#apparently op did a rip of the dvd | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anotheruserwithnoname · 4 years

Text

(Belated) thoughts on Picard S1

Due to a mixture of (pre-lockdown) travel and other things, I didn’t get a chance to finish watching the second half of Star Trek Picard Season 1 till this weekend. I have some thoughts, but I’ll put a break here first as I’ll be doing spoilers.

In brief, though: for the most part I liked it and I don’t get a lot of the hate being thrown its way.

Looking at online reviews of Star Trek Picard, both by professionals and amateur YouTubers, you’d think it was the biggest abomination since Enterprise. I mean, I’ve seen hate thrown its way that even exceeds that directed toward Star Trek: Discovery.

I’m not going to turn this into a commentary on Discovery. I’ll just say that I agree with 99% of the criticisms about it and I have no plans on watching Season 3, nor do I intend to watch any of the Short Treks moving forward after being turned off permanently by the awful The Trouble with Edward.

Picard, however, renewed my faith that it’s still possible for good Trek to be made for TV.

Picard is being criticized for a number of things, like violating canon. Yet I didn’t see it. First, the show is the first Trek series set in “the future” of the Trek franchise since Nemesis back in 2002. So anything it establishes about Starfleet, Picard himself, and the fates of characters like Riker and Troi - there is no canon to violate because we’re moving forward. There is nothing in Picard that is of the same magnitude of, say, what recently happened with Doctor Who. We didn’t have them rewrite established history by suddenly finding out Jean-Luc was a Romulan spy, or that he wasn’t really the captain of the Enterprise, or anything to cause decades of storytelling to collapse into irrelevance or be contradicted. Nearly everything I saw was consistent with what I knew and remembered from TNG. They didn’t even try to retcon the appearance of the 1701-D like Discovery did to the original Enterprise.

That’s not to say everything that was done to the characters post-Nemesis was great. I didn’t care or how Seven of Nine was treated, and they did a few things with her that I think were in the “because we can, not because we should” category. So criticism is warranted there. I also felt a few characters were underserved - including Narissa, who is (or was, RIP) arguably the show’s best character next to Picard. She was a classic Trek villain - yet towards the end we started to wonder if she actually WAS a villain, or basically the Romulan equivalent of Jack Bauer from 24. She commits acts of outright savagery to pursue her ends, definitely - but the same can be said of other “ends justify the means” heroes and anti-heroes. I would have liked to have seen her developed more. (Mind you, the way she is killed off by Seven does leave an opening for a return - that was a long way down, with plenty of time to pull some macguffin out of her hat.)

Probably the main thing that I liked about this show is I cared about the characters. I can even remember their names - something Discovery failed to impress upon me. Rios and his crew of holograms were great and in Season 2 I hope they do another meeting sequence where they all interact with each other. Yes, I know Orphan Black did it first and probably did it better - but it ain’t Star Trek.

One of the biggest criticisms others levy on Picard is that Picard was a supporting character in his own show. First, that’s nonsense. Second, Picard is supposed to be a dying man throughout and in his 90s to boot. This is why I think the idea of bringing Shatner back as Kirk isn’t going to work because he won’t be running around with phasers blasting either! Stewart is not the same man he was when he made Nemesis - and they don’t make the mistake of trying to pretend otherwise. Even at the end where they basically make him a nuBSG-style Cylon to keep him alive, they didn’t turn around and make him 50 years old again. If Trek wasn’t a TV show, sure they probably would have, but the reality is the actor turns 80 this summer, and who knows when Season 2 will be filmed.

The big condemnation is about how Starfleet went dark post-Nemesis. People seem to think that Starfleet is always about goodness and light. They forget about the high command plotting the assassination of the Federation president in Star Trek VI. They forget about the black ops division Section 31 established in DS9 - or some of the things Sisko does during the Dominion War. Apparently, one of Picard’s showrunners says the original plan was to make it clear the “darkening” was part of the aftermath of the Dominion War, but this was cut. Yet they don’t need any excuse - the show clearly establishes that Romulans infiltrated the highest levels of Starfleet Command (if you think that can’t happen, go watch the final few episodes of TNG Season 1 when it happens) and were responsible for the Mars attack that set everything in motion.

And the show clearly establishes that there are till bastions of “goodness and light” in Starfleet - starting with Picard himself. And the season ends with the synthetic lifeform ban removed, signifying that Starfleet is returning to its old standards. It works. There were also people concerned that Picard was going to somehow tie-in with Discovery (due apparently to some of the cast members of both shows posing for photos together). Other than a few small references to things established on Discovery, Picard doesn’t go there.

Is Picard perfect? Hell no. Although I appreciated the “slow burn” style of storytelling, which has been adopted by a lot of other shows, it is a tough fit for Star Trek. But I didn’t mind because it was interesting. But I can see others’ points when they say the first few episodes drag a bit.

The show also suffers from the usual “continuity lockout” facing any newcomer to Trek. In this case, you need to know a fair amount about Seven of Nine’s story arc from Voyager, the Hugh story arc from the later seasons of TNG, the movie Star Trek: Nemesis, and have a working knowledge of the Picard-Data relationship from TNG. It also doesn’t hurt to know that Bruce Maddox appeared in one of the key “Data is a person” episodes of TNG as well. Unfortunately, knowing TNG may also result in one of the few major continuity issues of Picard, and that’s the fact Data already had a daughter, Lal, in “The Offspring”. The fact she’s never referenced is puzzling.

Other issue I had: I am not a fan of the use of F-bombs in Star Trek. While I concede they were better handled than the juvenile “because we can” attitude of Discovery, it added nothing other than to justify the TV-MA rating (without the F-bombs the show - eye-gouging included - would have fit under TV-14), which some has interpreted as an intentional attempt at alienating younger viewers (Torchwood ran into the same criticism). I already touched on the mishandling of Seven of Nine (which added in some unnecessary storytelling cliches, especially at the end), and I thought Narek could have been better handled - he vanishes without explanation in the finale and no one seems to care.

They also missed a few bets. I would have loved for the mysterious tech-alien species to have had some connection to Vger from Star Trek the Motion Picture (it makes more sense than Vger being found by the Borg, which is a longstanding theory). And while it was just a destination in the show, and never seen, rather than invoking the name of Deep Space 12, would it have killed them to say Deep Space 9? There was already a visual reference to Quark in one of the episodes, but mentioning DS9 by name, along with Seven’s presence, would have allowed Picard to have connected the three “future” Trek spinoffs.

But I enjoyed Picard, and if they still make DVDs after all the madness currently in the world, I look forward to buying the complete series when it comes out, and I hope they make a second season (it’s been renewed, but these days there is no guarantee when or if renewed shows will resume production and too long a delay risks 80+-year-old Patrick Stewart not being up to it). All in all, quite pleased, yet still puzzled at why so many people hate it. But then I know there are people who cannot understand why I cannot abide by certain shows, so I guess it evens up.

#star trek picard #picard commentary

6 notes · View notes

titansandothersrp · 4 years

Text

Movie Night

(This is a compiled roleplay between my Beast Boy muse and the Raven muse of @azarathian . This is a very old roleplay we wrote under different usernames, but I labeled our writing with our current usernames.)

titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Beast Boy strolled triumphantly into the main room of the Tower, holding up two full bags. “Dudes! I have the best night pla-…” He paused as he had expected the other titans to be gathered here, as he hadn’t seen them elsewhere in the tower. It was silent though. And nearly empty, if not for Raven and her book. “Um… Where is everyone?” azarathian (Raven): The dreaded clank of the main doors sliding open cut through her solitude, and before the intruder even spoke, she knew who it was - for she also knew that her other teammates weren’t due back for another few hours. Raven didn’t turn from her position on the sofa and didn’t let her eyes so much as wander from her book. “Cyborg’s at ‘bowling night’ with Titans East. Robin finally took Star to that midnight light show she’s been wanting to see in the city,” she told him titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Oh…” His ears drooped and he slumped over, dropping the two bags. The contents of the bags seemed to be candy and junk food. “But I had an awesome night planned… I found this bad horror movie to make fun of and I got candy and everything!” azarathian (Raven): “Maybe ask everyone if they’re actually free next time?” she suggested - quite an obvious bit of advice, really. Not that she expected her green friend to consider the obvious. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): He pouted for a moment. “Well, guess we’ll just have to watch it ourselves.” He dug into the bags and pulled out a DVD case, tossing it on the table. “And help me eat all this food.” He proceeded to dump a pile of candy and junk food onto her lap. azarathian (Raven): Over the top of her book, her eyes followed the DVD that fell on the table before she was suddenly swamped in a pile of snacks. She let out a small yelp as the food fell around her, until only the irritated glare she wore peeked out from the peak, a vein throbbing upon her forehead. The girl shook what she could of the pile from her frame. “Lucky me,” she frowned, prying her arms out from the mess. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Aw, c’mon. It’ll be fun! And I got the best stuff too!” He sorted through the junk food he’d dumped on her. “Airheads, Zotz, popcorn, Swedish Fish, potato chips, Twizzlers, Sour Patch Kids, Dum-Dums, Reese’s Cups…” azarathian (Raven): Just the smell of pure sugar invading her senses alone was overwhelming, sending a shot of nausea through her. Was he really expecting just the two of them to get through all of this? If so, she could guarantee he’d be taking on most of the task himself. “Sounds healthy,” she remarked, brushing the last of the the heap that had swallowed her to the floor. “Think I’ll be fine with just tea, though,” she gestured to the steaming mug that had already been sitting on the coffee table. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Aw, c’mon! I can’t eat all this myself! I’m trying to eat a little better now. I can’t just binge all this! I’ve gotta maintain my looks!” azarathian (Raven): “Well, you’re doing a great job of that,” she muttered sarcastically beneath her breath, almost inaudible. With a sigh, she put her feet up on the coffee table - one over the other - and crossed her arms as she leaned back into the couch.·“ What movie did you buy?” Hopefully it was one worth actually watching, since she figured there was no way out of this ordeal. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “What Lurks in the Moonlight. It’s bound to be one of those cheesy B horror movies, maybe with a werewolf! We can point out how bad the acting and effects are!” He took the movie and put it in the player before jumping onto the couch. azarathian (Raven): If she were to go by the title, it definitely sounded like a werewolf would be involved. And from what she’d seen of your typical werewolf horror film, there would be plenty of awful cliches to poke fun and roll her eyes at. Both were kind of Raven’s thing. “Sounds terrible. Let’s do it.” For some reason, the usually introverted girl didn’t think to question why she was so willing to put down her novel and instead watch a bad horror movie with Beast Boy whilst their friends were out. And strangely, she would be lying to herself if she’d said she didn’t actually want to. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Really?” He blinked at her. “Sweet!” He raised his arms triumphantly and grabbed the remote to play the movie. A woman walked down a dimly lit street as a dark figure loomed behind her. “Yes! Cutting right to it!” The changeling exclaimed. azarathian (Raven): Leaning over to pick up her tea, Raven’s eyes clung to the TV screen, just waiting for the first cliché to occur. She cupped her pale hands around the mug and brought the rim to her lips to take a sip as the movie played its opening scene. The street the woman paced through was vacant, shrouded by the night and silent. Her footsteps echoed against the pavement with each step she took, and unbeknownst to the lurking presence in the background, she wrapped her coat tighter around her. The shadowy form drew closer and closer as a crescendo of music played over the scene. Cliché #1, right there. Slowly, the figure approached until it was upon her, and lunged forward at the unsuspecting woman with great velocity. A shriek echoed through the main ops room, though elicited very little reaction from the cloaked girl, who could’ve seen the attack from a mile off. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Beast Boy opened a bag of candy and munched away as he watched the movie. He scoffed. “Yeah, lady. That coat’s really gonna protect you.” He leaned forward as the figure on the screen lunged. Once illuminated, it was apparent that the figure was but an ordinary man. Granted, said man was attacking her, but still. “Man, what a rip.” As the two struggled, another man appeared, socking the thug in the face. Once the criminal was incapable of getting back up, the man checked on the woman. “A man and woman had two seconds on screen! They’re gonna be a couple!… I bet the guy’s gonna get back up!” azarathian (Raven): Over the years living with him, Raven had somehow learnt to drown out any background noise her green friend made, like the crunching of snacks in her right ear, and instead focus her attentions on the foreground - in this case, the so far predictable horror movie. Though she wasn’t yet returning his commentary with her own, she did agree with what he was saying. “Wouldn’t surprise me,” Raven said flatly. “This hero guy’s made him angry now - he’s gonna transform any second.” It was all happening very quickly in a short space of time, but sure enough, Beast Boy’s predictions proved true as the assailant pushed himself from the ground with a grimace - his sights set on the opposing man, this time. Raven waited for the criminal to grow fangs and sprout claws, but none came. She watched on as the man lunged for the other and tackled him to the ground. “You think you can just swoop in and save the girl?!” he sneered in a very bad New York accent. “Wow,” was the only comment the magus made; it was obvious the bad acting had already begun. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “ ‘ey, I’m walkin’ he’a!” Beast Boy mimicked the bad accent. “Yes, I do.” The man said confidently, throwing the man off him with ease. The man was sent flying and a crash mat was slightly visible where he landed. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave the woman alone.” “I was expecting fur and fangs,” he commented, disappointed. azarathian (Raven): Raven groaned at the impersonation - they were as bad as each other. “They’re probably just drawing it out,” she suggested. After all, if they forced everything into the first ten minutes then the writing would be as bad as the acting. Despite the numerous sealed snack bags scattered around her, she reached over to her right and stole a handful from the bag Beast Boy already had opened in his grasp. Nonchalantly, she tossed the sweets in her mouth as the scene played on. The action seemed over before it had even begun, as the criminal fell dramatically unconscious the moment after the hero’s closing line. Not even an ‘I’ll get you next time’ or a shake of his fist to the sky - he just fainted. Pathetic. The man still standing turned to face the lady he’d saved moments before, staring deep into her eyes. “You saved me,” she uttered, breathless with awe. “I’d do it a thousand times over for such a beautiful woman,” he returned, raising his hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Raven eyed the screen with a slight confusion across her features, brow quirked. “Well that was short-lived,” she said, in reference to the collapsed ‘villain’ in the background. What the hell kind of horror movie was this? She suspected - she hoped - this scene was merely misleading the audience and the action would pick up again within the next ten minutes… surely. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “Probably.” He raised a brow as Raven ‘stole’ some of his candy. He let it go, however, as he had asked her to help him eat everything. The man closed the distance between the two of them with a kiss. “So, what should I call you?” “You can call me tomorrow~” She replied. “I knew this would be a bad horror movie, but… even I wouldn’t use that line.” He totally would, but he felt like being snarky. azarathian (Raven): The kiss was everything a kiss shouldn’t be; melodramatic, sloppy, forced upon the woman, and, oh yeah, between two complete strangers. “Gag,” was all she said in response. Knowing Beast Boy, it wouldn’t surprise Raven at all if he would use such a line in a real-life situation, but she chose to grant him the satisfaction of her silence as she stifled a snort of disbelief. As the two flirted under the light of a street lamp, Raven couldn’t help but note how unromantic their setting was; the pair were making out in a dark, empty street at night with an unconscious body behind them. Nice. Though no werewolves had appeared as of yet, it was blatantly clear that the movie had enough clichés to mock already. They were only into the opening scene and it was already a laughable disaster. The TV screen faded to black momentarily, before the following scene transpired; the couple from earlier were walking down a street together (this time in daylight and with other people around, thankfully), and staring dreamily into each other’s eyes as they did. Raven pursed her lips at the sight. How were they gonna turn this situation around? “Um, Beast Boy?” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Usually, Beast Boy was fine with kissing in movies. What horror or comedy didn’t have romance or sexual relations forced in? However, this was just nauseating. Two strangers snogging as cheesy music played was not his cup of tea. He proceeded to playfully retch with his tongue lulling out of his mouth. Finally, the kissing ended and he let out a sigh of relief. “Well, there weren’t any werewolves, but there did seem to be two people trying to eat each other’s faces.” The changeling wondered how the two could look into each other’s eyes while walking. The thought occurred to him that one of them could walk into a pole, causing him to chuckle a bit. Then Raven addressed him. “Yeah?” The two on the screen began talking, talking about the night before. They pretty much recapped what they’d just seen without even bothering to add any relevant new information. They didn’t bother to explain why the woman was walking by herself so late or why the man seemed to be doing the same. They just gushed over how brave and strong he was and how it was meant to be. “Oh, please be the lovey-dovey couple that die early on.” He crossed his fingers. azarathian (Raven): Truth be told, it was a very unusual way to begin a horror movie, and Raven could only put it down to the possibility that they were trying to set up a misleading storyline to better catch the audience off guard when the real stuff happened. Still, she was suspicious as to what they were actually watching. The girl had just assumed before, but chose to ask outright now. “Are you sure you got this from the horror section?” “Oh, Derrick. How can it be that we only met yesterday, yet I feel like I’ve known you my whole life?” the woman on the TV drawled, eyes lidded in a lovesick haze. “I know exactly how you feel, my dear Olivia,” returned the male lead, gushing his heart out with a dazzling smolder. “I suppose sometimes, in life, you come across people who are just meant to be a part of your future. People… who you should never let go.” The empath’s cringe was unmissable as she brought her legs up onto the sofa and crossed them in front of her. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): A look of realization hit the shapeshifter and he slapped a hand to his face. I’m an idiot! He scolded himself mentally. He had assumed from the title that it was a movie about a werewolf, or at least, something scary. The cover seemed to indicate something scary, given it was basically a shot from the beginning of the movie with the woman walking down a dimly lit street. However, the pieces were being put together in his mind and he concluded that this was likely not a horror movie. He dragged his hand down his face and forced a nervous smile. “I, uh, didn’t get it from any section. I got it from the discount bin.” His shoulders raised and his head lowered as he braced himself for a berating. “Any chance I’m one of those people you should never let go?” He asked, hoping to lessen his scolding. The couple on the screen wrapped their arms around each other in a loving embrace. “Oh, I’ll never let go!” Olivia exclaimed before the two engaged in another long, drawn out kiss. The scene transitioned from the two kissing outside to the two kissing in what seemed to be someone’s house. It wasn’t even a set. It literally appeared to be someone’s house as there was a photo on the wall that had neither of the two in it. azarathian (Raven): The instant she saw that gloved hand smack his forehead she knew he’d messed up. “Eughhh,” she groaned, collapsing back further into the couch cushions and bringing her own palm to her head. It was still possible that it was some sort of weird, unconventional horror that didn’t really take off till half way through the movie itself - but they were half an hour in now, and the only action had been apparent in the first five minutes of the film. “I don’t suppose you read the summary on the back either?” she shot him a look before her eyes darted to the DVD case upon the table. She knew the answer regardless - of course he hadn’t. Her judgmental stare was interrupted by the obvious smacking of mouths stirring from the television as the couple stood in the living room, arms coiled around each other and crawling all over. “I know a more comfortable spot,” the man winked down at the other suggestively, before leading her by the hand up the stairs. Raven’s eyes were gigantic by this point. “What are we watching?!” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): His head seemed to sink further between his shoulders as his ears drooped at the stare. He shook his head no. Seeing as Raven was clearly irritated and that never went well for him, he tried to scoot further down the couch nonchalantly, resulting in him falling on his butt when he reached the end of the couch. “Ow!” He rubbed his backside before looking back to the screen. The couple were now on a king size bed. The man started to kiss the woman’s neck as he slid a hand up her shirt. The woman tilted her head back and gasped lightly. It took a moment to register what was going on, but once he did… “Oh God; it’s porn! Turn it off! Turn it off!” The green teen scrambled around the floor in a panic. “Where’s the remote?!” If ever there was something not to watch with Raven, he was pretty sure it was porn. Granted, it was a cheesy romance, not porn, but he was too panicked to realize that. azarathian (Raven): “I don’t know, you’re always the one who loses it!” she yelled back at him whilst rising to her feet; more flustered than angry, if anything. The inevitable moans and whimpers began to seep from the sound system, beginning low and soft but becoming increasingly more heated as the seconds sped by. Raven’s face flushed a deep crimson, her mouth agape and contorted into an entirely appalled grimace. “Oh Derrick,” came the woman’s sultry voice above the titans’ bickering. “You really know how to treat a woman.” Raven’s eyes snapped to the screen the moment the lady’s blouse came off and skirt was lowered down her exposed thighs. Her brows were knitted in a frustrated impatience and as the moments went by and Beast Boy still hadn’t found the remote, she was marching over to the TV as fast as her feet could carry her. Finally, once she got there, she turned the monstrosity off before it could go any further. There was a silence. A long silence. “… Next time,” she shuddered, “I’m picking the movie.” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “I do not!” Beast Boy flung couch cushions and bags of food in a frantic attempt to find the remote. He screeched nearly the whole time, mostly out of panic but somewhat to drown out the noises coming from the speakers. Once the television was turned off, he ceased his panic and tried to catch his breath. The green teen had gone red, save for his hair. He looked like Christmas and the elf ears weren’t helping. Well, you gotta give me some credit. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen!” He wheezed a laugh before looking at Raven. He paused, then pointed at her and laughed loudly. “You are so red right now!” azarathian (Raven): Was that his attempt at rectifying the situation? If he’d just picked a proper horror movie from the proper horror movie section instead of blindly forcing this melodramatic erotica on her, there would be no ‘situation’ to rectify! She halted when he pointed out the blatant blush in her face; she had felt the warmth rise to her cheeks in the pandemonium, but hadn’t thought that it’d be so visible by the time it was over. “Speak for yourself,” she shot back, the color merely deepening. “Maybe next time, don’t bring smut back to our house for ‘movie night’!” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): There was rarely a time when Beast Boy didn’t try to fix things with a joke. “I didn’t know it was smut!” He said, face flushing deeper. Though he was embarrassed, he couldn’t help but resume cackling at Raven. It was so rare to see Raven flustered or blushing or showing much emotion at all. He should probably fear for his life right now, but he couldn’t let the sight go to waste. “Aww, aren’t you cuuute~” He cackled. “Like a little bell pepper~” azarathian (Raven): Well, she definitely believed him; why else would he put both her and himself through such an ordeal? Her forefinger and thumb gripped at the bridge of her nose in annoyance, and that familiar vein on her temple was throbbing once more. She sighed, collecting herself and allowing her blush to subside. “Aww, aren’t you cuuute~ Like a little bell pepper.” And all at once it her face was ablaze in a wild heat again. With wide eyes, the girl let a moment pass before a scowl found its way back onto her visage. “Pushing it,” she warned through gritted teeth, shooting daggers at him with her glare. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): “With the spice of a ghost pepper…” He flinched. “Alright. Stopping.” He sighed and began tidying up, keeping quiet so Raven could regain her composure. He’d had his fun. Now it was time to give her a break. After a few minutes passed, he thought it safe to speak again. “So… Did you like the Swedish Fish? I like ‘em because they’re one of the few gummy candies I can eat.” He spoke as he put away the unopened packages of food. azarathian (Raven): It was a good thing he did stop right there, for she was at the brink of rage. The prior frantic panic from their awkward moment really hadn’t helped. Still, she bit her tongue and took a moment to breathe so that her anger didn’t seep out any further. Easier said than done, but the last thing she wanted was for something nearby to explode in a black bomb. Drawing her lips together, her brows remained furrowed in the aftermath, but she was able to collect herself in seconds. “They were vegan?” she asked, tone still holding a slight tension that she couldn’t help. Looked like they were gonna pretend all that just happened hadn’t happened at all. Worked for her. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): The changeling chuckled. “I wouldn’t be eating them if they weren’t.” Technically, he did eat a few non vegan foods on occasion, but never non vegetarian. While he seemed to be dropping it for now, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he would mention her ability to fluster in the future. With someone as seemingly stoic as her, how could he be quiet about it? Granted, he’d try to avoid riling her up too much. “Aren’t they good though? Cyborg says vegan food is no good, even if he eats my cooking. The guy’ll eat anything from octopus to those weird Tamaranean glops, but, whatever you do, don’t give him soy!” azarathian (Raven): “They were all right,” she shrugged, “for vegan food.” She honestly hadn’t even noticed they were vegan; they tasted the same as anything else, to her. Someone like Cyborg, however, could probably smell that they were vegan from a mile away, and no doubt make a fuss of it. By now Raven’s face had (thankfully) returned to its natural hue, and Beast Boy was in fact doing a good job at calming her by bringing about the swift subject change. In a way, she was grateful. She knelt down to assist in clearing the floor of the several sweet bags scattered across it, placing each one into the shopping bag the boy had brought them into the room with. “I’d take soy over Star’s cooking any day.” She paused. “… Not that mine is much better.” titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Beast Boy rolled his eyes. He was sure she was just saying that to irk him. He knew she liked them, regardless of whether or not they were vegan. Was there a reason she liked to shoot him down so much? Maybe the same reason he teased her, he reasoned. He could tease her about her cooking, but after what just happened, he thought it safer not to push it. “I can always give you more lessons, if you want. Maybe actually plan ahead so you’ll know what we’re doing. Or go with something simple, like waffles. You just gotta mix some stuff and pour it in the waffle iron.” azarathian (Raven): For a moment, she considered the offer. It was somewhat unexpected; though the cooking lesson he’d given her recently hadn’t resulted in complete disaster, she imagined she must’ve tried his patience at least a little with her lack of culinary skills and habit of getting half the ingredients all over the floor instead of in the bowl. Still, he was proposing that maybe they could try again and hopefully give her the chance to improve? It was… thoughtful of him. And definitely something she wasn’t going to turn down. “That sounds a lot easier than that coconut cake… thing,” she smiled softly at him, then passed him the bag. titansandothersrp (Beast Boy): Given all the stuff Raven put up with from him on a regular basis; pranks, loud music, sneaking into her room, bad jokes… A bit of a mess from simple mistakes wasn’t that bad at all. He chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. “Heh. Yeah. I probably should have picked an easier first lesson. I kind of picked the recipe before I decided I should give you lessons.” He took the bag with a smile. “Thanks.” He blinked in realization. “Wait… This is my mess. Why are you helping?” azarathian (Raven): She’d assumed as much; it wasn’t like her green teammate to think ahead. She’d come to learn that much over the years of living with him. He was as spontaneous as they come. An idea comes to his head, he does it. Not that she minded, for the cooking lesson - though not perfect - had turned out to be a good experience both in the end anyway. Raven met his eyes and blinked right back. “Well, I’m not just gonna sit and watch,” she reasoned. Would be pretty insensitive of her. They’d almost finished as it was now, the girl placing the last rogue bags into the larger one between them. Her fingers roamed the floor when she suddenly felt something beneath them, about an inch beneath the sofa. “And look what I found.” In her hand she dangled the missing remote and swayed it back and forth before him. [ FIN ]

#RP: Movie Night #roleplay #azarathian #TAOMuse: Beast Boy #compiled roleplay #completed roleplay

0 notes

punsandtofu · 7 years

Text

Movie Night (Compiled RP)

punsandtofu: Beast Boy strolled triumphantly into the main room of the Tower, holding up two full bags. “Dudes! I have the best night pla-…” He paused as he had expected the other titans to be gathered here, as he hadn’t seen them elsewhere in the tower. It was silent though. And nearly empty, if not for Raven and her book. “Um… Where is everyone?” azarathian: The dreaded clank of the main doors sliding open cut through her solitude, and before the intruder even spoke, she knew who it was - for she also knew that her other teammates weren’t due back for another few hours. Raven didn’t turn from her position on the sofa and didn’t let her eyes so much as wander from her book. “Cyborg’s at ‘bowling night’ with Titans East. Robin finally took Star to that midnight light show she’s been wanting to see in the city,” she told him punsandtofu: “Oh…” His ears drooped and he slumped over, dropping the two bags. The contents of the bags seemed to be candy and junk food. “But I had an awesome night planned… I found this bad horror movie to make fun of and I got candy and everything!” azarathian: “Maybe ask everyone if they’re actually free next time?” she suggested - quite an obvious bit of advice, really. Not that she expected her green friend to consider the obvious. punsandtofu: He pouted for a moment. “Well, guess we’ll just have to watch it ourselves.” He dug into the bags and pulled out a DVD case, tossing it on the table. “And help me eat all this food.” He proceeded to dump a pile of candy and junk food onto her lap. azarathian: Over the top of her book, her eyes followed the DVD that fell on the table before she was suddenly swamped in a pile of snacks. She let out a small yelp as the food fell around her, until only the irritated glare she wore peeked out from the peak, a vein throbbing upon her forehead. The girl shook what she could of the pile from her frame. “Lucky me,” she frowned, prying her arms out from the mess. punsandtofu: “Aw, c’mon. It’ll be fun! And I got the best stuff too!” He sorted through the junk food he’d dumped on her. “Airheads, Zotz, popcorn, Swedish Fish, potato chips, Twizzlers, Sour Patch Kids, Dum-Dums, Reese’s Cups…” azarathian: Just the smell of pure sugar invading her senses alone was overwhelming, sending a shot of nausea through her. Was he really expecting just the two of them to get through all of this? If so, she could guarantee he’d be taking on most of the task himself. “Sounds healthy,” she remarked, brushing the last of the the heap that had swallowed her to the floor. “Think I’ll be fine with just tea, though,” she gestured to the steaming mug that had already been sitting on the coffee table. punsandtofu: “Aw, c’mon! I can’t eat all this myself! I’m trying to eat a little better now. I can’t just binge all this! I’ve gotta maintain my looks!” azarathian: “Well, you’re doing a great job of that,” she muttered sarcastically beneath her breath, almost inaudible. With a sigh, she put her feet up on the coffee table - one over the other - and crossed her arms as she leaned back into the couch.·“ What movie did you buy?” Hopefully it was one worth actually watching, since she figured there was no way out of this ordeal. punsandtofu: “What Lurks in the Moonlight. It’s bound to be one of those cheesy B horror movies, maybe with a werewolf! We can point out how bad the acting and effects are!” He took the movie and put it in the player before jumping onto the couch. azarathian: If she were to go by the title, it definitely sounded like a werewolf would be involved. And from what she’d seen of your typical werewolf horror film, there would be plenty of awful cliches to poke fun and roll her eyes at. Both were kind of Raven’s thing. “Sounds terrible. Let’s do it.” For some reason, the usually introverted girl didn’t think to question why she was so willing to put down her novel and instead watch a bad horror movie with Beast Boy whilst their friends were out. And strangely, she would be lying to herself if she’d said she didn’t actually want to. punsandtofu: “Really?” He blinked at her. “Sweet!” He raised his arms triumphantly and grabbed the remote to play the movie. A woman walked down a dimly lit street as a dark figure loomed behind her. “Yes! Cutting right to it!” The changeling exclaimed. azarathian: Leaning over to pick up her tea, Raven’s eyes clung to the TV screen, just waiting for the first cliché to occur. She cupped her pale hands around the mug and brought the rim to her lips to take a sip as the movie played its opening scene. The street the woman paced through was vacant, shrouded by the night and silent. Her footsteps echoed against the pavement with each step she took, and unbeknownst to the lurking presence in the background, she wrapped her coat tighter around her. The shadowy form drew closer and closer as a crescendo of music played over the scene. Cliché #1, right there. Slowly, the figure approached until it was upon her, and lunged forward at the unsuspecting woman with great velocity. A shriek echoed through the main ops room, though elicited very little reaction from the cloaked girl, who could’ve seen the attack from a mile off. punsandtofu: Beast Boy opened a bag of candy and munched away as he watched the movie. He scoffed. “Yeah, lady. That coat’s really gonna protect you.” He leaned forward as the figure on the screen lunged. Once illuminated, it was apparent that the figure was but an ordinary man. Granted, said man was attacking her, but still. “Man, what a rip.” As the two struggled, another man appeared, socking the thug in the face. Once the criminal was incapable of getting back up, the man checked on the woman. “A man and woman had two seconds on screen! They’re gonna be a couple!… I bet the guy’s gonna get back up!” azarathian: Over the years living with him, Raven had somehow learnt to drown out any background noise her green friend made, like the crunching of snacks in her right ear, and instead focus her attentions on the foreground - in this case, the so far predictable horror movie. Though she wasn’t yet returning his commentary with her own, she did agree with what he was saying. “Wouldn’t surprise me,” Raven said flatly. “This hero guy’s made him angry now - he’s gonna transform any second.” It was all happening very quickly in a short space of time, but sure enough, Beast Boy’s predictions proved true as the assailant pushed himself from the ground with a grimace - his sights set on the opposing man, this time. Raven waited for the criminal to grow fangs and sprout claws, but none came. She watched on as the man lunged for the other and tackled him to the ground. “You think you can just swoop in and save the girl?!” he sneered in a very bad New York accent. “Wow,” was the only comment the magus made; it was obvious the bad acting had already begun. punsandtofu: “ ‘ey, I’m walkin’ he’a!” Beast Boy mimicked the bad accent. “Yes, I do.” The man said confidently, throwing the man off him with ease. The man was sent flying and a crash mat was slightly visible where he landed. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave the woman alone.” “I was expecting fur and fangs,” he commented, disappointed. azarathian: Raven groaned at the impersonation - they were as bad as each other. “They’re probably just drawing it out,” she suggested. After all, if they forced everything into the first ten minutes then the writing would be as bad as the acting. Despite the numerous sealed snack bags scattered around her, she reached over to her right and stole a handful from the bag Beast Boy already had opened in his grasp. Nonchalantly, she tossed the sweets in her mouth as the scene played on. The action seemed over before it had even begun, as the criminal fell dramatically unconscious the moment after the hero’s closing line. Not even an ‘I’ll get you next time’ or a shake of his fist to the sky - he just fainted. Pathetic. The man still standing turned to face the lady he’d saved moments before, staring deep into her eyes. “You saved me,” she uttered, breathless with awe. “I’d do it a thousand times over for such a beautiful woman,” he returned, raising his hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Raven eyed the screen with a slight confusion across her features, brow quirked. “Well that was short-lived,” she said, in reference to the collapsed ‘villain’ in the background. What the hell kind of horror movie was this? She suspected - she hoped - this scene was merely misleading the audience and the action would pick up again within the next ten minutes… surely. punsandtofu: “Probably.” He raised a brow as Raven ‘stole’ some of his candy. He let it go, however, as he had asked her to help him eat everything. The man closed the distance between the two of them with a kiss. “So, what should I call you?” “You can call me tomorrow~” She replied. “I knew this would be a bad horror movie, but… even I wouldn’t use that line.” He totally would, but he felt like being snarky. azarathian: The kiss was everything a kiss shouldn’t be; melodramatic, sloppy, forced upon the woman, and, oh yeah, between two complete strangers. “Gag,” was all she said in response. Knowing Beast Boy, it wouldn’t surprise Raven at all if he would use such a line in a real-life situation, but she chose to grant him the satisfaction of her silence as she stifled a snort of disbelief. As the two flirted under the light of a street lamp, Raven couldn’t help but note how unromantic their setting was; the pair were making out in a dark, empty street at night with an unconscious body behind them. Nice. Though no werewolves had appeared as of yet, it was blatantly clear that the movie had enough clichés to mock already. They were only into the opening scene and it was already a laughable disaster. The TV screen faded to black momentarily, before the following scene transpired; the couple from earlier were walking down a street together (this time in daylight and with other people around, thankfully), and staring dreamily into each other’s eyes as they did. Raven pursed her lips at the sight. How were they gonna turn this situation around? “Um, Beast Boy?” punsandtofu: Usually, Beast Boy was fine with kissing in movies. What horror or comedy didn’t have romance or sexual relations forced in? However, this was just nauseating. Two strangers snogging as cheesy music played was not his cup of tea. He proceeded to playfully retch with his tongue lulling out of his mouth. Finally, the kissing ended and he let out a sigh of relief. “Well, there weren’t any werewolves, but there did seem to be two people trying to eat each other’s faces.” The changeling wondered how the two could look into each other’s eyes while walking. The thought occurred to him that one of them could walk into a pole, causing him to chuckle a bit. Then Raven addressed him. “Yeah?” The two on the screen began talking, talking about the night before. They pretty much recapped what they’d just seen without even bothering to add any relevant new information. They didn’t bother to explain why the woman was walking by herself so late or why the man seemed to be doing the same. They just gushed over how brave and strong he was and how it was meant to be. “Oh, please be the lovey-dovey couple that die early on.” He crossed his fingers. azarathian: Truth be told, it was a very unusual way to begin a horror movie, and Raven could only put it down to the possibility that they were trying to set up a misleading storyline to better catch the audience off guard when the real stuff happened. Still, she was suspicious as to what they were actually watching. The girl had just assumed before, but chose to ask outright now. “Are you sure you got this from the horror section?” “Oh, Derrick. How can it be that we only met yesterday, yet I feel like I’ve known you my whole life?” the woman on the TV drawled, eyes lidded in a lovesick haze. “I know exactly how you feel, my dear Olivia,” returned the male lead, gushing his heart out with a dazzling smolder. “I suppose sometimes, in life, you come across people who are just meant to be a part of your future. People… who you should never let go.” The empath’s cringe was unmissable as she brought her legs up onto the sofa and crossed them in front of her. punsandtofu: A look of realization hit the shapeshifter and he slapped a hand to his face. I’m an idiot! He scolded himself mentally. He had assumed from the title that it was a movie about a werewolf, or at least, something scary. The cover seemed to indicate something scary, given it was basically a shot from the beginning of the movie with the woman walking down a dimly lit street. However, the pieces were being put together in his mind and he concluded that this was likely not a horror movie. He dragged his hand down his face and forced a nervous smile. “I, uh, didn’t get it from any section. I got it from the discount bin.” His shoulders raised and his head lowered as he braced himself for a berating. “Any chance I’m one of those people you should never let go?” He asked, hoping to lessen his scolding. The couple on the screen wrapped their arms around each other in a loving embrace. “Oh, I’ll never let go!” Olivia exclaimed before the two engaged in another long, drawn out kiss. The scene transitioned from the two kissing outside to the two kissing in what seemed to be someone’s house. It wasn’t even a set. It literally appeared to be someone’s house as there was a photo on the wall that had neither of the two in it. azarathian: The instant she saw that gloved hand smack his forehead she knew he’d messed up. “Eughhh,” she groaned, collapsing back further into the couch cushions and bringing her own palm to her head. It was still possible that it was some sort of weird, unconventional horror that didn’t really take off till half way through the movie itself - but they were half an hour in now, and the only action had been apparent in the first five minutes of the film. “I don’t suppose you read the summary on the back either?” she shot him a look before her eyes darted to the DVD case upon the table. She knew the answer regardless - of course he hadn’t. Her judgmental stare was interrupted by the obvious smacking of mouths stirring from the television as the couple stood in the living room, arms coiled around each other and crawling all over. “I know a more comfortable spot,” the man winked down at the other suggestively, before leading her by the hand up the stairs. Raven’s eyes were gigantic by this point. “What are we watching?!” punsandtofu: His head seemed to sink further between his shoulders as his ears drooped at the stare. He shook his head no. Seeing as Raven was clearly irritated and that never went well for him, he tried to scoot further down the couch nonchalantly, resulting in him falling on his butt when he reached the end of the couch. “Ow!” He rubbed his backside before looking back to the screen. The couple were now on a king size bed. The man started to kiss the woman’s neck as he slid a hand up her shirt. The woman tilted her head back and gasped lightly. It took a moment to register what was going on, but once he did… “Oh God; it’s porn! Turn it off! Turn it off!” The green teen scrambled around the floor in a panic. “Where’s the remote?!” If ever there was something not to watch with Raven, he was pretty sure it was porn. Granted, it was a cheesy romance, not porn, but he was too panicked to realize that. azarathian: “I don’t know, you’re always the one who loses it!” she yelled back at him whilst rising to her feet; more flustered than angry, if anything. The inevitable moans and whimpers began to seep from the sound system, beginning low and soft but becoming increasingly more heated as the seconds sped by. Raven’s face flushed a deep crimson, her mouth agape and contorted into an entirely appalled grimace. “Oh Derrick,” came the woman’s sultry voice above the titans’ bickering. “You really know how to treat a woman.” Raven’s eyes snapped to the screen the moment the lady’s blouse came off and skirt was lowered down her exposed thighs. Her brows were knitted in a frustrated impatience and as the moments went by and Beast Boy still hadn’t found the remote, she was marching over to the TV as fast as her feet could carry her. Finally, once she got there, she turned the monstrosity off before it could go any further. There was a silence. A long silence. “… Next time,” she shuddered, “I’m picking the movie.” punsandtofu: “I do not!” Beast Boy flung couch cushions and bags of food in a frantic attempt to find the remote. He screeched nearly the whole time, mostly out of panic but somewhat to drown out the noises coming from the speakers. Once the television was turned off, he ceased his panic and tried to catch his breath. The green teen had gone red, save for his hair. He looked like Christmas and the elf ears weren’t helping. Well, you gotta give me some credit. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen!” He wheezed a laugh before looking at Raven. He paused, then pointed at her and laughed loudly. “You are so red right now!” azarathian: Was that his attempt at rectifying the situation? If he’d just picked a proper horror movie from the proper horror movie section instead of blindly forcing this melodramatic erotica on her, there would be no ‘situation’ to rectify! She halted when he pointed out the blatant blush in her face; she had felt the warmth rise to her cheeks in the pandemonium, but hadn’t thought that it’d be so visible by the time it was over. “Speak for yourself,” she shot back, the color merely deepening. “Maybe next time, don’t bring smut back to our house for ‘movie night’!” punsandtofu: There was rarely a time when Beast Boy didn’t try to fix things with a joke. “I didn’t know it was smut!” He said, face flushing deeper. Though he was embarrassed, he couldn’t help but resume cackling at Raven. It was so rare to see Raven flustered or blushing or showing much emotion at all. He should probably fear for his life right now, but he couldn’t let the sight go to waste. “Aww, aren’t you cuuute~” He cackled. “Like a little bell pepper~” azarathian: Well, she definitely believed him; why else would he put both her and himself through such an ordeal? Her forefinger and thumb gripped at the bridge of her nose in annoyance, and that familiar vein on her temple was throbbing once more. She sighed, collecting herself and allowing her blush to subside. “Aww, aren’t you cuuute~ Like a little bell pepper.” And all at once it her face was ablaze in a wild heat again. With wide eyes, the girl let a moment pass before a scowl found its way back onto her visage. “Pushing it,” she warned through gritted teeth, shooting daggers at him with her glare. punsandtofu: “With the spice of a ghost pepper…” He flinched. “Alright. Stopping.” He sighed and began tidying up, keeping quiet so Raven could regain her composure. He’d had his fun. Now it was time to give her a break. After a few minutes passed, he thought it safe to speak again. “So… Did you like the Swedish Fish? I like ‘em because they’re one of the few gummy candies I can eat.” He spoke as he put away the unopened packages of food. azarathian: It was a good thing he did stop right there, for she was at the brink of rage. The prior frantic panic from their awkward moment really hadn’t helped. Still, she bit her tongue and took a moment to breathe so that her anger didn’t seep out any further. Easier said than done, but the last thing she wanted was for something nearby to explode in a black bomb. Drawing her lips together, her brows remained furrowed in the aftermath, but she was able to collect herself in seconds. “They were vegan?” she asked, tone still holding a slight tension that she couldn’t help. Looked like they were gonna pretend all that just happened hadn’t happened at all. Worked for her. punsandtofu: The changeling chuckled. “I wouldn’t be eating them if they weren’t.” Technically, he did eat a few non vegan foods on occasion, but never non vegetarian. While he seemed to be dropping it for now, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he would mention her ability to fluster in the future. With someone as seemingly stoic as her, how could he be quiet about it? Granted, he’d try to avoid riling her up too much. “Aren’t they good though? Cyborg says vegan food is no good, even if he eats my cooking. The guy’ll eat anything from octopus to those weird Tamaranean glops, but, whatever you do, don’t give him soy!” azarathian: “They were all right,” she shrugged, “for vegan food.” She honestly hadn’t even noticed they were vegan; they tasted the same as anything else, to her. Someone like Cyborg, however, could probably smell that they were vegan from a mile away, and no doubt make a fuss of it. By now Raven’s face had (thankfully) returned to its natural hue, and Beast Boy was in fact doing a good job at calming her by bringing about the swift subject change. In a way, she was grateful. She knelt down to assist in clearing the floor of the several sweet bags scattered across it, placing each one into the shopping bag the boy had brought them into the room with. “I’d take soy over Star’s cooking any day.” She paused. “… Not that mine is much better.” punsandtofu: Beast Boy rolled his eyes. He was sure she was just saying that to irk him. He knew she liked them, regardless of whether or not they were vegan. Was there a reason she liked to shoot him down so much? Maybe the same reason he teased her, he reasoned. He could tease her about her cooking, but after what just happened, he thought it safer not to push it. “I can always give you more lessons, if you want. Maybe actually plan ahead so you’ll know what we’re doing. Or go with something simple, like waffles. You just gotta mix some stuff and pour it in the waffle iron.” azarathian: For a moment, she considered the offer. It was somewhat unexpected; though the cooking lesson he’d given her recently hadn’t resulted in complete disaster, she imagined she must’ve tried his patience at least a little with her lack of culinary skills and habit of getting half the ingredients all over the floor instead of in the bowl. Still, he was proposing that maybe they could try again and hopefully give her the chance to improve? It was… thoughtful of him. And definitely something she wasn’t going to turn down. “That sounds a lot easier than that coconut cake… thing,” she smiled softly at him, then passed him the bag. punsandtofu: Given all the stuff Raven put up with from him on a regular basis; pranks, loud music, sneaking into her room, bad jokes… A bit of a mess from simple mistakes wasn’t that bad at all. He chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. “Heh. Yeah. I probably should have picked an easier first lesson. I kind of picked the recipe before I decided I should give you lessons.” He took the bag with a smile. “Thanks.” He blinked in realization. “Wait… This is my mess. Why are you helping?” azarathian: She’d assumed as much; it wasn’t like her green teammate to think ahead. She’d come to learn that much over the years of living with him. He was as spontaneous as they come. An idea comes to his head, he does it. Not that she minded, for the cooking lesson - though not perfect - had turned out to be a good experience both in the end anyway. Raven met his eyes and blinked right back. “Well, I’m not just gonna sit and watch,” she reasoned. Would be pretty insensitive of her. They’d almost finished as it was now, the girl placing the last rogue bags into the larger one between them. Her fingers roamed the floor when she suddenly felt something beneath them, about an inch beneath the sofa. “And look what I found.” In her hand she dangled the missing remote and swayed it back and forth before him. [ FIN ]

#Movie Night #roleplay #compiled roleplay #completed roleplay #azarathian

0 notes