[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]

[ Cisco isn't going to try to explain things in terms of neurotransmitters and brain chemistry, not because he believes Rey couldn't follow along (hell, he'd seen just how smart she is when she was talking about building her Speeder) but because he's not sure all the specialized terms will translate, and because ultimately that level of specificity just obscures the truth rather than revealing it. So instead, he says, plainly: ]

You said you had a vision the first time you came across the lightsaber... were you in danger then? Or- or excited? Was your heart racing?

[ Strange, how easy it is now, to tell Rey details about his powers that he has kept secret even from some the few friends who do know. But if sharing will help her to understand herself at all, or offer any kind of connection or comfort, how could he refuse? ]

For me, when I first got my powers, I only vibed when I was scared out of my mind. I've been kinda training since then, trying to get it so I can see stuff even when I'm not panicking. But I think that's common for people with abilities, to discover them during a crisis, even if fear isn't their trigger specifically.

[ Cisco lapses into silence as he listens to her explanation of the Force. In some ways it sounds an awful lot like the multidimensional energy his powers allow him to manipulate, but then she says it is alive. Then again... he can see how it might still be the same, or at least very similar. Different belief system, different experiences, different way of seeing the world... he can see how it would be possible to see something living in all that unpredictable energy. Wally talks about the Speedforce like it is a sentient thing, sometimes. Is it really all that much of a stretch? ]

See that's the thing - I don't know how much of this is different names for the same thing, and how much is actually separate. For me, a wave of dark matter energy changed my DNA, and gave me the power to manipulate multidimensional energy - the energy that makes up the multiverse, that knits it all together. I don't know if that's the same thing as the Force or not. It's not magic, what I do. Not like someone like Taako or Lucretia or anyone at that Institute does.

[ Cisco had heard what she said about someone who was supposed to train her; he doesn't respond right away, but he doesn't forget, and will mull over it a little, wondering if maybe he could help out with that... ]

[talentedscavenger]

I wasn't in danger... [Rey began, thinking back to the moment that changed her life forever. Come to think of it, she hadn't shared this story with anyone. She really was trusting Cisco that much...and in the back of her head, she was hoping it wouldn't backfire on her.] I was in a different area. I was upset with a friend and walked away, I heard a voice calling out for help. I followed it down a level and came across a box that had it. I touched it for a moment and then it felt like I was thrown into one scene..and then another.

[A very intense vision that left her with tears stinging in her eyes. She was scared, confused and had to face a painful memory. Rey listened to Cisco's tale, hanging on his every word. It was a relief to be able to speak openly with someone about this. Though, she sort of recalls their late night texting session, texting back and forth about different foods and people with gifts--Cisco was one of them.]

That could be the case....[She pauses for a moment, trying to recall the exact moment when her connection to the Force had awoken.] When I first called the lightsaber to me, my friend was in danger and I wanted to protect him. Prior to that, someone was trying to get in my head, pry into my mind to look at something. I fought back as best as I could and suddenly...I was pushing him out of my mind and even managed to sense a few things about them. [You're afraid, you'll never be as strong as Darth Vader. That instance took both of them by surprise. Rey didn't think she was capable of such things.

Rey shifts a little, moving to sit down on the bed, tucking one leg underneath her. She follows Cisco's explanation, her mind trying to connect the dots and forming other new thoughts. They could be talking about the same thing...after all, the Force is in everything. Regardless of the galaxy or world, it's alive...it's there, and she's still able to tap into it.]

Maybe it is the same thing? But, I also don't know much about the Force, or what I'm supposed to actually do... The people who were able to use the Force, they're gone. Or at least, most of them are. The person I was meant to find, he's the last one of them. There is someone here though, someone from my world who has an understanding of it so..I'm hoping he'll help me. [Obi Wan said he would, it was just a matter of setting up a time and date to meet up.

In the midst of their talking, she cold feel her stomach start to gnaw on itself. She had something to eat this morning, but with traveling beyond the wall and discovering each other's gifts...maybe it was time to eat something?]

Are you hungry or thirsty? [Because she did have enough water and snacks for them.]

[franciscoramon]

[ Curiouser and curiouser. Cisco listens to the bit about the voice calling her, and that is pretty strange. Maybe it's a question of an enchanted object, or one that has some special connection to Rey, rather than visions like the ones he gets, where the object itself hardly matters. It's the kind of thing he might want to inquire about more and even do a couple of small tests on, later. But for now, he just accepts it, nodding, believing her, validating her experience. He knows that that is the first and most important thing. He isn't going to propose tests and experiments until he knows she won't be scared or angry about the suggestion.

The part about someone trying to pry into her mind makes Cisco look up sharply, meeting her eyes, but he doesn't interrupt. His face is still grave, but a tiny smile tugs at the corner of his mouth when she finishes, and he says, low and admiring: ]

Damn, girl. Gave him a taste of his own medicine, huh? Nice.

[ He doesn't know what kind of power would be involved in pushing someone from her mind. Grodd had been able to put images into people's heads and control them by using brain waves - maybe Rey had been able to manipulate her own, to create some kind of psychic defenses, and even go on the offense. ]

I hope he can. And if he gives you any grief about it - like, if he wants to charge a huge fee or he's just being rude and not wanting to teach you for whatever stupid reason, just lemme know and I'll back you up.

[ It doesn't hurt to reinforce the reassurance that he is on her team, and willing to help, in big and little ways. She deserves a teacher who knows about the sort of stuff she's talking about: what the Force is, and all of that. Cisco can try to help, with science, but the fact is he doesn't know her world.

When she suggests food, Cisco's smile comes back, and he holds up a hand indicating she should wait, goes to his bag and finds those fancy sandwiches Eddie had prepared for them both, all neatly wrapped in saran wrap and looking entirely delicious. He sets one down beside Rey, keeping the other for himself. ]

My boyfriend made us both lunch for our expedition, and he's like, a super good cook, so I bet you'll really like it.

[talentedscavenger]

[There's a sheepish smile on her lips. Yeah, she gave Kylo Ren a bit of his own medicine, even if she didn't know how she did it. It was like she was learning from him, learning how to push him out of her mind while digging inside his. She didn't have to dig too far, the thought seemed like it was skimming along the surface of his mind.]

Sort of. It shocked both of us.

[There was something comforting about Cisco offering to help her. At least she had another avenue to go on if Obi Wan says no. But, that was greatly assuming Cisco would be able to help. If his training would be the same, and part of her doubted it. He didn't know of the Jedi, or of the Force. Sure their powers worked in some similar fashion, but there was a culture and history with the Jedi. Cisco wouldn't happen to know anything about that...unless his world had something similar.]

I don't think he will. His name is Obi Wan, and while I wouldn't be his apprentice, he said he would train me. I don't know what the exact difference is between student and apprentice. [Because to her they're the same thing, but again, in the Jedi culture they were separate.] But, if things don't work out..we can figure something out instead. Maybe the library has holonovels about the subject?

[On the subject of food, she was surprised to hear that Cisco's boyfriend made them lunch? Her eyes widen a little, taken aback and slightly confused on it. Cisco's boyfriend didn't know her...why would he do something like that? Was he that kind?]

He didn't have to do that. [Her voice is soft then, unsure if she really should take the food but she wasn't going to say no. Mentally, she was thinking she would need to repay Cisco's boyfriend for what he's done.] Not many people would do something like this on Jakku. [Food was scarce, especially when people had to work throughout the hot day only to earn a few scraps of a portion.]

It looks delicious, and I have some dried fruit and proteins bars if you would like any.

[franciscoramon]

[ When Rey tells him her powers had been a shock to both her and whoever the jackass was who was trying to read her thoughts, he just nods a little in understanding. That was how it had been, with him and his powers. The first time he had shot vibe blasts from his hands, protecting Eddie from a giant monster in the woods - well that had been a big damn shock for both of them. ]

Library is definitely a good place to start, if all else fails.

[ Spoken like a true nerd.

He smiles at her obvious surprise (and slight apprehension, perhaps?) when he says Eddie made them food. Cisco starts unwrapping his own sandwich, and then takes a quick, tiny bite, in case Rey is waiting to see if there is poison or anything. But then, why would there be? Or maybe her hesitation was just uncertainty, worrying there are strings attached, even though Cisco has reassured that he doesn't operate like that. ]

He wanted to. He likes showing off what good sandwiches he makes.

[ When she says no one would've done the same on Jakku, Cisco nods, unsurprised. Jakku sounds like a place where there wasn't a lot to spare - not a lot of food or a lot of kindness. This place isn't like that, though, and he thinks the best way to really convince her of that is to just let her adjust, as slowly as she needs to. To be generous, and make sure she always knows there is no hardship or consequences for accepting that generosity. ]

He cooks for me all the time, I'm so spoiled. And maybe let's see where we're at when we finish these, might not need anything else after.

[ It's nice, sitting here with Rey, letting the memory of that creepy hospital fade away, talking about their powers, getting closer as friends. Cisco takes another bite, chewing thoughtfully before he says: ]

He's gonna laugh so hard when I tell him a fat raccoon made me scream like a little kid.