SONTER RADIO ARCHIVE – RECORDING #042
Recorded: Late Summer, Trekuer County (Exact Realm Unknown)Station: WRLM – Realm Radio, Home of the Swerve & SpiritFormat: Vinyl Exclusive – "Peachbone Talks: Ghosts, Love & Lies"
Host's voice crackles through faint static, warm and syrup-slick."Welcome back to Sonter Radio, the only place where contracts sing, demons dance, and love gets complicated! Today we got a freshly assembled field crew—one healer, one spirit bender, and one jelly-slick gunner. Now, they might lie. They might tell truths. Who's to say? But their chemistry's real, and the vibes are strong. If you like what you hear, you can snag this interview on vinyl down at Juna's Records & Remedies. And if you buy the special edition with their three faces etched in gold, you get yourself a coupon for five cents off your next grocery bill. Stay tuned, stay weird, and stay Sonter, folks."
Loretta "Lettie" Mayfield – Sonter Rank: Vodka | Mississippi-born conjure dancerKaito "Whiskey" O'Sinn – Sonter Rank: Whiskey | Irish-Thai magical contractorJune (last name unlisted) – Sonter Rank: Tequila | Brazilian-born morphic slime & tech witch
HOST: Alright sugar—first up: How did y'all even meet?
LETTIE: He fell on my farm, bleeding out like a ghost with no map. I saved him. Then he stayed. Turned out I was better at patchin' up men than lettin' 'em go.
KAITO: I was huntin' a spirit out of pocket, and your daddy nearly shot mine off. Romantic, right?
JUNE: I met them at a diner. I was the server. Then I became their backup. Typical Tuesday.
HOST: What's each of your Sonter ranks and how'd you earn 'em?
KAITO: Whiskey. You don't get that without burn marks, love songs, and three gods callin' you an asshole.
LETTIE: Vodka. Clean, sharp, and cold enough to make demons second guess. Didn't know I had it in me.
JUNE: Tequila. Got mine in a swamp shootout with a lizard cult and a flaming circle. Fun weekend.
HOST: How y'all feel about the KKK? Ever cross paths?
LETTIE: Mississippi don't let you forget. I danced spells at rallies once—made two hoods see the ghost of their own mama and run cryin'. That counts.
KAITO: They tried hexin' me near Baton Rouge. Bad idea. I sent their sheets home wrapped around nightmares.
JUNE: I jelly-trapped their truck in Louisiana. Watched it melt. Didn't blink.
HOST: Y'all believe in love? Or just in contracts?
KAITO: I believe in binding hearts... just not on paper.
LETTIE: I ain't never needed a ring. But I want one, someday. He know.
JUNE: Love is just a slow-form spell. Some last. Some rot.
HOST: Where'd you get your team name?
LETTIE:Chime. We're loud. We warn people. Sometimes we don't.
KAITO: It was either that or "Team You're Welcome."
JUNE: "No Refunds" was also on the table.
HOST: Ever run into African spirits during missions?
LETTIE: The Orisha came to one of my dances once. Left me a feather in the wind. Ain't dared touch it since.
KAITO: I got a deal with an old crossroads saint. Doesn't answer often. When he does? Thunder don't stop for days.
JUNE: Candomblé still runs in my grandmother's house. The spirits don't knock. They just walk in.
HOST: Were you ever part of the marches? Or protests?
LETTIE: I brought healing salves to Selma in secret. Left potions in purses and kissed soldiers' foreheads.
KAITO: I was overseas, mostly. But I heard the cries. Echoes don't stay quiet long.
JUNE: My folks fled before the crackdown. But I jammed anti-curse wards into radios when I could.
HOST: Is your magic more weapon... or survival?
LETTIE: Mine's a song. But don't mistake it for a lullaby.
KAITO: It's a key. I use it to open and close things. Sometimes too fast.
JUNE: Mine keeps me together. Literally.
HOST: Who's most likely to flirt with the enemy?
JUNE: Lettie.
LETTIE: Me?! Look, just 'cause I got hips and history doesn't mean I flirt.
KAITO: …You do, though.
HOST: What would you be doing if not this life?
LETTIE: I'd be back home. Running the medicine shop. Marrying safe.
KAITO: Dead, probably. Or running a cursed jazz club in Bangkok.
JUNE: Teaching shapeshifting to toddlers. Badly.
HOST: Who lies best on this team?
LETTIE: June.
KAITO: June.
JUNE: I prefer "narrative flexibility."
HOST: What's the strangest thing you've fought?
KAITO: A grief bear made of funeral songs and wet teeth.
LETTIE: Mirrorborn preacher. Spoke like my mama, but eyes of glass.
JUNE: A jellyfish queen that kept offering marriage contracts.
HOST: Any brushes with famous slashers?
LETTIE: A chick with scissors for legs tried to recruit me. Politely declined.
KAITO: I almost dated one once. Didn't know till dessert.
JUNE: I actually was one. But don't tell HR.
HOST: What's your biggest regret?
LETTIE: Leaving home without saying goodbye proper.
KAITO: Saying goodbye too late.
JUNE: Not saving someone I should've.
HOST: Which of you cooks?
LETTIE: I do gumbo, fried okra, and charm pies. Don't touch my stove.
KAITO: I make rice, and that's it.
JUNE: I melt things. Is that cooking?
HOST: Ever meet a god?
LETTIE: He sleeps next to me.
KAITO: Now now, that's exaggerating.
JUNE: I once beat one at cards. Still waiting for the bill.
HOST: Most ridiculous mission ever?
KAITO: We had to escort a haunted jukebox to Memphis. It moaned every time someone touched the volume.
LETTIE: We got paid in lizard teeth and bad Yelp reviews.
JUNE: I still have the jukebox. It screams "I Will Survive" in six keys.
HOST: Last one—if y'all had to pick a family motto?
LETTIE: "Hold hands. Burn together."
KAITO: "Secrets hum louder than songs."
JUNE: "Do it cute. Or don't do it."
HOST chuckles warmly."Well, y'all heard it here first. If you want to re-spin this tale, head to your local vinyl store. And if you buy two, you get a free coupon for biscuits at Lou's Market. That's Sonter savings, baby. Stay smooth, stay strange—and may your ghosts be gentle tonight."