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

Han Solo | Heropa, March 4/5

[carbonfrozen]

[There's a giant slug in Heropa.

No, seriously. There's a—huge, bulbous, slimy, beady-eyed slug undulating along the sidewalk, leaving a trail of slime in its wake. Don't worry, the slime's not real and neither is the slug, but it is following one person in particular: one Han Solo, who's given up trying to argue with the giant mirage-slug and is steadfastly ignoring it.

Well, mostly ignoring it.]

You can leave any time you like now. [He sounds even more irritated than usual, snapping at the giant slug, which seems to be glaring at him, as if to say I know it was you, you broke my heart—wait, no, not really. Actually the glare is saying you still owe me a shipload of money, I hope you like being stuck in carbonite forever.] Any time.

THE TIME IS NOW

[reek]

[ Theon has been hopping cities, hoping in vain to lose his own horrifying ghost. For a time, he’ll manage to lose the apparition, but it doesn’t stick for long. Heropa is his latest stop and for now, and he is Robbwind-free, though he continues to glance nervously over his shoulder every so often, expecting to see him there once more.

What makes him stop is Han’s mirage, which is definitely the strangest one yet. Theon can take a break from his own issues to question something like that. ]

Have you tried salt?

[ He pauses, surveying the enormous slug-like creature once more. ]

You may need more than a pinch.

[carbonfrozen]

[No issue here, the only guilt Han has about Jabba is that he even decided to associate with the slug in the first place. Sure, desperate times call for desperate measures and all, but considering that Jabba sent bounty hunters after him—well. You can see why he regrets the decision.

He gives Theon a long look.]

Gee, why didn't I think of that? [Sardonic as always, and there's a new edge of irritation to it as well.] Oh, wait, it's probably 'cause that's not gonna work, seeing as it's not real.

[reek]

[ Lucky Han. Theon’s been trying to outrun true horror stories; people who he’s wronged in major ways. ]

You don’t sense a jape very well, do you?

[ His expression darkens as he quickly glances over his shoulder once more, letting out a breath of relief when his own hallucination still isn’t there. All the same, his humor comes from a dark place. When others don’t play along, it doesn’t help much. ]

What is it, then?

[carbonfrozen]

I ain't in the mood for jokes, pal.

[For someone who's just addressed a total stranger as pal, Han doesn't sound very friendly. Or even act very friendly at all, crossing his arms and glaring at Theon and ignoring his very own hallucination.]

It's a Hutt. Or some kinda thing that looks like a Hutt, anyway. [He waves a hand near mirage-Jabba. Mirage-Jabba does not actually react, except to glare at Han all the more, as if he's offended by Han's mere presence.] I know this guy, and he's a lot more demanding than this.

[reek]

And you’re fine with it following you?

[ Because let me tell you, Theon is freaked and the amount of chill Han has is almost a little off-putting. Despite his attempt at a jape, he still comes across as somewhat anxious and twitchy, checking over his shoulder every so often. ]

What have you done to it? To cause it to appear?

[carbonfrozen]

Of course not, but it's not going anywhere for long. [A shrug.] 'Sides, I almost like this version better than the real one. Can't send bounty hunters after me, for one thing.

[All it's doing is staring at him. Sure, it's a little off-putting, but it hasn't actually tried to hurt him or threaten him, so he can afford to be a little calmer about this.]

Search me. It just showed up outta nowhere, scared the lights out of a passenger.

[He looks at Theon, catching him looking over his shoulder, as if nervous.] You expecting anybody?

[picksthenames]

[ Cisco's been walking around with his head down, trying to ignore the worried, plaintive stare that Dante's got fixed on his back. He figured out soon enough that Dante want actually there, that it was some kind of hallucination or localized hologram, but what he can't figure out is how to get rid of him.

He's just tried to ignore it as best he can, but he can't help himself when he runs into Han Solo arguing with Jabba the freaking Hutt. He laughs, for the first time in days. It's a sad, tired laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. ]

That's rough, buddy. [ If only Princess Leia were here to strangle him with the chain from her slave outfit. ]

[carbonfrozen]

[Han has pretty much given up on getting Jabba off his back any time soon—for one thing, punching him didn't work, and shouting at him just makes him glare at Han all the more in judgment. Which is just rich, coming from a Hutt.

Anyway, for all that Han's annoyed with the mirage-Jabba, he has noticed all those other mirages all over town, ranging from the impersonal (like passing through a woman clad in ruffles) to the personal. So when he hears Cisco's tired laugh, he scrubs a hand over his face and sighs. It could always be worse, he supposes.]

Ignore him, he'll go away. [At least, that's what Han hopes.] You all right there? You sound like you had it rougher than I did.

[dun_moch]

[Dooku hadn't known what to expect when he arranged a meeting in Heropa with the man who claimed he would die in the future, and not be part of the new regime. The news had shaken the Count deeply, though he told himself that the word of a smuggler could hardly be trusted.

One thing he absolutely had not been expecting was to see that vile slug on the street. Dooku's face darkens with distaste for a moment before he slips back behind the mask of courtesy he used to negotiate with the Hutt during the Clone Wars.]

Greetings, Mighty Jabba. The Porter has honoured us with your presence, I see.

[Han just gets a nod in greeting, even though this is the Count's first time meeting him in person. Jabba demands respect, and merits caution. Especially since Dooku cannot sense the Hutt's presence in the Force the way he normally can, for some reason...]

[carbonfrozen]

[Jabba does not react. And thank whatever, because Han is not in the mood to try and bargain or argue with a Hutt, even one that's not actually real. He raises a brow when Dooku just nods at him, put out by the fact that the guy's affording a mirage more respect than Han, but waits until the silence becomes uncomfortable to speak up.]

He's not real, you know. [A huff.] Real annoying, though. Keeps following me around like a bad smell.

[Something the actual Jabba never actually did. No, he just sent bounty hunters after him.]

[dun_moch]

Ah.

[Dooku notices the way Jabba leaves no permanent slime trail, the way his eyes see nothing but Han, and drops the pretense, allowing himself to regard the Hutt with the contempt such loathsome gangsters deserve.]

You have my sympathies, in that case. Have you any idea why?

[This isn't the first mirage Dooku has encountered, but it is definitely the first Hutt.]

[carbonfrozen]

[Han shrugs, and shoots the mirage-Hutt a glare that matches its malicious sneer. There's no love lost between them, that's clear enough, and unknowingly for Han, it's for nearly the same reasons as Dooku. Just with a smidgen of guilt, coming from working under the slug in the first place.

He folds his arms and looks at Dooku. There's a wariness there under his deliberately casual manner, a tension to his shoulders that comes of dealing with authority figures that he's never really shaken, even after three years under the Rebellion.]

Not a clue. [An ironic smile, that doesn't quite meet his eyes.] Guess I'm just a lucky guy.

[dun_moch]

Lucky indeed.

[Dooku's voice is about as dry as Tatooine. He looks from Han to the Hutt and back again.]

Jabba was a great power in the underworld even in my time. Both the Republic and the Separatists had to negotiate with him for control of hyperspace routes. He employed many bounty hunters... and smugglers. I imagine age has not improved his disposition.

[If Han is indeed a minion of the Hutt, his character is likely even lower than Dooku first imagined. Distasteful, yet also potentially useful.]

[carbonfrozen]

Still is. [There's a faint sour note to Han's tone. He wishes he could say he was surprised that both the vaunted Republic and the Separatists dealt with Jabba.] And you'd be right. I dumped some cargo of his just once and he sends bounty hunters after me.

[Han sounds truly offended by this reaction, folding his arms and shooting a glare at the Hutt's image. Yes, he knows he wronged Jabba the Hutt. Yes, he also thinks this is a completely disproportionate reaction for a crime lord used to his every order being followed to make.]

But I'm gonna make a wild guess and say you're not here to talk about Jabba.

march 5th!

[musclemothers]

[ In his day, Rusty's seen all sorts of abominations. A good amount of them were created by him, fair enough, but a good amount of them were just things he saw in his adventures as both a Boy Adventurer and a Super Scientist, both job titles that ensure that he gets to see his fair share of bullshit.

This is still new. Sipping on a venti latte, a straw stuck through the lid (coffee is awful for your teeth, and he needs no help with the whole yellowing process these days), he arches a brow at Han, looks slowly towards the slug, then looks back towards Han. ]

Well, [ he says, mildly. ] That's an abomination of God. What'd you do, kill it?

[carbonfrozen]

[Rusty's lucky Jabba's just a mirage, because Han's reflexive reaction is to shoot him an incredulous look, like, really? But since Jabba's not actually real, Han just shrugs. Jabba does, in fact, look like an abomination of some god or another. A lot of the Hutts do.]

Worse. [He grimaces.] I worked for him.

[And that's really what he feels guilty about.]

At least until I dropped some cargo of his. [From the flippant way he says this, he doesn't feel very guilty about that act.]

[musclemothers]

Huh.

[ Well, that's different. Rusty had figured that that big old thing had been made in some lab or in some sort of horrifying experiment, not that he would be sentient and intelligent enough to run a business. There are plenty of non-humans around, he supposes, but most of them tend to be more along the lines of sexy-humanoid-alien rather than...

That. ]

So what kind of cargo did you deal with, anyway?

[carbonfrozen]

Spice. [It's a fairly tame euphemism, all things considered. Jabba the Mirage Hutt keeps glaring at Han, as if still holding that one time he lost the cargo over his head—wait, yeah, he definitely does.

Han shoots a glare back at him in turn, before he turns back to Rusty.]

Dumped it when I got boarded. He didn't like it. [The dumping, he means, not the boarding. Even Han gets boarded sometimes, and he'd liked being alive and free a little too much to not jettison the cargo.]

[musclemothers]

I see.

[ Rusty looks over at Jabba, eyes narrowing in thought. He's seen this rigamarole across a few people now, and there have been a few consistencies. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what they have in common.

He takes dainty sip from his Starbucks cup before saying, conversationally, ] So, did you kill him?

[h2no]

[okay look he gets the mirage thing. okay archie gets it, he's not stupid. the one thing he doesn't get, is the GIANT FUCKING SHINY SWALOT following this guy. he is at Maximum Volume when he sees han and his friend.]

WOAH! Holy shit, where'd you get a Swalot?! I've been looking all over for one of those! Well, uh. Not here, but back home! Damn, green? It looks awesome!!

[carbonfrozen]

A what? [What's a Swalot, is it something you can eat?] That's a Hutt. And I wouldn't say awesome, exactly.

[He'd say disgusting, really.]

And I didn't get him, he just—showed up outta nowhere, all of a sudden, and he's been following me around since.

[h2no]

Maybe he just wants a friend, huh?

[look just... aliens are Not A Thing for this small pirate man, okay

archie steps a little closer to jabba and cocks his head in curiosity.]

Ugly bastard, ain't ya? [back to han.] He got a name? I'm thinkin' he looks like a... Slimeon. Yeah. Fuckin' perfect.

[carbonfrozen]

[Jabba used Glare.

It's not very effective.

Han opens his mouth, about to correct Archie, before he stops. Smiles. Well, since this isn't the real Jabba, he's absolutely free to mock the shit out of him.] Slimeon works. [Whatever that means.] Or, hell, what about Wormy? Looks kinda like a Wormy to me.

[Jabba used Glare again!

It's not very effective.]

[h2no]

Wormadam? [he asks, tapping his chin.] ...Nah, they're way too pretty for this beast.

Frankly, I'm amazing you ain't named it already. How 'bout Pukeasaur?