The Waking World offers a sharp contrast to the dreamlike, narrative-driven nature of Otherside.
The Coalesced and even some Myths reject the term “real world”, seeing it as closed-minded and dismissive of their own reality. The term Waking World has slipped into common parlance for most Myths and is helpful when talking about both realities. The term “The Grey” is also used, especially by some Coalesced or rare Myths, though this is often seen as pejorative, implying a dull and monotonous reality that those who use it know is far from the truth.
The Waking World is seen as a realm of stark, unembellished existence, where events happen without the predetermined arcs of a story. In Otherside, everything is driven by narrative rules. Characters follow arcs, climaxes are inevitable, and symbolism imbues every action with meaning. The Waking World, however, is a place where things happen without poetic purpose. A realm of raw cause and effect.
To the Coalesced of Otherside, the Waking World is a realm of brutal reality, where there is no guiding narrator to ensure justice, redemption, or even resolution. Events are random and chaotic, without the comforting structure of rising action, climax, and denouement. It operates under natural laws rather than narrative ones, where time flows in a straight line, and death does not always lead to rebirth or catharsis. Just finality.
For story-bound beings like the Coalesced, the Waking World is a place of discomfort and fear, but also of intriguing possibilities. In their world, all actions feed into satisfying arcs, and even tragedy has meaning and catharsis. In the Waking World, your actions only have the meaning that you or others attach to them. Accidents and random acts carry no direct pathos.
For Myths who know both realities, the Waking World is the counterbalance to the dreamlike, story-infused nature of Otherside. It is mundane and grounded, a place where dreams dissolve in daylight and the magic of stories fades into the pragmatic struggles of daily life.
The Role of Sleep and Dreams
Sleep and dreams serve as symbolic bridges between the two realms. Just as those in the Waking World dream of Otherside, experiencing stories, heroes, and adventures while asleep, the beings of Otherside experience brief moments of waking where they glimpse the rawness of the real world. These moments come as flashes of clarity or discomfort, where the dream of the story briefly dissolves and they see their existence for what it truly is.
Conversely, people in the Waking World experience flashes of Otherside through their dreams or moments of inspiration, when the rigid boundaries of reality soften and they glimpse a world of infinite possibilities and narrative coherence. For the inhabitants of Otherside, this boundary between waking and dreaming is the most fragile part of their existence. Some fear the idea of waking up into the Waking World entirely, seeing it as the ultimate loss of narrative control.
