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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[It's the first time in a long time that Lup's exploded at someone and instantly regretted it, that rushing surge of anger dissolving into guilt without pause. Even snapping at Magnus hadn't left the woman feeling too bad. But she also knew that Magnus could shrug it off like nothing. Alphys though? She always looks like one small scare was going to knock her over for good.]

Sorry, sis. [And she is, her mouth tugging into a tired frown. It's been a day.] That was shitty of me. You alright?

[Well, seeing as monsters' lives are incredibly dependent on their emotional state, you're not entirely wrong. Even though Alphys is, thankfully, a little tougher than one spike of fear is going to take down.]

I'm, uhm, I'm f-fine, just... you know. Tense, with everything.

[She remembers she met Lup not an incredible amount of time ago; she was new then. This might be her first encounter with this particular brand of God fuckery. Tranquility's illusion last month was ultimately harmless, despite the week and a half of lost time, and she'd go back there forever if it meant not dealing with ghosts of her loved ones that needed to be murdered, or evil doubles that caused her first death here.

She has an opportunity, she realizes. To speak from experience, bring some comfort, maybe just help someone who's gone of their way to help her before.]

I'm guessing, uh, the event hasn't been great f-for you...?

[Naturally, Alphys' brand of deduction is right on point. Pleasant Valley, while invasive and a grand waste of time, just doesn't compare to waking up to find your reflection is just gone. This is Lup's first real event in Hadriel, her first real glimpse into how cruel the gods who run this place can be.]

Not the best. [Which considering how new their relationship is, is a fairly open and honest statement from the elf. But Lup's just too worn down to keep up her defenses today. She gestures at her messy hair and the dark smudges under her eyes.] Pro-tip: Putting on mascara without a reflection will not end great.

How about you, Alphy? Holding up okay?

[Alphys had to learn quick and hard the sorts of things that the Gods could produce; even the most innocuous event could find them reeling, and when it came out of the gate like this, obviously meant for someone like Sorrow or Fear… well, there was no avoiding how bad that could be. The newbie guide and pamphlets were good for getting people oriented, but not a way to teach people what it means to really live here. Not how to survive.

She can’t hide the way her eyes widen when Lup admits it, though, the way the breath hitches in her throat just a bit, in a way that brings them a little closer than she previously thought.]

H-Heh, yeah, I mean… I don’t tend to do that sort of thing anyway, but, uhm, I imagine it would be.

[She… wants to say something. Lup was perfectly honest with her, or at least she seemed like it, and she owes it to be honest back, even if it’s uncomfortable. Hell, the woman sat through at least half a season of Mew Mew with her while she was just trying not to cry all over the place. At this point Alphys might as well owe her a life debt.]

My, uh, my roommate broke all the mirrors in the house before I woke up, so… I thought I just wasn’t s-seeing myself in anything because they were gone. But I guess, uhm. I guess it’s gonna be a good excuse if my glasses aren’t sitting right, if I can’t, uh, c-check.

[That… wasn’t a great confession! But it was one. She looks up at Lup over her glasses, in a way that says she hopes the other woman understands what that rambled sentence actually meant.]

[For what it's worth, the anime she'd been forced to sit through with Alphys weeks earlier hadn't been completely awful. In fact, it was kind of cute, definitely entertaining and a whole new experience for Lup. It really wouldn't take much convincing to get to her to sit down with Alphys and watch the rest of it, though she may demand that drinks be involved this time around. It would just make the experience that much better.]

Oh. [Hey, it may have come out a little confusing, but Lup catches onto the other woman's meaning without too much difficulty, her brows arching in surprise. So far Lup hasn't met with anyone who saw (or didn't see) the same thing that she saw reflected in the mirrors. It seemed like the majority of people she'd spoken with saw the reflections of dead friends or losing the people closest to them or just ending up alone with no one beside them. But Lup and Alphys weren't seeing themselves alone. They were seeing themselves removed from this world, forgotten and just gone. No traces of their existence left behind. Just. Nothing.

Ending up alone you still had your life and your future. But ceasing to exist. That was it.

This is not a thread that Lup would have expected to find in common with Alphys of all people in Hadriel. And honestly, knowing what she knows of herself and her own future, it worries Lup to not know anything of Alphys' past before this place.]

Well--[okay, she's been quiet so long it's awkward, but Lup brushes past that to kneel down closer to Alphys' level. She reaches out to adjust the other woman's glasses, taking her time and making certain beyond a doubt that they were perfectly perched on her nose.] There. Now you don't even have to worry about it, girlfriend.

Edited 2017-09-17 00:20 (UTC)

[She doesn't really know what to do when Lup goes quiet, adverting her eyes after only a few seconds, down towards her feet, hands clasped together maybe too hard. She wonders what happened to Lup to lead her here- someone so boisterous, so full of life, doesn't seem like she would've made it the same way Alphys did. Honestly, the very thought of that happening to Lup makes her feel sick. Alphys' pilgrimage here was sacrifice. Others don't deserve that. Especially not someone so kind to her, of all people.

But she's taken by surprise when Lup gets close, a blush going back to tinging her cheeks. This is what she's talking about- no one needed to help her like this. No one even needed to care. And Lup does, against all odds. Against everything she should and shouldn't be doing.

Would she stay, if she knew the truth? Would anyone?

She reaches up to touch her glasses in surprise, and stops. But her SOUL feels light, maybe for the first time all month.]

I... t-thank you. I was gonna say, uhm, I hope they're not too reflective, or a-anything, but uh...

[Well, there you go, anyway. She wants to do something, and ends up just babbling out the next line.]

I'm n-not the best at makeup, but uh, if you need help, I can try!

[Alphys may be surprised by Lup's capacity for forgiveness when it comes to the few people in this place she cares about. She'll hold grudges for decades against those who have wronged her personally or dared to mess with her friends, but family has always been the exception. For the first century of her life, that title had extended to her brother alone, but in the last fifty years, it's shifted outwards to include the other members of the IPRE.

And while Alphys may only just be edging into the friend category, Lup'll still defend the woman, even if it's from her own past mistakes.]

Nah, they're fine. [Which isn't completely true, but if Lup focuses hard enough on the eyes behind the lenses, it makes it so much more difficult to focus on the fact she isn't reflected at all. She grins at the offer, even if it isn't quite up to the usual Lup standard.] If my brother fucks it up, I'll hit you up next. Can't risk asking my other friends. [The thought alone is horrifying.]

And if there's anything you need, just lemme know.

Edited 2017-09-24 04:21 (UTC)

[She smiles, fingers still knitted together, but the other woman's kindness isn't left by the sidelines. She... feels like she hasn't done enough. They've only met a couple of times, but still, Lup strongarmed her way in when she needed someone, proved she was willing to care beyond her mistakes, and sometimes the very weight of that is staggering. But she wants to help. Wants to do something to prove she's worthy of her friendship. Prove she's not a total flake.]

Y-You too. I, uhm, I know we haven't... met a lot, or anything, but you've done so many nice things for me, and I don't wanna just take from you, and, uhm... I mean, you're really nice, and, I don't wanna make it seem like I'm not grateful??

[No one owes her kindness, and she knows this. It needs to be earned. She needs to deserve it.

And really, if this event reminds her of anything, did she ever?]

[Funny how just the act of rolling her eyes makes Lup feel more normal, like she's breaking free from whatever heaviness has been sitting on her shoulders since waking up to find that mirror at her side. The elf's mouth quirks to the right and she rises back up onto her feet, shrugging like she doesn't have a care in the world.

Also, let's just be real, it's hard not to grin when someone says she is being 'really nice'. That hasn't happened ever over the entire course of her lifetime. Sounds fake to her.]

Don't be ridiculous. You can't prove a thing. This is all just self-beneficial for me. Helping you is just an easy distraction from my own shit, obvs.

[Obviously!!]

[Somehow, despite her percieved lack of exciteable or fun traits, Alphys finds herself attracting people like Lup. Well, maybe its the people she seeks out, the ones who pull her from her insecurities into something new and bright and most of the time horrifying.

Maybe she's just looking for Undyne in every woman she meets. Wow, wouldn't that be embarassing.

She blushes at Lup's fake declaration, giggling just a little.]

Well, uh... h-happy to help then!

[Just to punctuate it, she gives a little salute. She can be a good side character! Help out the protagonist when she needs it. That's still good, right?]

[That blush and giggle are just the reaction that Lup had been hoping for. She reaches down and brushes her knuckles across Alphys' cheek gently in a playful punch.]

Atta, girl. We got this shit on lock. Gonna take more than a few crappy pictures to fuck with this crew. Hey, I was thinking of heading out by the lake, just to lay out by the water and unwind. You wanna join? We can try and see if we can make images out in the stupid rock ceiling, see who finds something inappropriate first.

[Maybe she just can't help but smile when Lup is around, or maybe she actually feels better, but she nods, looking up to the cave ceiling. The glowing rocks she, Sans and Shadow installed haven't faded yet, though they're mostly only visible at 'night'.]

Actually, I know where s-some of them are. My friends and I added the uh, the fake star ones, so sometimes we had fun shaping them.

Oh, you guys added those? Hella rad. [Lup had just assumed that was the cave's own aesthetic, but somehow knowing they were Alphys' own work, made them that much cooler. The gods should clearly put the lizard in charge of cave decor.]

Wanna show 'em off to me? I'd love to hear more about it.

Y-Yeah. They, uhm, they look like something back from my home world. We would, uh... pretend they were stars.

[It's less sad then she would've said it, previously. Now, she's all smiles.]

Come on. I'll show you my, uhm, m-my favorites.

[If Alphys is smiling than Lup's clearly done her job well. It doesn't erase everything, nor does it change the fact their reflections are still empty, but it's the perfect distraction for the rest of the afternoon, time to just lay back and focus on something that drags up happier memories.]

Hella rad. Lead the way, sis. I'm right there with you.

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Event Log: Bad End

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