paradisa | Nine Truffula Trees

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the once-ler

Nine Truffula Trees

[The journal can pick up a lot of clanging and banging today, why? Because the Once-ler’s got his inventing groove on. York asked for a duplicate of his wagon-cottage-mahome and well, he’s happy to deliver. After all, it’s something he can do inside the safe confines of his room...with the the ‘mahome’ part at least. The rest? Well that may require leaving his safe haven, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for science. He also appears to be singing while he works]

♫ We could while away the hours
Da da de da le da dedo
There would be lots and lots of flowers
And you could sit on a gazebo ♫

...It still doesn’t sound right.

[Not noticing his journal was open for that, he wanders over to his drawing board where it’s popped up to dictate into it]

Okay. Opinion time. When you're camping out, what's more important to you:
A: Having a working shower
or
B: Having a skylight

Send your answers via journal to 'Gosh what is that handsome devil making now?' Reply within five hours and get a free Whatsamahoozit.

[The Doctor]
...This filter could go wrong in about ten million ways but that’s what you get for having an un-unique name.

Someone mentioned you had some scrap metal laying around your TARDIS. You using it for anything?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That gets a small scoff]

Tell that to the Bar-ba-loots, Swomee Swans and Hummingfish who had to leave the only home they ever knew because I destroyed everything they needed to survive. Tell it to the townspeople who are forever coughing now, because the air quality is messing up their lungs.

But you care that that happened.

[a pause]

Not long before I came here, something awful happened. My teacher, who was like a dad to me, was murdered by a horrible man. He was just about to have a baby with his girlfriend, and this man came and murdered him, for no other reason than because he thought it was fun to watch someone die. And when we went after him to find him, he laughed and taunted us. He actually thought it was funny that he'd killed so many people, including my teacher, and had gotten away with it. Up until we got rid of him, he didn't care. He didn't care at all.

You aren't like that, Once-ler.

[He's quiet for a moment. So many of the friends he's made here have had such terrible, horrible lives, where the people they love dearly have suffered or died. His own troubles pale in comparison, really] I'm sorry you had to go through that.

...But I'm the only person left who does care, and so long as that's the case, I can never fix the damage I've done.

[LOL. she's not really trying to get sympathy, more like illustrate a point, but!] Thanks, but it's not that uncommon in my line of work, to be honest. [it's still sad! but right now it's not about her, it's about him]

So other people are happy to live in that place after it's been polluted?

Edited 2012-08-12 00:28 (UTC)

[Oh Ino, his awkward inappropriate feelings for you means you always win his sympathy] It still hurts though, losing people you care about.

I don't think they're happy about it, but they sure don't care enough to change it. Thneedville is just walled off from everyone and everything now. It's all by itself.

It does. But -- he wouldn't want me to be miserable about it.

Hm. [a pause, as she thinks ... but when she speaks again, she sounds confident, almost excited, even] Alright, I've got an idea!

That's a healthy way of looking at it.

[Uh oh. He sounds almost scared, after all most 'ideas' involving him also involve kidnapping] ...You...do?

I like to think so.

Yep! I'm going to teach you how to plant things. No refusals allowed!

[He...pauses for a moment, unsure]

I don't know if I even can any more.

...I mean, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try.

You won't know unless you try! And once you know how, then you can teach other people, too.

I won't remember it to take it home but...

You really think it's worth trying?

Of course! Even if you can't help people at home, there are still times when people need help recovering what's been destroyed here. Like, sometimes if there's a big fight near the town, some of their farmland might get wiped out. Then you'll know how to help them fix it.

[He's silent for a while, contemplating this. To be able to fix something...perhaps redeem himself even a little bit...]

I'd like that. [He still sounds very unsure, unwilling to put his faith in this. Unwilling to really have any faith at all]

Good! I know just the thing for you to start with, then. [SHE WILL MAKE YOU HAVE FAITH. SHONEN FAITH!!!!!]

Oh -- and another thing! We've been trying to figure out how to plant some things further out in the Dead Zone so it's easier to stay out there and explore further. Maybe you could help invent something that can plant things, or help take care of the plants after they've been sown.

...You do? [SO UNSURE]

I...think I could make something like that? Maybe. [Everything he made before coming to Paradisa definitely did NOT take care of plants. It would take some thinking to start doing the opposite]

Yep! You'll see. It'll be a surprise.

Well, you don't have to, but it seems like you like inventing stuff, so it might be a fun challenge.

You know what's overrated? Surprises. They're usually terrifying and/or disappointing.

It'll just take a while to turn it around, y'know? Create things that don't put a strain on the environment.

Aw, come on. You don't think I would do that to you, do you?

Makes sense, I guess ... well, if it helps any, there's a pretty limited amount of power sources you can use. Stuff like gasoline or batteries don't work out there.

[So very begrudgingly] No. I guess not.

I was thinking of maybe something that ran on garbage. You know, something that everyone has, and it can be put to good use instead of just sitting there.

See! It'll be fine.

Garbage could work really well, too ... oh! Or maybe even the crystals, if we can manage to find more of them.

....Crystals? I haven't heard anyone say anything about crystals before. [Hi Ino you have his complete attention now. Because it's something that can be used to make SOMETHING ELSE WORK]

Oh! Yeah. Well, it's some kind of energy source that's native to Paradisa. Flora, the woman who runs Mineas Well, gave us these little necklaces made of the crystals ... the necklace can run something small that runs on batteries, like a camera or a flashlight. But there are bigger ones out there, like the ones that the hostiles in the Dead Zone use to run the suits Tony made. That they stole.

[a pause, as she realizes a lot of that won't make sense if he doesn't know about all the stuff that happened before he got here ...]

Wait. Have you read Lois' entry about the Dead Zone and all the First Gens?

[Nope, most of that made next to no sense to him]

Those do sound kind of cool, but nope, never read anything about that. All I know is they're a bunch of people who live out there who don't like us.

Right. Well, her post has the complete story, but basically ... Tony had a bunch of these iron suits that can fly and shoot lasers and stuff. Then they stole them while we were gone for a world change. They figured out how to make them work out there using the crystals. Occasionally they stop by to harrass us or demand alcohol.

And the Mineas Well is like ... this inn in a tree. It's pretty much the only neutral territory out there. It's run by Flora, who's a witch and a friend of a friend of mine. I think she must know where to find the crystals, since she made us the necklaces in the first place.

[Ugh Tony, you jackass] Why am I not surprised Tony was a part of that? But that's what they want? Alcohol? You'd think they'd come up with better demands than that.

Wow, so there really is a big wide world out there.

[Ino]

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