![]() ![]() ![]() May be used in conjunction with the "Leave Your Quest" Test to create The Final Temptation. May be equipped with a Dream Emergency Exit. If the place isn't happy, but the hero is still made to believe it's real over his old life, it's a Cuckoo Nest. May also be an exitless Happy Place or not-so-happy Ontological Mystery or Psychological Torment Zone. In the majority of these cases, Your Mind Makes It Real. Often lends itself to anti-escapism aesops against spending all of your time in a virtual fantasy world. Cut back to reality, where they're still shackled in a chair under the thrall of the Machine. In this tone, a particularly Fridge Horrific ending for a villain (or a hero) may see them fall under the spell of the Machine, but only for a second before Shattering the Illusion, defeating their enemies, and re-making the world in their image. This can range from Epileptic Trees theories by a handful of viewers, all the way up to extreme canon cases of a Dream Within a Dream. Sometimes it isn't clear whether their escape is genuine or not. Might involve a realistic Artificial Outdoors Display.īonus points go to the villains if they attempt to drive the protagonist to despair by turning the dream into a nightmare or otherwise play on the protagonist's emotions.īecause of the nature of this trope, it often lends itself to doubts after the characters "escape". More often than not, a Dream Apocalypse occurs. If they're in too deep, friends (or even characters from the fantasy itself) hoping to mount an Orphean Rescue have to force the hero to Battle in the Center of the Mind in order to escape. In order to escape, the dreamer has to figure out they're dreaming, if that isn't already known to them then they have to break the masquerade and give up their life's dream. Sometimes they do know but it's so beautiful and relaxing there that they don't care, and they'd rather stay there. Sometimes the lotus-eater has no idea it's all fake. Some monsters even weaponize the ability to project Your Heart's Desire to snatch up easy prey. The truth, however, is that the paradise isn't real in fact, they're being held prisoner by another character who is using something - a mind-control machine, some AI computer, a magic spell, a powerful drug, a Platonic Cave, or other phlebotinum - to cause intense and realistic hallucinations. They smile as attractive, scantily-clad attendants replenish their drink. The sky is blue, the air is warm, the waves of the ocean lap at the white sand beach, there are banquet tables laden with fresh platters of delicious food. Whatever they wanted most all their life is finally theirs. A character is knocked out, or goes to sleep, and wakes up in their own personal paradise. ![]()
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