entranceworks | + ENTRANCEWAY TEST DRIVE MEME +

Entry tags:

meme

+ ENTRANCEWAY TEST DRIVE MEME +

HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?!

You are overjoyed at the sound of a new voice, you are drawn into the nostalgic delights of an old favourite, you are captivated with curiosity about a new game, entertained by the eventuality of your participation AND YET--

--there are still some hurdles left to climb. BUT FEAR NOT! Whether to test or to hone, to prepare or refine, whether to socialise or scout, you are now right where you need to be at the

♥ ENTRANCEWAY ♥
TEST DRIVE MEME

► Try out any new characters and new Mirrors here! Have a go at the setting, thread with its current players, and see if Wonderland is a good fit for you and/or your character. Post a top level comment, tag into other people's starters, enjoy yourself!

► Thread your character's arrival, set a scene with them as long-established inhabitant, or let one of our past events inspire you. Any starter is fine, and both prose and comment spam are welcome!

► Please only note that any threads on the test drive meme are not game canon, and cannot be used as part of the activity check OR as samples for any future applications. Thank you for understanding!

► Intrigued? Check out our...

NAVIGATION | INPUT & INQUIRIES | TAKEN CHARACTERS | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

AND THAT IS ALL, throw yourself into the tag fray, and enjoy! ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Just as she thought! He's a skeleton. Perhaps a bit smaller than she had envisioned, but that hardly matters.

She leans down a little so she's not quite towering over him as much, smiling, laughing a bit.]

Hah! I do still really like that one.

It is such a pleasure to finally be able to meet you! Without a door in the way, of course.

[He sticks a hand through the bush to offer it to her to shake. This is possibly the most awkward meeting in the history of awkward meetings.]

heh. it's an old standby.

it's real nice to meet you, too. and, heh, in wonderland of all places.

I do not believe I have ever formally introduced myself, have I?

My name is Toriel. And I am very glad that you came along when you did! The sun is nice, but... I was starting to feel a little bone-ly!

[She takes his hand, large fuzzy fingers holding onto small bony ones, laughing slightly. It's a joke, but... she really is relieved. There were some good things here, but... there had been so much unpleasantness, as well.]

[Well. That answers that question, anyway. Maybe she's from earlier in the timeline, or from a different one altogether.]

yeah, heh, guess neither of us have. i'm sans.

[He's talking to the queen through a bush how is this his life. And she's as funny and amazing as ever. He chuckles at the pun.]

turns out there's a lot about the surface that's pretty nice, tibia'nest. guess i showed up in the nick of time, huh? though there's a whole bunch of us monsters here. so you can hedge your bets that you won't be bonely.

I am glad to hear that! It makes me happy that some of us could get to see the sun again.

I only wish that...

[That she had actually lived to see it happen for real? That's... no, there's no need to burden him with that. With one notable exception, the voice behind the door- Sans, as she now knows- was an escape from those unpleasant thoughts. Just getting to let it go and share jokes for a while.]

That the circumstances were better.

[He notices the hesitation. Got very used to recognizing it, even just within a single solitary timeline, because that part always tends to go the same. They tell jokes through the door, then they end up talking about their days, then they get deeper into it, talking about more...personal stuff. All without revealing their names.]

[Usually they're both good at skipping past the unpleasant stuff, but he always notices that little pause from her.]

i mean, heh, guess it kinda sucks that it took coming to another universe for anyone to see the sky. but, uh. wonderland isn't all that bad. it's downright nice some of the time.

[But...maybe she means something else.]

...Hm? I suppose not, no.

[It... takes a moment for his words to register, actually, as a thought crossed her mind- about that one exception. How it might be... dangerous, to her friend.]

Sans. Do you... remember that promise I asked you to make?

[Something's wrong. She's distracted. Lost in thought.]

oh, uh.

[His grin fades somewhat.]

yeah. of course i remember.

[Did he end up keeping it? Depends on the timeline. Depends on what your interpretation of what "protect and watch over" actually means.]

I remember that you sounded... a little unsure about accepting it. Which... I understand. It was a lot to ask of you, and placing a great deal of responsibility on your shoulders.

You do not have to keep it.

[A deep breath, before continuing.]

In fact, it... may be best if you avoid any contact with humans at all. They can be... dangerous, after all. Even a child.

[She doesn't want him to get hurt, after all. She prefers to avoid topics like this, but... she couldn't bear the thought of him dying, being struck down by someone due to trying to keep a promise she asked him to keep.

...Perhaps that even already happened, and like her and Chara, he simply ended up here afterwards.]

[It takes him a few long seconds to parse what she's saying.]

[So. It's this again. She's from one of the bad ones.]

[He always...sort of wondered. It's not like he went into the Ruins to check once he saw that enormous door was ajar. (When is a door not a door? When it's a jar. Heh. Funny). The kid's hands were already covered in dust when they shook hands. It was a given. No sense in going to check. No sense in forcing himself to see it with his own eyesockets. She was either dead or hiding. Dead, most likely, but he...]

[It's not so much that he was holding out hope so much as...if you don't know something for sure, then it can remain uncertain. Basic physics. Schrodinger's cat. Schrodinger's monster. As long as he didn't look, there was still a chance she could be alive.]

[So much for that. The cat is dead.]

[And she tells him he doesn't have to keep the promise.]

[The thing that held him back from dunking the kid the moment he saw them, not that it matters. The thing that held him back, even when the anomaly stole his brother from him, not that it matters. As it carved its way through the Underground, killing everyone, Undyne, Mettaton, down to the last Moldsmal, until he has no choice anymore. He could have stepped in so many times. Maybe he has stepped in many times? Broken the promise as early as Snowdin, killed them the second they kill Papyrus. He has no way of knowing.]

[Not that it matters.]

[And she tells him he doesn't have to keep it. And if she'd been alive to tell him as much back home... And it doesn't even matter, because they're not at home. He'll forget this as soon as he goes back. So it shouldn't matter. Shouldn't matter, right? Shouldn't hurt.]

[All at once he's glad of this stupid hedge between them, since it obscures his face, obscures the fact that his eyelights have gone out and his grin is basically just a mockery of a grin.]

[He needs to say something. Needs to...he's been standing here in silence for way too long.]

they're...here, you know. the kid. i, uh. you know, i saw them pretty much as soon as they left the ruins. a lot of stuff happened.

[How the hell is he supposed to tell her? How can he just tell her that she just got unlucky, that Sans of all people was the one who lucked out this time, because he got the good timeline, got the happy ending that's not even an ending.]

ended up keeping that promise. heh. kinda.

[Lies. Lies lies lies.]

there's...a lot of humans here. they're not so bad. they're pretty nice, actually. some of 'em are friends.

[His fingers curl into the twigs in front of his face.]

i'm so sorry, tori.

[Toriel... she's not quite sure why Sans has suddenly gone so quiet. Has no idea the impact that her words had on him. She's barely heard anything at all about alternate timelines. It hadn't occurred to her really that Sans might be from another one- that her promise would have such an impact on him. That it'd keep him from intervening so many times to stop a human that, truly, might not even have been human at all.

He's had no idea, the amount of times she's died, thinking that this child is going to go on to kill everyone else in the Underground with nobody to protect them. She has no idea either.

All she knows is that she told him not to keep a promise that might end up hurting him, and he's gone silent.

She's about to break the silence herself, when he finally speaks up, and... ah. 'The kid'. He knows them, then. Knows they're the reason she mentioned not having to keep that promise anymore. Even though he already kept it anyway. Kind of, of course. Because, just as she'd feared. Her request had gotten him killed when he attempted to fulfill it, right?

Now it's her turn to go quiet- not for as long as him, but. It's definitely noticeable.]

It... is alright. You do not need to apologize.

You could not have known what was going to happen.

[Maybe he said the wrong thing. Then again, is there even a right thing to say here? He had to at least warn her that Frisk was here, like he had to warn Papyrus, before they see each other and everyone misunderstands. Maybe she's already seen Frisk.]

[Damn. Damn, he has to tell her more, doesn't he? He has to get into it, all the stupid, complex crap he hates talking about. How Frisk isn't the Frisk she'll be familiar with. How Chara...god, Chara's here, and she might not even recognize them. And how is Chara going to react to all this? And how will Frisk react?]

[Frisk will be devastated.]

[Damn.]

nah, it's...

hold on. gonna come around. kinda stupid to keep this bush between us, yeah?

[He heads to the end of the hedgerow, stepping gingerly over some flowerbed, then approaches her slowly, hands in his pockets. By now he has himself back under control, his expression giving nothing away.]

hey. heh. you're...a lot taller up close, huh?

...

there's...something you gotta know. don't really know how to explain, but...

it went different for me. went different for frisk, too. they came outta the ruins and...everything was fine. they were good. didn't hurt a single monster. not a single one. i kept an eyesocket on them, as often as i could.

[He rubs the back of his skull, unable to keep the regret from his face. Why does he get the good ending? Why does he get the good timeline when two of the most important people in his life get the worst one?]

it all went well. they got past asgore and freed us all.

guess that...doesn't really change what, uh. what happened where you're from. everyone here, the underground that we come from? they're all...kinda different from each other. in the one i'm from, and the one frisk is from...

[He shrugs again.]

we lucked out, i guess.

[That's... so much better than what she had expected, actually. More than she could have dreamed.]

I... I see. Frisk had mentioned something about other timelines, but. I was not aware that anyone but them would be from a different one. I was not even sure if they were telling the truth, if they were just lying, or perhaps using it as some kind of coping mechanism, deflecting blame onto other imagined versions of themselves.

[...Trying to keep things light and jokey isn't really an option anymore, is it? No, she supposes not.]

...If that's the case, then. I may have been too harsh on them... but...

[She pauses, bringing a hand to her face- tracing the cut that they had left there. It's gone, of course- no trace that she had been torn asunder and turned to dust, but. She remembers how it'd felt. To be struck with such an intense attack. The emotions- or rather, the lack of them, behind it.]

No... they still... they still did it. They killed me, for no other reason than to watch me die. Not even Asgore could lay claim to such a grisly and pointless reason to take a life. Going to another timeline and acting like it did not happen... it does not change what they did. They did not deny it...

[Not entirely convinced. She wants to be- to be able to hold them to the same standards that she held Asgore to. No amount of regret on his part would let her forgive him for what he had done. But at the same time... he is not a child. She cannot possibly hold them to the same standards, but...

She does not want to get close to them. She does not want to leave herself open, and vulnerable to them again. She does not want to make the same mistake twice.]

Still... I am glad that at least somewhere out there, things could have gone better.

heh, timelines and such...it's one of those things you just have to get used to around here.

["Deflecting blame onto other imagined versions of themselves." God.]

[He watches her try to talk through it, watches her remember. Watches her reach for a nonexistent injury. He has to resist the urge to do the same, to raise a hand and trace a line across his chest.]

yeah. doesn't...change it.

[He really is lucky. Not just because of his timelines, but because of his...situation. He has countless timelines behind him, has had more than enough time to get used to all of this, to put some distance between them, to realize that only the current timeline matters. He can't let past timelines influence him. Can't let the fact that the kid has killed him more times than he could ever count affect how he treats the kid here and now.]

[It's never quite easy to get over dying, but once it has become commonplace it lets you be a bit more objective about things. Or maybe it's just that he finds it hard to care anymore.]

yeah, heh. somewhere out there.

...

frisk's...not so bad, though. they're trying real hard to make up for any bad stuff they've done. not gonna ask you to...give them another chance or anything. not after what you've been through.

[She doesn't have the luxury of distance.]

but they're...i dunno. they're trying.

I... truly do not know if I could. Even if they are trying, I... do not think I could be what they want me to be.

[They had called her 'mom', when they first saw her. Seemed heartbroken when they realized the situation. Acted heartbroken, at least.

...Now she feels kind of guilty for thinking that. Tries to push the guilt aside. What she saw at the Ruins' exit... She still has no real proof that creature isn't lurking somewhere inside them. They had seemed like a perfectly normal child up until then, after all.

Can't forget it either way, though. Even if they really are normal, and she could forgive them... she could not be their mother like they want. A child does not deserve a Mother who's been woken by nightmares of them killing her. Does not deserve a Mother that's afraid of them.]

If they have changed, then... I am glad to hear it. But still. I believe I am going to keep my distance for now, if I can.

[She hates that she's afraid of them. That she's placing her own safety above the wellbeing of a child who may need guidance and help... but she simply can't haelp it.]

nah, it's okay. i get it. trust me, i get it.

[This is stuff he's had to contend with for...god knows how long.]

good thing about this place is...heh. we kinda have all the time in the world. we're stuck here and time is kinda...almost frozen for us. like a dream or something.

Thank you, Sans. I feel awful about it, but. I am glad that you understand.

[...Are they sure this isn't the afterlife? She's been assured that it's not, but it really sounds like it might be.]

That may be something of a mixed blessing, I believe. But it is certainly better than the alternative. Perhaps with all that time I will be able to help out Chara.

you've...you've met chara already?

Briefly, yes. They seemed to be... troubled. Hardly surprising, given what they've been through. How long they've been here, seemingly without any guidance.

[Damn. How does he get into this? He can't just tell her that her child turned into a little murderer, after dying and being dead for who even knows how long? It's not even technically just Chara. But while Chara and Frisk might be just about equally responsible for the events Underground, Chara's the only one who has killed anyone here. They're the only one who claims to be some kind of agent of LOVE and Determination. Of course they've gotten better about all that, but they're still...dangerous.]

tori, uh...chara might...they might not be the same kid you remember. the years can change a person, yanno?

...I know.

[He wouldn't be telling her this if they hadn't already done something. Acted in certain ways. Made Sans feel like he needed to warn her about them. She's not really surprised to hear it, but. It's still disappointing.]

Whatever it is they have done in my absence... Please try not to hold it against them. They have had a very difficult life. They have never truly learned love and compassion. Were never given a chance to.

[She knows. Or thinks she knows. He can't tell her. He just can't.]

heh. don't...worry. i won't.

[It's not a lie. The present is all that matters. He's not gonna hold their history against them. But history doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day, you make choices. Frisk, Chara, both of them. Doesn't matter. There are reasons, just not good ones. Never good ones.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

+ ENTRANCEWAY TEST DRIVE MEME +

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject