un: @wild.flower | video

[hasitsthorns]

Hey, everyone! Welcome to my ✨ new home tour! ✨

This is Muten-Ichi-Ryū Dōjō and I'm happy to show it to you!

[ This following video is filmed in the style of early 2000s influencers, unfortunately for everyone. Rosie holds up her smart phone to cover part of her face in any reflection and goes room to room to talk about the various parts of it and (lack of) amenities.

Most importantly to note though is: ]

-and, as the name implies, it has a dojo attached to it! For all you superhero or spar-happy types, I'm opening it up to the public for anyone to use! No appointments necessary or anything either, just come on down when you feel like it. It's a little out here though the peace and quiet might be nice to some.

But! All the weapons are bamboo or wood and you gotta' wear the padded suits for safety. This place is for training purposes only. I don't want anyone getting too roughed up. Besides, do you know how hard blood is to get out of these floors...?

I am a healer though, at least, so any unexpected injuries I can be on standby for.

[ She winds down the video by propping up her recording against something to film herself while she sits facing the enclosed garden on the property. She isn't looking at the camera now, but instead out towards it. ]

You may recognize this place it as previously belonging to Rin Asano, but... I figured I'd 'move in' to help keep it up and allow other folks to use it in her absence. We were from the same place, actually, even if different times so- This'll be my way of remembering her and making sure she has a place to come back to that's not, like, in disrepair or anything.

I think it's what she would have wanted. I hope it is.

[ Before things can get too somber though, there comes a small cluckcluckcluck from off-screen before a chicken pops into the frame. It peers curiously at the camera before pecking at it and knocking the device down. From somewhere unseen: ] Buck, come on, I swear to the gods...

[ The video ends there after another whoosh of air and dizzying video, but she's still available to talk once she has the device in hand again and away from unexpected chicken interruptions. ]

Comments

un: blackcat | video

[catsclaws]

[ Felicia smiles as the tour concludes. ]

You're keeping it up for your friend? That's sweet of you.

[hasitsthorns]

[ A grin and small wave in return. ]

Psht, nah, it's just what anyone would! I mean, I like to think that's the case. The helper bots already took some of Rin's personal things, but the house at least I can keep in shape if she ever returns.

[catsclaws]

Do people return often?

[ So far she knows of one. ]

[hasitsthorns]

So far, I've only known one person where they left, came back, and did remember me! And I've heard of other people, too...

So, I do know at least that it can happen. And I hope it does, in Rin's case. But even if it's a Rin that doesn't remember, well- That's fine too. We'll just have to get to know each other again!

un: mason | video

[ingestion]

( there is so much heather wants to respond to in this video message but the one key detail that truly stood out to her was the fact that someone else she knew had gone home—

or at least it seemed that much was applied. she hadn't gotten too terribly close to the girl, but enough to learn about her world and how she didn't even know what party games were. she taught her how to play beer pong...

and now in her absence, she's learning more. )

Hey Rosie, can you tell me more about this 'Rin'? I met her once a while back in December. Is she really gone?

[hasitsthorns]

Hey, girl! And sure, uh...

[ What to say about Rin, really? There's a lot that Rosie can think of, but she decides on: ] Rin was wound a little tight, I think, but pretty well-meaning and nice. Even when I... tested the waters about some more personal stuff, she was really receptive and didn't judge me at all for it.

As far as I can tell though, yeah- She's gone. Some of her personal stuff was taken from the helper bots, she's not on the network anymore, and I took up the house so it wouldn't disappear or go into disrepair. Seemed a waste if I didn't.

[ingestion]

Yeah I could see that.

( she did seem a little tense when heather tried showing her the ropes to playing beer pong, but she figured it was just from dealing with something so new and modern. is she a little sad that someone left this world? perhaps but given this place, it was more than possible she could return.

only time would tell. )

That's actually a pretty smart idea, a way to remember her and what she's done. That whole revolt thing on the train was something she took a big part in it seemed. So are you offering self-defense lessons or what? I'd love to come train a bit myself.

[hasitsthorns]

[ It was possible. Peter returned, after all, and she'd met him right after she arrived, so... There was hope that she'd see Rin again someday. Even if everyone else was back home and gone, Rosie was planning to stay here regardless. ]

I'm glad you think so! I know she had some pretty big influence here, so- People won't forget her anytime soon, I'm sure, but I'll help keep things up for her in the meantime.

I wasn't going to offer my own classes, but- I could? I do know some pretty good self-defense techniques since my job could get kind of hairy now and again. Reyson stepped in if anything was real bad but, like, I was expected to handle a lot on my own too.

[ingestion]

( truly rosie was a great point of contact and resources given her unique situation, as bittersweet as it was. )

That's really nice of you Rosie, you know I didn't get a chance to tell you but I took your advice on the shrine thing. Just working on asking Aurora for a few things from back home to make it complete.

( once it was, rosie was the first person heather wanted to show the shrine to. )

And really? What kind of job did you do back home? Maybe you can teach me something new.

[hasitsthorns]

Oh, yeah? I'd love to see if when it's done.

[ She is touched to hear that, honestly. It was something she didn't expect to be taken to heart, but is glad that it was. ]

Oh, uh- It was kind of. Complicated, but. I was basically an informant? So, like- A spy, I guess, is how most people would understand it. I mostly got information from wealthy people to help break up their illegal operations from the inside.

But, you know- Sometimes you slip up and get caught and need to know how to protect yourself.

[ingestion]

Wow you really have lived an interesting life.

( there's a small part of heather that wanted to ask her if she ended up preferring this world to her own given her unique circumstances, but she wasn't quite sure how she would react to that. so she decided to focus on something else for now. )

And yeah I actually wanted you to be the first person to see it. I guess since we're on the topic of people leaving, and possibly not returning, I just wanted you to know that and how grateful I am for your kind words during my party.

You're a cool person Rosie.

un: gorgug, video

[tinflower]

[ Oh, Rin's gone. It's weird, who comes and who goes. Why? Is her world going to be okay? Isn't it decided, yet?

...

There is one thing Gorgug needs to address. ]

Hey, Rosie! [ H-haha, hi there, here's your buddy ol' half-orc on screen looking-- very casual, and not at all look he's hiding any worry! ] If you see anything, uh, with something that looks like a pin in a circular shape-- have you seen a grenade before?

[ Just, you know! Asking! ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ It is a bit odd... She remembers telling Gorgug about her neighbor, way back when, and now he's back. They're not neighbors anymore, but-! He remembered being here and everything, which seemed to be outside of the norm. ]

A- What? I know what a grenade looks like, yeah, but why do I need to know that?

[ Squints!! ]

[tinflower]

Welllll....

[ Welll.... ]

Me and Rin were having some lessons... I was just showing her different ways to make-- it wasn't like she didn't already know how to make some form of explosive...

[ Is he weaseling his way out of admitting that he helped Rin make grenades??

Is he, Rosie?? ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ Lessons, he says. About how to make explosives. Grenades, probably.

It's practical, yes, and very much something she could imagine Gorgug doing. It's not a bad thing, just-! Some more warning might have been nice. ]

Are you tell me I should ban smoking in this place, just in case? Make sure nothing catches on fire easily?

[tinflower]

[ Please don't mind the way his mouth hangs open, the small 'aahh...' sound as he's looking around, trying to think, wearing the most unhelpful expression on his face.

... ]

...I can come over and look for anything...explosive.

[ He's Helping?? ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ Yeah, that sure is the look of someone who knows he's about to be had.

Thankfully, she isn't actually all that mad. A little frazzled now, sure, since she just invited a bunch of people to come check out the dojo as they wanted but- Still! ]

You will come over and look for anything explosive. [ >: { ]

[tinflower]

[ G-gulp!! ]

R-right away. I-I'll come over now.

[ L-look, Rosie, you can even see him getting up, he's getting up from his stool and kinda walking, but also he's so whipped (and so easily) by that instruction that he's making sure that this is the right thing to do before he shuts off to get his ass into gear and make it over to the dojo!! ]

video; un: MAXIMUMLEGEND

[maximumlegend]

.. wait, you and Rin came from the same place?

[ Fabian may know a bit about both Rin and Rosie, but apparently this is something he didn't know about them.

Sure, it's nothing super shocking, but he still definitely sounds surprised! ]

[hasitsthorns]

We did! Different times, it seems like, but we were both from Japan.

[ Although, she also does need to clarify: ] And maybe not from the same world, exactly? But who knows! Japan existed in both of them if nothing else, which- That was a nice common link to have with someone.

[ There's another kid here from there, she thinks, but hasn't seen much of him since the pool party last summer when she first arrived. ]

[maximumlegend]

So there's..

[ ...

Hold on, he's getting there. It's not like Fabian is really dumb or anything, but this is a new idea to wrap his mind around for a second. He's met a whole lot of people, sure, but never anyone who came from some weird different version of Spyre. He doesn't even know what a different version of Spyre would look like! ]

There is more than one Japan out there? Is that what you're saying? I mean-- [ Okay, Earth to Fabian, he is somewhat realizing he's ignoring half of what she's saying here. ] I am very glad that you two got to share something like that, but this is the first I am hearing of it!

[hasitsthorns]

[ It's a lot, she gets it. Until here, she also hadn't really considered the idea of different versions of her country existing, but... Even if it's not called Japan, in some cases, it sounds similar enough that she has to wonder. ]

Yeah, probably! Or, I guess... Earth seems to be a pretty common planet people come from, apparently? Which usually has Japan on it, so- Even if they're not from the same earth as me, theirs probably also has a Japan.

I don't know if Rin and I were from the same original world since she was, like, three hundred years before my time. We could have been, but I don't have a way of knowing so- I thought, well, maybe it's a situation of different earth and time, but coincidentally both from the same country of origin.

I'm guessing you haven't run into anyone else where you're from but the people you know already?

[maximumlegend]

[ Dang, Rosie. That's a pretty weird story. At least Fabian is used to more long-lived people where he comes from, so the fact that Rosie and Rin are that far apart doesn't even seem all that strange to him. If only both Rosie and Rin weren't just human - or so he thinks - then maybe they could even have met back home!

But he cuts off his own thoughts about that for a second so he can focus on her question instead. ]

You would be right about that. I actually assumed that someone else here was from the same world as us, since she seemed to share knowledge that seems foreign to most other worlds out there but ours, but she ended up coming from an entirely different place anyway. [ He does sound a little bummed about that. Not extremely so, but-- well, if Rosie is paying attention to his tone, she'll be able to pick up on the fact it was a disappointment for Fabian. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ Perhaps she's desensitized to 'weird' knowing the people that she has the last few years. For example, Gorgug hadn't seemed odd to her in the slightest despite being so large and green. Neither had Fabian's bike beyond the term 'hellhound' and how for her it was... a lot different. ]

Aw, man, yeah- I can see why that might be hard. It is interesting though that your guys' worlds were so similar! Kind of neat, the common ground even across different universes.

I also wonder if, like, when we do go back home what Etraya will sound like to other folks. I wouldn't be able to tell anyone anyway considering, uh, my unique circumstances but- Still! It'd be one helluva story.

[maximumlegend]

...

[ Wait, hold on. ]

Your unique circumstances?

[ Fabian's brain is moving back so quickly through everything Rosie has ever told him about herself and the place she comes from, but he isn't so sure there's something in all of that information that would consider unique circumstances exactly..

And with Fabian being Fabian, of course he's just going to ask very directly: ]

What do you mean?