Event Log: A Hope for the Future

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the A Hope for the Future event
Where: All over the city!
When: April 15th-April 19th
Warnings: Stealth Rock

It's finally time to reap the rewards you've earned from all that hard work collecting and returning the Hope orbs! Be careful walking the streets during the small earthquakes, but feel free to admire the scenery as your beautiful city reassembles its way back into its former glory.

There are new houses where the destroyed buildings once were, and they're perfect for a single person or pair of lovebirds. In addition, you'll find that the electricity to these new houses, and all other homes and shops in the city is restored. The food is better, the monsters are gone- hey, this city might be livable again!

To cap it all off, we've got a feast waiting for you on the 19th! Come one, come all, and enjoy all of your favorite foods, drinks, and party games. It's been awhile since we've all gotten together to celebrate something good, so get your party on and toss all your troubles away!

► This log covers April 14th-April 19th.
► 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 get hit by levitating rubble or eat a food that wasn't meant for you, please let us know here.

Comments

[toiletseat_girl]

Who hasn't improved a little from their younger days? [her tone matches his. she knows something about improving with age. or, in her case? death] Probably better. That way, the kids don't have to see their folks fighting all the time.

You're way more generous with younger me than I usually am. And I probably would've tried making things up to Reggie, if I'd had more time. I just [she shrugs] died and kind of got screwed over where my sister comes in. Other than following her from afar, which I did. A lot. I hope it's somewhere else and I hope I'm not a Reaper at the time.

It disappears and takes the soul up with it. It looks like little glowy lights. But when Betty jumped in, it didn't go up with the glowy lights, it went out with a flash of light. And we're given different identities to use. Mine was Mildred Hagen, twenty-two years old. That's how we get by in the "real world."

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Laugh ] Right, who hasn't? But yeah, the poor kids. They deserve a new start, if their parents can't keep it cool.

Well, somebody ought to be generous with the younger you! I don't doubt you did the best you could. I'm not surprised you followed Reggie from afar -- could you have protected her, if she had gotten into trouble? And yes, I wish you a future in which you are not a Reaper, and you meet your sister again.

Why did Betty jump in? Was she trying to go with the soul to wherever it was going? Well, Mildred Hagen, pleased to meet you! [ Smile ] Did Mildred have a cover job on earth?

[toiletseat_girl]

Lots of parents can't keep it cool where I'm from. It sucks, but it happens. It happens a lot.

[she considers] ...no, I really didn't do the best I could. I did as little as possible to get by. And, I don't know if I could've protected her or not. Rube told me that we shouldn't be seen by our families in our old lives. But I couldn't help wanting to look after her. And I don't think I'm going to be that lucky.

I think that's it, yeah. She was tired of waiting for what came next, so she took things into her own hands. [she sticks out her tongue slightly] Ugh, no. I'm George here. Just George. And Mildred had a job with a temp agency.

[so_dark_a_road]

That's sad, isn't it? Children deserve better that that. My own parents separated, so I can understand a child's position in this.

I've often noticed how hard it is for human beings to give themselves any kind of credit for anything. I have that problem myself. But after your death, you did want to look after Reggie -- I think that's important. Rube should have bent the rules and supported you in that. And I hope you are that lucky someday.

Poor Betty. But maybe she's gone to a better place. [ Not meant facetiously! ] Okay, George it is! And poor Mildred. . . a temp agency?

[toiletseat_girl]

Yeah. But sometimes it's better that way. So the kids aren't stuck with parents fighting all the time or obviously ignoring each other.

...I'm not exactly in the habit of giving myself credit for anything. And I did. 'Cause I fucked up so badly while I was alive. And Rube wouldn't know how to bend anything. He'd snap like a twig first.

I hope so? It would suck if she was punished somehow. And a temp agency is a place that sets people up with temporary jobs.

[so_dark_a_road]

Yes, I think you're right. It was easier for me and my siblings after our father left. Actually, he took us with him. But we used to go home to visit our mother regularly. It was better not to have those two giving each other angry, suffering glances and being otherwise completely silent.

Hmm. But that's your right, to look back and see where you made mistakes and try to put them right. [ Small laugh on the boss's account. ] Rube must have been a brittle sort.

Let's hope that Betty escaped. Oh, I get it. . . that's why they call it a TEMP agency. But it sounds gruesome. What use is a temporary job? Unless you can't get anything else? Jeez, they could have made you a lawyer or something.

[toiletseat_girl]

...I think my parents are gonna get a divorce. My dad seemed pretty open to the idea of having an affair with a younger woman and mom has always been hard to live with. She's just so damn angry all the time. Always has been. I doubt my death helped much.

I think I'm doing better? I'm trying a little harder, anyway. And brittle would be putting it mildly.

I really hope so. And I couldn't get anything else. Had no skills, had no college. So I wasn't qualified for a job that was much better than "would you like fries with that."

[so_dark_a_road]

Your parents are going to be divorced? I think. . . well, wives have a hard time with it when their husbands have a roving eye. They feel betrayed even if the man doesn't do anything but only looks around and fantasizes having an affair. It makes the wives angry, and they can't stop themselves from being angry and disappointed. And that makes them hard to live with. And no, the death of a son or daughter at that point wouldn't make things better!

I believe you. I feel when I talk to you that it matters to you to try, to make things different. And may Rube snap like a twig, perish of his own brittleness and cruelty! Maybe somebody else who has more feeling for people would take over his job.

[ He makes a face over the job that requires only a certificate in French fries. ] You didn't get to go to college? That is too bad.

[toiletseat_girl]

Yeah. That's basically it. They're both hard to live with, too. Mom's a control freak and Dad is . . . kind of a wuss. But not too much of one to not go and screw a girl young enough to be his daughter.

Well. I'm better about that now. For most of my life, I didn't give a shit about anything or anybody. And then I died and then I came here and it's like. . . feelings! Everywhere. And I doubt I'll be so lucky.

...I kind of did. But then I quit mid-semester.

[so_dark_a_road]

I really don't know how some couples make it at all! And I'm sorry your parents were so troubled and inconsiderate.

My father never looked at another woman, not even after he and my mother split up. There was never another, for him or for her. But my grandfather, I'm afraid, was another story. His first wife, Miriel, died after my father was born, and I don't blame my grandfather for marrying again. But I saw his eyes when some lovely young Elf-maid would pass by, and I wondered then and now if in fact he was faithful to his second wife. She certainly regarded him with suspicion. But then he died, and grandmother Miriel came back to life -- so that she wouldn't have to spend eternity with him, I suspect! And then she and the second wife ended up together! [ He chuckles a little over the vagaries of his complicated Elvish family. He's rather proud of his grandmother for her stubbornness and insistence on choosing her own fate. ]

Yes, isn't it strange how Hadriel is a second chance for so many people? The gods don't intend us any blessings, but blessings happen to us anyway. Are you okay with dealing with so many feelings? Say! -- if you ever go back to your world, they should give you Rube's job. You know enough now to teach a Reaper how to do the job with compassion, and to tacitly support them for bending the rules when necessary.

What happened to make you quit college?

[toiletseat_girl]

I don't think they meant to be, it just. . . happened.

[it takes her a moment to digest that story. to say that it ended unexpectedly would be putting it mildly] So, wait, your grandma and your stepgrandma wound up a couple? That's so cool. Good on them for showing your granddad a thing or two. Even though he was dead and probably couldn't exactly see it.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Because I have friends here. I've never had friends before. It's weird. But also nice. I dunno if I wanna go back to my world. But I dunno if I don't wanna go home. I'm just kind of trying to keep my options open.

[so_dark_a_road]

I guess not. [ Sigh ] They never do mean to cause their children pain or trouble. It's just that life is hard, and parenting is hard, and all parents are imperfect.

[ Chuckle. ] That's exactly what happened. My grandma and my step-grandma moved in together and became a couple. I always did wonder if grandfather knew, and if he had a conniption fit when he found out. [ Grin. ]

Weird but nice. . . I like that description. I've always had family, and they had my back, but I'm not sure I ever had friends. I have them here, though. And I like it. But if you ever go back to your own world, maybe you'll take your ability to make friends with you? And then you wouldn't feel alone in that world. But options, yes. I guess none of us really knows if we'll be staying here or going elsewhere. It would be nice if you had the choice, though?