video: un: swan

[sheriffing]

Uh, hi.

[ can she have points for effort? the wave she gives is more uncertain than friendly, like she's not entirely comfortable addressing the entire network (she's not). she figures it'll work for everyone else the same way it does for her. when Emma has something to offer, she answers. when she doesn't, she leaves it to someone else.]

My name's Emma, and as a lot of you have already noticed, I'm new here.

[ she's been called out on it enough to know that it's obvious. some part of her still doubts everything here and it bleeds into conversation too easily. most people have been here long enough to accept this reality, but Emma's still thinking of home.]

I'm not gonna pretend that my first instinct wasn't to wallow in my disappointment until my family wakes up, but I know there's a lot to be done here. I've seen all of you getting things done here, and I just wondered... how have you been able to use the skills you learned in your home world to keep you busy in this one?

[ because it's time for her to think about taking on a job, and making a difference, and she's pretty sure that doesn't mean a sheriff's badge and a cruiser anymore. so far, she's been part of the clean-up effort, but she needs something else to get by on.]

Back home, I was the sheriff in a town called Storybrooke, Maine. Here, I don't know. How did you know where to start?

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text | un: yusei

[planetary_bonds]

there were people who were just as lost as i was. they needed help.

[It's a rather abrupt answer, to be sure, but still. There's some merit in it.]

somehow, it's easier to put aside my own worries when there are others that need someone to do something. i might not be able to do it, but it's better than nothing. and i can't really stand by and do nothing, either.

[sheriffing]

[ that sounds a little familiar. it's a good answer, even if it's a little abrupt.]

What did you decide to do?

[planetary_bonds]

fix things.

[There's a few minutes before he seems to figure out that maybe this kind of answer is a little bit too vague.]

i'm a mechanic. learning how the technology works here was something i did out of habit, but being able to offer my services in that manner has at least given me something that i can do other than throw myself at odd jobs and requests.

[sheriffing]

Is the technology here similar to anything you had where you're from?

[planetary_bonds]

the electronics are, at least. the magic-based ones...i don't completely understand them, but if i could figure out how the energy's channeled through the devices, i could probably work with them.





steam technology is completely outdated to me, though.

[sheriffing]

Most things are vaguely familiar to me too - not that I'm good at fixing things. But it's more user friendly than I was expecting.

[ given, you know, the complexities of the stasis pods.]

[planetary_bonds]

user friendly, yes. making sense? not so much. I didn't expect such a variety of machines here...although in hindsight I probably should have. what with this place being a huge collection of species from different worlds or something...

[sheriffing]

Looks like they've borrowed a little of everything.

[planetary_bonds]

something for everyone, i suppose?

[His mouth twitches in a smile, not that she can see that over text.]

at least that means there's going to be something for you here, too. you'll find it.

[sheriffing]

Something for everyone that isn't quite what they're looking for.

That's probably more optimism than I deserve, but thank you.

[planetary_bonds]

i don't think they would have brought you here if they didn't think you could make it.

[at least, he hopes so. Maybe that's not completely the case since they brought him here, but at the same time they did really genuinely hope for everyone to get by, so...]

i'd say we all have a chance.

[sheriffing]

I guess that's more than we would have had if they hadn't brought us here.

[ end of the world and all. it's just been hard for her to seem grateful when she's worried about her family - but that doesn't mean she isn't.]

What do you think of all of this?

[planetary_bonds]

i think a lot of things about this.

[yusei.]

it's still a little hard to express it, honestly. there's frustration, curiosity...maybe still a little lost, even after these few months.

[sheriffing]

I could handle all of that if there was some guarantee of this working out for the people who are still asleep.

[ she gets frustrated, then she gets mad. without any real time to adjust, she doesn't know what the hell they want her to do here.]

[planetary_bonds]

and that...I wish I had an answer for you about that.

[When it's something even the gods don't have an answer for, just what this Storm is and why things must succumb to it, how could any of them have the answers? The certainty that the others you left behind would live on?]

for all of us that have woken, there must be...tens, hundreds who haven't. maybe more. and the way they spke about it, even us just being able to wake up is a miracle in and of itself.

i'm not certain any sort of guarantee is available, as much as i wish it.

[and just typing that is enough to splinter an already broken heart, one still aching for the loss of his loved ones.]

[sheriffing]

Me too, but even back home, nothing worth having ever came with a guarantee.

[ it's how things work for her. waking up first isn't much different than escaping the curse that kept her parents in Storybrooke while time stood still. somehow, she's always left behind and she's supposed to feel better about it because she's important.

oddly enough, nothing makes someone feel less important than constantly ending up alone.]

My family would want me to believe that I'll see them again, but I'm better at believing in things when they're with me, you know?

[ still doesn't mean she's not trying. but its harder for her here, the same way it is for everyone else who woke up.]

They used to say family always finds each other.

[planetary_bonds]

[It's lonely at the top, isn't it?]

that's what they call...bonds, I think.

[Aha, there it is. the obligatory kizuna no nakama shilling.]

I'm not going to tell you that they'll always be with you in your heart or something like that, I think you've probably heard that enough, but...

[There's a long pause before Yusei actually types again.]

when things get difficult like this...people have a tendency to make something out of nothing, you know?

[even a family.]

[sheriffing]

Yeah, I guess that's true.

[ it's harder to start over every time, though. to keep hoping and looking out for people only to have them taken away. what she's heard about stasis is that any of them can go back at any time. it doesn't inspire much confidence.

his words, though? they're kind. someone trying to be helpful, and the gesture doesn't go unnoticed.]

Are you doing the same?

[ making something out of nothing?]

[planetary_bonds]

i'm doing my best.

[And maybe, he wonders, if he hasn't already found somebody. even if they're in wyver right now, apart from him, at least...they have that promise to meet up again.]

others are, too. it's what ties us together.

[sheriffing]

That's all anyone can ask.

[ she hopes that he's able to rebuild, or that he is rebuilding, one of the two. seeing someone else do it might even give her some hope.]

One of the few things we all have in common.

[planetary_bonds]

probably one of the few things humans are best at, don't you think?




rebuilding, i mean. coming back from things. we just keep going, if you get what i'm trying to say.

[sheriffing]

I get what you're saying. We persevere.

[planetary_bonds]

mhmm.

everyone keeps telling me i should live on for the ones i've left behind. it's the only thing i can do, i think.

[sheriffing]

Yeah.

As much as I miss them, they wouldn't want us to stop living our lives.

[planetary_bonds]

live our lives, and have a space ready for them if they ever do make it back to us, right?