text | un: quibbler

[creidim]

[ Following this broadcast on the network.] ]

Hello, everyone. This is Luna Lovegood.

I've left this open to all, but I'm reaching out those who knew Deerington. I thought this may be the best way to reach out, it's hard to know how many of us are left who came directly from the Dream. Another Sleeper has mentioned that they've been able to contact Ramona in Sleepy Town, something I didn't even know possible. But it has made me wonder about something.

How many of us died in the Dream? And of those, how many of us went through the door and received her gift? The one to transform into a deer?

Ramona's magic that helped us with death and coming back is gone. We don't have our antler tattoos anymore. But maybe we can still become deer, maybe that power is still there in all of us.

I know we all have our own thoughts and opinions on the ones we voted over on their fates. What happened to Ramona Derwin has never sat right with me. I think were wrong to Awaken her. I know it turned out to be what a lot of people chose for her, but... to condemn her to Beasthood? I suppose I could hardly blame her fear of returning to being nothing more than a fictional character, to the uncertainty of existing if she went back. Julia made her real. I wished she'd been Sacrificed.

I wish things could be different. I want to tell her I'm sorry.

Maybe the only way I can tell her is if I'm a deer, but I don't know if it's possible to become it again. My Death Statue is in Sleepy Town, but the danger is too great to go there again. I have to find another way, if I can.

Comments

Text UN: ClickClickBloom CW: We got some depression in here.

[onekindsoul]

[Ruby's only been back in her right mind for a little while now. She had seen D's message and she was still wary of anything Ramona related. At the same time she was having trouble trusting herself after what she had done in her and Ange's own little world.

There was a certain appeal in being able to turn into a deer again.

She hadn't been able to decide what to do with Ramona back in the dream. And maybe that's why this hit so close to home right now.]

I died once in the dream. I had become a deer and had a statue.

I don't know exactly how I can help, but I'll do what I can if you need it.

[creidim]

[ Oh, Ruby. ]

Thank you, Ruby. I have every faith in whatever help you can give me.

Have you ever tried to become a deer again here in Trench? Or it might have happened by accident?

[ There's a pause before she asks: ]

How are you doing? And it's alright to say 'not good' if that's how you are.

[onekindsoul]

[That wasn't exactly the sentiment Ruby had in her abilities right now. But it made her feel a little better to hear it.]

I'll do what I can.

I haven't tried or had anything happen here. More out of not thinking about it more than anything. I had only done it the once back at home.

Do you think there could be something in common with how the tattoos worked and the bonds that we have here? Both do leave a permanent mark.

[She's just throwing out ideas at the moment. And there's a longer pause before she replies.]

I'm fine. It's nothing I can't handle.

[She was in fact, not fine.]

Text; UN: Cuddlebunny

[lightthedarkness]

I died by the lake in Deerington during October.

[creidim]

I hate how Deerington ruined October for so many of us. I'm sorry, Usagi.

Did you go through the door to see Ramona at any point after that?

text | un: graham crackers (threadjacking encouraged! he's asking about ppl's antler tattoos)

[possessum]

( Luna definitely already knows anything he could say here, but this is a good way to connect with the others who might still be left from Deerington. It's so strange to think how few there are. )

Hey guys. Peter reporting in
I died too. Once

It was close to when the Dream ended. I never went through the door and got Ramona's gift, so I don't know if it's possible I could turn into a deer or not, either way.

Speaking of the tattoos.... where were you guys' at? If you want to share. It's cool if you don't.

Mine was on my stomach. It was really big.

[creidim]

You raise an interesting point: if seeing Ramona through the door was needed. Or if people might have gotten the gift anyways with simply dying in the Dream.

Also for those here, for reference: my tattoo was on my ankle. :) I kind of miss it, actually.

Text UN: ClickClickBloom

[onekindsoul]

My was on my right leg. On the outside of my thigh.

Used to wear a pair of tights that had a rose around the same place.

Not sure if they knew that when they picked it out.

But kind of a weird coincidence.

i had to

[shiro2hero]

my back
where the waistband of your pants would go

text; un: price is right

[tagartist]

my left rib cage it was pretty baller actually

Textt; un: darkness

[survivalthroughhate]

I had mine diagonally on my right shoulder. It was a rotting deer skull and rather small since I don't exactly have a lot of room for more tattoos than I already possess.

[He had his intricate black tribal designs spaced evenly about every two to three inches apart on his body already after all.]

un: eudaimonikos | text

[eudaimonikos]

I died in that one October too.
It was somewhere near the edge of town, I think. Usually I've got a better memory than that, but I wasn't doing too great at the time.
I did learn to do the deer thing though.

[creidim]

That's quite understandable. I'm curious as to wonder just how many of our death statues remain in Sleepy Town.

I imagine you became a very fancy deer. Have you ever done it here in Trench?

text; @skywalker

[facultative]

I did. Maul.

[Which is probably enough detail just with that.]

I don't know about turning into deer though.

[creidim]

I see. I'm sorry.

[ Yes, very much so. ]

It was quite a strange experience, but I believe everyone who can become deer had the same experience of meeting Ramona. You would go to the Death Fields a second time, through a door and into a space where Ramona would be.

Did that happen for you?

Text - UN: Onerthes

[onerthes]

I will spare the world my opinions of Ramona Derwin today, though I will yield that her current state is worse than I would have subjected to her, had I had the means. Her state is a torture.

[She would have just killed her.]

Regarding the doorway, yes. I did gain that capacity, though I only ever used it the first time that the doorway became available, and more by accident. I found that it to be dangerous and weakened my will to be 'myself.' I became more and more an agent of Ramona's will to survive.

I do not know that this would be the case here. Ramona's magic is gone, and the Moon Presence is free of her influence. Our resurrection appears to be biological and blood-related, so I do not know if it is as dangerous as it was in the nightmare. I would be careful, but it's your choice.

I will never again touch anything I associate with Ramona or her magic.

[creidim]

It is, and yet she has very little interest in coming back from Beasthood according to D and Snow White.

I understand. I know plenty of people have very differing opinions of her compared to me, some will want nothing more to do with her. I suppose knowing I'm merely fictional in some worlds gives me more reason to empathise with her. We're both from stories read to children. It was one of the first things Newt told me when I first came to Deerington.

She might not have deserved to be rid of her actions completely freely, but she didn't deserve this. She deserves an apology, from me at least.

It's worth trying. I didn't mind being a deer, but I do agree it's not an ability to be used for long. It took effort to remember myself. I will be careful with this.

private text; un: ushiromiya

[entreats]

[ Ange is still definitely not up to talking in public after everything that happened last month. But still-- the fact that one of her friends is posting this message, coupled with it being aimed at people who were in the old Deerington..

It'd feel bad to not respond. Hence why she just sends a private message instead. ]

I don't think it's fully fair to blame ourselves entirely for the outcome of that vote, no matter who we're talking about. The options we were presented with were vague at best and misleading at worst.

I hope you don't feel too bad about it.

[creidim]

[ She understands. Luna very much appreciates her reaching out. ]

And yet they were votes in our hands, regardless. There's still a degree of responsibility.

But I do agree. I think with Julia especially. We thought we were doing the kindest thing for her, and her dying meant this was the door we opened.

text; un: rosestorm

[thunderingcourage]

I remember, and yeah I died. [Failing to save someone she cared about who went on to kill so many others before dying.]

But if you really think the statue will help. Tell me where it is and I'll go get it and bring it back. It shouldn't be a problem at all.

[creidim]

You then went through the door, too?

That would make things so much easier, but the statues are unfortunately immovable. A friend of mine died in his home, and his statue remained in a very inconvenient place from then on.

text; UN: shiro

[shiro2hero]

Same here.

Death in the dream. Deer statue.


I don't think any of us realized exactly what would happen to any of the guardians. Some of them, I feel, got lucky.

I think it's possible to be a deer again, for what it's worth. I know someone who did.

[creidim]

I do have to agree. Other than the vague idea with Cynthia asking to be Sacrificed being the best option for her, and Doug just wanting to go home. I know certainly Mother Superior tried to use that to our advantage, too. Had we not listened to Cynthia, things likely would have turned out very different.

You mean someone became a deer here in Trench?

Text; un: darkness

[survivalthroughhate]

I died three times while in the dream. A most unpleasant experience. I went through the door and could become a deer but I never received a deer statue at the spot of my first death.

[Maul had never been able to be at ease or come to terms with his deaths in Deerington.]

More important to your curiosity is that I've been researching a way to reach that place where Ramona lies to access the gift again. I initially thought since she'd been corrupted that such a thing was lost. But in theory, since that version of her is in a separate dimension that is detached from the concept of time, there is always going to be a version of her there that is able to help us, regardless of what happened to her in the present.

[creidim]

That's... strange. Where was your first death?

[ Someone not receiving their death statue is a new one to her. A little unsettling, too. But... yes, she's curious as to what else he says. Sigh. For the interest of pursuing things, looks like she'll have to discuss it with Maul. ]

It's an interesting theory. We're not so disconnected from other places as we might assume. I would arguing dying might send us back there, but we are disconnected from Ramona's magic. Dying is different here, from what I'd heard.

If I were to guess, perhaps gaining access might be possible from Sleepy Town itself. Maybe if there were some way to reconnect to that dimension, some kind of location magic? Something to re-establish the link?

On the other hand, maybe it's possible to use the ability again without even needing to reconnect with that version of Ramona again. A gift given is still that.