Network + Action= Open | This is definitely not a book review

[dorkify]

Network

[ There's a blonde on the screen. She's got her long, curly hair pulled over one shoulder and she's leaning in a little on her elbows. She waves at the screen. ] So, this is definitely not a book review. In fact, I'm sort of wondering what I'm going to do my vlogs over if it's not books. Maybe I'll just talk about them in a general sense. Books are good. Portable magic. Yadda yadda. it's not the same, is it? [ She sighs dramatically. ] Aslan and I are at the book store, in our proper bodies. Come see us at Subtext and have an iced coffee. Gracie out.

Action

For those that take Gracie up on her offer of books and iced coffee, they'll find her curled up in a big, squishy armchair near the front of the shop. She's reading a book and has an iced coffee at hand. There's a grey and white Scottish Fold cat dozing in the front window. She'd had a fun few days in Dani's body, zipping around, running into things and generally making a pest of herself, but she's grateful to be in her own body again.

When the bell over the door rings out, Gracie looks up with a smile on her face. "Hey, have a look around and if I can help you with anything, let me know."

Unless, of course, she knows you, then she'll be out of her chair, coffee abandoned on an end table to dole out hugs.

Comments

network;

[unbreakableman]

[ So far, Luke has only made an appearance on the Network. Yeah, he's walked around town, out to the beach and the docks and into the forests a bit. But as far as social interaction, he's stuck to the little PDA he was given upon arrival. He wants to make sure the people here aren't dangerous. He doesn't trust his current predicament all that much - at least not yet.

So Gracie will get his face staring back at her in the video on her PDA. ]

In your proper body? Alright, I guess I gotta ask what that means.

network;

[dorkify]

[ Gracie is a lot more social than Luke. She's a lot more social than a lot of people. That being said, the only person she's really forged a friendship with is Dani and maybe, possibly, Adam, though she's not sure because that comes with all sorts of awkward.

In return, Luke gets a smile from Gracie. She's not ingrained in this place enough to recognize new faces, but his words imply that Luke is new here or that he's a shut in a lot of the time. No judging. Maybe a little judging if he's been a shut in, but the kind of judging that comes with a resolve to get him out more.]

Yeah. There was a festival last month. Some little kids handed out flowers and if you passed the flowers onto someone else, you ended up in their body. It was temporary and I got really lucky that the person I ended up with is my friend. Also that she has super speed. I got a lot done really fast and now, I feel sort of slug like and lazy.

network;

[unbreakableman]

[ Definitely not a shut in. Just new and untrusting given recent events back in Harlem. Back home his face is everywhere. And while people have rallied for him in the end, it took some work to get there after a strategic smear campaign. He also still has enemies. It's just not easy to put himself out there.

As he listens, a brow slowly arches up as if he might not believe her, except he does. He's seen some weird ass shit, okay? And just for thinking that he owes money to Pop's swear jar. ]

I'd call lies and shenanigans except you seem the truthful sort. That kind of thing happen often?

network;

[dorkify]

[ In that case, she won't need to run an intervention. If it helps, she doesn't recognize his face at all. Sure, he's handsome, but not recognizable.

She'll see your doubt and raise you a shrug. ]

In general, I am. Lying takes too much effort. [ She considers that a moment. ] Every few months.

network;

[unbreakableman]

[ Luke would agree that lying takes too much effort, but then he also knows that it's the liars and the cheats of the world that get ahead. Guys like him get stepped on, kicked and thrown in prison. He does right, but the world doesn't do right by those who are good. So maybe he's a step closer to that grey area.

Gracie, however, seems genuine. Time will tell how genuine. ]

Can you choose whose body you switch into? [ He's assuming that body swapping happens every few months, not different odd things. ]

[the_dawnster]

Welp. Dawn can never turn down a good book store. And while she's walked the streets of the city, she hasn't necessarily gone into any of the shops. Gracie, as per her network post, looked normal enough - friendly, even. So Dawn's danger alarm is considerably decreased. Her guard isn't completely down because that would be stupid. But the allure of books is just too much to resist.

She enters the shop with her cross body book bag resting against her hip. She's taking a deep breath of books and coffee, two of her favorite things, when she feels a press at her ankles and hears a purr. There's a cat there, circling her feet.

"Hello, who are you?" She leans down to slide her palm over that cat's spine. The cat seems pleased with this.

When she hears the greeting, she looks over to see the same blonde from the network. Dawn smiles and waves. "Hey. You're Gracie, right? I'm Dawn."

[dorkify]

In Gracie's opinion, that makes Dawn a good person, an interesting person even. She likes to think that she's friendly and her time in Dani's body had only highlighted how normal she is.

They're two of Gracie's favorite things as well. Dawn and Gracie are going to get along just fine. On top of that, Aslan likes her and she took it upon herself to pet him.

"Hi, Dawn. Yeah, I'm Gracie and that is Aslan. He likes to come to work with me." She puts her book aside and stands up. "Are you looking for anything in particular or did the siren's call of a bookstore draw you here?"

[the_dawnster]

"Well hello Aslan. It's nice to meet you too." The cat purrs at her feet. And yes, Dawn not only pets animals, she talks to them. She thinks people who don't talk to pets are the ones who should be judged though, not the other way around.

Clutching the strap of her bag, Dawn walks over to where Gracie is doing whatever she's doing. "Consider me fully allured and crashing against the rocks to my death... only not cause that's gross and sad. Really, there should be a happy siren call story, in my opinion."

She looks around the general area at all the books. "So you own this place? How did you make that happen? And do you have any occult books?"

[dorkify]

Gracie believes you ought to talk to animals too. If you don't, it's probably some form of animal abuse. Just because they don't talk back in a language we can understand doesn't mean they don't listen and learn and hear and appreciate the verbal attention. That's her opinion anyway.

Dawn's words make Gracie smile. "That's something I'll have to go looking for: a happy siren story.There's got to be one where the siren fell in love with the sailor and gave up her siren ways for him."

"I do. I just sort of...I wanted to do something every day even if I didn't need the money and there was no one manning the book shop so I sort of just took it over. I can absolutely guarantee we've got occult books. I'm just not sure where they are." She drops her voice a bit. "The bookshop is kind of sentient and kind of eccentric. It arranges the books differently all the time. I have a girl who comes and shelves and rearranges every day so that helps some."

[the_dawnster]

"That, or maybe she doesn't have to give up anything for a boy and he loves her anyway." Okay, so that's coming down on the side of evil, or somewhere in the middle of good and evil, but in Dawn's world the two are not always mutually exclusive. In spite of the deeper connotations of her words, she says it in such a way that keeps it light. "I mean maybe he gives up sailor-ing because who wants to eat fish for the rest of forever?"

She snickers lightly at her own amusement and then walks further into the shop toward Gracie. "A sentient book shop? Really? That's super cool."

Now she's looking up and around the shop with renewed interest. It's so easy to feel at home in a bookshop, any bookshop. "I'm new here so it's nic to know that even in the land of weird newness there are bookshops, sentient or not. Although I did make it here with both laptop and Kindle so I'm also counting that as a win."

network;

[rouxgaroux]

[ Okay, Gracie's here too. Of course, he doesn't get that this Gracie might have no idea who he is or that they were friends in another world. His first instinct is that she's an ally and he needs to let her know that he's here too. So she gets Alcide's face on her screen. At this point, he's found clothes that aren't an orange jumpsuit. ]

Hey, you made it here too. You alright?

network;

[dorkify]

[ Sorry, Alcide. She doesn't recognize you, but let's be friends anyway? She smiles at Alcide, but is clearly a little confused about who he is. ]

Hey. Yeah, I've been here for awhile now. [ She tilts her head a bit] I'm sorry. I don't--recognize you. Did I know you in Austin?

network;

[rouxgaroux]

[ Oh, this is gonna make him sad. And.... yep. The minute she says she doesn't recognize him,
he wonders what the hell's wrong with her... or him. ]

You didn't come here from the Complex? Cause I knew you there. Or... another you, someone who looks just like you with your name who had a cat named Aslan back home.

network;

[dorkify]

[ She doesn't mean to make him sad. Maybe they can become friends again here. She gives him a sympathetic sort of look. ]

I've never been to any place called the Complex. I've really only been here and Austin. You knew me from some place else though? [ That's mildly disconcerting and also kind of cool. ] If I hadn't lived here so long, it never would have occurred to me that there can be other mes out there but...I think it was another me.

It's nice to meet you again though. What's your name? I can 100 percent use more friends here.

network;

[duelo]

Alcide?

[ If there's a Gracie, and there's an Alcide, then there needs to be a Buffy, doesn't there? Derek needs a Buffy. And a Katniss, quite badly. Maybe Laura would get off his case if he could say he has friends. ]

network;

[rouxgaroux]

[ Wait. What? How is that voice here? On one hand, awesome. On the other hand, creepy as hell. Alcide is relieved, truth be told. After finding Buffy, now Gracie, he'd hoped but not too much because he's so damn tired of being let down. ]

Hey. You made it to wherever here is. Uhh... Itinere [ Yes, he absolutely Southern-ized that and mispronounced the shit out of it. But whatever. Weird names should expect to be mispronounced. ]

[duelo]

Made it here? I've been here for a little while. I just hadn't bothered with this thing until today.

[ He pauses then, a little confused. ]

How long have you been here?

[ Has he been here for a long time and Derek's distaste for technology has kept him from finding his friend? ]

network;

[duelo]

[ He hasn't been here super long, but he's been here long enough to adjust to Laura being alive and to living with her again in a room she says he's already lived in which, to his knowledge, he absolutely has not. So at least he's got a general rundown of how this place works. Sort of. Ish. Whatever. Enough to venture into the network because his sister says it's useful and he needs to go meet people. If he's going to live here now — and he is, because that means being with her again — then he supposes he ought to. Maybe it'll just be easier to start with a familiar face. ]

Why can't you review books? I could use a recommendation or two now that I'm out of there and can read books again...

[ Because no matter what his sister says, he'd prefer to hole up with a good book to spending time with strangers who are just as likely to kill him as they are befriend him, any day. ]

What happened to the perky vlogs about current events? You give up on those just because you're in a new place?

[ Not that he knows her well enough to ask about much else, but he does remember she had a knack for trying to point out the bright side in a pretty shitty situation. ]

: network;

[dorkify]

[ The network is an easy way to make friends, to put yourself out there so Laura's advice was probably good advice. ]

No, I mean I can. I could and I'd be happy to recommend things to you. It's just...the last time I did it, it was a book that I love with characters that I adore and then I felt terrible because a couple of those characters contacted me on the network. They're real here and I'd just called them fictional and told them I knew everything about their lives so....I may give up on the book reviews, or at least make sure I know those characters aren't here and alive.

[ The second part gets a confused look from her. ] I've always done vlogs on books and movies though. Current events are usually...depressing and cause me to lose faith in humanity. [this is...weird. ] New place? I mean...I guess so, but I've been here about a year now.

[ She definitely still does that. ]

[duelo]

[ Well, that's interesting... Disconcerting. It makes him think of the time when Adam and he had somehow switched their memories and that was uncomfortable enough as it was. He can't imagine it being on a larger scale. ]

Okay, I'll give you that. That's fair.

[ And now it's his turn to be confused. ]

You're...wait, what? You're Gracie, right?

[dorkify]

[ It had been weird. Now, she thinks that she and Adam are on the way to being friends, but she's betting it'll be awkward for a little while. She's very sorry to confuse and disappoint him. She'd hated to disappoint Alcide as well. ]

I'm Gracie. Were you somewhere else that you knew me? Because there was another guy with the same situation. The best I can come up with is parallel universe Gracies.

network;

[stillplaying]

[She's been to the bookstore before, and recalls chatting with Gracie a time or two. That's not what really gets her attention though. It's the mention of proper bodies. Just how widespread had these body swaps been? Then again, she had been caught up in her own problems the past few weeks to pay all that much attention.

At least now she's starting to feel a little more like herself again.]

You, too?

network;

[dorkify]

[ Gracie recognizes Katniss as well. She smiles at her and nods a bit. ]

Yeah. Thankfully, I ended up in a friend's body. Whose body did you end up in?

Re: network;

[stillplaying]

Not me. My- [She hesitates for a second. It's still strange to use the word aloud. Stranger still is the fact that it still seems to apply even after recent events.] My boyfriend switched bodies with a friend of his.

Re: network;

[dorkify]

Oooooh. [ There's a slight wince to her words.] That had to be really weird. He's okay now though?