weep not for the memories

[brushoff]

WHO: Everybody!
WHERE: all cities
WHEN: March 4 - March 6
WHAT: it's a catch-all log, sucka! Tag here and thread around for the Dorian Ruins Everything Guilt Extravaganza part of the overall March plot. Please check out this ooc post for details!
WARNINGS: Traumatic memories. Possible talk of murder, death, blood, other nasty things. I'll try to update if the warnings needed but please use content warnings if it gets super nasty!

It starts off on March 4th, the early morning before the sun's even risen. You know those weird mirages that were hanging around the day before? Well now it's getting a little personal.

These mirages come and go seemingly for no reason. They might stay for a minute, they might stay for an hour. The images vary between person but the unifying factor is that the mirages consist of people the player characters have hurt, whether people in-game or from their homes. Whether they murdered them, slandered them, or even had a petty little argument, the unifying factor is the guilt each character feels towards or about this mirage. After all, you know you hurt them somehow. You know their existence somehow makes you feel guilty.

Another unifying factor? The creepy way these mirages just seem to stick to you. They'll follow you if you try to leave, staring you down with their creepy unblinking mirage eyes. And whoops: everybody can see said mirages. Hopefully you're not being stalked by someone you and somebody else both know, wouldn't that be awkward?

Have fun confronting your traumatizing past and/or wondering why your buddy's got some creepy ghost guy following him, imPorts!

( ooc: this is a catch-all log! Make starters of your characters getting haunted by their creepy mirages, have other people react to said creepy mirages, ???, profit. Hit me up on the ooc post if you have any questions! )

Comments

Kanaya Maryam | ota

[glowsferatu]

[ It woke Kanaya with a start when she first sees it. Well, it or her? Her. After spending too much time just staring at her, waiting for something to happen, waiting for a response, Kanaya can only conclude that she's probably going crazy, and decides to go on with her day. What else is new?

She's a busy woman, she can be seen just about anywhere, carrying on as if she doesn't have a persistent hanger-on. The ghost, and that is precisely what she is, is a young girl, maybe around 13 or 14. She's well over a foot shorter than Kanaya, but looks like she might be the same species, if the grey skin's any indication. Her horns are very different though, little squat spikes poking out from her tousled black hair. She has a big, olive green trenchcoat that drags behind her, all sorts of grime in its tails. But the part that stands out the most are probably her eyes: big, blank, and white. The kind of eyes only the dead wear.

Kanaya has probably had a few awkward encounters throughout the day, from people not sure what to make of her eerie company, but many of them may not be sure how to broach the subject, and just let it pass. It's only once someone finally acknowledges her friend that Kanaya looks at them with a troubled surprise. ]

...You can see her?

Nonah, probably

[exceptfebruary]

[ Julian is well aware that Kanaya can take care of herself. Though occasionally he finds himself casually passing by her place, just in case.

This time he catches Kanaya and nods to her, and she probably caught his very blatant stare and frown. ]

Nepeta. Yes. The Leo.

[glowsferatu]

[ They both turn their heads to look at him. That makes sense if anyone would ever recognize her, it would be Julian. ]

It isn't really her, of course. Hardly a shadow. She's too quiet to be Nepeta.

[exceptfebruary]

[ Julian approaches, staring at the younger troll. ]

Pity. It's been far too long since the others were here.

[ He looks back at Kanaya. It was obvious how much older she is when he was imported to this world a year ago, but it's even more obvious now that she's standing next to Nepeta. ]

But if they did come back, you're irreparably out of sync, aren't you?

[glowsferatu]

It's something I've considered regularly over the past few years. More often since Rose went.

[ She looks down at Nepeta with a frown, and Nepeta scowls right back up at her. They already had the beginnings of this problem back then, with only a couple of years between them. Now, it could be anywhere from four to seven. ]

You met Karkat before he left, didn't you? It turns out there are other issues inherent to any of them arriving beyond simply time. At least, not time in its simplest form.

[dumbfound]

[ Junseo didn't mean much by saying hello to the creepy kid that's trailing behind Kanaya. He didn't realize he wasn't supposed to see her in the first place, and figured the horns were about as weird as blank eyes. Who knows? Maybe some aliens have eyes like that. Look, Junseo isn't an alien expert here.

He stands there looking back and forth between Kanaya and the girl who is apparently supposed to be invisible, like he's not sure how to respond to that question. ]

I... think so?

[ Yes. The answer is obviously yes, but he's now too nervous to answer with any sort of strong "yes". ]

[glowsferatu]

[ Kanaya just frowns at him, still not sure whether to be confused or relieved. ]

I just thought she was... [ She puts her hand to her temple, and flicks her figures off it. ] I thought I was just going mad.

So, she's really there. [ She isn't sure if she means it as a question, she just repeats it in hopes she'll get final confirmation. ]

[dumbfound]

[ Junseo is pretty sure which to be right now, and that is confused. Kanaya's whole questioning the girl who is clearly right there next to her makes Junseo wonder if maybe there isn't actual a girl.

And that sure is something when someone can manage to place doubt in something you can see with your own two eyes with a simple question.

He nods slowly though, and points to there the little ghost girl is, just to be clear here. ]

That one?

[glowsferatu]

[ Yep, that's the right ghost girl. Or, at least, whatever they're seeing is in the same spot. Maybe she can't take for granted that means it's the same person. ]

And she looks a bit like me? Grey skin, big teeth, black hair, horns? But also not quite like me, much shorter, with a ragged dark green coat?

White eyes as empty as the Void itself?

[dumbfound]

[ Boy that sure is a description of her eyes there. ]

Uh... they look kind of white, if that's what you mean?

[ Yeah, that's basically what is being said here, but of course Junseo's gotta simplify the hell out of it. ]

[glowsferatu]

[ Well, that clenches it then. She nods her head and touches him on the arm. ]

Thank you, I guess I should be put at ease a little to know that I'm not crazy.

[ Of course, that still means she's there, like actually ghost-there, but let's not talk about that. ]

[dumbfound]

[ He is confused about what he's being thanked for right now, but he'll nod anyway. ]

I don't think you're crazy, noona.

[ He hesitates slightly before adding. ]

Am I not supposed to see her though?

[glowsferatu]

Well, she's a ghost. I don't think either of us is really "supposed" to see her.

[ She reaches her hand through Nepeta's head without any resistance. Once the specter realizes what she's doing, she recoils away, scowling at her. Kanaya looks back at Junseo, lifting her brows. ]

[dumbfound]

Oh! I know a guy who's a ghost. I don't think it's that weird.

[ Only you can't put your hand through him, because he's a little less ghost than he was before these days. ]

[glowsferatu]

I've known plenty of ghosts, myself. But this isn't a real ghost. She's more of a shade.

[ She turns to Nepeta with her hands on her hips, and Nepeta mimics the action in a more mocking style. ]

She doesn't talk, doesn't have her own motivations, isn't anything like the person whose face she wears. She's just...empty. A shallow reminder, if anything.

[dumbfound]

[ He nods along like he actually knows what that is. He doesn't, so it's good that Kanaya's basically explaining it to him right now. ]

Why is she here then? If she's not actually a real person only dead...?

[glowsferatu]

[ She just gives him a look that's, well, completely dumbfound. ]

I have no idea. She was just there when I woke up this morning.

[dumbfound]

[ A strangely relatable look to him for some reason. He frowns a little, and kneels down to get a better look at the ghost-shade-girl thing. ]

Is it just one of those weird things that happens here sometimes?

[glowsferatu]

[ Kanaya just screws up her lips and shrugs. The ghost barely glances at Junseo before she resolves to ignore him forever. ]

Well, of course it is. You know, stupid things happen to us here all the time. Unless it seems particularly threatening, I don't often bother sparing a second thought to the why of it.

[dumbfound]

Oh...

[ That seems pretty sensible, actually, and like it'd save a lot of headache. Junseo could probably adopt that policy, because he feels like he asks a lot of questions, but never seems to understand things better even when they are answered.

Here's another one though. ]

It's not threatening or dangerous though, right?

[glowsferatu]

[ She looks over at Nepeta's ghost for a moment, then back to Junseo with a smile. ]

Oh, I sincerely doubt it. They aren't even corporeal, so I can't see them posing much more than emotional danger.

[dumbfound]

[ His shoulders sag a little with relief. ]

Oh, that's good.

[ Because he's pretty sure punching a ghost would be kind of hard to pull off, and he's also not entirely sure he's all that good at punching. ]