+ TEST DRIVE MEME +

[vitaelamorte]

♦ Test Drive Meme ♦

♥ This meme is a chance for new players and/or new characters to try out their voices in Wonderland's setting, and mingle with entranceway's current player base. ♥ Get started with one of the prompts below, or reply to other people's top-level comments. Both prose and comment spam format is allowed and welcome. ♥ Creating top-level comments is reserved for new characters who are not currently in Wonderland, as well as for new Mirrors that haven't been played yet. ♥ Please note that any threads written for this meme are not part of entranceway's game canon. They do not count towards current players' AC requirements, and cannot be used as samples for any new applications. ♥ Have a look at our Navigation to find any information about Wonderland you might need, or head to the Input & Inquiries page for further questions. If you've made up your mind about joining, go ahead and put in your Application, or a Reserve.

P r o m p t s

I. Second Time's The Charm This... this looks awfully familiar, and... familiar in an awful way. Look around all you like, it won't change, it won't go away. You are in Wonderland. No, worse: You're back in Wonderland. Just when everything was nice and comfortable at home, or-- or wasn't it? Maybe you're happy to be here again. Hey, no judgement, free room and board is nothing to scoff at! Blessing or curse, that's really up to you; all you know for sure is that, apparently, you're here to stay. II. What will you children do next? It's time for another wonderful event in Wonderland! For its duration characters will suddenly find themselves ten years older or younger. This can be physically, mentally, or both, i.e., if your character is 20 years old right now, they may become 10 physically but still have the mind and memories of their 20-year-old self, or they may revert to the mentality of their 10-year-old self and lose all the memories they have of being older. Characters over 200 years old may even age by a century, as a decade isn't that long for them. III. Through The Looking-Glass What an extraordinary day! All of Wonderland's mirrors-- just the things, not the capital Mirrors, not the ones like you --are suddenly shattered! Shards on the floor as far as the eye can see, and empty frames that are just begging to be stepped through! Oh, but you should really stay on your side unless the Queen of Hearts orders it otherwise. Or should you? Who's to say she wouldn't want you to investigate? Go ahead, go on, explore the real side for a change! Or... stay put right where you are, and see who comes to visit. It's really up to you. IV. Wildcard Play out your character's arrival. Celebrate their anniversary. Choose a different event to experience. Do anything and everything you like!

Comments

DRAX THE DESTROYER | Guardians of the Galaxy

[spinerip]

I

[Drax thought he'd escaped this place. Actually, he hadn't thought about it at all, since he'd completely forgotten about this place. He remembers now, though. And he's angry. And when Drax is angry, he turns to the thing he loves best: Destroying.

Watch out because he's ripping the mansion apart with his bare hands, crushing anything and anyone that tries to stand in his way. He knows it will rebuild itself, but right now? He doesn't care. He's mad, and this is how he expresses himself.]

III

[Drax the Peaceful has noticed the shards of the mirror, in that same, mindful way he notices everything, but he doesn't feel the need to go explore. After all, he's deep within a wonderful meditation session, at peace with himself and the world around him, and he doesn't want to change that.

Ever since his wife and children were murdered, it has been a struggle to find peace, to move on. Where a different man might have turned to violence and vengeance, Drax instead chose a different path, one of communing with the galaxy and finding peace, a peace he hopes his family shares, in whatever afterlife they've ended up.

So he doesn't bother to get up. But he might break from his contemplation and talk to someone, should they visit him.]

i.

[ohplease]

[anger is no excuse for pointless destruction and sure maybe sif had once or twice punched a hole through a wall or cut a head off a training dummy in anger but that just makes her more prone to trying to stop this.]

Are you planning on stopping sometime before the entirety of this place is destroyed?

anna | frozen | iv

[forelskelse]

[in a weird way, wonderland reminds anna a lot of arendelle. a bit castle like structure and grounds - she'd never really been able to leave the castle until her big adventure looking for elsa so in a weird way the confinement was almost...normal?

weird sense of normal. and she knew it but that didn't make it any less true.

she wanders the grounds of the mansion with what can only be called enthusiasm and you better bet anyone who gets near her is going to get engaged in conversation.]

Oh, hello! I didn't see you there. How are you doing?

[not_too_close]

I am well, thank you. Yourself?

[David turns, his movements slightly stiff, but so nearly human-esque that the aborted motions might not be noticed at first glance. Weyland Industries made certain that he was top of the line, and so close to human in appearance, mannerisms, and emotional response and return, that he could fit right in (undetected) in most environments.]

I am David.

[He extends his right hand, a wide smile abruptly creasing his face.]

Chuck Shurley | Supernatural

[godsprophet]

[ If he's being completely honest? He remembers being in Wonderland.

Not that he had been here for long. Just long enough to announce his presence; just long enough to realize he was trapped; just long enough to realize the paradox of having all his powers, but not being able to use them to bring himself back to his own universe.

(Phenomenal cosmic power --

-- itty bitty living space)

He'd managed to find his way back home (or maybe this place had sent him home, having realized the error of bringing Him of all beings, to Wonderland) and thought no more of it.

But now, somehow, he's back. And he's even less pleased than he was before. Not that you would notice, as tiny little Chuck just looks baffled and bewildered at his reappearance. ]

Oh, uh, right. Okay. Wonderland. Again. That's, uh... [ He lets out a breath before dragging his hands down his face. There goes the hope of things being normal after the Apocalypse-That-Wasn't. ]

[nevar]

[Perched somewhere nearby, Jefferson watches this person with an overall countenance of boredom and disinterest. There are always strange things coming and going in Wonderland, the baffled and bewildered expressions on people's faces soon after they arrive are just as natural as breathing.

As he sits, just casually watching and mostly minding his own business, Jefferson plays with a ruined top hat in one hand. He has his own problems and doesn't really care to get involved with--

--did he just say "again"? That perks up Jefferson's attention.]

Sucks to be back, doesn't it?

R | Warm Bodies

[romeoeatsbrains]

IV

[ Man, this place is green, alive with color and with people. It has a pulse and a heartbeat that go hand in hand with the pace of the people moving within it. The problem is the dingy looking guy in the red sweatshirt who really doesn't look like he belongs. Calling him pale would be too kind considering he's the pasty white of someone who hasn't had a pulse in a long time.

If you pay close enough attention you might notice he isn't really breathing either.

And is that... blood on his hoodie? Gross.

Hearing something, he turns around and runs into someone, stumbling back a step and he tries to think of something to say. Come on. Come on. You can do this. Just say hello. Or even better, say sorry. ]

S... sorry... about that...

[ Good. Nailed it. Now smile, smiling is normal. Wait, is there anyone in my teeth? He aborts a big smile and just kind of attempts an awkward half one. ]

[not_too_close]

[Intrigued, the word, did not fully describe the the way David was when he saw the other. He was curious, simply put, by the creature standing before him.

Human, possibly once. Possibly still, though his body had seen better days, and with no discernible heart beat that David could infer. He spoke English, which further supported the evidence that he was human, although it was stuttered out and appeared difficult for the man.

Intriguing, yes, that's what this was.]

Your apologies are not necessary. I was standing too close.

[David had wanted the man to run into him so he could begin an inquiry masked by polite conversation.]

I am David and you are?

Jefferson | Once Upon a Time

[nevar]

I and a bit of IV

[He's not the Hatter you know, but he is a Hatter nonetheless. Jefferson sits cross-legged facing the entrance to the hedge maze, both hands on his knees and staring off into the middle distance with a decidedly unhappy look on his face. A crushed top hat sits on the ground in front of him in completely unrepairable condition. One thumb taps his knee impatiently as if he's trying to decide what his next course of action should be.

Perhaps you've seen this man in Wonderland before. Perhaps he just got here. Either way, he is clearly grumpy but seems to be of the approachable sort. He's not ranting and raving like a lunatic. That would just be silly... and pointless, as Jefferson knows all too well.]

[belovedson]

[Gotta say, generally sane behavior is definitely a plus. Of course, there really isn't an obvious reason as to why some random guy has parked himself in front of the maze, glumly staring at something Neal can't quite make out, but definitely looks as if it's seen better days.]

Unless you've got some special brand of magic, I don't think staring at it is going to make it better. [Not that some weird spell based on maintaining a focused gaze is outside the realm of possibility, but Neal's willing to bet that's not what the guy's going for here.] You know you can pull pretty much anything you need out of the closets, right?

freya mikaelson | the originals | circa 218, let me know if you don't want spoilers

[deathlessness]

IV

[This ... is not where Freya is supposed to be.

At first she thinks it may be one of Dahlia's tricks, but the more she explores, the more she realizes that as powerful as her aunt may be, she could never create something this elaborate, especially not if it's something meant to imprison Freya in her own mind. Nothing here is familiar or comforting, nothing that Freya would want to hide away in. Another's hand is at work here, and until she determines who that is, she's keeping her distance, only speaking when she is spoken to and quietly watching as entries and announcements are made on this strange device she was given.

Eventually she will determine that her siblings are here and seek them out, but until that moment comes she sticks to the shadows for now. It is the thing that has always served her best and when the road ahead of you is uncertain, it's always smart to fall back on old habits.]

omg freya and i am good with all the spoilers :D please let me know if this works?

[therapize]

[The most obvious place to find the Mikaelsons are in the rooms they've made home, two of which are only a few doors down from Cami's. She's on her way out, meaning to head upstairs to her "office" of sorts, when she sees a young woman near one of those rooms.]

If you're looking for Kol, I'm pretty sure he's out. [Unless he and Davina had come back from whatever they were doing that Cami refuses to think too much about so long as her friend is still happy. Regardless, she isn't a familiar face for Cami, so she offers a smile as she steps over.] Are you new around here? I mean, this mansion is pretty huge--impossibly huge, actually--but I don't think I've seen you before.

[And Cami keeps a pretty good eye on the network, not to mention that she works at the bar, one of the more popular spots in Wonderland.]

Either way, I'm Cami.

Kamala Khan | Marvel 616

[jerseyhero]

IV

[ Kamala wasn't dumb. She may have never been kidnapped to another dimension herself, but she'd read (and written) enough alternate universe friend fictions to know how this goes. She knows the right way and the wrong way to react. So she read the pamphlet. She found a room. She settled in for the long haul. (She may not be pleased by the idea, but she's not going to waste time freaking out.) There's only one problem...

The video opens on the face of a teenage girl, oversized hipster glasses and all. She brushes her dark hair behind her ear and begins. ]

Okay, so. Wonderland. Is real. And nobody knows how to escape it or where it is. Buuuuuut.... does anybody know where it is in relation to Mecca? It's... kind of important.

OMG PLEASE KAMALA

[brainmeme]

Mecca's on Earth, right? Why would you need to know that? [Guess who knows nothing about Islam... this gem.]

Josh Rosza | The Originals | Early a Season two because I'm not caught up yet.

[relativelynormal]

[So, waking up in a strange room isn't too alarming. Not after you've woken up after dying anyway. Once you become a vampire, after not even knowing they really exist, and taking part in a vampire vs werewolf vs witch vs human gang war, well it's easier to go with the flow of things sometimes. So he does the only thing he can think of, he heads out to explore because he's definitely not in New Orleans anymore.]

JOSH I need him in my life Courtney

[therapize]

[It probably doesn't take very long to tire of exploring an insane prison world based on a twisted fairytale, or to find the local bar in said realm. And whenever Josh does walk into the fifth floor haunt, he'll find a familiar face pouring drinks and making pleasant conversation. Not that she lingers once she spots him; no, Cami excuses herself immediately from the patron she'd been attending, her smile bright as she rushes over to him.]

Josh? [There's time for her to be sorry he's here later. Right now, his face is both a familiar and long-missed sight.] When did you get here?

kitty cheshire | ever after high

[cravechaos]

IV

[Kitty isn't sure where she is. Is this Wonderland? There's always a chance of waking up somewhere you weren't in Wonderland. But that makes no sense. The paths between the worlds have been closed off, all but the one... and she hasn't been to the Well of Wonder since they unplugged it.

Well, what better way to figure out where you are than to just ask someone, right? And there's plenty of people around. That would be the conventional thing to do.

But Kitty is far from conventional.

Setting up a bucket of wet cat food above a door, waiting for an unsuspecting victim to walk through it? Now that's more this cat's style.]

omg YES

[matchmade]

[ And now Mabel is covered in cat food. She should probably be more upset by this, but--it's kind of funny, and a pretty well played prank in general. It's a classic! Her poor sweater, though...ah well, she can always make another. ]

Wow, you really got me good.

Cisco Ramon | The Flash

[thenamegame]

[In hindsight, he...probably should have been more concerned.]

[There would be time for concern later. When the initial rush wore off. When he had time to process what was going on and realize this wasn't some crazy dream or hallucination due to...whatever it was he definitely hadn't been up to the previous night. Should Caitlin ask.]

[For the time being, his attention was divided between ducking his head in and out of the closet, at one point even sitting inside to see where the secret compartment that had to be there was activated, and messing with the little device they had given him.]

No, really. It's...precious.

[He knew he was talking to himself. It helped his process.]

I might have to reverse engineer it to be sure, but I think I made one of these for my sixth grade science project.

[hsalf]

Are you, perhaps, looking for the doorway into Narnia there?

[He says with a light jest in his tone, having overheard Cisco's voice as he was moving down the hall in his chair and saw the man ducking into the closet. It's a pain to have to keep using the chair because of this, but he'll cope.]

Matt Murdock || Daredevil

[iustitiacaecus]

VI.

[Very rarely is Matt afraid.

Concerned, maybe. Lost? Possibly, yet also unlikely with his senses. But fear is born of the unknown, of ignorance toward things that can be easily explained, things with concrete answers that have been analyzed in articles and scientific journals. Smallpox was the Devil's work until people learned it was just a virus.

Stepping out of his apartment one evening to meet up with Foggy and Karen at Josie's should have accosted him with the sounds of Hell's Kitchen: the cat that sat at the far end of the street, yowling, the whisper of grease-streaked air coiling over his skin, the police sirens, the ambulances, car tires screeching and the fetid smell of garbage bags left on the curbside. It isn't perfect and it certainly hasn't been in a long time, but it's where he's from.

Understandably, walking into a closed space with little ambient noise is...unsettling, at best. At worst, it drives a spike of panic into him. The lack of need and voices behind closed doors, the absence of filth, the scent of baked goods, a short-circuiting fuse, black tea.

This is not his city.

The braille card left for him wasn't enough to assuage him, nor the phone in his pocket that lacked both Foggy and Karen's speed-dial number settings. Stifling his mounting worry Matt feels out his surroundings, cane in hand, testing the perimeters with unprecedented cautiousness.]

[notmymccalling]

[Parker has gotten out and decided it was time for the puppy to play fetch. Parker being the cat left to him by his friend, Isaac. As the cat darts down the hallway, Scott runs after him hoping to catch the little furball before he causes any trouble. Fortunately, unlike his namesake, he can neither cast webs or climb walls. The little yellow tabby zips between Matt's legs as Scott rounds the hall.

With a gasp of sudden realisation, running too fast to stop, Scott twists his body with nearly inhuman speed to throw himself out of Matt's path, landing on all fours safely to the side. His heart skips a beat at the sight of the glasses and cane, momentarily thinking of Deucalion. Though they'd parted on good terms, you never knew from when Wonderland would pull someone you knew. But with a second glance and a check of his other senses, this wasn't the apex predator.

Meanwhile, the kitten trotted back and crawled across Scott's back, flopping over his shoulders as the teen rights himself. He can smell the sharp tang of controlled panic in the air, approaching with caution.]

S-sorry I--are you okay? Err, I mean, you're new, right?

ella | cinderella ( 2015 )

[leniently]

[ when I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen, she sings and for a moment, you might not be able to guess ella is brand new to wonderland. surely not with how comfortable she looks in the garden, squirrels and birds gathering at her feet as she gives them crumbs and sings to them. she is a young girl, slender and dressed in a pale blue dress, golden hair covered with a white cloth to keep it out of her face.

let the birds sing, dilly dilly and the lambs play -

she throws them a few more crumbs, allows a squirrel to sit in her lap,

you shall be safe, dilly dilly, out of harm's way.

if you have a pet of any kind, they might rush towards her to sit at her feet. if not, perhaps you would enjoy the singing. ]

karen page | daredevil (2015) | VI

[apersonalquestion]

[ There's something wrong. Karen isn't sure how she knows it exactly, but she does, she can feel it or -- or sense it or something. She knows it doesn't make sense but she can't help it; it's there and she feels it.

Something's wrong.

She'd been walking -- running, more like, to avoid getting caught in the rain, but she must've taken a wrong turn. There isn't any place in Hell's Kitchen that looks like this. A huge garden with beautiful flowers and what looks like a hedge maze in the distance. There's no room for something like this in the city. It's starting to freak her out. Did she slip on the wet pavement and bust her head open? Oh god. What if she's in a coma?

She reaches into her pocket for her phone out of habit, maybe to try to call Foggy or Matt or Ben or someone, but. It's not her phone. It looks like her phone, sure, but it's not her phone. She stares at it and clicks it to life, frowning deeply at the faces on the screen. Who are these people?

Where is she? ]

[radiopalkiller]

[ The moment is a slice of ordinary for him, as ordinary as ordinary can be... these days, anyway. Philip walks down to the beach, just a walk. Even Faraday's upstairs, sleeping, small miracle she ever gets enough of the grass and sand underneath her paws, but every once in a while she tires of running. And Philip keeps walking.

And there she is, a woman with a face like a traffic light. Deer in the headlights, well, perhaps that as well, but above all the expression is a signal, it has become that as inevitably as answering a ringing phone, a knock on the door, as rising with the sound of the alarm.

It's Pavlov's dog, but without the bell and a brochure instead. Ding dong, she looks lost. Philip approaches, and holds the pamphlet out towards her. His smile is apologetic. Wonderland won't be. ]

IV

[deadletter]

When presented with a peculiarly locked door, particularly the kind that sports a flickering glow around the edges, it's practically Winchester tradition to ignore the sanctity of privacy and find out what's on the other side. If it were just a locked door, it wouldn't necessarily do it for Henry — he's sometimes fine letting a locked door be a locked door — but the addition of a riddle is like a dangling carrot for a guy like him.

I'm teary-eyed but never cry.
Silver-tongued, but never lie.
Double-winged, but never fly.
Air-cooled, but never dry.

What am I?

It's hardly a challenge at all, but this type of intrigue feels much more like home, doesn't it? Maybe too enticing. Henry hasn't had nearly enough time to fully understand events — it's hard to do any kind of pointed research when there's so very much to learn — but if he had, maybe he'd understand there's a very good reason all of this feels like the kind of test he'd be performing back home.

Using a specialized mixture of herbs and artifacts he'd helpfully pulled from the closets, Winchester mixes up a magical paint of sorts in a way that's half ambitious and half experimental.

"Let's see how this works," he says quietly as he kneels in front of the brass placard and lifts his paintbrush and precisely draws on the symbol for Mercury, in what is probably a concoction made with mercury.

☿

The image sizzles, glows briefly in the most satisfying way, and then... the whole door immediately implodes with a whoosh of hot air and a hail of particle board shards.

Henry finds himself backed against the wall, blinking blearily at the opening from across the hall. Damn, does Wonderland pack a punch.

Re: IV

[failedparenting]

It's dangerous to roam the halls of the mansion freely these days. Demons of all kinds are just lose, and that's not even putting Dean into consideration. Johns starting to lose track of all the bodies hitting the floor, and he's sure he's on the very top of his son's kill list now. He's taken to sticking to his room or the library, the latter he's warded out and Devil's trapped maybe without letting madam librarian herself know.

Well. She'll thank him when she doesn't die bloody.

But sometimes John had to get out and about, for food or booze or his research. Today it's number three on that list, and his arms are full of his research- pages and pages on everything from djinni to jabberwocky. He's engrossed in one particularly interesting breakdown on The Jabberwocky when he hears an explosion a little ways ahead of him down the hall. His head pops up from the page immediately to survey the scene, and he barely stifles a snort. Some young guy sprawled out on the carpet and a lightly smoking hole in front of him. Aw, poor guy.

"You okay there kid?"

Agent Washington | Red vs Blue

[beforeblue]

[Saying he hadn't ever woken up somewhere he hadn't been expecting would be a lie. Soldiers on leave got pretty rowdy, and Project Freelancer was no exception. Back before things went bad. And after things had got bad? There'd always been the pleasant experience of waking up in the med bay being told that you'd been screaming.

This is not the first instant, and it sure as hell isn't the second for which everyone is grateful especially Wash. He's really sick of waking up in hospitals.

There's sand in his armour. Fucking sand. And he'd thought he was done with deserts. It's a real bitch to clean. Sand in his hair too.

Wash pushes himself to his feet, and gropes for his helmet, carefully brushing any debris away from the seal before he starts walking. The ocean is there, bright blue, like he hasn't seen in years. He's not seen what it's like on Chrous but this looks like it would be on Earth.

He stares for a moment, then keeps walking. He should find the team before Caboose does... before Caboose does anything.]

Pacifica Northwest | Gravity Falls (Immediately Post 2x10) | IV

[anotherlink]

[She didn't know where she was.

Pacifica knew almost every room of Northwest Manor inside and out. She knew the contents of each room; she knew which areas made the best spots to hide in. Certainly, this room was lavish enough to belong to a Northwest. But though the ceiling was high and vaulted, and though the windows were large and beautiful, the room didn't resemble any of the major rooms of her home one bit.

Immediately, she froze in fear.

Was this one of the Northwests' countless other properties? Had her parents abandoned her? Oh no, oh no, she'd messed up but she hadn't realized that it was this bad.]

Where am I?! Mom?! Dad?! Is someone here?!

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper... kind of loves it here. He misses Grunkle Stan and Soos and Wendy (especially Wendy), but this place is filled with more mysteries than even Gravity Falls! He doesn't like being stuck, especially as the more days go by the more he has to admit that this... isn't going to be a quick fix. This is going to be something he has to work at for a long time.

But most of the time he doesn't even think about home because there are so many cool things to investigate here. There are volumes and volumes of notes on the weirdness of this place, some of them in code. It's almost better than the journal, though he still carries that around out of habit. He's actually walking and staring at a complex bit of code when he hears Pacifica's voice.]

What? ...I must be imagining things.

[Even so, he follows the sound of her voice until he rounds a corner and sees... Pacifica of all people. Here.]

Seriously? Of all the people who could have showed up, it had to be you?

[Why couldn't it have been Wendy?]

Aerith Gainsborough | Final Fantasy VII

[cetra]

I.

[ There's a vague familiarity that she just can't shake when she wakes up in the woods.

She doesn't remember much, just a haze of light and rain before she awoke. Helping a friend who desperately needed encouragement. Death. All of that, and more, has her reaching up to press her hands against her temples in order to sort it all out.

A sense of deja vu hits her, making her inhale sharply before turning east, toward the mansion that looms over the tree tops.

It can't be....

Mouth pressed into a determined line, Aerith starts a march up to the mansion, trying to sort out her memories from before. On one hand, the unknown looms in her future, a scary prospect. On the other, there are people here, friends she made, that she's hoping she'll get the chance to see. ]

[moseys]

[He'd have recognized her anywhere.

He's been here long enough, now, to know how things work. To know the possibilities, to know that there's always a chance that someone you know, someone you'd lost could come through. He'd known, but he hadn't dared to hope. Not for her, not for anyone. He'd been too consumed by trying to figure out how to get back, but nobody seemed to have the solution to that particular problem, and so he'd been stuck.

Maybe it was fate that he happened to be out on the grounds when she appeared, aiming to find himself a clear and undisturbed space to fit in a little practice. Maybe it was just coincidence, dumb luck. Whatever the case, it didn't matter, did it? It was her, without question.

He stands stock-still for a moment, unable to move, then drops his sword as he breaks into a run, leaving it behind.

He'll get it later.]

Aerith!

ellie ➛ the last of us

[backpacking]

iv

[ Wonderland is a lot like the old books say: colorful and wild and crazy as shit. At first, she thought it was some freaky dream, something brought on by exhaustion and dehydration and whatever else. Her waking life was shitty, so why shouldn't her dreams be the same? ... But, it felt too real, was too solid to be anything but reality. She's read a lot of books, ones where "normal" people get sucked into insane situations; now she'd become one of them.

A girl of fourteen lurks near the outskirts of the woods, expression not only wary, but hardened. She isn't afraid--doesn't appear to be, anyway--and is in fact wielding a bow, one currently slung over her back. One available for her use at any given moment. One she intends to use. ]

Hey, assholes! [ She calls into the empty air, pacing, unwilling yet to approach the mansion where she knows her captors must be waiting. ] If you want me, come and get me!

[ Ellie is pretty sure she can outrun them, lose them in the trees. At the very least, she can take advantage of them with knife or bow after hiding and catching them unawares.

Ellie in Wonderland. It even sounded stupid.]

[notready]

[ As unsafe as it probably is, Charlie's out wandering and still trying to get a handle on things. She hadn't realized Wonderland could be this cruel, but she should have figured given some of the more twisted stories. It's not until she's nearly to the forest that she realizes where she is and thinks about turning back--only to be stopped by some voice. She looks up from watching her feet, eyes searching for whoever is out there. ]

Is someone after you? [ She doesn't shout, and really, there's no need to do that considering how close they actually are. And if someone is after the other person, yelling isn't going to help them get away.

Charlie bites her lip. ] Are you okay? [ She stops where she is just in case. ]

Belle l Once Upon a Time

[a_chipped_cup]

[She'd heard of Wonderland, of course that was mainly from Henry's book as well as the ironic story in the library. There had been a few snippets in the town, at least from those that had been there. For the average resident, Wonderland was about as familiar as wherever Whale came from.

Belle had thought she was open minded. She'd seen magical rock trolls and worked as a maid for the Dark One. She even heard of Camelot.

Wonderland though? She never expected it to be so...wonderous...or frightening.

This wasn't exactly a fear Belle was used to showing. She'd been afraid before, but there was always something to rely on, specifically her intellect. Here, she was almost flying blind. It was not a comforting place to be.]

Hello? Can someone hear me? [Maybe calling out wasn't the brightest idea...but it's the only one she has.]

[iprefermaleficent]

[Her role in the past was nothing more than a pawn. A means to an end. Although, as it turned out, that end hardly ended as it was supposed to. Rumplestiltskin had won back his maid, and the glove as well.

One could say that some things turned full circle though. Whereas he had once shunned the Queens of Darkness, a pact, of sorts, had been made. At least while they all still needed something from each other.]

Perhaps you should learn to be a bit more specific, dear.

Bruce Banner | MCU

[hugedork]

Bruce can tell he's changed before he looks in the mirror. He doesn't know what's changed, but he can feel it. There's a calmness he's managed to attain over the years and it's not hard to notice that a good measure of his control feels like it's slipped away.

It's when he catches a hallway mirror that he sees what's changed. Ten years. He's spent ten years living with the other guy and he feels as if it's only just happened because physically, it has only just happened.

He has to get away before something happens. That's the only thing he can think as he takes slow, deep breaths and forces himself to walk calmly towards the exit. At least on the grounds, he can sequester himself away from people as much as Wonderland allows.

[ex_kaos454]

[unfortunately for bruce, wonderland was not kind. it never had been, and it wasn't about to start because of one man. but it wasn't just that wonderland was not kind, it was that wonderland was often cruel. that was why, at the same time that it had pulled bruce here, it had also pulled wanda maximoff.

in a lot of ways, she's starting to understand why it was so easy to exploit him. fears that had once seemed pointless, distant, dramatic, even, were starting to take hold for herself. as bruce would well know, the road towards recovery and self-acceptance was that started and stopped. it was often a dance of one step forward only to take two steps back. clint had been kind to her during the battle, but that kindness was not enough to absolve her of all the guilt boiling in her chest.

but she was trying, really trying, back at home. bruce wouldn't know that. he wasn't there when steve gathered them all together. she wondered how much of the battle in sokovia bruce could even remember. it was better that he hadn't been there, she thinks, because it was to him that she felt she owed the biggest debt.

maybe wonderland understood that - understood that her guilt and his fear would be a terrible combination. that the two of them were better off without each other, and that was why it had pulled them together. to do cruelty to each other, simply by existing.

so when bruce goes to seek solace alone, it's wanda he runs into. how else could this play out? when had the universe ever been fair?

her heart stops when she sees him and he throat grows tight. she hadn't expected -- well, she hadn't expected any of this. so maybe she should stop expecting.]

They took you, too.

Harry Potter | A Very Potter Musical | IV

[accioguitar]

[Harry Potter has been in Wonderland for about a month now and it is not totally awesome. There are parts he likes! This place is almost as magical as Hogwarts, except there's no homework. It's got a closet that can provide him with an unlimited supply of red vines!

But he misses his friends. He misses singing together and making fun of how Hermione can't draw and even mocking Draco together. This place is cool, but it's not home.

He's sitting in the garden and he feels a song coming on, so he does what any super cool musician-wizard would do and raises his wand.]

Accio guitar!

[It flies from his window in the mansion and into his hand and he strums a chord.]

Oooh, Wonderland's full of Wonder, Wonderland is swell.
So why does every moment in wonderland feel like hell?
This world is full of magic, it sparkles from above.
But magic isn't worth it without friendship hope and love!

[He strums a few chords and changes his tune: sudden reprise from a song he sang a while ago.]

Gotta get back to Hogwarts!
Gotta get back to school.
Gotta get myself to Hogwarts.
Where everybody thinks I'm coooool.

[He stops strumming, looking down at his reflection in the pond.]

Face it, Harry. [He says with a dramatic sigh.] Without all the fame, popularity, and back up singers you're just another douche with a guitar.

[staydehydrated]

[Wonderland was, by Draco's count, just about perfect. Hogwarts had undeniably gone to the dogs, but here-- well. Few gingers, at least half as many Mudbloods, and while still more Gryffindors than he'd like, it was still less than five, so the math worked out well enough. Improvement.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time until he stumbled upon someone who would effortlessly ruin it, just as he always did-- and it was always, always the same someone.

He braces his hands against his hips, chin stuck out as he rounds on Harry from behind, approaching the pond with long, purposeful strides-- or at least as long as his legs will allow.]

If it isn't famous Potter. Where's your stupid sidekick and his night troll girlfriend? Wait, don't tell me-- you're here alone.

[Ha! Let's see you turn down his offer of friendship now, Potter.]

Steven Quartz Universe | Steven Universe | IV

[whaaaaaat]

[ This... was probably not beach city. Steven was pretty sure there wasn't a fancy mansion with a garden but then again he can't really remember how he got here in the first place so maybe there's a warp pad around so he can get home. Not that he's worried or anything! Definitely not! He's fully prepared even though he doesn't even have his cheeseburger backpack. He walks a around a little, curious about this weird new place that doesn't really have any telltale Gem architecture. ]

Garnet? Amethyst? Pearl? Where are you guys? Where am I?

[ He wanders a bit more until he finds an open window and peers inside, nose and eyes poked over the top of the frame before he scrambles up over and sill and falls ungracefully onto the floor of the hallway. ] Oof! Geez... where are they?

Oh! [ Into his pockets he goes and digs out his cell phone! Except... ] Aw, whaaaat? No bars! I thought that was impossible!

[ After that his wandering gets a more frantic purpose as he runs down the hall and occasionally pulls open a door to check to yell for one of the Gems or his Dad or even Connie. Maybe he rips open your door, maybe he runs into someone barreling down the hall. ]

Simon Illyan | Vorkosigan Saga | I

[powersexelephants]

It does look familiar. Too bad that doesn't mean anything.

Simon looks down at the book inexplicably in his hand--imagine that, a real Time of Isolation-style book, paper and a leather binding--and tries to remember what he was going to do with it or even why he has it in the first place. He draws a blank. This is unfortunately an all too common experience these days.

Take a mental step back. Look around. He still remembers some things just fine. It's an unfortunate fact that most of those things are from Ezar's reign or earlier.

And this? Definitely not any of the rooms of palace. Ezar didn't do interior decorating this. Yes, it's all ostentatious enough, but it lacks that particular...Barayaran-ness, for want of a more descriptive word. Maybe Gregor...? He's still a boy--no. Yes? No. No, he's fairly certain Gregor is a man grown, and Gregor, too, has tastes that wouldn't match this. Particularly not this number of mirrors.

So why is this familiar? Where the hell is he? He's more annoyed than worried. Exasperated. Exasperated is an excellent word for it. And of course, whatever the situation, if it's strange, it-- "I don't know how, but this must be Vorkosigan's doing," he mutters.

That, he definitely remembers.

Simon Illyan | Vorkosigan Saga | I

[abelmedic]

There is a man standing in the hall outside the clinic. He looks out of sorts, which is hardly new in Wonderland. He is also, inexplicably, holding a book - holding it like someone holds a glass they have no intention of drinking from.

Months ago, Maxine wouldn't have hesitated before striding up to him. But she's seen enough of the dangers of this place that she elects instead to linger in the doorway of the clinic, long white coat hanging at an angle as she leans out to watch, and calling over once he's made no worrying moves.

"Hey. Are you all right?"

norman | paranorman

[necrospeak]

1.

[Norman sees the mansion before him and instantly thinks it's another vision. He looks from one side, to the other, then turns in a full 360 to get his bearings. Everything seems pretty normal, but then his visions have mainly been death and doom so he isn't going to let himself get comfortable just yet.

It seems a little pointless for him to be having another vision, though, just after he finally decided he would do as his uncle asked him to and find that book. Whatever it is, though, he just has to get through it and hopefully he won't find he's jumped out of his window once it fades.

When he stands there for a while and nothing actually happens, he rolls up his sleeves -- it's a little hot for autumn, isn't it? -- and pushes open the front door. He looks inside, not daring to enter just yet, but tries to peek around the doorway to see what it's like.

All looks pretty normal, if a little too fancy to be anything from Blithe Hollow.]

Hello...?

2.

[Norman's found himself a room and put up some zombie movie posters from the closets. If he's going to be staying here, it's gonna have to be at least a little homey. He's stayed put inside his new room rather than explore, and just flicked through posts on his device, not really paying more attention to the words he reads than the bare minimum. His mind is elsewhere.

Eventually, he can't keep pretending to read posts on the network anymore, and he opens up the text option.]

How come there's no ghosts here?

[His thumb hovers over the "send" button, hesitating. Does he really want people to think he's a freak so soon after he's arrived? With a blank slate, he can be normal. No one will call him names or push him around. And if there's really not any ghosts, the charade can continue.

But he can't help it. He has to know why. He can't just... pretend to be normal, even if it seems easier. He bites his lip and presses send.

Besides, without ghosts... he'd really be alone here.]