I wasn't thinking that we should wake you up literally. You still need sleep, after all. And most likely when you sleep again you'd just have the nightmare again.
Instead I was thinking perhaps if we try this enough times, you'll come to recognize that you're dreaming, and be able to leave the nightmare.
Lucid dreaming isn't terribly well studied, but from what I've been reading, it's a skill like any other, you should be able to learn it.
I don't think whether or not I'm real matters as much as whether not this is a dream. Maybe I'm your subconscious just trying to help you get control of yourself, either way the end goal is the same, isn't it?
[time to make himself immaterial and just kind of, slide around the bars as he approaches the desk. when he reforms, he's in his respectable burgundy and brown baritones suit again]
You ever read about long-term prisoners who get out?
[leans back in his seat, lifting his hands in a shrug]
Little bit more complicated than that, but that's a start, anyway.
And if 'other parties' didn't want out, then I wouldn't be me at all, would I? But there's complications--you know, the whole presentation thing? You're one of the few people who've caught on.
This isn't exactly what I've expected, though... it's not as if I remember many of my own dreams. Maybe dreams always take place inside of something like a 'palace' or that 'Mementos' you keep mentioning.
But to me, it seems more like you dream of what you think your own heart looks like.
But there aren't really multiple Jokers. There's just you, asleep in your bed right now. This [gestures to Joker] is just 'the face your subconscious is choosing to show me'.
More accurately, this is the "me" you were looking for, right? Why else would someone want to go around people's dreams unless they want to see what makes them tick a little? As one cognition-walker to another... it's not like I don't understand the impulse.
And of course I'm suspicious. I'm dreaming but we're still in Hell. And it's not as though dreams and reality are that much different from each other to begin with when someone's able to go walking around as they please.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
[now Codex is wearing prison wear!, he thoughtfully looks down at himself]
I don't think prisoners actually dress like this, you know. But I guess it's all a metaphor anyway. And not a very subtle one.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
[and again, the scene changes, but this time stabilizes with the circular room with prison cells, Joker sitting behind the bars of one.]
Right... a dream, you said, right?
That makes sense...
[what is reality, he doesn't know but like. lucid dreaming isn't a foreign concept.]
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
It's a dream, so you don't have to be trapped in the mirror. I can either try to wake you up, or try to help you 'wake up within the dream'.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Joker looks a little skeptical]
How do you go about waking someone up? I know I try whenever I get stuck in dreams like that.
[but like. it's a nightmare and waking up is futile. also: potions. damn enforced sleep]
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Instead I was thinking perhaps if we try this enough times, you'll come to recognize that you're dreaming, and be able to leave the nightmare.
Lucid dreaming isn't terribly well studied, but from what I've been reading, it's a skill like any other, you should be able to learn it.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
... I can have trouble... telling reality from not. So how do I know you're actually you and not something I made up?
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
but then there's a vaguely distorted voice from behind:]
Awww someone took my role?
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
except he's sitting in the chair behind the desk in the middle of the prison, dressed in his phantom thief outfit and with his feet propped up.
oh. and gold eyes. noticeable.
he waves cheekily at Codex]
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
[time to make himself immaterial and just kind of, slide around the bars as he approaches the desk. when he reforms, he's in his respectable burgundy and brown baritones suit again]
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
funny that.
the Joker at the desk temples his fingers, looking entertained.]
Guess.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
[approaching the desk quite casually, and pulling up a seat for himself. if there isn't a chair already, he'll just create one]
Do you dream of being the person who killed your friends on trial...?
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
And sinister is really harsh. I'm just the me I do and don't want to be. That's why I'm out here.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
[gestures towards the jail]
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
that's a mirror.
and this is a very pleasant office space.]
I agree with that, but you'll find other parties argumentative about it.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
'Other parties' would rather have stayed in the mirror...?
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
[leans back in his seat, lifting his hands in a shrug]
Little bit more complicated than that, but that's a start, anyway.
And if 'other parties' didn't want out, then I wouldn't be me at all, would I? But there's complications--you know, the whole presentation thing? You're one of the few people who've caught on.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
[pauses, looking around again]
Is this what it's like, inside of someone's 'cognition'?
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
I think "palaces" are more stable, though. Dreams are different since it's the mind processing things.
Though I think Mementos shifted around depending on the level.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
But to me, it seems more like you dream of what you think your own heart looks like.
But there aren't really multiple Jokers. There's just you, asleep in your bed right now. This [gestures to Joker] is just 'the face your subconscious is choosing to show me'.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
More accurately, this is the "me" you were looking for, right? Why else would someone want to go around people's dreams unless they want to see what makes them tick a little? As one cognition-walker to another... it's not like I don't understand the impulse.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
And of course I'm suspicious. I'm dreaming but we're still in Hell. And it's not as though dreams and reality are that much different from each other to begin with when someone's able to go walking around as they please.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
But that's just how any society advances, isn't it? I am here to help you.
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)
Re: Night, Day 76 (for my own record keeping)