[VIDEO .005 | username edward.elric]

[alchemyfreak]

The way things work here, people are supposed to leave by choice. Has anyone been contacted by a friend, before they left? I’ve heard some theories that when we leave we don’t get a chance to say goodbye, once the portal points the right way either you go or you miss it.

A few of us have talked about leaving a message in advance, so if the opportunity comes and we have to take it without warning people here have something left behind. Some people used to do that where I was before… has anyone here done anything like that? It seems worth it.

Even if we don’t want to leave, I’m not entirely convinced everyone that’s gone left here by choice.

[A pause. There’s no emotion when he speaks, if anything there’s a distinct lack of emotion, expression carefully neutral with the last part.]

Yuffie’s gone. For anyone that knew her and isn’t aware yet.

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video - un: redpaladin

[tempredmental]

[Keith was aware that there was that kind of chance after hearing that Allura had been here once before, but was gone now. He frowned a bit.]

Yuffie, huh?

[He thought about that.]

They say the portal brought us here because there was some 'desire' within us to not be where we were at home. Maybe it works like that in reverse? Maybe, if that feeling to be somewhere else is completely gone, and we really want to go back strongly enough, it just takes you back.

[They had talked about staying vs leaving. Keith remembered her saying something about possibly returning. Maybe that's what happened. She might not have been fully ready to leave, but she also might have just really wanted to go home.]

[alchemyfreak]

If you ask during Orientation, they tell you that the portal can be directed back to your home world, but that it's not easy and can take time. That we should get comfortable here in the meantime, while we wait for our turn to go home. If the portal randomly sends us back without warning, shouldn't we be told about that too? It's not exactly in the video.

[Still, he's considering it at least.]

It does make sense though. If that's the case, any of us really could leave at any point - even those that don't want to - maybe leaving a letter isn't such a bad idea after all.

[tempredmental]

Well, they seem pretty excited when people seem to want to stay, yeah? So maybe they don't want you to think that, if you wish it hard enough, you'll just... go home. Or, maybe the whole... waiting our turn... or the time it takes... maybe that's just a way of describing it, and the portal is suddenly directed when your desire is strong enough, and that's your cue to leave.

[Keith wasn't sure, either, and he knew he probably sounded like he was just rambling with ideas, but it was something to think about and string together. He wasn't much of a verbalizer when it came to thoughts and ideas. He preferred to work visually with diagrams and other things, but he didn't really have a place to do that, yet. He and Shiro had only moved into their new place a few days ago, and they were still settling in with the Lions.]

It's probably not a bad idea, at all, really.

[alchemyfreak]

[Keith stop being so logical, damn.]

It would make more sense, if we direct ourselves here that our own desires would direct us home too. Honestly, that might also explain how our stuff gets brought here, if we're thinking about that more than going home - or even if we're not, they might just be easier for the portal to obtain than sending us home right off.

[It made sense to him, but that also meant he'd have to admit that he was thinking about the General Store itself more than leaving this place. As much as Ed didn't want to leave bringing the store here wasn't exactly on his to-do list. It was just such an iconic part of his time in Purg.]

[tempredmental]

Hm.

Well, the Lions indicated to me and Shiro that they had felt some sort of need and reacted, coming through the portal on their own. So, maybe you're right. Maybe stuff comes through because we wanted it to.

[Keith had no real reason to think otherwise.]

[alchemyfreak]

Guess it's a good thing you can communicate that with them, I can't exactly ask a store why it came here.

[So the logical explanation seemed to be that their own will could bring them (and their stuff) through, and that was the mentality he'd likely operate on until further information said otherwise.]

video; @b.potts

[tutee]

[ Bill appears wistful, obviously thinking about the Doctor having left without a goodbye. Even though she knows he turns out alright, even though she saw in the canister's memories that he survived the Master and Missy and the Cybermen... The pain of losing him is still there. ]

I'm sorry about Yuffie. She was sweet.

[alchemyfreak]

[There's a flicker of expressions across his features at her sincere response, as if unable to settle on one particular emotion. He didn't know Yuffie's outcome, so there was no real panic or relief over how things would go for her having been sent home, but there was the knowledge that she wanted to be back there, regardless of how it might turn out. After a moment he seems to settle on a small smile, if it was anyone that knew him - anyone that knew them - he might have acted happy that she was gone, he might have put on that she was pushy and annoying and he was glad to be rid of her. He couldn't really do that with Bill, at least without coming off like an asshole, and she was being too honest with him to be his usual self.]

Yeah... She was.

audio | @altin

[bringbackgold]

One friend told me before she left. Another left me a note and a job recommendation. Another person I knew left by surprise.

[ There's a bit of a pause. ]

There seems to be no pattern.

[alchemyfreak]

That's the sense I'm getting, but it doesn't make much sense for people to leave without saying goodbye if leaving is optional.

I'm starting to wonder if everyone that leaves actually wants to, and how much time people have to prepare when the portal points home.

[bringbackgold]

Maybe some want to leave by choice. Maybe others don't get a choice. Maybe the portal chooses them without warning.

Doesn't seem to make much sense whether you're coming or going here.

[alchemyfreak]

That's what I'd like to figure out, though I'm more concerned about people being prepared in case it does happen. If they want to be, at least. If it's possible the portal sends us back by accident, it seems smarter to be ready for that outcome.

If displaced feelings are all we need to go through that portal, even a note is better than nothing.

[bringbackgold]

It helps, I'm sure. I had two -

[ There's hesitation here. ]

People I knew from home that went back at the same time. No notes. But Yuri got keys to a place that belonged to one of them around that time.

[ It was like a parting gift. Hard to say if the gift was from Yuuri or if - it just happened to work out that way. ]

Since then, I am not sure what to expect. So...I don't.

[ Which is hard for him because he likes to plan and calculate and behave. And the lack of predictability of the portal so far makes him a little uneasy. He is always worried it's going to be Yuri next. Or himself. He wouldn't want to leave Yuri behind. ]

I just prepare the best I can.

[ At least mentally. A little. He thinks about what he'd do when the portal would start taking his most cared about home. ]

text, @jb.barnes

[anotheroldsoldier]

It was a bit rushed, but a friend did let us know before he left. I assume when it's open to the right place and time, you have to take it then and there, or stick around for god knows how long waiting for another chance.

And some people don't like drawn-out goodbyes.

[More like all this paranoid conspiracy theory stuff on the network gets old, even to a man who eats, sleeps, and breathes paranoia.]

[alchemyfreak]

That was my theory, but it doesn't make it any easier on the people that do get left behind. I just don't want to find out that leaving here isn't always optional when it's too late.

[He wasn't in much of a rush to get home like most people he knew, and being pulled from worlds without his consent or knowledge was hardly an experience he was unfamiliar with. Mostly though, Ed doesn't do open communication about feelings well so this is his best way of coping with Yuffie being gone.]

[anotheroldsoldier]

They don't force people to leave, just like they didn't choose to have people come through who didn't want to be here. They'd actually prefer us to stay, so it doesn't make sense that leaving wouldn't be a choice.

[alchemyfreak]

They wouldn't gain anything from forcing us to leave,
but no one chooses who arrives either. From what I understand the portal acts on its own,
if it can pull people here that don't want to be here couldn't it also send people back that didn't want to leave?

Guess I'd just feel better if there was a way to confirm that everyone who left so far has actually wanted to, and there isn't really a way to do that.

[anotheroldsoldier]

That's what I said. They don't choose who comes through. The theory is that people are brought here who feel as if they don't belong in their own world. If someone wanted to stay here, it doesn't make sense for it to work exactly opposite and send away someone who feels like they belong.

Finding a way to feel better is on you, but don't spread around paranoid bullshit and rile up the new arrivals. There's no conspiracy here. I've been here for months and I keep seeing this crap when the Riverview government has been nothing but transparent about what they do know.

[alchemyfreak]

People get brought here because of a fleeting feeling,
who's to say that it can't work in reverse?

I don't know where you got the idea I'm talking about the government, like I said the portal is what brings people in. Errors don't have to be conspiracy theories, you know.

You seem dead set on this topic, but I was talking about having a chance to say goodbye and options we can take if there isn't one since we don't know who will come or go next.

[ text | un: jkent ]

[supersweet]

My dad left me a note.

[alchemyfreak]

[Ouch, they haven't talked in awhile so he didn't even know Jon's dad left.]

Did it help?

[supersweet]

Yeah. I mean, I'm sure he would have told me in person if he could.

[alchemyfreak]

That's what concerns me. You would think more people would say goodbye.

[Obviously not everyone, Bucky brought up a good point there.]

We didn't get a chance where I was before, no one knew who would leave next there either. In the fist world I was in, my brother left me a note... After some time there, if people earned a way home they were given the option to leave on their own terms, but people still disappeared at random. Al didn't have a key to go home, and he would have said goodbye if he left by choice, the notes he left must have been written in advance.

It's not a bad idea, to try to give people here closure.

[supersweet]

I'm sure everyone tries when they came. But portals are weird. You can't miss your chance either.

[alchemyfreak]

Right. They've been pretty clear about how unpredictable it is from the start so putting something together in advance could save people a lot of trouble when it is time to go.

I have no plans to leave, but if there's even a chance of it happening anyway I'd rather be prepared. I would think others might think the same.