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

[actualwizard]

“And?” It’s said quieter, less demanding. The blue light fading from his eyes and he watched Teddy collect himself. He didn’t know how he was feeling; angry, hurt, guilty because that was never something he wanted to subject Teddy to. Teddy never had to live with those memories and he was better off for it. Scared that this was going to change everything between them.

“Now that you know?”

[dangerouslyunhip]

He only shakes his head at first, finding it difficult to give his response voice for a moment. He frowns, brow furrowed as he reaches out to prop a hand against the wall, gathering himself.

"Now that I know... I still don't know how there could ever be a version of me who thought that was the right course of action. That it was the right choice."

God. He can't shake the feeling of Billy's neck beginning to give way beneath his hands.

"... I'm sorry. I hate that you had to go through that at all, let alone repeat it."

[actualwizard]

Billy just watches him. He’s had years to learn Teddy’s tells, his expressions and everything that’s he’s always tried to hide from the world. He’s an expert at easing his boyfriend. That’s why when he stopped being able to read the other Teddy that was here he knew something was wrong- why he ended things.

This Teddy he can read. This Teddy- his Teddy is an open book to him. He watches as he gathers his thoughts, as he has to steady himself against the wall. He had thought that after living through it again he wouldn’t want to be near Teddy, but it’s the opposite. He wants to be wrapped up in teddy’s strong arms and never let go again.

He’s moving before he even notices, moving across the distance between them and forcing himself into Teddy’s space, wrapping his arms around him and holding him tightly. “He wasn’t you.”

[dangerouslyunhip]

He hugs back without a second thought, his embrace pulling tight so that Billy his flush against his chest, unwilling to loosen his hold for the next few moments. That other Teddy wasn't him, but he'd still been looking out from his eyes, down at his own hands. It had been surreal, and wrong.

"I wish I could make this memory vanish. Just-- send it somewhere so that you never have to think of it again."

But magic isn't his specialty.

[actualwizard]

That’s something Billy wishes too. And in a place that steals memories Wonderland seems content to let that one stay. It’s the only one he really wishes he could give up. “Me too.”

Magic is his specialty but he knows better than to try to mess with someone’s mind- especially his own.

“I’m sorry you had to see that too.”

[dangerouslyunhip]

Teddy shakes his head without quite letting go, holding Billy close against him.

"Maybe I needed to." It sounds a little extreme, but... "I'm not saying I liked it, or that I'd ever want to see it again, but... maybe I needed to. To understand what you went through."

How terrifying it must have been, and what a betrayal it was.

[actualwizard]

Billy just buried his face against Teddy’s shoulder, squeezing him tighter. “Why are you so amazing?” When that other Teddy was so terrible.

He holds on for a few minutes longer, not quite ready to let go yet, when he does pull back he’s looking up at Teddy with concern. “Were you in your room yet?”

[dangerouslyunhip]

"I wouldn't go that far."

But his face flushes all the same, unprepared for such praise and feeling like he doesn't deserve it after what he just saw, what he now knows for certain that Billy remembers his face and hands doing.

He pauses for a moment when Billy pulls away, swallowing hard before nodding.

"Yeah." Billy can probably guess what he saw there. "It was-- my mom."

[actualwizard]

Billy doesn’t need an explanation for that. He was there for that, lived through it. He couldn’t save her even though Teddy pleaded for him to do something. And then he tried to fix it later on and made an even bigger mess.

He pulls Teddy back in, pressing his lips against his. It’s a comfort and he doesn’t draw it out, just a press and then pulls back, resting their foreheads together. “I’m so sorry you had to see that again.”

[dangerouslyunhip]

He leans into the kiss, brief and chaste as it is, the offer of comfort and solidarity helping him to swallow down the feeling that the memory he'd found himself caught in the middle of upon waking had lodged in his chest. Concern for Billy and the need to seek him out had given him a chance to shove it down and ignore it for a short while, but he knows he won't be able to forever.

"It's been years, and I can't stop thinking about what I could have done differently. If I'd been faster, or stronger--"

He grimaces, pressing their foreheads together. His mother had died because of him, to save him, and that's something he'll never forget.

[actualwizard]

“There’s was nothing we could have done Tee, we were young and unprepared. It happened so suddenly.” His voice is low, trying to be comforting. He’s gone over that day so many times, was there something he could have done? There wasn’t anything. She had died before they could have even reacted.

[dangerouslyunhip]

Of course, he knows there's nothing. Logically, he couldn't have stopped her-- and for all the effort Billy put in to trying to unmake the events of that day, it hadn't worked out in their favor. Far from it. He nods a little in agreement; knowing what's true doesn't keep it from hurting. A part of him will probably always wonder if he might have saved her.

"She sacrificed herself for me. I couldn't have stopped it, but... I don't know if I'll ever shake that feeling."

[actualwizard]

Billy’s arms are around him pulling him into a tight hug before he even finishes his sentence. “She was your mom, and she loved you and she would be so proud of you Teddy. You don’t have to shake that feeling, that’s okay.”

There wasn’t anything he could do except be there. Which in hindsight was all he ever needed to do. He can’t bring her back for him but he can be there and he can do his damndest to make him happy for the rest of their lives.