Players:
Summary: Vinny helps Aiden learn how to use YouTube.
Date: May 3, 2011
Log Title: Discovering Youtube
Rating: PG
NYC - Mutant Town (Avenue A)
Mutant Town, also known as District X, has become a haven for mutants. This section of town doesn't care what you look like, accepting all mutants no matter what their appearance. Most of the businesses in this section of town are mutant run ranging from small convenience stores to clothing shops to restaurants to night clubs. The buildings here aren't the high rise buildings you might find in mid-town but most are about 5-6 stories high. Mutant Town might not be the most luxurious section of town, in fact it's fairly run down, but this section of where mutants are safe and welcomed regardless of race, religion and culture.
Late morning in Mutant town, the usual foot traffic going to and from various buildings on the main avenue. Though even in this throng the form of Vinny stands out as he walks out from a local gym. The hybrid wearing an ill-fitting Karate Gi and carrying a dufflebag over his shoulder. Putting his hat back on he turns and bows to somone inside the building. "Thanks fer da lesson Sensei, see ya later this week." He turns and heads up the sidewalk.
Stepping out of Four Arms Apartments, Aiden blinks a bit at the light of day. Sure he's been up for a bit but he's also spent a good part of his morning getting ready. Shifting the duffle bag on his shoulder with the sound of metal clinking inside Aiden starts to walk down the street with his wings tucked up agasint his back. The markings that are visible on his neck and arms are a light green colour this morning. As he looks around for a place to get breakfast he spots a familar Platypus looking man and offers him a wave and nod.
Vinny catchs the wave and returns with one of his own. Wandering over with a smile "G'day! Didn't know ya were livin' here, figured ya had a place out on coney. Day treatin' ya well so far?"
"Mutant Town's affordable." Aiden says with a chuckle. "And Brooklyn was a bit pricy for my tastes but the flight from here to Coney Island isn't bad. I also work a block over at the Bistro as a waiter a few nights a week. And my day is just starting so I guess it's treating me okay, and yourself?"
Vinny nods "Ah doin' alright. Gettin' some much needed rest, catchin' up on my Karate and gettin' some errands run. Just tryin' ta get things back ta normal for a bit."
Aiden raises a drawn on eyebrow at Vinny. "Getting everything back to normal? Everything okay?" He asks. "Actually you don't have to go into detail you barely know me. And I hate to admit this but I can't remember what you name is." He says rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Vinny smiles "Eh long story, and it's ok. People tend ta remember my face more than anythin' else. Must be the rugged good looks." He grins a bit "Name's Vinny."
"Vinny, that's right." Aiden says with a nod. "Sorry, I'm just really bad with names. This is the longest I've been in one place so I'm actually having to remember names for longer then a week." He jokes. "So any place to get a quick breakfast around here that you can recommend? I'm not really one to cook."
Vinny nods and hooks a thumb down the street "Well the Bistro on Avenue B is a good place. Bit early for Chinese yet so the other restaraunt probably isn't open yet."
"That's where I'm a waiter, at the Bistro over there. So there food is good I just eat it a lot." Aiden says with a chuckle. He needs to the two jobs to be able to make rent and get by. "I'm still learning New York though, I eat a lot of street cart food cause it's cheap but I know it can't be healthy for me."
Vinny shrugs "Everythin' is gonna kill ya in some fashion. All depends on what yer doin' other than eating that make the difference."
"Actually I figure I'll end up dying screwing something up in my act." Aiden says. "Though I do take safety extremely seriously when I'm preforming or practicing. I don't take chances in regards to that cause one wrong sword swallow and that's it."
Vinny winces "yeah, sounds rather unpleasent. But hey if it's what ya enjoy doin' then more power to ya mate. We all got our own callin's in the world. A bit musically inclined but not much of a performer myself."
"I love music but I don't have much talent. I sing when I'm in the shower but that's about it nowadays. One of my friends, Kande, she was in the whole Freakshow Troupe with me. She's very fish like in a lot of ways because of her mutation. She has this beautiful singing voice." Aiden says as he has a look of fondness on his face and the green markings start to take on a hint of blue as he talks about her. "Well she could sing underwater and it was a amazing cause you could hear it just as clear as if she weren't swiming in a tank of water."
Vinny nods "Must have been somthin' ta hear. Mabye one'a these days you'll get the group back tagether and folks can see it all for themselves."
The markings take on a deeper hue of blue as Aiden nods. "I'd like that except two of them passed away and I have no idea how to find any of the others. I've been trying but with no luck. We got seperated and I've spent the last two years look but I haven't got a clue where any of them are."
Vinny nods "Damn, that's rough. But never give up mate, failure only ever truly comes when ya stop tryin'. Mabye search tha net? I'm sure if they're still performin' somone would have it on Youtube or somthin'"
"I haven't given up. Lauren's out there and someday I'll find her again." Aiden says confidently. "Cause what you say is true, the minute I lose hope is the minute that I won't see any of them again." He says with a single nod. "That's pretty much why I stopped traveling and started preforming so maybe they could find me. But, what's the net and what's Youtube?"
Vinny blinks "Wow mate.. ya been on the road way too long. Come on I got a computer in my apartment let's go have a look."
Vinny turns and heads towards the four arms.
"Oh net, as in Internet!" Aiden says not connecting the slang. "I'm really computer dumb, I've learned how to use google but that's about it." He says as he turns to follow Vinny into the apartment complex. "I usually go to the library to use one."
--
NYC - Four Arm Apartments (Vinny's Apartment)
Vinny's apartment is standard size for the complex, the walls covered in pictures of australia as well as carved wooden figures and masks. A small couch and coffee table rest in front of a flat-screen television. A large section of the wall is dedicated to framed newspaper clips about Jacob and Jennifer Wilks, the stories revolving around their travels around the world and work in environmental activism and awareness. A few of the picture include what seems to be a younger and pre-platypus Vinny.
Vinny enters the apartment and closes the door after Aiden follows. He walks over to a small computer table near the kitchenette and turns on the desktop system. "Have a seat, it'll take a second or two ta get things runnin'"
Aiden steps in and tucks his wings against him tight, as to know hit anything, as he looks around the apartment. He can't help but linger on the framed newspaper clippings and read what they say. "I actually have a studio apartment upstairs." He says in a distracted tone. He eventually takes a seat but he can't stop his eyes from wandering over all the decor in the apartment. "You've got some really cool stuff."
Vinny smiles and types on the keyboard as the system boots up. "Thanks mate, brought some of it with me when I came ta tha states, and me folks send me stuff every now and then. That stuff is aunthentic Aboriginal, hand-carved by the tribes I've visited over the last few years. Medicine men were helpin' me get a grip on my powers."
"I'm sorry if I sound like a complete idiot to you but what's Aboriginal?" Aiden says a bit nervious to ask. Most the blue has faded from the green in the markings on his skin but it's been replaced with a hint of yellow. "I never finished going to school so I don't really have must world knowledge…if that's the right way to explain it." He says sounding a bit unsure. "And wow, that must have been quite an experience getting helped by Medicine men."
Vinny smiles and motions to one of the pictures on the wall. It has him as a child, his folks, and an older dark-skinned woman in robes. "Tha woman there is Hassi Dooloo, she's an Aborigini woman. Been a friend ta tha family for as long as I been alive. The Aborigini were the original inhabitants of Australia before the British used the place as a prison colony. I suppose ya could compare them ta tha Native Americans here."
Aiden nods as he stands up to get a closer look at the picture Vinny points to. "Wow, I bet you learned a lot of neat things from her. Honestly I always thought that school was over rated and the things you learn from experiences like this are always better." He says before returning to his seat.
Vinny smiles "I was home-schooled, especially after tha change. Got my degrees online, but yeah personal experience is the best teacher ya can have." He clicks a few buttons "Ah here we go, so did yer group go by a troupe name or title?"
"None of us had a degree or anything, just no time for it and we didn't really focus on technology or school much." Aiden says watching Vinny. "We were The Astonishing Howies Wonders, Howard was the leader. He taught me pretty much everything I know."
Vinny nods and types in the name "Ok.. lesse here. If they're still performing under that name somone somewhere had to have taken some video.. and nine times out of ten, if it's on video, it's on youtube."
Anything pulled up under the name is from at least two years old, nothing recent. "Wow, I didn't know people recorded us." Aiden says as he seems quite surprised and it shows by the tattoo like markings taking on an orange colour. "I doubt it as Howard was the one who died so there is Howie to have Wonders anymore." He says taking a deep breath. "Um…how about Lauren Holloway, she went by Animality when we preformed together." He says quietly.
Vinny nods and types in the new name and starts the search. "Eh these days everyone has a bloody camera or cameraphone or somthing. Ya'd be amazed at what ends up on tha net these days."
"The whole phone thing doesn't make much sense to me." Aiden admits. "Anyway…" He says looking at the listing on youtube and like before most are from over two years ago. Some videos are even listes as Animality and Bluebird together and Aiden just stares at the monitor. After scrolling down a bit a video of a Fire Breather named Animality from a year ago is listed and Aiden takes a deep breath. "Check that one out." He says.
Vinny nods and clicks the link "Says here tha video is one year old. Hopefully tha comments will tell where this was shot."
The video of is a very cat like woman doing an intricate dance with a rope on fire. It's obvious she has a tail and pointed ears as she dances. Aiden just quitely watches the video as blue and purple replace any other colours on the markings on his arms and neck. "It's her." He whispers. The description of the video lists that it was taken at a fair in Northern California a little over a year ago.
Vinny nods "Northern Part of California about a year ago, that's tha most recent video. Sorry it's not more help but at least it's somthin'"
"Why sorry, it's the first time I've been able to see her in two years." Aiden says. "It's…thanks. It means a lot." He wipes the underneath of his eyes a bit, smearing his make up before smiling. "It means she's still alive right, and that she's probably doing okay. Northern California, it's the most I've had to go on in two years."
Vinny nods and smiles "Well I'll keep checkin' every few days and see if I can find more out. Even traveling shows these days have their own websites so if I can narrow down what show she's performin' in I might have more ta go on."
"Yeah I found out the Coney Island has one and they recently put me up on there too. Which is kinda why I'm staying put for now hoping that one of them can see where I am." Aiden looks over at Vinny and smiles, green showing among the purple and blue in his 'tattoos'. "It really means a lot you helping out like this. Though I wonder how long it'd take to fly out there to check things out." He stands up offers a hand. "I should get going to work though, if you hear anything or just wanna stop by I'm upstairs."
Vinny nods and shakes the offered hand "Always glad ta help where I can, if I learn anythin' I'll pop up and let ya know. Have'a good day at work an if ya need me and I'm not here, try tha park."
