Twilight Town Midsummer Film Festival- OPEN Kingdom Hearts RP

[radiantlegacy]

 

 

School's out and the sleepy streets of Twilight Town are full and friendly, bustling with relaxed activity.
These endless days are the longest they'll be all year, so take your time and enjoy the laid-back atmosphere.

As evening finally approaches, it's hard to find an empty table at Le Grand Bistro, and the lines for ice cream stretch around the central square.
You may want to try for a take-out carton of chinese, or a pushcart hawking sweet watermelon slices, salted pretzels and buttery popcorn.

The town's mingling energy drifts toward the packed back alley movie theatre, where they'll be showing short films all evening, most of them made by amateur hopefuls- the kids in town, submitted as a final school projects. Rumor has it Scrooge McDuck is backing this festival, in hopes of inspiring young people to explore their talents. His great-nephews have submitted quite the adventure story for your entertainment!

Others are by more intrepid filmmakers with a little more experience, a garden-variety of hodgepodge with something for everybody- horror featurettes with low-budget effects yet thrilling jump scares, an ecclectic mix of documentaries, music videos, computer-rendered animations, touching little romance stories and laugh-out-loud funnies... rumor has it there's an underdog Struggle Tournament flik, poised to rival Rocky.

Will you meet up with your best friends?
Make it an unforgettable first date night?
Brush shoulders with strangers or run into old familar faces?
Or perhaps keep an eye out for enemies, rivals and lingering threats that may be lurking...

Comments

[radiantlegacy]

It's surprising, how easily you can lose your towering associates in a crowd-

Not that Ienzo hasn't always been an excellent finder of his minders, when he's intended to, that is. So he might have deliberately been leaving Even to ruminating in his own headspace for awhile. It keeps him less prickled, as time and practice at it has proven. After all, he's not so young anymore that he's expected to stay glued to anyone's side, kept close in hand- and he's probably preferable that way.

It's nice to check in for a brief pass, however, and so Ienzo approaches at a weaving stride, appearing at Even's shoulder with a rare bounce on his heels and a smile that's nearing something genuine instead of a furtive smirk, hands clasped behind his back.

"Ah, there you are! Enjoying yourself? I dropped the reels off. May I assure Aeleus that- (speaking of!)" There's a brief buzz in his pocket, and Ienzo- hopeless son of a new technological age that he is, pauses mid-sentence to peek at his gummiphone screen and scroll through several gummiphone text strings and 'gram updates he has going all at once. For a once-mute child, he can't seem to content himself with having less than five inter-world exchanges happening simultaneously, these days. "...that we're taking our 'fresh air' nicely?"

[frigorific]

Leave Even to pickle in the brine of his own thoughts if you must. It is precisely as effective as they say. Although, to a certain point, you cannot change an overall abrasive and cold personality. No matter how much time you give it.

"Ienzo." He starts off mildly, which is to say, it's not mild at all. 'Aren't you passed the age of running off without warning?' He almost scolds. But of course he is. They are well past expending effort to rectify bad habits of the past.

Even no longer has any right to revisit what life was like previous to all their (simply egregious) mistakes - so he simply doesn't. To do otherwise would be insulting and more importantly damaging to tenderly readjusting hearts. In private, this is a line of thought that is discomforting now that his own heart is back in the equation. Even scowls down at the boy at his side.

But they have more pressing issues to attend to nowadays anyways.

"Well, yes, I had assumed that you would be more than capable enough for such a simple task." He says once the opportunity presents itself. A statement of disguised and reluctant praise if there was ever one.

Although sardonic, Even does respond to Ienzo's pleasant smile with a small one of his own. Entirely caught between telling the fellow apprentice off for the rudeness of answering the gummiphone without properly excusing oneself and simply leaning into the frame to regard Aeleus's texts on the small digital screen. He chooses the latter. The constant chattering of the younger generations with their hands on the newest (and admittedly impressive)technologies gives him a migraine on the worst of days. His hands twitch with the suppressed urge to take the gummiphone.

"You'd best do so, lest he preemptively grow worried over someone's well-being during his absence." Leaving matters be he scans his gaze across their surroundings. At the general revelry. "I trust that there have been no mishaps on his end? I'd not like to have to rush back without good reason. It would be a shame after making the trip."

"Perhaps you'll take your nose out of that device long enough to take part." Naturally he has his criticisms and is not afraid to air them. It is hard for him, in the end, to not out right speak his mind once something has plagued it.

[radiantlegacy]

Ienzo's buoyancy immediately takes pause, bootheels settling into the pavement, fluttering his eyes as he straightens primly, brows lifting mildly, as one does whenever accused of acting too tender-aged.

"I'm quite past the age of a requisite warning wherever I'm going, wouldn't you say?" he snips back, with a small toss-off shrug of his shoulders, glancing aside at a group of teenagers racing across the precarious upper levels of the plaza. He's not sure he's ever followed the appropriate age guidelines for much of anything in his life thus far, so far removed from the norm that there's little point in trying to accomodate it anymore. But maturity and lack thereof is Even's absolute favorite subject to harp on, after whatever subject of research strikes his fancy. Ienzo's so very accustomed to it that he very nearly gets through it without getting bristly in turn.

"The projector looks like an antique-" he reports, lofty, ignoring Even's veiled commentary on his willingness to take on the fetch-and-carry tasks. Someone had to deliver the final cut, along with providing a hastily written introduction card for their submission. "I hope it holds up?" Nothing like delays due to technical difficulties and equiptment failures, though maybe it's a little too early to start spouting off pessimism.

"All's well." Ienzo reads off the screen, sighing with vague lopsided grin of endearment for how laconic Aeleus can be, even over text.

"...I do intend to!" he huffs, pulling the gummiphone flush to his breast pocket, over his heart, peering slightly nettled up at Even. "In fact, I'm downloading the screening schedule as we speak."

Along with casually ghosting around other people's social media accounts to try and figure out where Lea has a fair chance of loitering, so as to better avoid him for the duration of the evening!

[frigorific]

"Ah, right you are then. Not that you ever provided such when you were younger." With great restraint, or rather what passes for it with Even: he concedes, managing to still sound condescending as he does so.

"There has been a notable lack of threatening elements recently as it were." Encouragingly so, otherwise their current surroundings might have not been so jolly. Even splays his arms out demonstratively at the surroundings as he speaks. There is a rather lively scene breaking out between mock hero and mock villain above with the use of foam struggle bats. The ensuing yells and exclamations serve as a sufficient enough backdrop to their conversation as white noise.

This particular world never seemed to fall too far into the darkness in the first place. Not in comparison to some others. Now that they find themselves in a lull after such a great conflict it's even more so the case. How sickeningly heartening.

...Does Ienzo have some interest in the projector? Or is that simply a report? Why the asinine detail in such case. It's not a base thing that he himself would express interest in. But begrudgingly sometimes other people do not share his impeccable tastes and to fully embrace humanity again Even concedes to himself privately that he must accept that, sometimes. "If the equipment has piqued your curiosity we could see that the castle is sufficiently equipped." He tries, quietly refusing to acknowledge the hypothesis of it as some subconsciously repugnant attempt to reconnect.

Speaking of technology and the interest in: Even sneers down at the device held protectively against the younger protégé's chest. "No doubt you'll inform me of what it says sometime today."

[radiantlegacy]

Ienzo smiles serene as a cat, tucking hands into the crooks of his opposite elbows, gummiphone still clutched in his palm. His shoulders lift in a relaxed shrug, cheeky as he dares, breezily loftily- "Well I had to give you a little trouble every now and then, Even, that's an integral piece of your ungrateful orphan narrative!"

"I could have been worse?" He adds in soft counterpoint after a moment, his eyes also tracing a path to the rowdy Struggle bunch. As far as child terrors go, unethical science projects and dark influences aside, Ienzo considers himself on the milder end of the scale. "I could have been like Braig."

He's heard stories of misbehaviors far more outlandish than his own. It's a wonder poor Master Ansem ever decided to keep picking up strays.

"(And at least I never put a frisbee through the stained glass)" He adds under his breath, eyes going heavy lidded, an expression that mirrors Even's disdain far more than he's willing to admit. The kids of Radiant Garden were a boistrous lot, back when he was young, and even if he was sometimes prone to wandering off, more often than not Ienzo tended to stay put in a corner, silently engrossed in a pile of books. His minders took his docility for granted. Xehanort always said so.

...lately he's been trying to tuck all the things that Xehanort said out of mind. Far easier said than done. Ienzo frowns at frank commentary on the evening's peace, wary of being caught off guard. Still, he's right- they've seen no trace of heartless here, for the first time in his memory. It's a good sign.

"It's still early." he nods, lest they get too comfortable with tenative optimism. "But Twilight Town has an adequate defense squad, these days. I hear Xion's no slouch." He smiles, giving his colleague a knowing tuck of the chin in acknowledgement, a gentle compliment. "Nice work."

Ienzo rubs his thumb absently along the side of his device, fiddling with alert settings, turning down the intensity of vibration to a duller buzz. Oh, so Even's not going to rise to the bait of weighing dated technologies against state-of-the-art ones? Hm. Well then, the reformed schemer will just need to reconfigure his thoughts, now that the idea of getting some new equiptment has been neatly planted. Far be it from him to refuse such an idea.

"Well I was thinking.... maybe for the exposition, it'd be nice to have?" The Restoration Committee's been meeting for weeks about putting on an Expo, pushed back till the end of summer, when they have something cohesive to show for all their hard work and progress. A projector would cap such an event off nicely, slide shows could be assembled, a modest presentation in the courtyard. Twilight Town proves it really doesn't need to be anything too fancy. "But I'd sooner go for a digital one, so we wouldn't have to go through all the trouble of reformatting. We could probably find it easily in San Fransokyo."

"Were you hoping to catch The Seven Wonders of Twilight Town?" He suggests idly, already back to scrolling. "It starts in 10 minutes."

[frigorific]

With a long suffering sigh he looks up at the sky. Hopelessly seeking the fortitude to deal with the absolute audacity of this infant who thinks he can back sass him like this. This is a test on his patience. It is well and it is very shallow. This is a drought. But very well, let Ienzo have his moment to goad. He will find that Even is not so easily baited when the ploy is obvious.

"Oh must you?" He follows up the jest, tch-ing sharply. "I take issue with this claim of yours." Even sighs once more. This time it is a softer exhalation. The comparison against Braig's atrocious track record tempering the bubbling temper into something more nostalgic but still fittingly dissatisfied. There is a moment of silence as Even faces forward once more, flutters his eyes shut fitfully, and lifts a high-arched brow.

"But you could have turned out so ardently destructive, that is true. But you are not. And for that I am sincerely thankful." The emphasis on the sincerely speaks of a man who has been endlessly pranked and pestered for sport. Without mercy. A enclave of scientific innovation does not need 'some livening up dude' despite some some truly baffling claims otherwise.

All of the stories Ienzo has likely heard are true and not even the worst of it, unfortunately. Suddenly Even recalls a once happily suppressed memory of the Tardigrades Incident and instantly pinches the bridge of his nose to stave off a stress migraine. It grants the precious time Ienzo needs to start his rambling. As he tends to do when allowed the opportunity. And it is allowed, for now. Especially because it leads to praise of Even's accomplishments.

"Yes, as I have stated many times before: the lastest Replicas I created were remarkable beyond most peoples' comprehension. They are indispensable marvels of modern science!" Who else would have been capable of it? There is no one. No one can quite reach his level of ingenuity in this sense. He will take the affirmation in whatever form it is granted to him. Reinvigorated and no longer at risk of a tension headache Even brushes past his companion to renew his leisurely walk.

"We can negotiate the terms of technological updates when we return. Presumably there will be no shortage of opinions on the topic, as unsophisticated as it is. For now we might as well... observe the local standard for cinema. If only to take note of the inaccuracies." The last part is added in as an aside. Because, lets face it, there will be a plethora of mistakes to gleefully criticize from the back of the room.

[radiantlegacy]

"Oh?" Ienzo counters brightly, sharp as a whip, though his tone's stung through so cheerfully, eyes so round and void of any open sneering that not a single passerby would take this for any kind of deepseated, longstanding argument between them. "Shall I refresh your ailing memory?"

He can only think of a hundred or so scoldings where he was pointedly reminded of Lord Ansem's generousity, of how his scholarship was extended on mere mercy more than merit, lest Even's delicate pride in his academic accomplishments be trounced by a capable seven year old.

How even upon meeting Ventus, after the battle, the first innocently friendly words out of this Roxas lookalike keybearer's mouth were-'Oh! But I know you already, Ienzo! You're the boy without parents, that the people at the castle took on!' Right. Still his defining trait, ten years later. Splendid.

But Even's gratitude is rare enough that he'll take it without further complaint, eyes drifting away to roll skyward with a shake of his head and a private smile of resigned fondness as his colleague launches into talking up those modified replicas of his.

"You're really going to critique children's film projects?" Pipes Ienzo, tagging along at his heels. Who are we kidding, Even, of course we are. Critical Thinking is a finely honed mental skill, the practice of which is only improved with popcorn and whispers under dimmed strings of edison bulbs. "When most of them probably rushed it to completion the night before deadline?"

(To be perfectly fair, so did he.)

"I hope there are still open seats..."