etrayalogs | When I look at the stars, I feel like myself [ota]

When I look at the stars, I feel like myself [ota]

WHO: Rosie (

hasitsthorns) & you
WHEN: July 7th & on
WHERE: The dojo
WHAT: Tanabata celebration!
NOTES\WARNINGS: N/A

Tanabata Time

After her network post explaining the holiday, Rosie is allowing guests to come visit the dojo to write their own wishes! Everyone is free to celebrate and she promises to safeguard them going forward.

HOW TO PLAY

➤

Get a tanzaku - a colored strip of paper!

➤

Write a wish on it! Can be for anything (romance, financial success, etc.)

➤

Hang it up on a bamboo tree and admire your work!

(Feel free to make your own top-levels and this log as a general catch-all! It isn't just for me/Rosie, but anyone that would like to enjoy some cute fluffy summer fun!)

PROMPTS

Food & Company
For anyone visiting to write their wishes, Rosie has put out chilled orange juice and simple sweet and savory snacks. A friendly black-coated Borzoi will greet any guests with curious snuffling and a tail wagging. Some chickens cluck in the main ground but won't bother any guests.

Octopus Surprise
People might pass by a saltwater tank with seemingly nothing inside. There should be, but don't be surprised to find an escapee octopus somewhere unexpectedly. He's too smart for his own good.

Hang Out & Have Fun
Since the dojo is open to the public, people are free to come and go as they like either to write wishes or utilize the space. Just don't get TOO carried away! There are bamboo/wooden weapons to use so no one - or the property - gets hurt. You break it, you fix it.

♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In the dojo's main garden area, Rose sits among the bamboo trees lined with colorful strips of paper that dance in the breeze. She's in a yukata with her hair pulled up feeling both nostalgic for home as she scribbles a bit of kanji onto a tanzaku.

(There are no limit for wishes, okay!)

Still, there is a limit on space to put them. She could move further down... or she could go higher up. The woman decides on the latter and pulls a (likely far too heavy rock for her still sore arm) over from the nearby zen garden. If not stopped, she'll stand precariously on her tiptoes on the highest edge of the rock and stretch to reach a higher section of bamboo to put her newest wish on.

Almost...!

"Well, hi, Rosie."

A casual greeting as he watches her climb onto a rock and get on her tiptoes to reach a high branch. His eyes dart to her feet then back up toward how she's balancing herself. He walks a little too confident for someone who is more like a bug that slipped into a house.

"That looks dangerous." But he doesn't draw any closer. His eyes roll up as he's analyzing and mulling over investment numbers, and drifts back to her. "You could end up with a sprained ankle before the mission, you know?"

She is balancing herself... fairly precariously. It's with a decided lack of care about the risk versus the pursuit of the reward. She's gonna' get this paper on this tree and where she wants it exactly one way or another!

Still, the acknowledgement does make her wobble a little unexpectedly. "Oh!" she starts, glancing back. "Hey, dude! I appreciate the concern, but I'll be good." Will she...? She reaches up again with tongue stuck out in concentration as she tries once more to reach her goal.

"Not like I wanna' potentially weigh down another mission or anything though."

"All right, then."

Vincent does think that the balancing looks a little precarious but at the same time, he said what he needed to say. He holds his hand out to the side, pointing his finger at the wall, before flicking his wrist upward. His hand drops down to his side once more.

"Weigh down another mission? Did you cause some trouble before?" He doesn't think that he's heard anything one way or the other, but figures that he should hear how that might've gone. And he wonders which mission it was.

Sometimes, she needs to learn the hard way. Thankfullly, this isn't necessarily one of those times. Despite another wobble after a small hop to reach the branch she wanted to, she's lowering herself down to solid ground again. The blond looks at her handiwork before giving an approving nod.

"Ah, well- Not exactly? It just seems like I don't, like, 'get' the missions sometimes. Like the train with the King, that was... I got really upset about the way some folks were handling it and lashed out? Then, after that, the one world with all the competition- I kind of got swept up in that in a bad way." It just feels like she hasn't been contributing in a helpful way to most missions. She's just kind of there.

Vincent doesn't really know much of how things went with the train, honestly. He died within the first few days and was sent back to Etraya. However, he can understand the feelings that she has about the whole situation.

"People decided on how the situation would be handled without asking anyone else their opinions." He flicks his wrist side to side as he gestures. "In the end, a decision was made and there's no real telling how that affected anything. However, I wonder -- since you decided on doing something different, if those people from the train return to Etraya, will you be willing to face their response?"

He'll start with that instead of getting into the competition.

"Yes," she answers, almost no hesitation. Perhaps a while ago, there might have been more. That was before she could see herself in the people on that train though. Once she realized they were like she was - being led along with little to no say in so many ways - then she resolved herself to face whatever consequences came from letting them choose their own fate.

"I don't think it's right when we're sent to places like the train and potentially meddle in other people's lives without them being aware. What if finding the king had done more harm than good? Even if it was good, why wouldn't we let the people it effect make that decision for themselves in the first place?" She's getting a little fired up just thinking about it all again.

"I'd be willing to face them if whatever they decided was bad and they came back. The important part would be they decided it though, not me or anyone else not from their world." She kind of did tell some people off about it, too, actually who didn't see it her way. Her and a couple of people never got back onto better terms since.

"I'm very pleased to hear that, Rose."

If he wasn't on better terms with her, he may have turned his hands over to lightly applaud. However, he recognizes the action to be an aggravating one so he doesn't.

"However, here's another question for you." He folds his arms behind his back as he walks in little half circles behind her. "What about leaving it only to those that made the decision?"

He drops his arms back to his side. "After all, there are some of us that didn't have anything to do with the decisions of the few." His head tilts to the side. "If it turns out those people are mad, of their own free will and volition, should those few face their wrath alone?"

"I... Hm," she starts, but then stops to contemplate. Questions like these, she knows, are why people like Charlie were leaders and she wasn't. It's not that she doesn't think of them! It's just a bit more difficult for her to consider being so emotionally driven.

"The people who didn't have any say shouldn't need to face any negative consequences. It should be up to who did and... working with them, I guess, to figure out a resolution?" That seems ideal. Part of her knows though that these types of situations are rarely ideal.

Fabian can't say he's ever really heard of a tradition like this, but-- hey, if it's important to a friend, then he sure is willing to try it out. Especially since this one sounds harmless. Maybe even a little boring, though he'd never say that out loud. He wouldn't want to hurt Rosie's feelings.

Rather than finding her when she's doing her best to put it up high in the bamboo, Fabian comes across Rosie when she's still writing her wish down. He leans over, a grin on his face as he asks: "So, what are you wishing for?"

He's probably startling her, since he didn't announce his presence at all, but the grin on his face does seem a little mischievous enough to imply it's intentional..

It's okay, Fabian. Compared to some other summer holidays, it is a little bit boring. She enjoys it though regardless so would appreciate the sparing of her feelings. While it's not for everyone, she is happy he's here. Once the surprise subsides, since- "Wah!" she exclaims, at first.

So focused on her wish, she actually hadn't heard him approach. That's unusual for her. Even with her heart thumping though and large sigh to release tension, she's not... afraid like she might have been months ago at being snuck up on. Her reaction was tame compared to what it used to be; in a way, Fabian's lucky she doesn't see him as a threat by any means.

"That's secret!" she follows up with. "Well, this one is. I've wished for other things though, like... My octopus to stop escaping from his tank."

"Aww, come on, Rosie! If you say it's a secret, I only want to know it more!"

Don't worry, he's still just being mischievous. Fabian will let her have his secrets, he's just busy stupidly grinning at her. (And being painfully oblivious of how much worse her reaction could have been - as Fabian usually is, let's be real..)

"Though.. If he's escaping his tank, shouldn't you just get a bigger one for him? Or a more luxury one? So he won't even want to leave!" Look how proud he seems of himself in this moment. Fabian truly thinks he's being big brained right now.

"It's nothing, like, bad-" She's really not making this less interesting. Is she? Ugh. "Just, y'know, hoping things turn around for me in some ways..." It's embarrassing to say it outright though. While romance doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, well. She is but a woman who misses being taken out on a date now and again. That's really all.

Anyway!

"The tank I have should be big enough and, trust me, he's spoiled rotten. Apparently, this is just a thing that octopus do? I don't know! Someone suggested a puzzle or something for enrichment, but he just ended up tossing it somewhere instead." He's a headache. She loves him so so much but also- Buddy. Please. Stay in the tank.

...

Fabian seems to think.

He stares at Rosie. He stares at the empty tank. He thinks about what the other just said.

Then, as a conclusion from all those thoughts: "Wait, so one of your wishes was for the octopus to stop escaping its tank, and your other wish was for to turn its tank around?"

Not what she said, Fabian. Sometimes dumb teenage boy brain activates in the worst of ways.

What? She realizes the miscommunication quickly enough at least after giving a slow blink to process.

"One of my wishes was for my octopus to stop escaping, but-! The turning around thing that's more, like, about..." For as forward as she can be, Rosie finds herself a bit more shy when it comes to her lack of success. Ugh.

"I haven't been on a date in almost a year now? It just... kind of sucks, I guess, and so I wish that'd. Turn around eventually. But it's not a big deal or anything!"

Oh.

Oh.

It takes another second to land with Fabian, but then the confusion on his face makes way for surprise once the realization hits him.

"Rosie, you wished for a date?" There's something in his tone that seems to indicate Fabian thinks this idea is ridiculous. Not the wishing for a date in particular - gods know that all Fabian did during his last spring break was talking about how much he wanted to get his kisses in - but instead it's-- "Why would you need that? You've already got everything you need to get any date you want!"

It is sweet of him to think it's ridiculous. Rosie wishes she could, too, but after so long and no luck she had just begun to internalize. Obviously, it was something wrong with her. It had to be!

"W-well! That's nice of you to say, but, I mean. I don't know! If that were true, why would it seem like I'm having such hard time here...?" She twirls a loose curl of hair around one of her fingers as her other hand now grasps the fabric of her yukata nervously. "It also just- I don't know! It feels silly, I guess, to be so worried about that when our worlds are at stake. Like, come on girl. Bigger things to be concerned about. Y'know?"

[ As surprising as it might be that the priest is present, Rosie has a high enough investment on his part that he willingly will come to one of her parties. Will he stay overtly long? Debatable. He'll have to reassess a few things, as he often does, due to how he is as a person.

But he is present.

Even willing to partake in the tradition of writing a wish on the paper.

Is he dressed up? No. Not really. Despite the heat, he's wearing a suit, at least, but no different or special than what he usually wears.

People to be less annoying.

The wish is sincerely heartfelt -- or at the very least, it is what he wants most out of everyone. And he goes to tie it onto a branch.

Pausing he glances to the person next to him: ]

I hope you didn't ask for anything too unrealistic. But I suppose I asked for the most unrealistic thing I can think of.

Gorgug has come, not exactly dressed up for the standards of such a festival, but he's not wearing his usual style of hoodie and jeans--he's wearing a nice pair of jeans (without any tears!) and a clean shirt, better for the warmer Etraya weather. And also, he doesn't have his gloves or goggles! He's being Good.

To any of his friends he messaged about coming, he could have given them a lift in his van--but otherwise...

1. picking a wish

2. picking a bamboo

a little guy

3. food.

4. or you can wildcard me ig.

Sorry, Gorgug, but Fabian did dress up for the standard. Maybe not in some horrible formal fashion or anything of the sort, but-- well, more just like what Gorgug is used to at this point. He's being horribly fashionable in this moment.

Not that he's very focused on it. Instead Fabian was in the middle of writing something down himself - also in horribly beautiful calligraphy, because of course he's going to show off - when he looks up and over at the other when Gorgug asks that.

"You have that much to wish for?" Bro?? You got wishes? That many?

"I want it to look colourful. Rosie likes this festival," Gorgug explains easily, happily, and without getting embarrassed to admit it as he looks back to Fabian. Why wouldn't he want to make Rosie happy? Because he does wonder how many people will show up--friends come and go, and they're all so far out from one another, and the trams only help so much in connecting everyone.

It's not Rosie's fault her house dojo is where it is.

Oh, gods.

Of course it's that. Fabian looks surprised for a moment when the answer he was expecting doesn't come - caught off guard by Gorgug for an unexpected option, apparently - but the size of his one eye returns to normal soon enough after.

Instead he just shakes his head a little, smiling in that sort of way that looks like Fabian finds his smile a little too goofy and is trying to suppress it, even though it's not working at all.

Of course it's Gorgug being a huge nerd who loves his friends and wants to make them happy. Exactly one of those things Fabian likes so much about him.

"In that case you should be practicing some forgery." Look, Bad Kids tips 101. Just to take away attention from the way Fabian is kind of giving Gorgug heart eyes here while he's trying really hard not to, thanks!!! Being too sweetly loving of your boyfriend at a big event is embarrassing!! "You know, make it look as if different people wrote it."

Edited 2025-07-22 12:44 (UTC)

He should practice forgery?

...

Gorgug looks at the colours he's amassed, looks at his writing utensil, and-- it can't be that hard, can it? He just needs to make them to seem like they're from different people, and he can imagine different ways of writing in his mind.

"Okay," he finally says after a quiet few seconds, and takes a yellow and blue piece of paper. He thinks about wishes, and then starts scribbling them down...

...

"Here." Done, Gorgug holds them back out for Fabian to assess, and he will see: an attempt at italicising his own handwriting to the point where any letters he can make look very long (h, t, l), are. And the other one looks.. like his handwriting, stretched out to mimic Comic Sans.

They read: I want to see the stars

I want barbecue

Apparently Fabian still has a pretty good impression of his boyfriend here, since the moment he witnesses the end result of those papers, he looks.. baffled. Like he genuinely expected Gorgug to have this skill, and he just didn't.

Sorry, he just-- He needs a moment to blink at the sheer thing he is witnessing here. Then Fabian grabs the papers right out of Gorgug's hands, if not just so he can study them up close.

"Gorgug, what is this? Have your parents never sent you to calligraphy lessons?"

He's met Gorgug's parents! He thinks they're really nice, and clearly they care a whole lot about their son.. So why wouldn't they? Clearly that's something all parents do for their children, right?

Gorgug isn't the same level of baffled as Fabian is, but he does look confused at Fabian and his reaction, watching him with the papers.

"They sent me to school that taught me how to write, which is the basics of calligraphy?"

Does that count? It's got to count.

"That is absolutely not the same thing!"

Granted, with Fabian's kind of childhood, it's entirely possible that he did learn calligraphy even before he learned general writing.. Who even knows what happened on that ship..

But he seems rather convinced about what he's saying here, at least.

"I can't believe that I am going to have to teach you this on the spot now, Gorgug. Get a new piece of paper!" Yes, Fabian is rolling up his sleeves. Like this is some Huge Endeavor coming up.

Can he really learn whatever Fabian's going to teach him right now--

It doesn't matter if he can, and Gorgug isn't that worried. He mutters an "Okay..." to Fabian's bossing, standing to get a couple more of the coloured sheets, picking different variations, and taking another pen with it.

When he comes back to where he was sitting, he holds out the coloured papers, the pen, for Fabian to take, while asking, "Did you bring your crystal with you?"

Fabian will need a surface... and Fabian doesn't need to use his crystal for this (like Gorgug did), right!!

"No."

Please, Gorgug. It's a small miracle whenever Fabian does have his crystal on him. You're clearly expecting too much here.

Though he does seem to kind of understand what the other is getting at, and he's looking around before starting to walk, making a gesture for Gorgug to come along. Fabian heads in the direction of the snacks table, and he just.. starts moving snacks around to make space there at the table..

Sorry, Rosie, he's acting like he's the host of this tanabata party now, apparently.

"Here. Get on your knees and get ready to write." (W-Woah, bro, so forward--)

How else do you listen to music non-stop, Fabian--

But there are no questions that follow from Gorgug. There's a command that Fabian gives him in a direct manner, and it takes Gorgug aback; he looks at Fabian for a good few seconds, then turns his head away when he doesn't want to show exactly where his mind is, which is: oh god.

They're in public. This is Rosie's event. He can't be embarrassing at Rosie's event.

Still, Gorgug complies (because he really, really wants to). The tips of his ears might feel warm as he walks to the table and lowers himself onto his knees. Embarrassed, wanting to get over himself, but, um.

He'll put the papers and pen on the table, but he should probably wait to be told what else to do? Y-yeah.

Y-yeah.

Maybe if Fabian took a real good look here at Gorgug he might realize what's going on through the other's mind. He does know the other's little tells at this point, after all.

But is he doing that? Of course not. Fabian doesn't have any reason to think that Gorgug might be taking this in a different way than he meant it, considering the setting and what they are doing.

Which means that he just casually continues bossing around Gorgug, adding: "Now write something down in the neatest way you can. Try to make it look as nice as you can."

In the meantime Fabian will make himself comfortable, thank you. Because there is no way he's going to allow his beautiful pants and knees to touch the ground here. Instead he's moving to sit down on the edge of the table, next to where Gorgug is writing - and peering over at the other's work. Peering oh so critically.

Well, this part isn't as sexy as where it started, but that's fine. It helps to stop Gorgug's heart from doing that stuttering thing it was doing, which is a good thing for where they are and what's going on. Gorgug picks up the pen, and he stares at the paper, figuring he shouldn't write the same things again that he has, right?

So, trying to be as nicely written as possible, Gorgug writes in a rather stiff manner:

'I wish for good handwriting.'

How far does he get into writing this, though, is the question.

"Gorgug, how come I am not even seeing a single curl in there?"

The other may get quite a way into writing it before Fabian speaks up - though not all the way, because of course he's going to comment and butt in before Gorgug is done. Fabian is even leaning over to look at Gorgug's work in the least subtle way, peering in the sort of way that might give any regular person stage fright from being looked at this much.

"I thought you were going to write it as neatly as you could!"

A curl???

At least Fabian speaks up before Gorgug is done, even though the entire outcome isn't different. Gorgug pauses with some confusion, looking at what he's written, and he thinks it's neat? How can he get neater? How is curling his handwriting going to make this more clear?

"Uh..." he sounds, but since he's around good, Gorgug decides to add a curl on the tail of the d, and then another on the hook of g.

More like spirals, actually.

"Like this?"

This girly ass looking handwriting???

Fabian goes quiet for a moment. (Miraculously so, considering it's Fabian.)

But it's mostly because he has to lean in and look at it. Really look at what Gorgug has added to those letters. Maybe even squint with his one eye for a moment as he's really taking it in.

".. It's better."

Maybe that's not saying much, but by the standards Fabian has for calligraphy, that's already quite a lot..

"Calligraphy is all about making things look fancy. That's why you have to move your pen across the paper as if it's dancing! Just think of me when you're writing, that should get more of these desired results."

Just think about Fabian when he's writing? That's... a lot of swirls, twirls, and then a slant for his running legs out on the field (which Gorgug hasn't seen much in that kind of action, but he does remember). It's also a lot to actually put into action, despite Fabian's thoughts otherwise.

But he wonders, since Fabian made that comparison to the pen and himself:

"What if you thought about me when writing?"

Bro.

Boyfriend.

Is he a good handwriting?

"Hm?"

That's definitely a surprised kind of hum. Because Fabian looks over to Gorgug with less dramatics - or, well, less dramatics on purpose! - as he stops his fancy explanation, staring at his boyfriend like the other asked him to solve a difficult mathematical equation out of nowhere.

Baffled and lacking an answer, that is.

"You.."

Sorry, sometimes he has trouble keeping up with Gorgug's big beautiful mind and the wild places it can go all of a sudden.

"You mean as if you were a font?"

There's only one way to answer that, other with the nod Gorgug gives.

"I'm a font," he agrees with. Continuing to watch Fabian, waiting.

Tell him, Fabian: What do you see?

Fabian frowns.

His mouth opens. Then it closes again. At least it does look like he is genuinely thinking about this, though he also seems very exasperated about it at the same time. Like he's doing it, but also at the same time isn't entirely sure why he's doing it.

(It's the thing we do for love, Fabian...)

"I don't know. Something with.. numbers?"

That is not how fonts work..

This isn't good enough. It's not visual enough, and Fabian is the one who started this, and now he needs to be the one to-- conclude it? Finish it?

And so Gorgug produces one of the slips of paper (that Rosie definitely did not prepare for this) and holds it and the pen out to Fabian. His boyfriend. The font expert.

"Show me," he asks, simply.

Come on.

"Wha--"

Fabian stares at the paper Gorgug is holding out to him like the other is holding a gun up to his head. Or worse, actually, given that Fabian often doesn't seem all that rattled by having a gun held up to his head whenever it happens during one of their actual battles.

But this is not a battle. This is his boyfriend demanding something of him he's not really sure he can provide.

Fabian's mouth opens, then closes, and he's still not taking the paper.

"Why are you ordering me around?!" Please, boy, you were doing the same thing to him only a moment ago..

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When I look at the stars, I feel like myself [ota]

rosie ❥ ota

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sorry for the delay! con/cosplay prep ate my life and just got back

ah it's all good!

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vincent smith | ota

gorgug thistlespring, ota

1

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