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 kind of never expected to see him again. Shepard knew that his death wasn't actually his last, the point where they disappear forever, but it clawed at her gut all the same. The realization that she couldn't stop him, that she got there too late to spare him that unnecessary pain.

And here he is, the blood covered specter who's haunted her thoughts since he went off and did something fuck stupid. It's a familiar sensation.

She wants to hug him. Remembers he's not that big a fan of being touched since he came back, and grips her hands a bit harder into her elbows.]

Yeah, you made that one clear with your notes and giving away all your possessions.

[Shepard can't find it in herself to look mad at him, though, not when she's so goddamn happy to see him again.]

Was pretty sure that wasn't your fifth. And no, I won't shoot you to round it off.

[The word, when it comes, is a quiet, gravelly pullr:]

Third.

[She's one of the few people he doesn't mind admitting it to. Of all the people he could, of all the people who probably could figure out if they think about it hard enough or ask enough questions or dig back in the archives enough - she's the one he minds the least.]

[She's already seen him at his worst. Or...the worst he's ever gotten here.]

[He's pretty sure his "worst" hasn't even started.]

I didn't think I'd be coming back.

Good to know you had a count, at least.

[That's not the point here, but it betrays her worry spectacularly. Also, it's a good pointer for hey, maybe don't do that shit again.]

And you took your damn sweet time doing it. You know I'm not the best one to sugarcoat this, nor do I think you'd want me to, but you've been gone a long time.

[She gestures to the blood on his... everything, really.]

Do you have any injuries still? Or did they at least have the decency to fix you up?

How long.

[He doesn't phrase it like a question. It's snapped out with the intensity and breadth of a slap, his gaze fixing on her from behind the frames of his glasses. This is the first he's heard of it, actually. The true scope of how long he was...out.]

I'm fine. [Aside from being like, a couple years late in terms of re-ressing. He's fine.]

[She crosses her arms, squinting at him.]

Two years, kid. And you don't have to be fine. I think we had that discussion.

[But again... two years. She remembers what she can.]

I thought somehow Wonderland might have kept you somewhere else. Or you got swept up by Hearts. But I got her and asked her myself, just in case.

No.

[His throat goes taut with it - shock, rage. No. Two years? No. It's not - that's not the minimum fucking time frame. That's not how any of this fucking works.]

It should have been three days. It was only three days.

K-- Alex, wait.

[She holds out her hand to try and pause him, calm him long enough to explain. Except she has no explanation, just a hope that this doesn't wreck him.]

This isn't the first time this has happened. People go home all the time. This was just... real badly timed.

Not to me. Not to me. I wasn't done. I wasn't -

[He's not making sense. The words have locked up in his throat, and she's talking to him like he's an idiot, or maybe he's just losing it. Maybe he's always lost it. No. Not him. Not him.]

I was supposed to kill him. Do - one thing. [Do one thing right.]

Hey. Hey, Alex, come on. Breathe, remember? This wasn't your fault.

[Sure, him running into a death wish was, but this wasn't. She doesn't really know how much guilt he's got kicking around in there, but it seems as good a reassurance as any.]

It's gonna be alright. We're still safe. Bill's long gone.

What do you mean long gone?

[Because he's been gone. He's been gone, so it - did it work? Did it work after all? Some kind of - taking you down with me, sort of thing? That was the idea. That was the whole idea,but it's not closing out with any sort of reasonable sense. Bill was never the end goal. He was just a stop on the roadside.]

[Wasn't he?]

[He disregards it. Disregards her beseeching for him to breathe. He snaps it out, nail-sharp:]

How long? How long for him?

Alex, I need you to come back before I'm gonna keep going with this.

[She crosses her arms, more stern than she has been.]

Take some breaths. Remember what's up. Don't get caught up in this plan. I need you to be you, alright? Come on. Come back.

Be me.

[He wishes he could laugh. God, he wishes he could laugh at that. He jerks on the spot, as though he's about to bury his face in his hands, only for the motion to turn into something strangled and aborted.]

[How much of him is still him in here, anyway?]

[The words crack, nearing an asymptote he cannot cross and does not want to cross and because it's Shepard, because it's the one person here who still gives him a chance even when she shouldn't when she really shouldn't when he does nothing to deserve it and has done nothing he can just up and fucking say it - ]

I don't know how to do that anymore.

[Despite the fact that she would advise exactly no one to do exactly what she's about to do, she moves to get closer to him. It's mostly a matter of trust- he has no reason to attack her and even if he did, she doesn't assume it would be personal, meaning it's largely inoffensive. The rest of it is that she's pretty damn used to being shot and stabbed, so she could probably take him. He doesn't seem like the type to use poison. Maybe. That's not the point right now.]

Just a minute, alright? You're safe here. Trust me when I say, it's-- it's not here.

[Does she tell him? Is it worse if he knows? Probably shouldn't focus on that for now.]

C'mon. One more time, for me?

[And she holds out her hand, if he wants it. In, out. Seemingly simple stuff.]

It's -

[He can't remember. Does she know? She shouldn't. She shouldn't know. He's certain, he's certain that she shouldn't know but she's just - moving closer and she's holding out her hand and he can't look at her he doesn't want to look at her because she's going to look at him with that expression resembling fucking pity and he can't deal with that he can't stand pity he fucking he really fucking can't he ]

[He looks at her, fighting the horrified revelation that threatens to overwhelm the cracked whisper:]

You don't know that.

[She sighs, a little more hopeless, a little more knowing.]

Look, kid, I've seen some shit while I've been here. I know what you're dealing with now. I know I said that before, but-- I really, really do now.

[So much for holding that one in. But he always appreciated honesty.]

I went home for a bit, 'n it reset. So it can't be. They're not here.

You're not supposed to - did I tell you?

[He can no longer remember what he's told who, if he told anyone...he shouldn't have. Philip knew, because Philip knew him, but Philip is - well, who knows where Philip is? He needs to find him.]

[Maybe he will.]

I didn't. Did I? I didn't.

[She shakes her head.]

You didn't. Two more people from your world showed up here, and between some events and some digging I've kinda pieced a timeline together. Or at least an idea.

[Shepard tries for a grin at him, a little quirk of the eyebrow.]

Coulda told me it affects electronics. You know I'm like half metal, right?

[A quick pause.]

Don't freak out. I'm not infected or anything. Like I said, went home and it reset.

[Two more people.]

[Two more.]

[There's a hard burn in the back of his throat, the stale taste of too many things intermingling with one another - but that familiar, helpless outrage is the most readily familiar. It burns there like bile, eating into the roof of his mouth, cementing his teeth together, making him sick with it.]

[Heating his vision. He can't see it, can't think through the buzz and catch of static fogging his brain.]

Who.

[He can guess. Some digging. Tim's locked up like a vault, but there's one person who would disclose, no matter how stupid an idea it was.]

Who told you.

[Oh for the love of fuck almighty. She'd like to keep her face more strict, harder to get him through this, but she can't hide the way she wants to get through to him, to just bring him back down to somewhere she can help.]

Alex, if I tell you, you're gonna run off and that's not gonna help a damn thing. I don't need you to protect me.

[Man, this is not how she was thinking this would go if she ever saw him again.]

Just listen to me, alright? No one triggered it on purpose. It was an event. Nobody had a choice in the matter.

I'm not going to protect you.

[His words are bright with acid, trembling and vehement. As if he could - if she's like all the rest, there's no point in trying to save her. There is no saving anyone, no saving himself from this. That was a lesson he learned altogether too well. He thought he could get away from it all, and what did he learn?]

[That he can't. That as long as someone lives to keep the memory alive, as long as the potential to perpetuate Its existence is there, It will never really be gone.]

[Not ever.]

I'm going to fucking kill him.

Goddamnit, don't do that.

[Man, why can't she take her own advice to keep her mouth shut?]

Alex, listen to me. For once, I need you to stop and think about this, about the situation we're in. This isn't home. This isn't anything that's normal in relation to what the hell's going on. So can't you just-- for a few minutes stop and consider the circumstances?

[She tries to put a hand on his shoulder, something to focus him.]

Damnit, Alex, talk to me. I want to help you.

You want to help me?

[Stop and think. There's no time. There's no fucking time. In a matter of months, Jay can get all sorts of word out across the Internet because he's a dumbass who doesn't know any better, and even if there aren't thousands upon thousands of eager followers, waiting to happily pass around his shitty, choppy camera job for cheap views, there's still people here that It could still get to.]

[Stopping and waiting, even for a few minutes, isn't acceptable. He needs to act. He needs to act quickly if this much time has already passed. He looks at her with his eyes wild.]

You still have that gun I gave you?

No.

[It's one part answer to his question and one part to the thing left unspoken. Come on, Alex. Don't make her do this. She's had so much of the universe twisting her arm into doing something horrible, into the eradication of entire species, of the blood that follows her footsteps. Don't take the thing she's championed here-- just once. Just once.]

I disappeared for a bit too. All my stuff's gone. Just clothes.

[Wonderland didn't see fit to take her back with her armor this time, and with her belongings out of the way, there's no contingencies or doubles to go back on.]

[Alex swears under his breath, turning away. Disappeared for a bit. She doesn't want to help. Of course she doesn't - but he's already fucked her over, hasn't he? He has, or someone so close to his bullshit that it wouldn't make a damn difference.]

[His teeth grind together, hard enough to make his molars ache. Feels like his skull should split from the pressure of it.]

There's only one way that anyone helps.

Alex, fucking listen to me.

[Actually, fuck this. She walks forward, purpose in her steps, and grabs him by the shoulders with both hands.]

I'm not fucking doing this again, alright? I'm not gonna stand around while you go on a goddamn murder spree and think it's gonna fix anything. And before you say a word, I'm a soldier, I know more about killing people than you.

[She doesn't actually know if she's ever been this rough with him, but she's getting desperate, and sometimes you just gotta slam that renegade button and Go.]

Just because killing someone is the fastest solution doesn't mean it's the only one. I need you to goddamn get that right now. Okay?

its dat boi

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