+ Make the Most of Your Regrets +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Real side of the Mansion, anywhere.
When: January 12 - 15
Rating: Please warn for anything above PG-13.
Summary: As the Gryphon announced, there is an event. Everyone is now living as if one regret they formerly had no longer exists.
The Story:

Please post your top levels here and tag around! For plotting and a link to the bulletin board for more details, head to the plotting post. The FAQ is also there for any last minute questions.

Remember, you can only change one regret and your character is now an AU version of themselves in regards to how that would have changed them.

Have fun ♥

Comments

[ssmisery]

[...

Okay, that definitely seems wrong. Because, whatever the details, Lapis is pretty sure Ange has said before that she died back home. But how in the hell do you call that out??? When Ange is being optimistic for once and everything? Lapis still barely grasps mortality anyway, even after everything with Rose, so who is she to say anything to a human about it?

She does the only thing she possibly can, which is to laugh awkwardly and then try to ignore it.]

Haha, right! It's like, this sucks, but I've gotten through worse. All we have to do is survive it.

[entreats]

[ Sorry for the awkward inner struggle, Lapis. Ange seems to have absolutely zero idea about anything being wrong with what she just said - she smiles like nothing special is up. ]

Right, that's why we should make sure there's some good stuff about this place too! If not just since you deserve better than only having bad experiences all the time. [ And without her own bad experiences to wallow on, she'll gladly help others with theirs instead. ] We should do something fun together sometime! Do you like board games?

[ssmisery]

[Yes, good, moving on.]

Board games? I've only tried them a couple times for Steven... It was kinda fun, but everyone acted like I was doing it wrong.

[entreats]

Oh, really?

[ No hint of cynicism here. Lapis has always seemed reasonable enough, there's no way she could possibly mess up something as simple as a boardgame! ]

What did you do then?

[ssmisery]

I just thought they were supposed to be fun! Pearl kept getting mad that I was [she does finger quotes and pitches her voice up for kicks] "changing the rules" but, like, she wasn't getting anywhere with the ones she had, so what's the point?

[Granted, Steven has some esoteric board games, and 'simple' probably shouldn't be used to describe Citchen Calamity.]

[entreats]

[ .. okay, maybe she does realise what Lapis might have messed up. But to Ange it's actually mostly just funny - especially with the way Lapis puts it. She can totally see it playing out in her head, and so Ange actually laughs out loud for once in her life. (You know, since it comes easier to her like this.) ]

You've got the right idea. [ Don't encourage this, Ange.. ] What's the fun in a game if you can't make up some rules yourself? It's way more practical.

[ssmisery]

Right? It's not like I didn't try to go along with things at all, but I can't help it if the game just needed something else. Besides, Steven didn't mind, and the whole thing was for him in the first place.

[In all fairness, Lapis is willing to play along and behave herself... just, up to the point where it really starts getting unenjoyable. It's a bit of a switch that gets flipped. So Steven probably did mind a little more than she realized, but the important part was everyone trying to have a good time together, right?]

[entreats]

That's so sweet of you! That Steven person sure must be happy to have a friend like you, Lapis.

[ Because clearly playing board games for someone's sake is the ultimate expression of friendship and sacrifice, right. Clearly. ]

[ssmisery]

Wait a second, have you really not met him yet? We have gotta fix that sometime.

[The non-AU Lapis already did kinda think Steven is the best thing ever, but this version of her has a much longer history with him and a bit more personal investment, so it's somewhat more of a way of life now. He sure does have that effect on brightly colored alien women, no matter the timeline.]

[entreats]

Hm.. I don't think so?

[ She's spoken to a lot of people here though. Probably more people than actual-normal-Ange really has spoken to, since this one is a whole lot more sociable.. ]

Maybe it was just once and I forgot. What does he look like?

[ssmisery]

Uhhhh, human-y?

[Of course Steven's only half-human, but he takes after that side. And how do you describe humans? They all sorta look the same.]

He's kinda short and roundish, I guess? I'm pretty sure you'd know if you met him, anyway, he's friendly like that.

[entreats]

[ Rather than taking offense at the way Lapis describes humans, Ange just seems kind of amused. She's smiling. She's met enough non-humans here to think this is pretty normal by this point. ]

A short and roundish human, got it. [ Said just a little playfully, because surely there is more than just one short roundish human here!! ] I figured he must be the friendly type to have been able to befriend you like that.

[ssmisery]

Hey, I'm friendly! I can make friends.

[Sadly, while the Crystal Gems are a good influence in some regards, "getting to know the people they're dedicated to protecting" is not a specialty of theirs... but Lapis is still friendly in a general sense, dangit!]

[entreats]

Well.. I guess you're right. We are friends, after all.

[ Definitely a statement she normally would never make unless absolutely necessary, but it's so much easier to do it without all of her usual emotional baggage. ]

Unless I just happen to be that good at making friends.

[ssmisery]

Honestly, it's just great to see you starting to come out of your matrix this much. I'm really happy for you.

[entreats]

[ She laughs. ]

What do you mean? It's not like I'm that antisocial, right? [ Except she totally is. Just not now. ]

[ssmisery]

[Lapis rolls her eyes. She can be nice about being blunt, but if you outright ask for her take you're gonna get it.]

Come on, you know you've always been kinda gloomy. I don't blame you at all of course...

[entreats]

Gloomy? Me?

[ Maybe she should be offended by that statement, but she doesn't even consider it for a moment - she's too busy being surprised. In fact, Ange even looks very openly and genuinely surprised to hear that word being applied to her. Especially since it doesn't seem like Lapis is joking. ]

Where did you get that idea? I mean, maybe I'm slightly introverted sometimes.. But there's no way anyone would call me "gloomy." Wouldn't I have to look like I was having a miserable time all the time for that to be true?

[ssmisery]

I pretty much thought you were having a miserable time all the time. That's why I said I was happy for you!

[Not only does she still remember the deadpan Ange, this version of Lapis doesn't really get it as well. Relatively happy people are jerks like that.]

[entreats]

[ Ange is just quiet for a moment, but her facial expression is obviously pretty puzzled. ]

I.. suppose there are some miserable times here when monsters start appearing everywhere? [ But as the question mark indicates, she doesn't sound too sure of her case here. ] But usually I'm doing pretty alright for someone kidnapped to another dimension, I think. Are you sure you're feeling alright, Lapis?

[ssmisery]

Of course I'm all right, I'm a gem. Are YOU okay?

[Lapis wrinkles her nose.]

I know there's supposed to be an event coming, but there'd have to be more to it than making people happy.

[entreats]

Event..? [ It's not really her questioning it as much as she's considering it now. Sure, there could be some event going on, but it doesn't feel like it's impacted anything on her end? She feels the same as normal, she can remember everything, so to Ange it feels more like something should be wrong with Lapis. ]

There's no way. Even if this was an event, what reason would I have to usually not be relatively happy unless there was some giant monster around?

[ssmisery]

[Lapis didn't even fully mean that seriously, because of course an event WOULDN'T just make people happy without some other horrible gotcha, but since Ange's going with it she gets onboard that train of thought. It is kinda suspicious, isn't it.]

You remember everything, right?

[That question never works. It is incapable of working, since nobody's going to know that they don't remember something, as Lapis knows full well. Oh well.]

[entreats]

[ She nods. No suspicious gaps in her memory here. ]

I just kind of lived my life, and then one day while I was having a day out with my parents, I somehow ended up in this place instead. I guess that was quite a while ago, since I've already been here for a while now.. But nothing about that sounds weird.

[ssmisery]

[Crud, there that is again, and now it's a lot harder to laugh off. Any remaining mirth has dripped away and now Lapis is just hella awkward. Maybe that's the kicker if this really is an event, making everyone suffer through uncomfortable social situations.]

So, uh... if I said that's pretty different from what you've told me before... would you freak out?