Real World Troubles, Dream World Solutions

[14:38] <Joshua> Day 14. Two whole weeks. It's hard to fathom that it's been that long since Josh and the others found out about the perils of this place. Doesn't mean that everything is trying to kill you. This little forest, for example. Happy trees are all bout like it's some sort of Bob Ross painting. But most of all, it's quiet. Quiet was good, given the amount of crap the boy wanted to get off his
[14:38] <Joshua> chest at the moment.
[14:48] <Lecia> Thankfully for some viewers, the things that Lecia needs to get off her chest are purely metaphorical. The dreamworld is certainly a perilous place, but Lecia has enjoyed nearly every minute! Of course, one of the things (perhaps the only one, who knows) that she ISN'T enjoying was quickly picked up by Joshua (or at least the signs that such a thing was there), which is why Lecia is in this
[14:48] <Lecia> forest in the first place! Of course, she only thought there were things on HER mind, but after that one excursion, it's clear that there's things on his mind too. "...If you wanna talk first, go ahead."
[14:49] <Joshua> "Right...you know, the knight guy we had to fight a few days ago?"
[14:51] <Joshua> "I...well, I might have been part of why he went psycho and attacked us. Sorry."
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[14:52] <Lecia> "Yeah, you mentioned a few things out of the blue, there..." Suddenly, they're fighting a guy that lost his mother! Good thing she was hitting the wall the whole time. "...Huh? Why would it be your fault? Partly or not..."
[14:53] <Joshua> "Well...I ran into the guy while I at work, and he was in a really shitty mood. I...did I tell you anything about what happened to him already?"
[14:56] <Lecia> "You...mentioned his mother already, though not how that came to pass..."
[14:57] <Joshua> "He's got it pretty hard. His mom was diagnosed with lung cancer three years ago...genetics or something, she didn't smoke. There's treatments and stuff, of course...but the hospital said they couldn't start treatment until they had payment in full for the procedure."
[14:57] <Joshua> "...she passed a week before he would have been able to pay them off."
[14:59] <Joshua> "I...I tried to calm him down, to keep him from doing something rash. But...I'm afraid that this was how he dealt with it."
03[14:59] * DiceMaid-9001 (DiceMaid-9@sux-EADD5C74) has left #Dreamscape
[15:02] <Joshua> "I mean, I wanted to help him! I would have if my job paid enough for me to actually keep any of it. But..." Josh shakes his head. "We've got way too many problems of our own, and I don't think he cares."
[15:02] <Joshua> "I must have done something to set him off, and now I'm afraid that he'll go aafter me, and through anyone who's with me."
02[15:04] * Aori_Radidjiu ([email protected]) Quit (Quit: To live a life of power, you must have faith that what you believe is right, even if others tell you you're wrong.)
[15:05] <Lecia> Lecia...listens! "I...see...if we were in the same time, and I'd known...but...that's terrible...I'm not in the working world yet, but I guess it must be hard to get a job in yours, huh..." Sadcia!
[15:06] <Joshua> "Getting a job isn't too hard. I mean, I dropped out of school and they found me something. It's just...the money's not there anymore. Dad got fired from his job after 30 years in the business, because they found that they could hire some snot-nosed 20-year old who was willing to do the same job for less than half the pay."
[15:07] <Joshua> "Mom's doing her best but...her job will only give her 38 hours a week. Not 40, 38."
[15:08] <Joshua> "Wonder why? it's so they don't have to offer her benefits, but they can drain her paycheck every week to pay for everyone else's. Me and my little sister Amy...if anything happened to us..."
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[15:10] <Joshua> "Hell, if either of us gets anything worse than a cold, the medical bills would bankrupt us. She...she's not even Rainy's age, I don't know if she'd be able to handle it."
02[15:11] * Rica ([email protected]) Quit (Ping timeout)
[15:12] <Joshua> "Every time the doorbell rings, I can't help but be afraid that it's more bad news - The bank's taking our house, Mom or Dad died in a freak accident, I'm being fired for something I didn't do...
[15:12] <Joshua> "Is it bad that this place is the safest I've ever felt in four years?
[15:16] <Lecia> Lecia ponders! "...I...kinda wish I could relate now. You have it a lot worse than me...I mean, my parents are rich with great jobs, I'm really smart...heck, the problems I have don't even have to do with me..." ...Lightbulb! "...but we're all in this dream world to make things right, right? Maybe if there's some place that's not doing well in the dreamland, I could find a way to make
[15:16] <Lecia> them prosper, and that might fix things?" Lecia grasps at solutions.
[15:18] <Joshua> "I...I dunno. Wouldn't say no to someone fixing all the shit that's happened to me and my family, but I can't bring myself to do it. By the way, if your problem's got nothing to do with you, then what's got you so hung up?"
[15:22] <Lecia> "I could find a way! I mean, I can't really stand seeing people suffer like this, and I should be able to just give you all the spare money I don't really need, but we haven't gotten time travel right so I can't just do that. Anyway, what's got me hung up...well, you know Madeline, right?"
[15:23] <Joshua> "Yeah. That whole grue cave was for getting her out, right?"
[15:23] <Joshua> "...wait a minute...don't tell me she..."
[15:25] <Lecia> "...Well, before then, she was in the hospital, having gone unconscious...likely from being punched in the eye by her dad. I suppose that the grue's eating kept her there for longer..."
[15:26] <Joshua> "...oh." While being beaten by your parents has to be better than being dead, it's decidedly not that much better. "Is it things she's done, or just...do they not care?"
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[15:28] <Joshua> "I mean, why hasn't the police done anything?"
02[15:28] * Giantree ([email protected]) Quit (Ping timeout)
[15:30] <Lecia> "...About that. Her father? Arrested for things he's done while drunk all the time. But he got acquitted for all of them because he's...also the police chief..." That last bit hurts to say!
[15:32] <Lecia> "Even though I saw him do terrible things, even though I was right in front of him, and she was in a hospital bed...and she keeps on just telling me to not worry about it..." And there's the tears!
[15:32] <Joshua> "..." Josh just stands there, mouth agape. "It's okay...we'll find something. Even if it's just getting her out of there...there's gotta be something I can do."
[15:34] <Joshua> "Hell, if we could afford it...Amy would love a big sister to look up to."
06[15:37] * Joshua puts a hand on Lecia's back and lets her cry it out. That's how these things tend to go during funerals, anyway.
[15:39] <Lecia> Lecia does compose herself after a short while. Really, with his problems on the table, she just feels weird crying! Still teary-eyed either way, though. "Right. We're here, where dreams come true, and we can make things right. There's no way any of this is the way it should be, so..."
[15:39] <Joshua> "So we have to find a way to make it right. Too bad it's easier said than done..."
[15:40] <Lecia> "That's OK! If there's a way, then no matter how hard it is, we'll drill through it!" There's also her burning optimism.
[15:42] <Joshua> "They say where there's a will, there's a way..." Josh pauses. "You feeling any better, Asami?"
[15:46] <Lecia> "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now~" Lecia certainly DOES feel better, now! "...but while I'm talking, one more thing. I'm gonna try to get Rainy to stop calling you names, but...well, that's kinda hard if you do things like accidentally hit her Dratini with rocks or threaten her. I'll see what I can manage, but if the name 'kidnapper' bugs you, don't go earning 'assaulter', OK?"
[15:47] <Lecia> "I mean, if you can't handle kids, then..." She leaves the rest unsaid. Interpret at will!
[15:48] <Joshua> "Yeah. I just..." Josh looks like he wants to say something else but leaves it at that. "Yeah, I'll try."
[15:48] <Rica> (just fuck already)
[15:48] <Joshua> "...by the way, I really feel awkward about asking it like this but...do you mind if I call you by your first name?"
[15:49] <Lecia> (I REFUSE) "I don't! I was actually wondering why you were calling me Asami in the first place, so go ahead~"
[15:50] <Joshua> "Sorry, it's mostly just a habit from work, you don't call someone by their first name until you've really gotten to know them well. That and it's easier to identify most people by their surname, I guess."
[15:51] <Joshua> "So...What's your world like, Lecia? I mean, if giant robots are commonplce, it must he really high-tech and all that."
[15:52] <Rainy> Speaking of nicknames, Josh's buckler is covered, as in, COVERED in the words Mr. Assaulter over and over again.
[15:53] <Joshua> "...she did it again."
06[15:53] * Joshua sighes with a sense of resignation.
[15:55] <Lecia> "They actually aren't. They're figuring out how giant robots work, which is probably why there's so much new shows." Lecia glances at the shield. "Yyyeeeeaaaahhh. You kinda did earn that one. Lesson, no friendly fire! But anyway, I should probably note that Pokemon aren't actually a thing in my world. I mean, there's TV shows, games, and so on, but they're just fictional over here."
[15:56] <Joshua> "...that's kind of creepy." The "pokemon is a game over in my world" part, not the "you shouldn't attack your allies" part.
03[15:58] * Botherer changes topic to 'Rainy > Frost Queen | Nini or Chao Chao > Frost Queen'
[15:59] <Rainy> SUDDENLY
[15:59] <Rainy> A VISION OF RAINY DUELING A GIANT ICY JIGGLYPUFF FLASHES INTO THEIR MINDS
[15:59] <Rainy> SOMEHOW
[15:59] <Rainy> THEY KNOW THE ORDER OF INITIATIVE OF THIS GRAVE CONFLICT
[15:59] <Lecia> "To someone that has them as a day to day thing, yeah. I started paying attention to it after the people that did Pokemon made crossovers with giant robot shows, and everything just stuck to my head! If it wasn't for that, I'd have almost been as lost as Yumeko." NO HE JUST HAS THAT AS REFERENCE YOU HUGE BAD.
[15:59] <Joshua> "She seems to be learning quickly enough though..."
[16:02] <Lecia> "Yeah, that's good. Pokemon are kinda complicated, so..."
[16:02] <Joshua> "I won't argue with that..."
[16:06] <Lecia> "...actually, what I hope to be able to do in these dreams is actually build a giant robot. In real life, too, but I figure if I can't do it in my dreams, why not?"
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[16:07] <Joshua> "Seems fair. My dreams...well, I don't really have anything big I'm shooting for. Probably why what I look like here is about the same as teh real world. Biggest thing I could ever really want is to be able to see the next day, or the next week, or the next whatever, really."
[16:13] <Lecia> "I guess that's because you have so much on your plate already...but it's OK! We'll get you out, and allow you to dream~"
[16:14] <Joshua> "Even so...I'm not sure I'm meant for being some big name that everyone recognizes. I'd much more like to be in the background."
[16:17] <Lecia> "That kind of mindset probably comes from the same thing. You CAN be big, it's just that the world doesn't want you to because it wanted to be cruel. ...Though you don't have to dream about hitting it big, you know? Some people can wish for friends, true love, some person to get what's coming to them...
[16:18] <Joshua> "The last one I already have someone in mind. If we ever travel to your world for something, I'm gonna give that guy something to remember."
[16:21] <Lecia> "Ah, well...he'd probably get you back something fierce. He's like a bear! And then he'd...probably accuse you of being one of the people she's slept with, even though she's not that kind of person at all, and then hit her...so yeah, if only it were that easy..." Ho hum.
[16:23] <Joshua> "So we take her with us when we leave."
[16:25] <Lecia> "...That probably wouldn't be good either. He'd go blaming me, and he'd be right, but...well, though I wouldn't mind if the world just showed it's true colors at me, I could take that, he'd probably crush my head like a grape. You don't wake up from that kind of stuff." Shudder.
[16:26] <Joshua> "...We have to do something, though..."
[16:27] <Lecia> "Only option I can see is to somehow directly fix it within the dream world! If there's a place with a corrupt police chief in here, we might be able to do something..."
[16:28] <Joshua> "...it's better than anything I can come up with." shrug.
[16:31] <Lecia> ...hmm... "Maybe Ye Olde Town might represent poverty...wonder what the police-figures would be like at the port and castle...sailors do drink a lot..." PLANNING!
[16:33] <Joshua> "Mother Swanna would be more likely to have more information on where we could go from here..."
[16:35] <Lecia> "...True! Should we ask her?" WARNING, BOTHERER: A HUGE BATTLESHIP "DUAL-RUNNING" IS APPROACHING FAST!
01[16:35] <Botherer> Warning heeded!
01[16:35] <Botherer> Assmung new positions!
[16:35] <Joshua> "Let's do that." Joshua offers Lecia a hand up as they head back, hopefully where answers await
[16:38] <Lecia> Lecia feels weird doing so, since 1,1[DATA EXPUNGED]. But she takes the hand up, and gets over there!
01[16:40] <Botherer> The two of you proceed on your way to Mother Swanna's oversized lunch table. Would you like a midday snack? 'cause yes, obligatory snack display is set up.
[16:44] <Lecia> "Sure~ Though we just came here for some questions, I could definitely use a snack." After a nice cry, snacks feel good. Teehee.
01[16:47] <Botherer> Mother Swanna slides a tray of pastries over to Lecia. "Tell me, children, what gives me the pleasure of seeing your lovely faces?"
[16:47] <Joshua> "Trouble, and wanting clues on how to fix it."
06[16:49] * Joshua is terse almost to a fault, but doesn't really pay it much mind. he just wants the bills and debt collectors and deadbeat scumbag fathers to all go away, whatever that takes.
01[16:51] <Botherer> "Trouble? Why, that simply won't do!" She shakes her head and flips her glasses up, at which point she can probably see that one of you was crying and the other's emotional. "Come here, children... What's troubling your poor hearts right now?"
[16:52] <Joshua> "A lot. not the least of which is the knight-person we fought a few days previous." Joshua recalls his tail, omitting a few parts as his fists are visibly clenched tight. A kid could hurt himself if he keeps doing that.
[16:54] <Lecia> Pastries get! ...Gods, if Madeline were here this would be 20 tons of awkward. "Yeah, there's definitely more problems that need fixing than I was expecting, and even more besides! So..." Where, oh where to begin. Saying too much would just be weird, after all. "...Was wanting to know if there was any place in the dream world that has...bad police, and...maybe knowledge about the financial
[16:54] <Lecia> state of Ye Olde Town? And yeah, the knight as well." She is completely unsure of how awkward she was, if she was at all. Woo!
[16:56] <Joshua> "Her current theory is that if we overcome bad things in the dream world, then problems that correlate to those bad things would disappear in our worlds."
01[16:57] <Botherer> "Oh yes, the knight you found... I believe Edword's tending to him right now, God bless the dear thing... As per police... Hmm... Well, Ye Olde Town has but the Royal Knights, though the Emperor's been... A bit off lately."
[16:58] <Joshua> "I'll want to speak to him later." Joshua's eyes narrow. "Privately, if at all possible."
01[16:58] <Botherer> "Port Town hasn't had a particularly good history with trouble coming around its way either..." Botherer has idiotically simple naming schemes.
[17:00] <Joshua> "...I suppose it's better than nothing. You want to round up the gang and look into those tomorrow?"
[17:02] <Lecia> Somehow, the idea of Edword tending to anyone is a bit disturbing. But she nods at Joshua's claim! "...Alright, we'll see if we can return him to his senses!" Maybe he WAS a good father once. It'd feel wrong to steal him away with a drill, if that's the case. Helping! "And I guess Port Town might need more help than Ye Olde, I guess I should visit!" And to Joshua! "Yeah, sounds like a plan~"
[17:02] <Lecia> Definitely more cheerful now! THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!
[17:03] <Joshua> "Alright. I guess I'll see you then."
[17:04] <Lecia> "Alright~ I'll train up so I can take on anything~! See ya~" SMELL YA LATER, only not. Dododo DO dodo DO DO, DOOOOOO etc.