Richie "Bitch Baby Tears" Tozier (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summertimeblues) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
elnysa2018-05-11 01:55 pm
summertimeblues) wrote in elnysa2018-05-11 01:55 pm
Video; un: rtozier
[The feed begins with a man in his late thirties, one hand welded to his forehead in consternation. Adjacent is a swanky looking turntable, and stacks of records can be seen on a table behind the sofa. The titles are indiscernible but it looks to be a ballpark of about fifty albums.
He stares into the camera, desolate.]
All right kids, I'll concede: my folks would have cracked my radio if they heard how much I let The Doors holler out of it. I know it's a pattern and every generation thinks the one after it is a tasteless pack of miscreants. And I've been keeping an open mind. I can't afford not to. Music was my job, and for the most part the stuff hitting the airwaves had been pretty solid. Whoever's been picking out tunes for me up above has been doing pretty damn swell so far, too. Soundgarden was great, Lauren Hill, the Alabama Shakes — there's a lot of good shit I've missed out on because my apocalypse hit so early.
[He takes a deep breath.]
But today, I need an explanation.
[He takes a record out of a sleeve. Sets it on the player and closes his eyes in bitter resignation as the thing gets rolling.
His jaw clenches tight as the music starts.
"Hiya Barbie!"
"Hi Ken!"
"Do you wanna go for a ride?"
"Sure Ken!"
"Jump in!"
"I'M A BARBIE GIRL! IN A BARBIE WO-O-ORLD! LIFE IN PLASTIC, IT'S FANTASTIC!!"
A comely but irate redheaded woman stomps into the background.]
If you don’t shut that off, there’s going to be cats clawing at our window to check out who’s dying!
[Richie rips the record off, vein pulsing in his forehead.]
Music is dying, Bev! It's over! We've lost the war!
[She scoffs, disappearing once more. Richie looks to the camera.
He snaps the record in two with a malicious crack and tosses the pieces behind him.]
I don't know who allowed this to happen, but you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
[The video cuts out. Please deposit your apologies and condolences below.]
He stares into the camera, desolate.]
All right kids, I'll concede: my folks would have cracked my radio if they heard how much I let The Doors holler out of it. I know it's a pattern and every generation thinks the one after it is a tasteless pack of miscreants. And I've been keeping an open mind. I can't afford not to. Music was my job, and for the most part the stuff hitting the airwaves had been pretty solid. Whoever's been picking out tunes for me up above has been doing pretty damn swell so far, too. Soundgarden was great, Lauren Hill, the Alabama Shakes — there's a lot of good shit I've missed out on because my apocalypse hit so early.
[He takes a deep breath.]
But today, I need an explanation.
[He takes a record out of a sleeve. Sets it on the player and closes his eyes in bitter resignation as the thing gets rolling.
His jaw clenches tight as the music starts.
"Hiya Barbie!"
"Hi Ken!"
"Do you wanna go for a ride?"
"Sure Ken!"
"Jump in!"
"I'M A BARBIE GIRL! IN A BARBIE WO-O-ORLD! LIFE IN PLASTIC, IT'S FANTASTIC!!"
A comely but irate redheaded woman stomps into the background.]
If you don’t shut that off, there’s going to be cats clawing at our window to check out who’s dying!
[Richie rips the record off, vein pulsing in his forehead.]
Music is dying, Bev! It's over! We've lost the war!
[She scoffs, disappearing once more. Richie looks to the camera.
He snaps the record in two with a malicious crack and tosses the pieces behind him.]
I don't know who allowed this to happen, but you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
[The video cuts out. Please deposit your apologies and condolences below.]
no subject
[slowly....closes eyes.]
Is it too callous to say I'm glad I missed out?
no subject
[ she's not gonna laugh, she just looks like she's tempted.]
No, honestly, I think that's fair. When did the storm hit for you?
no subject
Smack-dab at the end of May, 1985. Probably ancient history to you fine folks of the twenty-first century.
no subject
[ not the exact date, and sure, Storybrooke evolved a little once time started moving - but some things stayed in the 80's and the town was collectively alright with that.]
You probably still have some catching up to do. Either that, or you missed a Nirvana mention.
no subject
[She'd look cute in the latter, no doubt. Even if the implications are a bit suspect, just in the wording alone. Stuck in the 80s, what? Like obsessed with the fashion and the scene? Or something else?
Emma hits on the right key with her follow-up — Richie's brows raise.]
Nirvana! Them's the kids that Smell Like Teen Spirit? [He grins.] That one came in the first record shipment I got. But yes, there's a lot of gaps to fill. And I am eager to fill them, as long as I get to take a pass on whatever kind of craze Aqua was rustling up. I don't think I could stomach much more of that.
no subject
[ stuck in the 80's like not even the clock moved for the 28 years she was separated from her family. and after that, catching up took a while where it was wanted (and for some people, it wasn't). apparently electricity and running water is enough to wrap your mind around for people who used to live without it.]
Yeah, that was them. Aqua aside, it sounds like they're sending you quality music. My ex was a big music fan. I think it was only partly his way of putting the moves on me. He just thought a drive was better with the radio turned up.
no subject
[All right. Fine, it's this crap again. The mystical something-something that's marked her as some warrior of justice. Does she do the lycra and night-fighting, or does she do the sparkles at her finger tips and ancient incantations? Against his better judgment, he'll bite.]
What kind of Rip Van Winkle nonsense are you talking about?
no subject
which sucks, because all of that would come in handy here.]
Rip Van - I just meant I didn't move to where my family lived until after I turned twenty-eight.
[ he's not far off, though she's never actually come across Rip Van Winkle.]
Are you afraid I'm going to tell you I'm a super hero or a demigod?
no subject
That's exactly what I'm afraid of. There's a surplus in the population, I don't know if you noticed.
no subject
[ he sounds like her, back when August was trying to convince her that he was turning into wood.]
You're the lone normal guy around here? That would suck.
no subject
[Their choosing is pointed in a way that borders on worrisome, if you ask him. But you'd have to do so off the phone lines. At least grant him the illusion of a safe conversation.
He smiles with his lips pulled in thin and a slight jump in his shoulders. What can you do? He is for the most part, normal. He would have stayed that way for longer had there been no meddling from higher powers.
Though without the meddling, he would have been dead at eleven and never made it to Nysa. It's a blessing and a curse, but it's not something to talk about without casting that same curse on those who'd hear him out.]
'Fraid so. It does suck, thank you, the bulk of the populace has been less than sympathetic, but I do what I can to get by. I think I would have liked this place a lot better if I was still a kid. All that child-like wonder, you know. Now the fantastic just comes off as an unbeatable nuisance.
no subject
[ which doesn't say much, because under those circumstances, she thinks anyone would. in some ways, she's sympathetic. in others, she can still relate. it wasn't that long ago that she was just a bailbondsperson.
now, though - yeah. there's definitely something more knowing about how she addresses all of this. she's lived the impossible.]
You don't have to act like any of this is normal for you. The thing is, once you've lived here long enough, it'll probably just start to feel that way.