Safe Haven
Aug. 8th, 2009 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunasarielI've been kicking around an idea similar to Section Four: The Southern Cross, the friendly guiding stars. Whereas Section Four provides respite, aid, and protection to stories struggling to maintain canon in the face of massive fan onslaught, Southern Cross provides the same for all unrealized possibilities, or those cut short too soon.
It usually takes the form of a bar, doors to be found wherever, whenever, and however a safe haven is needed. There go all the couples that were and then weren't, or almost were, or should have been. The dead come back to life, lost love is returned, time and space mean nothing, and people find the courage to tell someone what they never could anywhere else. Buffy and Angel, Jack and Ennis, Harry and Susan, James and Sirius (still my Harry Potter OTP), Wynn and Osha (the way the Hendees seem to be going, at least) Gertrude and Chase, and anyone else who lost their true love, or found them and didn't recognize them, or never found them in the first place, all come here.
The problem with a place like the The Southern Cross is that, obviously, people don't want to leave. Why go back to all that torment and pain, when you can stay right here, safe and happy with your true love, forever? This painful necessity gave rise to an entity called the Bouncer, who sees to it that nobody stays over-long. I've been test-driving several different ideas, and the best one so far is a combination of two lesser ones. In the first part, a door to the Cross can only be found when it is needed. When you're coming apart at the seams, when it all just gets too much to bear, when you truly need to see someone you love, then you find your way in, but not before. And when you've had your fill, and you're ready to face the world again, a gentle sort of lethargy overcomes you, allowing you to say your goodbyes until next time, because there will always be a next time, then you fall asleep, only to wake up wherever you're supposed to be. Like with Section Four, all memories of the Southern Cross are wiped from it's patrons' memories until it's needed again. That's kind of the point: that it will be needed again. There's always the possibility of going back, and it's that possibility, albeit a subconscious once, that keeps some people alive.
EDIT: The 'Cross has been undergoing some renovations lately, and while the times at which it may be found remain the same, the Bouncer has been replaced by a new system, which I find to be more realistic, as well as more helpful. It doesn't have a name yet, but the basic idea is that whoever died/left/was lost/etc. needs to save up his or her energy in order to manifest totally to their lost love. For a full manifestation of six hours' duration, appearing in all six senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound, and spirit) the Lost One needs to "rest" (not appear to any sense) for one month. Of course, they can save up smaller amounts of energy to appear as just one sense (an insubstantial image, a whiff of perfume or scent, a phantom kiss, an invisible brush of fingers, a voice offering encouragement, or a simple presence), but these manifestations are obviously less satisfying, and don't last as long. The idea here is that it takes the least amount of concentration to manifest fully, as that's what we are most used to doing in life, while appearing in just one sense is tricky at best, and appearing in only two or three senses is so complicated as to be nearly impossible. But this person is still not supposed to exist, so the protected space of the Southern Cross is needed for a full manifestation.
It usually takes the form of a bar, doors to be found wherever, whenever, and however a safe haven is needed. There go all the couples that were and then weren't, or almost were, or should have been. The dead come back to life, lost love is returned, time and space mean nothing, and people find the courage to tell someone what they never could anywhere else. Buffy and Angel, Jack and Ennis, Harry and Susan, James and Sirius (still my Harry Potter OTP), Wynn and Osha (the way the Hendees seem to be going, at least) Gertrude and Chase, and anyone else who lost their true love, or found them and didn't recognize them, or never found them in the first place, all come here.
The problem with a place like the The Southern Cross is that, obviously, people don't want to leave. Why go back to all that torment and pain, when you can stay right here, safe and happy with your true love, forever? This painful necessity gave rise to an entity called the Bouncer, who sees to it that nobody stays over-long. I've been test-driving several different ideas, and the best one so far is a combination of two lesser ones. In the first part, a door to the Cross can only be found when it is needed. When you're coming apart at the seams, when it all just gets too much to bear, when you truly need to see someone you love, then you find your way in, but not before. And when you've had your fill, and you're ready to face the world again, a gentle sort of lethargy overcomes you, allowing you to say your goodbyes until next time, because there will always be a next time, then you fall asleep, only to wake up wherever you're supposed to be. Like with Section Four, all memories of the Southern Cross are wiped from it's patrons' memories until it's needed again. That's kind of the point: that it will be needed again. There's always the possibility of going back, and it's that possibility, albeit a subconscious once, that keeps some people alive.
EDIT: The 'Cross has been undergoing some renovations lately, and while the times at which it may be found remain the same, the Bouncer has been replaced by a new system, which I find to be more realistic, as well as more helpful. It doesn't have a name yet, but the basic idea is that whoever died/left/was lost/etc. needs to save up his or her energy in order to manifest totally to their lost love. For a full manifestation of six hours' duration, appearing in all six senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound, and spirit) the Lost One needs to "rest" (not appear to any sense) for one month. Of course, they can save up smaller amounts of energy to appear as just one sense (an insubstantial image, a whiff of perfume or scent, a phantom kiss, an invisible brush of fingers, a voice offering encouragement, or a simple presence), but these manifestations are obviously less satisfying, and don't last as long. The idea here is that it takes the least amount of concentration to manifest fully, as that's what we are most used to doing in life, while appearing in just one sense is tricky at best, and appearing in only two or three senses is so complicated as to be nearly impossible. But this person is still not supposed to exist, so the protected space of the Southern Cross is needed for a full manifestation.
