Stars Under the Stars

[thepurpleone]

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?

Comments

[madginger]

"Videos, too? Do you have any on there?" Max asks, still giving the device a confused look.

She laughs at the picture of Leo, but takes in the ramps with eagerness. "So when you build a ramp here, it's going to be great, then? I'll gladly help with that, if you do." Because she wants a ramp, and she has experience working on them. Sort of. Okay, hers and her friends' were nothing like the one in the image, but she can still assist!

Another chuckle. "Mikey's pretty good," she muses as she looks, specifically at the graffiti.

"It's just," Max shrugs, too, and looks down, briefly, "now I get what it's like. Missing a brother."

[thepurpleone]

"Where do you think I've been keeping the movies?" Donnie smirks. He swipes to another picture, at least it looks like one until he taps it and it starts moving, showing Mikey taking a turn on the ramp.

"Been working on it but with everything else I've been trying to do, extra hands would probably be appreciated."

His expression sobers a tiny bit, a wistful smile on his face as the skateboarding video ends. "Oh... Yeah. It's...not the greatest feeling."

[madginger]

Her eyes go round to that.

"They fit on there?" and she peers at the device with extra confusion and curiosity. She is, after all, accustomed to video tape cassettes and movie reels. This is very different.

"I will gladly help. I need a ramp, after all."

Max nods her head, once. "Yeah, it's not. At least you have Leo here."

[thepurpleone]

"Yep. Digitized and stored as data." All of their favorite movies are otherwise on VHS because they're so old, but given how much their dad liked to hog the TV Donnie's picked up plenty of tricks to get around technical issues. Especially since the Wi-Fi Incident.

He snorts, glancing around to seek out his brother in the audience. "...yeah," he says again, but this time he smiles faintly about it. It makes all the difference in the world having someone he knows around.

[madginger]

Max's eyes narrow, then widen. "So, music, movies, conversations.... Digital text, as well. What else can be digitized?" There are a lot of possibilities, and Max didn't even realize it, until now, of course.

She watches Donnie as he looks over, and she gets that, too.

"My brother used to be a real asshole. But...I can't imagine being here without him, now. You and Leo get on? He seems like a good guy."

[thepurpleone]

"Oh, practically anything! Of course some may take more specialized equipment than others."

Donnie chuckles a little as he puts his phone away. "Eh, we're brothers. There are good days and then there are days when I'd like to throttle him."

[madginger]

"Practically anything? So practically speaking, not plants, animals and people, yet, outside of a picture of video?" Look, Max doesn't want to be digitized, but her curiosity teeters on morbid.

She laughs.

"Also, understandable. I think that's normal for siblings, though."

[thepurpleone]

The turtle laughs. "Nothing past image scanning," he confirms. "Although there's plenty of science fiction that explores otherwise."

He grins then. "Yeah, pretty sure. That is how it's been with my brothers, definitely."

[madginger]

Max cants her head at the device as she points out, "That, to me, is still science fiction. So you never know, right?"

She laughs.

"Thanks for confirming. First brother I've ever had, and things were really bad between us, before. Things are..." she turns to Donnie, "sounds more like normal sibling stuff. I like it that way. Even if I want to throttle him, sometimes."

[thepurpleone]

"That is quite true."

Donnie smirks. "Don't worry. You're completely normal so far as I can tell."

[madginger]

Max laughs to that.

"Not sure how normal we are, really, but glad to know we're normal siblings." She is, of course, thinking more of the events that transpired in their lives, but that can be taken multiple ways.

[thepurpleone]

The turtle gives her a bland look. "To be fair, my version of normal may be slightly skewed," he admits, gesturing vaguely at himself before he grins.

[madginger]

To which Max peers right back, though she smiles.

"My version of normal is skewed, too, if that helps."

[thepurpleone]

Donnie laughs. "Immensely. We always do get along better with the weirdos." He grins impishly. "Our best friend back home, April? Major weirdo magnet."

[madginger]

Max laughs, though she looks confused, too.

"So, this April, she have a group of loyal nerds and a badass friend with powers, too?" Because, luckily, weirdo magnets at least get perks out of the situation.

[thepurpleone]

"Pff. Well, she's the only human we regularly hang out with. Normal so far as abilities go, no super-powers but she is pretty handy with a bat," Donnie shrugs. "She's a couple years older than me but she lets me help with her homework sometimes. It's the closest experience I have to school but I'll take it."

[madginger]

Max grins, and laughs a little as she says, "I'm pretty handy with a bat, too." And then a huge pause.

"You sound like you like school?" Max likes educating herself, expanding her boundaries, but not school.

[thepurpleone]

Donnie smirks at that. More friends with bats isn't necessarily a bad thing so long as you weren't on the other end of it.

"Ohhhmigosh I love school. I've always dreamed about going. Buuut not like I can so I must live vicariously through April's experiences and sneak into the computer lab on occasion."

[madginger]

Donnie is super nice - Max would have no reason to use a bat against him.

She almost says, 'I'm surprised someone hasn't made a school here,' but stops short, not wanting to give Donnie ideas.

"It's not...entirely my thing. I like learning about specific things." School doesn't have enough freedom.

"I might like it better when I get to choose my courses."

[thepurpleone]

Donnie had talked with Tony about school but that had been months ago, practically another lifetime. The man had had plans to try shoving on someone else to start one here but if anything's come of it, the turtle teen has yet to see. But enough's happened between then and now that he hasn't held his breath for it. Besides, it wouldn't be the same...

"Specific things? Favorite subject?" Donnie had basically taught himself most of the things he knew, so he wasn't sure how school actually went outside of what he's observed from TV shows or heard from April.

[madginger]

"Favorite subject...." Yep, she's going to peer at Donnie again. "You might be a little bit of a nerd. I'm," Max breathes and admits, "usually one of those kids in trouble for not paying attention, or something or another. I don't really have a favorite subject. But it might be nice to take something like shop."

Maybe make a skateboard herself. She likes gym.

She smiles and chuckles a little, missing when that was more true than last she was home. When her grades were slipping because of trauma.

"I do like word games, and reading comics, for example, and I do okay in English class, but it's not the same as favoring it."

[thepurpleone]

For a moment he looks like he's debating whether to take offense or not, but it's hardly the first time anyone's called him such so he shrugs it off.

"Oh, we love comics. Especially the old Jupiter Jim series," which should be no surprise considering that's the other movie franchise the boys seem obsessed with. "But I think I get it. Studying all the technicalities isn't the same as putting it to use."

[madginger]

She means it in the most affectionate, purely factual way, possible. After all, some of her closest friends back home are such nerds.

"Still haven't heard of those," Max admits. "I read a lot of DC. And some Man-Thing." So a little Marvel.

Max nods her head. "Yes, that. I like figuring stuff out. Making costumes, making ramps for my skateboard. Like keeping it in good condition. But I also like playing dodge ball and other sports. Independent studies might be more my speed."

[thepurpleone]

"It's a shame there aren't any comics here," Donnie sighs. "And the library is woefully lacking in books, period." He really is sad about that, he loves libraries!

"Ooh, costumes? That sounds fun. Like, cosplaying?" He manages not to make an outright face at sports- some sports are fun! He...is just not the greatest in the ones involving some type of ball. But he'll still play!

"There are definite advantages to independent studies," he nods.

[madginger]

"Yeah, we can agree on both those points." Max isn't one for long winded books, but the occasional read outside of a comic is nice.

"More like Halloween," Max says slowly as she peers at Donnie, again. "What is cosplaying?" There are a few things she still hasn't been exposed to, but she likes learning.

Max mainly prefers to skateboard, on her own. Team sports can be frustrating, but that's more because she hasn't found the right team, yet.