[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

[franciscoramon]

[ It's... kind of nice, to hear that. Cisco doesn't talk about them much, but it's much much more common for people to tell him that he ought to be more patient with them, that he should find a way to patch things up and be closer, because family is family and it's all-important, apparently. So it's good, for once, for somebody to just say 'fuck that'. And it makes him a hell of a lot more inclined to be honest about how things had been. ]

pretty much. i mean there's a reason i don't talk about them a whole lot.
they decided a long time ago that dante couldn't ever do anything wrong and i couldn't ever do anything right
nothing was ever gonna make them change their mind.

but engineering is awesome, even if they never got that.
i am proud of it. i LOVE what i do. i wouldn't give it up for anything.

it was a neat gadget, huh?

[umbrastaff]

[To Lup, who never knew her own parents, feels like just because someone gave birth to another person, they didn't have the right to control them. It was one of the reasons she and Taako moved around a lot as young children ('Why can't you two be more like the other kids!') and why the IPRE was a family to her.

It seemed even worse to her that family would not appreciate you for the person you are instead of trying to change them. Cisco had talents and shit he loved. That stuff should be embraced.

(Reasons why she let Barry science for days without paying attention to anything else, because it was what he loved to do.) ]

that's my cisco!

yeah, it was awesome! You gotta tell me about other stuff you made!

[franciscoramon]

that is a very dangerous proposition you just made
i'll talk your ears right off if you let me.

[ Cisco's always happy to talk about the things he's invented and created, but it seems only fair to give Lup a little warning what she's getting into. He doesn't want her stuck listening just because she was trying to cheer him up after finding out his family was a little bit shitty. ]

[umbrastaff]

I am literally earless right now, dude
plus I love hearing about stuff that makes my friends happy

[She's lich-married to a science/magic nerd, she loves hearing all the details.]

Barry and I worked together, I might even understand shit.

[franciscoramon]

good point.
and you better believe i'm taking a screenshot as proof for when you get sick of hearing me talk

[ But... maybe she really is interested, after all. And he would much rather talk about his ongoing projects than dwell on Dante or his parents and their shittiness. He's living on a moon in another universe, after all. Whether or not he was good enough for them shouldn't matter anymore. ]

right now i'm working on some gauntlets that'll help me control my powers
they help focus the resonance of the vibe blasts i shoot outta my hands
so i can hit stuff and not fuck it up too badly
(unless i want to)
you ever wanna take a look all you gotta do is say the word

[umbrastaff]

Dude that is really cool! I would definitely like to take a look at that
Are you using some kind of energy in it or is it more of a stabilizer?

[She has ideas.]

[franciscoramon]

anytime. they're at my workshop.

stabilizer only
i got all the energy i need
and then some
(and then some more......)

[ Cisco's problem has never been a need for more power. In fact, it's the opposite. He can feel how much power he has, how much damage he could do with all of it, and it scares the shit out of him. ]

[umbrastaff]

Nah, I mean more like using an energy current to avoid any fluctuations. You probably have something fancier than crystal conduits, though.

[The nerd side is showing.

It's a little worrying that he mentions so much energy, though.]

What levels are we talking here, Cisco?

[franciscoramon]

oh!
that's actually a great idea.
not 100% sure i know why you mean by crystal conduit which means you're definitely gonna have to stop by my workshop like asap

[ As for the other question, well... it's scary, even talking about it. But Lup deserves the truth. ]

i don't know.
i told you that stuff with my powers is complicated
i haven't really tested it.

i've only done the vibe blast thing a couple times when monsters were attacking me
and then they weren't attacking me anymore

but... it feels like a lot.
i mean i know that probably sounds conceited or naive and maybe so but
i don't know
it feels like whole lot.

[umbrastaff]

[Her phone goes 'bing' several times, and she reads through what he wrote with a curious look on her spectral face.]

I'll come give you some of Barry's ideas of containing the Light of Creation. It might help.

[Still, it seemed to be on dangerous territory here. Lup didn't know much about how Cisco's powers worked, after all.]

it's not conceited or naive, my dude
you're still learning, right?

[franciscoramon]

right.
let's call it a work in progress.

that would be really helpful.
thanks

and thank you for the rest of it, too
i know you were only kidding about the i'm your sibling now stuff but
it means a lot

[umbrastaff]

You are always welcome, Cisco.

Always.