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Entry tags:
[closed] it took all the man in me
Who: Itachi Uchiha and various.
When: Aereuer 13th.
Where: Looking-Glass House.
What: Memory sharing event.
Warnings: Mass death/genocide, war themes, gore, violence, trauma, child soldiers, very sad but cute brothers. I'll update if/as other things come up.
[To the vast majority of the Mirrorbound who cross its path, Itachi's mirror is plain and unassuming, its silver surface set into a black wooden frame. They will notice complicated carvings, some strange cross between Japanese calligraphy and other, indecipherable symbols unlike language. There are only two distinct images: the first is located on the upper left corner of the mirror and features an avian animal with beady, jewel-like red eyes; the second is located on the bottom right corner and features a pinwheel design. If further investigated, it'll become obvious the mirror also carries a burnt scent, as if the wood has recently been charred by fire.
Sasuke will see a much more detailed and familiar frame. The faces of their parents; the face of Uchiha Shisui; the Mangekyou Sharingan set within the shape of an actual eyeball; Akatsuki clouds; and the Uchiha fan directly beside the leaf's symbol of Konoha. It takes no guesswork to understand who this mirror is meant to represent.]
—
[OOC: Due to this event being exposition-heavy, scene specific, and intense (as well as a desire not to get too overloaded), I will not be writing any general open prompts! This also helps me keep each thread interesting and unique. That said, I'm open to plotting something. Feel free to reference my plotting comment here so we can hash something out. I have a list of memories here, but it isn't exhaustive. I can find something else if none of these are appealing.
Starters will be posted below as I write them!]
When: Aereuer 13th.
Where: Looking-Glass House.
What: Memory sharing event.
Warnings: Mass death/genocide, war themes, gore, violence, trauma, child soldiers, very sad but cute brothers. I'll update if/as other things come up.
[To the vast majority of the Mirrorbound who cross its path, Itachi's mirror is plain and unassuming, its silver surface set into a black wooden frame. They will notice complicated carvings, some strange cross between Japanese calligraphy and other, indecipherable symbols unlike language. There are only two distinct images: the first is located on the upper left corner of the mirror and features an avian animal with beady, jewel-like red eyes; the second is located on the bottom right corner and features a pinwheel design. If further investigated, it'll become obvious the mirror also carries a burnt scent, as if the wood has recently been charred by fire.
Sasuke will see a much more detailed and familiar frame. The faces of their parents; the face of Uchiha Shisui; the Mangekyou Sharingan set within the shape of an actual eyeball; Akatsuki clouds; and the Uchiha fan directly beside the leaf's symbol of Konoha. It takes no guesswork to understand who this mirror is meant to represent.]
—
[OOC: Due to this event being exposition-heavy, scene specific, and intense (as well as a desire not to get too overloaded), I will not be writing any general open prompts! This also helps me keep each thread interesting and unique. That said, I'm open to plotting something. Feel free to reference my plotting comment here so we can hash something out. I have a list of memories here, but it isn't exhaustive. I can find something else if none of these are appealing.
Starters will be posted below as I write them!]
no subject
jonas drifts along with him sightlessly, eyes on his back. even if he didn't want the guiding hand to remove him from this scene, the tightness of the grip tells him he wouldn't be able to shake free easily, so his arm stays limp and he doesn't fight it. it's only once it's gone that he wishes it was back, fingers on his wrist might calm him—he can't look directly at itachi and, instead, strains his eyes by keeping them pointed as far from him as he can.
it was beyond you.
he nods as though ordered to.)
Okay, (murmured, hands raising to slide back against either side of his neck, clutching, nails digging,) I just– I-I don't want to be alone. Maybe I could... just stay here a sec? I won't try to go back in, I could... I could help you keep people out, or– I don't know. Anything?
no subject
Unfortunate, then, that this awareness gives him no instinct toward comfort or resolution. Nothing except "forget you saw it." But had Itachi been able to forget it, as a child? Hadn't it changed his entire perception of the world? So instead it would be "go away, and deal with it alone." As he had done.
Itachi crosses his arms, but this is all he does, still standing rigid in front of his own mirror. His voice is quiet and toneless.]
... You may stay, if you'd prefer that. I won't force you to leave. Only know that I cannot give you the reassurance you seek. You would be better off going to someone else you consider closer. A friend.
no subject
temporary permission given, jonas chooses to stay and sit at the edge of itachi's mirror. breaths shallow, it's all he can do to feel grounded in the way he wants, willing the dream to end so that he may wake up in bed from all of this and find everything's alright. they're safer there, tucked away in their cottages, far away from that bloody past.
wiping his eyes clean, ignoring the way it all must look to any bystanders who aren't presently in mirrors.)
How do you... how did you move on from something like that?
no subject
He doesn't look down at Jonas. Keeping his gaze focused away is somewhat precautionary, somewhat habit. All of it avoidant.]
I had no choice. [Truth, or at least as far as Itachi understands it.] I could not allow it to cripple me.
[To go deeper into how that first sight of war and death drove him toward motivation, toward a lofty dream, however childishly naive at the time... he finds himself folding down over this honesty. Perhaps the only time he'd ever told another living soul was as a child to a classroom of dubious, indifferent Academy students.]
I would not suggest the same path for you.
no subject
as his arms draw his knees close to his chest, he nods.)
I wouldn't either. I'm not– mentally, I'm not– (to experience and understand war is an ability jonas could never hope to have. he'd never want it, but if he can learn about it and become even a fraction less ignorant about lives like itachi's then shouldn't he? if itachi's giving him the opportunity to ask questions and absorb this information, how couldn't he?)
You shouldn't have had to see those things... to do those things. (no child should be treated that way.) Why... were they all there to begin with? What were they fighting over?
no subject
It was war. One of the Great Wars, the third of its kind in the shinobi world. The largest conflict took place between the villages of Konoha and Iwa, but eventually their fighting drew in others, until all were affected. Many died as a result.
[Itachi says this in a measured, flat, precise tone.]
It was pointless death. In war, it's easy to lose sight of humanity and view your opponents as enemies deserving of their fate. This sort of meaningless violence exists everywhere.
no subject
in his afterlife, in aefenglom, he wonders if he should start doing the opposite. if war breaks out here, it'll involve the witches and monsters of this city. shouldn't he be helping prevent that, now, for the sake of other mirrorbound like him who have to build their homes here? even if there's so little he can do?)
Was that... that was your dad? Sasuke's dad, too? (his head bows, trying to remember what fugaku's face looked like when he was so trained on his four-year-old son.) And he wasn't born yet, right?
no subject
It was. Our father, Fugaku, fought in that war along with the rest of the Uchiha clan. [Focusing on Sasuke... that's much easier to do, in this context.] Sasuke was born later. He's five years younger than me.
[A pause.]
Not currently, due to our timelines. Here he's closer to my own age.
no subject
Did Sasuke see it, too? Did– when– (takes a deep, measured breath—he has to calm down. easier thought than done, but itachi's enviable sangfroid helps him work through the stammer.) D-Do you think Mr. Uchiha made Sasuke look at that shit, too? Before he had to, or whatever?
no subject
Yet still he can't find himself disagreeing with Jonas' instinct of protectiveness. He'd never want Sasuke to share in the same suffering, and their experiences have always been different. It was a sight he'd wanted to shield his brother from, back then. By all means necessary.] Have you calmed down, Jonas?
[Unlike Sasuke, he'd suck at helping someone through a panic attack...]
no subject
does that make him sick, to glean comfort from this? the reason itachi's this cool is one direct result of that memory, isn't it?)
Better now, knowing... knowing that, I think. I-I've never– (a dull sniff, ignoring the new sting in his eyes.) I just wish my mom were here. You, um– thank you, though. For talking to me.
END HERE?
Perhaps, in the scene they'd witnessed minutes ago, he'd left behind the last of that feeling.]
Of course. [Cool and even.] We should wake up, soon. This dream will not last forever.