kismet_loop_logs | They say there's nothing new under the sun

Who: Hiro, Sam, and anybody else who wants to watch Tremors
What: Watching Tremors ~~and possibly discussing swear words prior to the show~~
Where: The new outdoor theatre in the Northwest
When: Backdated to Thursday night, dusk.
Warnings: Language? Probably language.

The ‘official story’ was simple, if outlandish: Sam had happened across a VHS tape of Tremors (true) while lost (false) in the dense mire of mess which was Hiro’s room. Though the tape had actually been uncovered in the Warehouse, she had no intention of saying so; she didn’t want to wonder if the truth would reach Dirge, or want to deal with the seeker if he heard and, hearing, took it into his head to reclaim the cassette. What she did want was to make good on what she’d said to Jadewing.

’Sometime, we’ll find for you a few decent horror flicks.’

Tremors had turned out to be the first of that few. With luck, and a little---or a lot---of looking, there would be others, and so the whole theatre project had been buttressed by the hope of having more movies. The screen was situated at one side of the clearing Irja had kindly created, suspended between the trunks of two massive trees and braced by branches across its back. (The controls were there, as well, and at two elevations; the human-scale console sheltered in what looked, to Sam, like an ice shack.) A viewing deck had been built opposite the screen, encircling one wide walnut tree at a height which would have any occupants up enough to talk to standing Cybertronians comfortably, without craning. The deck had been outfitted with a ladder, a small collection of mismatched chairs, and (importantly!) a small free-standing fire pit. Two ridges crossed the clearing so that people could park angled up to better see the screen, but the clearing itself was otherwise almost ordinary---and only ‘almost’ on account of its creation.

All things considered, the set-up was pretty sweet.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sam's (rather reasonable) response came almost immediately: "Goddamn." She took a step back to throw her hands up more dramatically than she might've, shaking her head as she lowered and then crossed her arms.

"I mean this in the friendliest way, but you guys---Cybertronians generally---are kind of ridiculous. With your lifespans and subspace and sheer friggin' scale. Still like you lots, and most of the other bots I've met, but I also still stand by 'goddamn' and also 'what is this even.'" Snorting a little laugh, the adept moved on to actually answering, though she struggled to keep from laughing again. "You do, because it's so over-the-top it's what made me decide I really should make an effort looking into learning sacres. You're familiar with the versatility of the word 'fuck' in English? 'Mon tabarnak j'vais te decalisser la yeule calice' is the Quebecois equivalent of 'motherfucker I'm gonna fuck you up as fuck.'"

Jadewing chuckled. "You're not the only one who thinks citybots are a bit ridiculous," he says. "Though to be fair, they're not whole cities. Really they're more small- by Cybertronian standards- mobile bases that just happen to be sparked and sentient. But 'small mobile base bots' doesn't really have the same ring to it. Cybertronians my size can and do live in them though, when they're in base form. Which is... sort of creepy if you think about it too hard, so we try not to."

"As for the rest of us being ridiculous," he shrugged, "that's a matter of perspective. There are still Cybertronians who'll argue that considering any organic truly sentient is ridiculous. Some take it further than that, even and claim that Cybertronians are the only beings in the universe who can be considered truly sentient, because we're the only ones that have sparks." Which Sam could probably guess, had been an excuse for much prejudice and harm perpetrated by Cybertronians over the millenia.

The explanation of the long sacre got another chuckle out of Jadewing. "I'll have to remember that one," he said. "'Frag' is similarly versatile among Cybertronians, and its base meaning is about the same."

"Sort of creepy, but also pretty cool---they must be something to see." Sam mused over the idea, imagining an aura that spanned city blocks. Little---so to speak---could compare. Her attention returned to Jadewing at 'as for the rest of us,' and she straightened as the Seeker spoke. "...y'know, of all the complications coming from the intangibility of the soul, that's one no-one expects to field. That I've found, anyway. Used to read through a lot of new-agey and parapsychology stuff, so I can sorta say."

Sam unfolded her arms to lacing her hands together atop the deck's railing, a crooked little smile spreading across her face. "There's more to be said about those arguments, of course, but I think you know me well enough to guess all of the important points so we can stay sort of on-track. To that end: excrement. When 'j'men calice' just isn't dismissive enough, there's 't'ant pis por toi,' which is a little softer swear-wise but still basically 'tough shit for you.'"

"They definitely are," Jadewing said. "The Autobot Metroplex turns into a humanoid robot form and our Trypticon turns into a dinosaur. A lot like the Dinobot leader Grimlock's beast form, except much, much bigger."

Jadewing noded at her desire to stay on their original subject, though. He didn't really care to get into a serious spiritual debate tonight, especially when he wasn't entirely sure where he stood on such things himself. Seeing Primus up close and personal during their battle with Unicron had affected him deeply. He just hadn't figured out how yet.

He snickered as their discussion of curse words continued. "Cybertronians don't really... produce waste like organics do," Jadewing said, privately being very glad of that fact. "But 'slag', a waste product that comes from forging metal, has a similar meaning to us. 'Scrap' can also be used similarly, though it's not as strong."

"Both of them can also mean 'kill' when used as a verb, though," he continued. "For example, 'I'm going to scrap you.' It's sort of a shortened version of 'I'm going to turn turn you into scrap.'"

"I'm not surprised that there are Dinobots when I've met dragon-bots, but that doesn't mean I don't think that that is awesome. Provided at least a few are fairly personable. For the sake of the kid I was, I want so badly to be excited about this." She grinned, glancing at the boards beneath her feet for the span of a shrug. "Silly-sounding, I'm sure, but I grew up in the heydey of dinosaur stuff, and I've got a soft spot still. Don't suppose you've seen Jurassic Park? The day someone spots it, we've gotta have a showing---but I better stop myself. Just gonna say 'my childhood,' and move on. And apologize for the digressions."

Not that any apology seemed to be necessary. There was the content of the conversation, for one thing; for another, the tone. It was nice to just chill out and bull, the normal pre-show hang out feeling as... well, as normal as it would've in Edmonton.

"So, dross. And duly noted. Once in a long while I've overheard 'slag' as an insult, but it's mostly people from the UK or Australia using it, and never---that I know of---as a verb."

"I'm really the wrong bot to ask about the Dinobots' personalities," he said. "I know what they look like and what they can do. They're powerful and dangerous opponents in either mode. Most all of them tend to be pretty dumb, though, especially the first three, Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge. Yes, his name's actually Slag; his main weapon is fire, and he's the most violent of the group, so it fits. Snarl and Swoop, the two built later, seem to be slightly brighter, but not by much. Grimlock's beast mode is a tyranosaurus rex, Slag's a triceratops, Sludge's a brontosaurus, Snarl's a stegosaurus, and Swoop's a pteranodon. Other than that I don't know much, but they are Autobots so I doubt they'd be kept around if they couldn't at least be civil with humans."

Jadewing shrugged. "As for 'Jurassic Park', I've heard of it but not seen it. Like I said, the selection of human movies I had access to was pretty limited. Wouldn't mind seeing it though, I guess."

"Really?", he asked, a bit surprised that humans would use the word thus too. "What does 'slag' mean in that context?"

They say there's nothing new under the sun

no subject

no subject

after an eternity

Re: after an eternity

no subject

no subject