Reverie
ArcaneYouth
- Created
- 2 years, 1 month ago
- Creator
- PumpkinCatCarnival
- Favorites
- 13
Profile
Player 2
Ageless
They/them
Human
Mage
Player
5'10
Average
Whatever you'd like
About
Reverie is a human that ended up in the monster world after striking a deal with their new bestie, Vidette. They've been residing in the monster world for an unnaturally long time, having not seemed to have aged a day in that time. They've spent their time there learning magic and becoming a proficient mage, as well as learning the ins and outs of the political system. They support their friends, Vidette and Viorel, while they navigate the political system as well.
After Viorel disappears and Vidette is killed, Reverie can do nothing but wait patiently, hoping Vidette's ghost will find Viorel and reunite them all together again.
That's the story that was written for them, anyways.
They know better.
Reverie is player 2 of the game In a Manor of Speaking. They've done this all over again countless times. Their only goal is to finally beat the final boss and escape the game for good. Player 1 abandoned them, so they've taken on the task they'd both worked so hard to reach onto their own shoulders. They will escape. One way or another.
Personality
Reverie typically plays the part of an upbeat happy go lucky guy who's always looking out for everyone's best interests. This is an act, of course. Reverie doesn't have much of a personality left anymore. Their cheerful smile and acts of kindness are all preplanned and rehearsed, more times than anyone could know. They are exactly whatever they need to be to get the desired results from the game.
Still, they do have some traits that are solely theirs. While they won't hesitate to hurt someone if it gets them on the game route they want, Reverie will still choose kind options if they choice doesn't affect anything. They are not unnecessarily cruel, though they will not go out of their way to help anyone if they don't feel like it.
It won't ever come across to NPCs but Reverie is, despite everything, extremely goofy and perhaps a bit dumb. The only reason they seem so well put together is because everything is muscle memory to them. When not selecting perfect dialogue and nailing quick time events, Reverie will search for glitches that do nothing for them except kill them instantly, or beg Elysium (the writer of the game) to add new minigames for them to do, or sack a run by selecting whatever dialogue pisses the most NPCs off at once until they're being hunted for sport. If they didn't have limited dialogue options, Reverie would be fucking up every conversation immensely because they don't remember how talking to people even works. They're a fool.
Trivia
- On top of being aware of the nature of the game, Reverie is also aware of the fourth wall. They find it incredibly funny that the story they're part of isn't even actually a video game.
- Reverie regularly forgets to do normal person things such as eating and drinking water and it is their number 1 cause of death in their statistics.
- They chose their name and decided to stick with it in all subsequent runs after hearing Viorel use it when they were still close. The allure of the reveries he'd speak of was blinding, and it was something they wanted to bask in forever.
- Reverie mostly specializes in elemental magic. It's fun, it's quick, and it's easy.
Connections
Reverie is fully aware the history they have together was written into both their memories. Just a part of their characters. It doesn't stop them from being willing to do anything for her. She's the only NPC where they've actively avoided any runs that require hurting her.
Elysium is a part of the games system, so she's one of the only people Reverie can talk to about their situation. She's was more real to them once, but over the last couple hundred runs, Reverie no longer remembers her as a person. She's fun to talk to, but she's just an ai. She cares about them a lot and knows its too late for them. So she tells them there's a way out of the game, knowing it'd break their heart. It was all she could think to do to finally get through to them and make them realize this world is all there is.
Shale is a part of the game's systems, and basically functions as a file explorer. Shale's a silly lil creature and doesn't really understand why Reverie always seems so upset, but it tries so hard to help them anyways. It's what it was made for! Maybe if it keeps showing Reverie pictures of animals with cowboy hats, they'll smile and laugh like they used to. Reverie... appreciates it. More than they'll ever let on.
Eden is not real to Reverie. She is nothing but an NPC to them. But she's also their ticket to freedom, as far as they know, so they flatter her, they treat her better than anyone ever has, and they find themself getting attached. She becomes a little bit real to them. They get nervous when she dies on their quests and always makes sure she's ok once they reload. They don't want her to go. But she's not real to them, and they play with her like a toy they know they're going to throw away eventually. So why can't they stop the rush of emotions they can't identify when she's around?
Reverie has no strong opinions on Aiden, but Aiden certainly has some kind of feelings about them. Reverie is nice to them out of requirement for the route they're taking, and unfortunately Aiden now thinks they're very cool for it. Aiden's routes were some of the more fun ones in previous runs of the game, but for the most part Reverie does not care. Reverie kind of pities them.
Despite Reverie's best efforts, they've never found a route that lets them get to the human world in time to stop Amedeo from turning into a demon. They started being nice to him a little bit out of spite for how little that was in their control, and now its just habit. Amedeo is incredibly suspicious of them for it, but not enough to really do anything about it, so they're... friends? Close enough to friends.
They don't really know each other, Reverie just finds whatever the fuck she has going on extremely entertaining. She's really easy to tease with knowledge of future events, especially because she never seems surprised, just fascinated. Her plotline doesn't really affect Reverie's own goals so they encourage her weird behavior.
He ABANDONED them and left them to deal with the game, he forgot them after all the times he said they'd get out of the game together, he ran away and left them with nothing. He became unreal, leaving Reverie as the only real person here, in their eyes. They don't go out of their way to antagonize Viorel, but they sure do avoid being kind to him.
Guide is a tutorial guide during the beginning sections of the game. She has no memory of previous runs, and so she gets super pissed when Reverie skips her dialogue and starts hunting them down for the rest of the game. Every single run Reverie has to decide if they're more in the mood to smile patiently while she explains things they've done thousands of times, or to fuck with her and deal with that for the next 2-3 years.
After Reverie discovers there's no escape to the game and finally wants to try to learn to live in this world, Raid's the best person to help them on that journey. Raid is Player 3 of the game, and was forced to reset with Reverie every single time. While Raid holds a little bit of spite about it, they don't really mind, as they've spent their eternity learning how to love their friends in new ways. Raid truly adores the reality of the game and loves to be alive in it. And they're very happy to try to help Reverie do the same. Reverie feels like they owe Raid everything.
Reverie doesn't know what to think of this guy. His chaotic energy is off the charts. He calls himself a gamer and doesn't even know what qualifies as a video game. The only game he plays is fortnite. He keeps trying to smack Reverie with his baseball bat. Reverie almost finds this endearing.
Legend seems nice enough?? It's very sweet, to a degree Reverie doesn't know how to handle. At least with Shadow, they know how to block his punches. You can't block someone trying to hand you freshly made brownies. They tried, but Raid said that was rude. Its patience while Reverie learns how to interact with people like a normal person is appreciated.
Saves
The first few runs of the game were an exciting new adventure for Reverie and Viorel. They were always together, learning how the mechanics worked, getting into goofs and shenanigans. There was nothing they couldn't handle together. Reverie was so filled with hope and joy then, in such a genuine way. They'd insist on reloading when they messed anything up, really wanting to make sure they got the true ending their first time. Both of them grew so attached to the characters, but in the end, it was all still just a game.
They'd expected the game to have an end. When it didn't end when Viorel and Reverie thought it was supposed to, they'd start over. Surely they did something wrong. They must have missed something. They started branching into paths they hadn't wanted to take at first. It got easier to deal with the more upsetting routes as they went along. It was still ok. They'd still handle it together. Viorel talked so much about what would happen after the end, and conjured beautiful worlds they'd travel to next. Reverie was in love with the idea. As long as they were together, they'd find a way out.
Viorel forgot them. However he'd done it, he no longer remembered the game. He gave up. He locked himself into a route where he'd get amnesia and leave for the human world. And there he would live in an ignorant bliss.
If Viorel wasn't touching the saves anymore, Reverie became the default user for the game's systems. It was their responsibility now. They kept up the search. None of it really mattered anyways. They'd find the end. They'd win. And then they'd never look back, whatever came next. The NPCs they'd loved so much were beyond stale and predictable at this point. They became truly and utterly alone in this fake world that wasn't their home.
Reverie forgot too, eventually, why they'd even cared in the first place.
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The EndError: Player2.dll File Corrupted. Please restore data Load State
Reverie slowly ran out of ideas on what could possibly win their them exit. Surely they had to kill Engel, they were listed as the final boss in the files. But nothing they ever did was enough to defeat them. Every run ended in defeat. There was only a few combinations of characters in their party they hadn't tried. And slowly, they knocked those options down one by one. One of the last remaining attempts would be to max out Eden's friendship and no one else. Reverie wasn't very hopeful about this one.
Eden had always been so easy to befriend. She'd been hiding away all the grief she'd held in for nearly 2 years. All one would have to do was acknowledge that, and she'd do anything for you. Reverie was her shoulder to cry on, then someone to goof off with. Someone to escape from the world with. Someone closer to her than her own family she'd drifted so far from. Reverie almost felt bad for her.
It was odd. The dialogue options that gave Reverie the most sway with her weren't ones they'd expected. They talked to her about topics so close to the concept of the game, it was tempting to just try to show her. She trusted them enough, maybe they could... So they did. They showed her the save file one day. And to their surprise... she could see it.
The shock must have been difficult to get over, but it was too late now. This was the path the game was telling Reverie to go on, and now... now this was interesting. She began to see the menus, the HP bars above peoples heads, the dialogue options, even Elysium and Shale. It never ended. She knew now that she was an NPC and wasn't really worth much in the long run. It was hard to blame her for taking so long to process it. Reverie couldn't get as close with her as they had before, but what did it matter? She was just an NPC. Now that she knew that, it'd be easier. Right?
She had such a hard time wrapping her head around it all, but one thing felt true. She wanted to stay with Reverie and to help them. Sometimes they felt like maybe they could think the same. She felt so... real. She felt so different. She felt so lost, and scared, and afraid, but Reverie made some kind of sense to her. Reverie was real, right? As everything crumbled around her, Reverie felt steady. She didn't want to leave them. The more she stayed, the more empty and worthless she felt.
The time finally came. The final boss. Reverie seemed nervous for the first time since Eden had met them. She felt nothing. She wished for some kind of comfort, she wished she could do what Reverie could. To have some kind of control. The save menu flickered gently above her palm. ...It couldn't hurt, could it? She saved over Reverie's files. That... that hadn't been what she thought it'd do. It was too late to fix it, Reverie was gestering that it was time. She'd just to have to hope they didn't mess it up and could fix the file later.
Reverie and Engel went on some kind of monologue. Eden wasn't listening, her sword Reverie had gotten for her heavy in her hands. As the fight began, Eden realized... Engel wasn't attacking her. Engel couldn't... see her. They didn't know she was there. Her hands felt numb and tingly at the same time. It was her chance. She raised the sword.
Engel's head fell to the ground and everything went silent. Eden could've sworn the blade grew heavier. She couldn't look away from the corpse on the floor. But then, Reverie began to laugh. They had the biggest grin, and Eden melted. It was over. It was over. Reverie was happy. Had their smile really never been so genuine before...? They scooped her up into a hug, and Eden felt safe... she thought? She wasn't sure what she was feeling. But it wasn't bad. The end game screen flickered into life behind her and Reverie dropped her to finally get their exit. She was happy for them.
Reverie went silent, and when Eden looked back, they were completely still. There was nothing. The only buttons that showed up were to reload... or reset. No exit.
There never was an exit.
The laugh Reverie let out then was the unhinged laugh of someone who'd lost it all. Before Eden could react, they'd pulled up the files for the game and began tearing the game apart from the inside out. She thought she screamed for them to stop, but it was hard to tell behind the sickening sensations now coursing through her as reality fell apart. Floor and wall textures disappeared. Everything was noisy, everything was silent. Eden felt like someone had removed her heart and placed it underwater. She begged them to stop. They only laughed more. There was nothing else she could've done.
She grabbed her sword with what little feeling she had left and shoved it through Reverie's chest. After a moment of shock, they laughed again. Surely she didn't think this would mean anything? They could never die. They never died. They could NEVER DIE. They laughed as the blood started to fill their mouth. ...And didn't stop. They should've... They should've reloaded by now. And finally they processed the grim look on Eden's face, and the save file she held in her hands. It was under her name.
The world was tearing itself apart now. Reverie couldn't die, they're a player. But they didn't have a file anymore. They could practically hear the screeching of the game's code trying to work out all the errors. It was so hard. To think. Reverie was on the floor now, unsure when that had happened. Eden was curled up, in pain. They hadn't... wanted that. But they couldn't do anything about it. The last thing they saw before everything disappeared was Elysium's disappointed face.
Elysium managed to pull the code back together into a functional state again. Not that it helped Reverie much. They were entirely stuck, dying and unable to die. That would be much harder to fix. But at least the world wasn't falling apart anymore.
Reverie was finally freed from their purgatory when Elysium switched control of the file back to them, forcing them to save right before so it'd only reload them to seconds ago, and then gave the file back to Eden to keep. Just as she thought, as soon as Reverie could think clearly again, they tried to reset.
They were... inconsolable. Elysium kept them locked in a room, afraid of what they'd do if given more freedom than that. Still, she tried to reassure them, to comfort them. They didn't care. They couldn't anymore. They'd truly lost everything. This stupid fucking world didn't deserve to exist. None of these assholes were even real! None of this ever fucking MATTERED. Couldn't she fucking understand that? They were done, they were done pretending, they were done trying. Anybody who approached them had to deal with verbal and physical attacks. It didn't matter who tried. Reverie made sure they all stayed away.
Eden tried, once, and never again. Elysium tried every day. Raid, a player Reverie hadn't known existed, tried. Vidette... Vidette didn't know what was happening, but she tried. Nothing got through. And with the exception of Elysium, all of them gave up. Reverie was alone, just like they wanted.
So why did it just feel worse?
The loneliness hit them like a truck, and they couldn't have even blamed anyone else. This was their own fault. Why did they... why were they like this? Why did they DO that? They really deserved to be alone didn't they? They had thought they were alone before, when nothing was real, but now suddenly they wished to just be near someone, real or not.
God. They were such an idiot.
Elysium must've heard their sobs, because soon she was hugging them while they choked out apologies. ...Her hugs were so nice. Why had they never noticed before? They'd try so hard to notice from then on.
There was a lot Reverie couldn't fix, but they were determined to try again. They certainly couldn't stay with 90% of the people they knew without running into Eden again, and she'd made it very clear she wanted to stay as far away from them as possible. Kindly, Raid offered to have Reverie stay in their apartment. Raid had grown to love living in this world with how much Reverie had forced them to reset, and knew just how to help Reverie see this world in the light they did.
It took work, and time, and mistakes, and a lot of breakdowns, and more work. But the first time Reverie found themself smiling, playing Raid's piano, they knew it wasn't hopeless anymore.
Design
- Star and diamond shaped hair clips thrown haphazardly into their hair
- Hair tends to sweep to their left
- Always smiling
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