{ lindwormeo and juliet }

[dreamposts]

LINDWORMEO & JULIET

It is the third dreamshift, and when everyone rouses and becomes aware of their situation, they find themselves dressed in Verona, a gothic city where night reigns everlasting and violence lurks around every corner. Not because of crime, but because of the two main families, the Montagues and the Capulets, everlasting feud. Fights break out almost every other minute and peace is hard sought after. However, peace is perhaps on the table, for the Capulets are hosting a grand masquerade in a gesture of truce. But it's difficult when one of Montague's sons is cursed as a Lindworm, one of the key reasons why there is a feud to begin with.

"But that's not really all that important," a voice echoes around them. It's a voice different from the tapirs that they've grown accustomed to, and after another moment it chimes in again. "Up here my fair little dreamwalkers."

And lo, high above in the permanent night sky is a moon so full and bright that it almost feels as if it could swallow them whole. After learning about the Story Eater's actions against Songerein's moon, the appearance of a face would certainly alarm many. But then the face seems to recede before it changes into a full person holding a quill and manuscript.

"Greetings! I am William Shakespeare and you are now within my own dream, a dreamscape I believe you call it. My works can be found in many places and in many worlds. Yet that accursed Story Eater has been devouring my masterpieces! I must now pen them all over again, but one of its minions is invading my mind and altering everything and I refuse to become a brainless puppet like Marlowe. I have isolated it within this place of my own design based off of Romeo and Juliet. However it seems after my reading of the Lindworm King, my visions have been affected a bit, but no matter. A playwright must find inspiration where he can!

But it is now up to you to see this play through completion. Doing so will help those outside draw out the fiend through the accumulated dreamotion energy, and if you could give it a few stabs that will help as well. Not all of you need to partake in my play, and I have already chosen my leading actors and actresses. You should find a brief copy of the script on your person, but you may act however you wish. However, I should warn you—this is a tragedy, so deaths are expected. But fear not, you will leave this dreamscape perhaps a bit tired, but unharmed. It's all a dream after all.

Now that should cover it. I look forward to seeing how everyone's tragic romances will play out. It may give me material for my next masterpiece!"

And just as suddenly as he had appeared, Shakespeare disappears from the moon, leaving it to loom brightly over the otherwise dark city.

I. GENERAL PROMPTS

Reminder that those cast as Romeo and Juliet can participate in most of these prompts, but the timing would be set early on before they move onto their designated scenes.

A. Family Feud. Everyone in Verona is randomly split in allegiance between the Montagues and the Capulets, and whenever they meet there is some kind of tension. It could be violent, hostile, passive, petty, or even attraction. Surely Romeo and Juliet aren't the only ones who can love across the aisle. If not pit against each other to fight or exchange snide comments, opposing parties can also work together to deal with Erasers posing as creepy looking family members/soldiers/knights/etc.

» BONUS: TO ARMS. A city-wide family feud makes for good business if you’re in the weapons-and-armor trade. Gather materials to help smithies in creating armor and weapons.

B. Masquerade. Almost as if it's the opening act, everyone, both Montagues and Capulets are to attend a masquerade held within the Capulet's ballroom. It's a momentary "truce," and though tension between the families is still rampant, everyone is welcome to wear the finest clothing they can imagine and to partake in the festivities. The masquerade itself is in the ballroom, but there are also gardens and large terraces that guests can go to if they want some fresh air.

» BONUS: PREPARATIONS. Any good party requires a lot of preparation, and all of Verona is abuzz with activity leading up to the big night. Tailors need help getting fabric, jewels, and other baubles to create the finest dresses. Caterers need quality ingredients for the food that will be prepared and served. Someone needs to step up and be the band for the night. There are plenty of ways in which Dreamwalkers can help make the masquerade a success!

C. EXTRA SCENES. There are a few specific "scenes" featuring key characters from the original play. Whether taken voluntarily or "beckoned" by Shakespeare, those who participate will have a little "essence" of the original character. No full personality change, but they might feel certain impulses or find it easier to slip into the role. Note: anyone can fill in the roles of "Romeo" and "Juliet" for the Paris scenes; it is not exclusive to those who signed up for Romeo and Juliet.

1. PARIS V. JULIET. Paris meets and dances with Juliet, taking a fancy with her. With his arrogance believing he can win over the Capulet princess, throughout the night he attempts to woo Juliet, either in the ballroom or the gardens just outside. Juliet must not be swayed! (Or maybe a little swayed, but try not go totally off-book here). Juliet can shut down Paris however they want. (This scene happens during or immediately after the "Masquerade", but before the Balcony scene.)
   
   
2. PARIS V. ROMEO. Paris bullies his younger brother about the Lindworm curse on a near-constant basis. And to add insult to injury, after meeting Juliet he’s decided that he wants Juliet for himself. Obviously, Romeo is not about to let his stupid mean brother steal the love of his life! They’re going to have to fight this one out, either with words or via fisticuffs. (This scene happens during or immediately after the "Masquerade" but before the "Balcony" scene.)
   
   
3. BENVOLIO'S ATTEMPTS. Benvolio is trying to find a cure for Romeo's curse, and after some research in the library he finds something! Good cousin that he is, he puts the theory to the test immediately. Unfortunately, his attempt backfires and he gets turned into a lindworm (fully or partially) instead. The poor guy is now out of sorts, and he needs protection so that someone doesn't mistake him for some monster and kill him. At least the transformation is only temporary.
   
   
4. TYBALT V. MERCUTIO. The infamous duel. Considering how much their families hate each other, the inciting incident can be just about anything. The original story has Tybalt goading Mercutio into a duel by calling Romeo a villain, Tybalt killing Mercutio, and Romeo killing Tybalt. But no one’s enforcing the particulars very closely here, so players are free to proceed with the fight any way they please. (If this fight does end in one or more deaths, please refer to the event details on how death works within the dreamscape.)

D. Love is a Battlefield. As if there wasn’t enough drama to deal with, a large, winged noctaere can be found throughout the dreamscape firing arrows at the residents, turning them into Erasers. It can summon smaller winged noctaere to fight for it, and if a dreamwalker gets hit by the arrows, they will slowly turn into a lindworm that is full of hate. It's difficult to combat the boss itself, but it can be weakened by defeating its minions and those hit by its arrows. Love of any form will be a powerful counter that will hit the boss as well.

» BONUS: ROSE COLLECTION. In the forests are white and red roses that are hidden under logs and stones. They will sparkle a bit to make them look different than other flowers. They must be collected before the Erasers can get to them. A white rose fed to a lindworm will return them back to normal. Eating a red rose will allow characters to turn into a pink, heart covered lindworm for ten minutes to fly up and try to combat against the winged noctaere or the Erasers.

II. ROMEO AND JULIET'S OBJECTIVES

The following objectives are locked to those who signed up for Romeo and Juliet. Please refer to the notes for all the stipulations and effects characters will experience as the tragic couple. Final reminder that the characters will be aware of the tragic ending as well as reassurance that they will awaken unharmed at the end of their final scene.

Click for objectives.

A. Love at First Sight. Time to get your party-crashing pants on, Romeo, because there is a masquerade that you are not invited to but are attending anyway. Who doesn’t love a good party? If you wear a mask, no one will know it’s you! Here Romeo and Juliet have the opportunity to meet and flirt and make goo-goo eyes at each other. And if they really want to get into the spirit of things, they can go into a laborious metaphor about how holding hands is super hot but kissing is way hotter. (Yes, really.) At this point Romeo's curse is only a partial transformation, something along the lines of scales down one side of his body.

B. Balcony Scene. The time for light flirting is over–this is where Romeo and Juliet get to declare their undying love for each other. Romeo really needs to work it as his brother, Paris, has also made moves on Juliet. There’s some strangeness in the dreamscape at this point that seems to have mistaken Shakespeare for musical theater, so the loving couple must sing their love for one another. With that spirit in mind, the moment should be suitably big and dramatic! Immediately after this scene is when Romeo and Juliet get married, so there’s no reason not to put it all out there. Shakespeare will lend a "helping hand" in giving them knowledge of the lyrics to sing, though they are free to create their own song and freestyle it. (Players can use existing songs or make it up as they go.)

C. Elope. Being the very mature and intelligent lovers that they are, Romeo and Juliet decide to get married after knowing each other for a whole day. Time to get to the chapel, meet with the Friar, and exchange vows. Shakespear will lend a helping hand by providing wedding attire fitting for those who are cast in their role. That's right, every Juliet will have their own special bridal dress, isn't he so considerate? And then it’s time to do whatever it is that newlyweds do, if that's what they are into. Otherwise, Romeo and Juliet will need to return home to prepare for their future.

D. Runaways. Juliet learns that she is being forced to marry Romeo's brother, Paris, which is a problem because she’s already married and also she doesn’t like that other guy anyway. In a major divergence from the source material, Romeo and Juliet decide to make a run for it instead of that whole poisoning-yourself business. It’s just a better idea all around. The goal is to get out of town undetected, which means that this is a stealth mission. Romeo and Juliet must follow a path and avoid getting caught. Whatever it takes to get past the guards and would-be snitches that would turn you in!

E. Find the Cure. Even after making it out so far, fate is against them. At this point Romeo's curse is advancing, so they need to look for the cure. Just outside of town they encounter a very trustworthy set of three witches who provide a list of items for them to retrieve and mix into a potion: rainbow mushroom, feather of a dove, three snails, and lavender. No one said this was going to taste good. However, while it will work temporarily, only Juliet is told that the final ingredient must be the blood of his lover. It's a cryptic message, however they do not specify how the blood is taken. Do they mean just a few drops? Or her life?

F. Tragic Ending. Upon learning of the young couple's running away, the Capulets have declared war with knights out hunting to kill Romeo and bring back Juliet. They are soon found and no matter what they do, death will await them. But how? Players can direct this however they want. Did the soldiers catch them? Did they decide that the whole double-suicide poison thing was a good idea after all? Does one tragically sacrifice themself to save the other? Does Romeo go full Lindworm and eat Juliet? The possibilities are endless. At this point Romeo is capable of turning into a full lindworm if he's taken the cure without Juliet's blood. If he drinks the cure with Juliet's blood, then he will revert to a normal human (teenager) with no extra powers.

[Mod Note: Details on this event can be found here and we request all thread submissions to be made here.]

Comments

[starshower]

[She's up against the railing of the balcony now, with him looming over her and the stars creating a blanket above them. It's a sight to behold—one that has her eyes widening when she catches a glimpse of Eustace with the lights twinkling around him, reflecting in the blue of his eyes as if she were gazing into a whole other new sky within them.

Her words come breathlessly, but in that moment, she's truly starting to believe them. Starting to believe that maybe they could fight back against whatever was written in these stars for them.]

It's up to me...

[flamekthunder]

No one can say what we get to be.

[To make their own choice. To follow what they want to do. He can be compliant and allow himself to be leashed, follow whatever he's told. But when he decides to do something of his own volition, to choose to rebel and follow his own instinct, he's capable of ripping off that leash and run how he wants.

It's the same here. Whatever "leashes" he had allowed to hold him back, to make him cautious and hesitate in moving forward, they're being snapped by this sudden overwhelming feeling and energy that makes him think that maybe they really can change things. That maybe even if worlds separate them, here they're together. So why not take that chance, that opportunity? Why not enjoy what they have now?

Of course, whether those are his true feelings or again an influence of the scene he's caught up in will be a question for him to figure out later.

For now, the music quiets as Eustace leans closer to her, his voice clear but softer and lowering as he nears the end of his verse.]


And why don't we rewrite the stars...?
Changing the world to be ours...

[His lips are now brushing against hers, coaxing and tempting her as the music fades.]

[starshower]

[Several beats go by as the song begins to fade, with Tifa caught up in the moment. Caught up in wanting to drink him in before it's all over, and the way his eyes glimmer with the stars before they, too, begin to dim, until all they're left with is the light of the moon. Where they began.

She feels the brush of his lips against hers, enticing and tempting her, and it pulls the air right out of her, rendering her so out of breath that she can hardly finish the song as she chases him, running hers over his with a maddeningly feathery touch. She feels weak.]

You know I want you.
It's not a secret I try to hide...

[She knows, and so does he. If there was one thing that rang true to both her and Juliet in the song, it was that her longing to be with him was always there, and always present and overbearing in his presence. Tifa can no longer pinpoint the exact moment when she realized it. It could have been when they met at the riverbank and he didn't even know her name, or when he had rescued her from the cold depths of the lake. One thing she is sure of is that she has never wanted him more than she does right now, the script be damned.

It didn't matter, though. At the end of the day, at the end of this all, what they wanted could never be, could it? A lifetime spent together would be torn apart by the unpredictable nature of this world. No matter how hard they fought against it, no matter how certain she was about crossing that line, to hand him her heart to hold and protect, there was only ever one ending for this story, and Tifa could never forgive herself for doing that to him. Not after all this.

Now it was time to finally bring this to a close.]

... But I can't have you.
We're bound to break, and my hands are tied...

[The world around them falls silent. Not even the crickets or the rustling of the wind through the tree's canopies in the gardens can be heard, as if everything has frozen around them. It's only the sound of the breaths they share... as their gazes lock on to one another...]

[flamekthunder]

[Even if he was aware they're still in this scene, because of how closely tied they ended up being to this song, how much of their own emotions came through, he can only hear her words as her own response rather than a scripted one. That this is how she really feels. And it momentarily knocks the wind out of him, the sinking feeling of rejection. Of her pulling back from him. Disbelief flickers in his eyes for a moment before they harden.]

Marry me.

[Yes. Those two words just pop out of his mouth without a second thought. Clearly it would fit the script—it's part of it and he knows it. Yet the way his eyes carry an unknown heat, his voice carrying a harder edge and impulsive passion.

Of course, in his right mind he wouldn't propose to Tifa like that—no matter how they felt it would have been way too soon. They still don't even know where they stand. Perhaps it's Romeo pushing his feelings out. Perhaps Eustace got swept away by it all and refuses her answer, using the line as just an excuse to pry at her further. Regardless, he doesn't let her go and there is determination in his eyes, in his actions and words.]

[starshower]

[A breath catches in her throat, sudden and sharp and unsteady. The words make her head spin, and Tifa tries to fathom whether it was Eustace who'd said it, or if it was written in the script. Romeo and Juliet... they do wed, don't they? After this, their next scene would be that. They would declare their love for one another and run away from this war, as far away as possible, to the horizon she had gazed out to and longed for.

The words were written out on the parchment, but the way he says them and the look in his eyes to match, Tifa wonders.

There's that little spark of hope that ignites within her, spreading like a wave through every neuron and vein and nerve until she has nothing else to do but pull him into a fervent, aching kiss. A kiss that feels as if she's robbed all the power from the stars to fuel the desire behind it. It's with the love of two souls that she pours herself into him, the feeling so overwhelming that she doesn't know herself from Juliet anymore.

And when she needs to come up for air, her eyes flutter open, half-lidded and darkened with her passion and conviction, and she whispers a single word over his lips.]

... Okay.

[flamekthunder]

[The kiss she gives is just as overwhelming as he can feel all the emotions and strength etched within it all. And he eagerly receives it, his arm behind her head, cradling it as he returns it all in full. Maybe it is the two souls using them to reach other, maybe it's their own feelings, maybe it's both.

He doesn't care.

Right now he just wants all of her, the only one so far capable of igniting such fervent heat and passion within him. And when she accepts he kisses her again, a strange feeling of elation soaring through his chest. Of all the many times they've kiss, of laying themselves bare to each other, somehow this seems the most ardent and feverish.

It all would be perfect, a perfect chance for them to escape right now...



If not for the sound of someone calling for Juliet.]

[starshower]

[Her hands find his chest, his neck, his face, and the scales once more. She'd almost forgotten about the curse that had taken him, and her fingers caress them with purpose, unafraid and undeterred by the dark magic lying within them. He could be covered in them, and she would have nothing to fear because he would never hurt her.

Eustace would never hurt her...

She's toying with and pulling apart the lace on the front of his tunic when she hears the voice calling from the other side of the door, and then a knock to follow, but not even that is enough for her to free him from her hold. It becomes frantic and messy, she murmurs into it quietly, pressing her nose to his as close as it'll go and scattering desperate kisses across the corners of his mouth.]

Let's go. Right now.

[She should know better than to suggest such a thing. She wishes she could say no one would have any idea where they went, and that they could leap off the balcony and run as far as the winds would take them, far, far away where they would never be discovered, but that wasn't how this worked. They would know, and they would find them. It's all in the script.

But she doesn't care.

Tifa was with him now, and Juliet had reached Romeo. This is where the story should end. Please, just take them home.

There's another knock, louder this time.]

[flamekthunder]

[He's just as desperate...and frustrated. What is with all these buttons and lace in the back of her dress— His fingers have gripped them so tight he's about to rip the damn things off when the interruption occurs.

Really, he's tempted to follow her words. Hell, he had been trying to get her to leave with him this entire time. They had a whole freaking musical number. But the situation has changed—if she goes missing now, they won't have enough time to get away. So although it pains him, he just swallows her lips into a biting kiss before he pulls back.]

...Not yet.

[With rough breaths his mouth moves to her ear.]

When the moon is at its zenith, when everyone is asleep, meet me where we first met.

[starshower]

Don't be late.

[The knocking grows louder and more impatient.

"My lady, open up."

With a soft, frustrated groan, Tifa nods her head against his for a moment, breathing in as much of him as she can before they part. They'll meet again—it's in the script, but she can't help the pang of fear she feels in her chest at the thought. They've already strayed off the script, even slightly, but what if that's enough to create a ripple effect through the rest?

There's no sense in worrying about it now, though. Not until the time comes.

The door handle clicks, and it begins to creak open.

"Lady Juliet, are you alright? I thought I heard someone—"

Shiva's tits, woman!]

I'll be right there.

[With one last reaffirming look at him, Tifa has no choice but to step away and rush to the door before the lady-in-waiting can catch a glimpse of Eustace. He isn't supposed to be here, and she'll buy him time to make his escape.

And when the moon is at its zenith, she'll find him there, in the gardens where they first met...]