the realignment meme... realignmement?

[illbebach]

THE REALIGNMENT MEME

>>> OH NO YOU'VE BEEN EXPOSED TO RADIOACTIVE ANTIMATTER FROM THE EIGHTH DIMENSION AND NOW YOU'RE THE OPPOSITE MORAL ALIGNMENT THAT YOU USUALLY ARE. But don't worry! There are ways to cure that!

THE RULES

01 POST AS YOUR CHARACTER STATING WHAT MORAL ALIGNMENT YOUR CHARACTER HAS SWITCHED TO. This can be the binary Good/Evil or something more nuanced like along the D&D spectrum, just as long as it's an approximate opposite of what your character is normally like, morally speaking.
02 COMMENT TO OTHER PEOPLE either anonymously or logged in TELLING THEM WHO TO CURE! So you'll comment to X's character with Y's name + the curing method number as listed below. Specify if you want X to be realigned as well in that thread OTHERWISE assume X is normal.
03 THREAD OUT THE SCENARIO FOR AT LEAST FIVE COMMENTS otherwise you will have failed curing dear, dear Y -- and how can you live with that guilt??
04 HAVE A TERRIBLY FUN TIME.

THE CURES

1] Physical intimacy. Either hugging or kissing or second base, there's only one rule: it must be a sincere effort.
2] Take them hostage. The only way to reverse the effects of scientifically sound radioactive antimatter from the eighth dimension is to kidnap the patient and hope they develop Stockholm Syndrome, or come to their senses.
3] Self-sacrifice. The only way to bring them back is to let them kill you/maim you. Or make them kill you/maim you.
4] Interrogation. You MUST force them to reveal a secret about themselves, or they'll be stuck this way forever. You can be as kind and persuasive or as Orwellian as you need to be.
5] Make them laugh. If you can make them laugh, you've reversed this unseemly and totally realistic ailment!
6] Therapy. Convince them that talking this out is the best solution -- because it's the only way to save them!
7] Confess your true feelings ABOUT THEM to them! The truth will set someone free.
8] Wait, you actually already have a magicscience/deus ex machina cure! But you have to FORCE the serum into them, by ANY MEANS.
9] Good old fashion smack around. Yes BEATING PEOPLE UP, isn't that what heroes do?!

Comments

[waiting]

[ he grunts, looking her over. he can see the hurt, but somehow, it's just hard to care. ]

What's home? Going back to, what, getting shat all over by my best friend? [ His smirk is bitter, and he shakes his head. ]

No. I'm done being used.

[centurybaby]

Right, because that's all home fucking is to you.

[ she stares at him, her eyes hard. she isn't a little girl, not all the way. she's been hurt before, in similar ways, by men she's loved in similar ways-- father figures who made her feel safe sometimes, or cared for. they're feelings she hides in a deep, dark place in her chest now, because this shit always happens. fathers always let you down. ]

Get your shit together. Don't make me fucking tell you again. I hate wasting my fucking breath, so just do it. Stop acting like such a fucking baby.

[waiting]

[ his brow wrinkles at the words, like he's having a hard time processing what's coming out of her mouth. or maybe he's still drunk. rubbing at his jaw (and the patches of stubble growing on it) he regards her warily. wearily.

finally, simply: ]

Why do you care?

[centurybaby]

[ that question makes her stop. maybe because she doesn't know the answer exactly, or maybe because she does, in her gut, and she doesn't want to say it out loud because saying it out loud-- even thinking about it makes it more real.

she lifts her cigarette to her mouth and takes a drag before putting the heel of that same hand against her eye, rubbing it in a way that's almost tired. she done this song and dance. fetching prodigal fathers. she knows how this all goes, and it's not a happy ending, it's not beautiful, it's not anything like that at all.

at length, with smoke curling from her lips: ]

I don't fucking know. Okay? You're just. After Midnighter fucking left... [ she doesn't want to talk about this. fuck. ] You were like a fucking father to me, alright? Maybe I even loved you a little. Maybe that's what I was always so fucking pissed about.

[waiting]

[ he pauses, and despite himself, he's caught by her words, eyes wide and then digs a hand through his own pocket for his own cigarettes, because this time he's the one that needs a smoke. he'd get something stronger, but even now, he doesn't think getting high around jenny quantum'd be a good idea.

it hits something in him, anyway, what she says, but after a flicker of uncertainty, he shuts the emotion down, shaking his head and lighting up his cigarette, unconsciously mirroring her own pauses. ]

Well, shit. [ He says, finally. ] How am I supposed to say no to something like that?

[centurybaby]

[ in the immediate aftermath, she feels stupid for having said any of that out loud. it isn't that she isn't sentimental or emotional by nature-- only that it's so much more important for her to be strong. if she broke down every time someone she cared about left, she wouldn't be able to save the world. she wouldn't be able to save anyone.

she takes another drag off her cigarette, letting the nicotine keep her calm. she tilts her head away, keeps her eyes averted while she exhales the smoke. ]

I don't know. You've done a pretty good fucking job of telling me no so far.

[waiting]

Yeah, I--

[ and it hits him like a gutpunch, really, the cigarette falling from suddenly nerveless fingers. it bounces off the carpet, trailing a shower of sparks, and it's only good luck that sends him reeling so he steps on it, extinguishing that weak ember. it's like coming back to the city after time passing back home -- the moment of disorientation, and then the memories hitting, and it's enough to send him to his knees.

the stricken, haunted expression on his face is all she really needs to see to know he's himself again, wholly and fully. he looks like he's about to be sick, as he he looks around the room, down at his hand where the wedding band is missing. ]

[centurybaby]

[ she watches him, and knows, and maybe a part of her feels sorry for him. but she doesn't move towards him, just keeping her distance, nursing that cigarette. her face isn't hard though-- not that tough girl face. what she said is true, after all, about how she feels.

but there's nothing she can do now, except wait to take him home.

her words sound like hers-- a little abrasive, a little rude-- but her voice is softer than it could be: ]

You done being a huge asshole now, Rick?