( open ) memory share + catch all

[flowlikewater]

who: Genji Shimada + you!
what: Memory Share Event and general October catch all
when: October
where: All throughout Quarantine
warnings: violence, attempted murder, blood, gore, mental health issues


THAT NIGHT — FIRST PERSON

[ The memory start with Genji entering a dojo with an elaborate painting above the scroll on the wall. By his slow and casual pace, one can tell he doesn't appear to have a care in the world in the moment. By the gauntlets seen on his arms, he's dressed in his formal gi and he scratches some dirt off the emblem on one of them as he apparently waits.

Genji is looking at the scroll when there are heavy, deliberate foot steps behind him. He doesn't turn around before he speaks. ] Why call me out here in the middle of the night, brother? I thought we were finished settling all of Father's—

[ There's an audible metallic sound suddenly before there's a dull, wet thud and Genji chokes. He stumbles and his vision shifts to look down to see... blood. Blood dripping from his shoulder, blood obviously falling from his mouth. He sputters and whirls around to see his older brother, Hanzo, holding his blade now glistening with red. ] Brother, what— What the hell?! What are you—

[ They talk, but at this point, the words said don't mean much to the Genji of now. The wide, blood shot eyes of his brother slashing at him is all he really remembers. He's furious and pained and his jaw is clenched so tight it's a wonder his teeth don't crack.

Genji, at some point, pulls out his own blade to defend himself but his wounds are too much. The brothers eventually make it out to the balcony on the side of the dojo, the moonlight reflecting off the smear of Genji's blood all across the floor. Genji can barely speak, blood and tears and spit clogging his throat but he manages— ] Brother... brother why...!

[ Genji's hand reaches out to him. There are tears, so many tears streaming down Hanzo's face that he won't remember for almost a decade but all he says is: "You disrespect the clan and you must be dealt with to retain order. This is my duty. We could have built an empire together."

And in an instant there's a flash of blue light, the sight of two dragons surging towards him and Genji is falling— Falling, falling, falling and smashing against the rocks of the cliff as he does so. He lands with a wet thud, his hand reaching up to the sky. He tries to speak, but it's a gurgle... his lower jaw is entirely ripped to shreds now. There are burns and open wounds all on his hand.

The vision blackens for a moment, until there's the sound of a chopper. Boots on the ground. There's a voice that some people around the Quarantine might recognize calling for evac.

Genji is eventually picked up and placed on a gourney. His arm stays where it lay.

The vision blackens. Only an overwhelming bright light is noticeable, as a muffled voice says: "We have to keep him sedated. When he's awake all he does is scream." ]

BLACKWATCH — THIRD PERSON

[ Genji's time in Overwatch's covert ops division sometimes blur together. His initial body is a stark contrast to the Genji of now. He's silent and violent, lots of memories of assassinations and hunting down his former clan.

Some flashes of him just staring at a wall in a medical room, eventually starting to just slam his head into it over and over and over so he can feel something. Dr. Zielger or Reyes finding him and talking him down.

Some lighthearded. Hanging out with McCree, the few times he tried to go to Overwatch functions, training with Lena. Even posing for a picture.

He leaves when dismantling the clan is done, after the embarrassing final fight with Doomfist. He and Reyes fight. It isn't pretty. He leaves without saying goodbye to anyone. ]

FALL — FIRST PERSON

[ His face is covered by a cloak and he peels it away as he comes across breaking news on his phone. Headline: Overwatch Swiss Headquarters Explodes. Morrison and Reyes dead—

Genji drops his phone. His vision blurs with tears, he blinks them away. A pause. A croak. He yells and slams his fist into a nearby wall. And keeps yelling. ]

WE WALK IN HARMONY — THIRD PERSON

[ It's snowing and Genji is staggering along in the freezing temperatures. His joints are locking up from the ice and his lights are flickering as he does so. It's obvious he doesn't care anymore, ready to be done once and for all... he slumps to his knees, then falls over face first into the snow covered ground.

A glowing orb suddenly appears over him. A figure emerges from the snow, covered by a cloak before reaching his prone body. The cloak falls and it's an Omnic monk of the Shambali. He leans down and puts a hand on Genji's back. ]

It looks like you need some help, traveler.

DRAGONS — THIRD PERSON

[ Genji confronting his brother again in the same place he was 'murdered' is an entirely different experience. He had his blade at Hanzo's throat and he could have killed him, gotten his revenge, but he chooses mercy. Genji Shimada has come full circle. ]

Think on that, brother.

( Feel free to have your character react to these like they just dreamed it, or be in the dreamscape with Genji while experiencing it! I can make specific starters for specific characters/memories as well, just hit me up on PM or at bonethief! )

Comments

that night

[bunnyhopped]

[ The first flash happens in the morning, shortly after she's gone for their routine jog and is freshening up in the bathroom— cherry blossoms, a dojo—

Genji's voice getting choked off, pain.

She has no idea what's just happened, except that that was definitely Genji's voice, but it's left her with one hand grasping tightly onto the rim of her bathroom sink, the other clutching desperately at her shoulder, choking on practically nothing and then it all goes away like nothing happened, no sign of it at all except in the way Hana feels like she can't breathe right the rest of the day.

The next happens as she's pouring over her own mission logs, watching the feeds from her mech of her mission last month with Genji and the others and evaluating her own performance so she can do better the next time. But the familiar sights and sounds of her boosters and fusion cannons are suddenly replaced by blood red, the glint of a sword being swung about— at her?

Brother... brother why...!

No, at him. The tightness in her throat comes back and she can't speak, choked up once again by something that isn't there, by the feeling of anger and betrayal and pain, so much pain.

Hana doesn't get back to work.

The last flash happens as she's trying to get something to drink. All day these flashes have left an awful feeling in her throat - and the rest of her body, really - but when she lifts her glass to drink from it blue light surges at her and she feels like she's just lost her footing. The glass of water falls to the floor and shatters at her feet - but cuts from glass pale in comparison to the burning sensation in her hand and the limpness in the rest of her body as she slumps down to the floor of their kitchen in a heap of fear and hurt and tears. When it's all over, her voice is small and weak and it only manages to give sound to the only thought in her mind: ]

Genji—

[flowlikewater]

[ Genji has been growing concerned about flashes of... something as well. They aren't memories, they aren't his own thoughts and even meditation can't seem to keep them at bay. Considering all the things that have gone on since they've come here... he wonders.

He's tending to his blade when he hears that crash and a cry. Genji puts it back on its stand the fastest he ever has and rushes into the kitchen to find her slumped on the floor. ] Hana!

[ He's at her side in a streak of green, he's so concerned. Genji brushes away some of the glass to the side and away from her, putting a hand on her shoulder. ] Hana, what happened? What's wrong?

[bunnyhopped]

[ Her knees are cut up and likely her legs are, too, but she's tucked them beneath her as she rest of her is curled up. Her shoulders shake with each deep, erratic breath she draws in and it's not until she feels his hand on her shoulder that she looks up at him, with tears still streaming down her face. ]

I saw— what happened.

[ Her one hand is still grasping at the wrist of the other, as though trying to curb that burning sensation. ]

I don't know how or why but I saw it— I saw your brother killing you.

[flowlikewater]

[ He tries to brush away more of the glass to be picked up later and almost moves like he's about to go fetch the first aid kit when—

Genji's heart plummets to the floor as he looks at her tear stained cheeks. That's not... possible? And yet, from what he's been seeing himself—

And then for a hot flash of a second he's furious, furious at whoever would do this who would force her to see such a thing that she didn't need to see. Something in the past that should stay there. But the anger leaves as quick as it comes and his heart just aches with a fierce twist. Genji's voice is hoarser than usual when he speaks. ] Oh, Hana... Hana, I'm so sorry.

[ He brings his hands up to cup her damp cheeks, wiping her tears with his thumbs. ] But I'm not dead, I'm right here. [ He attempts a smile but he just frowns, closing his eyes. ] Of all the things for you to see...

[bunnyhopped]

[ She has known since that afternoon they spent dyeing each other's hair, that the story of Genji Shimada and his family does not have a happy ending. She's known that he didn't particularly fit into the mold of what they'd wanted him to be, and that one way or another, a fallout had permanently forced him out of the clan and then into the cybernetic body he now has. That he helped Overwatch take them down.

But what she didn't know— ]

He tried to kill you, [ she repeats it, emphasizing the killing part like she has to remind Genji of how awful that is. ] His very own brother.

[ Hana doesn't have any siblings, but if she did - nothing in the world could ever make her kill them, she thinks. Family is too precious to lose in a world like the one where they came from. It's that thought that brings her to tears and keeps upsetting her, along with the surge of emotions that she'd experienced secondhand from Genji. ]

Why didn't you tell me, Genji?

fall

[verflair]

[ The first time it hits him, he’s simply walking down the street. It’s a brief flash, blurry and incomprehensible except for the distant ring of despair in his chest, and tears brim in his eyes unbidden. He nearly collides with another pedestrian in his shock, and makes messy apologies as he wipes at his face with the back of his sleeve.

Try as he might, he can’t quite recall what he saw, only what he felt, and the way it resonates with a decades-old feeling deep in his heart.

A day later, it blindsides him again over his morning coffee. It comes in clearer this time— he reads the words on the phone’s screen, recognizes the names of the dead as comrades. The sharp, cold sting of loss pierces him, threatens to steal away his voice, and when he finally pulls out of the memory, tears streak his cheeks yet again.

He’s not sure if the thought that crosses his mind in the wake of the vision is his own or not.

I should have been there.

For the rest of the day and well into the next, the memory plagues him. Without warning, he suddenly feels as though he’s been plucked from his body and shoved into another. It leaves him disoriented and hazy, leaves his heart aching and his eyes stinging. Sometimes he only sees a brief snippet, sometimes the moment plays out in full, and each time it becomes more real. The blurry bits fall into focus, one by one.

It clicks for him suddenly that evening, when he’s thrust once again into the eyes of another. He glances down at the phone as he always does, but instead of focusing on the phone, he takes notice of the hand. There is no skin, only metal and other materials that X’rhun has no name for. This is a hand X’rhun knows, he gripped it not long ago in a friendly handshake. An introduction in the rafters of a ruined barn. Hana’s friend and roommate.

Genji.



He knows where Genji lives if only because he knows where Hana lives. Call X’rhun old fashioned, or mayhaps he just isn’t used to the network enough to default to using it first. Besides, he feels it’s better to have a personal conversation such as this in private, face to face.

Knock knock, Genji. Hope you’re home. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ He's still grappling with the knowledge that other people are theoretically experiencing his memories... it makes his heart ache a little, because Genji has seen quite a lot. Things that he has dealt with and comes to terms with, but to have those things suddenly forced on somebody else's mind—

Meditation has proved fruitless so he's been tending to his plants as a means of distraction. When the doorbell rings he puts down the clippers and peers through the peephole once he's there.

X'rhun? Why would he suddenly appear for a visit? Unless... Genji opens the door (helmet-less, as he usually is at home) and gives the man a concerned look. ]

Hello. What brings you here, friend...? [ As if he needs to ask, really. ]

[verflair]

[ He looks a little unsure at first, because how does one go about bringing this up?

At last, he offers a sympathetic sort of smile and taps a finger to his temple. ]

I believe I have something of yours.

[flowlikewater]

Ah. [ A tired look pulls at Genji's face and he rubs between his eyes, sighing. ] I assumed as much.

[ He steps to the side and gestures. ] Would you like to come in and discuss it, then?

we walk in harmony

[causational]

[Eddie's eyes snap open abruptly, what feels like only a few seconds after he fell asleep, and he's standing in snow, drifting over his shoes. He can feel the cold, in a distant, disconnected kind of way, as if it's happening to someone else, and it takes a few more moments to shake the cobwebs out of his brain and realize that that's the case. The cold is happening to someone else.

At first, Eddie doesn't really understand what he's looking at. Who he's looking at. It's like watching a robot or android stumble through the snow, but there's a sense that it isn't an unfeeling machine. It's a person, and after the time he's spent here, Eddie understands that people can look different than the humans he knows from home and still feel the same. So he trudges through the snow toward the stumbling figure, reaches out even though he knows instinctively that there's nothing he can do about this, because this has already happened.

Before he has a chance to even try, though, someone else is approaching. Stepping back, Eddie watches for a moment before glancing around to see if he's sharing this space with the dreamer.]

You made it through this.

[It sounds so matter-of-fact, but the tone of Eddie's voice clearly conveys admiration.]

[flowlikewater]

[ There is an element of relief that it's this memory... so much of his past is pain and blood and hatred. This, at least, is the beginning of something good. The meeting with his Master, the start of one of his closest and most meaningful relationships.

It wasn't easy though, nothing ever is. But it was worth it.

He doesn't recognize the man that's been dropped into his memories as he approaches him. Genji puts his hands behind his back and looks at his past self and his Master a few feet ahead of them as the cold air whips his scarf around. ]

I did. This was the start of a new beginning, at long last.

[causational]

[It's the first time this has happened that the person whose memory he's seen who didn't react with anger or shame or discomfort, and it's kind of a relief for Eddie. With a little smile, Eddie looks up at the person standing near him, the real person, before glancing back at the memory he's seeing.]

I have to admit, I don't understand what's happening in this memory...but a new beginning...I understand that.

[Eddie glances up at the other man after a moment, smiling slightly.]

Bittersweet?

[flowlikewater]

[ That gets a faint little chuckle out of him. ] You have sort of come in on the middle of things, so it's understandable.

[ Genji watches his past self eventually start to get up, visibly perplexed by the Omnic orb floating above his head. He reaches for it with stilted movements, then notices the monk in front of him and sort of... stumbles. He'd been so surprised to even be found... Genji had thought he would die in that snowstorm and he had welcomed it.

He nods. ] Very much so. [ Genji points to Zenyatta, the smile evident in his voice from behind the helmet. ] But he saved me, in more ways than one. I owe my Master quite a lot.

blackwatch

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco almost hadn't recognized Genji in the dream. There's only a little sliver of his face showing behind the mask, and the rest of his body is not the same cybernetic structure Cisco had seen before. But just the fact that he is masked helps Cisco to guess, and he watches with a heavy heart. The dream doesn't make much sense - it starts in the middle, Genji standing in a sterile-looking room, just staring at a wall. Which was a bit strange at first, then a little amusing because it went on so long, and then a little uncomfortable, and then outright unsettling.

Not nearly as unsettling as when he starts to bash his own head against the wall. Cisco tries to intervene, even though he knows that is not how these memories work, but he can't just stand there and watch. But Genji just keeps hitting his head into the wall, until the door is bursting open and a woman in a lab coat is rushing in, trying to restrain Genji, saying words to him that Cisco doesn't quite catch as he is waking up, the memory ending abruptly.

With most people, he has contacted them as soon as he realized whose memory it was that he saw. But this one is going to be a hard text to figure out how to word. Cisco puts it off, leaving the apartment to get some fresh air and a coffee. And of course, like some kind of awful ironic clockwork, who does he spot in the little café that he walks into but...]

Genji! You're here.

[ It is a singularly weird tone of voice, for seeing one's friendly acquaintance at a local café. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ Genji has been pretty pensive the past few days, with all of these memory... events happening. It's unsettling and he wishes there was something he could do about it but this isn't the kind of thing he's familiar with at all.

He's in the café he usually goes to, as he needs one of his obnoxiously strong and almost syrupy cups of coffee to try to process all of this, when he hears Cisco's voice. He's not on guard duty today he's in casual wear with the helmet removed, green hair not exactly styled. Genji turns to his newfound friend with a small but tired smile. ] Cisco! Hello there. Yes, I'm here.

[ A pause and he tilts his head. ] As are you. How have you been?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco knows right then that he has to tell Genji. If he doesn't, there is no way for him to text later without it being weird. To not bring it up would be a lie - one of omission, sure, but that still counts. But the prospect of talking to Genji about it is much more daunting in person than it would be with the distance of a text conversation.

He shifts his weight awkwardly from foot to foot, trying to figure out what to say. Eventually he just blurts (without ever answering Genji's polite inquiry): ]

I- was gonna text you, as soon as I got my coffee. But since you're here maybe we could just, um. Talk?

[ Genji already has his drink, and Cisco is tempted to ask him to wait, while he goes and gets one himself. But that would just be stalling, so instead he simply sits down in the unoccupied chair at the little table Genji's occupying and says, without preamble. ]

I had one of those dreams. About... you.

[flowlikewater]

[ At the word 'talk' an even more tired expression pulls at his face, aging him for an instant. Ah, yes, of course. He crosses his arms and leans back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before shifting his head back down. ] You would not be the first.

[ He picks up and takes a drink of his potent coffee. ] I hope it wasn't— [ Genji gestures with a hand. ] —too much. I can explain some things if you need it.

durgens

[mysophobic]

[ He watches all of it, silently and focused, as he sees these two brothers attack one another. The point where Shigeru has he knife at Hanzo's throat is when he lets out a small gasp, holding his hands over his eyes briefly. Thankfully Genji doesn't go through with it and he's way too glad to see that no, Genji did not harm his own brother. ]

I'm...really glad that you didn't go through with it. [ It shows that the man he cares for really has changed. ]

But why...why did he do that to you? Why didn't he try to fight back and fight alongside you instead of doing what he did. [ Shigeru doesn't quite get it, really, but then again he was loyal to his friends and especially his family. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ Forgive him, he's a little startled to hear Shigeru speak. He turns to look at him as they stand there in the middle of this memory, on the ledge above the landing where their confrontation took place. He suppose that since it's in a dream, anything can happen...

And he's glad he's seeing this, at least. If he must know exactly what happened between him and his brother. ] I am as well. Killing him would accomplish nothing. [ He turns back to look at his elder brother, look at his face as he realized his little brother wasn't dead after all.

Genji crosses his arms. ] It was his 'duty' to obey the clan. He was molded to be the heir since birth and disobeying was just... unthinkable to him. [ Genji shakes his head. ] I do not make excuses for him, no, but I understand why it happened the way it did.

[mysophobic]

To make brothers do something like that...it's just so horrible. [ Shigeru doesn't like it at all. Family wasn't meant to hurt or kill one another like that. What sort of clan would wish for something like that to happen to one of its heirs? ]

I'm so sorry, Genji, that you and your brother went through something like that.

[flowlikewater]

[ Genji moves a little closer to him, genuinely a little touched. He doesn't tend to tell people his exact circumstances, expecting to be met with anger or frustration at how he should have killed his brother.

But, of course, Shigeru is a kind and understanding soul. His heart clenches a little at his words. ] You have nothing to apologize for. It was just... our circumstances.

[ Genji shakes his head. ] I have realized that my brother was as much of a victim as I was, just in a different way.

Dragons

[lionunchained]

[Shiro calmly watches the memory that unfolds in front of him. Even without the context of what had happened, he understands more about Genji in that short memory than he would have thought he would have. Even with just that he understood about the past that Genji had come from and that he's changed now from that.

Forgiving the person who hurt him? Would that ever be possible for him?

But after a moment, he realizes that Genji is standing there with him, watching the same thing]

Why did he need to kill you?

[flowlikewater]

[ At least this is a memory Genji doesn't mind reliving. His life coming full circle, experiencing some kind of closure... it's nice to see again. (It's nice to see his brother again, as he misses him dearly.) ]

He was ordered to. [ Genji's voice is quiet, but serious. ] Our Father had just died and our clan knew he was more susceptible to their orders in his grief.

[lionunchained]

So he just did it, because someone told him to? What purpose did it serve your clan that he kill you?

[He's really just trying to understand this. While he may be aware of this sort of thing existing in Japan and other parts of the world, it was not something he'd ever had to deal with. For which he was glad. He had enough problems that adding this to it might be overkill.

But Genji... he was the bigger man. His brother had tried to kill him and he had forgiven him]

I'm glad that you were able to forgive him for what he did.

[flowlikewater]

That was how it was. My brother— [ He might notice he refers to him as anija, an antiquated term instead of aniki. ] —was raised to do as he was told. And I... did not like being told what to do. [ He huffs sardonically.

Genji crosses his arms as he continues. ] I disobeyed and wanted nothing to do with running the clan. So I had to be 'dealt with.'

[ He sighs, a hoarse little sound. ] It took me a long time, but I realized he was as much of a victim of circumstance as I was.