Movie Night!

[actualwizard]

Who: Anyone who wants to come watch Dinosaur movies
Where: The Movie Theater, Fourth Floor
When: Friday April 8th, 8pm
Rating: PG-13 for Raptors
Summary: Jurassic Park Movie Night
The Story:



As soon as people start showing up in the theater, a gentle song begins playing in the background. They will see the obvious screen on the back wall, but what's more, the seating is surrounded by prehistoric foliage. And in that foliage, stands a hand full of herbivorous dinosaurs. They seem to be grazing on the vegetation without a care in the world. If someone reaches out to touch, the holograms will destabilize as their hand passes right through them only to form back together once the disruption is gone. Even the vegetation seems to be a holographic projection along with the imitated grass floor and night sky. In the four corners of the room, set into the ceiling, are small domes that flicker ever so slightly as they cast and regulate the projections. The occasional T-Rex roar will echo in the background of the music, making the small herd of Parasaurolophus look up with a fright, then lower their heads back down.

The lights dim and the movie begins, the noise surrounding the holograms quiets as to not interrupt from the movies, only to return during the short breaks between films.

If you stray over to the refreshments table, thick brush and tall grass will conceal a deadly pair of raptors lurking. Appropriately themed snacks are set up on the table, including a few sweet treats courtesy of Darcy (including jello shots).

Occasionally, an unwary snacker will come to a fright as one or both of said hunters will pop out of the grass with a sharp, chittering cry. Lucky for the unfortunate victim, the jumpscare is all there is to worry about. The tricky little raptors will slink back down into the grass and lie in wait for their next victim. Don't spill your popcorn, its just an illusion.

You're welcome.

Comments

before the movie

[fatherlesskind]

[The cat isn't the only one who needs to work on his hologram recognition. Alistair jumps back with a strangled sound as the creatures pop up, nearly tripping over her. His hand flies to his side where his sword is conspicuously absent before dropping back down as he realises there's no danger.]

Maker! That was- [Chuckling he turns to face the person behind him and he only brightens when he recognises her as the entirely too entertaining Gem from before. Throwing his arms out as if about to hug her, Alistair greets her cheerfully.]

P-Dot! [And her hissing companion. Nodding at the cat he adds-] You made a new friend.

[At least there's not much chance of him driving this one off?]

[slapfight]

[YOU!

Peridot immediately pulls the cat out of her hair and shields him from the tall offensive human as if she's certain that proximity to him will corrupt her furry creature.

And then she hisses at Alistair. That happened.]

Look away, Claude. This human is trouble.

[fatherlesskind]

[Wow. Just wow. Looking at them together now, the cat really is just perfect for her, isn't he?

...It would be wrong to try and pick her up like a misbehaving kitten herself, wouldn't it? But it's awfully tempting to try.]

Awww and I thought we were such good friends! I think of you every time something attacks my ankles.

[Well the last part is true.]

[slapfight]

I imagine that much happen to you a lot. [BECAUSE YOU'RE HORRIBLE. AND ALSO HIDEOUSLY TALL.

he doesn't even deserve this much rage. he just somehow caught her on a day when she was full of it and now it's all she has when she thinks of him.] What do you want?

[fatherlesskind]

More lately but often enough.

[With the recent influx of ankle-assaulting cats it's become a lot more common. And has nothing to do with his size or personality thank you.]

I just wanted to see how you were doing. [And to annoy her because it's fun. Sticking his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout he blinks down at her.] Aren't you happy to see me?

[slapfight]

[she clutches Claude to her chest, who protests this by yowling quietly and scratching at her are arms. she winces, but ignores it.] No. I'm not. But you'll be happy to know that Three Way Streetz are no longer in my employ.

[because they're... you know, not here anymore.]

[fatherlesskind]

[That poor cat. At least he seems able to handle the squeezing and express his displeasure with the treatment. And she doesn't get angry at the cat - which is allowed to touch her he notes.]

You're still mean. [But Alistair gives up on the attempt at looking hurt and grins down at her happily.] Did they find someone who could understand them? And is nice to them?

[He just hopes that's not her way of telling him they're also residents of Wonderland and are going to be coming to him to talk incomprehensibly now. He's used to being the one confusing other people, not the other way around.]

[slapfight]

No, they're gone. Completely. They were just incomprehensible products of Wonderland's shifting matrix. [claude stops chewing on her and resigns himself to his fate, his little body dangling from her arm. with her free hand, she rubs her head.] I was careless to assume they weren't part of the program.

[fatherlesskind]

Uh-huh. OK, sure. That makes... no sense at all.

[He was with her until she started talking about a matrix and then he can't follow what she's saying. Except that maybe he can guess at what the main point is.]

Are you saying they were just part of that place we visited? Not kidnapped like you and me?

[slapfight]

...Yes. That's exactly what I said.

[gosh alistair keep up with her technobabble.] We didn't visit anything. "Wonderland" just occasionally changes its appearance to reflect whatever new "test" it's running on us.

[fatherlesskind]

[It's really not. And she should be careful calling other people incomprehensible.]

I was always bad at tests. [And following what short, green women are talking about, apparently.] So, let me get this straight. You think when it looks different we're still here? It's all just an illusion? And that the illusions are to test us?

[That actually sort of made sense. At least the first bit. If they were in part of the Fade or something like it then it would be possible for their surroundings to change, much like dreams could shift unexpectedly. Though how that could be used to test them is something she's going to have to explain.]

[slapfight]

More complex than a simple illusion, but essentially yes. [oh good. he gets it.]

[fatherlesskind]

[Don't go getting excited just yet-] That doesn't make sense. How does making us think we've gone to other places test us? And why bother testing us? We're already stuck here. How do you know that's what's happening and it's not something else entirely?

[slapfight]

Ugh! Think about it. They want to know our skills. By putting us in stressful situations, we're forced to figure out a way to deal with the new stimulus any way we can. You can't get accurate data just from observing us... watching pre-recorded earth entertainment.

[she waves a hand at the party set-up.]

[fatherlesskind]

I... guess. But why not just watch us at home? [Which would be creepy, yes, but would still let this mysterious 'they' see what skills their victims possessed without the need for kidnapping and everything else.] Or set up a tournament or something? There must be an easier way to do it than that. Than this.

[slapfight]

Clearly, because they want complete and utter control over every aspect of how we live. You can observe other lifeforms in their natural habitat, but the data collected would be different from what you observe when they're caged.

[SCIENCE!!]

[fatherlesskind]

You make us sound like wild animals. [Which might not be far off for some people here but the point remains.] And I don't see the point of it. What does anyone gain by watching us? What would they be looking for that they can't just take with their magic?

[He doesn't really expect her to have an answer - he's pretty sure if they knew what was wanted from them they'd be half-way to a way home. But she clearly has some ideas and they're not anything he'd have come up with so it doesn't hurt to ask.]

[slapfight]

To them, we might be.

[she sighs in exasperation, because yes. she does have an answer, and she's honestly annoyed that HE doesn't get it. it all seems incredibly simple to her.]

Research, dirt-for-brains! [she stamps her foot.] You can't just take data from people. You collect it. You analyze it. And maybe that's why people leave Wonderland- once we've been deemed fit for whatever purpose they intend to use us for, that's when we're removed from the confines of this... this... so-called Wonderland.

[fatherlesskind]

You're still not very nice.

[Not that there's any heat to the statement. She really is more amusing with her insults and her grumpiness and everything else. And he's interested in what she has to say this time.]

But research into what? Just what sort of purpose do you think they have for us? Because I can't think of anything that makes sense.

[Given they're all a pretty mixed bunch and there doesn't seem to be anything in common between all of them. Just look at the pair of them. They're nothing alike so what purpose could they possibly both be expected to fulfill?]

[slapfight]

Curiosity, potential slave labor. There's countless reasons, really.

[she's ignoring that "not very nice" comment, because damn you, she is a DELIGHT. and she's educating you so you can eat dirt. X(]

It would depend entirely on the type of race behind all of this. I can't form a detailed theory until I know more about these... Queens.

[fatherlesskind]

Ah- [She sure doesn't believe in breaking sort of bad news gently, does she? Slave labour? That seems a bit... unlikely, given there's no labour happening most of the time here. But it's not something he'd expect to be tossed out there so lightly either.

Fortunately, he's distracted by the next part of the lesson before he can say anything on that.]

What? Queens? Queens aren't a race. You do know that, right? Queen is just a title. We have a queen in Ferelden and she can't do all of this.

[Though it would be nice if Anora could just waltz in a send them all home. Assuming she'd let him go too and not leave him stuck here alone and out of the way.]

[slapfight]

[perfectly factual and blunt. that's peridot for you.

she stamps her foot again, an aggravated noise bursting forth from her.]

I know that, but I haven't seen them, so I don't know what they are exactly.

[fatherlesskind]

....People? I'm just guessing here but I think they might be people.

[He knows what she means - she's a small, green whatever and they do have other races in Thedas - but if she's going to be grumpy he's going to be difficult.]

Wonderland people but still people.

[Unless they are in fact demons. Which he's not entirely discounting.]

[slapfight]

People. [HOW DO YOU DEFINE PEOPLE. CHECK YOUR HUMAN PRIVILEGE, ALISTAIR. she doesn't even comprehend that he might be being obtuse to enrage her. oh, peri-peri.]

I shouldn't have expected anything less from a human. Comprehending the vast assortment of races in the universe is too difficult for your inferior brains.

[fatherlesskind]

[Wow. Wow. He's almost offended. Or would be, if he weren't enjoying himself so much.]

Oh, now it's an 'inferior brain' is it? That's just mean. If you're so smart you think you'd understand being nice to people.

[Or maybe cotton on to the fact he's just being an ass. But that wouldn't be any fun so.]