video; un: otoproxy [backdated to August 22, before the rainfall]

[ends]

[ as tempting as simply using text would be to send out what amounts to little more than an advertisement, Otonashi comes to the inevitable conclusion that the subject requires more care than a faceless message. despite sporting the “perpetually exhausted” look, the redhead on the video feed offers a warm, weary smile. ]

Right, hey... I figured this is as good a time as any. I pitched an idea a while back about an informal, survival support group. I know for some people, this place is a respite... for other people, it’s hell.

[ those parameters, too, are subject to change from month to month. taking a deep, steadying breath, Otonashi forces himself to maintain focus on the video. ]

No matter how you see it, one thing is true for everyone: you have to connect to survive. That’s easy for some of us, but all of us have stories from home, and not all of them ... make this whole “hey, go touch other people” thing very easy.

I want to hold meetings around the 20th of each month in the Level 2 community center, after the moons’ effects are gone and before anything else starts up, since... that seems to be the trend. There are no requirements to join. This is a way for people to look out for each other... either as friends or as a mutual way to get needed chroma, no strings attached if you’d prefer that.

[ brushing at one of his eyes, he glances over to a small, paper enclosure with a few origami animals in it, deliberately placed in the feed: a paper bunny, a frog, a cat, and a few others that are more difficult to distinguish. ]

But I want everyone to know that they don’t have to fight alone. We’re all sharing this world whether we like it or not. I’ll be offering “SSR club patches” for anyone who wants them, and... origami animals in honor of someone who isn’t with us anymore. And food! A season’s end meet-and-greet picnic, maybe with marshmallow toasting and campfire stories. Something easy to start. I’m open to having one this month if people are interested, even if it’s a bit last-minute...

So, please consider it. If you’re alone and you’re feeling lost, then... come, and don’t be for a while.

Comments

[suspecteverything]

[It's the idea of the post and the pain he can hear in the voice behind the message that initially draws Jules in. Really, the idea is a good one. He'll have to keep an eye on this and potentially leave things to help them. Or something. He's not one to openly be involved. It's for that reason that he starts his interaction with a question that probably doesn't seem even remotely important.]

Is that what those decorations are called? Origami animals?

[ends]

Yeah. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about origami except that it existed, but... The library had a few how-to books on it. I think she would have liked them. Her own little pet display.

[ after she had sent him an exhaustive list of animal names, he’s confident she would have had some reaction to the little paper creatures, if she’d been around to see them. ]

If you like them, I’d be happy to try to make you one, too.

[suspecteverything]

That's more than I knew. Never even heard of it before. It's what, paper?

[Pretty low tech for what his world usually does, but he girls would probably adore them.]

[ends]

Right, paper! It’s best with origami-specific paper, it folds a little easier and the result is a lot nicer, I think.

[ stepping aside to pull one of them free of the “enclosure,” Otonashi brings a small dog into view. ]

Some of them even move if you manipulate them. Is... is there a sort of animal you like? A favorite?

[suspecteverything]

Not sure how many animals we have that are similar to yours. Maybe a bird or something?

[ends]

I have a few birds! And a few of them flap their wings if you pull their tails, like I said.

[ but, there’s something in the way that it was addressed: animals that are (or aren’t) similar to these crafted approximations. ]

Do you have other sorts of animals? Not from earth?

[suspecteverything]

I only know of Earth from all you people here mentioning it. It's not a planet in any of the systems that I travel. If it were on any map anywhere I would have at least recognized the name even if I didn't know much about it.

[ends]

Ah, systems..? You’re talking space travel, star systems. So casually, too...

[ things he knows only from works of fiction, video games and media that try to capture an imagined piece of a future where such things are possible. the curiosity in his expression is tinged with a thinly-veiled awe. ]

This world is ... a strange one, isn’t it? You sound like you’re from thousands of years in the future from whenever I was alive, I was pulled right from an afterlife, I know people who aren’t from earth at all...

[suspecteverything]

Yeah, star systems. Multiple. And yeah, it's a pretty casual thing where I'm from. I visit more than one on a daily basis. I make a living running cargo between different planets.

[And stealing it and doing other things. Such is the life of a space pirate.]

Like I said. I'm not from earth. I was born on Andaria. Grew up there, and spent some time on Triosa and Kirovar. Visited a few other planets or outposts too. Now I live on a space station.

[ends]

Never heard of those, but... I believe you. I mean, look at what we’re dealing with now.

[ a bizarre planet that runs on physical contact. ]

You probably have a lot of cool stories to tell if you were traveling like that all the time. Most of mine always come back to, “oh yeah, and then everyone died,” so... uh.

[ not always the most uplifting messages. ]

You don’t have to, but if you’d ever want to come hang out and tell stories, or... adopt an origami pet. You’re welcome to!

[suspecteverything]

Mine end pretty similarly. Either "oh yeah, and then someone died," "oh yeah, and then I killed someone," or "oh yeah, and then someone tried to kill me."

[He's not exactly the most liked person in the universe. In fact, he's the second most hated being by actual fact. They really took a poll.]

I'm better at listening than telling.

[ends]

Oh, you too, huh.

[ he hadn’t ever intentionally killed someone, but otherwise he gets it. ]

Well, at least you wouldn’t give me a dumbfounded look if I brought up getting pierced through the chest or watching a guy get crushed, or drown, or... that sort of thing. I hate to say that it becomes routine, but...

[ anything can become normalized. ]

[suspecteverything]

[Oh, Jules has most certainly intentionally killed people. In his last mental meltdown he had nearly two dozen bodies in various... states... in cold storage on his ship when his wife found him. Not all of those guys had come at him first either.]

Not dumbfounded, no. Just... sad, I guess. That you ever needed to experience all of that.

[ends]

I could say the same thing for you. I... don’t think it’s something anyone is meant to live with.

[ but the same is true for the stories of so many: many burdens aren’t meant to be shouldered, and yet they are, they must be. or they aren’t, and what is granted instead is a bitter end.

Otonashi shakes his head, forcing himself to straighten up. ]

But that’s why we should support each other. Remind people that they’re not alone. You don’t have to stop by, but if you want to peek in and take home one of my origami animals, then come by tomorrow.

( just if you’d like, I did toss up a quick log post this way if Jules wants to grab some food/adopt a weird earth paper animal and peace out or anything like that! no pressure, of course! )

[suspecteverything]

Right, so I should get to live with sunshine and rainbows and all that shit. Pretty sure the entire world would end if that ever happened. Either because it's so ridiculously impossible or because I'd blow the damn place up in protest.

I'll keep it in mind though.

[Otonashi is much more likely to find a few plates of cookies anonymously left for those who do show up, and they'll be pretty amazing ones too.]