Movie Mingle

[musicdied]

Who: Yelena and anyone who wants to show up
When: Evening on August 5th
Where: ADI apartment grounds
Summary: Yelena has procured a projector and a copy of Jurassic Park. Everyone's invited.
Warnings: None at the outset; please add any applicable warnings to your subject lines.


The invitation that goes out on Monday night is simple:

un: jelica

Jurassic Park showing outside housing Block C this Friday. Movie starts at 8:30pm. Chips, popcorn, soda, blankets provided. Feel free to bring alternate snacks and seating if desired.

Before
The benefit to showing a movie outside, projected against an apartment wall, is that there's only so much set-up required. A few folding tables holding large bowls of chips and popcorn, a couple of coolers for soda and whatever people bring with them, some large blankets spread on the lawn, and everything's just about ready. Yelena - and whoever's volunteered or been drafted to help - has everything ready to go an hour ahead of the movie's start time.

There's plenty of time to chat with old colleagues and new acquaintances.

During
There is still a strip of light at the edge of the horizon when the movie starts, but on the eastern face of the building, it's dark enough for the scene to play out clearly against the large white canvas that has been suspended from the rooftop, weighted so that it doesn't stir in the breeze and disrupt the picture. It is not - quite - the full drive-in experience; there is no stretch of windshield and hood to make the moment when scaled predators jump onto one of the vehicles all the more immersive.

The sound is up loud enough to cover some chatter, but talking too loud still risks getting popcorn thrown at one's head.

After
The movie ends ahead of curfew, enough so that there is a little time for those who've opted to live off campus to chat, or help with clean-up, before saying their goodbyes and slipping out before the gates lock for the night. Or to arrange a place to crash for the night, if they want to linger longer. It's a lovely night, and there probably aren't any actual rogue dinosaurs about.

Probably.


(ooc: Party-style log for group movie night! Tag amongst yourselves!)

Comments

Yelena Belova | MCU | OTA

[musicdied]

I. Before
Yelena spends some time after the initial set-up is done fiddling with the projector and the sound system, the better to make sure nothing abruptly decides to stop functioning in the middle of the movie itself. She's easy enough to spot, having opted for a light dress decorated with dinosaurs in bright primary colours that may well be (almost certainly is) the subject of a dare from someone. It does not quite hide the scars curving over one shoulder, like something with claws had laid her open.

Most people approaching her will get a quick grin and a greeting of, "Almost done here. I'm glad you could make it."

II. During
Yelena doesn't talk much during the movie. She's staked out a stretch of blanket, and reclines back on her elbows, legs crossed in front of her at the ankles.

At about the 45 minute mark, she produces a flask from somewhere - the dress, in addition to dinosaurs, apparently sports pockets - and tips some of the contents into the bottle of Dr Pepper she's been sipping. Catch her, and if she likes you, she might give a slightly crooked smile and lift the flask in offering.

III. After
"Still holds up," is Yelena's cheerful comment on the movie once it's finished. Or, if she has reason to suspect the person she's speaking to has never seen it, "What did you think?"

She spends a little time mingling before pulling away to start the clean-up. Once again, she's easily visible, easy to interrupt, be it with a question or idle conversation, or just to bid good night.

After

[bindlestifflost]

George pauses on his search for a trash bag to get started on cleanup at the question and draws closer, expression very serious. "It was the most God damned crazy thing I seen in my life. Them dinosaurs looked so real I got the shakes."

He feels no shame in admitting it. Few things in his life have hit him so hard visually, and he had nothing to prepare him for it, not even close, because he doesn't own a TV and only watches sports at the bars. "I ain't sorry I seen it, though. You done a good thing puttin' this all together."

before

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey has no idea what the hell a film is like. Or what Jurassic Park is like. Or really, what a dinosaur is like. But he's certainly going to find out! He makes his way over towards the movie night, frown on his face as he looks everything over. When he spots Yelena, he lets out a little chuckle before walking over. As he does, Hickey rolls up the sleeve of his shirt (a plain white t-shirt) mostly so he can tease,

"We match."

He also has scars courtesy of claw-marks and teeth marks dotting his shoulders, as well as part of his chest.

I. Before

[brunonono]

"Hi."

Bruno's posture is stiff; he's looking a bit wide-eyed like he had to force himself to come here and actually spend time with his neighbors for once. He's holding a foil-covered tray of arepas con queso, still hot, which he thrusts in Yelena's general direction.

"I brought arepas. They're not as good as the ones my sister makes, but I brought them for people to eat."

After

[worthallthis]

As the credits roll, Winter turns towards her with an actual smile. "Fun," he decides is his answer. "The scientists were awful," he adds, because scientists are always awful, and these who used cryo and messed with genetic experiments are clearly worse than most. Also, "The security people were stupid and I bet I could've kept them all alive easier. But the dinosaurs were amazing. How did they do that?"

During

[punched_hitler]

Steve catches the glint of light from the screen off the flask out of the corner of his eye and looks over, catching sight of what's going on and grinning lopsidedly. He's sitting close enough that he can lean over and say, quietly, "I hope that's not a sign you're bored."

It's... kind of an amazing movie, actually.

during!

[lesbeau]

Beau is absolutely watching with intent, being one of those people who swings their fist as somebody starts running or gets a good slap in on a dino. She seems really into it, at least-- but not into it enough that she doesn't notice a flask come out. She raises her eyebrows, doing a little hand gesture that looks like she's tipping a 'hang ten' hand gesture into her mouth.

Yes, she isn't horribly familiar with the other woman. But like, sharing is caring, and she absolutely brought her own flask, so maybe they can tradesies.

/pretend this was on time

[bossyboiler]

"I thought it was great," says the woman who had almost screamed at the 'clever girl' part. "It was scary how stupidly smart the velociraptors were."

[OPEN]

[bindlestifflost]

Before

George shows up with a six-pack of Coca-Cola and a bag of compressed cotton candy. He sticks the sodas into the communal cooler. The cotton candy is, apparently, his because he takes it and a cold soda over to one of the blankets to settle down. It's clear he's excited about what's going on, because he never stops looking around, checking everything out, or calling out to anybody who gets close enough, "You lookin' forward to this? It's real swell a' Yelena to set this up."

There's plenty of space on the blanket next to him for somebody to join him if they want.

During

Has anyone told him this isn't real, or are the effects just that overwhelming to someone from the 1930s? His reactions to everything run the gamut from bald faced amazement, wincing and looking away from the more violent scenes, or nudging the closest person and whispering, "Them kids is gonna be awwright, right? They wouldn't be showin' us this if they wasn't, would they?"

After

George has a big garbage bag, sweeping the area and picking up trash. It reminds him just enough of the fish that he occasionally pulls a grimace. Beyond that, he's not complaining. If anyone joins him or gets close enough, he'll ask if they enjoyed the movie or maybe if they'd ever want to go to a park like that if they could.

before

[abrightboy]

"...Yelena set this up?" Malcolm says, glancing around as he pulls his legs up to cross them in front of him as he settles in next to George.

Well, the poster said everyone was welcome, right?

He looks at George. "My father took me to see this movie when it came out. I was five. He said not to tell my mom, because she wouldn't approve. It was our secret."

He holds a root beer out to George. "Do you want one of these?" He sets a package of Twizzlers between them with his other hand.

After

[brunonono]

"No!" Bruno replies very quickly to George's question--no he would not like to visit Jurassic Park in real life. "I mean...no. Probably not. Right? That seems like...a bad idea."

After

[worthallthis]

"No," Winter says, after a thoughtful pause where he's clearly considering his answer. "I'd be the one who had to shoot the dinosaurs. And it's not their fault the scientists made them and then mismanaged them."

before

[vrituom]

"Depends on how terrible the movie is."

Though even knowing the title of it it wouldn't make a difference to Quill, she doesn't know media well. Guess they're going to find out.

She does sit down though, preferring a familiar face.

During

[failedpromise]

Cortana blinks at George.

"I actually haven't seen this movie before. I mean, sure, it's in my databases, but do you really want me to spoil it for you?" She's kind of not looking at the information she has stored for similar reasons: sure she knows what'll happen, the movie is centuries old by her time, but it's more fun if she watches it while pretending she doesn't.

Malcolm Bright | Prodigal Son | OTA

[abrightboy]

Before
Malcolm has been trying to keep himself busy, even though most of his work doesn't interest him and most of his close friends and family have disappeared. He's sure he saw somewhere that there's a movie night. He'll go to that. He arrives and glances around to see if anyone he knows is there.

During
Malcolm snacks on Twizzlers and watches the movie with a fond nostalgia. He hasn't seen it since '93. He's not so entranced that he won't talk to whoever is around.

After
He takes a bag to help with clean-up. He can stand to kill a little more time.

After

[punched_hitler]

Steve's sticking around to clean up, too - it's just rude not to, after all. He's got an armful of paper plates, plastic cups, soda cans, and napkins, when he spots Malcolm with a bag and heads in his direction.

"Hey, mind if I use up some space in there?"

After

[bossyboiler]

Kate is gathering up the left over brownies when she spots Malcolm. She waves at him. "You came. I'm surprised."

Cortana | Halo | OTA

[failedpromise]

Before

Cortana has no need for food or drinks herself, but she does bring something with her: a packet of chocolate chip cookies. She also considered booze, but it wasn't mentioned on the invitation and she knows that some people who work at ADI are almost certainly underaged, so she figured she should probably bring something everyone could enjoy. Thus, cookies.

She'll smile when she sees someone she knows. "Fancy meeting you here." She says, as though everyone hasn't been invited to movie night.

During

It's not a bad movie. It's really not. But still, she can't resist commenting on it. "You know dinosaurs didn't really look like that, right?"

After

Cortana helps with cleanup. She's in a really good mood tonight, smiling at people and happily making conversation with them.

During

[musicdied]

"And genetic modification doesn't really work that way," Yelena says, shifting one shoulder in a shrug. "It's supposed to be fun, not realistic."

During

[rainewhispers]

Raine was finding human movies a bit odd in concept and execution but it was a neat learning experience anyways. They'd always wondered about the human world on some level, knowing Eda went there somewhat frequently, even pawned off goods from it.

When the person next to them spoke up about the movie, and these 'Dinosaurs' that seemed to be it's subject Raine murmured a bit while rubbing the back of their neck sheepishly.

"I'm not actually that sure.. I'm only sort of following along with what dinosaurs are, technically. I wouldn't be surprised that some things aren't right though."

Bruno Madrigal | Encanto | OTA

[brunonono]

Before
Bruno hasn't gone in much for these kinds of gatherings. He knows a lot of these people's faces from seeing them in the canteen when he's working and passing them in the halls, but despite his time in this world measuring in months he still doesn't really know all his neighbors. That's...not good. His mother wouldn't be pleased to know her son is still a shut-in. So ahead of time he cooks up some arepas con queso even though they'll never be as good as Julieta's, and away he goes with the tray to go make friends and watch a movie. He can be found at one of the snack tables, peeling away the foil from the tray, or wandering the blankets looking for somewhere he can sit.


During
Bruno is 100% along for the ride, and he's taking it a bit hard now that the movie has reached the T. Rex's escape from her paddock. He'd been jittery leading up to this scene, thanks both to drinking way too much caffeine as well as being able to follow the confusing techno jargon just well enough to know that things were getting bad. He mirrors the children onscreen, leaning forward with wide eyes as the goat is revealed to be missing from its chain--

And shrieks when the goat's leg hits the roof of the car, gibbering with fear and grabbing at whoever is unfortunate enough to be sitting beside him as the camera pans up to show the T. Rex herself.

"No, no nononono!!"


After
Cleanup is part of any party, and Bruno was hardly going to leave without pitching in. He's busy shaking blankets to get out crumbs and popcorn kernels before folding them nicely, but look closely and one might realize he's a little shaky still after the conclusion of the movie. Or just come up behind him unannounced and it'll become clear that he's more than a little shaken when an unexpected noise makes him jump and yelp.

He's absolutely going to have nightmares tonight.

During

[worthallthis]

Winter had not started the movie next to Bruno. He hardly knows Bruno. But at some point someone had gotten up, and another person had sat down, and then he'd gotten up to get a drink, and now here he is. With Bruno clinging to his very metal arm, albeit with three layers of shirt on top of it.

It's very distracting, and said metal arm makes a protesting whirr and grind.

"It isn't real," Winter reminds Bruno, trying to figure out how to extract himself. "It can't hurt you."

Before

[punched_hitler]

Steve has never had arepas, but he drifts over to see what's under the foil, getting a whiff and admitting, "Those smell amazing. What are they?"

Eda Clawthorne | The Owl House | OTA

[edalyn]

Before
'Needs a distraction' has been Eda's state for... most of the time she's been here, honestly. A movie night might not be all that exciting, but it's something to do and she isn't turning that down.

She arrives a little early, though she doesn't actually seem interested in helping set up. Mostly she seems interested in eating snacks. You might spot her tucking a couple of cans of soda into her unruly hair for later. Against most if not all odds, they don't fall back out.

She's probably burning some power that would be better spent on other things, but this particular use is such a habit that she barely thinks about it.

During
Eda sprawls on a blanket and munches on popcorn and candy during the movie. She doesn't seem all that engrossed in it, though she does appear to be paying attention... most of the time.

"Y'know, this was actually kinda scary... a couple decades ago," She says to whoever happens to be nearby, possibly ruining the tension of a dramatic scene. She may or may not actually remember that it's closer to three decades by now.

After
Eda lingers a bit after the movie. It's hard to tell if she's actually interested in mingling or just doesn't feel like going back to her apartment, but she'll say hello if she actually runs into anyone she knows.

Before

[musicdied]

Yelena watches Eda tuck soda into her hair, her own head cocking to one side, expression slightly bemused. It's far from the strangest thing she's seen since arriving in Gloucester. It's still very weird.

"Do you have something living in there?" she asks after a moment, sounding not so much accusatory as curious.

closed, for jon!

[lowficharm]

This is one of those things that Martin almost insists on doing when it comes around- not because he's really excited about a specific film, but because it's absolutely normal. Back home, they never had time to have movie dates or talk about dinosaurs or eat a bunch of popcorn and feel sick about it the next day. Both of them know their time here is likely not permanent, and whatever they have Martin is determined to enjoy.

Which is why he's out here, with a big blanket, a bunch of popcorn, and a big ol' grin on his face as he gets everything comfortable.

"Sooo. You ever seen this one? I know you didn't, uhm, do a lot of pop culture." Mostly he's just looking to see if Jon's going to know all the twists and stuff, or if he'll get to listen to him guess as the plot goes on. Both are fun in their own way, though, and Martin's just pleased they're here no matter how much Jon plans to trash-talk the plot.

Oh god I am so sorry this is so late!

[the_archivist]

It's not really something that Jon would have involved himself in if left to his own devices. Too many people who he is mostly avoiding getting to know because it's probably safer that way. That and the relentless feeling that he isn't doing enough. He should be working. Should be trying to avert an apocalypse.

But Martin wants to. And Martin deserves this sort of normality. And it might be nice, if it's with him.

He settles comfortablye against Martin's side and steals some of the popcorn. "I've seen Jurassic Park!" Jon says. "I was young once. I went through the obligatory dinosaur phase."