personavelvetroomdr | [EVENT] Memory Tapes

On the morning of November 21st, denizens in the Velvet Room will awake to a message on their phones or by their bedsides in an envelope. Perhaps even on their computer screens.

Greetings! If you've received this message, then you've been selected as a participant in a new activity to strengthen bonds within this community. In order to facilitate connections with your fellow residents, we advise you to watch this video. Watch it and return the tape to its rightful owner. If you lacked the means to watch VHS tapes before, we have provided you with the necessary equipment. Failure to do so may put your own memories at risk. Do not be selfish, lest you find yourself struggling to recall crucial moments of your life. You have no way of knowing which memories have been shared, so ask yourself if it is worth the risk to selfishly hoard another's secrets.

They will soon find a VHS tape, with a case that gives off a soft, blue glow to symbolize its importance. If they lack a TV or VCR, they will find one in their living space.

What they do is up to them, but they should heed the warning, if they value their own memories.

[For links to characters' memories, please see this post in the OOC comm. Have fun!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"...Sumire..." She doesn't sound entirely convinced, but the actualization retains a grip. "She... she said you'd do anything to make her happy. And that's what she loved about you..."

But... Sumire was the younger sister. The quiet, shy, meek one who was always in Kasumi's shadow.

"Does that make any sense to you? Timid little Sumire telling that to the Kasumi Yoshizawa?" She drawls the words sarcastically. Midnight doesn't sound like she really believes what she's saying anyway.

"That's..." She draws a shaky breath, avoiding eye contact. "But I'm really not that special. My sister meant so much to me. I didn't..."

It doesn't make sense. It just doesn't.

"It doesn't matter what you think of yourself now. It matters what Sumire thought. And she thought her sister was little miss perfect, isn't that right?"

That's the only way things make sense, but she doubts Midnight will be able to logic that out on her own. That would require her owning up to the fact that she is not, in fact, perfect little Kasumi Yoshizawa. Or after that seeing that Kasumi was not, in fact, perfect.

"She struggled. I know that, but we still had our dream." That's... That's what matters. The bond they shared. "We argued more as we got older, and we didn't always see eye to eye, but I still loved her. And I still wanted to talk to her, like old times..."

And now she can't.

"Our dream," she can't help but scoff. "Was that ever true? Did we ever know or did we just do it to make Kasumi happy?" Midnight probably won't even be able to decipher what she's saying. Not that it makes any sort of sense the other way around.

"And if you could talk to her what would you say?"

"I'd... try to understand how she felt. I'd want to hear it from her. Maybe, I wasn't good at listening before, but I'd want to do better."

But that's all hypothetical. Obviously, she can't do that anymore.

"And yet you aren't listening to me right now. You're just as self-absorbed and magnanimous as she is." Kasumi's right as the elder sister and all that fucking jazz. Midnight only wanted to her what would assuage her conscience and make her happy, she didn't want to truly listen or hear anything contradictory.

Just like the shadow that had given Sumire her Persona.

"No! I'm not trying to be self-absorbed!" Her voice comes out strained. She can't even speak with confidence right now, wincing as her head throbs. "But what was I supposed to do after watching a memory like that? Just nod my head and come out of it unfazed?"

"What I'm telling you is that you won't think for two seconds that maybe your perspective is skewed. That you aren't Kasumi Yoshizawa and god forbid anyone say anything to you to the contrary without you running off with your fingers in your ears to go make yourself feel better. Because that's what it's all about right? As long as you're not uncomfortable what does the truth fucking matter at all?"

She can't do this. She should walk away. They both know that she won't.

Her actualization corrects the name being said.

That you aren't Sumire Yoshizawa and god forbid anyone say anything to you to the contrary without you running off with your fingers in your ears to go make yourself feel better.

Which... doesn't make sense, obviously. It. It's...

It's like a dagger through her skull.

She staggers back, grasping her temple. Her knees wobble.

"I'm not Sumire Yoshizawa! Sumire is dead, and I couldn't do anything to save her! But at least I didn't kill my sister the way that you did!"

Maybe, if she was in a better place, she would regret her words, but right now, pain seizes her from head to toe. She can't think straight. She should run. She did what she came here to do.

She...

I'm not Sumire, but at least I didn't kill her

Just like she said. Plugging her ears and digging her heels in, even when the lie no longer makes sense. The growing annoyance at Midnight on her goddamn high horse reaches a boiling point and...

There's the sound of something being slapped. Her hand is still hovering on the other side of Midnight's face when she opens her eyes. "I already told you. Don't say shit about my situation until you get your brain unscrambled. Or go run off and find your good doctor to tell you that your delusions are fine, since the truth is too much for you to handle."

Midnight yelps at the sudden slap, recoiling from the impact. Her hand touches her cheek, words caught in her throat.

And, sure. Logically, she knows what she said was out of line. There was obviously more to it. It was a gut reaction.

"You don't know my situation either," she finally says, taking a deep breath and stepping back. "But at least Dr. Maruki respects me, so maybe I will."

She turns the other way, ready to leave.

"If you think being coddled as you're fed poison like a lab rat is respect, maybe." Much like Kasumi, Maruki only respected Midnight as an object. His precious patient zero.

Sumire understands much clearer than Midnight wants to believe.

"It's not poison!" she snaps back, but she can already tell this isn't going anywhere.

So she should keep moving before her doubts start weighing her down. She can't doubt herself. Not now, not ever.

Even if it means she's isolated from everyone around her.

"One day you're going to realize that digging your feet in and never moving on like this is hurting you worse than giving into your doubts." Not that she expects Midnight to listen. "I just hope its sooner rather than later."

[EVENT] Memory Tapes

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