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

[choosetruth]

[She gives a slim half-smile.]

Well, you know I wouldn't say it unless it were true. Even if there wasn't an event going on.

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay huffs, almost a laugh.]

You'd be the first.

[choosetruth]

I get that a lot. [She tilts her head.] I know I act like I have all the answers. It doesn't make it true. I know a lot and I'm good at learning. Everything else is good critical thinking skills, a basic working knowledge of psychology, and luck.

[A beat.]

That part I wouldn't say without the truth event.

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay swipes a hand across his eyes, quietly snickering.]

I had this...this channel online where I posted stuff from my investigation, and it got to the point where the viewers had a, like-- [He rolls his eyes.]--a running joke about me being an idiot. Just, everything I did.

Tried to learn from my mistakes, but...too little, too late, I guess.

[He shrugs. Darwin Awards, right?]

[choosetruth]

That... doesn't surprise me.

[Look, she doesn't think he has to be an idiot but she's not going to sit here and pretend he isn't one currently. Even if she were currently capable.]

The first lesson you should have picked up? Never read the comments.

[burntvideocassette]

Easier said than done.

[He grimaces, rolling his eyes. She gets it, she's probably the closest one here to getting it except maybe Tim, but she doesn't get everything.]

Sometimes they caught stuff I didn't. Buried in there, under the...dead memes and comments calling me stupid. And the stuff about Tim's sideburns.

[choosetruth]

[....she has more to say but.]

...stuff about Tim's sideburns?

[burntvideocassette]

[A part of him actually hoped she'd ask. Easier to talk about this than...a lot of what he's had dragged out of him during this event.]

So back in the, in the beginning, when I was first starting the channel, all I had was this footage from a movie shoot. Student film kinda thing. Handheld cameras, out in some...park. At the time, I didn't really...really remember much from that shoot, and the viewers didn't know anybody, so Tim was basically just "that guy with the sideburns" for--for years.

Then he joined up, but he'd been Sideburns Guy for so many years that it was kinda hard to shake.

[[OOC: Kinda hard to shake.]]

oh my god

[choosetruth]

You really are an amateur.

[It's not exactly news, but seriously, Jay. Seriously.]

[burntvideocassette]

[[OOC: Fun fact that Jay has no intention of revealing: The viewers realized Masky = Tim in part because they could see his sideburns around the edges of the mask. Twist: thwarted by sideburns.]]

[Jay winds up for a sarcastic response, something like, "Thanks, I didn't notice," but instead he says:]

Wish I wasn't.

[He can't help but keep going.]

That wasn't what I meant to say. But I guess it's...[He grits his teeth.]...what I wanted to say.

I hate this event.

[choosetruth]

I do too, and I hate that I hate it. I love the truth. Wonderland can't take that from me.

[But loving the truth and saying every single thing that comes through her head are different things.]

You don't have to stay an amateur. It just takes practice. Practice and being willing to learn.

[burntvideocassette]

Yeah, but--

[And he can feel himself slipping down that hole, he can feel that weight on his chest that that kept him locked up in his room in the first place, bored enough to spool through hours of B-roll peppered with the voices of people he used to know.]

--But what do you even practice to do what...whatever it is I do? I'm a--a what? An amateur detective? Amateur reporter? [He lifts his eyebrows.] Vlogger?

Running around in the woods with the camera isn't exactly your typical career path.

[choosetruth]

[Oh my god, Jay.]

I realize calling you an idiot again probably isn't helpful at this point, but that would be so much easier if you didn't insist on acting like one. How do you practice anything, Jay?

[burntvideocassette]

You do it over and over, yeah, I know.

[He remembers when he used to play bass regularly. He remembers when he used to try speedruns. He knows what practice is.]

But it's not like I have friends going missing on some regular basis just so I can practice.

[choosetruth]

[She stares at him for another moment.]

There are so many things wrong with that statement.

[She shakes her head.]

Look. Do you think my first article was the one that tore back the curtain and revealed the conspiracy pulling the puppet strings of our government? You start small. The skills you build finding a missing pencil will help you find your missing friend.

Also, you have to have your goal in mind. Trying to find a missing friend isn't the same as writing--or vlogging--a mysterious disappearance. Is this what you want to do professionally? Or do you just miss your friend?

[burntvideocassette]

I don't-- [He hisses through his teeth.] I don't know. This whole thing started 'cause I wanted to know about Alex, and the whole...Like, it's not like I wanted to be a detective or anything. It was all just this one thing, like, this one investigation. And now that I'm here in---

[Jay gestures widely.]

--in 'Wonderland' or whatever, I can't just keep doing what I've been doing, but I can't--I don't know what else to do.

I guess...I mean, I guess I could try and do this professionally. Find a--a missing pencil or whatever, I just...

[He sinks his face into his hands.]

It's hard to really focus on anything else, y'know? It's like...that's it.

[choosetruth]

I'm not the right person to ask. [She sighs, shaking her head.] I've known what I wanted to do since I was a kid, and I'm damn good at it. I don't know how to decide what you want like that. It's always been so clear to me.

[burntvideocassette]

Nice to know somebody's got it easy.

[And the event let him say it, so...what? Is it nice to know after all, or does sarcasm just short-circuit it?]

[It is kind of nice.]

[He's too exhausted for this.]

I mean, the investigation back home is...it kinda feels like the only worthwhile thing I've ever done with my life, so I guess...I mean, maybe that's a sign. I dunno.

Probably good to get better at it.

[choosetruth]

That's sad. [Which she wouldn't normally say out right, but hey. Today is, apparently, a special case.]

[burntvideocassette]

Yeah, I noticed.

[His shoulders hike up defensively.]

'S better than what I was doing.