strange things | text

[rootinest]

[It's taken some time for him to sit down and actually try this because every instinct he has is screaming at him that it's not allowed. The rules toys follow aren't just something they choose to follow, they're instinct. Instinct they can fight, certainly - like when he and Sid's toys had scared Sid - but instinct nevertheless.]

[But this is a special circumstance and maybe Buzz has the right idea. One of the big people had been nice to him, sabotaging his back switch so it didn't actually change anything when switched to demo mode.]

[This situation is so much bigger than them, bigger than any other chaotic situation they've ever faced, bigger even than their little prison break at Sunnyside. What's an escape from a daycare compared to an otherdimensional...whatever? A place where magical shock devices have been put inside them and now they're being expected to, what, go on missions? His only job is being huggable and good for playing pretend. How that's supposed to translate to "missions" is beyond him.]

[In any case, it's so big that maybe he and Buzz need a little help from the big people. Or at least for them to know the two toys hanging around are actually alive.]

[But that doesn't mean it's easy to talk to them. He decides to do it first over text. And decides to maybe test the waters a little instead of launching right into "Hi I'm woody, I'm a talking rag doll."]

[The comm is almost as big as he is, so he has to rely on the voice-to-text to type anything because it's so much work hitting all the buttons.]

Hi. Hello. So.

How nonhuman would someone have to be for you all to think they were too weird for you to want to deal with? Asking for a friend.

Comments

[tarnishedavenger]

We've got a robot, mutants, cyborgs, aliens, animals, and Mac.

I think we're a fairly open-minded bunch.

[rootinest]

Right but what if someone was something stranger than that? Those all sound like people, even if they're people from science fiction.

[tarnishedavenger]

You'd have to elaborate. You have to realize that some of us, myself included, come from worlds where none of those things are in any way, shape, or form unusual.

I look at the other 'New Hires' and all I see are people I could have met back home. Perhaps not exact equivalents, but close enough.

[Video]

[bringinghopewithme]

Nonhuman's a wide net to cast there, mate.

[case in point.]

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[rootinest]

Because you're...what, a rabbit man? A rabbit mutant?

I know there's a samurai rabbit connected to the ninja turtles.

[Because he's been exposed to a lot of children's media.]

Are you something like that?

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[bringinghopewithme]

[Eyeroll. Is that English? Are those English words he is reading?

Hang on, it might ring a bell.]

I might've tripped on those action figures before.

[scavengineer]

I'm a mouse and normally humans can't understand me. I kind of think that says more than enough? In case it doesn't, though, your friend is probably fine.

[rootinest]

Okay, reassuring, but you're at least flesh and blood, right?

It stands to reason that if there's all this science fiction nonsense going on, there might be talking animals.

Or at least that's what cartoons would have you think.

I'm talking someone who's something less...organic. But not a robot with a computer brain.

...who also maybe doesn't even know entirely how they're alive.

[scavengineer]

That doesn't really sound all that weird. Especially after the mummy. At least you're alive, if not exactly in the traditional sense.

MAC_ATTACK

[morebetter]

o my god are you a talking dog

are we getting a dog???

dude do we all get dogs or are you just the one dog

[rootinest]

Not a talking dog but if you mean a talking dog where there's no logical reason why they can talk, it's definitely in the same spirit.

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[onlyordinary]

My mom was a robot and I lived with a mutated ape with a doctorate.

Not much is too weird to me.

Re: Text

[rootinest]

Everyone keeps naming things that have a logical explanation, though.

A robot has a computer for a brain and a mutated ape, I'm thinking mad science, right? That's a science fiction thing. Or a comic book thing.

I'm maybe talking about someone that doesn't actually know how they're alive? Because it does't make sense like "mad science gave it a superintelligent brain."

[gempathizing]

I haven't hit my weirdness limit yet! So... I guess they'd have to be not sentient?

And it seems like you're probably sentient.

So we're already off on the right foot.

[rootinest]

So someone could be strange and maybe alive in a way that can't be explained easily...and you'd be okay with that?

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[credit_not_blame]

As long as your "friend" has something resembling a face, they're probably fine. Humans like faces, and the majority of people here seem to be human or human-adjacent. I cannot speak for the non-human-or-human-adjacent people.

Though if your friend is an eldritch horror or a giant spider or something, a paper bag with a smiley face might be a good idea, at least until everyone gets used to them.

Re: text

[rootinest]

He has a face and it's maybe a little strange but not that strange.

[His proportions are a little odd compared to human faces and his nose is very pointy. Buzz actually has a face slightly closer to looking proportional.]

[But he's also very recognizably humanish. The odd part that might disturb a human is his little noodle puppet limbs.]

[takenalive]

That's certainly a human-centric point of view.

An intangible god-monster of war and entropy taking the form of a tower with a flaming eye. I want no more dealings with those, though strangeness is not my primary concern there.

[rootinest]

Okay I think your world's got mine beat.

[A pause.]

...Are you from a place that has hobbits?

[He's seen a few adventure film franchises in his day. Andy used to love having "sleepovers" and watching movies with his toys.]

[wheyoftheadept]

no upper limit there, chummer. just give me the basics on how to treat you right and respectfully so i dont have to mindread.

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[rootinest]

That's it? Just lay down some ground rules and we're all good?

[cachedout]

It's less the nonhumanity thing and more just the weird thing for me. Most of the weirdest people I didn't want to deal with were actually human in the first place, or close enough.

Of course, that's to say nothing of the murderous jerkface coefficient. That's probably a way bigger factor than what planet somebody's from or what they're made of or how much face they got, in my book.

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[rootinest]

I've been a jerkface now and again in my day but not a murderous one.

[Wait, that's not entirely honest.]

Actually for the sake of transparency I'll be honest and say I did accidentally knock someone out a window once but I was actually trying to just knock him over and get him temporarily stuck somewhere, and just about everything that could've went wrong did. So he took a dive. He was fine, he decked me in a gas station parking lot over it, and now he's my best friend.

[walkingballpit]

I was going to give you the rundown of mutants, aliens, and gods that make up my weird life, but I think it’d take too long. They’re generally bipedal, but not exclusively, carbon-based - I think, generally between 4-7 feet but can be anywhere from subatomic to 100 feet tall. I can’t even say they all breathe oxygen and have warm blood. Skin tones require Pantone colours.

Gonna need more than “nonhuman”.

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[rootinest]

[After revealing himself in other conversations Woody feels a little more confident in talking to people as himself now. It's still not easy when the instinct to drop and play dead is constantly chugging in the background but the fact it's over the comm makes it easier than direct line of sight. It's just interactive TV. That talks back to you. Yeah.]

Is this a new one for you?

[He is very obviously a toy. Vinyl head and hands, rag doll arms, molded plastic hair. His little vest makes him look like what he is, a cowboy, so does the little empty holster at his waist, but he's missing his hat. He's sitting on the floor, the comm set to hover mode only an inch or so off it. Sitting down, the scale he's at is very clear because of the way the furniture behind him looms up.]