hadriel_logs | Event Log: Fourth Wall, Part One

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Event Log: Fourth Wall, Part One

Who: Everyone in the city + Fourth Wall visitors!
What: Part one of the fourth wall event, hosted by Fear, Confusion, and Delight!
Where: All around the city
When: October 24th-November 1st
Warnings: Visitors from other worlds!

If you're not from around here, you may be wondering what's going on. You've woken up out of the blue in the colosseum, or near a temple, or in one of the numerous other locations in the city. You're somewhere underground and it's dark, cold, and maybe a little unnerving.

Luckily, shortly after your arrival, the road below your feet begins to light up in a gentle, warm glow. The light points you in a set direction and, if you choose to travel that way, will lead you toward the center of the city, where there is a large gathering of others who are lost here like you, people who might know their way around a bit more, and even some of the gods who rule this place.

There are lights strung up on poles throughout the large clearing, casting a comforting glow onto the tables beneath them. The tables are abundant with lots of food that looks simply delicious- though, none of it tastes quite like it should. The tarts taste like green beans, the mashed potatoes like cheesecake, and the chocolate seems oddly reminiscent of steak. In addition, there are decorations artfully placed around the meeting point. If you see them moving, don't worry- that's probably just your imagination.

Also distributed along the tables are shot glasses, filled with a sludgy, yellow substance. If you're brave enough to consume them, they taste strongly of mint and will give you a much needed energy boost, circumventing the need to eat or sleep for a full 24 hours! After that, however, everything hits you all at once, so use them wisely. Some of you may remember these shots from our How Delightful event earlier this year!

In addition to all of the above, there are also party poppers strewn around the area. Each popper can jet out some strange objects- glitter bombs, seashells, plastic dinosaurs, maybe a live lizard or two- so be careful! Feel free to use your discretion on these, but remember to keep it small!
_

Of course, you can always not travel that way. The rest of the city has plenty of places to explore- maybe you'd like to stumble in our Silent Hill zone, have a quick look around the alien orchard, or check out any of the god temples that can inspire their chosen emotion. Be careful not to get lost in the tunnels leading away from the cave- none of them can actually move you above ground, but you may run into a few monsters on the way.

For those of you who have been with us awhile, please bear with the gods while they try to adjust around these new folks! Join in on the festivities if you like, or try to orient as many of the others as you can. Start a community outreach program, start a fight club, introduce your parents to your weird cave girlfriend- nobody's judging!

Well. Some of us might be.
_

Enjoy the fourth wall event at Hadriel! Once you're settled in feel free to explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies.

Fourth wall characters do not enter with phones so they cannot reach the network- however, if you'd like to handwave that they somehow got ahold of Mello's Newcomer guide to avoid the 'where am I/what is this' sort of questions, then feel free!

Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers October 24th-November 1st.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well! Fourth wall characters will not have posting access, so grab an in-game friend if you wanted to do anything separate from the main log.
► Fourth wall characters will be in the city for at least one week, though they can stay for longer. The party will go on throughout the entire week, thanks to Delight's boundless energy!
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

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[He should be questioning this. Asking important questions like "how" and "where is here, anyway." But he doesn't, because all that matters is Chara. Chara's here. That's all "here" needs to be.

He stumbles up onto his feet (big awkward paws, like rabbit feet, and he suddenly remembers how none of the shoes or socks that filtered down into the dump fit them, only Chara, and how they used to knit so many socks for Asriel and for Mom and for Dad so they didn't have to be left out, didn't have to put up with cold toes, and the sweetness of the memory aches), he - he wants so bad to just fall into them. To throw himself forward with everything he has, to absolutely engulf them in this desperate longing.

But instead, he holds his paws out. He invites, he doesn't demand, doesn't just hurl himself onto their arms, because he remembers when they used to flinch at touch. He remembers the terror and pain and dismay they felt in their last shared moments with him, when he forcefully took control away from them and didn't give it back and made them helplessly endure hit after hit from faces they surely must have recognized.]

I... um... I have a lot to apologize for, Chara. But if you'll let me...?

[He wants to hold on. He doesn't want to let go.]

[After all this time...Asriel invites, opens his arms for a hug. Remembers the fear and panic and the flinch. Everything. It made sense a kind Monster would remember kind things. The one who, instead of incinerating those humans on the spot, had never touched that FIGHT button. The one who would ask for thing like hugs and not demand them.

Chara takes a deep breath.

* You don't want to let go.

They step forward and open their own arms. It's not a particularly tight hug but they're not letting go. And well...

Actions speak louder than words, right?]

[How many timelines? How many years? How long had he spent pining for this? For the way Chara's arms always felt so warm and solid, and - and how they were just the right size, just as big as him, how it just felt like best friends are supposed to feel. They fit together perfectly.

He holds fast to them. Does like Frisk did for him: strokes comforting nonsense shapes on their back, pats softly. Tries his best to give them some degree of comfort. They lived such a rocky life. They had to go so long without any solace at all. Their short existence was snuffed out in such an awful way.

It's the very least he can do for them.]

Chara, I... haven't always been the nicest friend to you. I should have told you I couldn't do - couldn't go through with the plan. I shouldn't have let you suffer so much, then pulled the rug out from under your feet. I should have listened when you tried to tell me about those people, I...

I should have stopped to think about why you hated humanity so much.

It all went so wrong, but... I never wanted anyone to get hurt. Especially not you. Can you ever forgive me for putting you through so much?

[Chara was stuck looking like this for the rest of their time in Hadriel. Even back home they had no idea if they could survive in Frisk's mind if they all made it out. The Resets happened before they could find out.

But there's nothing like a hug from your Best Friend. Nothing like someone who asked after a bad dream if all you needed was a hug and maybe some hot milk from the kitchen because it always worked. Nothing like someone who just didn't flat out ignore that panic.]

I am not a good friend, Asriel.

[Because of everything, Chara was the way they are. Installed that "Kill or Be Killed", set him down a path that wounded up with him as a SOUL-less thing and then Chara took their own path that turned everyone into dust. So they are never blameless. Never.]

I hate humanity. But I should have never put you in that position. So if we are to ask for forgiveness, then can you forgive me for what I have done?

[Chara can't truly accept it, but it would be...it would be a start.]

Chara... I chose to go along with the plan. I helped you get buttercups. I took your SOUL. I don't want you to think I blame you, okay?

[It... the plan was wrong. He knows that. He knows Chara got too fixed on doing what they thought should be done. He knows that... maybe they weren't always such a good match. Maybe Chara needed a friend who could say "no, this isn't healthy" more than they needed a friend who promised to always say yes, never doubt, disagree. Maybe... Asriel should have had someone in his life who could enforce that not agreeing was not the same thing as being mean. That it was okay to refuse people, even if you loved them.

Maybe things would have gone better if they'd both had a friend like Frisk around. Someone who knew when to stand in their way with an adamant but it refused, not let them win, because what they were trying to do had repercussions that their childish little heads couldn't even begin to fathom.]

We both got hurt by what happened. We both... the surface messed us both up a bit, didn't it?

["A bit." Ha ha.]

Of course I forgive you. I was never mad at you, Chara. I guess we were both kind of bad friends, but... that doesn't mean I don't want to be friends anymore. It just means I'm sorry.

Yeah. A little bit.

[When it doubt, laugh off things. They did that when they nearly killed Asriel's father, did that when they and Frisk nearly got eaten by zombies. Everything was better when it was funny.

But in the end Chara needed both. Someone who offered hugs but also knew when to put their foot down. They've had both over the years but not one person was both. And it's not like Chara was able to recognize what they'd done in Hadriel, recognized their behavior and demanding no doubts, no disagreements, no turning back.

They can't truly take that forgiveness just yet, however. Not just yet. So they just keep hugging.]

My best friend. You are willing...to still be that with me?

Of course I am!

[He doesn't know how much he's capable of meaning things, running on fumes as he is, but if he's able to mean anything at all, he means this with all his heart.]

I... realized some things about you, Chara.

[They weren't... everything he built them up to be. More of an Undyne than a Papyrus? So full of love, so eager to protect monsters, but... to the point of being mean, sometimes. To the point of not listening. To the point where they'd be willing to try something forceful and drastic, maybe not realizing that it would lead to war, and war would only lead to death.]

I think I wanted someone who would solve all my problems, and... ha ha, I know that's not you. I don't think that it should have to be, either.

[Didn't he think he could solve all Chara's, after all? That hugs and always agreeing and never having a differing opinion were encouragement, were healing, could solve everything like magic? That absolutely believing in someone more than anything might seem like helping someone who the surface had never believed in, but might also be unrealistic and unsustainable pressure?]

But you're my best friend. My sibling. You're special, Chara, even if we messed up really badly. You're still Chara.

[He sniffles into their shoulder. Such a crybaby.]

[A being that already despised humanity with every fiber of their being. And then they Fell, learned the story of Monsters who had been nothing but kind to them when no one else had. Learned that they had been sealed Underground by those hated things and Chara knew why. Fear.

And so, they wanted them all to see the Surface once again. And so, Chara ripped apart their own family to do it. And once both Chara and Asriel had arrived to the Surface and laid their body on the Golden Flowers and....and he was killed, did the child know what they had done.]

You all saved me. I...I do not think...

[No point in finishing that.]

* It's me.

[They tighten their grip on their best friend and sibling. First time in a long time Chara has been able to say it without the red voice behind it. Backing the weight that it should carry. Now...here, it's just 'Chara'.

Finally.]

Thank you. For everything, my best friend.

[It's... it's such a relief, in a weird funny way that feels... feels like when you fill a balloon too much. It hurts a little bit. Feels like he might burst. He's just... he's so glad that someone could SAVE Chara too. Could give them a respite from a world that had been so, so unkind. He knew what it was like, now, to be starved for empathy. To try and live in a world where it felt like nobody understood how you felt. If that was how it had been for Chara when they'd still been alive...

He tries to laugh, but it just comes out as a big, shuddering sob.]

Shouldn't I be the one thanking you, Chara?

[Hadn't they been the one willing to give up everything they had to set monsters free? The one who waited, all this time, for Asriel to finally find his way to - to wherever flowers go when they die?]

All I ever wished for, more than ever seeing the surface again... all I wanted was to be back with you. And here you are! Neither of us has to be alone anymore. Despite everything that happened, we're still inseparable.

* Despite everything, it's still us.

[Asriel was still his cheerful self and Chara was still Chara. There was the chance they could lose all of this. Even if the voice in the back of their own head was balking at the hug, they couldn't let go because Asriel might disappear. They could lose him to the monsters that lived in this place.

But they can't let go.]

No. I do not deserve thanks just yet. But maybe one day.

[One day, when they find that golden ending.]

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Event Log: Fourth Wall, Part One

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