[open] cast an illusion

[franciscoramon]

who: cisco + anyone!
what: memory share event & catch-all
when: october
where: anywhere
warnings: murder, torture, bullying

MEMORIES

Feel free to either have your character text Cisco (or comment on this post but indicate a text message) about having a vision / dream of his past, or to come to where he is to discuss it.

A. MURDER {third person dream OR first person vision}

[watch here

This memory is both intensely traumatic and one that Cisco has relived many many times. Have fun with it if you want, there may be small distortions - sometimes Cisco seems to remember Eobard's demeanor being gleeful, even smiling as he kills him. There may be odd gaps here and there, as well as inconsistencies. Or you can play it totally straight, just as it happened.]

B. VIBING {first person; vision}

[watch here (memory lasts up 'til 2:30)

This memory is likely to come across in jumbled pieces at first, and then more clearly as the week progresses. What's most important is that this memory captures the subjective experience of vibing from Cisco's perspective. So at one moment the memory is of looking down at a microscope slide of sand, feeling intense unease and fear, to hands reaching out and touching the sand. Once that contact is established, there is a swooping feeling, like missing a step going down stairs or plummeting on a roller coaster, and then the world goes static-y, with strange flashes of light, blurred vision, and an eerie blue tint. The warehouse that Cisco sees feels intensely present, though sounds are a bit muffled and occasionally there are jumps and starts. The end of the vision is as jarring as the start, and afterwards there is the confrontation with Stein, and a palpable feeling of panic over being interrupted and witnessed.]

C. PRISONER {first person; vision}

[watch here

This memory is clear and vivid, accompanied by feelings of hunger, exhaustion, frustration. Feel free to supplement after the cutoff at the end of the scene a moment where Cisco begs that he's already made them weapons (the heat, cold, and gold guns) and that's enough, and also Snart threatening to just out and out kill Dante, both of which are confirmed to happen but aren't shown in the clip I linked.]

D. BABY NERD PT 1 {third person; dream}

[ Cisco can't be older than nine or so, and he's adorable. We're talking a criminally cute child. His hair is cut short, which makes his ears stick out a little, and there's a tooth missing his bottom row of teeth. He's small for his age, (looks even smaller because he's wearing what are clearly hand-me-down clothes), all round-cheeked and bright-eyed. He comes bounding up to a bench in what looks like a small neighborhood park. Sitting on the bench is a pretty brunette girl with a high ponytail and big earrings, and a boy that looks a little like Cisco, around five years older. Cisco, bubbly and excited, asks: ]

Hey Val, hey Dante, do you wanna see what I made?

[ Dante, who has a hand very obviously and purposefully perched on Val's knee, glares absolute daggers at his little brother, but before he can say anything she answers with genuine interest: ]

Yeah, totally.

[ Cisco beams and pulls the lid off the shoebox. Inside is rather ugly-looking device, clearly cobbled together with materials from a bunch of different things. But Cisco pulls it out carefully as if it's the most precious thing on earth and holds it up, explaining in a delighted rush, what it is and how he made it. He has apparently cobbled together pieces from a broken cell phone, an old malfunctioning digital camera, and a half-smashed mp3 player, into a frankenstein'd device that can take pictures, make phone calls, and play music, too. Val sits up as he explains, going from indulgent to this kid with his little doodad to genuinely excited. Cisco hands it over to her and she tests it out, taking a photo of the beaming Cisco, clicking a number code onto the pad which makes 'I Could Fall In Love' by Selena play (though only loud enough that she has to hold the thing to her ear like a phone to hear it). Then, she even uses it as a phone, calling her mom, exclaiming that it really works, and hanging up again. ]

Cisco, this is so cool.

[ She jumps to her feet, saying that she's got to go get her best friend from the corner store across the street to bring her to see it, too, and goes rushing off. Cisco just stands there, holding the thing and beaming like he's never been more proud of himself in his entire life. ]

E. BABY NERD PT 2 {third person; dream}

[ (Continued from the last one, for anyone who wants an angst component)

As this scene was happening with Val, Dante was getting more and more visibly annoyed, trying to redirect attention back to himself. As soon as she leaves Dante snatches the device from Cisco, turning it over once or twice, unimpressed. Cisco's face falls, shifting from joy to trepidation, like he knows something bad is going to happen. Dante doesn't disappoint; he tosses the thing in the air and then catches it as it falls. Cisco pleads: ]

Dante, don't!

[ Which, of course, only seems to encourage the older boy. Dante throws it into the air, higher this time, and catches it, but Cisco winces, clearly terrified that he'll drop it. He tries to grab it away from his older brother, but Dante gets to his feet, holding it above his head. ]

Come on, don't be such a fucking girl, I'm not gonna drop it.

[ He tosses it into the air with enough momentum to it goes behind him and he has to spin to catch it. Cisco keeps pleading with him to quit it, trying to wrestle it away from Dante, who only laughs. It's inevitable, what happens eventually. Dante hurls the thing much too high, and it's hard to say, whether he was really trying to catch it or not. Either way, it slips between his hands and crashes onto the asphalt, shattering into about a dozen pieces. Cisco scrambles to pick up all the pieces, but the lens from the camera has shattered and the casing is cracked. ]

Oops.

[ Dante shrugs, sounds absolutely unapologetic. Cisco starts sniffling, fighting back tears as he tries to fit the thing back together. He starts putting the pieces back into the shoebox, wiping tears from his cheeks as they start to fall but saying nothing, not even looking at his brother. Dante, for his part, says scornfully: ]

Seriously, Cisco, it was an accident. You gotta stop being such a sissy all the time. It doesn't look good.

[ Then he walks off in the direction that Val had gone without another word, leaving Cisco to clean up the rest of the mess. ]

OR hit me up on plurk to plot something else!

Comments

for eddie

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco doesn't really know what's happening, yet. It's the night of the 9th, and while he'd seen a couple flashes of some strange stuff during the day, that's not actually all that unusual, for him. Sure, none of them quite felt like the vibes that he's had before - certainly they didn't seem to last as long as usual, and don't seem to be triggered by fear or any other emotion for that matter.

He and Eddie had a quiet dinner in; Eddie goes to bed an hour or so before Cisco, who stays up working, poking at an algorithm he's been working on for the past few days. Eventually, though, his eyes start to hurt from the screen of his laptop and he gives up, crawling into bed beside his boyfriend. He is asleep quickly, with Eddie there all warm and quietly breathing.

Except he doesn't dream. He becomes aware that he's standing in the lobby of the police station in Central City, and Eddie is there, too. He feels... awake. Too awake. But it can't be a vibe - all the telltale signs are missing. Tentatively, Cisco asks: ]

Eddie?

[causational]

[It's been a night of jumbled dreams, off and on throughout the night, hazy and disjointed. That's actually pretty normal for Eddie, when he's in a relationship and the person who's supposed to be in bed with him isn't, for whatever reason. He's never quite settled until that warm, solid weight is in the bed beside him, and things feel safe and complete.

Tonight is no different. When Cisco slides into bed beside him, he wakes up just a little, enough to shift a bit and cuddle up against Cisco with a contented hum and a dopey kiss to Cisco's forehead and temple. A few moments later, and he's gone back to sleep, is dreaming again.

But this one isn't like the ones he'd been having the rest of the night - it isn't hazy, the colours are vivid but not slightly exaggerated like his dreams usually are. It looks...realistic. More realistic than most of his dreams, and he feels alert instead of sleepy. When he turns around, he sees Cisco standing there with him, and blinks, because he dreams about Cisco quite often, but never with such clarity, and Cisco never seems slightly confused about being in his dreams. When he moves to cross over to stand closer, his movements are quick and easy and precise, it isn't like walking through water, the way most of his dreams are.]

Cisco? What's going on? Is this...is this a vibe thing?

[A moment later, he realizes where he is, and his gut tightens, his heart falling a little bit.]

Oh my god. Why are we here?

for lucretia

[franciscoramon]

[ It's been almost a week, since this catastrophe with started. Cisco's had enough dreams where he is suddenly and without warning tipped into someone else's memories that he can recognize it right away. Truthfully, he wonders if his powers aren't a bit of a help, during all this. After all, none of this is really new to him. Sure, some of the particulars are different, but compared to his vibes, these dreams and visions he's had of other people's lives are almost laughably tame. There's no emotional heightening, no feeling of imminent and disturbing realism, and everything he's seen has been the past, apparently, not the future or even present.

So he's somewhat confident that things are going to be alright, when he opens his eyes to what he doesn't realize is a room within Wonderland. What does surprise him, and shake his confidence that this whole thing is going to be a cake walk, is the fact that Lucretia is here, with him. ]

Lucretia?

[ Cisco has only had one shared dream, this last week, and that had been with Eddie. He is, to put it mildly, a lot closer to Eddie than he is to Lucretia - both emotionally but also physically in space, in terms of sleeping arrangements. He'd assumed it was some kind of proximity thing, that the only reason he and Eddie had been in that same dream was because they were in the same bed. But Lucretia is definitely not in his bed, so why...? ]

I think we're dreaming. You recognize this place?

[scholiast]

(Yeah, she recognises this place.

At first, Lucretia thinks it's a nightmare; slightly unusual subject matter, but it was only a matter of time until Wonderland made it into the arsenal of events that her mind likes to use against her. Upon recognising the setting she's frozen momentarily in place, distracted by how real everything seems. The soft mood lighting in purple and blue, the long rectangular room. The fucking wheel that sits innocently on the wall at the end of it, framed by flashing lights; dread curls in her stomach, and for a moment she feels like she might be sick. Not again. Please, not again–

She looks down at her hands uncertainly, but her skin is still aged, wrinkled, and pulls taut when she flexes her hands into fists.

Then somebody says her name and she starts, head whipping about.)

Cisco?

(She sounds just as startled to see him there, mouth scrunched in confusion. So this is a dream? But how is she sharing it with somebody else? Perhaps her brain is feeling particularly malicious tonight. She takes a moment before answering, trying to hide how uncomfortable and anxious she is by straightening up, and patting herself down for her wand, which... she doesn't have. Great.)

I– yes, I do. We're in Wonderland.

for magnus

[franciscoramon]

[ By the time Cisco ends up in a dream with Magnus, the both of them know the score. Which is probably a good thing, because if he didn't, Cisco's pretty sure he would just assume that this place, with its giant faintly glowing mushrooms, was just a run-of-the-mill dream. It's too surreal to be an actual place, right?

Except Magnus is standing there a few feet away from him, getting his bearings. Cisco walks over, rests a hand against his arm. There are people all around them... or at least, Cisco thinks they're people. They're a bit mushroomier than he would have liked, but once he gets over the strangeness, it's... kind of cool. ]

Hey, bud. We're dreaming.

[ A little distance off Cisco sees a few figures wearing protective suits. He gets distracted a few moments looking at them before he turns to Magnus once more. ]

Any of this look familiar?

[ohhmrburnsides]

Oh—hey, man.

[Magnus isn't so surprised to have another weird dream, or really to see Cisco in it. All of his dreams this week have been weird. It takes him a minute to remember the setting, because the amount of time Magnus had spent on this planet was minimal, but he does remember it after a click.]

Yeah, I've been here. I think they called it the Mushroom Kingdom? This is one of those cycles where I died pretty quick, so I didn't spend a whole lot of time here. The air was toxic.

[But that doesn't matter so much in a dreamscape, huh? He spots his companions in their support suits and points them out.]

Hey, there's the gang! You wanna meet my other friends?

text;

[spellslots]

[It's not a dream, this time, it's just Taako standing in the kitchen with a spoon halfway to his mouth so he an test the sauce he's making, when the memory hits. The basement of Star Labs, Eobard, and the whole thing happening from Cisco's perspective, different from their trip to Neverwinter, watching from the outside.

He can feel Cisco's panic as Eobard gets closer, as the trap fails, as two (three?) gunshots ring out and then everything happens very quickly.

When Taako comes back to himself, the spoon is on the floor and the sauce is overheating. Taako fixes up both the mess and the sauce, setting it aside once it's done to pick up his phone and shoot off a quick text.]

Looks like we're even.
Fucking related point, but Barry's kind of a dick, isn't he?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco has no idea what this could possibly be about; he just assumes, in the absence of context clues, that Taako is talking about the ghost problem that's been troubling the city, including a ghost version of Barry, in lich form, saying weird stuff and being spooky and not really himself. Maybe this was supposed to go to Magnus...? ]

???
was this text meant for me?

text;

[wingedman]

[It takes Sam awhile to put the pieces of the vision together. He gets them out of order, little flashes here and there. The scene in what looks like an abandoned warehouse, a woman bound to a chair, tinted in shades of blue. Hands reaching for a microscope slide. Once the whole thing plays out in the proper order, days later, Sam still isn't sure what's going on. But he at least knows whose memory it is.]

Hey so
I think I kinda got one of your memories
Just a heads up

[franciscoramon]

[ This has become pretty much standard procedure (at least, for Cisco) that when he sees something from someone else's life, he lets them know. Just to disclose it, as a courtesy. He appreciates that there are clearly a few people out there doing the same.

He's doesn't really appreciate knowing that Sam saw some slice of his past. It's going to drive him absolutely crazy if he doesn't know, so he just asks: ]

what was it?

[ And pretty much braces himself for the worst. ]

text @lightemup

[umbrastaff]

Your brother is cancelled. I'm your sibling now.

[franciscoramon]

[ What a uniquely awful text message to receive. This memory nonsense has been going on long enough that Cisco guesses the context pretty easily, but that doesn't help much at all. ]

what did you see?

text | un: iron.man

[buildsomething]

[The whole thing is disorientating, not least because Tony's only caught flashes. The memory isn't his, he can tell that much, but the rest of it? An odd, swooping shift, seeing the world perfectly normally one second and through a filter the next.

It's not until he gets a second of Mr. Ramon? that he knows who's eyes he's seeing out of. It doesn't explain the rest of it, even when he thinks he can piece most of it together, but luckily there is an answer for that. Tony does like answers.]

So stop me if you've heard this one before, but do you get...visions sometimes?

[franciscoramon]

[ KILL BILL SIRENS ]

uhhhh didn't you hear the news dude?
everybody's getting visions this week
it's the hot new trend
🔮

[ ...that's a pretty weak attempt to deflect, Cisco. ]

c | text

[bunnyhopped]

[ Bad enough that this happened with one of Genji's worst memories, and that she seems particularly susceptible to taking on the feelings associated with these visions she - and apparently, a lot of other people - keeps having. Because she spends the rest of the next day almost delirious from the flashes; feeling his hunger when she's eating, exhausted while she's training, everything else. This time, at least, she's certain this isn't a memory of Genji's but once she realizes whose it is, from the sound of his voice... ]

Hey Cisco?

[franciscoramon]

hey hana, sup?

[ It's a neutral enough opening that Cisco doesn't suspect anything is amiss. ]

text; r.lynch (D and E)

[somnioergosum]

I'd say head's up but too late for that. Your memories are leaking. Is Dante your brother cause he's a dick.

[franciscoramon]

[ Well, fuck. Fuck on a number of levels. ]

that's been going around lately. it sucks. on both sides.

he is. what did you see, exactly?

[ If Cisco doesn't know it's going to drive him crazy wondering. ]

for rey

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco confirms the details of where and when he is meeting Rey the night before, checks and double-checks that he has everything packed that he said he would, and anything else within reason that he thinks they might need. 'Within reason' being the key - he's all too good at imagining scenarios where they will need any number of random obscure things, desperately, for survival. But he knows better than to let his paranoia run so rampant that he weighs himself down and ends up with a sore back.

He shows up the next morning, hair tied back into a tiny ponytail (which he thinks looks terrible, but they're going to be scavenging, and he's not too worried about style for now). When Cisco spots Rey, he beams, not just waving a hand but rather his whole arm at her. ]

Hey, Rey!

[ He hitches the backpack a bit higher on his back, asks brightly: ]

Ready to do some exploring?

[talentedscavenger]

[Rey didn't get much sleep the night before. Part of it was from anxiousness, the other part came from the people she met in her dreams. Those dreams being her memories, specific points that made her almost think she was back on Jakku, only to have a voice or someone suddenly appear and peer into those private moments. It was...infuriating to say the least. If she wanted to share memories, it would be on her terms and it would be with people she trusted and not random strangers.

So at least the scavenger hunt would keep her mind off things. She packed some food (high in carbs and protein), water, and a few other materials. Having her Speeder bike suddenly in her possession again would help them out greatly. The net she used to strap the spare parts down was still there too. She left it parked in its spot before meeting up with Cisco.

When she spotted him, a small smile tugged at her lips.]

Hey!

[Yes, this was what she needed. Something to distract herself with and have good company.]

Yes I am, though, I need to show you something first. I think it'll make our travel a lot easier.

[She tilted her head towards the parking garage of the housing building and gestured for him to go with her. A few steps in and there's a speeder waiting for them.]

This is my speeder from Jakku. Don't know why it came through one of the portals but, think it'll be useful on a trip like this.

for eddie

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco isn't expecting to see Eddie, when he walks in the door. It's an hour when he would normally still be down at the station, but he is there, in the apartment. Must've gotten off work early.

Normally, Cisco would shout 'hey!' would start chattering at him and asking why he's around at this hour. Today, though, he merely drops his keys and makes a beeline for Eddie. He is cooking, some onions sautéing on stove, and whole mess of bowls and cutting boards and various utensils all around. He looks busy. Cisco comes up to the kitchen island, dropping into one of the chairs and resting his arms on the table, and then laying his head down on his arms. He doesn't want to interrupt Eddie, or alarm him, but after the day he's had, he doesn't really have the energy for a good façade.

Maybe the right thing to do would be to go up to his room, to wait until Eddie's down making whatever he's making to be around him. But he doesn't especially feel like being alone just yet. ]

Hey, Eddie.

[causational]

[It's been a good week, Eddie's made a lot of collars, and his reward was a half-day today. After everything that's been going on, all the shared memories and ghosts and trauma, he's decided he wants to do something nice, so he's in the midst of making a nice dinner to surprise Cisco and Yuri with when his boyfriend comes home. Prepping onions, mushrooms, and other veggies, roasting potatoes, getting ready to grill some steaks in the pan.

As he's turning to greet Cisco, it becomes immediately obvious that Cisco isn't in a great place - instead of asking why Eddie's home and talking about his day, he comes in and drops his keys, flops into a kitchen chair, drops his head in his arms. Furrowing his brows, Eddie turns off the burner he's using, pulls the pan off the heat, and heads over to the table.

Gently but firmly, he presses his hand against Cisco's shoulder and squeezes.]

Hey. You okay?

text(s) from @ruffboi [re: A]

[ohhmrburnsides]

[1]

remember the dream thing? i got another one. i saw you die.
i just thought you should know that i know, i guess.
we don't have to talk about it. or we can, idk how you deal with things, i'm totally down to talk. that's up to you

[2]

sorry that was... weird and sudden
anyway i'm glad that you're here. like in riverview
and also not dead

[franciscoramon]

[ Boy, this is really a worst-case scenario, as far as texts are concerned. It takes Cisco a little while to calm down enough to respond, and even then it's just to deliver reassurance in the form of facts: ]

i'm not dead anymore.
barry traveled back in time on accident that same day, and things happened differently the second time.
some little thing got changed and the end result was me not dying.
but even though it got erased i still remember because of my powers.

[ That's all he needs to say, right? They can just never ever talk about this now?

Except a couple seconds later he's texting: ]

you saw all of it?

for eddie; pre-party

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco had received the invitation to Magnus Bane's big Halloween party along with everybody else. It had arrived in just enough time for him to plan a paired costume for him and Eddie, at least for the first night. He'd texted his boyfriend telling him that he would take care of the whole thing, and then had indulgently taken the rest of the day off work to looking for what he could arrange. Somethings he had found in shops, a few others he had thrown together quickly, sewn up on the machine he keeps in his workshop.

Cisco's their costumes all laid out on his bed - now all he has to do is see whether Eddie likes them, and maybe make a few minor adjustments. He's freshly showered, hair still a tiny bit damp and very curly, when Eddie texts to say he's on his way home.

Greeting him at the door a few minutes later, Cisco is brimming full of energy and excitement: ]

Ready to get your Halloween on, babe?

[causational]

[Eddie's been so busy with the influx of work that the ghosts and October, which is obviously just as horrific a month in Riverview as it had been back home, that he'd barely even noticed the Halloween parties. It had only been when Cisco messaged him to say that they'd been invited and that if Eddie goes with him, he'll deal with the costumes and everything, at least for the first night.

So, because Cisco so generously offered to do all the legwork, Eddie cheerfully agrees to go to the party with him. As he's coming in the door, he can tell that Cisco had a shower by the smell in the house, and he's grinning as he takes his shoes off and heads inside. Cisco shows up with his face glowing and his hair a big mass of damp curls, and Eddie can't stop smiling.]

If I get to go with you, then hell yes.