106.2 - we finally return to your regularly scheduled broadcast

[hard_talker]

[on Sunday afternoon, something that hasn't been heard in almost a month drifts out over the journals: the gravely tones of Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows", followed by a certain familiar, confident loudmouth...]

April showers bring May flowers, but if this is what a shower looks like, I'd get the weed killer ready if I were you, folks. That's right, Paradisa, the broadcast is back. Okay, I know a lot of shit's been goin' down, and some of you are confused - and hey, some of you just don't care, which, in that case, your own fucking problem if it comes back and bites you in the ass. But for any of you who want the 4-1-1 on life in and beyond Castle Wonderfuck, your pal Hard Harry's gonna break down the last couple weeks for you. Sorry for the radio silence lately, but I figure getting people's houses cleaned up is a little more important than playin' some music at you and runnin' my mouth. Which is why I'm actually down in town right now, at the Art Gallery. Any of you feel like lendin' a hand, bring your tools if you got 'em and come on down - especially anyone good at patchin' giant-ass holes in roofs.

We've got a decent crop of new people this month - so here's a big ol' traditional Hard Harry welcome to Feferi, Hazel, Lucy, Gideon, August, Percy, and Adam! I'm sure you're all about ten times as confused as our garden-variety newbies, since this has pretty much been the Month From Hell. I feel a little bad for you all, so outta the goodness of my crazy, cracked-up heart, here's what I can gather's gone down so far...

On April 9th, somethin' fell out of the sky and landed a long ways away, off on the East Coast. That's what everyone on the expedition right now's checkin' out, and I'll come back to them. But not long after that, for those of you who just got here and don't know, we had one huge-ass earthquake. No casualties, but we had a lotta wounded and a lotta damage to the town, and a fire at one've the outposts. The castle itself is in decent shape, proving once again that it is, as we all know, a colossal jackass. Annnnd of course, once everyone was present and accounted for, it was time to start rallying the troops and circlin' the wagons. Someone else named Alvin was actually thoughtful enough to get people organized to help the town out, so if you still want to help with cleanup, he's probably the guy to talk to. Him, or Brock Samson, since he helped get people together, too.

And yeah, I know we only had four days to recover from that before everyone and their uncle started getting weird stains and marks and shit all over them - and yeah, emotional drama and lectures about it abounded. That ain't important, and besides, it's all said and done now, elephants included, and a whole bunch of us are gone off on this expedition. See, told you I'd come back to it.

Anyway, I've been keepin' an eye on it as much as I can, and up until everyone started talkin' about bug monsters, it seemed pretty tame. Sounds like whatever crashed on the coast was a giant ship full of the things, and they attacked a ... town full of giraffes. Yeah, I don't know either, but hey, if it makes sense to you, congratulations, you've officially been living here too fucking long. Anyway, the people on the trip started keeping a record of what they found out on this page of the journal, for anyone playing along with their copy of the home game, and there are some notes on the bug monsters on this page.

We might wanna start thinkin' about a defense or evac plan in case anything gets this far west. Gettin' caught with our pants down ain't exactly my idea of a good time, especially with the castle bein' the only really safe building we've got right now. Anybody wanna take on gettin' that together? I'm ... a little busy or I'd help. But I've got bigger priorities.

[he looks up from flipping through the journal and watches Nora as she works on repainting one of the walls. being here, seeing how bad the destruction was, has really hammered home to him how clear his priorities are. as much as he loves doing this for everyone, helping them out, keeping them informed, goading them into doing something, to speaking up, to caring ... Nora is the most important person in his life, the girl he loves, and he belongs with her before he belongs anywhere else. it's a mistake he's not going to make again, not ever. he sighs, looking back to the journal]

In other, less life-threatening and insane news, there's a kid asking for help in building somethin' called a Holodeck that sounds like it could be all kinds of fucking awesome. So we've got that to look forward to. In the meantime, for those of you hard at work or hardly workin', here's a little somethin' to perk up your Sunday afternoon from a personal favorite of those of us here at the gallery, Green Day.

[and with that, he'll jam play on his boombox and get the music pumping.]


[sometime later, after talking to Jane, he'll add a filter]

[Nancy Downs]

Holy shit, I just heard what happened. Are you okay?

[/Filter]

Comments

[cyan_maid]

[There's a whistle on this side of the journal.]

That's one doozy of a brodcast, if I do say so myself. How are things in town? Getting a little better?

[hard_talker]

Slow an' steady wins the race, I guess, yeah. I've mostly been helpin' Nora with the Gallery, but since it's just the two of us, we can't do too much.

Still in one piece out there? What's goin' on?

[cyan_maid]

Oh dear! You should see about rounding up some folks to help with that, at least.

I am most definitely in one piece, don't worry about that. Everything could have gone much worse. Did you want to know what the bug men's ship hit?

HH

[youfallback]

There were evacuation plans. [Nope, no hello for you, Mark.]

[hard_talker]

I know, but most've the people who helped keep 'em goin' wen---

[WAIT A MINUTE, SHE REMEMBERS?!?! he didn't think she remembered, from what York had told him]

C?!

Filtered AWAY from first gens forever

[kungfuwitch]

Thanks for the update, Mark. It's good to hear your voice again.

I'm... working on new plans. A lot of Code Blair and the people working on the evacuation plans disappeared and it's a little like herding cats in a dark room. [She chuckles wryly.

[hard_talker]

You, too, Phoebs. ... But I have good news. Carolina's back, and she wants to know what happened to the evac plans. I'm hopin' I can talk her into helpin' get 'em back in place again.

[as good as the news is, he sounds pretty hesitant, for some reason]

[eat_me_beat_me]

[Your girlfriend is bopping to the music while leaning on one crutch and trying not to fall over while painting higher up on the wall with a roller.

You laugh you get hit by a crutch, buddy.]

[hard_talker]

[he's been hit by them enough at this point to know better. those fuckers hurt]

Hey, you want me to rig you somethin' so you can reach higher up? We got enough boards lyin' around...

Harry, to end

[originalcopy]

I've been thinking about what to do if those things head our way.

If nothing else I can grab someone, meet them with the warthog and try to mow them down as they cross out of the Dead Zone.

Hell, maybe I can get six to bring out the Falcon and give us some air support.

We can at least slow them down. Give people time to get out of the castle.

Mr. Leonard Church, Esquire, etc.

[hard_talker]

[the mention of the heavy duty vehicles is bittersweet, as he remembers helping Carolina fix the engines. but he swallows it down]

Glad you guys are thinking about it... 'course, I didn't have any doubt you would. But if we need to evacuate, where should we go? The town's mostly still a mess. Maybe we could take the transporter to Mineas Well? That's a safe zone, Flora told me so herself....

[unvarnished]

[it's too bad Sidney Glass never delivered his news like this] Hey, thanks for the welcome. Any fan of Leonard Cohen is okay by me.

"Castle Wonderfuck" is a pretty catchy handle.

[hard_talker]

Hey, man, thanks. He's always been a favorite. .... Which one of our new arrivals are you?

dictated;

[ensorceler]

It is a sorrowful state that the castle must be considered our strongest fortress, but for now it must be so, though it seems as if we are merely abandoning one horror for another.

I am glad to hear there has been no attack so far.

[hard_talker]

Yeah, we're all in one piece, all quiet on the Western front. .... What's going on out there? Everyone okay? Last I heard was about the bug things, now Jane's tellin' me a town got destroyed?

[silentrunning]

[Chell's in town, on her way to the Gallery. She'd promised to help Nora fix it. She's not sure what she can do, and she has no tools, but she does have strength and tenacity. So when the broadcast starts, she writes a message.]

I'll be there in a minute. No tools, but I can find a way to help.

[hard_talker]

Hey, we can always use help. How are you with a broom? [there's still plenty of debris to clear, after all]

Mark

[wilder]

Man, did you even take a breath while saying all that?

Zelos, to end

[hard_talker]

It's a gift. ... As is my uncanny ability to spot a filter. What's goin' on?

action forever

[both_neither]

[Gren has actually been splitting his time up between the bar he used to work at the art gallery, as promised Nora a couple of weeks ago. He's probably a common sight around here by now, and today is no different.

Gren gives Mark a wave as he approaches, setting down a box he'd been carrying. There's a slight clink of glass from inside.]

gallery party woo!

[hard_talker]

Heeeeeey! [he grins, waving their friend over]. How's it going? ..... And what'd ya bring us? [presents? presents are good. he likes presents]

Voice

[honeytoes]

Yeah I'm not a huge fan of getting caught with my pants down either...usually.

But if you need help with any security plans I'd be happy to help.

[hard_talker]

Lemme guess, hot chicks need to be involved? Heh. But hey, that's awesome. I've got someone on evac, but security's a different thing... If anyone else wants to help with that, I'll get you in touch.

Mark

[deceptorius]

[Flatly] What do you think.

Nancy, to end

[hard_talker]

I can't even imagine. Jesus. I just -- I know, it was a dumbass question, but --

[he sighs, and there's the faint unmistakeable sound of headdesking]

Jane told me what the place looked like, and she couldn't tell me if she'd seen you, so I kinda flipped. I didn't know if they got you, too.

I ... it's a lame thing to say, but... I'm sorry.