Fandom Island Weekly Gazette

This wasn't New York. That was obvious, and Karel had no idea how he'd gotten here.

He'd spent the day exploring, followed around by the dog who'd been in his room. Trying to figure it out, Karel now knew that he was at a place called Fandom Island, just outside of Baltimore, and that there was a big castle on one side- apparently a boarding school. Oh, and there were green deer, here. At least he thought they were green; the dog had chased happily after every one they came across.

After the tour, Karel and the dog returned to the building he'd woken in. His name was on the mailbox (or, the Americanized version, at least) so he didn't feel too guilty about staying here until he figured things out. Or, that's what he'd tell anyone who asked; he actually felt very little guilt. Being 18 was magical like that.

He'd fed himself and the dog from the odd food in the fridge and was now sitting on the front stoop, smoking as he watched the streets be empty and clean. Something he didn't see much of back home.



[open!]

Carl Kolchak is an investigative reporter and has been for over twenty years. Unfortunately, not all of those years have been spent at the same paper. Or even in the same city.

Why? Well, because Carl has a need, nay, a compulsion, to inform the public of capital N-news, and that doesn’t always square well with his editors, publishers, the owners of the papers he works on, the police, town councils, etc., resulting in him working at any paper that will hire him. He also has a habit of continuing to look into a story long after it appears closed, and of not being afraid to ask the questions no one else will ask. Or answer.

A late 40-something man, with a very normal, everyday, plain, easily forgettable (except not because he’s always greeted by name) non-Hollywood face and a sarcastic ‘wise-cracking’ sense of humour, Carl is always in a seersucker suit, tennis shoes, and a battered straw boater hat. He loves that hat. His friend and editor has called him someone who “looks like he’s just come from a roadside performance of the Front Page.”

Carl always has his portable tape recorder over one shoulder, portable camera slung over the other and a small notebook and pencil in his front pocket.

Powers:

He is coming to Fandom with the POWER OF THE PEN and FREEDOM OF THE PRESS! Uhm. Yeah.

Carl is 100% human. No powers. None. Zip. Nada. Zilch. What he does have is an INCREDIBLY open mind. He will fight you if you try to tell him something exists that shouldn’t, but he has no trouble believing it once he’s convinced. He's also got a lot of contacts, an awesome ability to research, and a very good education and memory. Also, snark.

Carl's camera:
In general, I will be playing it like a regular camera, but, pulling from canon, it can catch stuff like it was a high end digital super miracle camera or can mess up like a 110 trying to take photos underwater with the wrong film, as plot needs. Let me know if you want something to be caught or not.

Carl's tape player:

He also has a portable 1970s tape recorder. Again, I am going to play it as a regular tape recorder, but it can be used to catch odd things just like the camera. Or, since it's cassettes, it can completely break down and snag or something.

Vampires!
Carl is coming from just after the first of the made-for-tv movies. Which means he's already fought a vampire. I say fought... he staked him. In front of witnesses. Soooo, he's aware that vampires exist. And he now carries a satchel full of wooden stakes, a wooden mallet, and silver cross. He'll leave this in his rooms, but he's got them.

The Cannon:
Kolchak: the Night Stalker is a 1970s monster-of-the-week sci-fi horror CBS tv series that began as a made-for-tv movie called The Night Stalker, followed by its sequel The Night Strangler, both based on a then-unpublished novel called The Kolchak Papers.

The basic story is that of a reporter named Carl Kolchak who tries to get to the bottom of news stories that come up in his city. He always uncovers an explanation that fits all the pieces of the puzzle, except that to make the pieces fit one has to believe in some supernatural element: vampires, zombies, ancient demons, witchcraft (oh gods that episode hurt), goddesses, aliens, etc. His attempts to convince authorities of these answers/pieces always end in failure, which leaves it to him to kill the ‘monster’ and save lives. And get in trouble for it. When he tries to report the stories, “inform the people,” he is always blocked, leaving only his tape player and himself knowing the truth. And us, of course.

Carl was at his desk, frantically typing away. He finally had a story and he was going to publish it next week! 'Giant Panda Anniversary Dairy Sale at Turtle and Canary' be damned! This was NEWS!

Of course, this week's glorious paper was already on the stands. Well, stand. Okay, box on his desk.

He really needed some newsies.

---

Fandom Island Weekly Gazette
April 25, 2012
Page 2

Dear Aunt Fannie,

My tooth fell out last week and I swallowed it. Now my stomach won't stop growling. Did I grow a new mouth in my stomach?

~Confused


Dear Confused,

Yes.

~Auntie F

---

Carl also needed some writing staff.