Scene #7445: New Horizons: Old Ground

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	Welcome back to New Horizons. https://i.imgur.com/CSp1v6r.png The island remains mostly as it was since last week. Still deserted, still untamed - but now slightly less so. Around the central area, someone's been pulling weeds and getting some gardening started, and where Kale's tent once stood there is now a construction site. Also standing out is the new airport - a small one, consisting of one seaplane hangar and an indoor lobby area. It seems like a bit of overkill for the small handful of elites that frequent this island so far, though? Kale's busying himself with more island chores when people start arriving. The raccoon family is out and about near the central 'hq' tent - or occasionally ducking inside to talk to someone. It seems they have a guest.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry's just as oddly tense on the plane-ride over as she was her first time around, but the second glimpse of the island reassures her rather than intimidating her as the first did. It's still largely tabula rasa, but the experiences of the other day have put her in a mind to see her lack-of-heroic-mandate as freeing rather than oppressive. A breath to steady herself, and then she steps off the plane. She's still got her wand's carrying case slung over her shoulder, though. Nothing in the world could convince her to leave that behind. Once touched down, she resists the temptation to beeline back for her cozy hilltop-spring spot, instead making for the 'HQ' tent with a pensively curious smile. "Oh, uh- good to see you again, Nooks. Everything going okay? I know Kale's been sort of... obsessive." If she's not stopped, she'll take a peek inside- who's the mystery person those raccoons have been chatting up?
Go Shijima	Go steps off the plane with a few postcards from home. "Yo, Kale," he says, on his way past. They're custom-made, from pictures he took himself. No samey tourist stuff or stock images--this is something more personal, and charming for it. They're cute pictures of people from the Special Cases Department: The middle-aged eccentric Chief Honganji, posing with a good luck charm and hamming it up. Rinna, a woman with the simultaneous airs of 'researcher' and 'wine aunt,' giving two thumbs up. Lieutenant Otta, who looks like someone went and made 'police procedural' into a real person, reaching for Go's camera. Kiriko, the only one besides the Chief who's in uniform, staunchly resisting a smile. Kyuu, a nerdy guy in a clashing outfit that kind of works despite the clash, surrounded by memorabilia from a favorite anime and making one of his dolls wave at the camera. Finally, a very unflattering picture of Tomari where it looks like he wasn't expecting to be photographed--it was snapped just as he was turning to look, with a glassy-eyed expression. Go naturally made copies of this one. He takes them all to the island's postal worker.
Hellwarming Trio	It's time to return to the island of New Horizons! To return to their home away from home! To... To... Rin: "Hey, Okuu. What're we gonna do today? Utsuho: "I don't know. I thought you would've had something figured out." Rin: "Nope! Let's... Uhhh." Utsuho: "... Oh! We could set up a food stand. We can make some money and eat at the same time." With that plan settled, the two youkai proceed to ignore it completely as they stretch their legs, doing a quick lap around the island to get their blood pumping after the plane ride. They take a moment to check out Kale's construction site, then follow him around once they spot him doing those chores. Rin: "Yo, bro! Don't overwork yourself to death. Unless I'm around." Once their ~~bloodlust~~ stiffness are dealt with, they finally notice the racoon family out and about, and they approach the gathering at the central tent. Rin: "Yo, bros! Sis!" Utsuho: "Heeey. What're you up to over here?"
Shinnosuke Tomari	Shinnosuke Tomari is here, dressed casual, with a sacred mission. As he steps off the plane... "Give me that photo, Go. You don't know what you're doing." Hopefully, this leads them to the MYSTERY PERSON, so that Shinnosuke can meet them.
BB	BB, at the post office, with a white-and-blue sailor outfit on featuring a skirt that is measured most accurately in centimeters and a side-slanted dixie cup hat, accepts Go's pictures. "Wow, these are great!" She exlaims with red heart-pupils popping out of her eyes cartoonishly in an awooga-awooga bit. "I've uploaded them all to BB~ Channel~ Island~ Life~! They'll help fill out the R and SR slots so people don't get too mad. Thanks, Primary Rider Mach!"
Kale Hearthward	"Yeah, I've been taking enough breaks," says Kale, who hasn't been taking enough breaks. "Look, I'm taking a break right now," he says, putting down the shovel and wheelbarrow. "See?" When BB takes the stack of pictures/postcards from Go, his phone dings with more Social Credit Score- no, wait, with more Nook Miles. And inside the tent is a hedgehog (not a porcupine) who looks to mostly just be hanging out and killing some time in the tent. She has a couple of suitcases next to the spot where she's sitting. "Well, howdy!" she says, waving. "Tourists coming through? Sorry, but I'm all sold out already, should have packed some more things to sell..." "Actually - these are the island's new residents," says Nook. "Miss Strawberry, Mr. Shijima, Miss Reiuji and Mr. Tomari and Miss Rin, this is Mrs. Able, one of my dearest acquaintences." "Please, call me Mabel," says the hedgehog, getting up and going to shake hands. "As I was saying earlier, you have a wonderful island, and I'm interested on seeing what you're planning on doing with it..."
Go Shijima	"What? I know exactly what I'm doing, Big Bro Shin!" He waves the photo tauntingly, allowing Shinnosuke to get close to grabbing it only to yank it away and slap it on the counter for BB to keep. "Thanks, BB! That's pretty cool." It is probably not cool for Shinnosuke. Checking his phone, he enters into the tent proper, just in time for Nook's introduction. "Yo, Mabel!" He's not... really sure what answer to give, as far as what to do with the island. But, giving it some thought... "It's a pretty good spot to chill, and it's got a lot of natural beauty." Naturally, he brought his camera with him, and he taps it lightly. "Whatever we do with it, I hope it stays that way." There's appeal in big cities, but something about the sense of community this place could one day foster appeals to him in a way that the bustle of city life doesn't.
Shinnosuke Tomari	Shinnosuke's hand reaches out. The photo is waved towards him, and- He misses it, as BB uploads it for the world to see. He drops to his knees. The color fades from his face. Shinnosuke Tomari is dead. No, wait, just defeated. After a moment, he steps back up, sighing, and follows Go into the tent. "Shinnosuke Tomari. It's a pleasure, Mabel." Mable Able?! "Well, my goal was to set up something to square away any supplies or items we find. Like a storage center. Perhaps, once we're set up, it could be formed into a Lost and Found type place."
Hellwarming Trio	Utsuho: "Mabel..." Rin: "... Able?" They pause briefly, then shrug and get right to the handshaking. They're surprisingly well-mannered for once. It's not like they have much room to laugh at weird names, considering some people they know. Utsuho: "Yeah, we're gonna open a food stand. We can take pictures of the food, too, so that could help get some more people here if they want to relax." Rin: "And so they can give us money!" Utsuho: "Yeah, yeah. We can get paid to buy more food." Brimming with confidence, Utsuho focuses on Mabel while Rin slips out Utsuho's phone from her pocket to look at what's just been uploaded. "So what do you sell, anyway?" Utsuho asks, tapping her chin as Shinnosuke mentions his plans. "Ooh, like a pawn shop? Or a warehouse? But if it's a lost and found, then... I guess that's useful, too."
Kale Hearthward	"Natural beauty is fine and all, but I'll personally be happy once the moles finish setting plumbing and electrical up," says Nook, with a glint in his eye. "Something I wanted to talk with you all about some more, actually..." "Oh, I sell clothing, do custom pattern designs and embroidery, all sorts of cloth-related things..." says Mabel. "Though as I said I sold out - this hawk came through and brought everything I had, I'll have to come by with more later..." "A storage center and a lost and found - not a bad idea, it'd help with future development and consolidating supplies as well..." says Nook, turning to look at the crates and boxes that are taking up a not-trivial amount of room in the HQ. "Let's see..." He digs around in a stack of crates, and then hands Shinnosuke a blueprint token. "Find a good spot, yes yes, clear out some space and throw that on the ground - it's just some construction flags and rope, but it'll mark where we should start setting up the foundation." A smaller token is handed off to the youkai pair for their project, as well.
Go Shijima	"Yeah," says Go in agreement with Nook. "Stuff like that would make it feel more like home, sure." He's very much the sort to point himself in a direction and get after a goal--so it's likely no surprise to Tomari that his next remark is in that vein. The moles can handle all of the technical work, but, Nook wouldn't have brought it up if there weren't something he needed--help, an opinion, a decision, something. "So, you wanted to talk to us about it some more, huh? Go ahead, then--what do you need?"
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry raises her eyebrows as Mabel explains she's all sold out: "But we're the only people here. Who'd..." A hawk. Strawberry has a brief flashback to Kale wearing a dress and makeup at Samhain's school, and absolutely rocking it. "Oh," she replies quietly. "Yeah. No- I understand completely. I guess he can't just make the clothes from magic, huh..." She shakes herself out of her reverie in time to say: "That's a great idea, Mr. Tomari! There's not... really anything, on the east side of the island yet, right? ... But then, maybe a lost-and-found should be somewhere central to where everybody lives, not way out there in the wild." The tokens give her a funny idea, if not necessarily a good one. Tightening her grip on the carrying-case strap across her chest in vague self-consciousness, she pipes up: "Mr. Nook, do you have one of those for a rock? Like, just a really really big rock." She smiles a smile that promises She Has A Plan.
Hellwarming Trio	"Clothes? Oh, cool. I mean, we don't need new stuff all that often, but changing things up sometimes isn't a bad idea." Rin affirms with a quick nod, still staring at the phone and snickering before waving at Utsuho to look. They're not very subtle about not looking at Shinnosuke afterwards, either, but they do give Mabel their (mostly) undivided attention again afterwards. "Does that mean you can do custom stuff, too?" Utsuho asks with a curious glint in her eye as she looks around slowly. "Because this place makes me wanna try shorts." She states firmly, ignoring the fact thatone leg is encased in concrete and might be hard to get fit through a pant leg. Rin, meanwhile, follows Shinnosuke's and Strawberry's leads to try and get Tom Nook's attention. "One for a stand, too! For food selling. And cooking stuff!"
Kale Hearthward	"Yes yes - ah, I think I have..." More crates are shuffled through. Nook has to call in the raccoon kids to help him look. "Here we go - large rock," he says eventually, putting a baseball-sized cube of rock into Strawberry's hand. "A literal ton of concrete foundation, more or less - please be careful where you drop it, ha ha ha." "Oh, yes, I can do custom stuff..." says Mabel. "Or my sister can, anyway, she's our designer, I'm just our salesperson." "So what I wanted to talk about, before you all go running off again," says Nook. "Opening the island up to permanent residents. While your patronage here is more than welcome, you all have responsibilities and, I'm assuming, primary homes elsewhere." "... Which would require some more infrastructure and attractions, since not everyone is fond of camping out 24/7, ha ha ha."
Shinnosuke Tomari	As Nook approves, Shinnosuke takes the token with a weary smile, still upset about the photo. He nods to Mabel about the clothes, but then turns back to Nook. "So...infrastructure and attractions, right? What sort of things do you need?"
BB	"He's the cutest!" BB agrees, in a Bouncing Sailor Shopkeep idle animation at the entrance to the tent. "If you thought any other rising star on BB Channel gets more views than the amazing Kale Hearthward and his comfy-cozy lovey-dovey real emotions thanks to BB Real Feeling Technology, you'd--" She double v-fingers next to her ears. "BBe right! BBecause BB Channel After Dark is the most popular, for tier three subscriptions~! But he's #2!"
Kale Hearthward	"Wait-" Kale gives BB a confused look. "Just... how many people did see that?"
BB	"It went out on~~~" Hopping up, BB's legs come up at the knees, and both fists are thrown out in an absolutely classic anime jump for joy. She hangs there, because she has a complete control of her personal time, and thus, every animation frame has a terriBBle power. "B~B~ Channel~! You were such a crowned, conquering king, BBlasting your passion out across time and space!" She drops, feather light, to the ground, now looking up '''innocently''' at Kale. "So... every single subscriber at all points in time, across every timeline, in perpetuity. The number is too large to count! You're a CeleBBrity!"
Kale Hearthward	The swordbird's face goes slowly pale as this is described. "... I can't let anyone know who he actually is," he says.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry Princess pockets her Big Rock Cube and edges away, trying to break line of sight with BB. The idea of being that famous is obviously tripping some vertiginous, mortifying fear in her brain. "Permanent residents," she says to Nook, repeating his words to cover up the fact that her brain's still trying to grapple with the concept of 'celebrity in perpetuity'. "Do we, like, order those from a catalogue too?" She laughs a little at the absurdity. "No, but where would we get them? I've... I don't really know anything about that."
Hellwarming Trio	Utsuho: "Like.. Having people live here?" Rin: "It'd be easier than us maintaining the place. Work DOES keep us pretty busy." Utsuho: "Attractions would be easy, though. We've got food! And a cool rock! But yeah, what kind of infrastructure are you thinking?" As the pair mull over that, Utsuho turns to Kale and BB with a long stare. "Sow hat rank does that make my thing? It's gotta be pretty high, too, yeah?" <J-IC-Scene> Strawberry Princess says, "We're not gonna be landlords, are we?" Rin, meanwhile, just seems confused. "So we get to be their masters now?" She doesn't sound against the idea, though.
Kale Hearthward	"A general store would be a good first thing to have for infrastructure - bringing in food and supplies and home necessities in from the mainlands." "And for that, if you'll just pick out a spot for it, I'll do the rest... and so for the permanent residents, some way to attract them in for the initial wave. I was thinking a festival, yes yes."
BB	"Oh, don't worry aBBout it." BB winks. "I recieved your wish on my golden cup, and made it real!" Popping back to her feet, BB plants her fists on her hips and throws her head back in laughter. "Kya ha ha! There's nowhere to go, Kale Hearthward! Everyone knows that you're an amazing, loving, caring partner! You'll never stop getting questions, 'who's the lucky man?' 'what kind of person gets such an incredibly BBeautiful soul to act like that?'. The sheer post-tential-" A portmanteau of posting and potential, look is up on the BBWiki. "-will keep people interested for thousands of years." BB toes the ground pointedly, as Strawberry asks about landlording. "I'm an exponentially powerful Earth Mother Goddess, so, you can happily forget that worry too! Since wherever I am, I have Authority over, just think of this island heaven as... a paradise for you to live in right now, that you can make cozy-comfortaBBle!" With a wink, BB lets Nook explain the rest. "I love living thoughtlessly. Let's all melt into island BBliss~!"
Go Shijima	Go grins. "A festival! Now you're talkin'." He clasps his hands together, rubbing them in a scheming sort of way. "I'm pretty good at setting stuff like that up. If we get some talent on board like a DJ or a live band, set up games, food and some other attractions, we'd get some people interested in living here for sure." Melting into island bliss sounds like exactly what you'd want for this sort of place. "BB's got the right idea! Just gimme a timeframe and I'll have some real talent here, ready to make that festival one to remember!" He proudly juts a thumb into his chest. Wait... "Hey, BB, are you seriously a goddess?" He thought that was just a Bit.
Shinnosuke Tomari	"Well, the general store should definitely be nearby. Festival..." Tomari scratches his chin, as he looks at the map. "Well, we have a beach. So, beach party. I agree with grabbing live music. What if we go looking for a Multiversal musician? BB, do you know anyone to back up Go's searching?" He asks her, since, well, she's the super streamer and therefore will know anyone big, probably.
Kale Hearthward	"Ah - yes yes, bring someone in, I imagine you all have connections and travel around a lot, in your work..." Nook claps his hands together. "Just keep an eye out? Or an ear, if you're looking for a musical act, ha ha ha!" "Or just bring in things or entertainments that are uniquely you - inject some personality into the place, some of your spirit. People will pick up on your vibe, as the kids say." Meanwhile, Kale looks a little worried, still. He wasn't really planning on letting anyone know anyway, but... well, less reason to do so now.
BB	"I'm an exponential goddess. I have the power of ten goddesses." BB explains patiently. A tutorial window shows up over her right shoulder, with a cherry-pink background and white text Star Wars Crawling up about something something Domina Cornam something something ultimate cheat power something something ten crowns something something Authority. In fact 'Authority' is repeated, capital-A, a lot! "I do grant wishes, you know. I'm a full spectrum BBig Precursor Sis slash Expontentially Amazing Five Star Cute-Devil Type Supervising Kouhai!"