butterflymarks

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 8. EXT. A BONFIRE BY THE BEACH, NIGHT.

@lucksdraw said: "here, you look cold." — for event 002!

THE BLANKET nudges his shoulder before he even really sees the person there. "oh," kiyeon says through lightly chattering teeth, glancing aside to see that someone has joined him at the water's edge, "thanks. if you saw that, no you didn't."

that: his ungraceful little trip a couple of minutes ago, while he was trying to pick up something glittering in the water. he'd been so busy rooting through the sand that he didn't see the tide coming in until it was knocking into him like a clammy hand come to reprimand him.

kiyeon yanks the blanket tight around himself. i know you, he thinks. he can see bits of their side backlit by the bonfire behind, a corner of their mouth, but instead it's their voice that rings a bell. "you're from silver line, aren't you?" he's pretty sure this is the one who keeps making the walls vibrate with music and other noises past midnight. kiyeon rubs the back of his wrist over his cheek, making a face when he finds bits of sand there. he had many hypothetical scenarios of how this confrontation would finally go and how he would finally tell them to please, please plug in headphones, i'll even buy you a pair. none of them involved being drenched, sandy, and forced to accept the enemy's blanket. "you're not wearing your shirt. your tummy doesn't hurt anymore?"

[butterflymarks]

@recollectionblue,

[ ... ] a woven bracelet, one that he’d kept on since before he left his house, and hasn’t taken off since. it’s worn and tattered but still strong, from all of the nights he had held onto it and hoped one day he could get a new one from who had made it from him in the first place, if only it meant he could see him again. “sorry about the coins again. it’s all i could get before our usual meet up.”

"nah, don't worry about it. at least you pay," bomin crows.

kiyeon isn't sure if it's best to imply to these people that they've been screwed over before. would anyone really take the serpents seriously if they knew their deals had a 1 in 5 chance of going south? but he has a feeling that trying to tell bomin this will get him the usual response --- don't worry about it, ba-by! --- so he's content to hang back once the client says the magic words.

then he sees the woven bracelet around their wrist.

a name comes to him faster than any memory. it takes shape on his tongue: urgent, a sound he hasn't made in years. instinctively, he reaches out, awash in that familiar feeling of watching reality through somebody else's eyes. dreamlike.

but bomin moves quicker, his arm cutting between them to take the money. kiyeon blinks, sways back a little, and shifts his gaze away in some embarrassment. he's seeing things, he tells himself. he's seeing ghosts.

the memory's coming now: a summer evening, creaking chain swings, a visitor's map of this city between them. it's a place for people like us, he tells seonjae in this memory. it was in those precious early days when seonjae didn't flinch so hard every time he reached for him, and when kiyeon was still brave enough to be around him without a mask. simple days. the days filled with nothing to worry about except how soon he could finish his homework so he could go see if seonjae was around.

"hey, i appreciate it. i threw in some extras for you this time, just don't tell the others." bomin laughs, a distant sound.

kiyeon becomes aware of some rustling and realizes that bomin's been trying to give him the bag to hand over. he doesn't react in time, and bomin ends up pressing it into seonjae's gloved hand himself. kiyeon's gaze locks on that rolled-up bag and the sharp things he knows are rattling inside. what is seonjae doing with these people?

"we'll see you next time," bomin says cheerfully. then there's a hand wrapping around kiyeon's elbow and he's being tugged away. his vision fills with bomin's shoes instead. "g'night!"

he's seeing things. he's seeing ghosts. or the client had a trick like his, planting that wistful little bracelet in his mind's eye. the excuses roil around his brain, drowning out the night's white noise until they're a block away and he can’t keep quiet anymore. he cuts into bomin's idle chatter. “i have to go home."

bomin falters, sounding bewildered. "what? i thought---"

"no, i have to go home," kiyeon says, which is the last thing he does before he turns and starts back down the path they’d come.

he's seeing things. he's seeing ghosts. he goes unfollowed as he rounds the corner again, crossing familiar storefronts he'd glimpsed earlier. please don't be too late. "seonjae?" he whispers into the empty street. he's seen this movie before, this homecoming to haunted houses, lost houses, abandoned houses. he hopes it's a ghost after all. a ghost would be better than nothing.

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 7. EXT. DOWNTOWN JEJU, NEAR LUNCHTIME.

@dreamsweaved said: "my legs are killing me." — for event 002!

his too.

"okay, okay, let's just—"

if he were alone, the dread of having to sit in public would've compelled him to keep going until he physically dropped, but he's not alone, and he already feels like he's wronged sumin in a bunch of other unrelated ways, so going on isn't an option. he manages to spot a street bench and motions sumin over.

"that tour guide was full of it," he says darkly as he finally lets his own legs give out on the bench. "i don't think i've even seen any noodle places." small, green, on a street corner, the peppy guide had said. supposedly they'd find the best noodles on the island there. kiyeon groans. "do you think he scammed us?"

[butterflymarks]

- EVENT PLOT/STARTER CALL!

hiii i'm posting live from a blackout rn ironically, but that will not stop me from getting event threads up early......pls like this post if i can dm you about an event plot or drop a random emoji for a random starter from either eunjae (@999kintsugi) or kiyeon (@butterflymarks) (or specify one if u have a preference)! if ur taking part in the open event starters, i'll mix those in too <3 i put random scenario ideas under the cut, lmk if u want to use any of them for our thread, otherwise i'll come up w something from past plotting or completely random!! i'll make these threads short & sweet so we can get farther before the twist comes ^^

open for kiyeon & eunjae / they're going around trying to find a good souvenir at the shopping town and find a few odd trinket/novelty shops.

open for kiyeon / closed for eunjae / there's free dessert at a restaurant downtown but the deal is only for couples, so they have to pretend to be a couple throughout lunch just to get this free dessert.

open for kiyeon & eunjae / it's 3am and they run into each other on one of the other floors. "what are you doing here?" "no, what are you doing here?"

open for kiyeon & eunjae / something about the new environment makes your muse a little sentimental and kiyeon/eunjae runs into them while they're having a quiet moment to themselves. they end up talking late into the night.

(for kiyeon) open / a new horror movie is showing downtown so they go together, but they end up psyching each other out on the way back and generally be scaredy cats.

(for kiyeon) open / kiyeon doesn't want to risk getting in the water in daylight in case he sends someone into a panic in there, so instead he goes down to the beach at night. if your muse joins him, maybe it's dark enough for them to kick around in the water a little.

(for eunjae) open / your muse wants to go to the formal dinner for the food but they feel awkward going alone, until eunjae happily volunteers to go with them. they can make a time out of getting dressed up fancy, going for the food, gossiping about all of the stuck-up looking guests, and then sneak out when they get bored? maybe for fun they pretend to be fake socialites too?

(for eunjae) open / eunjae is unfortunately the outdoorsy type and is convinced there are "natural wonders" to discover if they just wandered a little bit off the beaten path. she drags your muse along, promising she knows what she's doing...mostly. (it goes wrong)

(for eunjae) open / eunjae insists she has the perfect thing for stargazing, aka manifesting clouds while they have a little outdoor picnic under the stars.

[butterflymarks]

ack, jumping in to try to prevent more shdowbns too, my dc is @ makeitpurr if anyone’s using a new account and would rather msg there instead of through here!! i’m the same mun behind @999kintsugi so you can send a req if we’re plotting for either eunjae or kiyeon ><

[butterflymarks]

10 — what is the biggest lie you've told?

tw. descriptions of death & horror movie violence

"it was to my sister, i think." kiyeon blinks at how easily the answer comes to him. he watches the lines swirl around his hands and his fingers. "the last time i looked at her, it was because she asked me to. she said it was okay, but i know i scared her. at least i know she was lying to me too."

but that isn't the question.

"i saw a lot. she likes scary movies, so i had to see a bunch of that, y'know, all the monsters and ghosts and blood and guts. sometimes that's easier because you can tell it's not so real, but you don't always stay there because usually there's other things they're afraid of. the real things—they're just wearing the monsters as masks. sometimes i wish i didn't have to look deeper than that, but i can't pick and choose that. the monsters still have eyes so i'm looking at them too, and i'm seeing their faces."

he turns to rifle through his shelf of dvds, speaking over his shoulder still, "there's this one movie she really liked—they filmed some of it here actually, do you know slashing star? there's a scene where the lead is stabbed by her girlfriend because her girlfriend doesn't realize that it's her under the mask, doing all of the killings. i saw that, but instead it was my sister laying there, looking up at her girlfriend, and it wasn't because she was wearing a mask. no, the mask was off and her girlfriend knew who she was—she was just so appalled by my sister's true face that she put a knife in her anyway. my sister was scared of that. i felt it, like i was the one getting stabbed."

he lets out a small aha when he finally finds the right case, tugging it out of the shelf. it's not his favorite in the anthology, but he's got a soft spot for it as his sister's.

"anyway, there's another scene after that where the lead goes back home. you'd never seen her house at that point, only her apartment, so at first you think she's breaking in for her next victim, until you realize it's really her parents' old house. but that's not how i see it happen with my sister. i see her at home, and we both know it's our old house. we both know she's home. i see her see our parents again, and me, and herself back in that house where everything’s the way it used to be, and i feel how terrified she is of that. she was afraid of waking up and realizing she was back there again, i think. she was afraid of waking up and realizing she still had to take care of me."

kiyeon nudges the dvd back into its place. he lingers. "she asked me afterwards what i saw. i told her i saw this instead, 'cause i knew she got nightmares when she saw this one too." he draws out a different case, touch-me-not, another installment in the series about a hopeless romantic who ironically couldn't touch anyone without petrifying their nervous systems and killing them.

"anyway, i decided to move out the week after that." kiyeon smiles placidly and holds up the new movie in lieu of meeting their eyes. "you seen this one before?"

[butterflymarks]

@constellieos,

[...]

"so ... are you ready?" mimi asked, attempting to break their slightly awkward silence and direct him into the restaurant. she opened the door for the both of them, nodding in the direction to walk in as they made their way into her workplace. "is she here already?" she whispered to kiyeon, eyes quickly scanning the restaurant to see of any unfamiliar faces — but only mainly seeing familiar ones.

'god, i hope no one recognises me.'

one step in, and they were greeted by the aroma of food. the diner was in the middle of its lunchtime bustle, but kiyeon hoped that meant by the time they got to eating, things would finally die down.

"i don't know, it's her first time in the city, so she might have gotten lost..." shit, he realized. he was going to have to look.

he shuffled over with mimi as a small lunch party passed them, a few of them greeting mimi in passing when they saw her. right, of course she'd be recognized here. maybe that would be a good thing? kiyeon waited until he had a clear view of the dining area, then carefully lifted his gaze to the farthest wall from the entrance.

thank god he had years of practice looking out of his periphery. he was looking for dyed auburn hair, a familiar leather jacket, a semi-permanent scowl—

"kiyeon!"

he jumped at the sound of his sister's voice behind him. a second later, she had a hand around his arm and was dragging them away from the patrons going in and out of the front doors, looking freshly windblown in one of her band tees. nam hwiyeon was short, shorter than both of them, but she'd never been afraid to make space for herself; she yanked kiyeon into a brisk hug before he could even recover from the surprise.

"took you long enough, i thought i was at the wrong place. i've got a table back there, come on. who's this?"

she was looking expectantly at mimi.

"this is minji, remember? i told you about her." kiyeon cleared his throat, throwing a small, trying smile in mimi's direction. "we're friends. oh, and neighbors too."

"cool." hwiyeon walked backwards as she looked mimi up and down. her refractive vision let her see behind her as she led them to the table. "you two have known each other for a while, then?"

"uh—" kiyeon glanced towards mimi awkwardly, trying to land on a decent answer. he'd never been good at lying to his sister. he swore her real ability was sniffing out his bullshit. "yeah? a couple of weeks—i mean, months, right—?"

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 6. INT. RE-HOME ANIMAL SHELTER, JUST BEFORE THE BLACKOUT.

co-starring @builtmythical.

THE LAST CAT to arrive had been left at their doorstep just the week before, curled up tight in the corner of a wire carrier with nothing but an old blanket under her. the vet had taken to calling her baem, because she hissed at anyone who so much as looked her way. really, though, her threats stopped at the hissing and posturing and she simply tucked her head away every time someone picked her up.

kiyeon had only handled her once since she arrived, because cats seemed to hate him universally no matter how many came through their care, so instead he spent most of his time refilling her bowls and watching her from the front desk: watching her watch the people when they weren't looking, and then making a point to curl away any time one of them came up to her window.

tonight was the first time she hadn't turned away from someone.

kiyeon knew the visitor by the posture of their hands on the wheels of their chair. dohwa, he thought, remembering the last time he heard them introduce themselves in group. he'd sat next to them before, walked out of the conference room behind them studying the back of their hair a couple of times. they came to the shelter often enough that he started to feel guilty for never really talking to them, but what was there to say? they were both in group. kiyeon nodded along every time the counselor asked, everyone have exciting plans for the weekend? then he'd go back to his floor and rot the next two days away in bed. in some ways, it was a mercy that he couldn't look dohwa or any of the others in the eye.

but juhee, baem's neighbor, needed her bowl refilled, and it was almost closing hour. kiyeon picked up the bag of food, steeled himself, and made his way over.

juhee was far lazier and didn't even move when kiyeon unlocked the front of her cage. "dinner's ready," he whispered to her sleeping back, but she ignored that too and slept blissfully away, even once kiyeon had finished and closed her door again.

he took a half step back and glanced over at baem, who was peering intently from the cage next door. when she finally deigned to look at him and realized he was staring, she picked herself up and retreated to the far back corner instead.

"sorry, she hates me," kiyeon said to dohwa, keeping his eyes averted. with them at a lower eye level, he had to look to the side instead of downwards, which felt odd but was a nice change of scenery from the floor. "i think she likes you, though. she gives everyone else the cold shoulder here."

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 5. EXT. ON A DARK STREET, NIGHT.

co-starring @recollectionblue.

HE IS LISTENING TO A STORY about someone who hides as much as he does.

"no, really, i can't wait for you to see him. well, i guess not really see, you get what i mean. he's the only other one i know who dresses like you. no offense."

bomin is a serpent. bomin, despite this, is generally non-offending, if kiyeon doesn't count the petty acts of theft and arson. bomin has also never been caught. usually he goes out on these deals with hwanjoon, but hwanjoon is the opposite and serving the night in a holding cell again, so kiyeon gets to go with him this time. it turns out that a villains' startup (disorganized crime group) doesn't generate much money (doesn't generate any, actually), so dealing under the table's one of the few ways they do make money. kiyeon's not really sure about the specifics of it, has actively looked away from the specifics of it, but he does know that this one deal needs to go well or their hideout (an abandoned warehouse) is going to lose lights and water again. it's apparently just his luck that bomin's scheduled to meet with their "best" and "most reliable customer" tonight. you probably won't even need to use your eyes on him! bomin had cheered before they left. we'll be quick. we can even stop for food after.

"if he's so perfect, why did you even need me to come with you," kiyeon mumbles as they cross into a darker street.

"because you should start getting used to it. what if one day, i'm also in jail? you have to— oh, shit, i think he's here already." bomin's pace suddenly quickens. "okay, just act cool. say the line for me."

kiyeon lags behind a step so he can take the lead. half of his face is obscured with a mask again tonight, his markings at rest around his eyes and over the bridge of his nose thanks to a couple of suppressants, but there's always a non-zero chance of something going wrong whenever he's with bomin or one of the others, so he's tense as he shuffles up next to him.

the client's shoes come into view first, nondescript, partly obscured by their jeans and the general lack of light. kiyeon doesn't look higher than their knees, because it's not his business. but then bomin elbows him.

kiyeon bites back a grimace. "a full moon rises before nightfall," he mutters to the client's shoes, which is bomin's stupid passphrase. a good night to enjoy the fruits of the land, is the second half of it, though kiyeon can't imagine that any real buyer would actually say these things.

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 4. EXT. THE STREETS OF EDEN, NIGHT.

co-starring @parkhaein.

THERE'S A MANTRA that goes through his head whenever he goes out and can only hope that things will be fine. it goes like this: i will go out and it will be fine. it's got no actual, tangible benefits — unless he really had some secret luck manipulation lurking on the edges of his genes — but it does help to imagine it in the voice of someone who knows what they're doing, like his sister, or The Therapist, or pan the aeternal who walks everywhere as a tiger and doesn't even care when people scream or run away from him.

having haein around helps too. kiyeon doesn't say it, but he thinks there's a familiar strand of fear that runs through haein too. haein laughs easier about it, kiyeon's noticed. at first it was jarring to hear haein joke about his power so plainly, but now it's a relief, knowing it's not completely impossible for someone to just be normal about it.

"i didn't even realize nite rite had a pharmacy," he sniffs, skirting around a street lamp before falling back into step with haein again. "also, thanks for coming. i always forget where this place is."

it's a warm night, partly cloudless and windy. ideally, picking up his prescription won't take too long. he can feel his body temperature raging in protest at being stuffed into a jacket, but these days it's been harder to keep his markings under control without the blockers, and he really doesn't want the pharmacist to call the aeternals on him again, especially if haein's there. he could live through the mild humiliation of explaining to an aeternal that no, it's just like this all the time, and no, i wasn't going to rob them, but not the guilt of tanking haein's reputation.

"i wish we could just fly over there," he says wistfully. then he pauses, remembers what happened the last time haein tried to "lend" him his powers, and tacks on, "i mean, fly for real, not be 'flown.'"

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 3. EXT. THE SILVER LINE APTS ENTRANCE, NIGHT.

@feelingsaturated said: "the scanner won't read my card and i can't get back in, so..."

THE VOICE makes kiyeon snap to attention, yanking his hands away from his own keycard that he's been scratching at for the last five minutes. he raises his eyes to an unfamiliar torso and a voice that he doesn't think he's heard around the building yet, and he remembers the last imperative he'd seen on his phone: report any unauthorized citizens to security.

but security is inside and the door had flashed angry red signals at him when he tried to scan in. so.

he folds his hands over his own card, glancing at the entrance and then back at the stranger in front of his bench.

"i think the outage messed it up or someone's locking us out on purpose, if you're in on that conspiracy." he hesitates. he tentatively lifts his gaze just that bit more, enough to catch the ends of their hair. definitely unfamiliar. he can't just tell them that he was going to try to sneak in through the garden, he can't handle that kind of liability. "you live here too? i don't think i recognize you."

[butterflymarks]

microdosing on living by going to the grocery store

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 2. INT. A BUS, EN ROUTE TO HI-DINE, LUNCHTIME.

co-starring @constellieos.

KIYEON COULDN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME he'd felt this nervous. when he first made the decision to slip out of his sister's life, he thought he would never see her again — because she would surely hate him, and because he would go somewhere so far that she'd never catch wind of him again, never need to think or worry about him the way she'd already done for him all their lives.

he was always overestimated himself like that. i'll leave everything behind, sure. he barely left their hometown behind, barely lasted a year out before he caved and reached out to her again, terrified of losing the only family he had left, even if she would just tell him not to call anymore.

it was worse when she simply listened to his excuses and then, in the end, said with all of the sagacity of an older sister: idiot. you could have at least let me help you pay for your first year of rent.

which reminded him—

"um. if she asks, i've been living here for two years." there was someone across the aisle talking on their phone and someone else up front trying to console a crying child who was currently manifesting distressed leaves in their hair. kiyeon had to raise his voice to make sure mimi could hear him over it, gaze flickering nervously between her shoes and the seat in front of them. "we should just say we met at hi-dine if that's easier to remember. and if she mentions anything about herself, we should just ask about her, because she— she's got this rock band she started up, and she's been playing more gigs lately, and usually she loves talking about all of that, so we should just keep the topic on her until we're done eating. you don't have to feel like you need to talk."

the bus ran over a bump. kiyeon crossed his arms across his chest, trying to be subtle about slouching in his seat next to her. to convince his sister that he was fine, he needed to look fine, so he'd taken his meds to keep his markings from screaming any signs otherwise. he had to look happy about going out, about meeting up and introducing her to his good friend minji.

the bus jolted again and began to slow. past mimi and through the window, kiyeon saw familiar shops come into view, hi-dine's bold colors among them.

"it's not too late to change your mind," he added half-heartedly. mimi could abandon ship as soon as she stepped foot out of the bus and kiyeon would only wish he could sprint off in the same direction.

[butterflymarks]

SCENE 1. INT. THE SILVER LINE APARTMENT BUILDING, NIGHT.

@humblefigs said: "okay, okay. just stay calm, stay calm, stay calm." — for event 001!

THESE DAYS, there was little difference in mapping out this stairwell in the dark than there was with the lights on, kiyeon decided. steps had to come slower, but for the most part he'd been slow all his life anyway, feeling along physical and proverbial walls for guidance because the alternative of asking for help was usually too risky and too embarrassing. at least tonight he couldn't do anything about it. thank the powers above, aeternal or not: this nightmare wasn't induced by his shitty genetics.

sumin's voice echoed through the stairwell, bounced off the walls and rang over his ears. okay, it's okay. she was almost in time with their overlapping footsteps, the cadence of her voice soothing down the one in his own head shouting, HURRYHURRYHURRY.

"i'm calm. i think i'm about to trip. but i'm so calm." and scared, but what was new?

his pocket buzzed, making him jump so badly that he almost knocked into sumin before they made it past the 5th floor landing. kiyeon fished it out, curling his other arm tight over his stomach like he could squeeze the shaking out of it. another notification had come. "they said they're out of flashlights and candles already." he lingered at the edge of the landing, eyes flickering to a safe spot on sumin's hands—the last thing he needed was to terrify her here. his markings shifted above his mask, forming and unforming anxious whorls around the visible parts of his eyes and cheeks. "we...should still go, right? maybe we'll still find someone who has extras?"

[butterflymarks]

20 QUESTIONS TO ASK IN THE DARK

RULES.

this is part of our ongoing EVENT #001: LIGHTS OUT IN PARADISE.

to participate, reblog this post onto the blog(s) of your participating muse(s). in the tags, indicate whether you are open to question prompts only, OR question prompts and starter prompts.

if participating, please try to send at least one question prompt to other participating muses!

all event-related posts should be tagged #rj:event001. remember to tag any triggers accordingly!

while the starter prompts were created specifically to foster new threads, feel free to convert any responses to the question prompt list into threads as well.

the starter prompts were written with mostly the event-related locations in mind, but feel free to place them in different settings!.

responses can be posted until the end of the event, sunday, july 7th.

QUESTION PROMPTS

tell me 3 truths and 1 lie, without naming which one is which.

do you wish you had a different ability?

what's your most vivid childhood memory?

when was the last time you lost your temper?

what's the worst thing you've ever done to someone?

if the building were about to burn down, what are the first three things you would grab?

do you think you're redeemable?

what was the moment you realized your life wouldn't go the way you thought it would?

do you think you'll ever make it out of here?

what is the biggest lie you've told?

when was the last time you cried and why?

what's something you used to love but now hate?

if your life paused for a day and you could go anywhere you want and do anything you want, where would you go?

what are three things you like about yourself?

how do you define "home"?

is it easier to make people love you or hate you?

if you could have any other ability, possible or impossible, what would you want?

how do you ask others for help?

in another life, where do you think you would be? what would you be doing?

what (or who) is your silver lining?

describe how your room looks.

what's something no one else knows about you?

do you believe in heroism? in heroes?

how do you escape your reality?

when was the last time you told someone honestly how you felt about them?

STARTER PROMPTS

"it can't get worse than this... right?"

"don't panic, but i think there's something behind you."

"what were you thinking?!"

"did you hear that?"

"i managed to get a candle before they ran out. you want to share?"

"forget this, i'm going to the pool. you want to come?"

"forget this, i'm going out. you want to come?"

"no, you don't get it, you have to help me find [object]."

"my [apartment]/[room] was getting too hot, can i stay here for a while?"

"the scanner won't read my card and i can't get back in, so..."

"do you think they keep the breaker box in the sublevel? i bet i can fix it."

"no way. i'm not going there in the dark."

"come on, we have to see it. when are we ever going to get another chance?"

"i think we're stuck here."

"i didn't know where else to go."

"okay, okay. just stay calm, stay calm, stay calm."

"i'm going out to get food. who knows how long this will last."

"is this a bad time to mention i'm not good with the dark?"

"i heard there's a bonfire at the drive-in."

"it's like these people have never seen the power go out before."

"i want to find out what that explosion was."

"it's less crowded near the river."

"this is kind of nice."

"do you think they'll still serve us our food?"

"why did it have to be you?"

"i knew we shouldn't have come here."

"want some company?"

"hey, you! this building is for residents only!"

[butterflymarks]

stats / plots / muse

heyyy i'm gonna be real, this intro got chunky. BUT! that's bc i badly want to start writing and i had a lot of Ideas. i'm duha (xe/xem/xir), presenting my goth rat kiyeon with the ability fearsight. 🎈 under the cut, i hopefully explain what the hell his deal is. like this post if you'd like me to reach out for plots (d*sc*rd preferred im scared of getting sb'ed again)! i listed ideas at the end, but i'm also down to just start writing and go with chemistry if preferred. i AM crazed enough to write u a random starter if that's the vibe. ps. my other muse eunjae (aka the Cooler moon twin) is @999kintsugi, but she's on a sideblog, so i won't be able to follow back there unfortunately.

kiyeon, '98

it/its/he/him/his. you'll see me use them interchangeably but feel free to use Any pronouns for him on ur end yipeee

fearsight is the ability to induce potent feelings of fear, hysteria, panic, etc through psychological visions of the target's deepest fears. wherever applicable, their minds may project that fear onto kiyeon and they'll see him as a personification of their fears.

butterfly marks (minor passive "ability"): his skin is naturally covered in moving whorls of black, ink-like markings. they shift and gather into various shapes and patterns influenced by his moods or when he's using his ability, tending towards symmetric or radial patterns, sometimes resembling the patterns of a butterfly's wings.

???: he can't see his own reflection anymore. if he does try to look at himself, there's just Something else looking back. he's afraid of it.

his therapist says it's an extension of his main ability that has been stunted. in greater evolutions of fearsight, the metahuman could actually take the physical form of someone's fear.

isn't that something great to look forward to, The Therapist says, you'll grow into something More, but kiyeon just wants to know when he's going to grow into a skin that's bearable to live in at all ?

his fearsight is persistent & triggered by visible eye contact. it can work on other ppl through clear reflections, so he hasn't made meaningful contact with anyone in years tbh.

quiet, nervous, jumpy. probably looks scary bc of his markings but you might have heard him crying in the garden last night.

the journey so far:

lived with his older sister for a while, until he decided to leave about 2 years ago bc he felt guilty about burdening her.

uhhh fell into the serpents' circle shortly after, aka a petty villain group. was inadvertently "taken in" by them (see: he was too scared to leave), and now he's their part time publicity stunt kidnapping victim and part time videographer when they need "organic social media footage" of the crimes they're committing. they're trying to make it to the big leagues.

kiyeon is just there because one of them is apparently making him "a cure" for his eyes. it's been years since that promise now, but. you know. (see again: he is too scared to leave)

finally sought actual help and got into silver line 8 months ago. the research team thinks his markings are fascinating, they keep monitoring him and telling him to contact them if he ever feels "physical turmoil." like girl what??

(they're waiting for his power to evolve to allow him to actually physically transform)

(cw: themes of body dysmorphia) has a lot of feelings about his body and feeling distinctly grotesque and horrific. when you spent ur whole life getting ignored or being looked at in literal horror, how is ur sense of self & image supposed to survive unscathed. :|

anyway he's on a tenuous streak of stability atm. he even got a job at the animal shelter!! he's been substituting company with the animals for human connection because animals aren't affected by his eyes at least.

really a bit pathetic i won't lie. fucked up street cat rizz, if u will.

some connection / thread ideas:

here are some more Formal connections i'm looking for, let's figure smth out

a roommate...!!

he pokes around the places you're not supposed to. someone try to get into the 13th floor with him and then deal with the consequences.

i plan for his fearsight to evolve over time and become something more of a nightmare form, his true potential....wherein his body really does start to take on little characteristics of people's fears, humanoid or not. i think he has a long way to go to full transformations, but any muses who would like to encounter him on that path are welcome to hehe. just please know he'll probably have a breakdown on them afterwards. maybe your muse would be in the middle of one too (because kiyeon scared the daylights out of them yk) but that's a-ok! i love writing encounters where everything's a mess, so let's make them cry together 💢

someone he accidentally beamed with his fearsight before. now they're terrified of him, and he accidentally inherited some of their fears/phobias

he goes to group therapy sessions bc his therapist thinks it's good for him to have Human Contact, but mostly he's just quiet and never looks at anyone. maybe your muse is there too and they just start getting through their shit side by side ?

someone go to the movies with him. he loooves scary movies, he loves watching characters getting tormented by horrors and being like omg me too!!

eden is full of crazy powers so let's throw them in something crazy together !!? i crave high stakes threads

does anyone else feel less-than-human. does anyone else go out on walks in the middle of the night bc they feel like it's the only time they're "allowed" to be out (aka they can't endanger anyone). does anyone else want to be a little less alone on those walks.

fellow serpents 🐍 all kinds of dynamics. i'm thinking the serpents just basically try to cause unrest and chaos; maybe one time, your muse is supposed to be part of the incitement and kiyeon's supposed to get it all on camera .... except it goes wayward, and the others ditch them to throw them under the bus, so now they have to get away from the aeternals :\

anyone who's in that other villain group using the laundromat as a cover. maybe they're rivals with the serpents hehe ? or they cross paths in the villain business ?

be his first resident complaint

thank u for reading this far :people_hugging:

[butterflymarks]