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! ♥

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[That's what does it, after everything. It's Shepard's hand on his forehead, nudging greasy strands of hair out of his face, wiping a line of sweat away before it can drip into his eyes. It's something he never realized he needed to hear somebody else say: We just gotta keep going.]

[Maybe he's not selfish for wanting to stay alive. Maybe he's not stupid for pushing forward, for continuing the investigation, for keeping the camera rolling and a bag of tapes slung across his back instead of changing his name and moving out of state and sinking into the mattress of another crappy one-bedroom apartment until he forgets what giving a shit feels like. Maybe it's okay.]

[His breath hitches, and he can feel moisture gathering at the corner of his good eye, can feel salt stinging against the open scratches across his face. It's been one hell of a long day, and it's all catching up to him at once.]

[He doesn't look at her. She's a soldier, and then there's him, losing his composure in public.]

[With a shallow breath, Jay manages to croak out:]

Yeah.

[He nods, brief and crooked, wincing as a twinge of pain shoots up his neck.]

Okay.

Edited 2019-02-22 06:59 (UTC)

[She knows she has to be gentle when he's in this state, in pain and injured and fucked up beyond where he should have gone. It's the moments like this that keep her fighting. Moments like this that made her a soldier in the first place. If she can lift some pain, if she can take the fall instead of someone else, if she can protect the lives of kids who stumble onto something way bigger than them-- it'll all be worth it.

She pushes his shoulder towards her so she can wrap her arms around him, let his head rest on her shoulder, place one hand on the back of his head and hold him like a child.]

Yeah. We're still here.

[Shepard keeps her chest as still as she can, not to crash into his jaw or break him further, but this is the only thing she knows how to do.]

We're gonna keep going.

[Disgusting. His eye's watering, he's got gel smeared across his chin, unclipped stitches hanging out of otherwise healed skin, a gaping eye socket, and now his nose is running.]

[He isn't going to drip mucus on Shepard. That'd be awful. He sniffs it back, and the noise is somehow worse.]

[Like some kind of kid.]

[She's holding his shoulder, comforting him, like he's some kind of stupid kid who can't hold it together.]

[And then she pulls him in, lets him rest his disgusting face on her shoulder. The sensation's unfamiliar, restrictive, and his heart rate shoots up.]

[Pull it together.]

[Her arms are wrapped around him, while his hang loose at his sides. He tries not to think about an ache between his shoulder blades, carpet burns across his chin and the sting of plastic zipties wearing open the skin of his wrists, of his ankles. Let me go. Let me go. Let me out, get OFF--!]

[He bites the inside of his cheek and doesn't make a sound. He waits for the taste of iron.]

[It's Shepard. It's fine. It's Shepard. He's not tied up. She's just holding onto him.]

[He's safe. She's safe.]

[They're gonna keep going.]

[He breathes, nose half-crushed by the way his face presses against her shoulder.]

What about everybody else?

[His tone's flattened out. There's too much going on to make it do anything else, to mimic the rise and fall of 'natural conversation.']

Alex, I-- [His good eye screws shut.] I mean, I was just trying to get away, but I still...

[The sickening crack it made when the camera collided with the side of his head, the strangled, animal noise that tore out of Alex as the glass dug into the flesh of his face, the way his eyes dripped red from behind closed lids.]

[You did this, Jay Merrick. You did this to him.]

[He could get out if he wanted to- she'd let him out if he desired, but the fear is a lot and she doesn't know. All she can think to do right now is just to hold him, try and fix this any way she can.]

He took out your goddamn eye. Isn't there a saying about that?

[Not that she's seen Alex since he did this fuckery, but that's just gonna come later.]

Don't worry about it right now, alright? I'll take care of Alex and his... everything. Just breathe, okay? Five in, five out. Cry if you need to.

[Shepard swallows, trying to just think of the right words.]

You're not alone.

[Five in, five out.]

[Five in, five out.]

[Five in--]

[Experimentally, Jay lifts his arms, tries wrapping them across Shepard's back. It helps, oddly enough. Feels less restrictive if he's holding on, too.]

[~~He doesn't want to forget her again. He doesn't want her to go.~~]

[You're not alone, she says, and Jay snorts. His face is still pressed against her shoulder, though he's eased off slightly. The bruises were starting to sting again.]

If you said that to me a couple years back, I'd... [Another snort, a jerk of the head. It's at his own expense.] I'd probably take it as a threat.

[His voice is still flat.]

[One, two, three, four, five.]

When you say you're gonna 'take care' of Alex, you don't mean...?

[She doesn't. He doesn't think she does. Four years in hell, three on the road, two hunting down Alex, and he still never figured out what he was supposed to do if he found him. He thought maybe finding him would be enough. Stopping him, maybe, but he didn't want to think any further than that, didn't like the feeling that coiled in his gut when he did.]

[Even after Alex Kralie put a bullet in his side, he didn't want to think any further than that. Didn't want to think about how it'd feel to yank the gun out of his hands, press the barrel to Alex Kralie's forehead and assert some control for once in his goddamn--]

[Isn't there a saying about that?]

[Jay mumbles into her shirt:] I already got his eye.

Edited 2019-03-03 20:01 (UTC)

[Despite the macabre nature of it all, she can't help the little bubble of laughter in her chest, the way everything feels better when he holds back. See, this could... could have been worse. Could have never gotten to see him one more time in a way that makes her understand it will be the last, the context of finality. At least they get this.]

No, I'm not gonna kill him. Pretty precisely not, actually, because I'm sure that's what he wants.

[Like he begged her to when they met earlier, that she decidedly wanted nothing to do with.]

I'm gonna yell at him until he gets some sense, or he spends the rest of his time in Wonderland under Shepardwatch, courtesy of me and whatever jail I can cobble together in like an hour. I've handled worse.

[Shame the Mako is probably gone, though she's confident Alex would find a way to off himself in there.]

Just don't worry about it for once, huh? Trust me. I'll get it.

[She's handled worse, and she can handle Alex Kralie.]

[God.]

[Jay wheezes into Shepard's shoulder.]

[If Shepard had been around back home, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe Alex Kralie would have been handled before things got bad. Maybe they all could have knocked back an anticonvulsant with half a bottle of beer and laughed about it later.]

[Maybe they could've finished that student film.]

[Jay holds on a little tighter. He's not sure what to say.]

Cool.

[Nailed it.]

[He's not ready to just say thank you for smearing future gel on his face, to wish her good luck with Shepardwatch, retreat back to his barren old room, and slip a new SD card into the camera. Not when it could be the last time he ever sees her.]

So, uh. [His voice is muffled.] If you've got a...minute to spare, with, like...all this...

[Sure, because keeping an eye on a murderer's something you can just take a break from.]

You wanna watch a movie?

[Who knows, right? It's certainly a future she'd prefer to think would happen, under the circumstances. There's always a chance it still could have gone bad, but...

No time for that now, huh? Not when there's a better day to be had.

Shepard grins, a little shake of her chest in a chuckle.]

Tell you what. Lemme get Alex on lock, maybe literally, we'll see what happens. If he's a good boy he can even come with us. If not, we'll figure something else out. Kay?

[Just y'know, a fun joke about imprisoning a man. It's fine. This is fine.]

[Jay's still getting the hang of this whole 'physical contact' thing, and the way her laugh vibrates through his bones takes some getting used to.]

[Gradually, he pulls back. He doesn't let go, but he pulls back, tries to give Shepard a chance to breathe, tries to give himself a chance to process the whole Alex Kralie thing.]

I'll, uh. [He's looking at a spot just past her shoulder. There's nothing there; it's just easier than meeting her eyes.] I'll try and pick something he'll tolerate. If that even exists.

[Just, y'know, a fun joke about the man who killed him, about how he's an insufferable film snob when he's not clawing out your eyes or trying to lodge a bullet in your gut. It's fine. This is fine.]

[And it's not completely a joke. Jay thinks he's watched enough hours of Alex Kralie to find something that would fit his narrow criteria for true film. As long as he hasn't changed too much, they'll be fine. Ha.]

[Her mouth is still pulled into a little grin, obviously amused.]

I mean, seeing as he'll be in a cage, he won't have much of a choice. But that's nice of you.

[Shepard lets him detach from her, putting a hand on his shoulder so she can step back.]

Looks like we got our phones back, so-- I'll call you when it's sorted?

S-sure. I've got your number.

[His mouth twists into a grimace, like he's realized he's supposed to be smiling to match hers but can't quite manage the feeling behind it. Alex is gonna be a cage? Like some kind of, what, wild animal? A rabid dog?]

[Then again, Jay's got an empty eye socket. He's got bruises around his neck, across his face. It doesn't exactly paint a pretty picture of what will happen if Alex is left to his own devices.]

[But Wonderland'll fix it. It should. It had better.]

[~~He needs to see.~~]

Look, I--

[You what, Jay? Speak up.]

Just...be safe, alright? [Right. Worrying about the marine from the future, the one who just healed half your face. That's productive.] Like, if there's anything I can...

[What's he doing? He nearly died, and now he's asking if she wants him to just stroll right back into the crossfire.]

I dunno.

[He slumps, arms limp, camera dangling from one hand.]

Just...let me know...you're okay or whatever. When it's done.

[He's been alone too goddamn long, and he knows it can happen again in an instant.]

[He's not sure he used to think like that, before.]

[It feels familiar, though. Maybe he just forgot.]

[C'mon Jay keeping a man in a cage this is a joke, right, we're having fun? With jokes? This is what jokes are. But his caring does get through, and she grins a bit more genuine.]

Don't worry. Not gonna kill him, and he's not gonna kill me. If you could survive all that I think he's gonna be pretty surprised when he hits the LEDs behind my eyes.

[She reaches up to knock her knuckles on her head playfully, even though it's not like she sounds metal or anything. Cerberus grew her new skin over cybernetics, a convincing replica of the original woman, and it'd take a lot of digging and even more blood before you found the tech in her.]

You focus on picking a movie. And I'll see you soon. Promise.

[And she turns, activating her omni-tool to start the great search for Alex Kralie to punch him in the head a few times.]

[Despite himself, despite the fear gnawing at his stomach, he cracks an almost-smile when Shepard knocks at her skull--metal, he's guessing, Terminator-style. Actually, given the whole was once human thing, maybe Robocop's the better comparison. There's no sound when her knuckles strike her head, sure, but he gets the idea.]

[Jay wonders if she's bulletproof, like this.]

Y-yeah, sure. Promise.

[She'll be fine. Even if this feels like the first act of a horror movie, even if the wrongness of it all constricts his lungs, burns holes in his throat, he knows she'll be fine. Even if she's not fine, she'll be fine. Wonderland can fix just about anything, if it's not your fifth time.]

[And if she's not fine, he's here. She can call, and he can help, or something. He knows Alex. He'll figure something out.]

[He can promise that much--even if nothing works out, he can promise to try.]

...That I'll, uh. Find something to watch. Like, something decent.

[Stay safe, Shepard. He can't afford to lose you, too.]

[Jay ducks his head, raises his free hand in a quick wave. The camera's still rolling.]

See you soon.

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

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cw: violence, eye horror, restraint

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cw: violence

cw: suicide mention

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