mind making sense of what it cannot comprehend. This boy may be trying to communicate with you, whatever he is.

But more likely the memory of what Carter was looking at happens to be behind you right now.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/24(Sat)10:52 No. 1096421 ID: 92a30c
File 172452195079.png - (237.54KB , 550x500 , 028.png )

>see who he is talking to and looking at.
>More likely the memory of what Carter was looking at happens to be behind you.
I double-check behind myself to see if there’s another shadow-person lurking within the tall trees. I only see adult-Carter; he is hesitant to speak. I face the child again, slightly covering myself.

Marlene: You can... see me?

Carter (kid): Yeah! Are you an angel?

I manage to reflect a gentle smile.

Marlene: Well uh, I was about to ask you the same thing!

Carter (kid): Nooo. I’m not an angel!

Carter (kid): You could be an angel.

Carter (kid): Do angels go invisible for people not to see them?

Marlene: Maybe. Sometimes? I’m not sure.

>What if you pictured yourself with angel wings?
I humor myself with the idea. But I don’t grow anything.

Marlene: What are you doing out here all by yourself?

Carter (kid): Nothin’.

Carter (kid): Ma’ says to go outside. So. So no tv or games until three.

Carter (kid) ...

Carter: Hey! You wanna go see my mansion?

He tugs my wrist excitedly.

Carter (kid): Come on! Let’s go to the mansion!

Marlene: Mansion? What mansion? Is that your house?

Carter (kid): The mansion! Let me show you!

Marlene Collins 2024/08/24(Sat)10:54 No. 1096422 ID: 92a30c
File 172452209253.png - (227.84KB , 550x500 , 029.png )

The child guides us; his speedy legs kick up leaves. When he’s far enough away I mutter to the other Carter.

Marlene: It might be your memory, but do you think this boy is... someone else?

Carter: In what way?

Marlene: Someone or something may be trying to communicate with us through him. Perhaps like those sci-fi flicks where an entity beyond caprine comprehension takes a form more fitting?

Carter: I mean...

Marlene: You can’t possibly remember meeting a naked angelic woman in the midst of the woods when you were nine or ten, right?

Carter: It’s... it’s strange. Because I do.

Marlene: What?

Carter: I mean I do and I don’t. It is my memory. I’m witnessing everything new for the first time here, as an adult, yet I also remember it fondly. It’s a weird contradiction but it’s how I feel at this moment.

Carter: I know where he’s taking you because I vaguely know what happens next. The mansion is just a little abandoned cottage further in the woods. This place used to be an apple orchard some two-hundred years ago.

Carter: I would pretend to live there--but it’s mostly where I hid comic books and junk food.

Marlene Collins 2024/08/24(Sat)11:06 No. 1096423 ID: 92a30c
File 172452277327.png - (246.10KB , 550x500 , 030.png )

Carter (kid): Over there! This is it!

He runs ahead towards the worn-down cottage. Moss and foliage run rampant over its wet stones.

Marlene: Carter, that’s literally my house again.

Marlene: I think... kinda.

>>1096423
Seems your memories are getting a little mixed up.
Follow the kid, don't think too much about it, that could break the dream.

It's like the mooovie you're a ghoooost haunting your old abandoned house in the woooods

Follow along, just don't do anything to retroactively traumatize Carter.

Odd that your memories didn't react to Carter. Does it seem as if kid Carter can see the adult?

Maybe at some point, this forest eventually became a neighborhood and then this abandoned home became your home in your childhood

either that, or maybe whatever is going on here is messing with Carter's memories. in that case, it's probably a good thing you didn't interfere with your childhood when you saw yourself getting bullied.

or maybe these all are false memories that are seeping into Carter's, and your mind, and you getting bullied never actually happened.

Interesting that young Carter doesn't see adult Carter.

A thought, what if we make it a goal in the real world to find and visit this abandoned "mansion" and see for ourselves what this is all about. I feel it might have some answers for Marlene. Does Carter remember where this place is? we can ask kid Carter where this place is if the other Carter doesn't know/remember, like what town this is and what state, and the name of these woods is at least.

It'll be creepy if he says the exact same location you used to live at during your childhood. In which case, Carter might be from an alternate universe or something. But I'm thinking too far ahead.

>>1096423

It almost seems like we're able to ... CHANGE our memories, here.

And that they're equally less concrete; like how "the mansion" is suddenly a rendition of Marlene's place.

I wonder what would have happened had we intervened with Lori and Emmylou.

Feeling a lot stronger about this place playing with your memories now. It's either mixing them together or implanting false memories on you.

Ask Carter if he can still picture that abandoned cottage. If so, how clearly?

Marlene Collins 2024/09/02(Mon)10:48 No. 1096832 ID: 92a30c
File 172529931963.png - (178.81KB , 550x500 , 031.png )

The child skips inside.

>Ask Carter if he can still picture the abandoned cottage
>It almost seems like we’re able to... CHANGE our memories here.
>Maybe these all are false memories that are seeping into Carter's, and your mind.
Marlene: Did they have garages for automobiles 200 years ago? In any case, I think our memories are getting a little mixed up. Some elements don’t belong even if we remember they had.

Carter: The cottage shouldn’t look like that. Yet it does.

Carter: There should only be a couple of empty rooms inside. Some cabinets, maybe. It leaves a lot to the imagination. The floorboards were loose to hide stuff underneath.

Marlene: Where was this place in the real world?

Carter: Norris Creek, still. A little ways out of my backyard.

Marlene: We ought to play it safe, then. I wouldn’t want anything traumatic to happen if we’re talking to your younger self.

Marlene Collins 2024/09/02(Mon)10:51 No. 1096833 ID: 92a30c
File 172529947723.png - (276.04KB , 550x500 , 032.png )

We step through the ingress of the garage. And as expected, it’s a different interior; aside from the dusty and old abandoned furniture it feels very colonial. The child swings a stick around and moseys to entertain himself. He make-believes.

Carter (kid): See? This could be our hangout. We can share stuff here!

Carter (kid): This can be a TV room! And we can hide snacks in the attic!

>Does it seem as if kid Carter can see the adult?
Marlene: Uhh, Carter, honey? You can see I have a friend with me, right?

He stops and looks at adult-Carter.

Carter: Uhm. Hi.

Carter (kid): Uh huh... Hey.

Carter (kid): Are you friends with a lot of angels? Or do you have your own following you?

Carter (kid): Don’t worry. I won’t tell. I can keep a secret. And besides: everyone has a special angel looking over them.

Marlene: I’m sorry, hon. We’re not angels. But we can still be your friend!

He nods, there’s something cute about a child emoting acceptance with the slightest hint of disappointment.

Carter (kid): Oh. That’s okay. I guess one angel is good enough to have.

Carter (kid): Hey! Does your mom let you keep Yagimon cards?

Marlene: What? Oh no, I didn’t really collect them. They were a boy-thing right? I mean--they’re popular with girls nowadays and I watched the cartoon for a bit.

Carter (kid): You wanna see my collection? Come on! I can show you!

He runs straight up the stairs to the attic.

before you go up, anything of interest in this room at a quick glance? like under the staircase?

otherwise, not much to do other than going upstairs. maybe ask about his parents since he brought up his mother,

and maybe ask if he knows any kind of room with a bunch of bunk beds, since we briefly were in there earlier, and I'm curious about that.

Time to get into yagimon

agggh what part of traumatizing the kid didn't you understand you're not supposed to let time travellers meet their past selves didn't you ever watch doctor hoot

>>1096833
Now I am curious on something. If my theory is right, this "realm" you and Carter are positioned in, has properties creates a world based on intensive thought and emotion via memories and it seems to affect the users within this realm of imagination. This could explain why you and Carter can't open your eyes without seeing some sort of horrifying phenomena, forcing you to wake up back into the real world.

Carter is unsure if he had ever seen a woman, let alone a naked one, like you in his childhood memories, the child, whom could very well be a manifestation of Carter's innocence and warm memories, does and so it is being the cause of his unsured reaction as we speak. Let's experiment this, give child carter a warm and loving hug, pet him and make feel secure, then glance over to adult Carter to see if this is having an effect on him, best to ask if he remembers you hugging him when he was a child after this of course.

This is a very interesting realm you're finding in Marlene; I do wonder when it's time to wake up, however. Do remember to plan a trip to your hometown and see if you can find any traces of Carter presence there. Whether or not he is alive that is.

Marlene Collins 2024/09/06(Fri)16:39 No. 1097061 ID: 92a30c
File 172566596668.png - (286.12KB , 550x500 , 033.png )

>Anything of interest in this room at a quick glance?
The whole place sure seems very empty, and the space under the stairs is vacant as well. The walls and floor is withered wood and cold stone. I notice the grooves in the wooden floor against my bare soles, and the coolness of its surface gives me a nostalgic feeling walking through this cottage.

Gradually, I ascend the staircase and immerse myself in his world.

At the top is the attic, while just as barren as the rest of the building, there are scattered playthings and chalk drawings on the walls and floor. The kid has a shoebox where he keeps his cards.

Carter (kid): This is a Ramsilla! And Grimsdotty! That card's my favorite, but I really want a Geyserwog.

He shows the caricatures of those monster cards. I try to act a bit proud and excited for him. I haven't paid attention to this game in a long, long time.

>Maybe ask about his parents since he brought up his mother.
Marlene: Does your mom know you come here? You wouldn’t want to scare her and make her think you’re missing.

Carter (kid): I play in the woods a lot! She always calls me when dinner is ready. I usually hear her back at my house. Sometimes she has to ring a bell.

Marlene: Do you love your mom?

Carter (kid): Yeah. Although I wish she’d let me watch tee-vee before three. And she doesn’t like yagimon. She says it’s what bad kids play. Last time my friend Mike gave me his cards and he saw our mansion. He doesn’t come over much, though. But ma found those cards and threw them out. It’s okay though, they weren't really good.

Marlene: Do you have brothers or sisters? Any siblings at all? Or share bunk beds?

Carter (kid): No ma'am. I’m an only child. Although I wish I had a brother to do stuff with. I don’t have neighbors my age. Do you have a brother to play with?

Marlene: I have two sisters. And I’d’ve rather been an only child.

Carter (kid): Oh.

Marlene: But, you know, it’s actually kinda funny how an only child and one with lots of siblings would want what the other has.

Carter (kid): Yeah.

Marlene Collins 2024/09/06(Fri)16:41 No. 1097062 ID: 92a30c
File 172566606048.png - (344.29KB , 550x500 , 034.png )

>The child, whom could be a manifestation off Carter’s innocence and warm memories [...] give [him] a hug, pet him and make feel secure.
Marlene: Hmm. Perhaps you could be a little brother to me. Do you mind having a big sister?

Carter (kid): Oh, ho-kay! What’s your name?

Marlene: I’m Marlene! Would you like a hug lil’ bro? Come up and give your sis' a hug.

He steps right up to me and I hug him like he’s my own son, or little brother. And within me, I feel an endearing connection with him. My hand rakes over his head. I glance over his circle of chalk drawings.

Carter (kid): Marlene?

Marlene: Yes?

Carter (kid): Do you promise to be around forever?

>>1097062

There's only one answer: "I'll try."

Because nothing is forever, but sometimes you can get close enough.

Hmmm. I'll do my best. I'm not an angel, so I'm not super powerful. But you could think of me like a wizard, I guess? Well, wizard student. I'm still learning what I can do! Is there anything neat you've learned recently?

>>1097063
That's the best you can do. Anything more would be a promise you can't keep.

Tell him not yet, but when he is an adult, you will meet again to fulfill that promise.

Hey as long as I'll be remembered, I'll never really go away, yeah? Such is life!

>>1097061
>>1097062

A child who lives what I can assume is a very wealthy neighborhood, but this tended to be the causation of his loneliness Is this what Carter's childhood consisted of? If so, I may be worried what may have happened to the real Carter. Speaking of him, quickly glance at adult Carter before turning back to his child-self.

As for the promise, for the sake of the child and Carter. Promise that you'll do then speak with him after this. Also, take a look at the drawings that Carter made, I can only assume they're just the monsters that appear in the card game he likes.

Nothing lasts forever, but your memories will last you a lifetime.

Say, who's that chalk drawing of the angel goat?

Marlene Collins 2024/09/11(Wed)16:17 No. 1097269 ID: 92a30c
File 172609664357.png - (369.38KB , 550x500 , 035.png )

I realize I may very-well be speaking to a real child, not just an echo or rendition; I shouldn’t speak bluntly like I would with an adult. There seems to be one right answer; any more would be harder to keep. Perhaps this light promise will fulfill his memory; clearly he meets me ‘again’ so many years later. And when the dream ends, perhaps Carter will feel a sense of closure waking up.

Marlene: I’ll try. But as long as you keep me in memories, Carter, I may never really go away. Do you understand what I’m telling you?

I look at him in his eyes, and hold his head in my hands.

Carter (kid): Uh-huh. I understand.

>Say, who’s that chalk drawing of the angel goat?
>Also, take a look at the drawings Carter made, I can only assume they’re just the monsters that appear in the card game he likes.
My eyes gleam over depictions of caprine friends, stars, houses, and animals, and perhaps the monsters from the card game. But it’s hard to ignore several drawings of the unusual character.

Marlene: Carter, is this someone special?

Carter (kid): That’s him. That’s my guardian angel. He comes from heaven because he wants to be my friend! We play sometimes and talk about stuff.

Marlene: O-Oh? What’s... on his head? Some sort of crown?

Carter (kid): Those are all his horns! He has a lot! He has one from every kind of goat and sheep and says all angels have beautiful and weird bodies like that! I think that would be heavy to wear all the time, but he says he’s used to it.

Carter (kid): He asks me about school and how my day is. And what I did at summer camp. And wants to hear about my cards and drawings. And when I’m sad he makes me happy and says everything will be okay.

Marlene: Does he have a name?

Carter (kid): Well yeah! His name is Kadath!

>Quickly glance at adult Carter
I look for the adult; he hasn’t followed us into the attic. Maybe he’s wandering down below. In fact, I recall our shared proprioception. It’s not like there’s any place for either of us to hide, we could appear beside one another on a whim.

Yet he... feels far away from here, away from the cottage.

>>1097269
So many red flags.
Warn Carter: Kadath could be his best friend or his worst enemy. The trick to finding out which is whether or not Kadath lets Carter do his own thing frequently.

Tell him he must be very special that he gets to talk to Kadath. You want to meet him too; when does he come around?

"I've seen him, Carter. I've seen your friend in my dreams. But every time he appears in those dreams, he grabs me or screams and I get so scared I wake up! What would make him be so mean to me, do you know?"

>>1097287

Are we sure the ugly hateful cyborg layer is what he's talking about though? I'm not so sure!

>Yet he... feels far away from here, away from the cottage.

hmmm... ask kid carter if there is a place far from here that he likes to visit when he feels depressed or needs to think. Whatever kid carter answers is probably where adult carter went, and we can will ourself over to him.

I think before we leave to find Carter, we should also ask if kid Carter actually saw adult Carter, or if he was invisible to him. He didn't seem to have as big of a response to adult carter than he had with us. Something tells me he only see's you, but can't see Carter.

We can also probably ask kid Carter from his perspective what we look like to him. If to us, he looks like a silhouette like kid Marlene did, then perhaps we look different to him too.

>>1097269
Call out for Adult Carter, if he doesn't respond, you might want to start looking for him.
>>1097324
Seconding this, right before you search you might need to take his child-self along too just to be sure.

>>1097324
On second thought, Carter said he did remember seeing us, so we would probably be recognizable to him. Still, I wanna know what kid carter sees in our appearance to see if there is anything different about how he see's us, and how we see ourselves.

Being two people at once would be very unsettling. This might just be too weird for Carter and he needs some space. Imagine if he were talking to a younger version of you, and you started remembering talking to someone when you were young.

So that's why Carter thought you were an angel! You have only one set of horns of course, but it's an easy mistake to make. You might tell him he's very lucky to have Kadath as a friend. You've never even met an angel before!

Call it a hunch, but I got a feeling Kadath here might be the one in charge. Might be worth trying to track them down.

If you can "mind speak" to Carter then maybe if you try hard enough you can reach out to Kadath.

Is the cover for the 3rd chapter Kadath?
https://questden.org/kusaba/questarch/src/169032255856.png

Marlene Collins 2024/09/23(Mon)21:10 No. 1097734 ID: 92a30c
File 172715105674.png - (231.58KB , 550x500 , 036.png )

>Kadath / cyborg layer
It’s unsettling to think if this angel could be involved in our nightmares. Still, the boy doesn’t seem bothered by Kadath.

>You want to meet [Kadath] too; when does he come around?
>I got a feeling Kadath here might be the one in charge. Might be worth trying to track him down.
Marlene: You must be very special to have a friend like Kadath. Will I ever get to see him?

Carter (kid): He’s usually around when I’m alone. I don’t know if adults can see him. He can be invisible all the time!

Carter (kid): He’s probably seeing me from heaven right now!

Marlene: Well you’re my brother now, right? It would be cool if I get to hang out with your friends time to time. Just a thought!

>Some questions
Marlene: I guess that’s why you were asking if my friend was an angel. Was he invisible, too? Were you only pretending to see him?

Carter (kid): Nah, I saw him. I dunno; he’s okay, I guess. You just look really pretty. Maybe I’m the only one who can see angels! You guys look like regular grown-ups, though. You probably have a boyfriend. Is that who he is?

Marlene: Oh no no. Just a friend! His name is Carter, actually!

Carter (kid): Oh wow! Really? Maybe he likes Yagimon.

Marlene: I think he may have gone off somewhere. You can help me find him! Let’s put your stuff away.

Carter (kid): Sure!

Everything is in its right place. I gently hold Carter’s hand.

Marlene: Is there another hangout when you’re feeling sad or lonely? Perhaps we can start there!

He shakes his head no. Maybe the adult-Carter needed space to think. He did see his younger self and our memories are mixing up. It might’ve been difficult to process all that. We step downstairs.

>Call out for Adult Carter, if he doesn't respond, you might want to start looking for him.
Marlene: Carterrr!

He still feels distant--far from the cottage. Between outside and a million miles. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to bring his younger-self along. But I’ll just roll with it. Maybe he knows a thing or two about Kadath as an adult.

Marlene Collins 2024/09/23(Mon)21:11 No. 1097735 ID: 92a30c
File 172715108720.png - (317.84KB , 550x500 , 037.png )

Okay, let’s see if I can do this right. Travel in the dream is on a whim. I think, and I’m there. I can imagine he’s still in the woods. Somewhere. I almost didn’t notice the transition of walking down the attic stairs and into a new area. Carter sits in the grass against a tree. He looks peacefully sleeping.

Marlene: There you are, Carter! Are you alright--?

The child. His hand dissolves in mine: he becomes a wisp of smoke carried by the wind. I almost hadn’t noticed it, and was left a little speechless.

Marlene: A--

Marlene: Okay. What’s going on? I have a bunch of questions right now.

Carter: Oh. Hey. Sorry. I guess I was distracted for a bit. You seemed to be alright in the cottage.

Marlene: Your younger self just disappeared.

Carter: Uhm. Give me a moment to think...

Carter: I remember walking downstairs with you--but I can’t remember what happens after that. Maybe that’s just the extent of my memory with you.

Marlene: Is everything okay?

Carter: Yeah. Yeah I think so. A lot’s been on my mind here. Not like a headache, but, a lot of quick moments that I can’t quite latch on. Plus it feels like an out-of-body experience to see... myself. Watching things unfold.

Carter: This looked like a good place to rest for a while.

Marlene Collins 2024/09/23(Mon)21:11 No. 1097736 ID: 92a30c
File 172715111516.png - (273.06KB , 550x500 , 038.png )

Marlene: Well then, who’s Kadath?

Carter: Huh?

Marlene: Your angel. As a boy you knew a guardian angel named Kadath. You said he visited and played with you. You drew pictures of him on the walls in chalk. Who is he, really?

He takes a slow breath, speaking like he just woke up.

Carter: Oh right, him. Marlene, Kadath... wasn’t real. He was an imaginary friend. That’s all.

Carter: I’m not so religious anymore, but I was impressionable as any kid at that age. I had almost forgotten about him, actually.

Marlene: Are you sure he aint real?

Carter: I’m sure. I haven’t thought of him in thirteen years. I grew up. He doesn’t exist.

Marlene: We’ve been sharing the same memory, and with it the same feelings. So why do I get the feeling of... nostalgia with that name? Like missing a dear friend?

Carter: I don’t know! I guess... deep inside I wished he was real. Come on, you think he has something to do with all this?

>>1097736
Maybe. We don't really know anything about this place right now. But if he's confident Kadath was just an imaginary friend then I guess it's a dead end. Hmm, does he have any particularly notable memories of talking to Kadath? I wonder if he'd show up as a shadow, or as part of the background.

Huh, whose bike is that?

Hmm, Carter's horns are breaking up. Is that symbolic or something? Also that bike seems significant given the earlier memory.

Maybe interacting with younger carter altered the timeline, and now at some point in Carter's life, he got his horns broken?

I don't think we altered the timeline. I think we just altered his memories. This place is like brain sharing, not just dream sharing.

The horns thing could be tied to his emotional state or a sign that sleep time is over.

>>1097736

Sounds like Kadath was Carter's way to connect with others, as an only (and lonely) child. It's perfectly reasonable to miss that.

"Carter, every time I opened my eyes in this dream world, I've seen him, grasping me or screaming at me, with a look of rage that makes me wake up from sheer terror.
I think he might be the one keeping us here, and I think it is not a coincidence that he looks made out of different people.

....By the way, is your first name Randolph?"

>>1097847

Do we for sure have positive identification? Maybe it's just resemblance? Be wary of assumptions.

Marlene Collins 2024/09/28(Sat)13:32 No. 1097963 ID: 92a30c
File 172755553307.png - (261.14KB , 550x500 , 039.png )

Marlene: It’s perfectly reasonable to miss him.

Marlene: I’d like to think that I understand you better this night. Even if Kadath seems like a dead end I would like to hear more about your childhood, and your time with him. If he felt as real as you wished he was--maybe our dreams can make it possible.

Marlene: Maybe it already has in some way.

Marlene: Just a thought. I could be wrong but... what else is there to do in this place? It seems we have each other to rediscover ourselves.

Marlene: Eventually this place will reveal its purpose.

>Whose bike is that?
>Also that bike seems significant given the earlier memory.
I can see it. It’s misshapen, tossed aside.

Marlene: Is there a story behind that?

Carter: Not sure. I must’ve had an accident once. Or you did. I don’t see any... shadow-people. Must’ve been alone for this one.

Carter: Whatever the feeling is; it’s distant. It’s not as strong as the other memories. Maybe it’s like the water tower. Something I’ve seen in passing many times. Something in better detail yet so insignificant.
--
Marlene: Your horns. They look broken again.

He feels the back of his head.

Carter: I don’t know why they’ve been doing that. Don’t you often forget your horns are there, Marlene? It must be very annoying to always have horns like yours in the way. Sleeping. Turning your head too fast. Getting caught on something. Putting on a shirt.

Marlene: Sometimes. Not so many nerves in horns--but it helps to cool off faster. Most touching is negligible unless you really wanna wrangle with them.

Carter: Oh~

Marlene: Oh, shit. Heh. I shouldn’t have imagined that just now~

We chuckle.

Carter: You know, I’d try a pair of horns like yours if I could. Just to see what it’s like for a day.

Carter: I bet my head would feel heavy, but you probably got the neck muscles for it.

Marlene Collins 2024/09/28(Sat)13:33 No. 1097964 ID: 92a30c
File 172755560116.png - (247.31KB , 550x500 , 040.png )

>Randolph
Marlene: Your name wouldn’t happen to be Randolph would it?

Carter: No. My first name is definitely Carter.

Marlene: Thought I’d ask on a whim.

We notice a soothing noise echoing high above us. It’s... familiar; like a pleasant siren, a call to prepare an end or beginning. Not exactly a world-ending feeling, just an end of something miraculous. I don’t believe it’s anything serious--it’s just what my skin feels with aesthetic chills. Carter stands up from his spot; we can see the sky gradually begin to glow.

Carter: You hear it too? I feel it’s time. It’s in the air, the wind. Some kind of instinct to come home once fireflies come out.

There’s a beam of heat blooming against our faces.

Carter: Morning calls for us. One of us slowly awakes.

He shyly turns to me.

Carter: We’ll be together again, right?

One way or another, yeah.

>>1097964
It's time to wake up Marlene. Back to the real world to resume your life. Do record all of this in your dream journal just in case you need to remember what happened previously. One thing for sure; you should plan to visit your hometown and find information of a person named "Carter".

"As long as you keep me in memories, Carter"

>>1097964
Go over that phone number again to be sure you remember.

Curious. Try to wake up more naturally instead of trying to force yourself awake. Will you wake to some unknown robotic horrors still?

I wonder where your sleepwalking will end you up at. Reminder you are pantsless currently in the waking world

Let's leave with this:

"Carter, one last thing. If you can remember my number, please send me a message. I promise I won't answer, or go looking for you. I respect your privacy. I just want to know that...this doesn't have to begin and end in dreams."

Marlene Collins 2024/11/07(Thu)20:17 No. 1099474 ID: 92a30c
File 173103944799.png - (232.06KB , 550x500 , 041.png )

>Record all of this in your dream journal just in case.
I make a mental note of that; I’ve been good so far writing everything down.

>You should visit your hometown.
I lived in Hartwood all my life; I don’t believe Carter has lived there. It’s possible our memories have only been shared, mixed. Despite that, I’m still feeling uncertain of my confidence. Perhaps I ought to visit anyway and see family down the line.

I take one step towards him.

Marlene: One way or another, we’ll be together. I promise. As long as you keep me in your memories, Carter.

I step a little closer.

Marlene: Do you remember my phone number?

Carter: Of course. I have it all in my head.

We hold hands.

Marlene: Please, at least send me a message. I won’t even have to answer or come looking for you. This doesn’t have to begin and end in dreams.

Carter: A-Alright... I’ll try. I will.

The sky brightens. It feels like the earth gravitates towards a red giant--without all the burning, I guess.

Marlene: Repeat my number. Just so I can hear.

Carter: Of course.

Carter: Six. One... Zero...

Marlene Collins 2024/11/07(Thu)20:18 No. 1099475 ID: 92a30c
File 173103949393.png - (192.03KB , 550x500 , 042.png )

A slow ascent, there's a lulling shift to awakeness. It is as gentle as a mother would place you in a crib. I listen to wind rattling the windows. It’s grey and gloomy outside. Rain. I like rain. It makes me want to sleep a little more.

Wouldn’t that be funny to instantly come back to Carter?

I feel a wet tapping against my temple. Below me is a wooden coffee table. I use up all my morning strength to roll over and look at the ceiling. Water’s getting’ through a crack. Shit.

I’m hunched over in my living room and I remember what it feels like to despise reality.

Do you have waterproof tape? Either way, get a bucket.

Bucket and a towel, don't want the table to stain.

>>1099475
Augh. Bucket, towel, put a towel AROUND the bucket too because it's gonna splash. Maybe a wide basin would do, but you're not as likely to have one.

Hopefully it's the rain outside and not the plumbing

Mental note: getting totally smashed leads to even more crazy dreams.

Water getting in the ceiling will accumulate and rot the whole thing. Got to patch up the roof.

>>1099475

Wow, talk about rude awakenings.

Where's Seb? Any chance he can lend a hand with this?

>>1099475
Let's get your bearings here, look like you've fallen asleep on a table somewhere? How much time as passed? Did you sleepwalk again?

Don't suppose Seb's skill set includes leaky roof patching?

Marlene Collins 2024/11/10(Sun)17:09 No. 1099601 ID: 92a30c
File 173128736319.png - (155.67KB , 550x500 , 043.png )

>How much time has passed? Did you sleepwalk again?
Looks like I have. Only short distance and nowhere embarrassing this time, still with my shirt and panties on. Looks to be about 6 in the morning.

>Hopefully it's the rain outside and not the plumbing.
There’s no apartment above us, so it’s likely rain--—I hope.

>Where’s Seb? Any chance he can lend a hand with this?
I look around for my boyfriend. He’s probably in the bathroom on the other side of the apartment. This home is literally, like, three rooms. Fuck. My head is spinning--pounding. A damn hangover.

Marlene: Seb!

...

Marlene: SEEEEEB!

...

Seb: What?!

Marlene: The roof is leaking!

Seb: Dammit. Really?

Marlene: Yeah! Come look!

Seb: I’m naked in the shower!

Marlene: Don’t be shy, I’ve seen your dick before! Now come look!

Seb: I’m almost--guh. I’m almost done!

He’ll be out in a bit...

Marlene Collins 2024/11/10(Sun)17:10 No. 1099602 ID: 92a30c
File 173128741510.png - (184.53KB , 550x500 , 044.png )

>Bucket, [...] towel AROUND the bucket too because it's gonna splash. Maybe a wide basin would do.
We look up at the crack; it’s not dripping so bad. We do, in fact, have some large buckets; Seb has a draining oil pan for fixing cars so... there’s at least that. I pack some towels around the basin too.

Marlene: Don’t you have any tape for this stuff?

Seb: I don’t think that would be good. If the ceiling is leaking, maybe something on the roof needs repair. I don’t even know if we have an attic or crawlspace but if we ignore it too long then everythin’ll rot up there.

Seb: This old place has to have been around the seventies. I should call the landlord about that and hire a roofer.

Marlene Collins 2024/11/10(Sun)17:11 No. 1099603 ID: 92a30c
File 173128751164.png - (151.92KB , 550x500 , 045.png )

He faces me with a smile.

Seb: Is your head alright this morning? I know you were plastered with your friend last night.

Marlene: I’m fine, I’ll shake it off. I need to eat something, though. This hangover sucks.

Marlene: Oh! Yeah I was celebrating something. I...

I shrug.

Marlene: I guess I decided to go back to work at the studio.

Seb: Wait, really? The studio? You mean Silenus, right?

Seb: Oh my god, that’s great! But... I know you were on the fence and all--

Marlene: It’s not a big deal. I think I was able to demand some things. Perhaps they’ll fall through. It’s as a writer too, so no stupid secretary duties; I don’t know how involved I am though. There’s a script I wanted to work on and I convinced Mr. Booth to at least... consider it.

Marlene: In any case, I’m going back Monday.

Seb: Does Carter work there?

Marlene: Wh-What?

Seb: Last night, Maebe mentioned someone named Carter. I was just wondering if it’s a friend from work or band practice. Perhaps I misheard. It’s nothing!

His question is innocent. He doesn’t sound suspicious of anything.
• Lie: He misheard. I don’t know a Carter.
• Lie: Carter is just a guy from somewhere. Or maybe a coworker.
• Avoid: Huh? Oh it’s nothing. Say, how about a different topic?
• Truth: He’s just a friend. No biggie. But leave out the weirder details.
• Truth: I explain my vivid dreams. He may be real. He may be fake.

• Truth: He’s just a friend. No biggie. But leave out the weirder details.

Also write down in your journal and stuff!

Why wouldn't you explain your vivid dreams? Just say Carter isn't real. You were just telling Maebe about this weird recurring dream you keep having.

If Carter wants to demonstrate differently, well he can just fuckin call you then.

Just say he's someone you've chatted with online. Maybe the three of you can meet up sometime.

>>1099603
Truth, I'm sure Seb trusts you enough to let you explain to him about the dreams you've been having. There's really no reason to doubt your loved one no?

>>1099606
This really seems like the best choice. Having some weird recurring dreams about a dude named Carter whom you've never even met or heard of in real life isn't suspicious, right? Weird, maybe, but nothing bad.

>>1099606
This really seems like the best choice. Having some weird recurring dreams about a dude named Carter whom you've never even met or heard of in real life isn't suspicious, right? Weird, maybe, but nothing bad.

>>1099603
Been trying to prove if he is real or not perhaps its some bullshit about the timeline not being aligned so he calls years in the past ..... bust out the dream journal write what you can and show it to him

Marlene Collins 2024/11/16(Sat)15:56 No. 1099872 ID: 92a30c
File 173180137458.png - (153.02KB , 550x500 , 046.png )

>Why wouldn’t you explain your vivid dreams? Just say Carter isn’t real.
>I'm sure Seb trusts you enough to let you explain to him about the dreams you've been having.
Marlene: Well no, he’s not a friend from work. He’s not actually real.

Seb: Oh?

Marlene: I’ve been having these vivid dreams; he shows up in them. Last night I told Maebe about a stranger named Carter. A Nubian fellow. We’ve met several times in the dream by now--and there’s some confusion to whether he’s real or not.

Marlene: I encourage him to contact me. I know it’s crazy saying it out loud. But he hasn't reached out to me in the real world.

Marlene: I dunno what I’m saying, really. I promise I’m not insane. It’s just... a weird week--weird but nothing bad.

Seb: What happens with him?

Marlene: We just talk. Walk around. He’s like any normal person. We’re in some orange landscape that’s somewhat heavenly, but something doesn’t ever seem right. Maybe he’s from the past or the future. Or a robot. Maybe I’m a brain in a jar. It’s vague and I've been trying to figure out how that world works.

Seb: Is that what started the sleepwalking again?

Marlene: Perhaps.

Marlene: I’ve been trying to make sense of it. So I keep a dream journal over there. In fact, I should write down what I saw before I forget important details.

Chapter 4: Your Own Ghost Running Away With the Past Marlene Collins 2024/11/16(Sat)16:01 No. 1099874 ID: 92a30c
File 173180171463.png - (223.73KB , 550x500 , 047.png )

Seb: I hope it’s not the onset of a brain tumor. Or those urban legends of people having nightmares.

Seb: I read once, that there was an old man whose deceased wife was buried. And he had nightmares of her trying to escape her coffin, gasping for air. Panicking. He begged the cemetery the next day to exhume her grave and found her body with scratch marks on the inside--clawing to get out.

Seb: Say! You should write a story about that!

Marlene: Yeeeeeeah. When I’m out of ideas, I’ll consider it.

He skims over my notes in the journal. He tries to understand but it’s still all a dream. He gets to eldritch robot nightmares and merely shrugs.

Seb: Maybe it’s something that’s been bothering you for the past few days. I dunno, honey. If it gets any weirder you should see a doctor or something. The brain is a weird thing.

Marlene: I suppose I could keep that in mind, then.

It won’t be long after when Seb dresses up and hops to work. I make cereal and surf the internet on my laptop. Everything was recorded from the dream into my journal by now.

It’s going to be a new week for me. I’ve got shit to do.

Summary (Real World) Marlene Collins 2024/11/16(Sat)16:09 No. 1099875 ID: 92a30c
File 173180216479.png - (173.87KB , 550x500 , 048.png )

Outside the dream, Marlene’s life is quite mundane. But life could be turning a new leaf. Throughout her day there are moments where the dream affects her perception, even if subtly. This is a list of her usual route:
--
A) Brook’s Clove Coffee Shop
Here, Marlene stays in touch with her childhood best friend: Emmylou Meadow. Often times for advice, they generally talk about their ongoing lives. In subsequent visits Emmylou introduces her newest boyfriend Frederick Glaser who at first irks Marlene--but first impressions are forgiven.

B) Mneumonic Gaps
A garage band in Maebe Oberman’s house, with Maebe on drums, Robin Bhest on bass, and Nick Rudder on lead guitar. Marlene agreed to draft some songs for the upcoming Rock Roster at Steel City in a month’s time (Not an actual city, it’s a speakeasy bar where local bands perform). They decided to communicate through the Harmony app to share ideas and guitar riffs.

Marlene writes nonsense lyrics from the dream and attempts to shuffle them into a coherent song. There is hope that completing it will get the ball rolling for her creative mind.

C) Silenus Industries
Lastly, the town of Springford’s slice of Hollywood. Marlene had experience as a secretary and had even submitted scripts, yet most were rejected. Her anxiety increases around Nicodemus Booth, her old boss. Despite her hasty quitting, he still invites her back to work. Somehow she was influenced to kiss him--which she immediately regrets and clears the air. Perhaps effects of the dream seep into her emotions.

Marlene is friends with a couple screenwriters, particularly Dolly Cameron. Assisting her, Marlene has found an unfinished script called Jason in the Kaleidoscope. Struck with inspiration, she promises to return working as a writer as long as she can finish the story. From the sounds of it, Mr. Booth considers the offer. She starts again this week.

AUTHOR: Until further notice, each chapter will condense a week’s worth of activity/events.

Where should Marlene go first?
A) Brook's Clove to relax and chat with Emmylou
B) Mneumonic Gaps to work on her song
C) Silenus Industries to work on scripts

C is for Creativity, Celuloid and Cash!

Let's make those trashy blockbuster script into absolute works of... uh, palatable cinema.

It's time to grit those teeth and head for Silenus Industries. You got a script to finish and find a group of others to get invested in it with.

A) the dream has brought up memories of your childhood friends, maybe worth seeing her.

Have to run into Maebe at some point and tell her to stop making your boyfriend think you're crazy.

>>1099875
C) need to do our job in a way he may be after our collective cunts but we still got a job to do

>>1099895
This, calm before the storm.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)13:59 No. 1100655 ID: 92a30c
File 173317675004.png - (252.52KB , 550x500 , 049.png )

>Let’s make those trashy blockbuster scripts into absolute works of palatable cinema.
It’s pretty rainy waiting for the bus. I think the weatherman says it’ll last a good while. April showers, I suppose. I make sure the basin is empty before leaving.

Arriving at the studio, I think about what may have happened with that script. I have my old ID--and wonder if I’m still in the system. Nevertheless Lars lets me through. Muscle memory guides my legs through the lobby and into the elevator. It feels weird how automated my path is to the correct floor.

And here are the writers.

Bo: My, my, look who has returned.

Roy: Crawlin’ back to us, huh? Heh heh.

Marlene: Hey guys.

Dolly: Let me be the first to welcome you back, Marley! The second time’s the charm, right?

Marlene: I guess I am back, huh? Hopefully I won’t freak out like last time. I’ll have to see what Mr. Booth has in store for me.

Dolly: Oh! Yeah, Nico wants to see you in his office before you start your day. He’ll probably pit you with us. You sure know how to spot the good stuff, don’t-cha?

I utter an awkward chuckle.

Marlene: Wish me luck, then.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)13:59 No. 1100656 ID: 92a30c
File 173317677594.png - (185.19KB , 550x500 , 050.png )

I patiently wait outside Booth’s office. Someone else has just finished a meeting. The stranger notices me and pauses a moment.

Stranger: Huh. You must’ve been the one on the phone. Marlin, right?

Marlene: Marlene. But close enough. Do I know--?

Stranger: Oh! It’s me, Devon. Devon Neiro! You were the one who read my father’s story. I met your boss to sell the rights to the script.

Devon: I drove all the way here during the weekend to negotiate.

Immediately I shake his hand.

Marlene: Right! Devon! Of course! It’s nice to meet you in person! It sounds like it... went well!

Devon: Oh yeah. There are still a couple of things to sign but it’s in your hands now.

Devon: I still want to thank you for honoring my father--at least a part of him could live on in some way.

Devon: I read a bit of it; it’s not really my thing and it’s hard to follow in some parts. But you seemed thrilled and invested on the phone; maybe you’ll make something of it. I’ll just stick to crime dramas.

Marlene: It’s still good to meet you. I won’t keep ya from where you’re going. Have yourself a good day.

Devon: Let me know when the movie’s out, alright? Heh heh. You take care, Marlene.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)13:59 No. 1100657 ID: 92a30c
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I walk in Mr. Booth’s office. He’s glad to see me--we make with quick pleasantries before I segue into work-mode.

Marlene: Where’s my station, boss?

Nico: You’re in the middle of a big change at Silenus. We’re wrapping up shows before the quarter’s end; the distributors we collaborate with will drop any IPs which failed to garner attention. And like I’ve said before, I’m being forced to... reevaluate... my current staff.

Nico: Out with the old, I suppose. It’ll bring in a slew of new ideas that you may have a chance to hop on.

I’m silent, but I notice how I’m standing at attention nodding at each sentence. He notices his ramblings-on.

Nico: If you haven’t heard by now, I convinced the higher-ups to purchase that script.

Nico: It wasn’t easy.

Nico: But they were mildly agreeable in the end--I’m expecting your best in this story. I’m not going to be made a fool for entrusting you. Is that understood?

Marlene: Yes. Thank you... sir.

Nico: My associates won’t let this relax either. Amused by my vouch for this unfinished, convoluted script, they ordered the whole thing to be finished within the next four weeks.

Marlene: Four goddamn weeks?

Nico: Hey, at least it’s partially done. You can work with what you’ve got.

Nico: But that’s where the favor ends. You’ll work on it as promised, but...

Nico: I’ve paired you with another writer to speed things along.

Marlene: What?! I mean--who?

Nico: I’ve passed the script around; and I’ve appointed Ms. Cameron as your co-writer.

Marlene: Dolly?

Nico: Yes! You two will work just fine. Also, feel free to sift through any more golden scripts we have lying around on your free time.

Nico: But I must usher you on out. I’m about to be flooded with calls.

Nico: And Marlene... welcome back.

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)14:00 No. 1100658 ID: 92a30c
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Ushered I was. I hurry on back with the script and a notebook. I’m a bit concerned whether Dolly felt the same as I did reading the story. I’m not saying she aint clever at writing, but I feel Kaleidoscope is my baby now.

Am I going to be too obsessive? I’ll have to keep an open mind.

Marlene: So you’ve read the script, huh? And you have no problem understanding the plot?

Dolly: I’ve already caught up with it! The story is interesting and all--but I think we ought to dumb it down. Ya know?

Dolly: The average audience can barely remember what happens every twenty minutes when they see a movie. It’s our job to captivate and appeal to as many people as we can!

Marlene: I get that, sure. But... maybe it can still be a bit... ambitious?

Dolly: Let’s just get the basic plot points down first; then we’ll slap whatever ambition we have saved on top if there’s time!

Dolly: We’ll zoom through the script. And before you know it, it’ll already be May!

Marlene Collins 2024/12/02(Mon)14:44 No. 1100670 ID: 92a30c
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Dolly: So we have our inciting incident and a bit of act 2; we need to keep the situation rising to a climax!

Dolly: Have you thought about an ending yet? I think we should just get that out of the way. Then fill everything in-between.

Dolly: Jason is stuck in a timeloop or something. Right? Let’s get the easy solutions out of the way. I can propose a few things to get us started:

>a. Dolly: It can all be just a dream I guess! Uh, about a kid who needs to make a hard decision! That’s just one that comes to mind first.
>b. Dolly: Or Jason is actually in a coma and has to find his way back to reality!
>c. Dolly: Or it’s the future and an old Jason wears a machine to recall and change memories!
>d. Dolly: Maybe Jason can learn how to solve an equation to turn back time! Talks to another Jason, even! Somehow.

>e. Marlene: I can think of one better... [___]
>f. Marlene: I’d rather just pick up where the story left off, first...
Last Chapters
[>>/questarch/1068908] Vodka & Soda
[>>/questarch/1070316] Conflicting Memories
[>>/questarch/1073379] The Prom
[>>/questarch/1080630] The Anchor (Kaleidoscope Rules)

Hmm, maybe Jason manages to contact other versions of himself, probably at another turning point in each of their lives, and begins steering them towards a better path, better choices.

Then he realizes that each time a Jason makes a good life choice, other worlds splinter from that timeline, worlds in which Jason took a different route.
He begins dispairing, thinking all his choices are meaningless. Then he has an experience, in the climax of the story, that drives him to realize that changing all lives and also the cosmos is more than any one person can do, but he still influenced the other Jasons a little and there is one life he can truly change.

His own.

And then he goes back. Back to his original body, permanently injured from the car crash, and his life somewhat worse for the wear because of it. But Ellz is there.And so are his friends. Memories come back to him of what his life has been since his first jump. It wasn't perfect, and he often hesitated and doubted himself, but he made the most of his limitations.

Ellz notices he's startled and ask him what's wrong.
Jason, now finally resolute in the life he wants to live, says he wants to go somewhere special with her and his buddies on vacation after graduation and ask her what place she would love to visit. Ellz then says "Hmm, I'm not sure...

What would your choice be?"

Aaaaand scene!

Jason learns that there's more to life than just his little multiple-choice life. In all his choices up to that point, he kept failing to make the one choice he should have pursued: finding out where his power came in the first place.

Jason is not a hero. There is no version of him that is a super-soldier, a teen genius, a born leader, or even a lucky guy. But he is there, where he is needed. And that ends up being enough.
This time, Jason lets himself get hit by the car, and in a fit of truly spoiled, childish rage, points all his hostility at the driver, keeping him tied up by Jason and his friends long enough for the police to arrive and discover that the driver was a monstrous slave trafficker; there is a little girl in his trunk, tied up and barely able to breathe. Jason is left with crippling injuries but 'somehow' always manages to pull through the surgeries, eventually taking an experimental one that enhances his mobility. It turns out that Jason originally didn't have superpowers, but the girl in the trunk did. The people who kidnapped her only knew that she was 'abnormally lucky' and decided to sell her to an ex-president some big corporate CEO, yep, most definitely. She visits him in secret a few times, telling him about the secret world behind the curtain, all the people with powers that are constantly exploited, and how, in a fit of desperation, she felt him about to die and tried to give him all the myriad ways of living at once so he'd come back knowing how to position himself to not get splattered.

When his mom is finally able to visit, Jason insists on adopting the girl, who is now in an orphanage. She ends up being troublesome at times - every time Jason tries to date one of the girls, she ends up hitting on them as well, encouraging a threesome no matter how discomforted the girls get - but this time, Jason and his sister aren't alone.

There's a big scene at the end where Jason and his sister are represented with little lights, and the city opens up to reveal sparse lights throughout - that, no matter how many bad choices you make or how many things you regret, as long as there's a world around you, there's always a way to find happiness - you just have to choose to look for it.

Oh and the cyber master from your dreams puppeteering a few people in the city from above.

>>1100693
Something along these lines seems right. What he needs to learn is that the other timelines he's been visiting are just as valid, there isn't a 'right' one. You have to live with your decisions and improve your life from there, not obsess on how things could have been different.

>>1100670

C'mon, Dolly, we've got TONS of media that deals with weird time-jumping stuff. Several movies have done it already, so why not stick to the central theme?

It's real. Jason has died multiple times, but as one path closes down, a new one opens if he can just hold out long enough to see it to the end.

And isn't that the point? To keep going no matter what?

Because even if it feels like you're living a dozen different nightmares and you can't remember which of it was real, you'll always be the one sure constant in your world.

If anything, it feels almost moralistic; you've got one life, so you can either wait for things to change or you can make your best attempt at living it.

No Dolly, the point here isn't "going back in time", it's learning from failures and moving forward! You are right though, establishing what his end goal is now rather than later on is going to make getting there a lot clearer.

The end goal for Jason should be pictured around him and his true love finally being able to stay together. A good way to start drawing in the audience more could be to start kicking up the action. Most of the bad things going on to Jason were focused on him directly. What if now things start to turn, it's bad things happening to the people around him and he has to use his knowledge to save them!

Whatever ending we choose, I feel his mother has to play a huge part in it. It's been established that she is an anchor to his timelines in some way.

Jason can't win, every time he tries to recover, things change to make it worse. He's given up, and walks onto the highway, intending to finish what was started all those years ago. He faces the oncoming truck that should have killed him in his youth. His brother shoves him out of the way. Roll credits!