(1412) David and Vivian

“I'm sorry, it is my fault,” David apologizes to Vivian in a stance that is rather familiar to the Shadow. “I tend to get carried away and ahead of myself.” A pause as the Shadow purses his lips together for a moment before saying, “I think you are right, however, the Will to adapt has to be there – adaptation isn't an unconscious occurrence; the person must make the effort.”

“As for the book, I hadn't heard of it either until last year. It is a product of its time as is the Documentary based on it.” David simply accepts the Daeva's explanation easily enough with a slight cant of his head. “The Daily-Do of the Requiem does have a habit of eating up our time.”

Vivian shook both hands in front of her, as if dusting away his apology, they easily fell back to her sides. “No no, its really alright. I didn’t want to waste your time pretending to know something I do not. That’s disrespectful to you, and not true to myself.”

Raising a singular hand, in a thankful offering to the Shadow. “I just appreciate that you don’t talk down to me as some lowly woman or dimwitted just because I may not know something you know.” Smiling graciously again to the Dragon.

“But, a Documentary you say. Now that would be worth a watch I think. I may not be into the bookish thing, but I love a good picture.” Vivian tapped her finger to her jaw line. “Is this available anywhere to rent, purchase, watch online or what have you?”

Vivian's explanation is met with a solemn nod of understanding. “The first thing to understand,” David says almost wistfully, “is how much we don't understand.” A glance is made towards the Daeva and the Mekhet shifts his weight, almost imperceptibly. “Knowledge and Understanding know no gender and part of growth and learning is sharing what we don't know. There is plenty of things I have no clue about, for example.”

Plenty of women in David's life, including Aïleen, have been far more intelligent than he hopes to be.

“Oh?” David inquires at her admission of a good picture. He'll get back to that, first he answer, “It is on the internet, actually; narrated by Orson Wells. It's fairly sensationalist though; I much prefer the film Koyaanisqatsi when dealing with the similar subjects.” A quick cant to the head does much the same as a small shrug. “It's a shame that I can't find time to watch the trilogy again, I have quite the back-log of films to watch.”

More deep thoughts, by David Regan.

Laughing slightly. “Well, that’s enough to make a person go in circles. I do see the point of the statement though. We all have knowledge in different aspects of life. If we were all the same, a Requiem would be bloody dull.” The Daeva crooked a side smile with a wink.

Her eyes lit up like Elvis or Buddy Holly walked in. “Orson Wells! Oh that has to be amazingly good then.” Vivian pursed her lips quickly at her excitement. “I wasn’t old enough to remember his War of the Worlds, but word spread years later. For a while it was something no one mentioned in general conversation.”

“At any rate, now there are two reasons to watch this. Your recommendation, and the famed Orson Welles.” Her finger flipped toward David, then back to the air indicating the talented voice of a legend.

“Back-log of films; I can relate. It seems never ending. There are still pictures from days long ago that I haven’t watched. Surprisingly. I was ecstatic when some of them were made available for home viewing on VHS.”

“VHS is one of the greatest inventions known,” David states in full agreement with Vivian. The glimmer of a Movie Buff shimmering beneath the Shadow's mask. “I've collected so many now. I try to make time to watch at least one a week. Though BluRay has far superior quality, and is easier to move en mass, it doesn't have that same magic – at least to me.” The last part of that statement coming in as an afterthought.

A question lights up in David's dull-brown gaze and he asks, “Do you have a favorite film? Mine is La Jetée, which was remade into the film Twelve Monkeys; though the original is far better.” Favorite movies reveal quite a lot about a person, or in this case, about the Mortician Vivian is speaking to.

Keen, intense interest is paid towards Vivian's answer.

“There are some that would argue your VHS statement.” Vivian chuckled, her hand flitted to the side. “In your opinion, why do you think they’re the greatest? I have a tendency to miss that you could record on them, record over them and their portability made them nice. Other than sometimes they’d wear out.” Chuckling a little, recalling how many she actually did wear out over the years.

“As far as favorite films, one that initially comes to mind is Wait Until Dark. The performances there are superb.” She was aware that was her opinion, most people would probably not even know it if it weren’t for Audrey Hepburn. “However, newer movies that were cinematically impressive. Hmm, I’d have to go with Pan’s Labyrinth. The visual effects were stunning.”

“Oh yes, I’ve seen Twelve Monkeys, that was quite the talked about film that year. I’d enjoy seeing the original sometime.” David may have opened a can, which he may not be able to close, other than dawn’s approach at some point. Still, she continued for now. “I also really enjoy movies that make me stop and think at the end.” “Have you seen Plus One?” It was an uncommon movie, and Vivian didn’t know if it even hit the theatres. However, that movie certainly hit a chord with the Daeva.

Relenting a little David replies, “Oh, I'm sure there might be some who'll take umbrage with my VHS Statement.” Pursing his lips, the meek scholar glances down at his shoes before saying, “It was revolutionary, the ability to finally watch our favorite films at home when we want; in a format that was, for the first time, practical to do so. Of course, the sordid story between VHS and BetaMax is legend, but the pair of inventions changed the way we enjoy film-literature. For the first time, we could bring those worlds into our homes.”

A wisp of a smile filters through David's face at that.

“What's so special about La Jetée is that most of the film is told through still images; a story of a man who clings to a memory that transcends time. I think Twelve Monkeys loses that simple concept in the need to extend the film's duration to ninety minutes from the original twenty-four.” Shaking his head he moves on, “Plus One, you say? I haven't seen it. What is it about? You recommend it, then?”

It was sort of adorable, in a weird way, that David went on a tangent about tapes. Considering the two of them were perhaps on opposite ends of a spectrum, the common ground of conversation was unexpected. Vivian barely remembered BetaMax, just like hardly anyone remembered what the competitor for BlueRay had been. “I had forgotten that little nugget; the practical home viewing format that is. I remember reel to reel with no sound, and those home videos.”

“Isn’t it sad, that sometimes the long isn’t as good as the short, given the content is good?” Vivian’s eyes simply made the rhetorical statement, only to realize it was a little tongue in cheek after she’d said it. “Like I said, I will definitely have to watch La Jetée, most intriguing the more you compare it.”

When asked to elaborate, Vivian didn't want to fancy it up, because it honestly wasn't that fancy of a movie. “I watched the ‘flick’ per say, because I was dreadfully bored one night.” Which is no surprise for a Daeva. “I had planned to do something else while it was playing in the background, but the movie struck me right from the beginning.” Her thoughts paused as her face held the expression of deep thought. “While I can’t really divulge any real plot points of Plus One, it may spoil it. I will tell you this; it will question yourself as a person at the end. Or at least it did for me. That question is ‘would you do it?’” It was bothersome to have to describe a movie like this to someone, without suggesting just…

“Really, just watch it.” The Daeva grinned. “Mind you, it may not be a general taste in everyone’s interest but the over arching them was fascinating.”