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

video

[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.]

Re: video

[walkingballpit]

[ Yes. Yes, all in all, this is a new one, if it’s real. Robbie’s reaching for alternative solutions like telekinetic or psychic illusion powers, bordering on telepathy, because those are familiar territory. There’s always demonic possession, although the Rig would make such a good horror movie setting that he feels like he’s jinxed them just by thinking of that.

Of course, there isn’t anything to say that a mutation couldn’t make a body like a toy. People who look like dinos, cats, tigers - his own hair has looked like a Jello jiggler at points so... this is fine. Right?

Moving static doll eyes are every kid’s irrational nightmare in the dark. There’s a definite reason why “creepy dolls” are a trope.”

To move things into a friendlier territory, Robbie hurriedly scoops up Niels and holds the cat out for the video. Niels, for his part, mewls in a startled way. ]

My cat bounces. Show him, Niels.

[ Robbie simply lets go of the cat, who drops out view. A splash of marble-sized orange balls announces the return of the cat a second later. He catches Niels, who is now an annoyed liquidy cat that refuses to cooperate with being held out, so Robbie cradles him like a baby. After swatting at Robbie with a paw, Niels resumes licking his foreleg. For having been dropped on his butt, the cat is remarkably unperturbed. ]

So... you’re a new one, but my disbelief’s been suspended since I was 15.

Re: video

[rootinest]

[Woody laughs.]

Now see here I was worried about being something new to everyone else but a bouncing cat is new to me, too.

[He rubs at his plastic head in lieu of putting his hand through his hair.]

It's a relief people are taking this in stride. It's not like I can even give an explanation. In my world, all toys are alive like I am, and not a single one of us knows how.

Re: video

[walkingballpit]

Niels is a new one to everybody.

[ He’s not plastic-hair rubbing new, but the cat does seem to cause eyebrows to raise wherever he goes. Superheroes are trite, supercats are lit. ]

All the toys? Oh man. I’m kinda hoping it’s not my world. Niels has mauled a few plus hire in his time, and that would be... awkward. But - yeah, I wasn’t going to ask for a reason. Even if you had a reason, it probably wouldn’t make sense. Like - raise your hand if you’ve been zapped with an experimental ray gun.

[ Robbie raises his hand, and then raises Niels’ paw. ]

It just brings on more questions. So, do you prefer sentient being, toyetic sentient, or sentient toy? I usually default to people, but I’m working on getting sentient to be my generic noun of choice.