In Character Interview Thread

[EmperorNorton1]

“No, political assassination is an anarchist technique. Well, Anarchist and the desperate. I’ve been meeting up with the young woman who has been brainwashed into believing she is the dead heir, and I’ve been slowly radicalizing her. And aside from murder simply being wrong, it really wouldn’t help with normalizing relationships, with being recognized. If we kill the alleged heir, we are… effectively admitting that it was her. And Katya is most certainly not Irina Vasarova.” The woman is firm in her denial of any assassination plot, but there is just a beat of hesitancy before Chana mentions Katya by name.

“Katya’s not the first person I’ve met to have her memories taken, but thankfully I know how to help with that, although the healing process can be slow.”

 

[Shawdios]

Not the first to have her memories taken? how often does this happen?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

"It was common in the dead empire, or at least as common as having magic is for non-nobles. which, despite what they'd want you to believe, is not quite common, but far from impossible. if a kid of a worker, a farmer, someone without noble blood, is born with the magic that you and i lack, this threatens the nobility's claims to power. and in the Volhynian empire, the old solution was kidnapping and spelling these children into perfectly obedient soldiers" The woman's hands are wringing each other, rage in her voice as she mutters the statement, her eyes staring at the wall just beyond the site personified/the interviewer.

"my uh, closest friend, she was one of those kids taken. and that's where my service comes in, i, along with a fraction of a fragment of a percent, am magically dead. that means that i can neutralise the threat without hurting anyone. and i can pull away the curse with touches." There is a hesitation before mentioning Chana's chum, one that lasts longer than the hesitation before Chana mentions her inability to feel magic. her hands continue to twist in each other for a moment longer, before she drops them, forcing them to her sides.

 

[Daisie]

Have you ever considered a domestic life outside of the political sphere? If you had to have one, what would it be like?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

"i.... I have, yes. a wife, a dog, children, a picket fence, the whole nine yards. and it's unfeasible, some borgsuie fantasy." Chana shook her head no, pinching the bridge of her proud nose before running a line down the thin scar that crossed her cheek. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. and... if I were to have a family, i'd want them to be safe, and free. home, things are free now, but not yet. i want to build a world where my kids won't lose me like i lost my-" Chana's breath suddenly hitched, her hand dropping to her skirt as she shut her eyes tightly, suddenly having trouble breathing.

"My brother... was always more of the domestic type... than i was. if he were still here, i'm certain i'd be an aunt." Chana quietly whispered, tearing up slightly, before wiping her eyes quickly with the back of her wrist. "I'd prefer we dont talk about my own personal nonsense."

---

giving up on third person present tence. also, ignore her requests lol.

 

[Shawdios]

What was your brother like? Sweet and thoughtful?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

the question seemed to catch Chana off guard, the woman mentally fumbling for a few moments, before softly sighing and shutting her eyes as sifted through each precious remaining memory. "He was. He was loyal. he cared so much about me- and about the revolution. We were all the family we had left, he was the only reason I survived at all. and he hid the way he hurt, he let me cry and he took care of me and he didn't- he didn't admit he was hurting. I didn't know- I didn't know he was spiraling, I didn't know that the war and his duty had affected him so badly" The small smile on her face that arose at the start died away as Chana's memory took her down the path to the more recent, to the last, desperate, interactions, her face creasing in evident pain, tears beginning to slip out of those shut eyes.

 

[Shawdios]

The loss of a sibling is horrible, I’m sorry you lost him. Is there anything you would do differently knowing what you know now?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

"yeah. yes" Chana gave a bitter chuckle. "I wouldn't let him drink. and I wouldn't leave him alone to wallow. and i wouldnt let him have a gun in his damn office!" her voice got breathy and shrill as she almost ranted the sentence, beginning to wipe at her eyes rapidly, her shoulders slumped. "Now can we please talk about something where i can be useful!"

 

[Shawdios]

I’ll turn to a different subject then, you said you were helping set up the first embassy for the USR?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

with the offer of another question, chana almost immedeatly calmed down, her face blanking, the emotions fleeing back to the box where they normaly had to stay. the woman wiped her cheeks of salt, then wiping her palms on her skirt, clearing her throat slightly as she straightened her posture.

"well, yes. it's ambasador Sender Mikhailov who's leading the aim, he's the one who's going to be staying with the embassy permenantly. i'm just here to handle the imposter tzarina, considering my skill with brainwashed children. we're trying to set up a station in Lutecia, which is sort of the diplomatic hub. and we thought they would be more accepting, considering that Zentralimperium has been recently very anti-red and anti-yellow as a result of the recent assassination of their Kaiserin by a madman claiming to be a socialist. but even with the imposter, and the assassination of that general, we're making things work" there was just a hint of pride in her voice. things were being achieved, and Chana was doing, which was far better than the opposite.

 

[Shawdios]

How good is the progress with the imposter tzarina?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

"well, it's... er.... it's going. she's stubborn, but she's very willing to learn, of which i am so very greatful for. Katya is an intelligent, curious, and empathetic young woman stifled under the shackles of the crown. she deserves better than such a fate." Chana almost smiles at the mention of Katya. why not, she's a most wonderful woman. smart, kind, not willing to take things ate face value. and once Chana has broken all of the curses... perhaps they can be friends. they are both orphans. they both have odd relations with magic and the monarchy.... but Katya carries it better.

 

[Daisie]

What's the most dangerous use of magic you've encountered personally?

 

[Solivagante]

It sounds like you've sacrificed a lot for your homeland. What do you love most about it?

 

[EmperorNorton1]

Daisie
"Memory magic is, in my opinion, the most dangerous. a blasted ball of fire, or a wave of water isnt so hard to stop, all i have to do is hold their hand. but memory magic destroys families. and it's much harder to root out. especially for children manipulated, like my dear friend Rivka."

@soivagante
"I.... well-" caught off guard by the question, the woman has to pause, to think. "it's... home. all the homes I've ever known is that which are built on the black soil of Krajynia. I love... It's strange to love a country, but I love the land itself. I grew up in a small village just a few kilometers away from the sort of capital of the Confederacy. the town doesn't exist anymore, My brother and I returned once during the War, but nothing really remained. even the little river had gone dry." The empty husks of rotting wood houses, the weedcovered fields left untilled for years. stone chimnies standing like pillars over the burnt remains of homes and an old graveyard, defaced and covered in weeds, were all that was left of the shtetl that Chana Teper was born in, the shtetl where she really aught to have died.

"I love my country, my people, my land, because it is all i know. because i have no option but to love it. I love it because i've helped make it better, and lutecia may be nice and all, but i hope to return." chana shook off the memories, before glancing down at her watch, then quickly rising to her feet. "I belive that's all the time we have. if there's nothing else, i'll be going now."

---

its been real yall. i'm going to tap Shawdios to go next! thanks so much for a distraction i really needed.

 

[Shawdios]

its been real yall. i'm going to tap Shawdios to go next! thanks so much for a distraction i really needed.

thanks!

Note, for the sake of continuity, im going to put everything that was in here:

Multiple Settings - Radio Interviews

RULES No forth wall breaking questions Site rules obviously still apply Use Dark mode when Reading (Can’t promise that things are readable on light mode) DETAILS Questions are seen by characters as text on a device. (Unless it is a Call In, then it’s an audio message) Idea started from a...

www.rpnation.com

up in the spoiler below, its not much.

Spoiler

“—on! How d’ya work this Light damned thing, piece of—“

There’s a thud and the video part of the transmission shorts out to black screen with ‘NO DEVICE FOUND’ in bold white lettering. However, the audio still works.

A male voice hisses,

“Damnit, Autumn’s gonna kill me!“

and it sounds like he’s far from whatever is picking up sound.

He groans and there is silence for a few seconds, then some very loud shuffling.

“...Well since the mic and broadcast is still workin’ I might as well continue?”

The man is louder now, more clear. He clears his throat before taking on an obnoxious announcer voice.

“This is the Lucifer’s broadcast comin’ to you live from under the oppressive, suffocatin’ air of CC, I’m your host, the one, the only, Fiery Star Flame—“

He bursts into laughter and then continues with his normal voice,

“Oh Cursed Light I swear... I tried, how in the six shades of Darkness do those people do that with a straight face!? Heehee”

He lets out a few trailing laughs.

“...in all seriousness, this is Flame, member of The Lucifer’s resistance, and I’m taking questions from Flurmere outsiders that hopefully can pick up the connection.”

There is a click, and a typing box prompt pops up. The creak of a swivel chair being leaned back rings out before what sounds like a record needle being placed. Soft jazzy music begins to play faintly in the background of the audio.





-=-=-=-
​

The Lucifer? I hate to say it, but I don't think you're going to inspire anybody to your cause with that name. What made you pick it?

There’s a brief snort.

“...I guess without context it sounds a bit bad.”

He pauses and the clicking of him fiddling with a pen can be heard.

“See here’s the thing, we picked that name ‘cause CC believes that since we’ve got wings we must be Angel’s,”

There’s clear venom and bitterness in his voice,

“And anythin’ that doesn’t fit their image of Purity must be Demonic, if you show those Demonic traits, they need to be either expelled either from you”

he grits his teeth,

“or you from them.”

He takes a deep breath and he must have leaned away because the next words are quieter.

“Lucifer, the Angel tossed from Heaven for his rebellion to God.”

He pauses again.

“...Pretty fittin’ for the name of a revolutionist group under a ‘Angelic’ Purity Cult If ya ask me.”

There’s a ping picked up by the microphone then clicking of a computer mouse.

-=-=-=-

“Oh? So that program is working right!”

He does something with whatever he is using and the audio message sent in plays.
​

<Calling in from the Makhnovshchina. A young woman's voice begins to speak a low tone, her English accented heavily with an almost Russian but not quite lilt. i hope I'm doing this character thing right>
"Greetings comrades, sent from the Ukrainian free territory. tell me, have you heard of the American magazine 'Lucifer the Light Bearer that shares many of the ideals, as well as the name of your movement? it was a historical anarchist and Free Love newspaper that got in a great deal of trouble for talking about sex and sexuality, a violation of the infamous Comstock laws."​

“Greetin’s and thanks for your message, but I don’t know of that magazine, haven’t heard of anything like it...”

Flame is silent for around a minute afterwards, with keyboard clacking and clicking heard instead. Eventually he hums, then starts speaking again.

“Interestin’, I can’t find anythin’ on it, could either be too old for the World Wide records and didn’t make it over when the records combined, or blocked by CC’s censors.”

Him tapping his fingers on a hard surface can be heard as he pauses.

“...it’s likely the latter, but a lot of records were lost during that merge.”

-=-=-=-

The Program gives a loud ping and a text box pops up on screen.

- Do you have anything else to say?

You can hear the faint scratches of Flame drawing with a pencil while he hums and quietly sings along to the lyrics of the music droning on in the background

Spoiler: Specific song and artist that he’s playing a record of

 

[Daisie]

Can you walk us through what an average day in your life looks like?

 

[Shawdios]

Can you walk us through what an average day in your life looks like?​

“An average day?”

He hums in thought.

“Well it depends, but usually my days go like this, Wake up ‘round in the afternoon, grab an apple or fruit from the kitchen, then fly out to Outer Arc where I can find some odd jobs for work,”

His chair creaks loudly as he leans slightly back in it, resulting in him aborting the action from the loud volume.

“Actually, I managed to keep steady job for six months as a delivery person once, people growin’ food needin’ to send it to their customers, before I got caught with my magic again. That’s usually what ends any stable job I get.”

All throughout his answer, he taps the pencil on the desk to the beat of the music in the background. Briefly, his attention is caught up in the song before he remembers he’s supposed to be answering a question.

“Yeah, anyway, my average day. After I do whatever jobs I can and get paid, I usually stop for groceries for me and my brothers. Oak’s real nice, he’s part of the Lucifer’s, and gives us a discount in exchange for Autumn turnin’ a blind eye to his plant magic.”

He pauses again, tapping the pencil more rapidly.

“Then…. after that? Uh....? Usually I drop the groceries off, eat somethin’, then go see if Rise is taking care of themself and not overdoin’ it at the clinic they work at before curfew hits. Or If Rise is home I go and check on Star and maybe play a few songs with her, James, or Bezel in the basement she’s dug out with her magic and sleep there for the night if we end up singin’ and Dancin’ right past curfew.”

He sighs, and him shifting to settle with his head resting on his arms is picked up.

“Wish we could play up at a restaurant or somethin’, the acoustics suck down there. But yeah. That’s my typical, uneventful anyway, day.”

​

 

[Daisie]

You say magic gets in the way of you maintaining a job. Is there no market for magic users out there?

 

[Shawdios]

You say magic gets in the way of you maintaining a job. Is there no market for magic users out there?​

“Oh there is a market for magic, most certainly, everyone of my race can do magic, we actually have to or it builds up and makes us sick.”

He pauses to take in a breath and grumbles,

“it’s why CC usin’ blockers on people is so cruel,”

Then switches back to being chipper,

“But! That’s a whole other mess I’ll get into later.”

However, there’s a subtle, a deep set, angry tilt his voice in that sentence.

“The reason why it’s hard for me to find a job is ‘cause I can’t use my magic in a legal form.”

There’s a swish as if he waved his hand.

“Air, Water, and Healin’, that’s all that CC allows. And to those who may be pickin’ up the signal that are also of a magically inclined race, I’m sure you already know how insane that is.”

There’s a silence as he lets that statement settle.

“The average Porcilavian can only do two unrelated forms at most, and considerin’ how vast just the different forms of elemental magic are,”

He snorts,

“it’s a crazy law to have been made an’ expected to be followed. So that’s why ya Lucifers are here!”

You can practically hear the ear to ear grin from just his tone.
​

 

[Daisie]

With so much of the population that cannot use magic - especially suffering from horrible chronic illness as a consequence of not using their abilities - I'm surprised there hasn't been mass protest and revolution! You wouldn't be willing to disclose if there's one on the horizon, would you?

 

[Shawdios]

With so much of the population that cannot use magic - especially suffering from horrible chronic illness as a consequence of not using their abilities - I'm surprised there hasn't been mass protest and revolution! You wouldn't be willing to disclose if there's one on the horizon, would you?​

“Oh we’re workin’ on it that’s for sure. Trust me, we’ve got somethin' planned to run.”

You can hear the creak of his chair as he sits upright again.

“Problem is, people are scared to fight back.”

He sighs.

“If people protest and get caught, they’re gonna land themselves with at least three months of,”

He sneers the next two words,

“Purification time.”

There’s a series of quiet chirps and trills that sound like a pissed off songbird. When he switches back to spoken language his words are openly hostile.

“Sentences longer than six months nearly always kill 'cause CC uses blockers to prevent inmates from usin' magic to fight against enforcers. I’ve had a six month sentence. Only reason I survived was ‘cause I had pushed myself into Overuse before hand. And the only reason some of the other Lucifer’s made it out was 'cause their Type of Magic was more resistant to Buildup!”

He stops and takes a deep breath, presumably to calm himself and to wrangle his emotions.

“I get why people are scared.”

He says without the heated force in his voice,

“But I want to live in a world where I don’t have to go through that again, I don’t want my brothers to have to wonder if I’m ever not gonna come back from a sentence that was given 'cause I need to let out my magic,”

But his tone grows dark and angry again.

“I’m sick of havin' to deliver news of death to people’s familys whenever I’m released, so yes, we’re most certainly workin' on it“

His voice is distant now, but he semi-shouts to make up for it, you can hear him fiddling with the now silent record player.

“That’s why I’m talkin' to everyone listenin', to garner outsider support!”

​

 

[Daisie]

I see. My condolences for all the losses accrued by the tyranny you find yourselves trapped under.

How can the average Porcilavian help? And how can those outside of the jurisdiction contribute to your cause?

 

[Shawdios]

I see. My condolences for all the losses accrued by the tyranny you find yourselves trapped under.

How can the average Porcilavian help? And how can those outside of the jurisdiction contribute to your cause?​

When he finishes placing a new record on, instead of jazzy swing, rock that leans a bit to the metal side plays a little too loud. He does something and it's volume is lowered to a faint level.

"Thank you, Autumn says the government before CC wasn't that much better, but this is what i grew up into and remember the most of. It means a lot to have people agree its horrible."

He says earnestly once he's turned back to the mic. Then, he grows heavily serious and his voice is firm. It's a form of voice that makes others want to listen.

"Creatin' safe places for people to use their magic and not snitchin' on their neighbor, Is what both me and Autumn recommend and urge supporters inside Fluremere to do."

He taps on the desk a single time to further his point.

"Fightin' back against enforcers if you're caught or reported just raises a sentence time. I've learned that the hard way. Run if you can, but don't harm. Autumn is tryin' to minimize supporter deaths in both positions 'cause some enforcers are supporters as well but are forced to follow orders for their own safety."

His tone grows exasperated.

"I'm all for action, don't get me wrong. But while me and my older brother do disagree on a lot of things, this isn't one of them. I know from experience that fightin' back when you're caught never gets you anywhere. And i've got the cracks to prove it."

He pauses briefly to give himself breather room.

"As for outsider support? For now, helpin' get food, supplies, unregistered tech, etcetera, in safely. Along with helpin' harbor anyone who manages to get out, and learnin' Spawn if your race has the vocal capabilities for it. But if it comes down to a potential fight to take over Center, we need people in our corner. "

The mic picks up him shifting uncomfortably.

"I don't think it'll come down to that, but Autumn wants to be prepared."

​