video: un; an.observer

[thisislife]

[the video opens on Lexi, sitting on the couch in her very blue living room, with Orville in his usual place on Lexi's shoulder, snuffling into her hair, and the new addition to the household, Nosferatmew perched on the arm of the couch, her batwings folded on her back]

Hey! Um. I know I don't post that much, but I kind of have an announcement?

And that announcement is, I'm opening a used books and comics store called the Satellite of Love Used Books and Comics! It's in Willful Machine in the green craftsman house and that takes me to my second announcement. Or, uh, request? Maybe that's better. [pause] Yeah, that's better.

Hours will be Monday through Friday from nine am to five pm, closed from noon to one for lunch, along with Saturday and Sunday, eleven am to two pm. Obviously, I can't handle all of that by myself. Right? So I'm looking for a couple of employees.

Interviews for anyone who's interested can be done here and you can choose between store products or trade goods for pay.

So...I guess that's it? I hope to see you there? Oh, and the store mascot will be Nosferatmew. My batcat. She's very well trained to not bite unless you give her permission to.

Okay, now that's it.

Comments

Video; un: asogi

[truerevival]

I have some interest. Both in the opportunity and in your potential wares. I consider myself an avid reader, truth be told.

Though I suppose that's mostly been confined to law books back home and what information I've found in the archives here.

[thisislife]

[Lexi looks thrilled]

Really? That's great, that's great! I read a lot, too, and I'm an Arcane Scholar. That's part of why I was hoping for help, so I wouldn't have to give that up.

Law books? You're a lawyer? That's so cool.

[truerevival]

Ah, then I'm surprised our paths haven't crossed sooner. I'm also an Arcane Scholar. [His amusement at this is almost palpable.]

This place doesn't have much use for lawyers, but I am one. At the very least, that means I can manage to catalog? Managing case files was one of the expected, if mundane, parts of the job.

[thisislife]

Wow, really? Then yeah, we really should have met sooner! Though, I spent a lot of my time studying alchemy. It's weird to think that something which was thought useless is actually a real-life thing here.

That's so cool. I mean it. Though, given our general lack of, um. Rules? I can see why a day job may be necessary.

video | un: graham crackers

[possessum]

Oh man, this is awesome! I've been hoping for more stuff like this around here. All the uh, Victorian vibes have been kind of hard to get used to.

( The teenager from 2018 who wears Converse every day of his existence has been having a pretty hard time adjusting to life, here. But something like this...? It feels a lot more like home. This may just become his favourite place, tied with the pizza shop Mike Wheeler's recently set up. )

A batcat? That's too cute... Did you get her here?

[thisislife]

Hi, Peter! [she waves at him through the camera] And no kidding! I keep wanting to find who's in charge and them them that the internet is a thing here. Still workable, still useful, so how about the stores stock something which would be out of place at a RenFaire?

[though, she'd miss having access to sarsaparilla soda 24/7. and she knows her comics, at least those published primarily in the 1990s. her unlamented dad left behind a small fortune in them when he came to steal the silverware and fine china]

Yeah, though we've kind of drifted apart? Which is sad, but you know. [she shrugs] Life? [and she's never going to say how used to that happening she is]

video; un: atsushi

[undermoonlight]

A bookstore?

[Atsushi is a bit too surprised by the idea of owning books. He looks at his empty room, daring to imagine a bookshelf.

Then he looks back at the screen.]

Are there going to be fiction books there?

[thisislife]

Yes! In Willful Machine.

[she may have been haunting the shipments from other places, buying up books, comic books, and manga on whatever subjects and whichever languages she could find.

she tries to look friendly]

Of course! There's going to be all kinds of books, comic books, and manga there, most of them fictional works. Have a particular genre of books you're interested in?

[undermoonlight]

Oh, nothing like that. It's just that I've spent so much time reading records lately that I haven't been thinking about reading for fun. I sort of miss it?

Maybe I can stop by later.

[thisislife]

Records? Are you an Arcane Scholar, too? And it's really understandable, I've missed it too.

All right, I'll see you then!

video; un: GoldenFlowers

[the_obedient_servant]

Will you sell manga as well?

[Yes, hello, the tiniest little weeb here.]

[thisislife]

Yes, absolutely! The second story of the house will be completely dedicated to comics and manga. The manga will be in bookcases since, you know. Collected volumes for the most part.

[the_obedient_servant]

I see.

How extensive is your collection as it stands?

[thisislife]

Pretty good! There's a lot of stuff from the early aughts to right before my time, 2019. Mostly shounen, but there's a decent amount of shoujo and BL, too.

text | carcinoGeneticist

[klawful]

ROMANCE. ESPECIALLY OF THE..........LEWD VARIETY. I PREFER COMPLEX ROMANCES WITH LONGWINDED PLOTS BURIED IN THE POLITICS OF A WAR-SAVAGED WORLD. BUT OF COURSE, I WILL NOT DENY THE SIMPLE PLEASURE OF A BLOODTHIRSTY ROMANCE WITH A MEET CUTE AND SWEET KILL. I AM A SIMPLE TROLL.

[thisislife]

[ooookay, that's very specific! she has regular romances, she has lewd romances, she even has war romances (the Civil War was way too popular, in her opinion), but the rest?]

Um. By a sweet kill, are they supposed to be killing people together?

[imaglyphwitch]

WH AAAA TTT.

[Luz is actually in awe of this amazing and wonderful news. A. Used. Bookstore. WITH COMICS!!

I'm there! Wow! There are some cool places opening up lately!

Aw, only three hours on the weekend? That's a shame, I'd want to stay there for a while!

[thisislife]

Hey! [she waves, grinning.

so many books and comics. she's been haunting the docks every time boats from other places arrive, buying up every book, graphic novel, and manga volume that she can, slowly accumulating them in the green house]

Yeah, I know! It's really cool, it's a good sign that we're in it for the long haul. I still wish some people from home would show up, but I need to try and make a life for myself.

Well, I figured people like their weekends, so I was afraid of being open too late, then. I figured it might be hard enough as it is to get a couple of employees, so I didn't want to stick them with the lousy shift--weekends.

[imaglyphwitch]

[Cool, it was here again, and she ran a bookstore! YES]!

That can be hard. I came to the first town with someone from my world, and then several months later, she woke up. It was a pretty rough time.

But trust me, you'll make a life here. It's easier than you think!

I know, but I'm kinda greedy! If it were up to me, I'd beg for at least five hours instead of three!

How many employees do you have?

Video | un: dito

[syncopathic]

What sort of books do you sell? Would I be able to find anything on ancient history and philosophy, for example?

Also what the hell's a "satellite"?

[Forgive him, Lexi-- he comes from a time in which space travel is still nothing but a distant fantasy.]

[thisislife]

All kinds of books! I've got a little or a lot of just about any genre you can think of, both fiction and non-fiction. And you sure would, I have every volume of Gibbons' "Decline and Fall of Rome," waiting for the right home. And a lot of Socrates, Aristotle along with more modern philosophers.

It's, um, something shot out from a space shuttle to orbit the Earth. It's actually kind of a joke? One it doesn't seem like anyone got, so that's kind of depressing.

[she has many, many, many fond memories of watching MST3K dvd sets with Rue and Rue's dad when Lexi stayed the night. she hasn't wanted to ask Rue what happened to the sets for fear of tearing open a scabbed off wound]

[syncopathic]

[There's palpable relief in Dito's voice. Thank fuck there's actual culture here.]

Good. That's good. I'll have to give your shop a visit when I've got some free time, then.

[There's a slight pause before he switches subjects.]

So... what was the joke?

Video; un: darkness

[survivalthroughhate]

[Oh, this woman had him at the word 'bookstore.']

I have no need for a job but I shall be a frequent customer.

[Maul flips the camera around to reveal his bedside table where a precarious stack of books is wobbling there. And that's just the titles he's been reading this week!]

[thisislife]

[she would be thrilled to hear that]

Great! What kinds of books do you prefer? That way, I can keep an eye out for them.

[and that makes Lexi grin broadly] Yeah, that kind of looks like my nightstand, too. It's good to hear how many people love books.

[survivalthroughhate]

I'll read anything I can get my hands on but I have a preference for mysteries and horror.

[Not at all surprising given his personality.]

Being able to read anything in his private library was one of the few indulgences my master let me have as a young kit. Granted, there was a lot of tomes in there that I shouldn't have been reading at that age, but that hardly stopped me.