You CAN fight city hall!

Off the Record - Main Room(#13005RAM)

	It's not hard to tell what the primary focus of this shop is: books and music. However, a lot of care has been taken to ensure that the shop is comfortable and inviting, if a little chaotic and esoteric in execution. There's an eclectic collection of seating consisting of everything from bistro tables to a couple of reclaimed old 50's style diner booths, and a long wooden service counter with an espresso machine. One glass case holds pastries and other snacks; the other a selection of antique books and rare albums too precious for self-service.

	The retail shelves carry used books for sale; some of them are organized by subject and author, and some of them are organized in some arcane system known only to the shop owner. The records, cassettes and CDs for sale are all alternative and subcultural in nature, with an emphasis on goth, industrial, post-punk, neofolk and experimental - and all of the subgenres inherent to each.

	The walls have been festooned with a collection of posters from Expressionist and Surrealist movies and advertisements for concerts long passed; mixed in are various other pieces from artists like Louis Wain, Austin Osman Spare and Ben Ali Ong. In addition to the main three foci of the place (coffee, music, and books), the shop occasionally sells a variety of other pieces from local artists, some of it actually very good, indeed.

		<<+VIEWS HERE: MENU, STAFF, ALL_AGES>>


	***OOC HIGH BANALITY PCSs: This is primarily a Changeling/related and Tradition Mage hangout. If you're of high Banality you might have a hard time finding RP here, depending on who's here. +rules Sniping applies.***

	In addition to the regular posters that decorate the walls, similar posters of a chimerical nature have been added to the mix. There are bits and pieces of chimerical trinkets found around the shop, though none of it is anything either particularly valuable or useful. Given the number of random Chimera that make an appearance here (and the few that seem to have made the place into their residence), as well as the lingering glamour, it's likely that this shop has a fair amount of Kithain traffic.
Contents:
Balance
Ethan
Jordan
Obvious Exits:
  Front Door <O>   Back Hallway <Ha>

Balance sighs profoundly to something Ethan grumbles to him as the sit together on the couches. Ethan's working his way through a light repast of mismatched ceramic coffee mugs and the coffee they contain, and John's sorting mail.

Ethan has paused in coffee consumption to scowl with his arms crossed over his chest.

Ethan sits down at the circle of couches.

You sit down at the circle of couches.

Jordan yells over to Artegal, "You want anything?"

	Artegal makes his way inside and heads to take a seat at one of the couches. He's humming softly to himself:

	So no one told you life was gonna be this way
	Your job's a joke, you're broke
	Your love life's D.O.A
	It's like you're always stuck in second gear
	When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month
	Or even your year, but

	But then Jordan hollers and blissfully ends the tune! Artegal brought a small thermos of tea with him, so he waves her off, for now.

Balance says, direly, "Don't make me demote you, Artegal. Or, worse, deal with the Orrery."

Ethan says, "Hey, Artie"

	Artegal grins, gamely. "The Orrery!" Of course, perhaps he doesn't quite grasp what goes on at the orrery, but. That's something for another time, perhaps. Making himself comfortable, he adjusts the thermos for a sip. "Oi, what's new with you lot, good Sirs?"

Balance smiles as he trades his catalog out for his macchiato. "Ever seem the underside of an El track, Artegal?"

	Artegal nods to Balance, "Just after the first great war, yeah. 1920ish or thereabouts." He takes a sip of tea.

Ethan's eyebrows go UP. "Do what now?"

Balance scratches lightly at the corner of his eye with a matte white painted nail. "I was about to threaten Artegal with having to clean the Orrery, but Mina uses it less for birds than she does books other research...materials." He then turns his palm upwards towards the other Kinain. "And then he had to go and remind me how old he is."

	Artegal smiles, "Nasty bit of business with a wiseguy. Mostly a misunderstanding, really, but. You know." A pause as he takes another sip of tea. "I imagine cleaning up at the Orrery might prove all sorts of illuminating," he chirps with a good-natured can-do attitude.

Balance assures Artegal, "Oh, it is...if you can actually read it."

Ethan says, "Great, /all/ you guys get to outlive me. Apparently I tend to die in blazing stupid glory."

	"There's a lot to be said about going out in blazing stupid glory," quips Arte. "Its the Gwydion way of choice."
At your place, Balance makes a small noise. "Who says? I haven't Seen that at all. Besides, if we can change that for me, I guarantee we can change that for you. No Chronos cage required."

Ethan uncrosses his arms and stretches on the couch. "ANYway... enough about me. Artie, you should know about John's new plan."

	Arte arches an eyebrow and then leans in conspiratorially and nods. "Do tell," he offers in a low, hushed tone.

Balance slides a letter over towards Artegal.

Ethan says, "Well, just fighting the bureaucracy fight to get D and Fifth declared, like, a no car zone, and a named neighborhood..."

Ethan says, "We could go a step further, and actually have a declared a protected glamour zone by the court."

	Artegal's changeling's eyes skim over the text in the letter after he unfolds it. A few nods and mhms pepper his perusal. "This sounds like a great idea. I'm happy to tackle the banality of city hall to try and move it ahead."

Balance retrieves his macchiato and takes a sip. "Yeah? You've got a way in with City Hall?" He asks, glancing at Ethan.

Ethan helps himself to a cup of coffee, drinking the contents and eating the mug. "Don't look at me, I would tackle the courtly side," with muffled crunching sounds of ceramic.

	Artegal grins, "I'm sure between all and sundry, we could make some headway."

Balance mms, closing one eye against the sound of the crunching ceramic. "I would like to talk to Eloise at Roaster's, too. She may have something I want."

Ethan says, "Eloise? Haven't seen her since the ice storm in 2017."

Balance replies to Ethan, "Me neither, but I swear she's got a ward around that place and I want one around the neighborhood."

	Artegal arches another eyebrow. "That sounds nifty keen."

Ethan says, "Wow, gee whiz Artie, you really were around in the 1950s!"

	Artegal laughs and nods, "Indeed I was. Then I sort of took a bit of a break from the world for a bit. My mastery of idioms clearly did too."

Balance comments, "You can watch television on your watch now, on a screen only slightly smaller than what RCA was building back then."

Ethan says, "This from the guy doing a brisk business in vintage vinyl."

Balance says, "You know what, though? Collector's scum and elitist dicks have done a great job of making vinyl banal as fuck. The medium doesn't matter if what you're listening to makes you happy."

	Arte smiles and nods, "Technology is indeed a marvelous thing, but I'm not much good at anything that in vogue after the 40s or thereabouts."