Interdimensional Cable

[westfallcorndog]

Today in the forum, someone has set up a techno-pile of video gadgetry. At the heart of it is a television, and an old one at that. The screen is large enough, but it sits in a retro wooden fixture that gives it the appearance more of furniture than of an entertainment system. All the better for it to hold the weight of a number of video-playing devices from across the ages and dimensions.

On either side of the pile of plastic boxes and tangled wires stacked on top are a set of outdoor lounge chairs. One, sat up like a chair, is empty. The other, fully reclined, is full of a whole lotta dead dude. It’s Harrowheart, who can’t possibly understand the vast majority of what he’s lying next to, a lit cigarette between his lips and his arms dangling off the chair and onto the grass. His floating hands are hard at work twisting knobs and pounding on the top of the television. Now and then the screen flickers with a hint of a signal.

Without spending the energy to lift his head, Harrow calls out to any passers-by, “Hey! What’s your favorite movie? People keep tellin’ me about ‘em, but I ain't ever seen one. I wanna find a good one and invite everyone over to watch it. Help me pick one out, will ya? And if y’ain’t ever seen a movie either… I dunno, weigh in on someone else’s recommendation?”

(( OOC Info: I want to stream a movie in-character! I love streaming movies, usually it’s a really good time for everyone involved. I’ve never done one IC, but I think this is a great opportunity to start. I’ll take any and all IC movie recommendations (real movies only!) and by next Wednesday I’ll try to decide which one we watch. The better your character talks it up, the better its chance! I’m shooting for next Saturday the 21st at around 8 or 9pm Eastern for a start time, but I’m going to be flexible if people know they can’t make it. I want as many people to be able to enjoy this as possible! If you’re interested in the idea or have any questions shoot me a PM and I’ll PM you back with answers and details and remember to get back to you when the movie and time are decided. ))

Comments

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow stands and joins Jim by the television. He crosses his arms over his chest and hooks his thumbs into his pants pockets.

"We don't got anything like this," he says. "I rented all this stuff and read the manuals. I had all night to do it. Not sleepin' kinda has its perks." This guy reads the manuals, Jim. He's Starfleet material.

"I don't know if I wanna learn anything. I just wanna watch my first movie. See what things're like on Earth, y'know? Do you got a phone? You should use it to summon Clint. Then we can ask him about Earth movies together." Summon. Yes. Because Clint is a demon of dark and infinite knowledge on the subject of pop culture.

[smartass_captain]

He's going to give Jim hell for that forever, isn't he? Is it so bad that Jim doesn't want his Nexus-friend to be captures, turned over to a government facility and experimented on/with by the same people who woke up Khan? No, but Jim you're not explaining anything to him, he probably just thinks you think he's dumb.

Which is stupid, because idiots don't build...whatever this is. Jim is impressed.

"Good thing about renting stuff from another world, that basically means it's yours now unless you plan on f=visiting wherever again." Jim snorts and looks down at the remote thoughtfully. He does not want to admit he has literally no idea how these old things work.

"So, a romance flick? Girl chases guy wins guy over gets guy? A horror movie? They tresspassed where they shouldn't and now monster from beyond is gonna hunt them down and jumpscares. Action movie where things blow up every other minute? There's a lot of different types."

A spaceman and a medieval knight attempt to use a TV remote. This is what rp is all about.

[westfallcorndog]

"Monster-chasin' movies could be good, could be bad. I get a whole lotta monsters huntin' down normal folks in my everyday, but... I do kinda wanna see what passes for scary on Earth. I bet y'all are scared of anything and everything. It seems like a delicate world. Steve said you don't even eat giant spiders! And Verity said y'all... Vote. And not just for little stuff! For your world leaders! Figure y'all got some cushy-ass lives." Yes, Harrow. Mock democracy like you aren't totally jealous.

"An action movie could be cool! I'd get to see how Earth folks fight! Shoot, that'd be cool. A romance movie might be nice, but I get the feelin' most folks here are single, and I wouldn't wanna remind 'em of that."

(( They should watch Escape from New York. Entertain the New Yorkers and make the non-Earthers amazed at the bleak dystopia and fabulous hair of 1980s New York City ))

[smartass_captain]

"What you should do is get this thing they call a 'Netflix'. It's a program that has like, all the movies. Or something. And you can just pick and choose at random. Then, if you like it? It will make suggestions of things like that." It should be noted Jim has no idea where one gets a Netflix or how to work it.

But he spent a lot of time in Clint's apartment complex in 2013 Brooklyn.

[westfallcorndog]

"Netflix, huh?... I'm gonna have to look into it." Between that and the phone Verity's giving him, Harrowheart will never leave the house.

"I was thinkin' about hostin' this whole 'movie night' deal at Jesse's place. Have you met the guy? He's undead, like me! No nose, green skin. Kinda country?"

[smartass_captain]

"Hell yeah! Jesse and I are good friends! He doesn't talk about me never? Daisy and the elf dude know me too. But elf is kinda shy and Daisy....doesn't talk much. For obvious reasons. She's a real sweetheart though."

Jim gives a huge grin because yay undead cowboy and friends.

"I haven't been to his place before yet though. Could be fun.'

[westfallcorndog]

Jim and Jesse are friends! This is such good news! Harrow beams, and he elbows Jim playfully. "You never mentioned him, either, Jim! And if it makes ya feel any better, it's probably only 'cause all he and I do is talk zombie shop. He and I spent a long time discussin' what my necromancy can do for his folks, and he's informed me that on other worlds racism is apparently not cool." Yeah, apparently.

He reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out two little hand-rolled cigarettes. Or. 'Cigarettes.' Who knows what's in those things.

"You smoke, Jim?"

[smartass_captain]

"Sometimes I wish. But nah. I can't. Too many allergies." Jim shrugs easily and continues poking at the remote like he knows what he's doing. He does not.

A random VCR ejects a VHS tape though. And Jim has NO idea what that even is.

"Did..did it just spit something at me?"

[westfallcorndog]

Allergies, asthma... Is there a weakness these breathers don't have? It's a mystery for another time, because machines are doing wacky things! Harrow leans in curiously and takes the plastic projectile in one hand. He brings it to his face to sniff, because that's Good and Normal. It must not smell like anything special, because it doesn't elicit any kind of response.

He puts his finger in one of the holes in the back and spins the reel of film slowly back and forth.

"Ohhhh, okay! I see how this works. That little black tape in there, that's the pictures! That's how film works in cameras on my world. Big long strings of see-through paper that capture images. I guess this is... A bunch of pictures all in a row?"

He excitedly offers the VHS to Jim and shouts, "Put your finger in the hole on the back and spin it real fast! Make the movie play!" So close but so far.

[smartass_captain]

Jim wasn't born with his. He inherited them from a lot of torture and trauma. It's a good thing Harrow has managed not to ask about that.

"Put my finger where? Oh...I see." Jim inspects the tape closely--far too closely to know anything about what it is, before he hands it back to Harrow. "You're the one with the magic hands here."

[westfallcorndog]

Before he can stop himself Harrow blurts out, "I'd love to show you what my magic hands can do, Jim."

"O-On this movie box! I mean! Of course! Hahah!" He clears his throat in a hurry and snatches up the VHS.

With a look of most dire concentration he stares hard at the VHS as his hands try to manually spin the reel within. The film winds all the way to one side, but not a single movie comes out. Flustered and embarrassed, he shoves the tape back into the player it came from. The player makes greedy grinding sounds and the television's screen flickers with the word 'INPUT.'

[smartass_captain]

"...Yeah, I walked right into that one." Jim admits, facepalming slightly. "You're seriously as bad as Bones is with those lines, holy shit." He's chuckling though, so that's a good thing, right?

"...Input? Is..is it telling you what you just did now?"

[westfallcorndog]

"You got a friend named Bones? When he's around you better do nothin' but make boner jokes at his expense, Jim, or so help me."

He crouches down to be on level with the television screen and stares at it, stumped. "I've tried talkin' to it. It don't work that way. The only way to interact with it is pressin' buttons on the wand. Here, give it to me."

The 'wand' in question is the channel changer, which he invites himself to take. He scans the array of buttons carefully until he finds it. The button called 'input'! He pushes it dramatically, but things don't get any easier. With a few dozen devices plugged into the television, the list of possible inputs is long. The only way to find the frequency they need is to navigate each one manually. With a heavy sigh, Harrowheart begins.

"So, I met up with Verity," he says as he pushes arrow buttons. "I tell you what, I think she was about to fight me when I made some joke about you bein' a wicked sailor. She really gives a shit about you, man. Two shits, even." Well, Jim, you never should have started swearing, because the floodgates are open now. "Can I ask how you decided to be adoptive family with her? Was it like the prize at the end of some big adventure y'all shared?"

[smartass_captain]

"No, we call him Bones because he's the medic and because he likes to talk in metaphors. When I met him, he told me all he had to his name was his bones." Jim shrugs. "Also, he's the best damn doctor in the fleet, and if I piss him off too bad, he can fuck with my shots. No thanks."

There is a line to not cross with McCoy, and it is a line Jim learned all too well when they shared a dorm at the Academy.

"Again, you mean." Jim corrects, because they met at the party when Verity about bit his head off over the chau eating thing. "She wanted to what you? Naw, man. Verity's a good gal. She don't yell at anyone, cept Clint and Amelia. And me the one time. And you at Halloween I guess." Huh. That's a lot more than he thought.

"Well, uh...loooong story short. We'd been hanging out a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I didn't wanna screw up a friendship with her by coming onto her, but I kept getting real mixed signals from her. So I find out I'm related to Clint. Like, for real i'm a version of his bloodline descendant. And we adopted Verity cuz she was already taking care of us when we found out, and because..well..she needed a home as bad as we did."

It's a good thing Ver isn't there. Because that's not entirely the truth. But it's close enough to keep the conversation friendly and not to dig up anything Jim doesn't want to talk about.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow is willing to take all of that at face value. Jim wouldn't have a reason to lie, and if he's withholding any truths that just means they don't need to be said right now.

"I think you made a good decision with that. Makin' her family instead of somethin' else. One bad breakup and you lose your girlfriend and your bestfriend. I've been there, it ain't worth it."

He keeps on clicking through the inputs as he turns to Jim and asks, "What's Amelia's deal? I met her at the party, thought we might get along 'cause I figured her world and mine were a little alike. Ahe spent like twenty minutes convinced I was hittin' on her. Cross my heart, I wasn't! I was just standin' around. Existin' while intoxicated, I'll cop to that, though. Then she's all tellin' me about how she doesn't like magic, how she never wants to even hear about it. She always a stick in the mud, or is somethin' up with her?"

[smartass_captain]

"Girlfriend. Yeaaah, no." Jim shakes his head. "I don't do relationships. Boyfriend, Girlfriend or anything in between. It's never worked out, and with the Enterprise and my five year mission? there's no way it'd start working now."

Best to just get that out there before Harrow starts working his shipping magic on Jim as well as his good buddy Steve.

"Amelia? She's from some super old world and has a chip on her shoulder big enough to build a bridge over. I haven't figured her out yet myself. She sways from being no-nonsense to saucy so fast some times I think I'm going to get whiplash. I also can't tell if she likes me or hates me." Jim grins at that. "I'm used to that though."

Astronaut, knight, Land Before Time

[westfallcorndog]

Jim doesn't do relationships? Verity was right, he did have a flaw buried under all that smug perfection. Cue massive internal sigh of relief. A laugh accidentally escapes him. He quickly plays it off with, "It's always the saucy girls who think everything is an attempt at flirtation."

He presses the input button one more time and suddenly the screen lights to life! It's playing... Some kind of cartoon? There's a little brown brontosaur with big eyes hatching from an egg.

Harrow gestures wildly at the screen with his wrists. "L-look! It's drawings! Of a lizard! This must be from Shade-seeker's world!"

[smartass_captain]

"Holy shit." Jim grins and shakes his head. "You made it work! Congrats, man. It's a cartoon of some kind. Wanna watch it?"

Jim's grabbing a seat. Sure it's probably a kids thing, but whatever he's got time to kill. He's off today.

[westfallcorndog]

"Hell yeah I wanna watch it!" Harrow wastes no time in pulling up a chair for himself so that he can fill his heart, mind, and soul with little animated dinosaurs.

He points at the dinosaur baby snuggling up with its parents and asks, "So y'all got those kinda animals on Earth? That's how y'all made those tall buildings in New York City, huh? Here I thought it was all impressive. You just stood up on their heads, right?"

[smartass_captain]

"Hate to break it to you buddy, but these guys were extinct about 75 million years before this movie got made. Not to mention dinosaurs don't look like this. But--hey, that's how they thought they did in the whenever this is. 1900s, 2000s--somewhere in there."

Jim ponders this a moment before he gets to his feet.

"Be right back, you enjoy." And whether Harrow hears him or not, Jim will trot off for a bit, only to come back later with a six pack of beer and plop down again with the beer between them. "Why not, right?"

[westfallcorndog]

"Jim!" Harrow claps for Jim's resourcefulness. "You're a thinkin' man. That's why you're the captain."

He reaches over to where his chair had been and picks up one of the axes he'd stowed under there. It's a blue thing with a vicious edge and bright runes that glow when the handle is in his palm. He uses this noble blade to pop the top of his beer, then leans over to do the same for Jim's.

"So, Jim. You were born in space, right? What's that like?" He takes a swig of beer and waits to hear about the man who grew up never having seen dirt.

[smartass_captain]

"Thanks." That is a neat trick worth learning. A conversation piece, if you will. Anything to impress the ladies, right? Actually that's more likely to impress the men, but hey, whatever works.

"Don't remember much about it, to be honest. My dad died when I was born, and after that Mother took some time off from the fleet, remarried a shitpile, and we spent our younger years at the family farm in Iowa." Jim takes a swig form the beer and watches a chunky triceratops be sassy to the other dinotykes.

"That's basically a redneck middle of nowhere town where cattle outnumber people in the middle of the United States. Which, before you ask, is the same country Verity is from just way in the future."

Actually I forgot Jim was born in space, I thought he was born in Iowa. So wrong I was right.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow sits up in a hurry and boggles at Jim. "You're a country guy?! I knew there was somethin' good about you! I'm from a redneck middle a' nowhere too!" In case that wasn't obvious. "Iowa must be just like Westfall! It's mostly flat, all wheat and corn and farmers?" He'll skip mentioning the castles, gnolls, and magical tornados.

He chuckles around the lip of his beer and mutters, "Shoot... Jim, we got too much in common. Maybe you and me, we're alternate dimension versions of each other? You think that can happen?"

\o/

[smartass_captain]

"I am yeah." Jim could have sworn they had this conversation when they first met, but it doesn't really matter. They've got beer, cartoons, and comfy Nexus chairs. Whatever.

"Weirder things have already happened. My best friend/adopted brother here in the Nexus is also an alternate version of my great great grandpa or some shit like that."

I have a poopoo memory IRL so excuse me when I ask the same questions twice *fart*

[westfallcorndog]

"How did you two even figure that out? Blood magic? And how weird was it when you first found out? This sounds rich, I gotta hear it." It's Jim's Big Backstory Night, apparently.