riverview | [VIDEO .005 | username edward.elric]

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[VIDEO .005 | username edward.elric]

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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Are there a lot of those people here? Who wanna stay here forever?

[ Jon can't fathom it. ]

Honestly, I don't know. Most people I know want to go home or are torn between the two. Usually because of some obligation back home.

I know I'm not the only one that's perfectly fine staying here, but as for how many there are? People I've talked to seem to have a different idea of how common it actually is.

While almost everyone I've talked to about it wants to leave, someone on the network said most people he spoke to didn't.

Well that is kind of personal. And it's not an easy decision to come to. I mean, even if the world was bad, it's still yours.

It's complicated, I've seen people that go home just to die who would rather be gone.

For me, I know that what I set out to do gets done even without me there. I'm sure I'll go back eventually, but there's no point in being in a rush when my being here changes nothing.

Doesn't it?

I think being here can change things here too.

Back home, at least.

Being here can alter a lot, especially with the people here. Even within ourselves. We make friends we never would have met back home, being places like this as long as I have has changed my priorities a bit.

What did they change into?

I realized there's no point rushing home to fix things if that happens whether I'm there or not. It's not like I get to stay on my world when I get back anyway.

The community I was in before needed me, I'd just rather be here for the people that I've gotten to know than go home to what inevitably happens without me even being there.

How many places have you been in?

Five, including my home world.

Or... I guess it will be five once I leave here.

[Did canister memories count as "being there" already?]

Is there any one you miss the most?

[That was something didn't tend to talk about, but thankfully text meant Jon wouldn't see his reaction.]

Yeah.

Objectively, the worst one of all.

How come? If you wanna tell me, that is.

Guess I just adapted there better. We all really relied on each other and the population was small enough to get to know everybody. We struggled to survive, but we did it together.

Where I wound up after that was kind of like it is here, most of the time. The horrors we faced were different, more like internal struggles and the population wasn't as close.

The reason I'm here is probably because I didn't belong there in the first place, Attollo was not an easy adjustment after being in Purg.

Yeah. We all have to adjust. I used to keep moving, so I never really had friends or anyone. Because we wouldn't be there for very long.

When my brother and I were kids we traveled the country after I joined the military. I was never used to being in one place for long, either.

Nevermind a building with nine room mates.

Is it better here, not having to move around so much?

It's definitely better. I mean, I get to make actual friends and stuff. I couldn't do that before.

That's good, then.

It's kind of the same thing, in a way. The first place I really had to settle down and get to know people just happened to be a lot more malicious than this one. I was still a teenager then though.

Malicious how?

Did you all have to fight for a spot or were there like zombies?

The place was run by beings that called themselves gods. They said we were there to repent for our sins and put us through trials in order to do that. It all seemed pretty bogus, like we were just toys for them. Half the place had no electricity or running water, you had to earn those, we had to kill monsters to stay safe, sometimes even just to eat.

There were plenty of places to live but they were mostly run down rotten wooden buildings. They didn't provide much shelter from the floods, fires and blizzards.

Attollo had proper housing, electricity and running water. It was more modern, but not nearly as advanced as it is here, I've never had a cell phone. We had to deal with curses there, but nothing like killing monsters or the land itself seeming out to kill us.

Wow. That's pretty intense. I know a few dimensions like that, but we never stayed longer than a day or two.

I was in Attollo for a year, and Purgatorium a few years before that. It's hard to pinpoint really, we wound up with false memories of years that never happened, a lot of it was underground so there was no sun to follow for time, either. Makes it more difficult to keep track.

I was there long enough to get used to it, that much I know.