hadriel_logs | Event Log: Bad End

Entry tags:

Event Log: Bad End

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Bad End event
Where: All over the city!
When: August 23rd-September 5th
Warnings: Bad futures, awkward conversations, smashed mirrors

You wake up to find a mirror at your bedside - a pretty nice one, too, a silver hand mirror perfect for fixing your hair in. Only when you try to do that, it's not your gorgeous reflection that you see. It's something else - a terrible future, just about as bad as anything you could imagine for yourself.

Maybe you see your loved ones dead on the ground, and you know it's your fault. Maybe you see the goal you've been working so hard for pulled out of your reach forever. Maybe you see someone you've hurt in the past ruining your life. Maybe you see your hot girlfriend leaving you to shack up with your worst enemy. Whatever you see, it really sucks, and you know that it's possible. This future could happen if you make the wrong choices, give in to your worst impulses.

Break the mirror if you want, but you'll see the same vision in any reflective surface in the city. You can't break them all, but you can sure try. And what will you do when you see your best friend's vision - and it features you betraying them?

Seek reassurance, give reassurance, lash out, vow to yourself that you'll never let it turn out that way, sink into the depths of sorrow because you feel like the future you see is inevitable. Whatever you do, it won't take away those visions - not until the event is over.

► This log covers August 23rd-September 5th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you can't handle the idea of your dark future, or maybe you just accidentally slip and fall on a mirror shard, let us know here.

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[While Marian herself has no problem at all doing her best to avoid her reflection, she hasn't quite got hold of the nagging urge to look at someone else's. But unfortunately she doesn't quite interpret it the same way, snorting and turning her eyes away before she catches sight of her own miserable fate.]

I certainly don't have any issues with derisive remarks towards someone who seems to have escaped the parasites' malicious intent this time around. Which one of them did you end up talking to, to get out of this one?

[ she laughs and it sounds more like i've made huge mistake than truly amused. ]

I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to get some aggression out. It shattered but there are still reflections everywhere. [ she holds up her right hand. her thumb is bandaged. ] And I cut myself.

[Marian has no idea how to deal with a crying person. Even at her most upset it's not really her inclination. Maybe an explanation would help?]

It's another attempt at emotional manipulation, just like many of the other events the parasites have orchestrated. You just have to remember that.

[And, admittedly, that's exactly why she's been so angry about them for so long now.]

[George has just seen herself staying eighteen years old forever, never reaching her quota of souls to be taken, watching her parents and eventually her little sister grow old and wither and die in front of her and she was helpless to comfort them or be there for them in their old age.

she just went on, ageless, all of the other Reapers she knew meeting their quotas and moving on and being surrounded by strangers so she didn't even have the small comfort of people she knew being there for her.

it never ended. murders. suicides. accidents. death. everyone but her getting getting their sparkly lights and moving on to the afterlife. everyone but George. there's no way out. there's no relief. all there is is death.

after seeing this in the mirror, George shrieked and left the house, looking for something, anything to bring some relief. she finds herself wandering around aimlessly, turning her eyes firmly from any reflective surface she can, getting further out of town than she usually does. she finds herself in the orchard where she sees a familiar face, though not one seen since the Pleasantville-on-steroids scenario

she blinks a couple of times at his statement, then seems to pull herself together somewhat.]

Thank fuck. How--how're you?

Excuse me? [That anger of her flares up again, the elf aiming a heated glare across the short distance between them. Lup grits her teeth and clenches her fist, breathing out through her nose.] You don't know what you're talking about, homeslice. Keep running your mouth off like that and you're gonna lose it.

[Wizards may not be known for their constitution and strength, but that's never stopped her from getting into scuffles in the past.] I'd never make deals with those pieces of shit after what they did to my brother. Don't you even think for a second I would.

Edited 2017-08-26 23:22 (UTC)

[she's on her knees in the middle of her room, clutching the mirror and staring into it, transfixed

she briefly tears her eyes away from it long enough to look at you before looking back at the mirror]

Y--yeah?

[Don't scold her like she's a child. You aren't her dad!

Once the helmet pops off and she knows just who she's talking to, there's a shift in Lup's posture, the tension in her shoulders visibly dissipating. As panicked as she may be, it's not her intention to start fights or to upset the few people in this place she actually likes.

Her mouth opens, but nothing pops out, the elf at an uncharacteristic loss for words. How does she even begin to explain any of what's going on in her head? Eventually, she huffs and steps forward to grab at his hand, attempting to drag him closer to the store front mirror behind her. When she's closer, Lup presses both of her palms against the glass, leaning in close enough to press her nose against it. But there's nothing there. No reflection at all.] Can you see me?

[George also would advise strongly against stagnancy. she was stagnant all of her life and all it got her was an early death]

Oh. Okay.

[George is just taking small, short breaths, like she was verging on a panic attack and her voice when she responds is somewhat shrill]

Distracted? Yeah. That's a good word for it.

[The only reason Ephemera lets Lup grab his hand is because he knows her and feels about 85% sure that she's not going to try and murder him right here and now. What does it matter about her reflection?

Except that she doesn't have one.

Ephemera squints. Rubs his good eye.]

Either my eye's gone to shit or you don't have a reflection.

[Reassuring that Lup is sensible enough to hate the parasites but Marian feels obliged to ask then, following that train of thought:]

Then what other explanation do you have for failure to be subjected the some kind of horrible reflection?

[She sideways-glances up to check again and... yes, Lup is still missing, but the faintest hint of her own frozen skeleton out of he corner of her eyes is enough to provoke a full-body shudder.]

[The offer is temping. Maketh watches Nick for a long moment before shaking her head.]

No. But I would ask you something. I know you have had -- doubts.

[They all have. But his have been something more in the past, Maketh knows.]

When it is -- confusing, how do you remember where you stand?

[It would almost be comical to see how fast the woman deflates there in front of him if the reason behind it wasn't making her heart hammer inside of her chest. Lup's shoulders drop, long ears drooping along with them, and the anger that had been driving her forward all morning suddenly disappears, leaving her left with nothing but worry and fear weighing at her shoulders.]

What the fuck is going on? You can still see me, but--[She lifts a hand off of the glass to press it against her cheek. She feels solid, not less than she was the day before. But that doesn't make the concern fade away.]

Magnus can see the look on her face. The knife in her hands. He doesn't assume, though, that she's done this to herself. He mistakes the situation entirely, assumes she got in some sort of fight. When she protests, though, he hesitates. Not the clinic? She's bleeding pretty bad, and though it doesn't look like the cuts are excessively deep, they're pretty nasty and need tending to.

"Well, you got any better ideas, or do you just want to let your whole face turn into a giant pus-filled infection?" he retorts, sounding less patient than he means to. He's freaking out a little, but it's all from worry.

He doesn't know this woman, doesn't know why she's got such a bad attitude -- though he imagines if he was messed up like this, he'd probably be pretty cranky as well -- but the thing he cares about most is protecting her from further harm. Making sure she's alright is his first priority, right now. If he has to force her to go to the clinic he will, but if she has a good reason not to go, he's willing to hear it.

So? You don't have a reflection. Either this is some vampire shit or the gods are fucking with people again.

[It seems simple enough to Ephemera. He eyes Lup. She's not calm. There's something else.]

What?

[Even if Magnus is the only man she knows of his distinct size and stature, draped in all of the layers that he was, it's no surprise that even she doesn't recognize him at first. Lup's attention is so much more focused on having all eyes on her than paying attention to just who she was harassing out on the streets.

Before the recognition hits, the elf's irritation drops at the strange sight lumbering around in front of her. Like a walking, talking wardrobe magic'd into sentience. She opens her mouth as Magnus addresses her, like she's about to scream at him again, but she looks so utterly dumbfounded that her mouth just gapes uselessly for a few extra seconds before closing again.

Magnus rushing in saves the day again.

Muffled as his speech was, the connection hits and Lup immediately closes the distance between them, peering up through the various sunglasses on his face to catch sight of the man beneath the layers. At the mention of her hair, she idly reaches out to touch the braid swung over her shoulder.]

Oh, uh, no. Was kind of thinking of it, but I dunno, we'll see--Hey. [Her eyes narrow accusingly.] Most of those scarves look awfully familiar. Some of those hats too, buddy.

[Marian's assumption is only natural. When the rest of the city is stuck seeing reflections of their worst nightmares, questioning why someone wouldn't have a reflection at all makes sense.

But that assumption just makes Lup feel like she wants to explode into a burst of flames and burn up the whole city along with herself. She snarls, teeth bared at the other woman, and thrusts a finger at the same reflective shop front that Marian's been sneaking peeks into.] You think I'm happy to not have a reflection? Like I'm fucking dying to be forgotten again? [She turns to shoot her glare at the glass now, to meet with her own missing reflection. Her eyes drift over to Marian's frozen skeleton. Alright, that's a sobering enough image that some of her fiery temper cools, just enough that her snarl turns into a less intense scowl.]

Believe what you want, but I hate this shit as much as you must.

[ Malkus had to take some more time to finish his current sobbing. The pain wracked his throat and made his body feel as if it were coiling up. Eventually he reached his arm out to point at the reflective windows across the road. He wouldnt dare look at them. The doctor's already seen quite enough. ]

It's me.

[ His voice was hushed and low, with that usual wobbling airy tone totally absent. ]

What waits for me when I return home. I'd known but seeing it is... so much worse.

[Is that what it is? Marian's not going to risk another direct look. She doesn't quite have the thread of the theme other than something everyone hates, but that's close enough.]

I ...don't think that's possible... [She says sullenly. Her own reflection aside, no doubt that snowy, broken landscape she's seen is the truth... but an unpleasant one elicits nothing bu pangs of guilt and irrational fear.]

Either way, I'm sure the parasites are having quite a feast today.

[ As an inkling of reasoning returned to the doctor, he began to realize that it really was Marian here. He hadn't spoken to her very much, but was able to get a rough approximation of her personality during those few times. So it was odd, he thought, that she'd want to remain here to talk him down from this. It wasn't that he thought she was rude! But...

Well he wasn't sure what she actually thought of him. ]

It hurts. That is the point, though. Isn't it. The parasites are enjoying this.

[ He pulled his hat off and set it over the mirror at his side. ]

How can anyone claim to sympathize with someone who would do this? This is no dreamscape. I'm not a... a milk man, this time.

[ The smallest trace of humor peeked up at that last line. It was horrifying and disorienting, but he still thought about how foolish that uniform was. ]

[Marian bolted herself in the lab for that surreal week once she clued in to what was going on. So she's not quite sure about that milkman remark, but it's always a bit of a relief to hear others being on the same page as her thoughts, especially after some network conversations had gone so, so badly.]

I don't know. I don't understand it. It shouldn't matter to any of us what happens to the parasites. But they're good at taking our forms, cajoling others... that's how it's done, I suppose.

It still sounds utterly absurd that anything would feed on emotion. But Fear, Rage, Sorrow... maybe even others, depending on the visions... I'm sure they're all getting a feast out of this. So you have to do your best to shut them out.

[Of course this is easy to say and harder to do... she's failing terribly on most fronts. But that doesn't mean she can't insist it of others.]

It reminds me of history texts. From far lands, where gods were said to take the forms of men. Animals sometimes. Sounds more demonic than anything. I need to numb myself, I understand. Focus on my work. Or finding work.

[ Even if it didn't look like it, Malkus was trying! He tried to beat down those overwhelming emotions, but seeing his fears come to life was too much. He finally brought his head up to look at Marian. Unfortunately it might be possible to see a bit of reflection in those circular lenses that protected his eyes.

He was going to continue on, but another wave overcame him and he swung his attention back down. As he did, he caught something in the reflection of the windows ahead of him. It was quick, and he barely even had time to rationalize it as he tried to force down another heaving sob. ]

Doc-tor?

[ see also ]

[He catches on so quickly, which is good, because Lup doesn't even have the sense to try and hide how much this has shaken her.]

What if this is just the start? What if I disappear completely? [So much uncertainty in what was next. If she could be reassured this was as far as those shitty gods would go, Lup could handle it better, but without knowing for sure?] What the fuck am I going to do? I can't leave him behind again.

[Lup glares at her again for that commentary, like Marian's bad end is somehow worse than her own, but she just turns her back on the reflection, refusing to look that way again. This whole leaving the apartment thing had been a bad idea. She really needs to get home and crawl back into bed with her twin to wait this whole shit storm out.]

Sure they're having a fucking blast with all of this. All the more reason to take them down. Like, now.

Exactly. This isn't the worst that they've put us though, so there's still ways to get things done this time...

[Oh no, damn it. Marian's gaze shifts down and to the side as soon as that first hint of her own reflection appears in the eye coverings of Malkus' mask, the hint of an eyesocket being enough to trigger a full-on shiver.]

Yes?

[She replies, definitely staring at the ground 100% now.]

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Event Log: Bad End

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