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

[normandysbest]

[Toriel speaks, and Shepard grits her teeth, drawing herself to her feet quickly. This isn't Frisk, she needs to remind herself. This is-- some Wonderland trick, some bullshit, and she doesn't have to fall for it. They're not a real kid. They're not a real Frisk. So Toriel doesn't have to FIGHT, because she will.

She surges forward, much more intent in her motions, that purposeful Determination filling her, too, as she throws her body at Frisk, intending to pin them down.]

Then I can still handle it!

[didntknowbest]

[Frisk is utterly silent, as they're knocked to the ground, and pinned beneath Shepard. They look annoyed, and angry, and hateful, but they don't make a single noise, as they start trying to pry themselves free from Shepard's grasp.

And here's the thing... they're strong. Stronger than a kid their size should be. Stronger than Shepard is. After all- this isn't the real Frisk. It's just a recreation of a memory, and it's under no obligation to be as stoppable as a real child with a plastic knife should be. They're able to pry themselves free from Shepard's grasp- and give her a hard punch right in the face, scrambling to their feet.

Not in the mood to get pinned again. Not here to play games. Just get to the point.

They run right over to Toriel, and she just... closes her eyes, looks away and braces herself for what she knew was coming- a knife slicing through her body like it isn't even there- leaving a deep gash across her entire body, doing an obscene amount of damage. And just like actually happened, she starts to laugh.]

Ha ha... I knew, there was nothing you could do! This is just, ha, how it was meant to be...!

[Everything hurts. It's the worst pain she's ever experienced, all over again, as she collapses to her knees.]

I am... sorry you, have to see this, Jane... Ha... [And Toriel laughs again, weakly, because... is that really the thing to be focusing on right now? Her entire body feels like it's going to crumble to pieces... and then, of course, it does. The magic making up her body fades away, and what little physical matter there was to her just scatters to the wind as dust- leaving behind a single, floating white heart. The very essence of her being, her SOUL, which floats in the air for a moment- and then splinters, only able to exist for a few moments on it's own before shattering, leaving nothing of Toriel left at all.]

[normandysbest]

[This... wasn't how this was supposed to go.

Frisk punches her, really slugs her, and she's taken entirely by surprise as she's shoved backwards and disoriented. Fighting Frisk before didn't work like that. They're-- she's supposed to stop them, not this, not this--

The cut goes through Toriel, and she freezes, terror and pain gripping her throat and joints. Toriel is speaking, but all she hears is I knew there was nothing you could do before it's replaced with the thrum of her heartbeat, emotion in her veins.

Toriel falls apart, and she sees red.

Shepard surges at Frisk, all action and no play, grabbing them by the neck and pinning them back against the wall, teeth gritted. It's Kai Leng all over again, his horrible smile as his blade pulled from Thane's ribs, the man she still never caught, and she looks furious. No amount of fighting is going to bring Toriel back, but that doesn't matter right now. All she has is anger as her omni-tool activates, the blade sliding out from the top, and she surges in to strike.

And as Toriel's soul shatters, the scene freezes, and she's only got a moment to be in shock.]

What--

[didntknowbest]

[The scene stops- and then everything else shatters, too. Frisk, the door, the Ruins- everything, leaving Shepard in an endless black void, falling, and falling-

And then she's back in the real world again- tumbling out and into the hallway, unceremoniously dumped back out into Wonderland proper, now that the memory has completed itself.

The door hangs open, and inside, Shepard can see the scene- Frisk approaching, as Toriel stands in front of the Ruins' exit- both frozen in time, waiting for someone to enter the memory.

That isn't the real Toriel, after all- no, she's right next to Shepard- panting heavily, panicking as she moves her hand over her body, feeling for her wounds and finding none- and looking over, to see Shepard right there beside her.]

...Has it. H, has it been a day already?

[normandysbest]

[Shepard too looks shaken, breathing harder than she needs to as she tries to steady herself. As soon as she sees Toriel, she's grasping for her hand, her arm, anything within reach just to be sure she's real.]

No, it's-- I don't think so. It's only been a few seconds.

[She looks back into the room, but she doesn't stop holding on to Toriel.]

Is that... the event? Is that it?

[didntknowbest]

[Toriel leans into Shepard's grasp, wrapping an arm around her. She's fine. Shepard's here, she's fine, it's alright.]

I... suppose that it is, yes.

Could we... Jane, could we go somewhere else and talk about this? Or at least close the door? I do not really want to keep looking at one of the worst experiences of- Oh goddammit.

[Toriel immediately stops in her train of thought as she realizes something, sitting up a bit straighter, suddenly so annoyed that she slams a fist down onto the floor, and... for a monster who was just killed with a plastic knife, those sure are a few broken floorboards under her fist.]

"It's going to be the worst thing that's ever happened to you." Of course, she told us exactly what it was going to be, and we just took it the complete wrong way. I feel like an idiot.

[She sighs, slumping back down again, seeming to be a bit more tired now after burning through a bit of frustration.]

Well. If that is all it is, then I suppose on the bright side, our precautions were unnecessary. Which is good, since the things in our rooms seem inaccessible right now.

I did not really like having your guns in my room anyway.

[...Toriel's. Not sure why she added that last bit on. It just kind of slipped out of her mouth.]

[normandysbest]

[Shepard moves backwards, leaning her head against the wall and digging her palms into her eyes with a groan.]

Motherfucker.

[Great! And now she doesn't have her damn weapons, either.]

At least we weren't... alone, right? I could've woken up in my room and we could've done this separate.

[Though at this point, she doesn't know if that's better.]

And hell. At least we can walk away from it.

[Even if something else feels... weird here, and she vocalizes that without realizing it.]

But that seems too simple, right? An event we can just ignore?

[didntknowbest]

Mmm. Well, there is the chance that this is all it is. Some events are not as big a deal. Like, the two of us spending time on the Citadel. Nothing really happened there and if someone wanted to I figure they could just find a room to hang out in.

[There. Just a bit of positivity. After all... that, she feels like they could use some. She doesn't want to bring down the mood any more than she has to, start venting off all her unfounded worries for no reason-]

It is much more likely that it is something else, though. It is probably one of the events where things start off slow. Before we know it our worst memories will spread to the whole mansion, and there will not be anywhere we can go, so we will just have to deal with it and I will have to die over and over and over again, but you know what, I do not think that is what it is, I think I know what it is, because I have felt this feeling before. During a previous event there was a small zone of truth that happened to be around Sans, and I went to go help him and wound up telling the truth too, and right now I am just kind of doing that and it feels exactly like it did then when he told me he murdered Frisk many, many times back in the Underground.

[Toriel just... is holding her face in her hands now, and has been since she realized she was compulsively telling the truth with no way to turn it off.]

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it is definitely that, because I would not have wanted to mention that otherwise.

[normandysbest]

[She listens, nodding her head a bit and chewing idly at the inside of her lip until she finishes.]

Well. Thanks, I hate it.

[She pulls herself to her feet, offering a hand to Toriel to help her off the ground as well.]

So now we're gonna spend the weekend brutally honest, with the capability for anyone to come in and see our worst trauma. Fan-fuckin-tastic. God, this sucks ass.

[As usual, though, she's a woman of action, so...]

Maybe we can board up your door. I should figure out what fresh hell Wonderland's dragged up for me, too.

[didntknowbest]

[Toriel takes Shepard's hand, sighing as she gets up onto her feet.]

I only experienced this for... 5 minutes, tops, talking with Sans. It was pretty awful, and I am not looking forward to however many days this lasts.

...I do not see why you would need to do that. You will only be forcing yourself to relive something horrible.

[Speaking of, she should... at least close the door, so she's not just... looking into that scene, frozen like that.

She reaches her arm in to grab the handle- but once she does, the scene starts again- the Toriel in the memory vanishing, and Frisk immediately locking eyes right with her- causing Toriel to scream, and quickly slam the door shut. She braces her other arm against the wall to make sure it stays shut, eyes wide and panicked as she starts panting... just, doing that for a few seconds, until the moment passes.]

...Well!! That was. Fucking horrible.

[She was going to say 'quite unpleasant' but that would not even be close to honest enough.]

[normandysbest]

Well, yeah, but I should figure out what it is so no one gets in there. Or if they do I know how to get them out. I have a few ideas what it might be anyway.

[Thankfully, she's cut off by Toriel's outburst, and she tenses like she's ready to fight. But it passes as quickly as it came, even if she doesn't quite relax. Still, she reaches for Toriel's hand again.]

Come on, let's... let's not do this. Go get breakfast. Find some duct tape for our mouths. All that fun stuff.

[didntknowbest]

Y... yes, alright.

[Toriel nods, quickly taking Jane's hand, and squeezing it tight. She's still breathing a little heavy, and her body's very tense as she starts walking to the kitchen. Strangely enough, she seems a little more shaken up by this, than she did when she was actually in the memory.

Walking with Jane and holding her hand seems to calm her down though, as something occurs to her- letting go, so that she can pull out her phone and start texting.]

...We should... probably avoid the kids for the event. Chara in particular has a great deal that they prefer to keep to themselves, and it would be absolutely horrible if any of it came to light unintentionally, without their control or consent.

[normandysbest]

[Toriel's hand bolsters her strength, keeps her steady. As soon as she has a purpose, it's easier to keep going. It's easier to fight when there's someone she's fighting for.]

Yeah. Nobody wants to say something they're gonna regret. And the kids have a lot going on already. Are you letting them know?

[didntknowbest]

Yes. Hopefully Chara will be able to relay this to the others- I do not really want to risk talking more than I have to. Especially to Frisk.

[Toriel just sighs, as she finishes her text, and then immediately turns her phone off so she won't be able to check any responses and feel compelled to reply.]

Anyway... is there, anything in particular you are in the mood for, for breakfast, Jane? I could try making it for you. Though I will most likely wind up getting partway through before feeling too drained to continue, and then struggle to pour a bowl of cereal.

...I am probably much more likely to do that now that Wonderland is forcing me to say these things.

[normandysbest]

[Shepard sighs, but looks sympathetic. This is... gonna be a long event, she thinks.]

Look, it's fine. Let's just get something, alright? Just keep walking. One meal at a time.

[She takes Toriel's hand, gentle, but firm.]

Trust me, I'm really good at avoiding my problems.

[She closes her eyes for a second, with a sigh and a forced smile.]

Oh, yeah, this one's gonna blow.

[didntknowbest]

I am probably going to do my best to avoid them, and everyone else for the duration of this event.

[Toriel just lets out an incredibly long, deep sigh, as they reach the kitchen, and immediately goes over to the cupboards to retrieve a box of cereal. Yeah, she's... not even going to try with something more than that right now.

Even then, once she has two bowls and milk out too, she still needs to just... take a few moments to place her hands on the counter and just stare down at it, because the task of picking up the box and pouring, and then ALSO have to pick up the milk and pour, and then doing it AGAIN for the second bowl just seems like an enormous, insurmountable task right now, and she just wants to lie down until these feelings pass over.

But. She does it, because her girlfriend's right there, and sets two bowls of cereal down on the table.]

Here you are.

[normandysbest]

[She watches, heart full of sympathy, even if this is what she hates when people do this to her. She wishes they'd just pretend she isn't struggling, and at a loss of what to say, she offers a little smile and gestures for her to sit.]

C'mon. Let me handle stuff today, okay? Don't overextend yourself for me. Let me take it.

[She waits until Toriel's sat down, and gets up to retrieve two spoons, handing one over across the table.]

[didntknowbest]

...Oh. Oh, right, that- yes, that was so obvious, I- God, I cannot do anything right.

[It's something so small, but it just... it's just too much. This is too much. Dwelling in negative thoughts is bad enough but having each and every one forcing it's way out of her mouth is making it so much worse, and she just... kind of pushes the bowl aside, lays her head on the table and holds her arms over her head.

She just. She needs a minute.]

[normandysbest]

[Shepard circles around the table, sitting down next to her and gently rubbing her back. They'll make it. They'll get out of this, together. It'll just be a few days.]