paradisalost | 95.3 - rock is cool but the struggle is better (backdated to Monday)

[Monday evening at 10 PM finds anyone with their journal open contemplating how a sixteen-year-old kid could like a guy whose voice sounds like he smoked every day of his life - yep, "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen is drifting out of the pages, and soon enough, Harry's piping up over the music, gradually phasing it out]

Well, well, well! When I said "get to it", I didn't think you'd all listen! Hell, even the castle perked up whatever passes for ears on its sorry granite ass, and gave us a whole SLEW of fresh meat to indoctrinate. If you haven't already, say hi to
Lilo, Duke, Varian, Barnaby and Kotetsu, Sherlock, Carver, Luke, Kain, annnnd Deathwing. Or, you know, don't. You can be That Guy if you really, really want to.

I think Dr. Harry is finally starting to feel a pulse in this place, how 'bout you guys? I mean, for starters, we had some stuff goin' on last Friday for the fall equinox, and there was another session of the Host Club. But most importantly, serious shit went down! Some of you finally found your voices and put your fuckin' feet down! Now that's more like it! I think if we can all keep that sorta thing up long enough, we might just have Castle Wonderfuck beat at its own game, whaddaya say?

Wait --- wait! Shhh. ... I hear it already. I do, sadly, I do ... the voice of pessimism. "Harry, you sick, deluded fuck, no one ever actually steps up and sticks it to this place, because it doesn't matter! Everything goes back to the way it was! And people drop like flies anyway, so it's a constant struggle!"

Yeah, well, everything's a constant struggle. We're all descended from Sisyphus, as far as I care. And for those've you who don't know, grab a book of Greek myths sometime and get ready for some hardcore, epic shit... but in brief, Sisyphus wasn't exactly a sissy. This dude was sentenced to roll a rock up a big-ass hill every single day for eternity. Did he do it? You bet he did. Did it ever stop? Nope. But the guy kept on doin' it, and I think that's kinda like what we've got going on here... only, here's the kicker: what we're doing is even more epic. And here's why:

We've got recorded proof of other generations of residents going through the same exact shit we do, and surviving, and making it through it. Mind you, a good chunk of them ran off into the wilderness and are now majoring in How To Be A Douchebag at Dead Zone University, but that's sociology for you. Different times, different cultures, bla bla bla bla. My point is: we should be trackin' down this older stuff, seeing how much of it matches up to what we already know. Seein' what we might've missed. What's already been done. We could make some serious progress, here, people - we've just gotta be ready to get our hands dirty.

And if we can really get our shit together ... who knows? Maybe we won't completely beat the place, but we can leave a lot more for the next crowd of residents to cut their teeth on. On that note, I leave you with a little ditty by two chicks who seemed to be on to something, in a broader sense: the Indigo Girls. Take it away, ladies.

[with that, Harry puts on the music, cracks open a bag of chips, and scribbles up a filter as he waits for his listeners to start weighing in]

[Peace Patrol]
What're your thoughts on that kidnapping that got reported?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not a problem, but...how are you going to make sure they show up? And who's going to be the judge?

We haven't gotten that far yet. Mostly because usually, instead of takin' a step around here, people get so hung up on what the stairs are made of. So, jury first, details later, yeah?

Your call. Good luck getting anyone to care.

I'll put up the random selector tonight.

This is me, hopin' you don't pick your own name, then. [it's ... MOSTLY good-natured ribbing? only because you're helping, though, dude, or he'd be ripping into you for being an apathetic ass]

Thanks, 'preciate it.

Yeah, I'd have a problem attending anything, see. I gave up on justice in this place when people continue to not give a fuck about someone constantly trying to kill me.

[Someone bitter about the Meta? Yep.]

Well, maybe now that we're gettin' our shit together in a shoebox, we can do somethin' about this asshole.

[He doubts it. He really does.]

Yeah, well. Here's hoping.

I've a few potentials lined up as far as judges go, mostly doing what I can to find reasonable, analytical people capable of as much neutrality as possible. As far as the other, do what we can. Generate other names to fill in spaces if people refuse point blank. Novelty alone might get them coming.

You want my advice, choose some people who held a position of authority back home. Impartial? Maybe not. But familiar with responsibility can be worth a lot more.

Good advice, and I'll keep it in mind with who I've been talking to. You're right. It matters.

Let's just say I've had my experience with the legal system.

Considering what most people consider a proper system, that's far more than my own. But I'm doing what I can. People used to making tough decisions and thinking beyond themselves for the better of a whole -- leaders, I'd hope -- make sense.

Exactly. This place is an anarchy, there's no denying that--but that doesn't mean there aren't people here used to wielding power.

There are many who are. We'll make use of them in the capacity they're already used to. Probably will make them feel a bit better too.

Good. And good luck. I think that'll have a better success rate than random selection - people like having a purpose, but it's still better to ask than to tell.

It's going to always need to be about asking. Random selection gives us places to start asking -- for the jury, at least. And thank you. We'll need it.

Edited 2011-09-28 04:37 (UTC)

[Maybe that should have been worded better int he first place, then. It wasn't the impression York had had. Of course, he hadn't been in a good mood anyway.]

I know it's hard in a place where you can wish for anything, but offering some kind of incentive can't possibly hurt in recruiting people.

I could bake cookies. Give out hugs? ... Okay, I'm not great at thinking up incentives. Any ideas? Alcohol?

Cookies are a good start. Anything you can't get just by wishing for it--pet adoption vouchers, favors, homemade food, handmade gifts, souvenirs from the world changes or the Dead Zone....

Information, too. Best currency there is.

Maybe dango. I can manage cookies and dango. The personal touch the castle can't quite offer. I should be able to come up with different things, maybe tailored to the people individually. Yes, that seems to be the case on every world. I wonder... yeah. That could work, for at least a few.

Exactly. When people can have nearly everything they want, the trick is to figure out what you can do about the "nearly".

This is Christmas gifts all over again in a way. All right! I'll -- find time to figure that out too.

Well, and don't put it all on yourself. That's what friends are for, yeah?

You don't happen to be any good at baking, do you?

[ she's... joking LASDJLK ]

If you give me a frozen pizza, I can cook it to perfection. That's about my limit, though.

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