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

[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.]

[takenalive]

I don't know what those are.

[Says a character who's got a modified version of one of Gandalf's names.]

Some things are inexplicable with the knowledge currently accessible. It's no worse here than in other places where I've been, and better than hearing trees speak with the wrong voices.

[rootinest]

Your description of the tower matched something from a movie series.

[Hmm.]

You're comfortable with inexplicable?

[takenalive]

Pillars are common shapes and eyes and fire are both common symbols. Sometimes they recur.

My comfort's not relevant. Inexplicable by itself means little.

[rootinest]

Your comfort's as relevant as anyone else's. I just don't wanna freak people out.

[takenalive]

Yes, well, I have to lose multiple eyes and form new orifices before I resemble the kind of alien that is allowed into the feeding room. It's a profoundly ugly and unsettling process that I prefer people don't see, but they adjust when they do. If you're worse than that, I'm impressed.