063-064 » no matter how much / part ii (group B)

[villagemod]

WHO: Group B members only.
WHERE: Mathias Township proper
WHEN: Days 063-064
WHAT: Matthias becomes a little larger and a little smaller at the same time.
WARNINGS: (PM this account to have a warning added!)
NOTES: Plotting post over here!

RECOMMENDED ♫ DEADLY AVENGER "Raiju"

DAY 063-064
NO MATTER HOW MUCH
“No matter how much suffering you went through,
you never wanted to let go of those memories.”
— Haruki Murakami
At first, in the calm following the storm, nothing seems amiss. When the residents awake, it is to another glorious morning dawning in the unsettling paradise that is Mathias Township. Indeed, it does seem rather glorious that morning, for there is sunshine in a blue sky that has been cleared of any remnant of the angry storm clouds from the day before. But before long, residents will start to notice signs of something being not quite right.

It should be a familiar sensation to most by now.

It begins as just a feeling, a strange hint of something in the air, a nagging voice at the back of the mind. They can't quite put their finger on it but there is something. Something wrong, something that shouldn't be — which is quite a statement in a town where everything shouldn't be. But then the pieces will begin to come together.

A person has gone who ought to be there. This in itself is not a strange occurrence, for many have vanished and then returned, or not. This time, though, it is one person, and then two and three... A dozen people or more have gone, with no trace of their whereabouts to be found.

No resident is alone, thankfully. There are others who also remain: friends, acquaintances, strangers. Others who are just as trapped in this nightmarish place.

As the hours stretch on and residents begin to venture beyond their self-claimed shelters and move about the town, they will find that their fellow captives are not the only things that have vanished. The Chasm is gone as well, the crack in the earth that once stretched across and cut off the western part of town. There is not even the smallest mark to show where it had once been; it has gone so completely that some might wonder if they had merely imagined it.




THE NEW ARRIVALS
The newest arrivals to Mathias will wake up on the lawn of Town Hall, at the center of the little town square. There are shops all around them, with houses just beyond, and at first glance, everything seems almost picturesque. Except for the silence that is at times so complete as to be maddening... Welcome to Mathias.

---

ABOUT THE NEW LOCATIONS
POPPY COTTAGE This bed and breakfast has a sense of casual elegance with the elusive quality of being both sophisticated and comfortable at the same time. Aside from being covered in dust and grime, of course.

PENHEW HOUSE Perhaps familiar to some in Mathias, this grand house is different from any of the others the residents have entered. It looks... new. Fresh. Clean. The usual thick layers of dust and grime that would be caked onto every visible surface are nowhere in sight; this absence may be a relief for some and unsettling to others. There are certainly other unsettling things to be found in this location.

THE OLD CHURCH Barely more than ruins, the property is marked by a crumbled stone outline that has no roof and only partial walls, nothing left inside besides a broken cobblestone floor.

BANEBERRY HALL From the outside, Baneberry Hall seems like your average rich person's house, but one would be mistaken to assume anything of the sort. Even the baneberries that cover the back lawn leading to the forest treeline are deceptive, for they appear harmless but are fatal to any human foolish enough to eat them.

The building is decaying from within. The rooms have begun to rot, from the parlors and libraries still done up in grand and expensive style to the bedrooms that have locks on the doors and bars on the windows. There are restraints in some of those bedrooms, while others are bereft of sharp objects. In the hall closets, there are identical sets of white pajamas of all sizes, and the offices have locked cabinets (that may be picked) full of a rainbow of sedatives (that will not replenish). The names on doors and in logbook lists are all smudged beyond legibility, and all paperwork has been water-damaged and weathered, leaving no indication of who may have been kept in those bedrooms or why. But within each room, there is an item that may be familiar to one of the residents now wandering its halls. As caked in dust and grime as anything else, each item is placed as if it belongs there, as if it might have been there for years. But it couldn't have been... could it?



ABOUT THE ITEMS FROM HOME
Within the unsettling walls of Baneberry Hall, residents may find OBJECTS that are uncomfortably familiar to them. Each item has one singular memory attached to it that, when touched in any way, will be experienced first hand, as if the person receiving it had lived it themselves. This person will endure all of the associated emotions and psychological reactions to the memory that the memory's owner experienced.

— Items may only be found within Baneberry Hall. These items from home are not all in one room or a specific location but instead are scattered throughout the bedrooms. (Only the items on this list are available to this group.)

— Ownership and possession of the item are important elements to this event. While the item is in possession of someone who is not its owner, it will continue to infect all who touch it with the memory that belonged to its owner. The item will also, before long, begin to make the possessor ill, both physically and emotionally uncomfortable and upset. This only occurs until the item is reunited with its owner, or until it is no longer in someone else's possession. (For example, if Person A finds Person B's teddy bear and carries it with them, they will continue to experience the bear's associated memory until they no longer have it in their possession, whether this means they have left it somewhere or it has been returned to Person B.)

— Recipients of memories will retain those memories even after the event has ended.

— When the owner of an item finds their item or has it returned to them, they will also experience the memory once themselves, having it returned to them as if they had just lived those moments again. The memory is only replayed once in their minds and then the memory effect of the object is gone. After this point, the item can be held by the owner or any others without consequence.

— If a person removes an item from its room in Baneberry Hall but does not remove the item from the property entirely, the item will be mysteriously returned to its original location when no one is looking. This is so that people do not have to keep close track of where items are going in the possible changing of hands, so the original owners can still easily locate the item without having to plan in great detail. Once an item is removed from the property, it will not return to its original location even if it is discarded by the possessor before reaching its original owner. Instances such as this should be planned among all involved parties, including the owner of the item.

— Once an item is removed from the property, please comment below so that information may be updated. Items that are not removed by the end of the event may reappear at a later time, so accurate records are essential.

— Before an item's memory is viewed by someone other than the owner, permission must be granted or requested for that memory to be viewed by another character. Because the experience is an uncomfortable one for the other characters, the viewing of memories not their own should ideally be kept to a small number.

---

CONDITIONS UPDATE

— THE WEATHER conditions remain fairly typical for early fall: warm days and cool nights. It feels almost like spring arriving except that there fewer red and orange leaves on the ground and more of them oddly returning to the trees and slowly fading to green. It's like watching one of those nature documentaries that have a timelapse of the seasons, only it's going in reverse.

— THE FOG has new boundaries.

— Residents may now wander the southern stretch of the forest surrounding Mathias Township — it is possible to leave the paths but potentially unwise to do so.
— The fog has also retreated from the western section of town entirely.
— Access to the northern section of the forest is still blocked beginning a few dozen yards past the treeline; this section of fog will urge residents to stay huddled within the town proper by inducing a physical reaction of panic and fear.

— DISAPPEARANCES AND DEATHS continue! Yennefer, Number Five, and Tony Stark have vanished and Ellie is still missing, though this may be difficult to tell with half the town also seemingly having vanished. Will Graham's body may be found within the ruins of the Old Church; he appears to have been frightened to death. (If someone decides to take care of the body, please report it below. For in-game reasons, this does not need to be coordinated across groups.)

— ALCOHOL supplies have run dry, save for any dregs that have been squirreled away by individual residents. Moonshine can still be acquired by those in desperate need.

---

OOC NOTES

— NEW MAP Thanks so much to Scy for yet another amazing new map of Mathias!

— UPDATES Don't forget to report updates as they come up! Changes to locations (like toppling a few bookshelves in the library), big plots you have coming up that will affect the game (parties, major property destruction, etc), or exciting discoveries that may tie into the game's mythology (even the things provided by the mod) are very helpful to have in one place so relevant page updates can be made. IC events are also helpful to know about in advance so they can be included in the log write-ups.

— MOD STATUS For those who don't know, I run a summer program that is set to start in just 2 weeks. We've only recently been given the green light to go ahead in person, so it's a scramble to get everything pulled together in time. My non-RP life is going to be busy and chaotic for the next while and I am thus asking for your forgiveness and understanding as things continue to be slow, as I cannot guarantee timely mod responses beyond weekends, and even that is not guaranteed.

— NEXT LOG Because of the aforementioned real-life chaos, the next log will be more relaxed and free form with everyone coming back together again and having a few chill days. It would be very much appreciated if some of the more intense investigations could be saved to take place in future logs, as the new locations that are opening up in this log will remain open in the next few at least and there will be plenty of time to explore all their mysteries.

— ITEMS FROM HOME The items from home remaining in Baneberry Hall will not be available past this log, at least not in this form, so if you would like to play with these elements, you should not sleep on this opportunity. More things may show up in the future but, for now, this is the main event.

— DW NOTIFS Back at the beginning of the year, the issue of missing email notifs was discussed in a code push plurk by Mark of the DW admin team. For those who missed it, the gist is that the issue with missing notifs is not going to be fixed anytime soon. The issue is so sporadic that the dev team has concluded the only way to possibly fix it is to redo the notification system entirely. This issue does not extend to DW's internal inbox, so short of checking every thread you're involved in, the DW inbox is the best way to make sure you're not missing things.

— ACTIVITY CHECK Beginning with June's AC (posted at the start of July), all tags that consist of only dialogue will count as 0.5 comments, not just those that occur in an inbox thread. This applies to both AC and AP totals.

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Comments

QUESTIONS?

[villagemodama]

Use this space to ask general questions about this log and the circumstances or locations presented within. Players may also use this space to call the mod's attention to a thread to give feedback on the spooky happenings therein.

[bardish]

Couple of questions! (I wasn't sure if they should go here or in the explorations thread, so I hope this is the right place)

Re: Penhew House, is there anything that might happen if a character covers, moves, or breaks the mirrors? Will the mirrors be uncovered/moved/fixed again the next time somebody walks into the room / will the character get any spooky consequences?

Re: Baneberry, since the drugs are non-replenishing, should we drop a note here if our character snatches some up?

[setthetone]

Would Carter notice anything special about the sedatives? Are they safe to use/expired/...?

If he searches the place, is there anything else he can find that might be useful for the clinic? Not even in terms of medical equipment but stuff like blank charts, a stretcher, etc.?

[descendent]

re: baneberry
1. Do the hall closets restock on pyjamas? Elena's going to be taking a lot of the pyjamas out to the Boarding House.

re: penhew
2. Can Elena take the pillows/bedding? Would this magically reappear or would it be gone for good?

[skladka]

Classic annoying powers question: since the mirror people are shadow, could the Darkling control, move or manipulate them? Possibly get a sense of them, move them closer to the mirrors, communicate somehow? Or does this go into the category of matthis is messing with his powers too much?

EXPLORATION

[villagemodama]

Use this space when exploring new locations or revisiting older ones, including residential housing locations. This includes asking questions about these explorations as well as simply reporting that the explorations are taking place.

(AP rewards are not needed for basic explorations.)

[citharede]

Question re: the tunnels. I notice on the map that the blue tunnel lock symbols are open. Does this mean those gates are open as well? If so, is it possible to explore the tunnels that lead away from town?

REWARDS

[villagemodama]

Reward redemption is not available for this part.

ITEMS FROM HOME

[villagemod]

OWNER
— item
— memory

ATHENA CARRIGAN
— Sizzy Rocket "Crazy Bitch" t-shirt
— When her girlfriend got busted carrying pills someone planted on her, and rather than try to help, Athena ran.

JEFF CALHOUN
— a pair of birkenstocks
— Jeff ghosting and abandoning his True Love Forever out in the 'real world' because he was ashamed of his own past and desperate to become Normal and Respectable.

THE DARKLING
— some Ravkan coins
— Watching his love Luda die when Ravkan soldiers hunting them down and shot him with arrows.

KLAUS HARGREEVES
— 3-year sobriety chip
— An instance of being locked in the mausoleum as a child by his father.

CAITLIN SNOW
— her engagement ring from Ronnie
— Earth-2's Killer Frost trying to kill her after Caitlin had released the villainess from her carbonite cell.

ELENA GILBERT
— her vervain necklace
— Her aunt being brought to Klaus' sacrifice.

ELIJAH MIKAELSON
— his journal
— Accidentally killing Tatia, his lover, after becoming a vampire and being unable to control his bloodlust.

JOHN CARTER
— a book on general surgery
— One of his patients jumping off the hospital roof after Carter desperately tried and failed to talk them down.

❖ Please comment here to log that an item has been removed from Baneberry Hall. ❖

[bestfuneralever]

Klaus has removed his sobriety chip from Baneberry Hall.

[bardish]

belatedly: Jeff took his birkenstocks!

(He also took one bottle of drugs from one of the medicine cabinets)

elijah mikaelson ( the originals )

[prevenance]

( plotting post )

→ DAY 063

[prevenance]

( when it finally stops raining, elijah breathes a sight of relief. he'd started thinking that it was never going to stop, that they were all going to end up flooded and stuck in their homes until even their homes couldn't handle it.

but the rain stops and, as soon as it's stopped for a good amount of time, elijah's out of the boarding house to see if anything's been destroyed.

his first stop is the general store to make sure the foodstuffs in there aren't completely waterlogged. and while there's water on the floor, the food looks unaffected which is good.

with that out of the way, he wanders a bit, coming upon what he's certain wasn't there before. it takes him some time but elijah's eventually able to figure out that he's standing around the rubble of a building that he can't tell is an old church. he walks through it, moving some debris around to see if there was anything worth taking.

but it's just broken and destroyed. still, he lingers. he doesn't know why.

eventually, towards the evening hours, he makes his way to town hall because it feels like routine. he doesn't expect to find anything there but he moves through it anyway, checking for any integrity issues from the rain and checking in with the few people he comes across. )

→ DAY 064

[prevenance]

( he regrets stepping inside penhew house as soon as he crosses the threshold. there's something off about this place, something that makes him uneasy. he can't hear anything or anyone inside but the fact that the place is almost pristine is...odd. every other place is showing its age but this place that he doesn't recall seeing before looks like it's just gone up.

as elijah moves through the house, he can't help but notice the abundance of mirrors. there are mirrors everywhere he looks and when he looks in one, he sees himself. when he looks in another, he still sees himself but it feels...strange. he doesn't like it. upon staring for too long in one mirror, elijah sees something move behind him and twirls around, ready to attack.

but there's nothing there. he's alone. peering back at the mirror, the shadow appears again and if elijah weren't sure there was nothing there, he'd swear the shadow was laughing.

it's not long after that that elijah decides to leave.

his travels take him to baneberry hall even though his mind tells him to stop going into unknown buildings especially unaccompanied. but, he's already inside so he keeps going.

and while he doesn't regret it, he definitely wishes he hadn't seen the inside of this place. it's rot and death and the smell of something old. he doesn't like it. it reminds him of some of the places that he'd been in throughout his life, places that people had tried to keep vampires to cage them.

the restraints in some rooms make him shudder, reminding him of how his mother had kept him chained up when she'd been trying to torture him into admitting that he wanted to be different. he circles around them, trying to picture who had been in these and why they'd been put there.

he doesn't touch. he just sighs and keeps moving through the house. the feeling of unease continues and seems to erupt when he stops in front of what he knows is a familiar looking journal.

this is not part of this house. that journal...is his. that journal is one that he'd written in throughout his life. how it's here, he doesn't know but he finds himself hesitant about picking it up.

maybe even a little frightened.)

Jeff Calhoun | Original

[bardish]

[ plotting post! ]

DAY 63

[bardish]

GENERAL EXPLORATION:
At first, Jeff doesn't notice anything particularly strange. The rain's stopped, and the town's back to its usual creepy death-silence, which is, weird and unsettling, sure, but it's weird and unsettling in a way that seems to be the norm here.

He gets to making breakfast and coffee, a little bit of activity just to keep the silence at bay, a little bit of routine to kill time and keep him sane while waiting for others to get up. Eventually, he makes the rounds. Athena's here, but no Raylan or Tim, which in itself isn't totally suspicious. They've got lives and people of their own. Eventually he checks next door, but the house is totally empty. That's when he starts to freak out a little.

After touching base with Athena, Jeff sets about exploring the town. Is it dumb to go out on his own? Probably. But aside from the oddness going on with the Gift, he hasn't experienced anything horrific or insane here, nothing like what others have alluded to. It's just been a town. An eerie ghost town surrounded by fog, but otherwise... fine.

So here he goes. Jeff Calhoun, Urban Explorer. Whoever's still left can run into him just about anywhere in the Town Square before he starts to venture out into the newly opened up section of the town.

PENHEW HOUSE:
This is how it starts. Seeing things, little things, blink-and-you'll-miss-them things out of the corner of his eye, in mirrors, in any passing reflection. It starts with a shadow, an impression of a person-- or something trying to become one-- here and gone, easy to brush off the first few times. Then it keeps happening, and it gets sharper, and clearer, and suddenly it's not some impression, some idea, of a person; it's become bigger than that. Then the next thing he knows, he's twenty-one and window shopping, looking at a mannequin in a storefront before he sees everyone on the sidewalk, stopped dead in their tracks and looking right at him. It's like he's there again, in that moment when he looked around to see life moving as normal, everywhere but in the window. Sometimes, it was like there was another world in every reflection, inviting him to find his way in.

Jeff doesn't remember when, exactly, he'd started avoiding mirrors in those days, which particular mindfuck was one mindfuck too many. The specifics are lost to time, and drugs, and a healthy dose of repression. But he remembers that old, familiar fear, dredged up from the past where he'd buried it along with everything else about the old Jeff Calhoun. It comes at him now, as he tries to explore this oddly pristine house in search of any answers to the big question of: what the fuck is Mathias and why are we here?

But he's edgy-- probably too edgy to be here. The longer he investigates the house, the more he sees things-- thinks he sees things-- no, definitely sees things in the fucking mirrors, and he should leave, he should, but there's got to be something here, because this place has to be significant in some way.

Jeff's rifling around a bookshelf when he hears it-- a door opening, or footsteps in the house. (One of his fellow captives, even if he doesn't realize it in the moment, and his first thought is: GHOST CULTIST!) Startled, Jeff over his shoulder, eyes landing on the mirror placed directly across from him, at the other end of the room. There's a person in there, not here in the room with him, but in the reflection's world, and Jeff can't stop himself from fully giving in to panicked reflex.

Anyone in the house might hear a sudden shout of "OH FUCK YOU!" followed by the sound of glass breaking, coming from the sitting room. But, walking in, all they'll find is a very agitated Jeff, and a perfectly intact mirror, with a book that seems to have just been very haphazardly thrown in its direction.

Huh. He must've missed.

DAY 64 (cw: past institutionalization, addiction)

[bardish]

After yesterday's experience with the mirrors in the possibly-a-cult-house, Jeff tells himself he's going to stay home today, just noodle around on his guitar and... what, try to fill every moment of silence while he waits for himself or Athena to vanish next?

Yeah, so that plan doesn't last long. Jeff's still shaking off sleep (or, rather, last night's nightmares) as he writes Athena a quick note and heads out, retracing his steps back to Hill Lane. This time, he passes right by Penhew House, heading straight down Phillips Drive until he comes to Baneberry Hall. Yesterday, it'd felt too daunting, too imposing, to explore. He doesn't even know what he wants to find, if anything, but he's all caught up in the impulse to run, and fuck it, this is where that impulse has taken him. He's just curious and self destructive enough to push the doors open and step into the rot inside.

WANDERING MEMORIES:
Jeff's already got one foot in the past when he enters the manor, and each room he checks out just sends him farther and farther back. The decaying opulence is a far cry from Harmony Grove, but the restraints on the beds are familiar enough. He doesn't know how long he spends in the building, exploring the rooms, rifling through any papers he can find, driven by some desperation to learn about the former patients.

(Residents. The staff always called them residents, back in Harmony Grove. They always opted for that softer language, when they could.)

He doubts they were like him and the other residents, the patients here. They couldn't have been an assortment of Gifted misfits and fuckups. And really, whatever their diagnoses, Jeff isn't too interested in any that. He's just curious about who they might've been, as people. Maybe it's the quiet, and the loneliness, of Mathias, the days spent in this town where the only person he knows is Athena, who's too much a kid and a daughter to ever be a friend, but...

He's lonely. So here he is, chasing some possible connection in the ghosts of whoever stayed in these rooms. He wishes he could find their names, and ages, piece together some impression of who these patients were. Eventually, he might find a personal effect, and pick it up in his curiosity, only to be hit with a... vision? No, not a vision. It's like he lived it; it feels so real, and personal, and fucking... voyeuristic, he wishes he could wipe it from his head.

God, he's going to be sick.

Others exploring Baneberry Hall might find Jeff in one of the rooms, sitting on one of the beds, leaning back against the wall. He's singing under his breath, a note of desperation in his voice, trying his best to find some sense of calm and comfort after what he's just experienced.

Maybe your personal object is in the room with him, whether he's touched it and experienced your memory or not. Maybe somebody else's is in the room. Maybe there's no object, and you've seen his own memory. Maybe nobody's seen anybody's memory, and you just want to coax this weirdo out of the room. Regardless, there's probably something to talk about.

PETTY THEFT:
The first time he comes across a cabinet full of drugs, he leaves it alone. Not even a second glance-- well, okay, maybe he gives it a lingering glance, but he's not tempted to break in and take anything. Same with the second time he comes across a stash. Those days are long behind Jeff.

Or maybe they're not so long behind him. The longer he stays here, in this fucking rotting tomb of memories, the more his own past starts to creep up on him, closer and closer, until it's like his own ghost's got a hold of him. After enough time exploring, accidentally stumbling onto others' pasts, Jeff's half-convinced that he's wandering through some warped version of Harmony Grove, like if he looks in the mirror, he'll see himself, twenty-some years younger, doped up and half crazy.

The next time he comes across the drugs, he knows he should leave. He tells himself he should, even as he yanks the desk drawer open and roots around for some paperclips. Just turn around and walk out of this fucking room, he thinks, opening the paperclips up, fashioning them into makeshift picks.

He's rusty, but fuck, it's like riding a bicycle.

And he's not going to swallow any of these pills. Really. He's just going to... take them, for an emergency. Save 'em for a rainy day. It's fine. He's fine. He's got his shit under control.

MEMORY

[bardish]

Why would anyone pick up a used pair of Birkenstocks? Maybe they just look too comfortable to resist...

If you were watching this moment from the outside, looking in, it would seem pleasant, and sweet, and innocent. Two young men on the grounds of Harmony Grove Recovery, sitting under a tree, laughing and playing a game of Scrabble together. They haven't seen each other in months; it's just too hard for him to take off from work, and school, and save up the money to fly too often, so he can't make it to every visitation weekend. But he tries, and he's so sweet with Ayo. He's the only one who can make him smile, and Ayo always seems to do a little better after seeing him, or speaking with him on the phone, so... They must be good for each other.

(As friends, of course, because they're definitely not a couple, since that's definitely against the rules here.)

But even though you're looking at him and smiling, laughing, acting like everything's normal, you know this is the last time you're ever going to visit him. It's just too hard. It's too hard to keep coming back here, well over a year since you've 'graduated' (gotten discharged) from Harmony Grove. You've got your GED now (Ayo helped you study for it, you fucking coward). You're actually doing good in your community college classes and looking at the next steps into a university. You've got a job at a hardware store, even though you don't know shit about tools or home repair. And you've got friends-- new friends, who've never ran anywhere close to your old circles. They like the hits on the radio, and they've never heard of the Nervous Tix, and never touched anything harder than weed, and most of them aren't even Gifted.

Most importantly, they don't know you're a fucking ex-junkie, failed musician, high school dropout who came so close to touching the stars before you went and let a demon into your head. They like you, the Jeff Calhoun they know, who's healthy, athletic, responsible, and always so cheerful and smiling.

You can't keep doing this. Coming back here, it hurts, every time. You love him, and he loves you, and when you're here, you get this impulse to flip a table on your new life and totally fuck it up, do something big and stupid and magical and break yourself all over again, just for a chance to come back to him. Harmony Grove is like another world; a bubble, safe and separate from the complications of the real world. You two can be happy and broken here, but you'll never survive together out there, in the world you're in now.

(You're so fucking weak.)

You can't move on with one foot in your past. You can't be two people at once. You already know which Jeff you've chosen to be, and it's not the one he knows, and fuck, it's so hard to do this to him. You should just tell him that you've got to break up, but you don't know what it'll do to him. It could hurt his progress too much. It's for his own good-- right. Right. This is for his sake.

It's a lie and you know it. (Coward.) You're just afraid to tell him. So you spend the day lying sweetly to his face. He kicks your ass at Scrabble, teases you, and you tease back. You sing him a silly, stupid little song you just made up about spelling. When nobody's looking, you sneak your hand in his, and lean against him, bumping shoulders.

Before you leave, you promise you'll try to get up here again soon. You say you'll see him again, knowing you won't. You feel shame and guilt coiling in your gut as you leave him on a high note. One last happy memory before drifting out of his life for good.

You leave him in Harmony Grove, and never look back.

[ OOC: Anyone's welcome to see Jeff's memory, though Elena has dibs on returning his sweet birks to him! Reactions to memory shares can be played out in this thread! ]

elena gilbert | the vampire diaries

[descendent]

[ plotting comment. ]

MEMORY.

[descendent]

memory | cw: blood, death, murder, vampirism.

When you pick up a silver necklace with a serpent-like creature embedded on the round ball hanging from the chain, you're hit with the scent of smoke. Your skin begins to feel hot as fire burns around you, enclosing you in a flaming cage. There's nowhere to go. You can't go anywhere. The flames grow taller and thicker if you so much as sway towards them. Magic permeates the air. It's unlike the magic you know—warm, friendly, its touch like that of a friend. It scares you how the magic makes you feel cold in the light of actual fire.

But you hardly notice it. All you feel is fear. A blonde woman whose face is pale with fright stares you down and tells you it's all right. "It's all right, Elena. I know what I have to do." That's all she's ever done—comfort you. And what have you done other than lead her to her demise? Jenna's life stopped the moment you decided to go to that party and Wickery Bridge took the lives of your parents.

You can do nothing.

All you can do is watch hopelessly and helplessly as she launches herself at the witch, teeth splitting and sinking into her neck immediately. Hope flutters in your gut like a swarm of butterflies. Maybe she can get away. Maybe she'll be fast enough—

She's pulled back by someone—someone you find frightful, his face too soft and boyish to truly be that of a monster—and that helplessness only grows as he tosses her to the ground.

Anger burns in your gut. You can do nothing.

You do your best to be brave. It's what she would've wanted. It's what your mother used to tell you, that all the princesses who were rescued by princes had to be brave as they waited. They always rescued themselves, but you're not so sure how you can save yourself from this.

You know what happens next. You know what can take away her pain. Jenna looks at you in fear, trying her best to try and appear like she's in control. She wants to take care of you—feels like she hasn't done that since the day you fell into her care—but all you can do is focus on the way she's still boneless and helpless on the ground, waiting for death as you had done so too many times to count.

You can do nothing.

All you can do is watch him take a stake to her heart. Skin splits and blood splatters and you watch as her bright, warm skin drains into a pale, sickly ashen colour. She lies too still. Jenna has never been still.

You can do nothing.

When she takes her last breath, you give up. It's the only thing you can do.

PENHEW HOUSE.

[descendent]

[ when elena sees a house she doesn't recognise, elena goes in and investigates. it's the only thing that makes sense. surely, nothing could go wrong.

she honestly shouldn't be surprised hat tit's a little creepy. it's cleaner than the houses she's kindly borrowed things from. it's too clean, too fresh, like it's just been built overnight.

elena takes her time exploring the house. she lingers in the lower level, brushing her fingers against the piano. when she presses down a key, the sound reverberates loudly like a bell throughout the house. it doesn't sound strained, doesn't sound sick—it's a sound that could be beautiful if she knew how to play it. pressing a couple of keys, she forces herself to move on. she doesn't want to hurt anyone's ears if they happen to be nearby; she can't hold a tune to save her life.

she can be found in the lower levels picking up the photographs to study them closely. there's so much to explore—the photographs, the piano, the oval mirror with the creepy writing on it. while she wants to explore the upper level, she's too enraptured by what's downstairs. there's so much—so many clues, little dust… either this had been hidden too well by the town itself (or the fog?) or it had been built with magic overnight. either way, she wants to stick her fingers in every corner and crevice she can find.

try and make some sound. elena's easily spooked today. ]

Klaus Hargreeves | The Umbrella Academy

[bestfuneralever]

[HMU on disco or HMD to plot something specific. Default to prose, will match format. Wildcards welcome.]

{Fear runs rampant in a grave house » Memory

[bestfuneralever]

So you came across the sobriety chip. Now you find yourself small and unassuming, all limbs and somehow you intrinsically know you're only eight years old, with your back pressed up against the corner of a hard stone wall, fear and panic coursing through you as you curl in on yourself.

Suddenly, the heavy, large stone doors at the front of the mausoleum open, light pours in and a man made of harsh lines, sharp angles and wicked tones looms in the doorway. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Number Four." he seems to bite the words out.

Hope claws its way out of your chest. You scrabble to your knees, begging, voice wavering. "Can I go now?"

The man sounds doubtful to the point of mockery. "Have you overcome your fear of the dead?"

You nod, but there is no belief of it in your heart. You know it's a lie. A ploy. A desperate attempt to just go home.

"You must become the master of your own life, Number Four. Or it will become the master of you." The sharp man--the one you know is your father--sounds so serious, so harsh. You know this is not specific to this moment; this is simply how he is, at all times.

"Please, I want to go home." You beg. Desperate. Needy. A child who wants his father to make the nightmares end, and not the hero he wants you to be. He is not the type of father to offer even the coldest of comforts. There is no affection to be found here.

"Three more hours." He declares in a sharp snap, and he's slipped through the entrance and slammed those heavy stone doors shut again.

"No! Don't leave me!"

That's when you hear the scream. Sharp. Piercing. Blood-curdling. There's a group of ghosts suddenly surrounding you. They're screaming your name. Clawing at your clothes. Gripping at any part of you they can make purchase on. Begging for you to help. Their faces are twisted, bloody and grotesque. The picture of nightmares, and they're all around you, there's no escape.

All you can do is cower in the corner, curled in on yourself, and try to count the seconds until your father will come collect you again.

[setthetone]

[Plotting Post]

Day 63 - OTA

[setthetone]

i. Penhew House

[Oh great. It's this place again.

Where it all started. Where he one day found himself, lost in this town and its crazy trials. For a moment he's almost hopeful – it started here, maybe this is where it will end? He woke up here, maybe this is where he will go to sleep and then he'll be back at the hospital and all of this will have been nothing but a feverish dream?

But there's a part of him that knows, fears, dreads that he won't be so lucky.

Carter stops at the mirror with the writing, the words sending a shiver down his spine. He hasn't forgotten the shadowy figures, nor his ill-advised ritual or the strange dreams that had followed.]

You're still here, huh?

[Should he try to contact them again? Get some of the others for a seance? In the end he lights a candle, remembering how last time the shadows had been drawn to the light. Trying to be respectful. Placative.]

I really wish you would talk to us. If there's anything you want from us.


ii. Out and About

[He's been feeling strange all morning but it just gets worse as the day progresses.

It starts with Liz not being at the clinic. With Hardison and his friends not being at the house when he wants to drop by to check on Eliot's mental state. Carter soon wanders the streets, knocks on doors, checks different houses but the village – improbably as it is – feels even emptier than usually.

There's a growing sense of dread, panic almost, a diffuse fear of being left behind, of being the only one left in this hellhole. So when he finally comes across someone he waves at them with visible relief.]

Hey! Do you know if there's-- is there a meeting taking place somewhere? Where is everybody?

The Darkling | Grishaverse

[skladka]

[ plotting! ]

Day 63 - closed to Elena Gilbert

[skladka]

[ memory ]

[ The necklace is ornate enough that it catches his attention. It's a pretty thing, a delicate trinket, nestled on a vanity next to some tarnished silver rings that look like they have far less value. Even if the Darkling didn't have an aesthetic eye, it would jump out like a sore thumb. He thinks perhaps Alina would like it, a simple gesture for a strained relationship. He enters the room, sparing the rest of the room a simple glance before deft fingers pick up the locket, a small frown on his face as he examines the piece of jewelry.

The Darkling is met with force. He barely has time to grip at the vanity before the memory comes flooding in--fire, an unfamiliar magic that seems far too familiar for him--no, not him. Her. The overwhelming feeling of hopelessness, powerlessness courses through him. A sacrifice from someone she--he--loves. The anger that surfaces is something intimately familiar to the Darkling and he swears, just for a moment, that he can taste it as he watches the death of someone she loves.

When the memory ends, the Darkling's grip on the locket is tight, knuckles white. He casts a glance around the room before placing it in his pocket, unaware his jaw has been clenched just as tightly as his hands until he exhales softly. It had been real. A memory, perhaps, and the Darkling would view the situation in a stranger light if half of the town hadn't disappeared and the village itself is constantly in a state of strange. A heads-up had been given, but this is his first time experiencing it. The memory had been raw, real, like it had been happening to him. He thinks of those teeth, the heat of the flames. A ritual? Something from this place, perhaps, a glimpse into its sordid past?

Regardless, it's the type of event that leaves one unwilling to spend too much time in the room it occurs in. He exits the room and continues his idle search, the weight of the locket barely noticable in his kefta.

It's not long before he finds the girl in the memory, so much so he has to wonder if the necklace itself is guiding him. The Darkling isn't sure why he knows it's her--it had been from her perspective, there certainly hadn't been a mirror to glance at himself among the fire, among the grief of losing a loved one, powerless to stop it--but there's a strange clarity the moment they lock eyes in the dingy hallway. It's her, and he knows it.

The Darkling imposing, tall and dressed in all black. He reaches into the pocket of his long embroidered coat, producing the locket. He lets the pendant part drop, allowing it to swing from the silver chain in his fingers. ]

Yours?

Athena Carrigan || Original Character

[citharede]

LOL PLOTTING COMMENT, ten years later

MEMORY - seeing it is OTA - CW for homophobia, drugs, police brutality, racism, and rape mention

[citharede]

Thursdays were chocolate cake days. Whenever they could help it, anyway. Sometimes there wasn't enough from panhandling or pickpocketing or whatever they'd done to cover their meager expenses for the week thus far. Robbie was the one who was good at the pickpocketing stuff. Athena could never get the hang of it, and after a while they both decided that she was better used as a distraction anyway. That, she was aces at.

But that Thursday was a chocolate cake day. Robbie went in and got it--she had the better clothes on, and she had more patience left with people who didn't like the sight of the homeless inside an actual store. They wouldn't be allowed to eat in there, but they could buy shit. Money still spent, even when you were homeless.

They sat under the Eaglevale Arch in Central Park, feeding each other plastic forkfuls of sweetness. Planning the next day, laughing at the people who noticed them and looked away--tourists--and ignoring the locals who ignored them in return. Every once in a while someone would drop some loose change in the cup Athena and Robbie perennially had with them. Sometimes that person would smile at them, apparently happy they could enjoy themselves given their sorry lot in life. Conversation roamed through recent news to local gossip, with breaks as Athena sang to attract more loose change from passerby. Just the lightest touch of the Gift in the music. Aren't you feeling generous tonight?

The human traffic quieted down around seven, when the longer shadows started to stretch over the park. They'd have to move soon. Get back to their squat. Fall was starting to get properly cold, and at least their ratty little blanket nest had ratty little blankets. She and Robbie held hands as they walked back toward home, white fingers laced through black.

They'd only just started to settle in to their little hidden pocket of that abandoned basement when the door slammed open on its hinges and two white cops walked in Robbie and Athena froze against the wall.

The cops had their guns out already.

"Hey ladies," the first one said, smiling, head tilted as he looked them over. He was the younger of the two, his face a patchwork of acne scars and a drunkard's broken veins.

The other was significantly older. Athena had no idea how much. He had the look of an angry lifer, a bitter officer holding out for a pension after being denied advancement by someone who knew how bad more power would be. The kind of guy her dad would like.

Acne stepped forward, picking his way around a broken box. Some broken glass. "Took your fucking time coming back today."

Robbie and Athena grabbed each other's hands again. Athena's heart rattled in her throat, and she hung on to Robbie's hand for all she was worth.

Please, she thought, to whoever the fuck listened for prayers from sinners. Please, don't let them hurt Robbie.

Lifer went left, putting himself between the girls and their hiding place's second bolt hole. How had they known? How had they known? They'd been watching, but why?

Please, she thought, I don't want to get raped.

The older cop made a show of drawing something out of his pocket, the other hand still holding his gun loosely. For a delirious moment Athena considered going for the weapon, but that wouldn't end well for anyone.

He shook the little baggy in his hand. Pills, though Athena couldn't tell what kind at this distance. Lifer tossed them to Acne, who caught them neatly before holstering his gun. "What's this. Homeless girls with enough oxy to constitute a Class A felony. That's not good."

"What do you want?" Robbie's voice was steady, cold, and Athena wanted to step in front of her as Lifer toyed with his gun.

Acne grinned. "Now, if it was about what I wanted, this would be a lot simpler. But it's not about what I want. It's about what the little dyke's daddy wants."

He nodded to Athena, and the bottom dropped out of her stomach. The tears came even though she didn't want them to. Robbie's grip on Athena's hand tightened.

"What does he want?"

Say something, Athena thought. Say something, do something. Do something.

"He wants her to know that he can find her whenever he wants to. He wants her to know that getting thrown out wasn't supposed to be a reward."

Robbie glanced at Athena, and there was as much fear in her eyes as Athena felt herself.

Acne tossed the pills to land at Robbie's feet. His eyes narrowed, grin still there. "He wants her to know that if she wants to eat pussy, she should get comfortable with the idea of being someone's bitch."

"Run!"

Robbie's command was just that. They separated, bolting opposite directions, a plan made and practiced a dozen times. Athena avoided Acne's grip and pelted for the door, skidding to a halt when Robbie screamed.

Lifer had her down, arm up behind her back far enough that it had to be dislocated. He had his gun out still, he had his gun out still, he had his gun out, oh god--

Robbie screamed again, and Athena broke and ran out into the gathering dark of the city, not caring how many people she barreled into as she went, not caring how many people swore at her or tried to ask if she was okay. She wasn't going to stop. She was not going to stop until she crossed out of this fucking city's jurisdiction.

There was no gunshot. There was no gunshot. She could at least hang on to that.