paradisa | 550 - go put your records on

Entry tags:

mark hunter/hard harry

550 - go put your records on

[at ten PM, Leonard Cohen comes drifting over the airwaves - radio and journal alike, in Harry's hopes that those who stayed behind in Fairfield can hear him, too]

Gooooooooooooood evenin', all of you out there in listener land. Whether you're near or far, this is Hard Harry givin' you the news to break up the snooze. I don't really have any huge point to make here, no big ramble, no lessons or insults. Not tonight. Tonight, I'm just ... kinda thinkin' out loud. So let's start out with the welcome wagon, shall we?

Only two new Blanketeers this week, folks: Annie and Archer. Watch out, you two, time flies, and before you know it, you'll be hitting that one-year mark, just like to my good buddy Chell did this week. Or, maybe you'll just get thrown back - we lost more people this week than we took in, by the look of things. Anybody formin' support groups in the bars yet? I'm startin' to wonder if we should, in all honesty. Seems like at least once a month, someone gets hit really hard. We may not have any shrinks around, but if I can say I've been there, then it's pretty safe to say we all have.

Also, for those've you from any version of Earth, any time, any place, there's someone with one of those nice little journal questionnaires. It doesn't look like it takes too long to fill out - yours truly is gonna hit it up as soon as I let the music fly, I'll keep you posted on how painful - or painless - it was. If you're looking for a weekly dose of "what the hell did I just walk in on", there's also a dude who's decided to hang upside down in the lobby all week. So, free entertainment. Anyone wanna take bets on how long he really lasts? Gary, my man! I'm lookin' at you, dude. Get a chalkboard goin'.

But the real news I'm pretty sure you're all waiting for is what we picked up on the expedition out there! I know that by usual gigantic trip into the great beyond standards, it might look like it was pretty boring, but we brought back a hell of a lot of info! I'm still in the process of pullin' it all together so that I can help Zelos update the travel log - you know, that great big record of everything we know so far? - but I think it's safe to say we've got some allies at last, folks. And they didn't end up dead or turn out to be dicks yet, which ... I don't know about you, but I feel like that's cause for celebration.

And when you think about it ... does it really matter how long any of us have been here? From Blanketeers to veterans to First Gens, we all got here the same way, we all leave here the same way, and everything in between is just tryin' to figure out how it works, and how to keep on truckin', as the hippies used to say.

Let's go a little heavy on the music this week, since I skimped out on you all last Monday to save my batteries. You got any requests, lay 'em on me, I'll see what I can do. This first one goes out to my new friend Heath, since he's been starvin' for some good tunes...

[and the bands play on.]

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[Oh, lame. He's antsy for all this so-called great info people keep talking about. If he knew this was going to be more than just another fool's errand, he would have gone, too, but -- still working on those psychic powers.]

At this rate I'll be lucky if there's even a grain of something worthwhile in there.

[Chell grins.]

Thank you, man! And thank you for the paraversary congrats. I'm kind of still expecting to turn into a whattafuckalo or something. God.

As for a request, I'd like... hmm. Jesus Don't Want Me for a Sunbeam by Nirvana...if you have it? I'm in kind of a mellow mood. Also, hey! I still have a pillow case full of dust bunnies here for you. Am I too late to send them in?

[She's still chilling in the Dead Zone but your broadcast always makes her smile, Mark]

Truer words were never spoken.

[she pauses]

Is there really someone hanging upside down in the lobby?

[Mark you are like a music angel sent from heaven. He'd kiss you if you weren't miles away and a guy. He's probably hugging the radio right now and he does not care]

Oh man that is sweet. I never thought I'd hear the slicey goodness of Noodles ever, ever again.

You might be. What kinda stuff were you hopin' we'd find out? ... Mostly we learned a lot about how a couple of the other castles worked, how they live out there... Not a lot about the world itself, just th' people in it.

You got it! How 'bout the whole Unplugged album? That's pretty mellow. You heard their cover of The Man Who Sold The World yet?

... And honestly, you're the only one who's even bothered with the dust bunnies. Maybe I should just make you the trophy.

Yep, sure is. Guy named Steve Gray, from Vegas. He seems like kind of a space case. [Mark rolls his eyes]

But hey, how's everybody doin' out there? I kinda wished I could stay, but ... I figured I should take it in small doses.

HE-EY! Yanno, this is kinda funny. I got into the radio thing 'cuz my Dad wanted me to use it to talk to friends back home, when we moved ... but I never really heard from 'em. [he laughs]

Figures that I get sucked into here before I'm finally usin' it for what I learned it for.

[just for that? have some Alanis]

Really? That kinda blows. At least you're getting something out of it now.

[Oh hey Alanis] You know, I never got that music video. Can she like...teleport or split herself into multiples or is she just crazy and talking to herself and just stopping the car to switch positions all the time?

[These are the things he wonders]

[ding ding ding]

All the better. Don't much care about the world, I'm more interested in the castles.

We did actually find out some stuff about the other castles. Dr. Brewer said they all feed off their residents in different ways, and that they're all ... hang on.

[there's a lot of rustling as he goes through the rough drafts of his notes from what he found in the journals]

... They're all connected via the Insolitus, but we need keys.

It's okay. I ... I miss 'em, still, sometimes, but I'd rather concentrate on the friends I've got here than sit around like a lump bitching about how much I miss 'em.

... And I always figured it was her kinda sorta talkin' to herself. Like ... different pieces of her personality. The one driving is like, the one everyone sees, the ones in the backseat are the bits of herself she doesn't really show people that much, and the one hangin' out the window like a crazy person is just ... all the stuff she wishes she could do.

[he doesn't have experience with that sort of thing at all, nope. doesn't have a side of himself he had to reconcile, nope nope]

Sure, and it's not like you'll never see 'em again, right? [Those castle folks at least know they'll get sent home one day]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. My cousin kind of has something like that. Except more extreme. He has to talk to himselves over text messaging.

[Oooh sparkly.]

That would be cool. I'd give it a place of honor.

[And a couple minutes later, there'll be a knock on his door. A pillowcase stuffed full of dust bunnies is set down, but it's in a gift box, with a gold bow, neatly wrapped.]

I wrapped them for you.

Aaah Vegas. That explains it.

[She smiles]

It's going well. It's a really nice community out here. Refreshing, really, after everything else we've seen of the people in the Dead Zone.

[Pinpointing the part of that most relative to his interests:]

Different how? [urgent and impatient] How many different ways do we know about? Just Paradisa and Draconis?

Paradisa, Draconis an' Libet, actually. There's two others, but they haven't had any contact with 'em. The journals aren't connected, so it's either that, or that those two castles are empty, too.

Haha, awesome. Thanks. [and in return, he'll put on that Unplugged album for her. her trophy will be in the shape of a cake, he decides, and starts sketching ideas]

That's great. Are any of 'em warmin' up to ya? They all seemed ... well. Shyer than me. And that's kinda sayin' somethin'.

Right, exactly. It's just that this is ... a really long, fucked-up vacation, I guess.

.... Wait, seriously? He ... huh. How's that work?

[That's good information to file away, but. Pressing:]

What do we know? The differences, what are they?

Whenever they want to open up an amusement park here, it's fine by me. Just to finish off the whole vacation feel.

[Oh hell this is hard to explain, but at least he has something to fall back on, since living here, and speaking to people from other worlds]

So...okay. Have you ever heard of Jekyll and Hyde? Some worlds know about 'em and some don't. It's a good starting point.

[She wanders in and makes herself comfortable, flopping down in her usual spot to listen to the album.]

Thank you, man.

Unfortunately they dunno much for sure. Even Brewer said it was mostly conjecture. One've the castles won't even let people get close, it's got a barrier around it kind of like the Dead Zone. Draconis, though, he said it has all its residents kill each other off all at once, no survivors - he compared it to a python bulk feedin'. ... That's what that virus we all got was, the remnants of when it tried to do it last time.

Hey. You know I'll help you out any time.

Makes sense, I suppose. Better to think of them as creatures of a species than all-powerful gods. They seek life and sustenance, and harvest it in different ways. Evolution of multi-dimensional homesteads.

[Beat.]

I like it.

Some more than others. [she laughs] Did you meet that kid Heath?

[wow. Mark's floored: he doesn't think he's heard this guy say he likes ANYTHING in all the time he's heard him rant and rave. he can't help but grin at the journal]

You wanna copy of my notes once I get 'em all written up?

I did, yeah. Poor dude hasn't heard ANY music since he got here three years ago. I told him I'd hook him up.

Seriously! Just once, I'd like this place to send us somewhere with a decent roller coaster.... so we can make road trips to it whenever we feel like it.

... And yeah, that was one of my favorites in junior high. I felt bad for the guy though.

[He likes plenty of things! It just gets buried under all the things he doesn't like a lot of the time.

Immediately:]

Yes. It's room 1802. The sooner the better.

It'd only be fair, after the killer dinosaurs and those bird guys. We need something good out here.

[Well, that's always a good start] Okay, thats good. Because the guy is my cousins great, great grandfather. The uh... transformation thing kind of got mixed into the genetics. That side of the family usually has it crop up. Once they figured out what was happening, they started text messaging each other so they could work stuff out.

Edited 2013-09-22 21:54 (UTC)

Great. I'll send 'em over.

[and soon enough, he shows up in person, knocking at the door with a folded sheaf of notebook paper in hand. it's basically this post in bullet form, with less profanity and embellishment, and more actual facts. enjoy knowing it all a week ahead of the peons!]

Hey, I brought my notes.

Oh, that's funky. ... Must make it rough on him keeping his day straight, yeah? I mean - can they control when they swap spots?

It was worse before they knew they were the same person. Big memory gaps and stuff, y'know?

[He shakes his head] Nope. It's loud music that triggers it, or it did before I got brought here. Jackson thinks it might change a couple more time yet.

[Sherlock clearly wasn't expecting him to come himself (most people just send ghosts, or Sherlock demands they do) because he's still in his pajamas when he answers the door. He doesn't seem that self-conscious about it, though.

A bloodhound sticks its nose between the door and his leg.]

Gladstone, sit.

[The dog sits.

Sherlock takes the notes, carefully, flipping through them. Even his cursory glances are better than some people's deep reads, though.]

Yes, good, thank you.

[Brisk, not necessarily polite, but not outright rude, either.]

[She laughs]

Sounds like you were just the man for the job, then.

Not a problem. I'll leave y' to it, then?

[he gets the impression he's not about to get invited in to meet the dog and have a chat about things]

I kinda like to think so, yeah. ... I'm glad I went. Thanks for, uh, I dunno. Not tryin' to stop me. Or tell me it was a bad idea.

Weird. I don't think I could deal with that, havin' holes in my memory. Even hearin' about the people who've lost 'em to the castles kinda gives me the creeps.

They've been getting better at it. [He gives a small shrug] I'm pretty sure my loss is a memory. I just don't know who. Never ran into anyone from home to figure it out.

[He stops on one page, and starts to actually read.

Of course, this means his attention is pretty much gone.

He doesn't move, but he does nod slowly, waving Mark on.]

Now why on Earth would I go and do something like that?

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550 - go put your records on

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