daemon: Wildd | text

[tangleofgarlands]

I wasn't sure if this was an appropriate time, but I thought that maybe people would like a distraction from everything, so here goes.

I'm looking for new music to listen to. I had a large collection back home, but have since lost most of it, and I thought I'd take the chance to expand my horizons a little.

If you're curious about my tastes, my collection included The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Curt Wild and the Ratz*, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, The Flaming Creatures**, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, and Patti Smith.



*Iggy Pop + The Stooges
**New York Dolls+Roxy Music

Comments

text; daemon: obscured

[repressings]

Mr. Wildd,

I'm quite fond of artists such as Al Jolson and Louis Armstrong, though I am unfamiliar with anything you have listed so I'm afraid I have nothing to compare it to.

Have you heard of Bye Bye Blackbird by Gene Austin? It's a particular favourite of mine. The lyrics are beautiful.

With care,
-C. Barebone

[tangleofgarlands]

I'm not Wildd--my daemon is. The thing you use to read and send these messages. Don't worry if it confuses you, I barely understand it myself.


I've heard some Louis Armstrong, the kind of thing that plays on the radio, but I don't think I know Bye Bye Blackbird.

I'll try to give all of your suggestions a listen, though. The sort of music I listen to already is a genre that drew heavily on jazz and blues, so I'm not sure why I haven't listened to more of it. I'd probably like it for the same reasons I like rock 'n roll.

Thanks for stopping by.

[repressings]

Mr. Arthur,

Apologies. I hope I didn't offend you - I plan to acquaint myself with the technology more once my mentor and I settle in.

I'm also unfamiliar with the term 'rock n' roll.' Is that similar to jazz and blues?

Sincerely,
-C. Barebone

[tangleofgarlands]

It's alright, you didn't offend me at all. I made that mistake at first too--it's just that I made a friend who knew what she was doing and could help me out.

If you don't mind my asking, what year was it for you back home?
It might not have really come about yet, especially if people around you are still using green carnations.

Jazz and blues are largely considered to what rock and roll was born from, but it wasn't until the 1940s or so that it started and the 50s when it was popularised.

[repressings]

Mr. Arthunowherewas 1926 where I'm from, sir, no where near the 50s. However, I'm aware of a lot of things that seem to be universal afterwards--for instance, I'm told New York grows even bigger and brighter and busier, and that's the most exciting thing I can dream of. I've also been told prohibition has ended as well.

Would it be alright if I could listen to some of this music? I'm terribly curious! I've never been allowed.

Thank you,
-C. Barebone

[tangleofgarlands]

Wow. Really?

That's the year my mum was born. My dad would have been about five years old.

I've never been to New York, but I'd like to go. It's a dream of mine. There's a lot of good music there and there's something about the American concept of individual freedom that I find very attractive.


[He can't be sure, but the way certain things have been phrased--never been allowed, for one, and the general skittishness that's permeated both of their conversations--it seems familiar to him, like he's looking at his own reflection in a fogged-over mirror.]

Of course you can. I just need to find a record player first.

If you like jazz and blues, I think you'll enjoy rock and roll. It's rougher, a bit dirty and unpolished, but that's why I like it, personally.

You're very welcome.

daemon: fridayd

[servomotor]

Well hello. A classic rock man.

War tip: this genre is a pretty good soundtrack to fight sci-fi enemy agents to. Your timing couldn't be better.

[tangleofgarlands]

Although I'm glad to hear it described as 'classic' because I think it's worth the title, it's still weird to think about how much time must have passed for it to qualify as such. Where--er, when--I'm from, most of that list is contemporary.

I wouldn't know, I'm not much of a fighter, but I think I can understand the impulse.

If you need some inspiration you don't have, you're welcome to look through my collection and borrow something, although I haven't got a player at the moment.

[servomotor]

RECORDS? VINYL?

[tangleofgarlands]

Yes.

Growing up it was all there was, and I haven't really gotten the hang of anything else yet.

[servomotor]

ONCE YOU'RE SPOILED FOR CHOICE, YOU'LL LEARN TO APPRECIATE IT. SOUND IS RICHER, IF YOU ASK ME. ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST STEREO SYSTEMS THAT TAKE UP HALF A WALL. IMPORTANT NOT TO GO TOO HEAVY ON THE BASS.

YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT BAND IS CALLED IGGY POP AND THE STOOGES. WHO'S CURT WILD?

[tangleofgarlands]

stereo systems that take up half a wall.

[He's very nearly drooling at the prospect--the idea of sound surrounding him, of being able to close his eyes and feel the music in his bones...]

Do you think you could set up a system like that here? If you had the proper supplies.
I've been looking for a way to play my records. There's no point in having them if I can't listen to them.

[The second question is harder to answer--for one thing, he has no idea who 'Iggy Pop and the Stooges' are, although he can see the similarity in the name of the band; far more difficult is how to condense Curt into text on a screen.]

I haven't heard of them. Curt Wild is a guitarist and singer from Michigan, and The Ratz are his band. He was part of the glam rock scene in the UK, but his music is rougher than a lot of other glam artists. You can clearly hear the garage rock roots--he's chaotic, loud and often angry, and lives up to his name, but if you catch him in the right mood he's surprisingly gentle.

[servomotor]

BUILDING A STEREO WOULD BE WELL WITHIN MY POWERS, LITTLE ENGLAND. BE MY PLEASURE. FOR PAYMENT I'D LIKE TO BORROW SOME OF THOSE DISCS FROM YOU.


NO JOKE? DEAD ON DESCRIPTION OF IGGY. WHO'S SOMEWHERE IN HIS SIXTIES MY TIME, BUT HE'S PLAYED AROUND WITH GENRE FOR A FEW DECADES. EVERYTHING FROM THE GARAGE SOUND TO JAZZ. MYSTERIES OF THE MULTIVERSE.

[tangleofgarlands]

"Little England" is a new one. I'm not sure if I should be amused. Nor am I terribly little.

But it's alright, you can call me whatever you like if you build me a stereo that works. You can borrow whatever you like, too. Just don't get them all scratched or anything.

If a "multiverse" is what it sounds like, does that mean this Iggy Pop person might be an alternate version of Curt, so to speak?

Does that mean there's an alternate version of me out there?

I'm not entirely sure I like that idea.

[servomotor]

SAMESIES.

BUT FORTUNATELY I HAVE A SOLID BLOCK OF NARCISSISM IN THE WAY.

[tangleofgarlands]

I have the opposite problem.

[servomotor]

HAVE YOU TRIED POSITIVE SELF-STATEMENTS?

[tangleofgarlands]

I'm British. So no. But I'm alright, really, I just make use of a fair amount of self-deprecating humor.

[servomotor]

YEAH THAT ISN'T OUR FAVORITE, OVER THE POND.
I'LL RIG SOMETHING TOGETHER.
DO YOU WORK? BEST TIME TO DROP BY?

[tangleofgarlands]

I know. I admire that about you. General you, I mean. Americans. There's a self-confidence, or at least a lack of apology, I find inspiring.

You haven't made it out to the masquerade yet, have you? I work there behind the bar, but not until the evening. Mandy and I have a flat ten minutes away or so.

If you show up before noon, you'll probably have to wake me.

[servomotor]

I HAVE NOT. PREOCCUPIED WITH MY OWN LITTLE SHOP OF TERRORS.

I'M NOT MUCH ONE FOR PARTYING BEFORE NOON. A MAN HAS TO SET SOME KIND OF RULES. BUT I'LL COME AND FIND YOU BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT FOR BUSINESS.

[tangleofgarlands]

I suppose being busy with a shop is better than the alternative. It means you're doing well, doesn't it?

At any rate, it seems we're of a kind. I usually leave for the masquerade at about half five, which is earlier than I strictly need to be there,
but I like having the time in case something goes wrong.

I'll be the bloke in magenta.

→ action;

[servomotor]

[It's not long after that-- perhaps a week at most, before Tony Stark shows up at around five with a crate in tow. A crate in hang, rather, big and wooden, carried on a crosswise sling of ropes. And by 'Tony Stark,' of course, I mean Iron Man, a man in a red suit with blazing white repulsors that carry him through the air.

He lands, sending leaves and tiny fairy-shaped folk flying off in every direction. Not a lot of street garbage in the small, idyllic violence-warded fantasy town of Xistentia to worry about, otherwise there would be cans and bottles wreaking havoc as well. In another moment, he's stepped up to the front door, and is knocking one gauntleted fist gently against the surface. Thok thok.]

[tangleofgarlands]

[Arthur had been doing some washing up--not that there's much; it tends to bother him when he leaves it for the next day, but sometimes he's just too tired from a long night of social interaction to finish it--when he's pulled from his focus by a strangely metallic knocking sound.

He sets down the glass he'd been working on and makes his way to the door. He'd never actually spoken to the man in person, but anyone who can appreciate a record of good rock music is automatically lifted in Arthur's estimation, and he's excited about having an opportunity to actually play them again. There's a smile playing at his mouth when he unlocks the door--

But then he opens it, and takes in who's actually outside the door. Closes his eyes, opens them, and by the time he realizes he's staring his mouth is already open.

Flushing deeply, he steps back--but can his guest make it through the door? He can't even tell if the red and gold metal is some kind of space-age suit of armor or if it's an actual body.

Behind the man--robot? Man in armor?--is a large crate, and if that's how big his stereo is going to be...his heart is already picking up speed.]

Did you find the place alright?

[servomotor]

Apparently, [Tony answers, never one to be especially polite even around the tiniest Englishman that could. Behind his grim, slit-mouthed robot face, though, Tony's in a pretty decent mood. Smiling a little. Arthur may have come from Mars, or some other equally bizarre parallel universe where the most famous musicians of his world have the wrong names (and backstories that involve actual UFOs), but he seems like a decent kid.] I'd hand this to you, but I think it'd break your hands first and your feet second.

So I'm coming in, [he says, moving to do exactly that. Swizz swizz, the tiny rotors in his boots buzz audibly as he walks in, glancing around the entryway briefly. He shifts the box so it enters the door without accidentally clipping the edges of the frame.]

Cozy. You said you have beer in here, right? Liquor. Or maybe you said tea. [His tone suggests that he is hoping that Arthur, despite his ancestry, is not just about the tea.]

[tangleofgarlands]

[Arthur mutely steps back to let the giant figure pass--it's not like he has much choice; he might survive having his limbs crushed, but probably wouldn't make it through the ear-blistering he'd get from Mandy for being so reckless.

He can feel the person's thunderous footsteps as they pass him, like standing right next to a speaker and feeling the music in your chest. And, oh, he's about to have one of his own; for a second the excitement makes him dizzy enough he has to grab onto the wall to keep his knees from giving out.

Or maybe, speaking of tea, he just needs to eat something.]

Er, yes. I mean, I don't remember what I said, exactly, but we have all of those.

[Arthur can't help but wonder how one would even hold a glass in such a suit, much less drink from one, although he has no intention of asking such a brazen question without having a drink of his own. Instead, he just ducks behind the bar and starts setting out a few different things to narrow down the request--light beer and dark, spirits and grain alcohol, a bottle of red wine.

Because he has an inexplicable hunch--it's hard to read any emotion through a solid sheet of metal--that the comment about tea was a hopefully-friendly jab, he tosses a single packet onto the bar after them.]

I'm actually more of a coffee person--I only use them if someone wants a hot toddy or something. But we do have tea, and if I couldn't boil water I'd not have taken a job in food service.

[servomotor]

[The secrets of Tony Stark's ability to ingest things will soon become clear. For now, he makes no move to leave or adjust his suit, choosing instead of walk around. Swizz swizz again, the tiny motors in his armored legs and arms make minute, almost kittenish sounds as he navigates about the small space, examining Arthur's style as it translates to his living quarters.

The crate goes up onto the nearest table.] So, [he says.] I've been wondering about some of the other differences between our worlds. I'm gonna assume it's not just a couple of celebrity names. [ACTUALLY. But sue him okay, how is he supposed to know?] Let me guess. You also have vampires. Witches. Aliens took over one or two nations a couple of years back and you fended them off with the help of a spiritual figure wielding a giant magnetic hammer.

[He digs his gloved fingertips in under the edge of the crate lid. There's a splintering crack.]