entrancelogs | Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore

Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore | OPEN

Who: E V E R Y O N E (Including our 4th wall guests!)
Where: Everywhere, one both Mirror and Real Side!
When: December 12th - December 18th (WEEK ONE)
Rating: PG-13, warn if going higher
Summary: This year's Ewaymas celebration rolls out the way it usually does, with intense decorating, a sudden snowfall and...far more arrivals than usual! New faces and old fill the mansion - but why would Wonderland bring so many people at once? And why do some of them remember Wonderland?
The Story:

On the evening before December 12th, the captives of Wonderland might be awoken by a loud commotion. Some of it is typical Ewaymas noise, likely familiar to anyone who has been in Wonderland for more than a year – construction sounds and jingle bells as Wonderland decks its own halls quite literally. Garland and lights race down the walls and down the stairs, and stockings appear on the walls for each and every person in Wonderland, embroidered with their names. There are decorative candles everywhere, and all sorts of decorations for every conceivable winter holiday, even if it does not align perfectly to the dates of Ewaymas. Time isn't real, so there will be menorahs and dreidels and Star of Davids even though Hanukkah ended two days prior. And of course, in the front hall, growing straight out of the floor, is a large decorated tree full of ornaments for everyone. And as always, it will have snowed heavily overnight, bringing all of the snow Wonderland will have between now and spring.

There is a second source of commotion in the night though – the sound of a crowd.

Over the course of the night, dozens of new arrivals will appear in Wonderland. Some for the first time. Some wondering how they managed to return with their memories. Others stumbling in with no recollection of ever having been here. Some might be friends from other timelines, other possibilities, and some might even be doubles of people who are already in Wonderland. It's strange for Wonderland to drag so many people into the mansion at once, but everything seems to indicate that they are supposed to be there. They have their own network devices and even have their own stockings on the wall and their own ornaments on the tree – by all accounts, it seems Wonderland expects that they'll be staying, and is treating them like any other new arrivals. Please, make them feel at home and help them settle in nicely.

The first few days will be for catching up with old friends and enjoying the decorations and settling into Wonderland. However, within a couple of days the decorations will start to glitch, much the way corrupted computer graphics might. Lights might change abruptly from multi-color to blue or white, entire décor styles will abruptly change, candle flames will flicker on and off like broken fluorescent lights, and any singing decorations might loop on a beat or two over and over putting you into an eternal hell. Wonderland doesn't seem to be able to stick to one motif, and it can't stop changing. These glitches are occurring on both the Real Side of Wonderland and the Mirror Side.

By the 15th, these glitches will include entire rooms changing into different holiday scenes. These scenes will all be of characters at various winter holidays in the past, the present (in their world), or a possible future. At this point in the event, characters will still be able to navigate the basic mansion and be able to exit these moments easily. These scenes cannot be interacted with – Wonderland seems to consider them another form of decorating. Unlike previous events of this type, these scenes will not loop at first. They will play once, and then Wonderland will glitch and correct itself to be the room it is supposed to be. The scene might play again, but it will be in a different location if it does.

By this point, Wonderland is having an increasingly difficult time holding itself together in a way that makes geographical sense. You might exit one room, even a room that was not previously playing a scene, and find yourself in the kitchen or on the roof instead of in the hallway. You might open a door that you were sure led to your room only to see a ten foot drop to the grounds outside.

This is the mingle log for WEEK ONE! For more information on this part of the event or any questions, please head over to the plot post, or check out our Fourth Wall Master Post for your other Fourth Wall event needs! Prose or [action brackets] are welcome. Please clearly indicate whether your character is on the Real Side or Mirror Side in your top levels. And of course, have fun! ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She keeps staring, then she tilts her head back to telegraph her eyeroll even with the sunglasses hiding her eyes.]

Okay, you're not a zombie. Anyone with that much of a death wish would be legitimately asking for me to shoot them at this point. Sorry. I only shoot the undead.

[If he were a couple years later, that would have garnered a sneer. But now...now, he's run into a few zombies himself. He's almost been one. Is he one now, technically? Dead thrice over, and still walking?]

[Ha.]

Define "zombie."

[She raises an eyebrow.] Don't tell me you're from a world that doesn't have that concept. I won't believe you.

Do you know how many different kinds of zombies there have been in Wonderland? [He rolls his eyes, like the variation should have been an obvious consideration.] The kind that eat you? The kind that don't? The kind that grow from mushrooms?

Define. "Zombie."

[Oh, she loves when people condescend to her. Just loves it. She pulls off her sunglasses so he can get the full force of her creepy, dead-eyed glare. There are a lot of downsides to having her shitty eyes back. She'll pay for this move with a migraine later. But the effect is worth it. Especially since she doesn't blink much.]

Are you any kind of zombie?

[Oh cool she has creepy eyes the way Chara did which means she might not be entirely human and, wow, that is definitely something he needs in his life right now!]

I just died, if that's what you're asking. Wonderland rules brought me back and I'm not craving any living flesh, so you figure it out.

So you're not a zombie. Of any kind. Was that so fucking hard?

[She shoves her glasses back on her face aggressively.]

And you're not new to Wonderland, either, though you've been gone long enough that I don't know you. But you remember.

[Which normally wouldn't be possible, but normally's gone out the window this week.]

Maybe I'm just real good at hiding from nosy freaks.

[Not fucking likely, considering it was him being a nosy freak that got him killed in the first place. He kind of deserved it.]

You don't exactly make it hard if you walk around interrogating people about whether or not they're zombies out of the blue.

[She smiles. There's nothing warm or friendly about the expression.]

You don't know who I am.

[Alex might've scoffed, if he were...earlier along. As it is, one side of his mouth twists in a scowl so skewed that it hurts.]

You don't know who I am, either. So how's this?

It's not your business.

[She shakes her head.]

If you'd been here at all over the past few years, you would know who I am. [She's not exactly low profile.] And you'd know that everything is my business.

Now, are you going to introduce yourself, or do we get to do this the fun way?

You gonna tie me down and shine a light in my face?

[They started this interaction off on the wrong foot, and it's only getting worse from here.]

You think you're the scariest thing out there?

[Even with the sunglasses, it's clear she's rolling her eyes.]

Don't be absurd. I'll simply do my research. Right now? I'm just asking for your name. I have no doubt I can find it if I search the network enough. Of course, I'll probably find a lot of other information too. Do you have any secrets? You won't when I'm done.

Terrifying.

[The word is a dry slap. His death has been projected on the network at least once, as has his...unique effect on electronics. By the way, George - better check your cameras when this is done. Make sure none of them have gotten too fuzzed up by his presence.]

[He has that effect on things.]

I don't put all my secrets online. [Unlike some people he could name.]

[She raises an eyebrow.]

In Wonderland? Suit yourself.

[She tugs out her device and starts scrolling back. She knows she'll have to go back pretty far, further even than when she was first here, so it might take her a minute. Scrolling scrolling scrolling.....]

Yeah. Cool. See ya.

[He draws the words out deliberately, stepping back, plainly intending to take his leave.]

[His plan, which has not been very well conceptualized, involves just - leaving while she's distracted. And spending the rest of the time attempting to avoid her. He's never met this chick before in his life, which is why some part of him expects it to be at least vaguely attainable.]

[Oh, Alex, it’s cute that you think that you can get away from her that easily. She follows after, cheerfully ignoring his escape attempt.]

Ah, here you are. I knew I’d have to go pretty far back. A spy? You must mean Philip.

[She looks up, the barest hint of a smirk under her sunglasses.]

Alex.

Congratulations, [he says, trying not to sound irritated. It's ultimately a failed attempt, but in fairness, Alex Kralie is nothing if not constantly irritated at the profound stupidity of the plebian masses. Or something.]

[Then he finally registers what she just said, turning on his heel to stare at her.]

What do you mean, Philip?

Wow, now he’s interested.

[But amazingly, she isn’t feeling particularly cooperative after he’s been such an asshole.]

Wow, did Valentine’s Day kill your puppy or something? I know it’s a corporate sham holiday, but this is a little extreme.

[He had a girlfriend at that point in time, actually, but he's not about to say that to her. Or - anyone. He isn't thinking about Amy anymore, as as rule. Thinking about her is - ]

[It invites things that are better left not thought about.]

[Alex grits his teeth, ignoring the question in favor of what actually matters:]

Philip. The hell do you mean, Philip.

[She raises an eyebrow behind her sunglasses, pausing her scrolling to glance back up at him.]

You gonna tie me down and shine a light in my face?

How 'bout you shut the fuck up and answer the question?

[He doesn't have anything on him. No gun. No knife. Nothing. Fuck. It's not that he can't figure it out on his own. She's just - irritatingly oblique about this, holding it over his goddamned head and that's one thing he won't abide.]

[One thing of many things.]

[That gets her to snap her phone off and actually look up at him. Her face is impeccably calm unless you know exactly where to look. Her voice, when she speaks, is quiet and even. In other words, she’s at her most dangerous.]

You have been nothing but uncooperative and rude since we met. Why the fuck would I give you anything but the same treatment?

[Being killed three times over lends you a certain sort of immunity. Namely, it allows for that kind of refined recklessness, the innate self-destruction that combines with him knowing that he's not about to be kept down forever.]

Because what I'm asking you is actually important. How's that for treatment?

You haven't been here for years. You have no idea what's "actually important."

[She could fill him in on why. Philip spying for the Queen of Hearts matters in that it's something she's capable of, but considering both he and the Queen are gone, it hardly has the urgency he's implying.

Besides, if he really cares, he can say please.]

Go suck a dick, you condescending shitbag.

[Now she's the one turning to go.]

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