It may very well be the worst thing that's ever happened to you! | OPEN MINGLE

[vitaelamorte]

Who: EVERYONE!
Where: EVERYWHERE!
When: Friday October 27th - Tuesday October 31st
Rating: PG-13, warn if you're gonna go higher!
Summary: A catch all for the Horrible Memory Truth Event!
The Story:

For the duration of this event, everyone's entire room will be replaced with a memory playing on loop. They will likely recognize the moment as soon as they see it – it is a moment they remember as the worst moment of their entire lives. It could be a memory from home or something that happened in Wonderland. Lengths of the memories will vary, but they will find that these are not memories they can merely watch – they can step into these memories and attempt to make changes to them, and the memories will be long enough that they have time to make changes (though no more than 24 hours). However, anyone who tries will find that it is futile. No matter what you do or how hard you try, the outcome is always exactly the same somehow. No changes you make will prevent that horrible outcome. It just happens over and over and over again no matter what you do.

On top of that, perhaps complicating any attempts to make changes, everyone will be forced to be honest for the duration of the event. No lies or half-truths are allowed, and filters will be gone for the entire five days. If something bothers someone then they will blurt it out, regardless of whether or not it hurts someone's feelings, and no one will be able to simply keep quiet when they have something to say. They must be truthful and honest with every word they say.

This is a catch-all log for all of your Worst Memory needs! Please mark your threads clearly in the subject line with your character's name and Room Number + Floor for character rooms, or just location if you're making a top level for a public place in the mansion (like the tea rooms or the kitchen) so people can see if there's already a thread available. And here's the plot post if you need it!

Have fun!

Comments

[hypoxic]

[Klaus doesn't mean those things. It's just lies and bitterness he's repeated to himself until he's started to believe it. He needs gentleness, understanding. Encouragement.

Fitz will look to him then, taking a deep breath in.]

I don't trust you.

[It's not quite the encouragement he was going for. He'd been going for more of a "I know you don't mean that." He blinks.]

I don't trust you.

[Or, perhaps Klaus isn't the one who's been lying to himself for this long.]

[poppycock]

( he hasn't been the one lying to himself, but even despite his own instincts regarding leopold's unwavering faith in him, hearing so plainly the truth he knows, the truth he has carried like a dreadful weight these several months, still scores. klaus blinks, the hurt he feels naked in his gaze.

it's followed by one simple fact, one he would not coat in lies or half-truths. he wouldn't protect anyone with this lie.

klaus tempers his expression and looks away, focusing his gaze forward and anywhere but his friend. ) You shouldn't, ( he agrees with finality. )

[hypoxic]

[ He's crushing the spirit he fought so hard to cultivate. Klaus needs someone to believe in him. It's Fitz's responsibility to believe in him. He's failing at being a stalwart friend. ]

Someone should. You deserve to be loved. I'm just not strong enough to give you what you need. You have the capacity for good. You can be a good person, even if it doesn't always come naturally to you.

But I can't forget what you did to me. What you would have kept doing to me if it wasn't for Cami. And I thought... If she isn't around to help with your recovery, then maybe I should try to help. And I will always help you, however I can.

But that doesn't take away what happened. And maybe I'm not good enough to be able to let it go. Jemma says I linger too long on the negatives. It's silly to regret the things that can't be changed.

[poppycock]

( something bottoms out in his gut. it's rage and anguish and grief. it's the balled up remains of all three, beckoned by the threat of leopold's pressured expectations, set ablaze by the incantation of camille. his fist comes down on the bar with a soft thud by the end.

they are words he wants to hear. they are words he doesn't believe because they come at a price. leopold may not trust him. that is his truth. this is klaus': he knows leopold does not understand him.

he does not want to.

he's allowed it because it's been easier not to fight it. ) I don't want your help. I don't need your help. What I want is your friendship. ( his finger lifts in accusation. ) But that's impossible for you because all you see is someone who needs to be fixed. Someone who needs to be monitored. And you know what? Perhaps you're right. You see the lies that begat those motives.

( klaus takes a steadying breath. )

If you don't trust me, then I understand, but don't you dare invoke Camille's name to justify trying to save me out of your own selfish desire to erase the hurt I caused you. I took away your compulsion because she gave me hope in myself. Because she saw that I loved you and I didn't want to hurt you. Because she knew me for who I truly am. You are not her. ( it's only then klaus realizes he has stood throughout his scathing speech. it's only then he realizes the words he has even spoken.

with a shaking breath, he turns to leave.

he cannot be what leopold wants him to be. he will always disappoint him. )

[hypoxic]

[Fitz feels his heart jump into his throat. And this is where it happens. Not with a blowup but with a casual exchange gone wrong. There's no blood and no murder. There's just words that should never have been said out loud.]

I don't trust you because I care about you. Because everyone I have ever loved has turned away from me and I've always known you will too. Even though I've played all the games you've wanted me to do. I would deny you nothing. I've never even asked what it is you've done that got them all to hate you in the first place. I would never judge you for trying to improve. For... caring enough to try to do better for her, or for Hope, or for me. But you only care about what other people think of you when it's convenient. Or it serves some other interest of yours.

[His bottom lip quivers, and a tear slides unbidden from one eye. He drags an angry palm across his cheek, furious at his own emotion.]

You can leave if you want to. But if you do, know that'll be the end. I can't bear it more than the once.

[poppycock]

( an ugliness rises in him, stops him, moves him. it's impulsive, instinctual, wrathful. it's lashing and angry against leopold's simpering heartbreak, against the truth he speaks, against the ultimatum.

he has told this man, this friend, this person who he has wanted to trust and love, who and what he is. so he'll tell him now. klaus surges back, eyes mad and wild, intent and cold in their hardness. his voice is a low promise and it's punctuated by the occasional cut of his dimples. ) You know what I did to make them all hate me? Elena, Damon, even Caroline. It is the same terrors and treacheries I've committed to accrue the thousands of enemies I've detailed to you time and time again. I killed, maimed, manipulated their loved ones. I slaughtered Elena on an altar of her aunt's blood; I enslaved Damon's brother; I threatened Caroline's life, the life of her boyfriend, and I killed his mother when he didn't do as I pleased. I could go on, but I believe the highlights are enough.

( he pulls in a breath, his chin tipped up, his eyes looking down on him. ) I have had no intention of turning away from you, but you — you have always been half-turned away. ( he blinks; tears sting his eyes. ) Perhaps so have I.

( a pause, and he whispers, ) You know my deeds. I hope they help you sleep at night.

[hypoxic]

[Klaus returns with violence that hurts more than any gun Fitz might have developed for him. The anguish is clear on his face as his eyes redden, more water splashing over his lower eyelid and taking its time to drop to the countertop. Klaus speaks of unfathomable suffering, of a malicious loss of life he's never been able to fathom before.

He opens his mouth to reply, but his throat feels too tight to make a sound. The syllable is pitched too high, too close to a sob. He swallows it back and struggles through something less direct.]

Have you turned off your humanity?

[How can he still be so unaffected?? Why doesn't he care?]

[poppycock]

( he is the opposite of unaffected. he wants the satisfaction of leopold walking away from him. he wants to be as vicious as he truly is, if only to illustrate what he is that leopold refuses to acknowledge. he does it to hurt him and to find what little vindication he can in his anger and misery.

he watches leopold, unheeded by his tears. he watches and his lips curl back in a sneer at his continued grasping for explanations and justifications that are not there.

klaus leans in. ) I don't have a switch to flip. ( he says it in a whisper.

he never has. he never did.

knowing there's nothing else he can say to convince him, klaus leaves. )