fandomhighdorms | Third Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

Okay, look. Topher had never seen Cactibear. In fact, he'd never really seen anything all that terrible in the common rooms, truth be told, because for the most part? The TVs seemed to like him. Maybe it was because they somehow knew that he wouldn't hesitate to take a screwdriver to them if they showed him something he didn't like, or maybe it was just luck-- whatever. What mattered was that, generally speaking, Topher felt that he could dependably rely on the common room televisions to show him the things that he wanted, and not, well, the white noise he was getting on the TV in his dorm room right now.

So, with that inspiring fact in mind, he set off for the third floor common room with only a few minutes to spare before the penguin documentary he was looking forward to was supposed to start. Because the TVs liked him, and therefore, he surely wasn't going to have a problem. He grabbed a bag of chips, flopped down on the couch, and turned the TV right to the Discovery Channel.

It was playing the Spoiled Girlz movie.

Topher glared. He hit a few buttons on the remote. Nothing seemed to happen. He went right up to the screen and tried to change the channel, but only succeeded in making it louder. And right during the big musical number, too.

"I just wanted penguins," he said mournfully, and gave the TV an upset little kick before retreating to the couch.

[[me: "what's the worst movie we've ever seen together?" friend: "have you forgotten 'm-m-m-myspace, i have ten million friends?'" thus, this common room was born. open!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Chaz was not happy. Between the class, the strange thing in his boat, and the talk of hunger, he had developed a headache and was beginning to feel the low blood sugar. He was also hungry. Again. That would be why he manages to get through two bowls of cereal before noticing Topher or the TV.

"Is that an actual movie?" He finally managed around a mouthful of pop-tart.

"Unfortunately, I am fairly sure that it's not just a strange introduction to the penguin special," Topher announced, turning mournfully to face Chaz. "So I'm forced to conclude that yes, it's real."

"Why does the penguin special sound like an awesome desert dish?" Chaz asked half hypothetically. He also finished off the package of pop-tarts and brought a chicken with him to the couch. "Who thinks up these movies?"

"Movies like this atrocity or the amazing documentary I'm missing right now?"

"This." Chaz gestured with a drumstick. "The documentary I could understand. Wait, why can't you just change the chanel?"

Topher sighed and waved a hand. "Give it a shot, man-friend."

He doubted Chaz would have any success.

"Chaz." Chaz offered before wiping off a hand and grabbing the remote. The TV ignored him. Pushing the buttons on the TV had the same effect. "Did it break or something? Or just hate us like the rest of the school does?"

Topher eyed him. "Neither?" he tried. "It does this, it's not broken, and I prefer to think of it as temperamental for reasons that have nothing to do with the person watching it." This was a recent development. As in, he only felt this way now that the TV had turned on him. "It's a proven theory."

It wasn't.

"Have you run it through the full scientific method?" Chaz asked completely innocently. "I mean, we know it's acting up for us, but why us? Would it work for a Senior? What about a girl? Or a whatever else we might find in this school."

"Well, it's hard to get a good control group," Topher pointed out. "Or to standardize the testing conditions, because as far as I know we don't have any time-travelers on this island yet who can go back to the exact time I turned it on and try it for themselves..."

Damn it, he totally wanted to run an experiment now.

That made two of them. This would not end well.

"Are you sure?" Chaz asked. "Is there anyone who actually keeps track of the weird abilities or something?" This was said very casually. His abilities were not weird, just slightly above average. "We could just have every person try to change the chanel and then see what patterns emerged from the changing and non-changing groups. Of course after the first person manages to change the chanel we pretty much loose any control over the test."

"Yeah, except no, because then you have to worry about sequencing and everything," Topher pointed out. "Like, if some chick who raises hellbeasts goes and then the next person is some guy who can fly or whatever, the TV might be all, 'oh, yeah, you, I like you' and change it just to spite hellbeast-girl. Or whatever."

Chaz paused. "I'm kind of new." He admitted. "Are those actual examples and can you fly?"

Third Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject