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

C ohoho

[magnitudes]

I am thinking of taking bets, ( Eunike starts, a wry sort of smile catching the corner of her mouth as she leans against the back of her chair, arm hooked over it so she can look at the ghost judging the young man a little more easily. ) I heard most people know who they are, but— this woman is a mystery to me.

( So it's a little of column B, but also kind of column A. Eunike has a cigarette in her hand before she catches a disapproving glare from a member of staff, and rolls her eyes. ) Americans are so delicate, I think maybe she is a woman who doesn't like smokers.

( Her accent is strong, rolls over the words, and she nods to her own ghost - a tall woman, hair that is very blonde and a posture that suggests she could be elegant even in the more dire of circumstances. ) Do you know yours?

HEY HEY >)

[khajidont]

Well, smoking in non-smoking areas is kiiiind of illegal? But they're also probably not going to call the cops on you.

[ It's something that he should conceivably be scolding her for, but he doesn't actually care that much, and they've all got more important things on their mind than lung cancer, believe it or not. One of those important things on his mind is simple: this lady looks like Sarissa too.

But she's not as identical, is she? Maybe that's a trick of how the clones were made, or maybe it's something else. He can't tell, and he sure isn't going to be the one to bring it up first. ]

But uh, yeah, I know mine. She was my friend. [ Sort of. He should have tried harder with her, tried harder with Hector too. ] It's weird that you'd be followed around by someone you don't know. I thought that didn't even enter into the equation.

[magnitudes]

Illegal. ( She laughs a little bit. ) It must be nice to live in a society where such small things can be picked at by the law.

( There is a dryness to her response, though, before she shrugs. )

Perhaps simply someone I don't know yet. Her clothes, they are not from my time. ( Eunike throws Jaime a conspiratorial smile - he, as a fellow Short, should understand. ) I do not like people that tall. Untrustworthy, I think.

( 5'10" man, that's just wrong. )

[khajidont]

Heh. [ Jaime ducks his head at that, sheepish little grin on his face. ] Yeah, they can't be up to any good. They get to see what's going on a little ahead of us, and they never seem to do anything with the extra time.

[ Come on, Talls! Be more productive! ]

So your time -- what time's that?

[magnitudes]

Exactly. ( Her grin is sharp, approving. )

Mm, ( a thoughtful sound as she sits up straight, ) nineteen forty-three. Earth, World War Two, Greece is Axis occupied, the world is going to shit. Apparently it ends in some years, if my timeline matches other words - the war, not the world. ( She's getting the hang on this place, quick and painless introductions where she doesn't let her temper turn cold. )

You? American, yes? When are you from?

[khajidont]

American, yeah. [ He's a little surprised she comes to that immediate assessment - most people from the past tend to think he must be from Mexico in his experience - but he certainly isn't complaining. He's a true blue American all right, just with a little extra. ] And I'm from 2006 - about ten years behind this place, but my world definitely isn't gonna look like this in ten years.

And, [ he adds on, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs at the ankles, ] we win, for the record.

[magnitudes]

Good. If you were Spanish we would have a problem.

( She had considered three possibility, and the accent had won over Mexico or Spain. Still, her gaze flickers to Jaime a little more cooly at the comment about the war. )

Yes. I have been told I have only two more years to endure, and I am sure we must all be very grateful to America for swooping in when Europe had been struggling for years.

( America is better than Spain and Italy and Bulgaria and Germany by a long shot - but she's not a huge fan. Then again, the list of people she is a fan of is rather limited. Her tone is dry. Sahara-like, even. ) I am very grateful.

[khajidont]

[ Okay, he can't help but raise a brow at her, because as polite as Jaime is, he's nobody's punching bag, not for where he was born, and certainly not for where his parents were born. ]

I like how you say that like you're talking to, like, the living embodiment of America. I was born after the war, ma'am. I got nothing to do with it. Wouldn't have had anything to do with it if I was from Spain, either.

[magnitudes]

I am saying it because people tell me over and over that the war is over, long past, that they had no hand in it. As if, ( Eunike extinguished her cigarette, brushes the ash away, ) I be grateful for their insights or as if that makes the war any less present. I stepped out of fighting for my life to arrive here. It is not past and done for me, and I would challenge anyone who thinks being told something is over means the wounds disappear in a moment.

( She sips her coffee, and tips her head to the side. ) That you were not involved is true, that I grant you, but it does not mean I must welcome Spanish and Italians and Sherman's with open arms when their countrymen were burning homes.

( A little shake of her head, and she goes to reach for another cigarette before remembering Jamie's comment from before and stopping, drumming her knuckles against the table instead. ) I am tired of being told I owe something to the insights and wisdom of the future. That is all.

( Not that Jaime said that but damn, man. The accumulative patronisation has been a thing. )

[khajidont]

Uh-huh. Well, you asked me if I'm American, you asked me what year I'm from, and I answered, that's all. I never said any of that stuff you're saying.

[ And while he can understand being sore over a war back home, that kind of thing won't fly here. You can't hold a grudge over something people here had no hand in, from different times, from different worlds. Hell, even the ordinary citizens of a war have very little say in what their government has done. ]

I'm not Spanish. But I am Mexican, so if that's gonna be a problem, say so now.

I just saw that my phone autocorrected to "Sherman's" damn it Sherman why you gotta be this way

[magnitudes]

( Eunike tilts her head for a few moments, considering that, replaying the last few minutes of conversation. Turning it over in her head, she nods. )

You are right. I apologise - my comments were... ( A tip of her head one way and then the other, as she weighs up her words, ) rude. So far as I know, Mexico has not been supporting Nazis.

( With a very slight smile, some strange mix of rueful and knowing and amused. )

I hear Mexico is a beautiful country. Lots of complicated history, though, I think.

phones are FICKLE CREATURES and you are admirable for even tagging on one

[khajidont]

It's okay.

[ He settles down a little from his inclination to simply walk away from her altogether, and while he's still a little wary (he doesn't want her to accuse any of his friends of being nazis for, you know, where they were born), he's not at all predisposed to fight. ]

Thanks for the apology. And nah, we never went down the whole Nazi thing, just - a few other bad things! [ He lets out a small bark of laughter. ] But aren't most countries complicated?

it's true, I am a hero and an inspiration

[magnitudes]

Depends on the manner of "complicated". Some shapes of it are more sympathetic than others.

( Logically she realises the difference between leaders and politicians and the common people, but— it is not an easy separation to make, when wars are being fought, and the common people are killing the common people of another place. She shrugs - her tone, at least, is somewhat self aware. )

Greece is not always so angelic, though. ( A moment of pause, and she holds her hand out to shake. ) Eunike Karahalios.

( Ev-knee-key. )

Re: it's true, I am a hero and an inspiration

[khajidont]

Nice to meet you, um... Eunike. [ He winces at his own pronunciation. He's certain he butchered it, but he reaches out to shake her hand anyway. ] I'm, um, Jaime Reyes. And just keep correcting me if I keep messing up your name. I know people mess up mine basically constantly.

I'm working on the whole language thing.

[magnitudes]

( A little slower, just once: ) Eunike.

( That earns a grin from her - wicked and conspiratorial, in one moment, understanding in the next. The smile of a trouble maker, and possibly just a shade Sarissa.

But maybe not. There's only so many ways such similar faces could smile, right? )

And I, as well. There are some words here I am especially struggling with. "Please," "thank you." Very challenging to me.