entranceway | [VIDEO] Wonderland Death Watch ☠

[VIDEO] Wonderland Death Watch ☠

[Replies to this are CLOSED, please see OOC note at the bottom of the post!]

In the wake of our most recent event and regarding the fate of those who lose their fifth life, I would like to propose a new series of data collection on mansion residents. It is my opinion that the instatement of a “death watch” - that is, an archival record of extant resident deaths that have occurred - should be created and maintained, and would serve as a valuable resource for the protection of those who are at risk.

[This is the difficult part: persuading people to share this sort of thing about themselves, knowing what it does to others and how it can hurt, is no easy task. She believed as much when she first spoke with Shepard on the subject, and believes the same now. Evelyn herself does not like to offer personal information unless asked, but knows the burden of carrying that suffering on one's own and how easily an environment can fall to fear.]

I understand that this is very private, very personal information. I understand it is traumatic, and not something that many people want to share. Therefore it is incumbent upon me to stress the critical severity of this situation, and assure you that you are not alone.

I myself have lost four lives here.

In disclosing as much, I hope that others can be swayed to believe in the efficacy of this database, and would urge residents to volunteer their respective death tolls to build the record. Residents who submit information to the watch on their numbers may do so to me privately, if there is concern about embarrassment or persecution from peers.

[It is a valid concern, and one which she has agonised over.]

Commander Shepard’s confirmation from the Queen of Hearts that those who are remade after their last demise are conscripted as spies is extremely troubling. Regardless of the veracity of the information given its source, we as unwilling residents do not have the luxury of allowing for that liability. For those concerned about their safety, I will be actively working with the commander, who is well-equipped to establish and manage security procedures once the record has been transcribed and analysed. This is a living document, and is expected to require additions over time.

I am aware that this is a drastic measure, but a measure worth taking. Please feel free to direct all responses and queries to myself and Commander Shepard.

[OOC NOTE: I realize this is a hot button issue as has generated a lot of replies, which is great! In order to keep myself sane, I'm going to have to cut it off here and request that no one else respond in this post. Messaging Evelyn's inbox is cool if you want to drop a line there instead, but replies will be slower there.

Anyone who did not get to respond in here before the cut-off, I'd really like you to at least drop a comment HERE if you believe your character would still share their information with her. Thank you for understanding!]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

I've discussed that with a handful of people - specifically those who believe they passed during the event where the halls flooded - and I'm actually not certain those who died during it really lost a life. At least half of them recovered before the traditional twenty-four hour resurrection period was up, and an event that features a high likelihood of death on its own is antithetical to the slow, sure pattern of parasitical behaviour that Wonderland usually employs.

[Evelyn cuts herself off, realising that she's rambled a bit and that Sans didn't call in for this sort of dialogue. Her tone softens, and she tries reaching out more gently.]

...I understand that people could easily lie. I do. But...that paranoia won't get us anywhere. And isn't an answer better than no answer at all?

Let's just say I'm having a very stressful morning.

[Which is the understatement of the month, really. Fielding questions is normally her forte, but this has become strained to the point of wanting to shout some people down, even knowing it won't be productive. She has to remind herself that they don't know. They don't know.]

But thank you for your support. I'm actually surprised you aren't joining the chorus of people criticising the legitimacy of the data.

They do not, so I believe you're safe, Mr. Papyrus.

[Better to be polite than not.]

But please be careful for the future.

[Until it's too late.

Yes, Evelyn is abundantly familiar with the sentiment. Having seen enough here to make a lesser person go mad - something the Cheshire Cat keeps claiming will happen to them eventually - she knows better than to take everything at face value these days.]

Please be safe, Newt. I know I don't need to say it twice, but...I just don't want anyone getting hurt.

No more surprised than I am. [Crowley mutters, his gaze flicking offside with the movement just visible behind his sunglasses. Normally he'd be the first to point out every kind of flaw in this kind of idea, but...]

You have enough people doing that, and I'm not fond of unnecessary cruelty. [It's not too difficult to say - she knows him, so undoubtedly already knows he's odd, for a demon.]

People might lie, but you've already thought of that. What purpose would my pointing it out again serve except to waste your time?

Perhaps Wonderland will gift you with a number of cavities.

[Evelyn has had to make her own work, both in the library and outside near the dunes, building little excavation sites in the summer for the sake of keeping herself occupied. It is difficult for someone who enjoys wanderlust as much as she to remain so stationary.]

If you don't mind my asking, how long have you been in residence?

[He relinquishes, and for that she is grateful. Evelyn has neither the time nor the energy to fight much more today, because she feels as though she's been doing so all morning and it is, frankly, exhausting. When the armour moves away, she isn't entirely surprised to see that it's just a boy.

A very embarrassed, very ashamed, teenaged boy.]

Distrust and secrets are the arbiters of chaos. [Spoken gently, so as to not be accusatory.] What we need is transparency. Honesty.

...thank you.

[Evelyn is surprised by the support, given most of the replies here, and is sincere in her response.]

I know you work with- I know the nature of your work, you wouldn't happen to be interested in helping with potential security efforts, would you?

[What Evelyn intended to do was the same thing she does when other people feel as though they are incapable of sharing their burdens: by offering an experience of her own that she feels may be comparable, others feel safe in disclosing. The very same was done in her announcement; regardless of the dangers inherent in telling people how close she is to the edge, she knows it is better to put forth an effort. To risk it.

It is never necessarily that she is attempting to relate, or detract from someone else's pain, but make the already-difficult environment they're in a little less oppressive. She has to try.

Which is why she doesn't expect Frank Castle to volunteer as much as he does. It may be that she has constructed an atmosphere safe enough for him to do so, or that he sees a relation in her words that is an echo of his own strife. As he continues she can pinpoint certain similarities, but the others...

He lost his family. He lost everything to someone he vouched for, who was built into a system that was supposed to protect people like him, like his daughter.

Will Graham worked for a bureau that did not protect him, failed him so miserably he was framed for the very crimes he had strained to solve - he paid it forward in dismantling the world he built for Evelyn after earning her trust.

It's good, that Frank killed his commanding officer. It was earned. But it doesn't stop Evelyn from reaching for her locket and fiddling with the clasp, struggling to break the silence after so profound an admission.]

I'm so sorry, Frank. [Voice tight, she continues,] I know what that feels like.

[ He knew that the story, as he told her, was a mess. Incoherent patches of truth she'd have to stitch together and then god only knows what picture she'd see.

Anything, so long as it wasn't Frank Castle, object of pity.

Fuck. That sounds like pity. ]

Yeah, don't waste your time feeling sorry for me. I don't deserve it. Or need it.

[Or, more precisely, enough sympathy and he might break down completely. Anger's been the only thing keeping him going since he woke up in the hospital, unwilling to die. ]

I don't do what I do because of what they did to me. I do it because of what they did to them. [His family. His normal life and all those dreams he'd been fighting for for fifteen years.

It's a small difference, maybe. But maybe she can understand.] Not like what you've been through.

Don't mistake me. I don't pity you.

[Evelyn says almost immediately, the subject clearly a sore one to her as well. She received too many sympathies after Philip died a fifth time, as if she was the one with the problem and not him, too many well-wishers and sorry declarations after she came forward with concrete evidence as to Hannibal's treachery, when all she'd wanted was some goddamn help.

Not a shoulder to cry on, no hand to hold, someone who could look her in the eye and tell her they would do what it took to make things right, no matter the means or the method.

She understands that anger is a powerful tool, that rage can function but not sustain. She employed her own righteous fury back then and it wore her into the ground until she had to build herself anew, harder in many places than before.]

And what I do here is not for me. My efforts serve people who are terrified of what this place does to them, what it does to all of us. I didn't die four times at the hands of various murderers to sit around ruminating on how to better myself for it.

[God knows Evelyn wishes she could put a bullet in some of them. And she'd threatened to, before they quit themselves of this place entirely.]

[A derisive snort, not aimed at her.] Wish half of New York could do the same.

[Both halves, if he could be greedy, but that's too much to ask. Hoping that some of them don't see him either as a victim raddled with PTSD, or a hero. He wasn't either. He didn't want to be either.

He didn't want to be what he was, which felt, sometimes, like something that had altogether too much of Schoonover's hand in it. The best use he had of who he was, and what he could do, was turn the weapon he had become against the man who made him.]

Yeah. I'm already gone, already goddam done for. Best thing I can do is try to make sure no one else has to get like me.

[ Chloe doesn't mind sharing the facts, just if she doesn't have to go into the details. What happened to her wasn't unique, but that doesn't mean she's been dealing with it very well, either. ]

I investigated homicides with the LAPD before I ended up here. I know it's not exactly security, but I'd... I'd like to feel like I'm doing something to help.

[ It's better than doing nothing. ]

Detective Chloe Decker. In the interest of transparency, I've heard about you. I've been trying to research this place, and I've been meaning to reach out and get an idea of what you've been through. From what I've heard, you've been here longer than most.

[Papyrus let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding.]

OF COURSE, HUMAN!! ESPECIALLY AFTER HEARING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DIE TOO MANY TIMES...I'LL BE SURE TO ENSURE THAT DYING WILL NOT BE IN THE FUTURE FOR ME!!

All the same, I'm not in any hurry to set up a practice that won't see much use.

[ doc doesn't really know what he enjoys anymore. the world around him has changed, and wonderland is just as foreign to him as the 21st century was. he was technically around for all of it, but his interment in that well denied him the opportunity to see or experience it. it's left him a little lost on the quirks of modern society and the pastimes they tend to favor. doc would be loathe to admit it, but he actually misses the constant drama of purgatory. ]

Three months as of today. [ fancy that. ]

It's not chaos to respect someone important. [It's close enough to an accusation even if she's not using the tone. And while Jason has his own share of problems with their alien benefactor, it's his job to point out the flaws in the system, not anyone else's. They present a united front and bicker behind closed doors, like people ought to do. He won't question Zordon's authority in front of his own team, let alone an outsider.] And I get that people are scared right now. But I want to help keep people safe, not to get started in a regime.

You wanted a face, so I gave you a face. I can hit hard and I can take a lot of punishment. And all I want is to help people who can't help themselves. Does it need to be more complicated than that?

[He...hadn't actually expected such a detailed answer. Nor did he actually think that death might not count. Why would Wonderland create events where people can die multiple times and just have it not count? It seems more like those sort of events would speed things along better. In fact, why doesn't Wonderland act more like a meat grinder, killing people off at literally every opportunity? Evie's been here for ages and she's only died four times. Which is a terrible thing to think, but...why does Wonderland hold back when it doesn't have to?]

...it's kinda weird, right? why would this place bother? why not just kill us more often than it does? wouldn't even be that hard. just have every single event have zero survival rate. seems like a much better way for this place to turn us into fuel.

[Maybe it just can't? Maybe the events cost too much energy in the first place? Maybe...?]

[He's thinking about this too much. It doesn't matter. He doesn't care. There's no point in thinking about it or trying to figure it out. Wonderland can't be figured out.]

sure. i guess.

[He gives a noncommittal shrug.]

...what do we do with people who've died that fifth time?

You put yourself on the line, Evelyn. To get answers.

[ And that's why Michonne was here publicly stating how many times she'd died because even if it's not as many, they're in this shit together. All of them. ]

It's better. Don't let anyone tell you different.

I-it's okay.

[R sighs quietly. He'd hoped she'd have some kind of an answer, but it makes more sense that she wouldn't.]

Guess we'll... have to find out.

Yeah, thanks. Sorry you lost like, four. It's weird dealing with one, I- I can't really imagine handling that many. And it's a pretty good idea to try and get all the numbers accounted for? However it ends up working out and everything.

Shit, lady.

_{[It's not admonishment; it blurts from his mouth on the back of his surprise.]}

And you remember all of 'em?

_{[How is she still standing? He thinks the big Death, that nebulous thing he's only supposed to start thinking about when he hits retirement age, would be enough to put him in the fetal position. And that's just one. Worst yet, he has a feeling the deaths she's talking about didn't happen peacefully and painlessly at the tender age of ninety, surrounded by friends and family.]}

Edited (90 years later, i also spotted a typo AND I COMPULSIVELY HAD TO EDIT, SORRYYY) 2017-10-14 18:49 (UTC)

[ Gave away his voice? ]

You mean like... literal voice? If that's the case, he hasn't necessarily lost his will, right?

I agree, we do need to know. I also just know what mob mentality can do to a group. Are you and Commander Shepard going to set up some sort of failsafe, or something to prevent that?

[ He also doesn’t want the mansion turning on Evie for no reason. Groups of people can be dumb even if individually they aren’t. ]

Is there anything I can do to help? For the record I’ve died twice...well three times but I don’t think the first one counted because after my last death it only took two days to come back.

[Based on what he voices, Frank believes himself a tool. A blunt instrument intended to serve its purpose regardless of the hand who wields it - but there is no hand anymore. A free agent, he can therefore exact justice upon those he deems deserving of it.

Evelyn's remembers being a victim of manipulation, the self-loathing of not knowing when one should have, the shame. More than anyone else, Frank punishes himself.]

I could say some very pretty words, [Evelyn remarks quietly.] That no one is beyond saving. Beyond help. But that would be disingenuous of me, and I'm not that good a liar.

You don't have to believe me, but I don't think you're as lost as you say you are.

Don't waste your breath. Heard all that redemption talk before.

{Red, on the rooftops, talking about how no one was too far gone. Everyone could come back. Bullshit, hopeless happy bullshit from someone who'd never crossed the line. ]

Some things, you don't come back from. Ever.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 9 of 14

[VIDEO] Wonderland Death Watch ☠

[video]

video;

Video

video

video;

( video. )

video; private

voice;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

video;

Video

( video. )

video; private

[video]

no subject

voice;

video;

no subject

( video )

Re: Private Video;

no subject

no subject