middaeg | [semi-closed] hello i walk into empty

Who: jongdae lee & folks!
When: aereuer 13th.
Where: the looking-glass house + memories
What: dream a little dream catch-all!!
Warnings: violence, gore, emotional/physical abuse, trauma, death (will update if anything further).

[ for most, jongdae's mirror is just as boring and plain as all the others. its bright, silvery glass is the only thing remarkable about it but then every mirror that isn't cracked and abandoned can claim the same.

those that know him a bit better can see some of the details emerge from the frame. the delineation of two distinct halves is the most obvious and noticeable — one half is rendered in a pale, nearly white wood while the other is rich and dark like ebony. they meet in stark lines of light and dark, swirling and tangling with each other along their boundaries. it's not at all a seamless transition, like the eye is meant to be drawn to the fact that they don't meet cleanly. it's all a bit lopsided as well, perhaps infuriating to those who prefer symmetry. the ebony wood more strongly encroaches upon the light wood, to the point that it might be more accurate not to say each colour occupies a strict half at all. along the topmost part of the frame the patterns come together to clearly form the digits 2 and 0.

it might be possible detect a deeper layer beyond that where the light wood is inlaid with gold that branches out into finer and smaller fractal patterns or where the wood has been carved into flowing shapes like feathered wings. similar designs appear on the dark wood as well, although the gold has been replaced with silver and the shapes are harsh and angular, soft feathers replaced with hard bone claws. ]

—

( OOC : for good organisational purposes because ya boi is scattered, i am keeping all the memshare stuff in this log. i'm also not writing open prompts just because i already have A LOT and this is sure to be A LOT so i want to make sure i have the capacity! HOWEVER if you'd like a memory and we haven't already talked via the cr meme or plurk you can also find a list of memory options here and you can contact me via pm, plurk (

koutenko), or discord (koutenko#5884) and i will make for you a prompt!

i will keep adding to this as i write prompts~ )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ she immediately recognizes this as a school building because, yeah, they essentially look the same. she's not entirely sure whose memory this belongs to -- she saw a mirror and felt drawn to it, and got effectively pulled into it -- and despite the kanji and the image, she still can't quite figure it out. she takes a few steps into the hallway to investigate when the colors suddenly shift. and then... ]

Jongdae...?

[ ah. somehow, she's glad this memory is his and not some stranger's. she at least feels like she can talk to him about it, after it's done. it's...quite a vivid one, she'll admit -- but she follows him curiously into the room and she sees that he's met with hostility. not just from the teacher, but his peers as well. she frowns. this...hurts to watch. she's already bracing herself for something terrible to happen. ]

Oh no...

[ she can hear the words and the phrases in her head, and she's trying to parse them together -- but it's hard to focus over the sounds of the other students' mockery. it makes her see red. she keeps looking at jongdae though, waiting to see what comes next with the coin. then, it starts floating and rotating in mid-air, and she can't help but smile. she's not sure what the lesson here is supposed to be, but jongdae's doing something neat.

the mockery starts again though, and the words keep popping into her head -- there's so much happening at once, she's starting to feel overwhelmed. that plus her anger are not a good combination, and she turns to face the students, shouting: ]

What's wrong with you people?! Ugh!

[ she knows well that they can't hear her, but she can't hold it in. it angers her to see jongdae being treated like this.

then they start to gang up on him, and she gasps. she's caught with him in the center of the box, looking at the faceless students fearlessly. furiously. they can't see her, and they're damn well lucky that this is a memory or she'd give them a piece of her mind. then jongdae pulls the pencils and the students start shrieking -- she knows this isn't going to end well.

and it sure doesn't, when jongdae's wrongfully blamed for all of this. the look in his eyes, searching for answers when he didn't do anything wrong...hurts her. she looks heartbroken when he's marched out of the classroom. she steps towards the door...and gasps when the current jongdae shows himself. ]

...You call this a good memory?

[ well...she's sure learning a lot about him, now isn't she. she looks at him in disbelief. how could he call something like this a good thing? if he thinks this is alright, then she can't imagine what else he must have been through... ]

No, this...this isn't...

[ she can't find the right words to say. she falls silent for a moment, just looking at him. then, suddenly, she rushes up to him and wraps her arms around him, pulling him in for a tight hug. ]

[ jongdae just stands there for a few moments, clearly confused while sylvia has her arms around him. he's not sure what to do exactly, lifting his hands and awkwardly hovering them while he debates whether or not he should be hugging her back in this situation. ]

Uh.. I mean—.. it's not a great look, I guess. But it's the first time my power ever worked. I was a weird kid who wasn't even good at basic stuff and I always felt like people were just waiting for something to happen and getting annoyed when it didn't. So.. I was really happy when something finally did..

[ he's not one to push anyone away in a situation like this and if he's being honest it's nice to have someone care about this kind of thing, so he'll just go ahead and let her decide when she wants to let go. this is fine. ]

It's alright though.. you don't have to feel sad about it..

You -- you dummy, of course I'm gonna feel sad about it!

[ she's not going to let go regardless of whether or not he hugs her back, because this was so cruel. so unfair. and if this is good for jongdae, she can't imagine the other things he's had to endure. it's heartbreaking. ]

Ugh... Sorry, uh -- [ she pulls back after a good moment of hugging him and sniffles, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. is she...crying? ]

I super wish I could see your power for myself. Outside of this, you know? Because the things they were saying to you...

I couldn't stand any of it. I hate it when people talk to others that way.

[ his inclination is to downplay it again because it's true that it really ranked low on the list of things that ultimately bother him, but he hesitates because sylvia's not letting go.

which is still fine.

only this is one of those things he could probably get used to. in a completely pure and innocent way. because it's nice.

his eyes widen when he steps back and hears her sniffle though, clearly unsure if he ought to be doing something specific about that. ]

It was like this tiny, shitty little rural mountain town and everyone who lived there worked in the same place. And they're not a very good group either. Like weird politics and stuff. I lived in the city too so I know normal people aren't just.. like that for no good reason. So no real surprise their kids turned out weird too. Everyone knew what I was just looking at me. I mean—..

[ he gestures to himself like it should be obvious. ]

So I guess I was really fair game. Plus my father was a foreigner which probably wasn't popular with their weird politics but I guess he had something they needed more. Anyway.. I wish I could show it to you too. I got really good at it. I could move stuff but what was really important was that I could take stuff apart and put it together, even if I didn't know how it was all put together. Even really small things.

[ he is a very nervous talker, managing to ramble his way through all of that to the end and then abruptly realises he isn't sure what else he should say. ]

Yeah, it was pretty cool..

Weird politics or not, you're here with people who care about you very much. I hope it's better for you here than where you were before...

[ she looks pretty sheepish at her own display of emotion. she sniffles again and her eyes are clearly watery, but she's trying to hold it together. ... and kind of succeeding, at least. ]

That does sound cool. Hey...maybe one day, I'll get to see it for myself. You know, if you ever get your abilities back or something.

That'd be nice.

Yeah. You never know, I guess. Something weird could happen like when people started coming out of people's bathroom mirrors and fountains and stuff, only with everybody's powers.

[ he picks a pencil up off one of the desks and plays with it, having learned the sort of mindless pen tricks that look more complicated than they probably are. ]

It's my—.. what is this? A dream? Inside my head? You'd think the person it belongs to should be able to do whatever they want..

[ he pauses again, because he really does just say stuff sometimes to avoid having to say what he really should be saying. ]

It is better now, yeah. I just don't want to be an inconvenience to anyone. We're all trying to figure out why we're here and what's happening and all this monster shit too..? Like.. that's important stuff.

Geez, that's pretty lame. Not you, but just -- you can't even use your powers in your own dreams!

[ she pauses, though, at that last part. ]

You're right, it is important. But I don't think it's fair to dismiss your own struggles either! It's okay to talk about this stuff, Jongdae. I don't think it's inconveniencing anyone.

Even if I felt like that though, how do you just—...?

[ jongdae waves his hands a little like that's going to make the point without the words he's missing. one can assume he's referring to just going up to someone and talking about things that aren't just random, trivial things. ]

This kind of stuff's pretty heavy, so it'd be asking someone to carry it. And then I wouldn't know for sure if I know someone well enough that they'd be willing to. I mean, if someone wanted to talk to me I wouldn't mind. Just saying that's kind of how I think about it for other people..

[ enough with the awkward handwaving he shoves them in his pockets just to stop. ]

Uh.. anyway.. I don't know how this works exactly. Didn't mean to trap you here like, in my head..

[semi-closed] hello i walk into empty

HERE. FINALLY.

I'M SORRY THIS IS ALSO A VERY OLD TAG

EVEN OLDER TAG INCOMING...

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