[Closed-ish] July birthdays!

[robintohood]

Who: All BatFamily members and friends of BatFamily
What: Birthday party for both Tim Drakes
When: July 19th
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: N/A

[Today is both Tim Drakes' birthday. In honor of this, Descendant Karaoke Bar and Lounge is closed for the night for a "private event."

On the ground floor where the bar is and where there's the most open space, most of the tables and chairs have been pushed aside while some have been rearranged to accommodate the party. A taco bar is lined up on one side. Hard and soft shells are available, along with a variety of fillings people can choose to make their own tacos.

A projector screen has been set up in front of the bar, alongside a laptop loaded with a movie library.

The birthday cake is a coffee and chocolate ice cream cake with vanilla frosting. It's safely stashed in the kitchen's fridge until it's time for dessert.

Though this family is absolutely dysfunctional and its members don't all come from the same universe or timeline, they're going to make sure two family members have a good birthday party today. Jackass guilds be damned]

((OOC: Mingle with each other!))

Comments

[hackingyoursensors]

[ Dick shows up on time, but keeps to himself at first. He doesn't want to crowd the birthday boys, so he spends the first part of the night eating tacos and cake.

Of course, it's easy to rope him into a game or two, though the rules where he's from might be different (or he might be messing with you). The movies are all unfamiliar to him-- either they're from his future or not from his dimension at all. Hopefully Jason had the foresight not to put any murder mysteries on the movie list or everyone is going to spend the night picking apart all of the inconsistencies. ]

[robintohood]

[There might not be any murder mysteries in the movie library but there's plenty of "so bad it's good" works there. They're the best movies to do loud commentary and roasting on]

You know, if you squint the right way, you can almost pretend the zipper on the monster suit isn't there.

[hackingyoursensors]

[ Dick squints and tilts his head. ]

Nope, I can't un-see it. The string holding up the model planes wouldn't be distracting if they weren't jiggling them everywhere like a cat toy.

[robintohood]

I thought they were simulating turbulence. Shame about the model city too. You can see the glue seams on those walls.

[hackingyoursensors]

It looks like an art project I did when I was nine.

Actually, I think that's an insult to nine-year-old me.

[robintohood]

Nine-year-old you could do better stunts than these guys too.

[hackingyoursensors]

To be fair, being an acrobat puts me at an unfair advantage.

[robintohood]

Eh. They just need to work harder. Clear that high bar and all.

[hackingyoursensors]

I'm not sure if they were really paid enough to be interested in clearing a high bar. With the budget, they were probably paid in 'exposure' or 'experience.'

[robintohood]

Oh definitely. How else do they get anyone to work on a no-budget movie? We could probably do better just having a cameraperson follow us during patrol.

[hackingyoursensors]

To be fair, not everyone can be as skilled and exciting as we are.

[reneger]

Hey, kid.

( jason's approaching from behind dick. raises a hand before dick has much time to try and avoid it to ruffle his hair with a grin. )

I know it's not your birthday, but I've got new toys for you too, if you wanna play with them after. Central's a great place for it.

[hackingyoursensors]

[ Dick has accepted that the hair-ruffling is part of his life now. Of course, he'll get back at Jason once he figures out appropriate payback.

He grins at Jason's proposition. ]

Of course. I could use a chance to stretch my legs.

[reneger]

( jason reaches into his pocket, pulls out two bracelets that look just like the two he keeps on his right wrist, except a little--smaller. for kid-sized wrists. )

Wasn't sure what color palette you'd prefer, but I figure keeping the hot pants in retirement'd be a good idea. Put 'em on, I'll show you how it works outside.

[hackingyoursensors]

[ He slips them on and gives Jason a quizzical look. ]

'Hot pants?'

[reneger]

( he--looks confused for a moment, before jason's lips spread in a wide amused grin. )

Ask Grayson the first. Ask him about his first Nightwing suit, too. Please. Let me know how it goes.

[hackingyoursensors]

Let me guess: they're both very fashionable.

[ Dick himself isn't a fashionable person, but at least he doesn't wear hot pants to fight crime. ]

[reneger]

They're horrible. The absolute worst. I don't know why anyone let him outside with shit like that on.

( jason also wore the hot pants, but he's not saying that. instead, he turns towards the hall that leads upstairs. )

[hackingyoursensors]

[ Dick follows Jason as they go down the hall to the stairs. He's frankly more amused than anything. If he can't laugh at "himself," who can he laugh at? ]

Having your legs exposed just sounds like a bad idea all around.

[reneger]

It wasn't great. There were many scraped knees.

( fuck if jason knows why it was like that. he didn't choose it, he just inherited it. )

The bracelets are nanotech. Compresses gear down for easy access. Don't ask me how, tech shit isn't my field.

[hackingyoursensors]

You wore them too?

[ How did Bruce go for any of that? Dick had to fight to have a yellow lining on his cape. ]

I have passing experience with nanotech, but I'm not an expert.

[ He looks over the bracelets with interest. ]

[definecat]

[A cat sidles over to a newish face because the movies are interesting. They definitely enjoy all forms of human media.]

Maybe you can explain why the aliens, especially the blob-like or oozy ones, are almost always out for destruction? Are there any that aren't romcom where the flying saucer kids are just taking it out for a joyride?

[hackingyoursensors]

[ Dick looks thoughtful. ]

Shapelessness is a visual metaphor for the human fear of the unknown and impermanent, including our own lives and deaths. Aliens are meant to be a fear of the other and an externalization of the parts of ourselves that we cannot reconcile with our self-image.

[ He pauses. ]

I'm just kidding, it's probably cheaper to use special effects to make an ooze creature because you don't have to pay an actor. And there are some shows and movies that aren't like this, but this is a list of bad movies.

[definecat]

I'm not exactly sure ooze is a cheap effect. But I suppose I can see your point. Being a descendent of a primordial darkness and all.

[Are they joking? It's hard to tell. But they aren't really going to complain too much.]

Humans really go to strange lengths to disguise their self-reflection. And bad movies aren't all bad. Sometimes they just take themselves too seriously.

[hackingyoursensors]

Looking at ourselves in the mirror can be pretty hard for us humans. And some non-humans, I'm sure. [ As evidenced by Miss Martian and Superboy, though Dick keeps his superhero associations quiet unless someone already knows. ]

Oh, definitely. There was this popular movie called Monster Shark Typhoon that was really popular for awhile. Everyone liked it because the writers knew they were making something ridiculous.