revivalproject | Stars Under the Stars

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Stars Under the Stars

WHO: Y'all
WHERE: By the not-spider warehouse in the southeastern quarter of Temba
WHAT: Movie night!
WHEN: The night after this announcement
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTES: We're all chill here, feel free to backtag or whatev

Maybe it was a lot of effort put into but Donnie never does anything without reason. The recent free display of memories thanks to the last storm had gotten him thinking. What's the point of it all if they just keep getting railroaded by bad experiences and memories here? No one's stopping them from enjoying themselves in an otherwise dilapidated city, and if they keep on focusing on the negative and being stuck for an indeterminate amount of time then that's just more fuel the Atroma or whoever's out there has to use against them.

So Donnie's got the designated space all set. He's made as much use of convenient rubble as he could find within the area for some makeshift seating. He's found some kind of old cushions and blankets to pad them. Since Steve's offered to handle prepping the popcorn, Donnie's happy to leave that business to him and Leo.

The movie selections for the night are definitely things appreciated by a certain audience and might in some universe be considered cult classics, and once it gets dark enough for optimal projection clarity, it's show time!

Teriyaki Shakedown is a martial arts action movie starring the great (as so proclaimed by Leo and Donnie) Lou Jitsu, who's trademark seems to be a pompadour and a flare-legged spandex onesie.

"Where's our free grub, noodle man?"

"Okay- How ‘bout some . . . hot soup? Too spicy for you? Hahaha- Everyone’s a critic."

It's very cheesy and definitely reminiscent of what you'd expect of martial arts movies made in the seventies and eighties.

Jupiter Jim's Last Trip to the Moon turns out not to really be his last trip considering it's the second time it's apparently happened, but what's continuity? It's a sci-fi flick, dated effects and melodramatic, and perhaps one might wonder how anyone can watch more than sixty movies of this?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That wasn't necessarily a no...

Don't break their hearts, Tae.

"Well, it's all theoretical anyway. Who knows if we'll ever get to go anywhere outside of the States. Or when. I mean...alien planets are cool and all but this isn't exactly what any of us would have had in mind for space exploration."

Yes, it was not exactly what many people would have imagined.

"I never aspired to it, you know. Space travel."

"Honestly I don't know how serious we were about it either. It was always more of a 'wouldn't it be cool if we could travel around the galaxy like Jupiter Jim?'"

Donnie hugs his knees as he sighs wistfully. "The spaceport was kind of cool at least. For a while, it really felt like we were on a space adventure."

Yes, that sounds like childhood in a very familiar way to Tae, who smiles softly.

"We were on a space adventure."

"Well, yeah, but it's not that much of a space adventure if you spend most of it on one planet," Donnie explains. "Freely traveling between worlds, with nothing but a backdrop of stars, now that's a space adventure."

Is that really his metric? They saw many new species and could interact with them, and it wasn't enough?

"We are not here for the exploration to the best of my knowledge. Limitation therefore makes sense."

Aliens just aren't the same when they could be considered mutants or yōkai.

"Laaaaaaame."

Tae chuckles to herself. Made sense to her that the young man would be frustrated.

"Sometimes you have to take the mundane with the interesting."

"That doesn't mean the mundane can't be made interesting, so someone clearly needs to step things up," Donnie huffs. But then that's kind of why the movie night, he thinks, eyes drifting back towards the projection.

"I think I'd much rather it stay as close to mundane as possible. When things get 'interesting' then people get hurt. And a doctor that is bored is better for all of us."

Especially as she's the doctor with the medical degree that sees people most. She respects what Steve and Billy do of course. They're beyond all measure wonderful aids. But in an emergency if they lost their datapoints, it's on Tae.

"....I guess when you put it that way..." Donnie reluctantly concedes.

"I understand," she says, her voice soft. "The desire for excitement and adventure has always been a powerful force among the young. And I can respect your longing for it. I've just been through enough now to enjoy the quiet moments."

"Maybe that's why dad opts to stay at home sitting in front of the TV all day... But you're not old like him." Sometimes it's too easy to overlook the fact that your father is the famous martial artist and actor they've idolized as turtle tots until he's kicking your shell in training.

"No, but I'm a doctor," she reminds him. "And I worked as a specialist with an illness that hurts children a lot more than adults. That ages you in a different way."

Donnie blinks at that. It does occur to him that he really doesn't know a whole lot about people here after all.

"What kind of illness is that?" he asks, because that sounds kind of scary, actually. The worst he and his brothers ever get sick with is the rat flu and that's seven stages of strangeness that would likely not make sense to anyone outside of their family.

"I specialized in research in a rare respiratory disease," Tae says with a sigh. "I do other medical work of course, but... Well, I suppose I'm not there now."

"Huh. Well...at least you can still apply your skills if needs be, right? So...I guess that's something." Donnie wouldn't know what to do with himself if no one needed help with his chosen area of expertise.

Indeed she can. She smiles at the conclusion he reached there. She can absolutely apply her skills.

"Yes. I just wish I could do it better. I know nothing of, for instance, your physiology. So in some areas I have to hand things over to the sweet pup to lead on."

"Ah, that is a good point. Um. I guess if you need data I can come to the hospital." Donnie can only imagine how panicked Leo was when he'd gotten hurt, the recording of the Incident telling enough. He's not sure if he'd handle things any better if the roles had been reversed. "We've never really dealt with doctors or anything before but...I guess there's no reason to not take advantage of that now."

He tilts his head. "Pup?"

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable like that," Tae promises. It's not right to force it after all. "And Pup is Billy Kaplan. He heals with magic and he's learning more and more about medicine each day. Soon he'll be better than me."

Donnie shakes his head. "No, it's important. If something happens to me or Leo, I want to take out any guesswork, especially if it's life-threatening."

He tries not to make a face at the mention of magic, but he clearly has his doubt about that sort of thing still. He's a man of science after all! But he can't deny that Billy's helped, so he nods.

Alright then.

"Then I suppose I should at the very least get some blood samples to study, and maybe an x-ray or two. I really am regretting the failure of stealing that Agrii scanning bed now..."

"Can we just ask them for one? That should be a reasonable enough request," Donnie thinks. "But otherwise the rest is reasonable. When do you want me to come over?"

It does feel like a reasonable enough request, but Tae sighs.

"What of the Agrii makes you see them as reasonable and sensible? And whenever you are free. Just text me a warning first."

"Well, they aren't psychic either. And they're learning things. The like to help, and they're trying to make sure we're able to take care of ourselves," Donnie points out.

"Have you tried talking to them? Asking can't hurt, save for maybe a headache given previous conversations- but they're not impossible. Giving them reasons will give them something to consider."

Why are grown-ups always so difficult? Donnie wonders why it seems like hardly anyone's tried to actually talk with the Agrii without being stuck aboard the same ship with them. He holds back a sigh, nodding at the latter subject.

"Sure. I can probably do that tomorrow. Or... Hm. If it's a blood sample it's probably better I don't eat and all that, huh." Not that that's entirely a problem, but who knows how much coffee he's had, and he wasn't skipping popcorn for movie night. "Day after tomorrow."

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