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

[vitaelamorte]

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! ♥

Comments

[krmvgivv]

[Hey, it's weird camera nerd friend! Hi weird camera nerd friend!

Dipper notices the filming, of course, and also the static, and with characteristic Dipper Pines tact, he comes up behind Jay and stands on tip-toe to look at the little screen.]

Wow, you could totally do, like, found footage horror movie stuff with that! You wouldn't even have to digitally make it staticky, the world's just doing it for you! It'd be so cool!

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay jolts, and the camera's autofocus struggles to keep up.]

God--!

[Dipper. Right, the...yeah, Dipper. That kid who knows way more than a kid his size should know. That kid whose world is vaguely similar to his own, but not quite.]

[Jay barely parses what he says, his brain trying to pull itself together. Found footage horror, like...like what, that cannibal movie? Wait--wait, he's got one.]

Don't tell me you've seen Blair Witch. You're, what, twelve?

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper blinks.] Is that your world's version of Bear Witch? Because I don't think yours can be half as scary as ours is if the witch isn't a bear.

[burntvideocassette]

What?

[Jay squints.]

Right, you guys have that whole...not the same movies...thing.

...The witch is a bear?

[krmvgivv]

What? It makes a lot more sense than her randomly being named Blair.

[He's assuming that's what the Blair Witch version is.]

[burntvideocassette]

It's not random. It's the--it's a proper noun, the name of the place. Like, Blair, Maryland.

[He pauses.]

[His memories of the Blair Witch lore might be a little shaky, maybe. Maybe.]

Or something.

[krmvgivv]

[To be fair, most found footage things are a little shaky. It might not just be his memory.]

So, what, you name witches after where they're from? What if there's more than one witch per city? Would one be Blair Witch Two?

[burntvideocassette]

Yeah, sure. [Jay snipes.] We got Salem Witches one through...a hundred, or whatever.

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper rolls his eyes.] Yeah, if they're even real witches and not just persecuted ladies.

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay huffs out a breath, sounding somewhere between a laugh and the noise a person makes when punched in the diaphragm.]

You've got a point.

[His eyebrows quirk up as an idea hits him.]

So, is your Bear Witch a persecuted...bear-lady?

[krmvgivv]

Actually, the movie never totally established the bear's gender. Partly cause, uh, getting close enough to check got people eaten, hexed, or a mix of the two. It was not pretty.

i don't have an icon of a disbelieving jay grin but dipper has unlocked this achievement

[burntvideocassette]

What.

[You've done it, Dipper. You've shocked even Jay Merrick, a man who has watched footage of an actual murder. That's what's done it - people getting eaten and/or hexed by trying to examine a magic bear's genitals.]

[He might even be smiling a little bit.]

What?

YES gold star on the achievement board

[krmvgivv]

In hindsight, maybe I was a little too young for that movie.

[Not that he has any regrets.]

[burntvideocassette]

Yeah, maybe.

[Jay can't really judge. His childhood memories may be spotty, but he thinks he's the kind of guy to do the same.]

[He fidgets with the camera's focus.]

So, 's this... [He gestures vaguely toward a loop of garland that has managed to clip through the banister.] Just...here, or...?

[Is this Jay's fault?]

[krmvgivv]

[Yes, Jay, the Operator has changed tactics. Instead of static and memory problems, you now have holiday decorations following you around. Spooky.]

This happens every winter. Were you not here last year?

[Sometimes it gets so hard to keep track.]

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay squints. Ah, yes, last year. The time when Tim's Mirror throttled him and Max's Mirror wiped his memory.]

They weren't all... [He gestures at the tinsel and the ornaments and the lights and the candles and the good cheer.] ...glitched like this last year, right?

[krmvgivv]

Oh. No, that part’s new.

[And definitely a little disturbing.]

Still pretty sure it’s not just you. Apparently the White Queen overextended herself or something.

[burntvideocassette]

[Right, that post on the network. Last year was Red, and this year was White. Last year he had his windpipe crushed, and this year he's got glitched-out ornaments.]

[He's got a sinking feeling the ornaments are just the beginning.]

Things seemed to go fine last year. [Jay squints at a garish tinsel wreath, the textures not fully loaded around the edges.] You think the White Queen's got less...magic or whatever to work with?

[If there's a power imbalance here--like, a fundamental difference in the amount each queen can do, that doesn't bode well. Might be a good thing if the more powerful queen is on the Real side, but he's never been one for optimism.]

[krmvgivv]

I don't know. She might also just be way less practiced with it. She was dead for a really long time.

[burntvideocassette]

[Right. It might be a matter of experience, not just power.]

I mean, yeah. I can attest that...yeah, that can kinda mess you up.

[It's a little harder to be so flippant about your own death when you've only been back for a couple days, but Jay's trying.]

[He glances over his shoulder, lowering his voice just in case.]

You think the Red Queen's got anything to gain from this?

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper shrugs.] Heck if I know. She doesn’t seem to be doing much to fix it, anyway. If she wanted to make the White Queen look bad, this would probably do it.

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay's eyebrows raise.]

Good point. All she'd have to do is watch.

[Another ornament glitches and disappears. Jay kneads at his forehead.]

Not that I'd really recommend anybody go talk to the Mirrors, but has anybody heard...anything from them? Like, are they...not happy with this?

[One way to overthrow a ruler: Get her subjects to do it for you. Granted, Jay hasn't got much experience with politics, much less revolution.]

[krmvgivv]

This specific thing? I'm not sure. [Dipper frowns.] They can come over to this side right now, though, so they're probably happy about that.

[burntvideocassette]

Great.

[Awesome. Perfect.]

[Though, in all honesty, it's not as bad as it could be, if the Queen's mistake benefits the Mirrors. Maybe less chance of a coup that way.]

[But then again...]

So less chance of a revolution, but more, uh. Well, I guess, either way, we lose.

[Dammit, he screwed up the quote.]

[krmvgivv]

I think we lost the minute we arrived here.

[He’s getting closer to four years here. It’s hard to keep up his hopes.]