bakerstreet | Childhood Meme

THE CHILDHOOD MEME

Childhood. That magical time between infancy and adulthood where you feel invincible. Where you haven't a care or responsibility in the world. It's a time where imagination runs wild and every day is a new adventure waiting to be had.

While there's plenty of fun out there in the world of adults, there's nothing that quite compares to the innocence of those early years. So, grab your juice box, your favorite toy and remember to be back before the streetlights come on.

HOW TO PLAY:

○ This meme is targeted toward the younger end of the age spectrum (15 and under), but that doesn't mean older characters aren't welcome. Does your character have a soft spot for children? Are they typically the type to be the babysitter? Or maybe they're the older sibling being dragged along to keep an eye on the younger one? Aging down is also an acceptable option, haven't we all wondered what our characters would have been like as kids?
○ Comment with your character, canon, preferences, and any other info you'd like to include.
○ Reply to others.
○ Thread and have fun!

1. PLAYGROUND/PARK : The spot where all the best childhood memories are made. Are you playing a game of tag? Are you hanging upside down on the jungle gym? Are you getting into trouble while your mom is catching up on the latest gossip?

2. SCHOOL : The place where 75% of your day is spent and lifelong friendships are forged. Maybe you're in art class, maybe you're at recess, or maybe you're on a school field trip. The possibilities are endless. Just don't be that kid eating paste.

3. MALL : For the kids on the older end of the spectrum. Whether you're at the arcade, whether you're meeting with friends, or whether your parents gave you twenty bucks to get out of their hair, you've got the entire shopping mall at your disposal.

4. CIRCUS : It's the greatest show on earth! Lion tamers! Acrobats! Elephants! Feats meant to stun and amaze you! Cotton candy the size of your head! Are you watching the show from the stands? Or is your family a part of the show?

5. THEME PARK/AMUSEMENT PARK : It's a classic vacation that's fun for the whole family. Are you the roller coaster type? Or are you the type to shy away from the thrill rides and stick to the carousel instead? Keep a hold of someone's hand, though, the only thing that can ruin a day is a lost child in the park.

6. FAIR/FESTIVAL/CARNIVAL : The theme park on a smaller scale. Sometimes the rides are a little shaky, but there's plenty of good deep fried foods and games to be played. Go out and win yourself a goldfish!

7. NEVERLAND : Yes, you read that right. Just like in Peter Pan, it's the magical place where no one has to ever grow up and adults aren't welcome. What kind of adventures will you get into? Remember, it only takes a little bit of fairy dust and good thoughts to fly.

8. WILDCARD : None of these work for you? Go ahead and created your own!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Haha, were you waiting for this all along?

[Well they have it!]

Maybe the truth is... I don't really care if you believe me.

[He doesn't. He's done. Maybe the last little bit of soul has run out and it's just hollow now. He twitches at 'replacement'. He can't refute it.]

Chara, I don't know how long this will last.

['Minutes', it's starting to look like.]

After all, if you don't like it, you can always turn back, right?

[Ha ha. Oh, Asriel.

The most important person in their life. Their best friend. The only thing worth saving, worth loving, the only thing that did not tear them up inside to see, the one who could - who was worth it, all of it, if there was even a chance that he could one day -

But they've ruined it. They've ruined him. Corrupted him with their terrible, filthy touch.

And now that he's proven what he really thinks, he has made them invincible. They are impervious to it, all of it - the sting that one would call betrayal or hurt or - or anything at all, it barely touches them. They are smiling so hard it hurts.

Good.]

Goodness. I see "Best Friends" only lasted for however long it was most convenient for you. How silly of me, to assume otherwise.

[He was right, he is regretting this. He should stop. Time to dig this hole deeper!]

Well, golly, it sure seems convenient for you too! You're not going anywhere, right? There's no we or us anymore, isn't there? I might as well just do this!

[Uncalled for, he knows it. Far too far. He wades across to the other side of the waterfall, climbs out. Since they're doing this, he might as well do it not half-submerged. He fumbles around his neck and unclasps his locket. He's screaming at himself, but he hurls it off the edge.

Or... tries. Somehow, his claws catch on the chain, curled at the last second. It dangles, and spins slightly under the tremor in his paw.

He laughs. He can't do it, can he? He can't let go. That didn't happen. The paw drops to his side, and the other hasn't gotten the memo because it goes to his chest.]

I'm tired, Chara.

[It's too small and plaintive. I'm tired, Chara, can we go home now? He's not looking at them at all, and not facing them.]

I don't want to do this anymore.

[For a moment something inside them lurches, sickeningly, like their stomach threatening to spill bile everywhere, just like how they bled and bled and bled - from their mouth, from their eyes, from every sore in their throat.

They freeze, their eyes wide and widening, their smile - slipping, impossibly. One hand goes to the place where the Locket should be, where it should be but isn't and the other twitches, as if about to reach forward, outstretched, and they...

You did this again, Chara. Your fault again. Pushing and pushing until something gives because it will, it will always give and when it does you have to be ready for it.

They look away. Out over the black abyss where the prized thing almost disappeared, so they do not have to look at him. So he does not have to see the way their smile is having such trouble keeping itself on straight.]

You do not have to lie to me, Asriel.

I am tired of this too.

[He sniffs, and his shoulders hitch. They keep hitching, and he puts his free paw to his face, pressing it to his eyes. At his side, his fingers wind in and out of the chain. Eventually, they still, and he puts it in his pocket.]

What... happens now?

[He wipes his snout on his sleeve. So long, oriented around them. He doesn't want to let go. He feels lost. They, or the idea of them, were his anchor when all else failed.]

Do we...

[But there's no 'we' anymore, is there?]

I don't know what you want anymore, Chara.

[Crybaby.

They slip the smile back on again. Lets it pull up the corners of their mouth even as it hurts, even as it should hurt. It is what a creature like them deserves. That is their reward.

It will keep them from feeling anything, anything at all, about what he has to say.]

I did want to sleep in the soil. But we know how that worked out.

[That's morbid. They need to stop being so creepy. Casually, almost out of curiosity, they peer out over the dark abyss, regarding the seemingly limitless blackness that stretches on and on without any foreseeable end. Third time's the charm, maybe?

It'd be what they deserve.]

You and me both, haha.

[He looks up and sees them staring at the abyss, following the gaze. He knows why they climbed the mountain. He didn't want to live in a world without them. And he still just did that.

Even now, if they went over, he can't be sure he wouldn't follow them. He looks back to them.]

I'm... I'm going to New Home, at the least.

Will you come with me, Chara?

[His reason for going to the Surface is gone, with this argument, but he still can't stay here. He'll go from one set of ruins to another, then. There's no point tending an unoccupied grave.

He hopes they'd want to, but wouldn't blame them if they didn't. The offer is therefore a little neutrally given, but with a paw held out all the same.]

[He can probably surmise what they're thinking. Knew them too well, learned how to read them with an unnerving clarity. They all did, damn them. Hid away the knives or put them in the drawers and shelves and cupboards that were out of their reach. Blunted the tools, made the fires warm and harmless so that no amount of sticking arms into the red-orange flames would result in a scalding burn.

It had made them angry, at first. So terribly, terribly angry. What right did any of them have, to take that away from them? To take away one of the few things they had to remind themself of what they were? They didn't need a label, or a dumb title, or the decision to shackle them with the future of humans and monsters.

They just needed to know where the knives were.

Their eyes close and again the words echo about in their head, coldly. Why is he like this? How is he still...how does he still have it in him to care, to care about them, despite everything? How does he manage to do this to the, pull them effortlessly back from the precipice they've been teetering over for what feels like their entire life?

They breathe out through their nose and open their eyes, and they turn back to face him. Step away from the edge.]

Fine. I suppose it can't hurt.

Childhood Meme

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